easter-eggs

[nimble iron]

Aight lemme see

All password answers are lower case right?

[sharp flame]

yeah

[nimble iron]

Any character limit?

Im currently looking into the chem reactions of roman concrete

[nimble iron]

That narrows it down

[sharp flame]

for sure, but it also gave us a semi-hard time with LXXIX being lxxix haha

[nimble iron]

True

[zenith crown]

oh hey its me

[nimble iron]

Oh hey

Creta dont work as password sadly

But wait. Theres still so much unsolved

Wtf happened to the md5 hash

?

[sharp flame]

206888?

[nimble iron]

Ye

[sharp flame]

Nothing

[nimble iron]

Oof

[sharp flame]

yet to connect that number

To calcium carbonate

[nimble iron]

OMFG

GOT IT

BEYATCH

BABY

[sharp flame]

Then say it

👀👀👀

[nimble iron]

cacoiii

[sharp flame]

WHAT

[nimble iron]

Yes

Simple

All lowercase

[sharp flame]

oh my god

what's with the latin

also @proud minnow

[sharp flame]

Jesus christ

it was that simple

thank god you came back 🙏🙏

[nimble iron]

I sent the email

[wanton sundial]

Wait 👀

[nimble iron]

Yeah i was bored on discord so i joined the ee again

And solved

[wanton sundial]

Dev Ex Machina

This was so smart though

[sharp flame]

Haha I mean robs been spamming Latin the whole tier

[wanton sundial]

per aspera ad cacoiii i guess

[fallen jasper]

LETS GOOO

[nimble iron]

https://tenor.com/view/windmill-bboy-break-dance-hiphop-asian-gif-17001794

Whoo

[proud minnow]

FINALLY.!

WELL DONE.!

[drifting pilot]

congrats guys

[proud minnow]

CONGRATULATIONS.!
Again, I’m so impressed that you guys cracked it (you have missed MANY clues) but you still figured it out in the end… ._.

[sharp flame]

don't worry Rob.. next tier.. we will find them ALLL

[wanton sundial]

I'd love to see a "missed clues" board

Let's see what comes first, next solved tier or another opportunity to play THE FINALS

[sharp flame]

so just Rob's regular clue board

[sharp flame]

😭 come on

[wanton sundial]

Didn't this tier start RIGHT after CB1

[nimble iron]

These wins get stolen away from fish at a disgusting rate

[sharp flame]

I was so close...

[wanton sundial]

Fish +1 tier assist

[fallen jasper]

yES

[sharp flame]

+2

#easter-eggs message

[proud minnow]

I’m back at Embark on Monday (I’m out downhill mountain biking) and then I will update the website… ._.

[nimble iron]

Even the last one

[sharp flame]

We'll start the clock ❤️

[fallen jasper]

Next tier is gonna be downhill mountain biking

I hope one of you has a bike and is in sweden. Rob's about to take you down the hardest track in the country

[timid solstice]

We tied 96 days ahahaha

Gg all

[fallen jasper]

[nimble iron]

96 ecin

[proud minnow]

I promise you, there will be no EE’s here… ._.

[fallen jasper]

What the hell is your cellular signal

[nimble iron]

Sick bro

[sharp flame]

Rob... ARC Raiders has an NDA! delete that!

[nimble iron]

Wanna go mb downhill sometime aswell

[fallen jasper]

I don't have signal in my house, how are you uploading photos in the wilderness

[wanton sundial]

All Embark devs have built-in wifi

[fallen jasper]

Based

[proud minnow]

this whole “tier”..?

[sharp flame]

What would you call it?

Subtier?

[nimble iron]

..? .! Hmm

[sharp flame]

Tierlet?

[proud minnow]

Well, since before you even know there was an EE-hunt… i.e pre-level I… ._.

[sharp flame]

damn....

maybe we'll get even more latin stuff

Time for @pure loom to make a video... Good luck...

[nimble iron]

Im finally a certified ee hunter

Lesgo baby

[timid solstice]

I hope I helped a little putting it in brackets 😅

[nimble iron]

Now @proud minnow how does this connect to CaCO3?

My biggest question

[timid solstice]

He’s on holiday

[sharp flame]

wait 😱

[timid solstice]

Best wait till Monday

[neon stream]

Niiiiiiiiiice! Congratulations!!!! 💪🏻💪🏻💪🏻

[timid solstice]

Wrong tier

[sharp flame]

I KNOW

imagine being Rob and seeing NEXT tier's answer posted

Rob reacted to this one a bit late....

[neon stream]

That points to "pair", I think

[sharp flame]

remember this?

[neon stream]

+3

#easter-eggs message

[sharp flame]

damn it

[timid solstice]

Fish if you had fingers you could type the answers, blame nature

[sharp flame]

I wonder where CaCO3 is in this

[timid solstice]

On the keyboard

[neon stream]

Missing keys

[timid solstice]

Oh ffs… Hence 404

I’m Roman numerals

[neon stream]

True!

[sharp flame]

lmao yeah

that's why I've been saying

'maybe its in latin'

[neon stream]

Tbh, I'm still not sure how pairs connect 😂

[sharp flame]

I'm sure he's surprised we took so long

[nimble iron]

https://tenor.com/view/dirty-docks-shawty-triflin-shawty-triflin-she-gif-22455514

[sharp flame]

@neon stream

[nimble iron]

But we did it

We need to celebrate or some shit

[jade citrus]

congrats ! :000

[sharp flame]

could this be why the T-Rex was in image 1?

T-rex fossils comprising of CaCO3?

[nimble iron]

Lets play tictactoe while we wait
•••
•x•
•••

[proud minnow]

In multiple places…

[sharp flame]

•••
•x•
••o

[nimble iron]

For t1-f

[nimble iron]

••x
•x•
••o

[neon stream]

Btw... "T1F might be a little bit harder"... I'm afraid 😂

[sharp flame]

so this is why the scientist was on screen...

••x
•x•
o•o

[nimble iron]

••x
•x•
oxo

[sharp flame]

•ox
•x•
oxo

[nimble iron]

•ox
xx•
oxo

[sharp flame]

•ox
xxo
oxo

[nimble iron]

xox
xxo
oxo

Draw

Lezgo

[proud minnow]

BTW did you ever figure out the coffee stains..?

