CORDIAL MINUET ENSEMBLE

Cobblestone

Member

Registered: 2015-01-28

Posts: 212

The Mystery of the Amulets

I was looking at the photos of the amulets, and I noticed that they seem to be notched in sequential order if you were to group the amulets together by type. Except there is no amulet 11, and amulets 12 and 13 are being awarded in reverse order. Odd, right? Also, I was thinking that the holes appear to be very deliberately placed and sized, which makes me wonder if you need to align them somehow to fully decode the message the backs.

Since I don't know much about demonology or the Grimorium Verum, I decided to do a little bit of researching on the amulet's sigils.

Here's a breakdown of what I've learned so far:

Notches: leaderboardName - Amulet, Day (sigil)

1: oceanRam - Copper 1, Day 1 (sigil of Mersilde)
2: clayStream -Copper 2, Day 2 (sigil of Clisthert)
3: twistingFish - Copper 3, Day 6 (sigil of Hicpacth)
4: curledHorns - Copper 4, Day 7 (sigil of Gurland)
5: bullCalf - Copper 5, Day 8 (sigil of Huictiigaras)
6: sameFaces - Silver 1, Day 3 (sigil of Segal)
7: twoClaws - Silver 2, Day 4 (sigil of Surgat)
8: toughPelt - Silver 3, Day 9 (sigil of Bucon)
9: wheatFurrow - Silver 4, Day 10 (sigil of Minson)
10: justBalance - Gold 1, Day 5 (sigil of Beelzebuth)
11: ???
12: horseMan - Gold 3, Day 12 (sigil of Astaroth)
13: burningSting - Gold 2, Day 11 (sigil of Lucifer)

I'll be very interested to find out what's on the back of the amulets.

Professor Chin

Member

Registered: 2015-01-13

Posts: 54

Re: The Mystery of the Amulets

Thank you Cobblestone, interesting indeed!

..

Member

Registered: 2014-11-21

Posts: 259

Re: The Mystery of the Amulets

The eleventh amulet was forged in the fires in secret by the dark lord, which he kept to control all others.

LiteS

Member

Registered: 2015-01-27

Posts: 82

Re: The Mystery of the Amulets

Hmm. Solving the mystery on the back might lead to the last amulet somehow. But it's a tough one, and given JA's secrecy, I don't think we'll ever get to see the back of #10.

As for what the backs look like... dots, circles, lines... maybe a triangle or two.

jasonrohrer

Administrator

Registered: 2014-11-20

Posts: 802

Re: The Mystery of the Amulets

...

Cobblestone

Member

Registered: 2015-01-28

Posts: 212

Re: The Mystery of the Amulets

I found a website today that goes into a little more detail about the demons represented on the amulets:

MERSILDE can transport thee instantaneously wheresoever may be desired.
CLISTHERET makes day or night about thee at pleasure.
HIEPACTH will bring thee a distant person in an instant.
GULAND can cause all varieties of disease.
HUICTIIGARA occasions sleep and waking in some, and afflicts others with insomnia.
SEGAL causes all manner of prodigies visibly, both natural and supernatural.
SURGAT opens all locks.
Bucon, who has the power to excite hatred and jealousy between the two sexes.
Minoson, who insures winning in all games.

Of course the three gold amulets signify:
The three superior are Lucifer, Beelzebuth and Astaroth. According to the latter, Lucifer is Emperor; Beelzebuth, Prince; and Astaroth, Grand Duke.

...

I hope you don't mind I've posted this info! I find all of this incredibly fascinating!

Hmm. Solving the mystery on the back might lead to the last amulet somehow. But it's a tough one, and given JA's secrecy, I don't think we'll ever get to see the back of #10

Hm... that would be unfortunate if that amulet was essentially lost. Hopefully there's a way to solve the message if it's incomplete?

jasonrohrer

Administrator

Registered: 2014-11-20

Posts: 802

Re: The Mystery of the Amulets

No, I don't mind!

What about the amulet code names?  No progress there?  The number of amulets should be a hint...

shotgun

Member

Registered: 2015-05-11

Posts: 22

Re: The Mystery of the Amulets

signs of the zodiac

Cobblestone

Member

Registered: 2015-01-28

Posts: 212

Re: The Mystery of the Amulets

The amulet code names are elusive so far. I can't find anything about them verbatim.

