OK all you
point'n'click and puzzle fans, stop what you are doing and dust off your brains. I need your help....be warned though that this is almost certainly the longest post on this site ever - you'll see why as you read down though.
First up let me say that Triskabiblios | The13Books is not a point'n'click game. I'm not even sure that it is a game (my current best bets are it's a kind of arg, some loony thinks this is real and has latched on to me for some reason, it's some kind of viral ad for something, or it's an elaborate hoax). It is however, most definately, a mystery waiting to be solved (hopefully by your fine brains). Let me explain the rather odd course of events that have led me to post this oddity for you to peruse...
It all started in the early hours of this morning when I received an email from someone calling themselves "Orkid_Quantum" (or Orkid OMalley according to the mail alias). I think that Orkid is female. The mail starts off in a fairly usual way for my site submissions, but gets a bit weird towards the end. After visiting the link I dismissed it as it didn't make any sense. Anyway here's the mail in full:
Hi Graeme, I like your site lots, very handy now I've
quit Uni and seem to be spending alot of time checking
out random games. Between you and Jayisgames your the
absolute best pair of game review posting type people
ever. Anyway! Enough schmoozing, heres what I wanted
to show you. Its a wierd website...
www.triskabiblios.com
It seems to be about time travel, but whats scary
about it is that the messages I've been getting
through the game seem to come before the questions
I've asked. Not only that, but it - they - whatever -
seem to know stuff about me that they couldnt possibly
know! I got given a random piece of paper when I was
chilling in the library, and since then some really
strange stuff's been going on.
Anyway, hope you have time to post this what with all
the awesome site modifications you've been doing. You
php master you!
CU L8r
Orkid_Quantum
If you click around on the
Triskabiblios web site (on the cresent moon on the right in the picture above to be precise) you'll find an appointment that ties in with the one mentioned in the e-mail. I've reproduced it below:
Anyway, I'm getting ahead of myself. After a number of hours I had pretty much forgotten about the original e-mail, then at about 10 to 11 this morning the following comment appeared on one of the comment threads on this site:
Check my responses under the original comment as well. At first I didn't make the connection, but since it was such an odd comment I followed the link that 'Islington' left - and where did I end up? Back at:
At this point I became intrigued. Who was "Islington"? Were "Orkid" and "Islington" one and the same? The website didn't seem to reveal much (maybe you'll have better luck), so I mailed "Orkid" and accused her(?) of being "Islington", and to stop winding me up. A curt, and mildly cryptic, response came back very quickly:
You think I'm behind this?? But
I'm IN it!
xOrkid
What does that mean? Orkid is
in the game? From the tone I'm guessing she(?) means unwillingly. And why does she(?) sign off as
xOrkid? Anyway before I had much time to ponder the meaning of this another e-mail arrived. This time from "
Islington":
A receipt for what? How did he know my surname? My e-mail asking that remains unaswered. The link to the receipt on the note you'll notice points back to triskabiblios again. The Link works at the moment, butincase it disappears off the server there's a copy below:
My Receipt From Islington
Since the receipt I've heard no more, and I can't find anything helpful on
triskabiblios - perhaps you'll have more luck?
One thing I did do though was some googling - I quickly found this strange forum post from "Islington" on the weird:
So "Islington" thinks he is a time traveller. This ties in with "Orkid"'s message to me. Here's the message post in case it gets removed:
It's good to find people who are on the same wavelength! Finally, a few voices of experience out here in the wilderness of Transtemporal wanderings.
I'm Islington. I'm looking for the 13 books, the essential encrypted information I need to travel. I'm stuck without them, lost, in a shakey state of flux. And alone. All my colleagues at Triskabiblios seperated from me in the event in which the 13books were first lost. The accident cost me dearly. Now, I'm flitting between chronologically significant points, seemingly at random. I need those books, they must be brought together.
So... I need your help.