[nimble iron]

Coffe stain studio collab hmmmmmm

[nimble iron]

??

?

[sharp flame]

this?

ngl Rob you might have to tell us...

👀

[nimble iron]

👀

[neon stream]

Might be a new / = tower of Pisa 😭

[proud minnow]

Yes, Esse spent a lot of time and passion to create this on his otherwise 100% clean desk… ._.

[sharp flame]

hahaha

we HAVE to know

[nimble iron]

🙏🇸 🇷

We need to know

[proud minnow]

I will save this for future challenges… and/or perhaps a tshirt… ._.

[nimble iron]

Oof

Nooo

[sharp flame]

what the clue means?

[nimble iron]

Blue balled

[sharp flame]

or the format of the clue...

[jade citrus]

https://tenor.com/view/noooo-no-no-emote-emote-nooo-emote-gif-23071619

[nimble iron]

Maybe you give it to us as a reward for getting it?

Pleeeeeeeaaaase

[neon stream]

@proud minnow I still can't let this one sit, it's too good and simple 😂

[sharp flame]

lmaoo

[nimble iron]

https://tenor.com/view/please-begging-gif-25375904

[proud minnow]

BTW the T-rex has 15 different links to this puzzle… (and a shoutout to BF ❤️ OFC…) CaCO3 was one…

[sharp flame]

by puzzle you mean the whole thing right

not 1E

[nimble iron]

Send cute gifs

[neon stream]

And how many links does "star" have? 🤔

[nimble iron]

We need answers

Lets just try

Sr answer our prayers🙏

[proud minnow]

Yes… all of them… ._.

[proud minnow]

40-something

[sharp flame]

well obviously Serp

there are a lot of stars

like...

Polaris... ?

[neon stream]

Loadstar, White Star Line, ....

[sharp flame]

hahahahahaha

[neon stream]

(Credit to @prisma stump )

[nimble iron]

Pin this rn

[hidden nacelle]

damn yous got it 🫡

[sharp flame]

DEV got it

[nimble iron]

Fish set me up

[sharp flame]

I set EVERYONE up

[neon stream]

fish is the MVP

[sharp flame]

okay, lesson learned from this tier:

when we get an 👀 about a message close to the password,

just start spamming passwords

fr, would save us months

I'm genuinely serious

I think Dev saved us weeks

and so did Resk (twice!)

[neon stream]

https://tenor.com/view/toystory-aliens-gratefull-gif-5252972

[sharp flame]

Yo!

[neon stream]

Resk is the "modified O" master 😛

[sharp flame]

Serp didn't you solve B?

[neon stream]

Yeah, A and B

[nimble iron]

"In hindsight anything can make sense"- sun tzu the art of war

||(he never actually said that but who cares)||

[sharp flame]

"People who make up quotes are awesome"- Abraham Lincoln

[sharp flame]

and A?? Damn!

I feel left out

[neon stream]

We are all a crucial part of solving all tiers, it's all teamwork. Finding the final answer is just one part of the whole puzzle

[sharp flame]

serpenger : II
DEV64: I
Resk: I
Duhmeister: I

[neon stream]

Nah...
TFEE Community: VI

[nimble iron]

Fish: 0 (3 assists)

[sharp flame]

my KDA looking like my usual Finals games 😭

[timid solstice]

Everyone gets an assist points on this one, especially the new hunters that kept everyone encouraged recently

[fallen jasper]

I actually have solved every one

As I am everyone here don't ya know

You're all my alts

[sharp flame]

hello me

[sharp flame]

new hunters 💪

[fallen jasper]

Fun fact

It did not take 96 days

It took 120

[sharp flame]

ah

[timid solstice]

27th March to 1st July?

[fallen jasper]

March 3rd

Or as I put it so gently in my padlet

March 3nd

[timid solstice]

From and including: Monday, 27 March 2023
To, but not including Saturday, 1 July 2023
Result: 96 days

#official-art message

New art was Posted March 27th

And that was after our vacation

After CB1

[fallen jasper]

Oh I thought the can artwork was the start

[timid solstice]

Well it had the start date hidden in it

[nimble iron]

Soooo

What do we do while we wait

?

[sharp flame]

wait

[timid solstice]

You could go back through and try and work out the clues, or see if we missed a diamond clue

I think Kari was actually a diamond path

[nimble iron]

Maybe

But it pointed to cristal

Structure

So idk

It might be

What really interest me is the crossed

Crosses*

Wth do they mean

[cedar owl]

WHHHAAAAAAT?!?!?! Nice work!!!!!

[nimble iron]

Yeah fish set everything up and i just tried passwords.

[sharp flame]

Lmao

[nimble iron]

^

[zenith crown]

and i sat there in the background

[nimble iron]

He did

[cedar owl]

Equally amazing group effort from all!

[coarse dagger]

Rock salt was one connection I pointed out. Both CaCO3 and rock salt are used to melt ice

WHAT DOES THIS MEAN

[jade citrus]

my theory was that they represent positive, negative, and neutral charges in an atom. 6 positive 6 negative and 6 neutral would point to carbon-12

[coarse dagger]

@worn badger found a potential connection to Justinian in it. Justinian -> pearl -> CaCO3?

[sharp flame]

Kynezantama image right

pearls in that one

[coarse dagger]

Yep

But I meant in the cross cypher

[worn badger]

GUYS WHAT HAPPENED

[coarse dagger]

Solved

[worn badger]

HOW

[coarse dagger]

cacoiii

three iiis

[worn badger]

why

[coarse dagger]

CaCO
3
iii

[worn badger]

calc+`?

[coarse dagger]

Sorry typed it wrong

Edited

[worn badger]

awesome job everyone

[sharp flame]

cacoiii

is CaCO3

[worn badger]

who came to the conclusion to write it in that style

[sharp flame]

dev64

but also me

hehe

cause Rob confirmed the answer was in Latin

and we had lxxix instead of 79 as answer B

so he turned 3 into iii

[coarse dagger]

Found the Michaelmas connection

from here #easter-eggs message

[worn badger]

so awesome

[coarse dagger]

Michaelmas Reef

[worn badger]

i literally started looking into OOO again this morning and now I'm back how and you solved it :D

[coarse dagger]

Michaelmas Reef -> Coral -> CaCO3

[worn badger]

however when I enter the password it won't work, is that normal?

