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Welp, no pictures of arrows in sight, but I guess there's still a shaft on this new page.TheMcD posted:FATAVIAMINYENIENT? loving hell, I can't decypher poo poo. Also, a cat portrait. I don't think we should help the guide catch any diggers that might potentially be digging an escape route (especially if said route has a heavy looking statue over its only entrance), so I vote for unlucky door 13.
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Oct 25, 2014 02:50
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I vote for 13 on the basis of the cat portrait. The cat looks like it is trying to frighten off interlopers like us.
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Oct 25, 2014 03:07
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I say we investigate number 9, on the basis that we've little reason to expect the maze to be actively malicious, so when there's an obviously-intended choice we might as well take it.
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Oct 25, 2014 03:44
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It may not mean anything but there's 13 card in each suit of cards which may be a clue to go down Door 13. With that In mind I vote for Door 9 because it looks like a spooky cave and spooky caves are cool 
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Oct 25, 2014 04:46
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I had this book as a kid, and loved looking through it, but I was never able to gleam a single clue from it. Hopefully we can crack it with our collective minds. Some things I note in the room. A Bat by a Cat. A door with a Spade above it, and door with a Spade (shovel) beside it. If The Fates are to decide, we get this on them from wikipedia: quote:Clotho – "spinner" spun the thread of life from her distaff onto her spindle. Her Roman equivalent was Nona, (the 'Ninth'), who was originally a goddess called upon in the ninth month of pregnancy. I cannot tell which, if any, of The Fates the statue in this room is supposed to represent. But the fact that there just happens to be a door for 9, leads me to think that is the correct path. I vote for Door 9.
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Oct 25, 2014 05:16
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Door 13. gently caress you guide you can't tell me to do nuthin'.
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Oct 25, 2014 05:28
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The statue's right hand seems to be pointing at the lantern, while the left hand of the shadow points at the shovel.
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Oct 25, 2014 08:04
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The baseball bat and the blindfold are telling me to go through the buried door to the basement. 9.
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Oct 25, 2014 11:28
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People are matching the Shovel on the floor with the Spade on the door, but seem to be forgetting that a Bat makes a perfectly useful Club as well. So we're just missing diamonds. Let's see if they are in the mine. Door 9 So, if I undestand it correctly, we're coming from room 20 throughthe Hearts door? There seem to be some stairs there.
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Oct 25, 2014 12:14
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Grimwit posted:The visitors were so intrigued with the entrance at the bottom of the excavation that they ignored what the figure was trying to tell them. This and the card themes. The figure's open hand (a clue to a hand in a card game?) points to Door 13. The plaque with the number 13 on it looks a bit like a crown (and the lower half of a diamond shape which would complete the colours), which could indicate the king / #13 in a suit of cards as well.
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Oct 25, 2014 14:10
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I'm in the middle of a big write about a lot of things we've seen so far so in case I get distracted and don't finish I will vote 9. We are in the Underworld and a big 9 leading downwards reminds me big time of the 9 circles of hell from The Divine Comedy.
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Oct 25, 2014 14:21
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Old Grey Guy posted:This and the card themes. The figure's open hand (a clue to a hand in a card game?) points to Door 13. The plaque with the number 13 on it looks a bit like a crown (and the lower half of a diamond shape which would complete the colours), which could indicate the king / #13 in a suit of cards as well. I'm going with this. 13
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Oct 25, 2014 14:33
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Voting 9. Posting on a phone with somewhere to go so quoting all the reasons would take too long. The gist of what I got from everyone's remarks is that 9 rep. fate/underworld (following Dante's footsteps?) and with 13 we're following the cards to a perhaps unlucky end.
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Oct 25, 2014 14:34
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Vexrm posted:Man, I loved this book but the puzzle even when explained to me left me confused. I'm staying out of this, but going to be watching in hopes of a good explanation. I've been thinking about this since I read it. Half of the fun is trying to figure out all the clues and red herrings, but as I've mentioned, this book doesn't have a "Solutions" section. Instead, there's just bits and pieces that I and some others on the inter-webs has figured out. I fully intend to explain: The Riddle of the Room, The Riddle of the Path, and The Basement Rooms I did not think about explaining the other rooms, however, and I see you guys working hard on it so... Question Would you like me to explain some of the previously visited rooms later down the line? (Say every 5 or 10 rooms we visit) Or would you rather I wait until the end? If you worry that you'll have an unfair advantage, it would be nothing compared to the map I already provide.
