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Aqua
Ignis
> Terra
Terra
Sol
Answer: infernalflame
Sol depicts a sun with 13 rays. Each ray contains 20 white lines, while the inner core beneath each ray has different amounts of black lines. White and black are opposite colors, so count the amount of black lines in each chunk and calculate the difference.
For example, the very first chunk has 11 black lines, thus the difference is 20 - 11 = 9. Doing this for all 13 chunks in a clockwise order from the very top gives:
Decoding this from A1Z26 gives
Luna
Answer: dorsumcushman
Luna contains 13 interconnected circles separated into two groups, next to each are 3 symbols that are either a dot, a line, or two lines.
Interpreting dots as 0 and lines as 1, the symbols give 13 base-3 numbers. Reading each number from top to bottom gives
Mars
Answer: veritasluxmea
Mars depicts a map. Adjusting brightness on
And the text
The <title> tag is a hint to the page titles, which uses a custom alphabet that at first glance seems like gibberish, but the titles actually spell out element and planet names.
Documenting each page title gives the following custom alphabet set: (unused letters not included)
Using this custom alphabet, the formulas become
With the
Mercurius
Answer: amgvojnhseegu
Mercurius contains multiple white squares. Viewing this as a 8x8 square where each cell is either black or white, a transcription can be made:
| 01001001 |
| 01000101 |
| 01001110 |
| 01000100 |
| 10101110 |
| 01000010 |
| 01100000 |
| 10000010 |
Each line is an 8-bit binary number. Although not every line points to a printable character, converting the 8 lines from binary ASCII would give
When checking the end section of
The text, which is surrounded by dots, is also 8x8 like the picture, and the RAR file is password protected.
| ndhyezsu |
| lsctvmqe |
| lrracats |
| tueofrkl |
| axerdeuy |
| ysnnsulq |
| kucnbaqe |
| rypqnbiv |
Overlaying the original pic above the text (or extracting text where white squares are), reading from left to right then top to bottom, the text
Extracting the RAR file with
| once you've solved this step, the resulting string will be the plaintext. |
| no further decoding needed. |
| 24535 |
| 22622 |
| 13229 |
| 373 |
| 24395 |
| 20216 |
| 8673 |
| 18937 |
| 14021 |
| 5401 |
| 5401 |
| 13229 |
| 8986 |
9458 |
With the Codex Arcanum the numbers can be converted into words:
| alfa |
| mike |
| golf |
| victor |
| oscar |
| juliett |
| november |
| hotel |
| sierra |
| echo |
| echo |
| golf |
| uniform |
initials |
Thus take the initial letters of each word, this gives
Iuppiter
Answer: dieffenbachia
Iuppiter consists of a picture and 13 pairs of letters. The picture on top is depicts the construction of a line that passes the midpoint of a line segment, so this level is about finding midpoints between the two letters.
The method involves a QWERTY keyboard. For example the first pair, BQ, the distance between B and Q is 2 keys vertically and 4 keys horizontally. Thus the midpoint of B and Q would be the key that is 1 key vertically and 2 keys horiziontally away from both B and Q, which in this case is D.
Do this on all the pairs and the word
Venus
Answer: lamentoeroico
Venus contains a text and an hourglass in the background. The hourglass is a hint to time, which can be checked with EXIF. This shows that the create date is April 5th, 1523, as well as a text in the comments:
| A victim of Stigler's law, but the work lives on, |
| for the sixth key you must find him, |
| and use him in his native tongue. |
April 5th, 1523 is the birthday of Blaise de Vigenère, who is famous for NOT inventing the Vigenère cipher, but rather for having the cipher being named after him.
Stigler's law (of eponymy) states that "no scientific discovery is named after its original discoverer", which in this case the Vigenère cipher was first described by Italian cryptographer Giovan Battista Bellaso.
Thus decoding the text in Vigenère cipher with the key
| Langue in me l'eco infranto, |
| Al truce sguardo dell'angelo cieco, |
| Rovina in me l'antica rima, |
| Nel cuor del cigno ferito e morente. |
This is the first verse to Rhapsody of Fire's Lamento Eroico, and thus the answer is
Saturnus
Answer: filiumvoravit
Saturnus depicts a book cover with the title
This is not a real person, but rather a hint to the method used in the level. The name, when abbreviated, is ROT, which is the method.
Each word in the title is an English word that has been ROT'ed by a different offset. Getting the correct offset for each word gives
The symbol in the middle of
Terra has been solved, the next step is at Conclusion, Extra Terra, and more.