[coarse dagger]

#easter-eggs message

Idk

Only works once perhaps?

Rob said he would update the site monday

[jade citrus]

it works for me

[coarse dagger]

Worked for me

[worn badger]

https://www.reachthefinals.com/t1-e -> is this the right link?

[coarse dagger]

cacoiii

Yep

[sharp flame]

get ya caps lock sorted

maybe

[worn badger]

either my browser/the website was bugged or I typed it wrong 5 times in a row 👁️ 👄 👁️

ty ty

[sharp flame]

did it work

[worn badger]

yes after restarting the browser

[coarse dagger]

Excited for the next one, as I came to the discord midway through this tier.
Don't think I really helped as we already knew CaCO3 and latin before I joined, but I definitely found some missing connections.
I had started making my own map of things, but was starting to get overwhelmed 😅

[neon stream]

Niiiiiice! 💪🏻

[coarse dagger]

I'm hoping this will help me more next time when I'm starting at the same time as the rest of you

[neon stream]

How did you make it? 🤔

[worn badger]

looking forward to the next level too!

[coarse dagger]

Obsidian Notes.

You write notes and can easily link notes to eachother

And then it can automatically make that graph view

[neon stream]

Thanks! I'll look that up! It looks like a really good way to organize things

[coarse dagger]

I'm hoping I can try my hand at the steganography next tier too

Haven't tried that yet

[worn badger]

yes to be honest I think we need a more organized overview for the next step(s)

[coarse dagger]

Unfortunately I don't think there's a way to collaborate with obsidian notes

But would love to be wrong about that

[worn badger]

makes it easier to track and also easier for new people to jump in

[crude topaz]

gg

[coarse dagger]

Learn how to collaborate on your Obsidian Publish site with other Obsidian users. By adding your friends and colleagues as collaborators, they can publish changes to your site.
Only the site owner needs an active subscription for Obsidian Publish. Collaborators only need an Obsidian account

[crude topaz]

i was at least here for the start

[coarse dagger]

Let me look into this

$8 per month and only one of us would need to subscribe

[neon stream]

Yeah, the problem with Padlet is that second part. If you are here from the beginning, it makes sense, but looking at it after it's been used for a while, it can be difficult to follow, too many things 😅

But to organize findings, I think it's quite good

[coarse dagger]

I feel like it wasn't being updated frequently enough?
Who gets access for editing?

[neon stream]

It used to be everyone, but now only a few that requested access to @fallen jasper

[fallen jasper]

Oh

I can get Obsidian for you guys lol

[neon stream]

Yeah, we haven't been updating it much tbh. The first few tiers we were more organized with that, and any finding would instantly go there 😛

[coarse dagger]

It's an option, idk how technical the syncing process is.

[timid solstice]

well swa was making the clue lists at first, then I think brunnu so padlet wasnt used much at first

[neon stream]

(This might be in part because not everyone can add now, but that's something necessary so someone can't just delete everything)

[fallen jasper]

So for the way we lay out the past padlets on the pins

It has to be public unless we want to manually link every padlet lol

So instead of having 5 different padlets I can just link my profile which has all of the padlets visible

[neon stream]

Tbh, I appreciate Swa a lot for doing that, but I think it encouraged us not to add connections on the Padlet

[timid solstice]

yes, but after a while padlet was needed to start connecting things

[coarse dagger]

Not sure I follow

[coarse dagger]

Oh, yeah that sounds good!

[fallen jasper]

I can just link my profile for any recap things we make, so instead of having to list the Padlets for T1A-T1E

[neon stream]

We should be able to just go down rabbit holes in the Padlet, not to just have the results from the clues and the "confirmed" findings, imo

[fallen jasper]

I just link my profile lol

It is an application though so to use it you have to download it

I'll work on putting T1E onto it and see how it looks compared to padlet

[timid solstice]

looking at this, I would have no idea what it means tbh if I just started

I would have to click everything to expand images?

are there images?

[coarse dagger]

Yeah, I don't think there's a way to have the data expanded on the graph view unfortunately. The yellow nodes are attachments, and are indeed images

[nimble iron]

Obsidian user based

https://tenor.com/view/eggchad-egg-eggward-the-finals-gif-26588047

[neon stream]

True, that's a good thing about Padlet too

...being able to have quick access to many things in the graph

[fallen jasper]

Okay

[coarse dagger]

One sec. Let me make a new video. You can't see my cursor there

[neon stream]

Okay, yeah, nvm my previous comment, that one's more advanced 😂

[nimble iron]

Finally someone that uses obsidian and all its capabilities

[coarse dagger]

I'm just now learning!

[nimble iron]

Bro the custom extentions are amazing

The only thing i use to take notes in my classes

Excalidraw is 👌

[neon stream]

Obsidian seems to be really good, but also have a higher "skill floor", not sure if that's good. I'll probably learn to use it just for personal use, but it might not be something for everyone

[fallen jasper]

Jesus how do you even share this

[coarse dagger]

Agreed

[nimble iron]

Yeah true

[nimble iron]

I like to compare it to vscode. The extentions make almosy everything possible.

[fallen jasper]

It's nice but I don't think we can use it lol

We want it to be accessible to all

Having it be behind a application you need to download, then being invited to it manually to even view it, goes against that.

[coarse dagger]

Sounds good!

[nimble iron]

Yeah i get it

[neon stream]

Yeah, it's really good, I can't believe I only just learned about it 😭

[nimble iron]

But imagine the possibilities

[nimble iron]

Its amazing

Been using it for 1.5 years now

Lifesaver

💯

[coarse dagger]

Recommend me some extensions, I'm new!

[nimble iron]

There are some good ones but most of them are personal preference

I dont have my laptop with me as im on holidays rn

But lemme think

Excalidraw is almost a must. You can basically draw images and insert them into your docs

Super useful

[fallen jasper]

Dev, Lulz do you two have Padlet accounts?

[nimble iron]

There many calender extentions.( this is useful for a school workflow)

[fallen jasper]

https://padlet.com/Kyne/the-promise-t1f-e13p6j3z8rtoabls

[nimble iron]

Just pick the one u like the most

[nimble iron]

Nope but ill hit u up when i need access :)

[coarse dagger]

I do!