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Oct 25, 2014 14:51
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I already went through the maze some years ago and I was fascinated with it. I'm going to follow you guys along but not vote because I think I still remember the correct path.
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Oct 25, 2014 15:08
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Personally, I'd prefer to try and take a crack at the overall puzzle without individual room explanations at first - while the map is sure to be a big help, my first impression is that actually putting it together is more of a mechanical step than an insightful one. (I fully admit I could be completely wrong about that though - I suppose we'll find out as more is revealed)
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Oct 25, 2014 15:10
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God this seems really cool. I've been looking closely at what little text we've had so far and it is dripping with mythology. I’ve tried to arrange this all in a way that makes sense. Apologies for the long effort post and much Wikipedia searching. Let’s just go through the first update at the moment. So, who is our guide? Grimwit posted:The Maze. He says the people with him should call him Cerberus, the, mostly, 3-headed hellhound who guarded the entrance to the Underworld with his master, Hades. In the Divine Comedy, Cerberus appeared in the 3rd Circle of Hell (Gluttony). He also appeared in the 12 Labours of Hercules as his final challenge by another poet, Peisander of Rhodes. The very first image gives me some pause for thought though, identified in the thread as a Red Herring.  Another possibility is that the guide is Charon ferryman of the Rivers Styx and Archeron between the lands of the living and the dead. That man Virgil crops up again, who wrote the Aneied, with the tale of Aeneas, a survivor of the sack of Troy, who descends into the Underworld. Charon is described as: There Chairon stands, who rules the dreary coast - A sordid god: down from his hairy chin A length of beard descends, uncombed, unclean; His eyes, like hollow furnaces on fire; A girdle, foul with grease, binds his obscene attire The guide tell us the people cannot see his crown, nor the pain, nor fire in his eyes. So our guide could also be Charon. A crown is a form of currency, a toll for the boatman. The Umbrella in this picture could symbolise his pole barge? (Ok, this one is a bit far-fetched)  Charon also appears in The Divine Comedy as someone Dante meets early on in his journey. It also could mean a literal crown on his head. Now Cerberus and Charon don’t wear crowns, they aren’t kings in their own right. Only Hades in the Underworld has a crown. What if this maze is actually Tartarus? Grimwit posted:The monstrous walls rise up and run away as far as the human eye can see, circling and dividing. Which half is the Maze? Prison of the Titans of Greek mythology, Tartarus can exist as either a part of Hades himself or a physical place in the Underworld and sometimes a dark place far beneath even the land of the dead. So if Tartarus is our maze, we could literally be inside Hades, with the manifestation of Cerberus/Charon as part of his psyche as our guide. As architect, Hades can forever keep changing the layout of Tartarus, The sun glaring at us shows how we are leaving the light of the living into the darkness of the Underworld. We could even be Cronos, father of Zeus, leader of the Titans and known as the King of Tartarus, imprisoned there by his son. In fact, that umbrella handle could represent the scythe/sickle that Cronos is traditionally known to carry. Whatever the case, we are already dead. Good job guys! This image; Is the gateway to the Tartatrus itself. The very first line says “I usually wait inside” Many other clues show we aren’t the first people to be guided by this man. Grimwit posted:
Invest in some sun cream dude. Story of my life? Nary a soul to be seen? We are so dead. But what don’t we want to be late for? Who are we, exactly? There is at least 3 of us. A group of recently deceased? Adventures trying to rescue a soul from the Land of the Dead? That's my take on a few things, hope it wasn't disrupting. I could go for ages dissecting every little thing and most of it will be wrong!
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Oct 25, 2014 15:28
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There is another room that offers some clues about the identity of the guide that you have to take into consideration. I don't remember which page is it but if we cross it I'm going to point it out.
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Oct 25, 2014 15:35
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And I already covered my reason for voting 9, another ref. to The Divine Comedy. Is the statue Virgil? The guide says someone dug up the door he hid, who and why? Previous people he guided who escaped/got lost? Slip of the tongue from the guide, he wants to punish the ones who revealed the passage.