I was working on this silly theory that each code name was actually comprised of two halves of actual phrases. For example, twoClaws is a combination of twoHorns and uh, curledClaws? The idea I had was with 12 amulets, each code name would connect to two others and they could be arranged into a 12 pointed star, which is a symbol for the creation of the universe, apparently... and that runs completely counter to the theme of the game. So ya, I didn't get very far on that!

I've been looking into the number 12, and there are demons associated with each month, but not all of these specific demons are included. There's also 12 disciples, but again that seems to be the opposite direction.

Then again, there's 12 amulets we see, but the notches indicate there's a missing one. So that seems more likely the direction to head in, since 13 is well... 13.

I'm going to rattle this around in my head, take a long walk in the park, and maybe I'll find a lead somewhere!

Edit:

signs of the zodiac

*facepalms* ...or I could just refresh the page and see someone else came up with a brilliant direction to head in. Thanks shotgun!

Edit, adding this:

1: oceanRam - Capricorn
2: clayStream - Aquarius
3: twistingFish - Pisces
4: curledHorns - Aries
5: bullCalf - Taurus
6: sameFaces - Gemini
7: twoClaws - Cancer
8: toughPelt - Leo
9: wheatFurrow - Virgo
10: justBalance - Libra
11: ???
12: horseMan - Sagittarius
13: burningSting - Scorpio

I'm pretty sure this is the association here. Of course, this means the elusive 13th zodiac is Ophiuchus, the serpent-bearer... according to Wikipedia.

Last edited by Cobblestone (2015-05-12 07:05:00)

LiteS

Member

Registered: 2015-01-27

Posts: 82

Re: The Mystery of the Amulets

idunno anything about all that, but I think I found the hidden message about the time the God Of Destruction compelled Jason to do some terrible things to his wife after a marathon. I think he ran into a skunk while trying to escape. It went a bit like this:

a romance,
my last race.
I fight twins,
scold her, run,
fall, club
a cafe's EMS.
wow. Talc's
top. ugh. let
we who tar fur
cub's anal jet
harm one's
burn. Stinging.

jasonrohrer

Administrator

Registered: 2014-11-20

Posts: 802

Re: The Mystery of the Amulets

Actually, one of the dogs that bit my wife in New Mexico was a "twin."  They were out together for a walk and one of them got off the leash, ran into the road, and bit her while she sat on her bike.  The EMS came.

We bought the dog club after that.

LiteS

Member

Registered: 2015-01-27

Posts: 82

Re: The Mystery of the Amulets

Just noticed this: In the "Before" picture, there are 5 silver coins, but after there are only 4 silver amulets. Now, this could be a molding issue, but Jason's material return on gold was a nice 60% (amulet mass/coin mass). Why buy an extra silver coin? I may be reading into this too much, but the material return on the silver amulets as shown is only around 40%.

There's more than enough silver left over to cast another amulet.

And what happened to all that leftover gold?

claspa

Member

Registered: 2015-01-15

Posts: 72

Re: The Mystery of the Amulets

Which "before" picture are you refering to?

LiteS

Member

Registered: 2015-01-27

Posts: 82

Re: The Mystery of the Amulets

This one. 5 silver coins, 3 gold coins. The copper amulets weren't made from coins.

Edit: HAH! The copper wire is actually in this picture. I should try opening my eyes.

Last edited by LiteS (2015-05-13 21:43:15)

Cobblestone

Member

Registered: 2015-01-28

Posts: 212

Re: The Mystery of the Amulets

Oh, good catch! The wax carvings of the gold and silver amulets are roughly the same size as their equivalent coins, so the mystery 11th amulet could be a silver Ophiuchus.
The only issue is that the amulets and their associated zodiacs are all in order, except again for those two last ones and the placement of what we're assuming is Ophiuchus.

From what I found on sidereal astrology, Ophiuchus is Nov-Dec and comes between Scorpio and Sagittarius.

The amulets are currently:

10: Libra
11: ??? (Ophiuchus)
12: Sagittarius
13: Scorpio

when it should be:

10: Libra
11: Scorpio
12: ??? (Ophiuchus)
13: Sagittarius

Then again, this might not mean anything... but given the amount of detail Jason's put in to the amulets and his research, I'm inclined to think the swapped amulet order is intentional.

shotgun

Member

Registered: 2015-05-11

Posts: 22

Re: The Mystery of the Amulets

first prize is actually just the quarter with a smiley face scratched onto the obverse

LiteS

Member

Registered: 2015-01-27

Posts: 82

Re: The Mystery of the Amulets

The swapped order could be to keep the prizes in order by weight. The heaviest amulet is given away last.