[fallen jasper]

What's your username Lulz

[coarse dagger]

padlet.com/TheLulz

[fallen jasper]

You've been added

[coarse dagger]

Thanks!

[nimble iron]

Something i use for workflow is an internal extension so not a custom one. It basically allows you to create a doc that is automatically named after todays date so you can automatically see when those notes were made. Idk what its called again like custom notes or something

[coarse dagger]

I think that might be built in

[nimble iron]

Yeah built in

But useful

[coarse dagger]

💯

[nimble iron]

My friend introduced me to it and he uses it alot more xD

So he knows more than me abt it

But yeah if you think abt an extension that could be useful, just look for it in the extensions tab. High chance that youll find what ur looking for

If u have any questions i might be able to answer them and if i cant ill send them on to my friend.

[south wyvern]

congratz mate!

https://tenor.com/view/tom-delonge-blink182-wtf-meme-what-the-heck-first-date-gif-25383351

[nimble iron]

https://tenor.com/view/windmill-bboy-break-dance-hiphop-asian-gif-17001794

[pure loom]

CONGRATS!!!

A sense of relief haha

[nimble iron]

We finally got it. I returned cause i was bored

[timid solstice]

no gunna lie I got burnt out pretty fast and was hard to recover on this one

[pure loom]

Rob 👀 Duhmeister saying calcium carbonate back in mid April. Oof.

[nimble iron]

And tried passwords with the things that were layed out

[nimble iron]

Me too

I took a 2 -3 month break

[timid solstice]

wait wtf we missed it?

[pure loom]

Yeah, same a bit. I’m hoping that the future ones are harder to guess but the password form is a lesser part of it.

[pure loom]

Not sure. My therapist is saying it’s best just to let it go

[sharp flame]

He was first tho

[pure loom]

That was for the previous tier

[sharp flame]

Hahaha I know but it's funny

[jade citrus]

just that good i guess...

[sharp flame]

and Rob reacted accordingly

[pure loom]

All related I guess. Egg shell shape. Egg shell chemistry.

[sharp flame]

Rob reading the answer to the next tier:

😱

[sharp flame]

if only we knew what he meant by that reaction lol

[pure loom]

The next password is a recipe for soufflé

[nimble iron]

The guy probably doesnt even know how much his comment meant. He is still white

Wanna tag him?

Or leave it be

?

[sharp flame]

Dev Rikta is an OG

left the server though 🥲

[timid solstice]

left side 😭

[neon stream]

Wait, why? 😅

[neon stream]

😂

[pure loom]

Duh is so far ahead of us he’s behind us 😂

Duh is the Max Verstappen of Easter Eggs

[neon stream]

His car is better than everyone else's? 🤔

😛

[pure loom]

It’s eggcellent

https://tenor.com/view/ba-dum-tuss-jokes-gotcha-burn-ouch-gif-5645546

[worn badger]

can't wait for 1F

after we finish tier 1F we need to solve tier 2ABC and 2DEF so we might need to go back to the old clues and solutions in order to solve them
but what do I know

[jade citrus]

me too, cant wait for the new art!

[worn badger]

i still can't believe how the answer was in front of us all the time

[neon stream]

https://tenor.com/view/botas-traditions-f1-gif-20625633

[worn badger]

the password was CaCO + 3 in latin, not CaCO3 + latin haha

[sharp flame]

hahaha I already was thinking that

but not the literal word CaCO3

haha

[worn badger]

imagine we went and tried cacolll

https://tenor.com/view/friends-joey-chandler-good-job-thumbs-up-gif-13961903

[coarse dagger]

@fringe trench What technique did you use to find this?
Nevermind. Found it using a level sweep

[nimble iron]

Look at look at the reply rob sent me

[coarse dagger]

Do I see a hint of 000 eggs in the luminance gradient?

And maybe an ammonite?

". . ." followed by... something?

This cross has some little 3 dot wings with LSB Half search

Was this found already?

[jade citrus]

lmao, looks like Rob's 👀

not sure if it was found or not, never seen it myself

[coarse dagger]

Exactly. It's in the bit fields of img 1

The embark logo in img1 also seems to have something which looks like it could be a barcode in the bit fields?

[coarse dagger]

I'm wondering if the coffee stain is representing some reef or set of islands which would get us to coral, but IDK where I'd start looking. Sweden?
Or Rob's trolling us about a coffee stain on his desk

[timid solstice]

Thats the alien ant army!

[coarse dagger]

?

[timid solstice]

‘Space Ant War Era’ 🐜

[coarse dagger]

#easter-eggs message
I see you've mentioned this before. Still confused 😅

[timid solstice]

#easter-eggs message

[coarse dagger]

I was wondering if these were representing molecules somehow, but I'm no chemist

[latent peak]

Niiiiiicee! 🥳🥚

[nimble iron]

https://tenor.com/view/windmill-bboy-break-dance-hiphop-asian-gif-17001794

We did it

[south wyvern]

https://tenor.com/view/steve-harvey-speechless-blank-face-confused-no-words-gif-7298121

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pisidium

[sharp flame]

Monday 🙏

[nimble iron]

Monday

🙏

[nimble iron]

In what image was that

Because i saw that in the first image

[pure loom]

It could represent a geode. The mineralisation actually forms in a similar way (kinda). Something that’s in solution comes out of solution and gets deposited around the edge of the space it’s in.

[pure loom]

If you’re looking for something to go on with while we wait for Tier 1F to start, don’t forget about the diamond clue we have

[pure loom]

Also, I’ve been going back through previous tiers to see if there’s some common threads that might relate to the diamond clues. One thing I spotted is that tier 1A’s password “1064” when looked at as a year, also happens to be the Chinese calendar element and animal: Water Rabbit (WR)

[jade citrus]

is the ASADISTANT clue related to t1e or the diamond clue?

[coarse dagger]

Yeah, first image

[nimble iron]

I found it on the zipline

[coarse dagger]

Same

[nimble iron]

👌

Yeah that was long ago

Like in april or some shit

[timid solstice]

in the Embark Developer Community discord I found a white rabbit

I presume this is a reference to the Stanford Bunny
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stanford_bunny

[hidden nacelle]

what is the Developer Community discord? the playtest one?