It's going to be hard... cryptic coincidences you would normally filter out... but I know (with the benifit of optimistic hindsight) -that your help is both vital, and gratefully recieved.
Islington
Triskabiblios | the13books
Incidently the message board logs "Islington"'s IP address as 86.128.181.226 - but this just resolves to a whole bundle of
btbroadband.com addresses so that doesn't tell us much. My guess though is that "Islington" isn't in
Islington. That would be too easy. Although then again would it really help that much if he was, and we knew that for a fact?
Ok. Finally I googled for "Orkid", or "xOrkid" (remember that mis-spelt email?). Too much came back for any sensible conclusion to be made although this:
Caught my eye, containing as it does the word "xOrkid" (use CTRL+F) and seemingly serving no purpose. However the host site's home page seems to be kosher, so perhaps this is a red herring.
Right that, finally, is all I have. I'm at a stale mate with what to do next. I'm hoping one of you will be able to glean some more information from the clues here, the Triskabiblios site, or some other web source. I have to say I haven't been very thorough in my googling yet. Hopefully then I can solve the mystery of "Islington" and "Orkid", what they want, why they have been in touch with me (has anyone else heard from them?), what, if any, connection they have to time travel and what, and where, the "13 Books" might be. And of course what the meaning of "Triskabiblios" is. Good luck.
PS. I forgot to say that I'll be posting updates on this as and when I gather any more information.
===================================
UPDATES: This post has got a little out of control. I'm going to post my updates in a post oftheir own to make it easier.
I've been getting totally bogged down with some tricky coding this morning (why do mobile web pages have to be so bloody difficult when they come out so simple?), and I was just about to go nuts, and was thinking I need some mindless shooting and banging techno music to let off some steam, when what do you know? I find
A.L.I.A.S, which delivers on both counts.
A, D, & W keys to move, move the mouse to aim, and mouse-click to fire.
The Big Game might look, at first glance, like your regular 'trapped-in-a-room'
point'n'click game, but don't be fooled! It breaks all the standard rules of
point'n'click. I'm disgusted. You are in a room, but you don't wake up disorientated in it, and you don't have to escape (in fact checking back there isn't even a door! you'll have to go out the window!). There's no clue in the wastepaper basket, there isn't even a wastepaper basket to rumage in. There isn't even a computer on a desk (a televsion just doesn't cut it for me I'm afraid). Despite these seemingly fatal flaws though
The Big Game is nice enough to play, although don't be mis-lead by the name. It's not big at all. I had my feet up on the sofa, beer in hand, with the game on tv, before I could say "I'm glad this one isn't in Japanese" [
subbed by diego, becky, cakehead, eb, lynn, susi k & justme. phew!].
Help the wizard find the princess in
A Wizard Tale, a little adventure that combines some simple
point'n'click with arcade action elements, and throws in some cute graphics and music for good measure.
Proper old skool
point'n'click - trapped in a room, combine the objects you collect to find a way to escape, there's a clue in the wastepaper basket....all it needs is an Apple Mac on a desk and
Quaint Room would have every essential
point'n'click ingredient. The only bad thing is it's a tad too easy - although I've included a couple of visual clues (above) if you are having trouble [
subbed by tafkam, jackie & lynn].
UPDATE: I should have mentioned before that this is the follow up to Swan's Room if you are thinking it looks familiar.
Maze is a simple, yet fun, arcade game, the idea of the game being to, guess what, escape the maze. Things are complicated slightly by only being able to see a keyhole view of the maze, needing a key before the exit will open, and that all important time limit. Pick up the time and wall bashing bonus items along the way to make life easier.
It's been a bit quiet on site this last week as I've been away on holiday - more on that soon, including my holiday snaps, but for now it's back on with the links....
First up, by way of a gentle re-introduction, is fear. Damn spooky, yes, but difficult, no. Don't expect the best, or indeed lengthiest, point'n'click gameplay, but do keep those spare undies handy.