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Oct 25, 2014 15:45
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I'm still puzzled about the figure. It seems to show a Greek or Roman man (far-fetched: Romanised Gaul etc.) with a blindfold. A prominent character in that sphere of mythology who is sometimes depicted with a blindfold would be Eros/Amor but I've got nothing else on that. The heart in the room, perhaps? I'm quite stumped. Edit: ViggyNash posted:[...] and with 13 we're following the cards to a perhaps unlucky end. I've been debating this, too. Some people see 13 as a lucky number, and there's 'spades' meaning 'abundance' as in 'spades of good luck' which is countered by some people seeing spades as bad luck. I'm not sure which way the author is going. Old Grey Guy fucked around with this message at 16:45 on Oct 25, 2014 |
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Oct 25, 2014 16:33
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DJ Ramshackle posted:
I've seen and heard so many theories about the Guide. In my mind, of all the puzzles and riddles of the Maze, the question "Who Is Our Guide" is the most mysterious. I fully admit, I don't know, nor have I found an answer. Once we get deep into the puzzles, we'll find, like the ringing from Rooms 1 and Room 20, the clues interconnect between locations. Some clues depend on you already having visited other rooms first (there is a way to get to room 20 from room 1 without passing through room 20, for example) and in this way, the Maze doesn't play fair. But the Guide's identity, I believe, was an Easter egg of the book, requiring you to have been through most, if not all, of the rooms. The ultimate unfair puzzle. His name is an achievement I don't think anyone but the author has unlocked. But then, the Something Awful goons haven't tried, yet. I'll be interested when (not if) you folks uncover clues and theories I haven't thought of.
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Oct 25, 2014 17:08
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I vote for door 9, simply because our mysterious guide tried to hide the entrance.
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Oct 25, 2014 18:12
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13 because the tourist guys want to go to 9 and those guys suck.
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Oct 25, 2014 19:02
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 FATA VIAM INVENIENT (The Fates Will Find A Way), are also the first words of the H.P Lovecraft story The Tree. Two famous sculptors, Kalos and Musides are commissioned to build a sculpture each for the Tyrant of Syracuse. Kalos dies before his statue is complete and is entombed by Musides along with olive trees nearby. The tree grew until a storm caused a branch to fall, destroying the statue Musides had built for the Tyrant and Musides himself apparently. Anyway, if it's a reference to Lovecraft, the sculpture could be the tomb of Kalos, although there aren't any trees nearby, maybe the next room? The story is set on Mount Maenalus, and notes 3 important features; the tomb containing many sculptures, the large villa or house now in ruins and an olive grove. We have 2 out of the 3 so far I think, the house room we were in didn't look to be in bad shape. In the story Mount Maenalus is said to be a haunt of the god Pan, god of nature, the wilds and shepherds among others. Interesting then that the guide describes herding us out of the room. Cool wordplay. No sign of his pipe flute so far. The story also mentions the sound of the wind in the mountains as noise that sticks out. There is Pan and his music as well.
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Oct 25, 2014 19:14
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I thought I might try to add some life to the rooms, I'll probably fall behind on adding these though. WebM  WebM Let me know if you like these. Also, is there's a way to embed the original .webm files instead of .gifs.
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Oct 25, 2014 19:54
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You had me thinking for a moment there: "wait, you have an old CYOA book and it has MOVING PICTURES?" I know. I'm an idiot. Then I realized you made them. Nicely done. The forums don't support embedded webm files as far as I know. It seems The Powers That Be consider it a fad that'll never become a real standard. Which might be true.
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Oct 25, 2014 20:19
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Those look great, Uber. Gives a nice sense of atmosphere.  As for me, I think I'll go with Number 9. I kept waffling back and forth between the two, but with the blindfolded statue and the latin phrase I just couldn't ignore 9.
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Oct 25, 2014 20:22
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I'm also going to go with room 9, mostly because it's drawing so much attention to itself it's suspicious, and I'm the type of person who always runs through games trying to travel the dead ends first. Also our grim reaper guide dude is annoyed about it.
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Oct 25, 2014 21:15
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UberSprode posted:I thought I might try to add some life to the rooms... Looks good, man! I've thrown them into the second post under our maps. Three hours left to vote, by the by.
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Oct 25, 2014 22:08
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Totally doing these instead of the work I should be doing. I'm trying to keep the motion as subtle as I can.  WebM
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Oct 25, 2014 22:26
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UberSprode posted:Totally doing these instead of the work I should be doing. These are just great! I can't stop looking at it.
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Oct 25, 2014 23:07
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I'm a little confused about room 27. When we were in room 20, we could see through the open door into 27 and there was a large arrow (or a painting of an arrow) on the wall, but now that we're inside it's nowhere to be seen. I know the map that OP made connects the rooms with long hallways or stair cases, but I figured this was to account for otherwise impossible geometry and it was implied that from the perspectives of the visitors the rooms are right next to each other, sharing walls. At least, the transition from the cover page to room 1 shows this. Anyway, room 9 is too interesting not to choose. I'd probably steer clear if this were a traditional CYOA but I get the impression there aren't any death traps in this book.