[floral axle]

embark.dev community

[south wyvern]

oh hi

[coarse dagger]

Hmm... GitHub's auto generated profile pictures look a lot like the space invaders we've seen doing steg analysis around the cross cypher...
https://github.com/orgs/EmbarkStudios/people ?

No Rob though AFAIK

I think we need to learn more about steganography TBH.

https://cryptokait.com/2020/03/02/hiding-in-plain-sight-steganography-tricks-and-tips/

What do dinosaurs have in common with cryptography? Well Greek, apparently, and a lot of time. 150 million years ago, there roamed a dinosaur covered with bony plates. The paleontologists used the Greek word steganós and sauros to mean “covered lizard”. In much more recent times, lets say about 500 years ago, steganós and graphia were combined to mean “covered writing”.

Steg does not just live in pictures. More exotic schemes use audio files, video files, PDF files, and even file systems. The thing I don’t like about this type of steganography is that they all require tools! Some people like to dig through their tools to find the right one. To me, it is time consuming and your success is dependent on what you have in the tool bag. However, there are ways of hiding data in pictures and files that do not require any tools at all.

The most common of these is the picture-in-a-picture. Kind of like hiding a dinosaur behind a larger dinosaur. Basically, you combine two files into one. As a program reads the file, it looks for key patterns that tell it what the data in the file is. These “magic bytes” have a start and end sequence. For example, FF D9 is the end of file marker for a .jpeg file. When the file is opened, it starts reading at the magic byte that says to start and stops at the magic bit that marks the end. All the rest of the file is ignored, even if there is a start bit that marks the beginning of another file.

Anyone tried changing file extensions or using bitwalk?

Or anyone have ideas on file extensions worth trying?

Guess this might be a good resource for that:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_file_signatures

This lists the magic bytes as well

Looks to me like most image viewers now days ignore the extension and just rely on the magic bytes. May need to search for them and perform manual chopping.

[timid solstice]

we were going to look into it

making our own tool

but we find alot of things manually

that online steg tools miss

[coarse dagger]

https://security.stackexchange.com/questions/140256/looking-for-some-steganography-guidance
Saw previous mention of OutGuess.

My issue with steg hiding programs is there's too many permutations. What software did Rob use, what password do we use, which images have the hidden data?
We would need to narrow things down a lot first.
There are 2 ways I can think of for narrowing things down.

1. We find other clues pointing us where to look
   or
2. We use software designed for detection. Googling around everyone seems to mention StegDetect, although I'm struggling to find a good source for installation instructions. If one of us could get StegDetect working it could help us determine where to focus.

[sharp flame]

New tier new me ... Let's do this

[neon stream]

In the meantime...:

🇸 🕯️ 🇩
🕯️ 🕯️
🕯️ 🕯️

🇸 🕯️ 🇷
🕯️ 🕯️
🕯️ 🕯️

There we go 😛

[worn badger]

https://tenor.com/view/hurtigjoakim-hurtig-joakim-training-ready-gif-15626439

[coarse dagger]

Is the new tier starting tomorrow, or just T1E getting marked off?

[orchid sigil]

Bonne nuit 🌃

Good night 🌃

[timid solstice]

Sometimes it’s a little while until the new image goes live

Sometimes there’s a loading message or a temporary message

We need to keep checking the t-1e page

It should change to a new image

[neon stream]

Rob's on vacation, we MIGHT be on vacation as well

Now that I wrote that, it doesn't really sound plausible. Rob might not go to work, but I don't think he takes vacations from Easter Eggs 😅

[jade citrus]

yep
#easter-eggs message

[pure loom]

This ceramic hare sits on the shelf behind my chair. I think it secretly mocks my WR investigations

(His name is Harold)

[sharp flame]

T1F day

We're nearly 30% done 😂😂

[worn badger]

Great to see I’m not the only one getting hunted

[cedar owl]

I love Harold

[jade citrus]

stylish cap!

[nimble iron]

We cracked an md5 hash by brute force

So thats something

It was actually some random guy but🤷‍♂️

It works

https://tenor.com/view/todd-howard-it-just-works-bethesda-this-all-just-works-gif-20598651

[timid solstice]

Actually I asked for help, and they delivered 😎

[nimble iron]

Yea

[sharp flame]

Tick tock...

[nimble iron]

Theyvdid

They did*

[sharp flame]

few hours remain...

[nimble iron]

Oof

Im on mobile

U have to do the work

[timid solstice]

I have alot work so will be in and out

[sharp flame]

Flex.. get that timer ready...

[nimble iron]

Just give me the info n shit

I can research

[sharp flame]

we're gonna track exactly how long it takes

[timid solstice]

to the minute?

[sharp flame]

To the minute 👀

I think Rob's gonna be busy with all the ARC stuff right now

[timid solstice]

Tier-1E could start

<t:1688400000:R>

check here!
https://www.reachthefinals.com/t1-e
password: cacoiii

[worn badger]

why in 1 hour

[timid solstice]

idk

enough time for Rob to hear how well the alpha of arc raiders went, then activate the new tier maybe 🤞🏻

[worn badger]

I was about to start the game 15 mins ago just to find out the alpha is over already :(

[sharp flame]

😭😭😭 that's terrible

[nimble iron]

Oof

Big oof

[sharp flame]

2 hours from now I think

Constantly refreshing the t1e page

[worn badger]

technically we have up to ~11 more hours, no?

12:25am in sweden rn

[sharp flame]

Rob usually drops it midday

[worn badger]

oh okay, didn't know

[sharp flame]

The 404 gif teaser for T1D was posted about an hour ago in the day

But the actual images do seem to drop at 5-6pm (Sweden)

so in 5-6 hours

[nimble iron]

Hmm

Lets see

https://tenor.com/view/waiting-gif-23395435

[sharp flame]

Still refreshing 😄

[nimble iron]

@south wyvern whats the guy in ur pfp called

Just askin

[sharp flame]

hehe

HUNTER READINESS CHECK:
React to this message if you're an EE hunter and reading this 👀

Just gauging numbers

[fallen jasper]

Technically I am still an EE hunter even if I'm entirely too busy to be hunting

[fallen jasper]

God I still gotta write the EE things on the wiki

[sharp flame]

=

Im trying to see which hunters are online

burying the readiness check I don't want ahaha

7 people so far..