Edit: But that only holds true for the gold, not the silver or even copper.

Last edited by LiteS (2015-05-13 23:09:10)

Cobblestone

Member

Registered: 2015-01-28

Posts: 212

Re: The Mystery of the Amulets

...but why make one gold heavier than the other in the reverse order? Or am I misunderstanding?

LiteS

Member

Registered: 2015-01-27

Posts: 82

Re: The Mystery of the Amulets

I was thinking in terms of the contest, the prize on the last day is worth the most. .01 troy oz gold is still about $10.

Cobblestone

Member

Registered: 2015-01-28

Posts: 212

Re: The Mystery of the Amulets

Oh, I hadn't noticed the weights were slightly different. Still though, that amulet is notched as 13, which means it was meant to be last regardless of weight, right?

jasonrohrer

Administrator

Registered: 2014-11-20

Posts: 802

Re: The Mystery of the Amulets

I'm inclined to think the swapped amulet order is intentional.

I'm inclined to think that someone, or should I say, something, acted with intent here, but I'm quite certain that it wasn't me.  Mr. L he said his name was...

LiteS

Member

Registered: 2015-01-27

Posts: 82

Re: The Mystery of the Amulets

ok, I did some digging on that site Cobblestone linked and put in a query for "God of Destruction" (An anagram for ForgotTunedDisco). Which has lead me to these two bits of text:

Possibility 1: India and Primitive Christian gods

And now what is S’iva?

The first answer would be that he is the God of Destruction, who moves about amongst the tombs in the guise of an old and emaciated Yogi, a mere scaffolding of the human building. Around his neck is twisted a Naja Tripudians, the most deadly of snakes, but he wears also a larger necklace composed of human skulls. His waist-cloth is a tiger's skin. Vipers are his ear-rings. In one of his hands he holds the Pâs’a, the terrible noose of the Thugs, his ardent worshippers. In another hand hangs a bleeding head; a third holds the Gada, his terrible mace of war. But more awful than all, in his fourth hand is the Trisul, the three pronged pitchfork, with which he pushes about human enterprises and mars them chiefly. Ashes made of very disagreeable ingredients cover him.

Possibility 2: Numbers, their occult power and mystical virtue (how is it not this...)

Athanasius Kircher the Jesuit states that the ancient Egyptians associated numbers to the planets as follows:—

Saturn  3,  9,  15,   45
Jupiter 4, 16,  34,  136
Mars    5, 25,  65,  325
Sol     6, 36, 111,  666
Venus   7, 49, 145, 1225
Mercury 8, 64, 260, 2080
Luna    9, 81, 369, 3521

... Mars, Moloch, God of destruction; Sol, Phre or Pire, meaning Holy Lord; ...

I haven't read much of that book, but this is probably where we should keep digging.

Dan_Dan84

Member

Registered: 2015-02-14

Posts: 106

Re: The Mystery of the Amulets

Wow, some great research. I'd been wondering about that "ForgotTunedDisco" anagram.

Sol: related to the sun, no? 6, 36, 111, 666... Jason's said that the magic square is the Sun Square, if I recall correctly.

Last edited by Dan_Dan84 (2015-05-15 08:00:45)

Cobblestone

Member

Registered: 2015-01-28

Posts: 212

Re: The Mystery of the Amulets

Awesome finds!!!! I totally forgot I meant to look into the whole ForgotTunedDisco thing. I've seen the magic square referred to as the sun square too, and the 6, 31, 111, 666 number sequence fits perfectly.

My guess is what we're heading to is discovering an exact date when one final amulet contest will be... or maybe not!

LiteS

Member

Registered: 2015-01-27

Posts: 82

Re: The Mystery of the Amulets

Mr. L could be Lucifuge Rofocale, according to the Grand Grimoire, the demon in charge of Hell's government by order of Lucifer, maybe.

But expanding on the God of Destruction is Mars link, maybe Bartzabel? I'm not sure what good identifying the sigil on the final amulet would be, but that'd be my guess given the information we have now.