Ligeia

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A Discord bot for the Enigma of Secret Histories

The Enigma of Secret Histories was a small puzzle game reminiscent of an ARG hosted by Weather Factory, the creators of Cultist Simulator and Book of Hours. However, for unknown reasons, it was shut down on January 26, 2023, with a statement that "it encouraged unusual behaviour from folk with boundary issues," so they had to retire it.

The puzzles involved searching various places on the web for names of various things, then entering them as urls on the Weather Factory website in a specific format. This method is obviously no longer possible, as the webpages have been taken down, and one major source of information (the Ligeia Club twitter account) has been deleted.

Due to the abrupt shutdown of the game, the ending was never reached. The community has to this day only solved 8 of 9 degrees, and only a few hints of the mysterious '.b' remain. However, thanks to the dedication of this community, all currently-solved content has been archived, and with the release of Book of Hours, all known puzzles are once again solvable.

Thus, I created Ligeia. Ligeia remembers all of the puzzles, and recreates them in the dedicated discord server. New players can once again solve the Enigma of Secret Histories, just in a slightly unconventional manner.

Ligeia has had one major update: a switch from hardcoded puzzles to a content loader that's capable of hosting multiple enigma sets at once. This is to allow the creation of custom "Enigma-like" puzzles by the community, for a contest that is currently ongoing in the Discord server.

For posterity, the Enigma rules are archived here. If you wish to try to solve the Enigma, join the Cultist Simulator Discord server (linked on Weather Factory's website, but not officially affiliated) and ask for an Invite to Noon in the proper channel.

The following is a transcription of the Enigma of Secret Histories page on the Weather Factory website, which is no longer available, but is visible on archive.org. These are not my words; for example, "our other work" refers to Weather Factory's work, not mine.

The Enigma of Secret Histories

A. The Enigma of Secret Histories is a small free extra semi-secret activity to go with our other work. It’s not an ARG, it’s not a cult, it’s not a mind virus.

B. The Enigma has nine degrees, each with its own solutions. We’ll open them gradually over time as they become possible to complete. When a degree first opens, it may be all but impossible. All degrees become easier over time as more clues emerge.

C. Achievement of that degree entitles you to use that mark in your social media profiles or anywhere else you feel inclined to use it. This is the case whether you achieve the degree alone, or in company.

D. If you directly tell someone else the answer to a degree, they’ll never be able to achieve it properly. You’ve cheapened their victory and they’re not entitled to use the mark. On the other hand, maybe they’re just curious and don’t care about any of that stuff. It’s up to them and up to you.

E. There are many paths to the ninth degree. Read one, read some, read all, as you prefer.

F. No solution to any Enigma element will ever require Enigmatics to do anything illegal; nor to make personal contact with, investigate, or visit any real person in the real world. This includes anyone associated with Weather Factory. If it looks like that’s what you need to do, it’s a sign you’re on the wrong track. Also, please don’t do those things.

G. Participation in Enigma is often frustrating. Please remember this, and be courteous to others. There’s no rush. Revelations often occur after a night’s sleep, and all solutions will gradually be more feasible with time.

H. There is a Golden Rule, and the Golden Rule is UMBOTI: You May Be Overthinking It.

I. It’s not exactly true that there are nine degrees. Nor should Janus be forgotten.

TO BEGIN, VISIT A LIBRARY HERE

NB: The final line, "to begin, visit a library here" was a hint as to how to begin the Enigma (by adding a library to the end of the url, hence "here"). The original website no longer exists; instead, Ligeia accepts the string you would have appended to the url as input to a discord command.

Selected Samples of The Enigma Experience

Normal reactions to Enigma Finding answers sometimes takes you to places nobody expected And sometimes, the answer was right under your nose the whole time