Btw I wanted to point out that all the passwords have numbers in them..

1064, 79, 5f137s2, 0vif0rm, CaCO3

[fallen jasper]

They'd also all be terrible passwords for your online accounts.

[sharp flame]

<t:1688398200:R>

^

[fallen jasper]

What's happening

[sharp flame]

New tier!

https://reachthefinals.com/t1-e

[unborn igloo]

what happen after 3 hours?

[fallen jasper]

Is the password not CaCO3

[sharp flame]

it is

--> cacoiii

[fallen jasper]

Oh

That is not CaCO3

[sharp flame]

lmfaoo

[fallen jasper]

I wonder what happens if I send that email it sends you to a email

[unborn igloo]

after verify clue what happen guys?

[sharp flame]

#easter-eggs message

[sharp flame]

In a few hours we get a new clue image

which is basically game art + hidden clues

[fallen jasper]

I'm gonna ask Nama if he's okay 🙏

[unborn igloo]

niceeee

Im a dev, maybe when I’ll finish work I help you👀

[worn badger]

ust the spare time for preparation

i'll be home at ~9pm but I will start helping you tomorrow

[daring ledge]

what is that all about ?

[solar glade]

love to see y'all progress. congrats hunters!

[fallen jasper]

Updated Padlet

[sharp flame]

1 hour.. I think?

Also yeah since we're missing so many clues (~50%!) We might have to start looking at other places

[proud minnow]

[hidden nacelle]

Wob

[proud minnow]

Hi there..!

It's MONDAY.!

[floral axle]

Hey rob

[hidden nacelle]

Don’t do it now, do it in 30 minutes

[fallen jasper]

Rob!

How was the biking?

[sharp flame]

Lmaoo

I need 30 minutes tooo

[proud minnow]

It was great.! Got so many ideas for future EE's..!

[fallen jasper]

Glad to hear!

[hidden nacelle]

How do you get ideas by biking?

[sharp flame]

By looking around with your eyes

👀👀👀👀👀

Also hey SR 🙏🙏🙏

Still refreshing the page 😭

[proud minnow]

it's only 16:45 here in STHLM... ._.

[sharp flame]

Hahaha enjoy the rest of your day Rob

[timid solstice]

OCK O ?

[sharp flame]

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/1645

The tier has already started 🧠🧠🧠🧠

[fallen jasper]

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Treaty_of_Brömsebro_(1645)

Hmm

[timid solstice]

https://www.onthisday.com/people/william-kidd

Profession: Pirate Legend

[fallen jasper]

PIRATE LEGEND FROM SEA OF THIEVES?!

[worn badger]

https://tenor.com/view/patchy-the-pirate-spongebob-nicktoons-bubble-gif-16638629

my favorite type of pirate

[sharp flame]

I predict the answer is going to be

12345

(in latin)

[fallen jasper]

https://tenor.com/view/barack-obama-uhh-really-oh-gif-21627860

[sharp flame]

Rob needs a while more to make the image 😂

[fallen jasper]

Rob is gonna come in here with a bomb ass image

[sharp flame]

Watch it be a big reveal

[fallen jasper]

Gonna be the Baron robot thing from the original ARC Reveal fighting in Seoul

[sharp flame]

I mean last tier had Seoul art

if we'd solved the previous tiers faster maybe we would've gotten Seoul early

so what if... the next map will appear in images 👀👀👀
/s

[sharp flame]

<t:1688405400:R>

🙏

10 people ready: this is goood

[jade citrus]

O Saint Rob, may you answer our prayers and bless us with a bomb-ass image 🙏

[sharp flame]

#egg-hunt-onboarding

bomb ass image incoming

[sick stone]

no booty pics allowed 😡

[sharp flame]

Rob and co. are cooking 🙏

[south wyvern]

Flat Eric

https://tenor.com/view/flat-eric-flat-eric-oizo-mr-oizo-gif-21399659

[sharp flame]

wait how do both of our reactions have the same name

[south wyvern]

create emoji name in private server that to refrain from using Rob's. yea?

[sharp flame]

omg that's cool

love your emojis

[south wyvern]

[sharp flame]

❤️‍🔥

[south wyvern]

ten minutes... ?

[sharp flame]

No clue... could be another 3 hours hehe

[sharp flame]

But it's gettin late in Stockholm

so as we say...

[south wyvern]

whats time over there now?

6pm ish?

[sharp flame]

19:23

[sharp flame]

🕯️ 🇸 🇷 🕯️

come on wob

[fallen jasper]

wob

🕯️ 🇸 🇼 🕯️

[sharp flame]

🕯️ 🇸 🇼 🕯️

Saint Wob

[sharp flame]

it's nearly 8pm

I know Rob is a night owl... but I still think it could come any second 🙏 😭

[jade citrus]

🙏 🙏

[sharp flame]

I'm okay with it coming later this week

Rob needs some R&R

[proud minnow]

20:09

[sharp flame]

YOO

https://www.reachthefinals.com/t1-e

ngl I want the highest quality version of this already

#official-art 🙏

probably is, but squarespace is weird

[hidden nacelle]

👀

[sharp flame]

the image quality depends on the number before the 'w' in the URL

1500w

I put the url 999999999999999w

lmfao

[neon stream]

SR answered our prayers... ._.

[sharp flame]

ROB THEY LOOK AWEsOME BTW

[hidden nacelle]

circle bottom right

[proud minnow]

Welcome to the new Tier..!

[neon stream]

inb4 password's 0vif0rm again 😛

[sharp flame]

👀

first of all

'Couple'

many meanings

Romance in THE FINALS confirmed??!!!

[hidden nacelle]

another in the top left

[hidden nacelle]

looks like a landscape in the background

[sharp flame]

can someone remember if this date is accurate?

[hidden nacelle]

wow

lol

[pure loom]

I’m on mobile, but could someone on PC please measure the angle between the two weapons? (My guess is 27.5 degrees)

[sharp flame]

that would be a crazy clue

[proud minnow]

HAHA imagine if we wrote that wrong... @cedar owl is this correct.?!

[sharp flame]

I checked and... I think it is?