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Oct 25, 2014 23:39
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ElTipejoLoco posted:The only club might be the bat. The symbol above door 13's a spade, and the shovel next to the unlabeled heart door might also be considered the same. Son of a bitch, I can't stop mixing up the spades and the clubs. I meant to say spade, but was dumb again. Devils Affricate posted:I'd probably steer clear if this were a traditional CYOA but I get the impression there aren't any death traps in this book. Even if there were, we could just backtrack. Not like a book can force us to not just do that.
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Oct 25, 2014 23:42
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Grimwit posted:Uh Oh. No back tracking here. You're choices are one or the other. I'm sure I'm missing something, but I was assuming that, since we entered a room and there's no door that leads back but instead an unlabeled door, that we could now assume the door with the heart above it would logically lead back to room 20? If that's just how it is with this maze then that's just how it is, but until you mentioned that, I was adding 'okay, heart = 20' into my puzzlings. If there's another room that leads to 27 that isn't 13, 9, or 20, then obviously no such assumptions can be made and drat these puzzles! I agree with everyone else that says we should go to Room 13. The room just seems to point to it, with 9 almost seeing too deliberately set up. Where are the workers, surrrre.
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Oct 26, 2014 00:26
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There was an arrow shown through the doorframe for this room on the last page, but its head was obscured. The spade over door 13 also resembles an arrowhead, so I'll go with that. Edit: Although between the spade, the cat (that could be black), and The Tower on the previous page, would could be going in a rather unlucky direction.
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Oct 26, 2014 00:31
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With twelve votes, we have a winner. Looks like we're entering... Room 9 …what appeared to be an old storeroom. Dust obscured a damaged painting making it hard to understand just what the artist had intended. “This could be a trick of some sort,” one said. “We might be going around in circles.” “I don’t think so,” said the thoughtful one. “I think we’re supposed to think it’s a trick…that’s the trick.” They all looked at me. “Yes,” I said. “I’m sure you’re right about that.” With doubtful looks they left for… As the text says, there are tricks to the Maze, and to this room. See, the fables used in the book usually have morals. It's important you pay attention to the stories and not just what door they indicate. There are right and wrong choices, after all. Edit: Some people are having trouble examining the paintings. Also, what is that in the door way? I have zoomed in for you. The Painting...  The Doorway...  Let's look at our map.  Ah, our previous room has been cut off again. As the map seems to indicate, we ARE deeper into the maze, now. It's a long way from home, but we'll return eventually. Please remember to make your votes in Bold. You have roughly 24 hours. Grimwit fucked around with this message at 14:18 on Oct 26, 2014 |
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Oct 26, 2014 01:11
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Door 18 has a swag bag in the corner and I am, of course, all about that swaaaaag.
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Oct 26, 2014 01:30
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Things I noticed/questions I have: - Painting on the right: the sun is shining on what looks to me like the Taj Mahal - Door (opening, really) 18 has an apple(?) just beyond and a picture of a ghost/angel on the wall behind. - Ripped painting depicts a swordsman of sorts. Looks like he has a tail? Seems to be intentionally the centerpiece of the room. - Hammer(?) and shovel next to the opening. - Picture on the far left looks like a dickheaded alien with sunglasses and a cane. In other words,  - Picture of 3 men with somewhat distinctive faces. Who are they? - Door 3 seems to have been dug under. - One speaker is distinctly labeled as "thoughtful" - What trick are they referring to? I'm going to make a preliminary vote for 3 to find out why it was dug under. Might change this later based on what input other people have.
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Oct 26, 2014 01:33
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ViggyNash posted:- Picture on the far left looks like a dickheaded alien with sunglasses and a cane. In other words, I keep zooming in to try to figure out what the heck that thing is, but I have no idea either.
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Oct 26, 2014 01:43
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The entrance to this room was hidden, and the whole place has a sense of disrepair about it. I'd say we're not meant to be here. Of course, maybe that's the trick. That in mind, I'd go with door 3. It looks like the less obvious entrance, so more likely to lead to where we're 'meant' to be. I notice the shovel handle is broken. I'm not sure what that could mean, though.
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Oct 26, 2014 01:49
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