[fallen jasper]

What are we checking dates for

[proud minnow]

When we ran the CB2, haha

[fallen jasper]

Yeah that's right

[cedar owl]

Of course it's correct!

[hidden nacelle]

cb3

https://tenor.com/view/copium-meme-pepe-frog-gif-26117735

[fallen jasper]

CB2 trailer came out on June 12th
Launched June 14th

[proud minnow]

THX.!

[sharp flame]

Rob you got a bit of uhhh... grain on this image

[solar glade]

these look intentional

[pure loom]

Other obvious things: the giant M their legs form

[proud minnow]

I know my dates--- --

[fallen jasper]

I also know my dates

I am too dated help

[sharp flame]

woah what's with the hyphens

[hidden nacelle]

302

[sharp flame]

those look like words yeah

[nimble iron]

Did something happen?

[hidden nacelle]

new art

[nimble iron]

Ooo

[hidden nacelle]

#official-art

[pure loom]

This is actually a theme of the diamond clues I’ve been considering

[sharp flame]

alpha and .

[solar glade]

if you overlay the image twice some stuff get revealed

[sharp flame]

4.2465

just typing it out so I can search for it later

[sharp flame]

those are numerals XLVI CCIV

someone double check that

[hidden nacelle]

there is 31 bullets (if i counted correctly)

[fallen jasper]

Finally I can start writing the fanfic

[sharp flame]

but the numerals say 46 204

[fallen jasper]

CB2 Guy x CB2 Woman

[pure loom]

Rob just 👀 that

[fallen jasper]

Starcrossed Lovers- anyway

[solar glade]

clearer view of BG elements

[fallen jasper]

Oh god no we're about to go down a rabbithole

[sharp flame]

anyone see this?

weird background pattern

[hidden nacelle]

yes

[sharp flame]

idk if it's normally like that

it's everywhere in the image

grid pattern

[solar glade]

you mean this

[proud minnow]

Why on earth would that be a crazy clue...?

[sharp flame]

uhh.. it's just.. I mean... measuring the angle of a 3d object...

gah nevermind we can do it 💪

the general shape of the BG pattern

[pure loom]

This is the path I thought of: here are the passwords so far: geocache, 1064, 79, 5f137s2, 0vif0rm, cacoiii - and the fragments of the possible path: geocache = burial, 1064 = ?, 79 = old age, 5f137s2 = something mid life, 0vif0rm = birth, cacoiii = fertilisation?, the next password is romance - it could be life in reverse. That’s as far as I’ve got.

[fallen jasper]

Can we call it a slow burn romance if it takes us another 96 days to solve.

[floral axle]

Clues Kyne, not fanfics

[sharp flame]

wait this might be the polaris tier

also cmon guys wake up we gotta solve things

4.2465 solved boom

[fallen jasper]

Working on setting the Padlet up

[solar glade]

glhf hunters

[sick stone]

what's this?

[sharp flame]

hahaha check in with ya in a bit 👋

[hidden nacelle]

rob reacted to it

[coarse dagger]

Woke up late. Had to do some errands. On my way home and we'll get my obsidian notebook started

[sick stone]

yh, but where did it come from?

[coarse dagger]

The dashes in robs comment

[sick stone]

ahh

ofc

[hidden nacelle]

i just wrote it randomly because of the dashes

[fallen jasper]

https://padlet.com/Kyne/the-promise-t1f-e13p6j3z8rtoabls

[sharp flame]

crazy you got that first try 💪

[coarse dagger]

302 - Wikipedia https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/302

[fallen jasper]

Alright feel free to work with this

[coarse dagger]

Maybe? Because he mentioned dates

[fallen jasper]

I've added the color legend again so people can color code correctly 🙏

[sharp flame]

okay so Red is confirmed paths right

[sharp flame]

definitely possible

[fallen jasper]

I have no clue what I was doing with red back then because it doesn't make any sense

[jade citrus]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/302_Clarissa

[sharp flame]

kk but from now on can Red be confirmed paths

[solar glade]

LayerName="Hi all EE-hunters..!"
LayerText="here we go again... from embark with love.!"
for tradition's sake

[sharp flame]

❤️

[fallen jasper]

We'll do:
Blue for anything offical Embark releases. So any of their websites, images, statements.
Green for clues we've gotten from images. So anything hidden in the image
Orange for any connections we get from those clues.
Red paths that are either confirmed or very likely.

[hidden nacelle]

isnt this the thing we saw earlier on?

[sharp flame]

I think Proxima Centauri is a yes

[sharp flame]

yeah, has it shown up currently?

[fallen jasper]

Remember to either add why it's connected in the image description or link line.

[sharp flame]

Yep yep

[fallen jasper]

Just so we can make sure everyone is on the same page

[hidden nacelle]

its in the 302 Clarissa wiki

[fallen jasper]

Centurai is 4.2465 light years away from ear- yeah

[sharp flame]

done

[fallen jasper]

for some reason I thought that was Flexed and not you

[pure loom]

Proxima would fit with romance

[sharp flame]

it is?

[sharp flame]

wait a minute

[fallen jasper]

You and Duh got invited to edit the padlet btw so feel free to add

[jade citrus]

a tier about romance? i got this 😎 /s

[sharp flame]

here look

Companion = Couple?

[fallen jasper]

Hmm

[indigo chasm]

The eyes, chico, they never lie (look into her eyes)

[sharp flame]

also fits with binary stars and etc

which we never really got to the bottom of

I think we need a few more clues

interesting shapes

[jade citrus]

no i think we can solve it today

[sharp flame]

berkeley mentioned

[fallen jasper]

I invited you btw

I saw you were looking and typing

[fallen jasper]

Berkley needs to stop showing up for everything

First they claim 6 elements in a row and now they're annoying a multinational group of EE hunters

[sharp flame]

I mean there's your 302... hahaha

[fallen jasper]

hmm

[coarse dagger]

Where was this one?

[fallen jasper]

Robert Innes was competiting with James Dunlop and John Hershel for discoveries.

[hidden nacelle]

between the 2 models

[fallen jasper]

When he started observing them as an amateur in Australia, the choice plums had already been picked by earlier astronomers, notably James Dunlop and John Herschel. Many of Innes' discoveries were stars with faint companions that were missed by earlier observers.

Kinda I guess

[jade citrus]

[fallen jasper]

Imagine having to compete with two guys that have been dead for 200 years

Because they already discovered all the stars you could see with the tech of the time

[sharp flame]

okay so is this all a diagram or what

[jade citrus]

my first thought with that black dot was a solar eclipse..

[sick stone]

79

[sharp flame]

could the Alpha be in relation to Alpha Centauri?

[sick stone]

what I was thinking

[sharp flame]

if the a. stands for Alpha centauri then the 2 circles are objects

planets? stars?

either one

[worn badger]

new image, let's go

can't start yet but wish you all the best and good luck solving this

[sharp flame]

box around Embark?

original colours, blue line down here!

[fallen jasper]

We've already got a good amount of connections

[sharp flame]

look at dis

[timid solstice]

answer is ||egg||

[fallen jasper]

egg

[sharp flame]

guys I'm gonna collect the colours for each of the pixels myself

why do I always gotta be the one doing stuff 😭

[timid solstice]

how we all doing

[sharp flame]

well, love the new excitement

we already have 1 clue!

[timid solstice]

I got my spaghetti lets go

https://www.aperisolve.com/cf9143084569609bd1ecbc4302e8ab02

[hallow kernel]

The pants on the right guy look Sus

[timid solstice]

I havent read up yet

huge clue in metadata btw

is it posted?

[sharp flame]

nope

[fallen jasper]

So the guy that first measured the distance to Alpha Centurai was Thomas Henderson, who is Scottish...

Can we stop starting these searches with people born in Scotland lmao

[timid solstice]

Hi all EE-hunters..!
here we go again... from embark with love.!

[sharp flame]

oh insane clue

[timid solstice]

I meant this... but checked with my usual go to and cant see it

imagedata .. text: "1%79C@!4"
b3,r,msb,xy .. file: MPEG-4 LOAS
b4,r,lsb,xy .. text: "D6PE36C#"
b4,g,lsb,xy .. text: "&O!3#UVw13"
b4,b,lsb,xy .. text: "D!3DB432#B2"333C#D3ECTC"F3S4EUUVSeDU5UE3Te5uSE7UTUu"

[fallen jasper]

He got a position at the Royal Observatory, where Robert Innes would eventually end up at a hundred years later to find Proxima Centauri

[sharp flame]

oh crap

[timid solstice]

i think aperisolve had a melt

[coarse dagger]

Moire pattern?

[sharp flame]

here we go

[coarse dagger]

Moire -> amore -> love
Amore is the Italian word for "love". It may come from Amare which is "to love" in Latin.

Titled "couples" as well

[south wyvern]

32 now. 18 under female and 14 under male or something like 18F-14M

[timid solstice]

keep it simple image over overlayed... the same error?

[coarse dagger]

Did anyone actually measure the angles?

[sharp flame]

Rob is this a clue or an error??

[worn badger]

MPEG-4 is a video format

[worn badger]

this

LOAS = Low OVerhad Audio System

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MPEG-4_Part_3

[coarse dagger]

Lets be cautious going down the asteroid path with every number we come across. There's a lot of asteroids that need a lot of numbers!

[coarse dagger]

Just saw this though, so I think we're good w/ Clarissa

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clarissa
Clarissa is a young and virtuous woman who ends up falling victim to Robert Lovelace

[fallen jasper]

Come out don't use the shorthand

Clarissa; or, The History of a Young Lady: Comprehending the Most Important Concerns of Private Life. And Particularly Shewing, the Distresses that May Attend the Misconduct Both of Parents and Children, In Relation to Marriage.

[timid solstice]

3 circles

[coarse dagger]

Wait, where is proxima centauri in 302 Clarissa?

[sharp flame]

See the circles?

[hidden nacelle]

nah i was just saying that eccentricity was in the 302 Clarissa wiki

[sharp flame]

and the alpha symbol...

[coarse dagger]

Oh I misinterpreted

[fallen jasper]

Hmm

[south wyvern]

Funny how Rob said "40-something". From smoke grenade wikipedia, ...Smoke grenades often cost around US$40 compared to smoke bombs, which can often cost just a few cents it's also go by 'pop smoke'

[fallen jasper]

Guess that's another sign pointing towards Alpha Centauri AB?

Since it is, a, on the Centaurus map

[sharp flame]

for sure I think so

[timid solstice]

writing here?

..... oly

[sharp flame]

ois

[timid solstice]

yeah bois

[sharp flame]

pis?

[pure loom]

ois?

Or ols

[sharp flame]

spis?

[pure loom]

Bois?

[sharp flame]

aspis?

[pure loom]

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aspis#:~:text=An aspis (Ancient%20Greek%3A%20ἀσπίς,various%20periods%20of%20ancient%20Greece.

[sharp flame]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apsis

lmao that's interesting

it clearly isn't aspis but it's spelt pretty close

[coarse dagger]

It's gotta match up with some asterism or star system, right?

[sharp flame]

the one I posted is the likely one I think

due to the Proxima Centauri clue we found

either way

that's definitely -pis

[pure loom]

If this is correct it could be a word that sounds like another word that relates to romance

[sharp flame]

wait it could be lapis again 😭

[timid solstice]

trying to make all the background elements clear

[winged marlin]

So for gun angles what points would we use to draw the lines?

Im getting around 30.2 degrees

[pure loom]

Stone + romance = https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Romancing_the_Stone

[pure loom]

Great, thanks!

302 again!

[jade citrus]

302 again

[sharp flame]

oh for what?

[pure loom]

https://silenthill.fandom.com/wiki/Room_302#:~:text=Room 302 is an infamous,the events of the game.

[winged marlin]

gun angles

[sharp flame]

yeah which gun

[coarse dagger]

Welcome @winged marlin OUT THE GATE WITH A BANGER

[pure loom]

The angle formed between the two rifles

[winged marlin]

bro might just be having propper trigger safety. but is the figure on the right pointing to something? like in the background or secret layers y'all are diggingup?

[sharp flame]

yo can I get a screenshot of the software you usin for that number

[pure loom]

Also this: https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/HTTP/Status/302

[sharp flame]

just wanna make sure it's not a 30.1 degrees or something

[pure loom]

302 found vs 404 not found

[fallen jasper]

CNS hijacking things?

[winged marlin]

Im using Image J

one sec for screen cap