In Darkness - Network

Swan's gone missing. She wasn't in her room or in the directory, and Jake hasn't seen her since yesterday at dinner.

How are you doing?

The lights are off, and Tris is seated in front of the computer with his illuminated wand under his chin.

Huuuuuuuuugooooooo....we lost power here .... come help us ....

LilyLu's laughter can be heard off screen before she speaks

He won't buy that, you dunce. How's the computer working without power?

Tristan laughs

You could've seen if he could've worked that out for himself, traitor.

He grins

How're things in the grand jungle?

As requested, your sand photos:

1 2 3

Anyone who wants to play Find the Armor, hang around the lobby after dinner. I'm only doing this once.

[The image is perfectly centered on his face and upper torso, because he is anal and used his Blackberry to adjust the camera, but he appears visibly nervous.]

I am ready whenever you are.

[faint sounds of fingernails tapping on the desktop as he waits]

Well, it looks like I was right.

We have armor. We don't have bears yet, but I imagine when we do, they'll be quite displeased.

Dug found a very large helmet, sort of fit for a bear, in the library.

Who wants to play hide and seek to find any of the rest of it?

And do we think this means we get bears here?

Hello! Hello! Mistress Jaime are you there? It is me! Dug!

I have knocked something over in the library. It is large and round and metal and it smells of some sort of animal that I have never met before. I cannot lift it. It is very heavy. I can't put it back.

Am I in trouble?

My recently displaced cousin has informed me we're sharing a room in the new place.

I'm also very bored down in the rec area. Come entertain me.

Katrina? Can you see this? Please do not hesitate to answer, I must know if you are safe!

This is seriously messed up.

His-- the helmet-- who thought it would be a good idea for this?

I don't even know how to respond, or think or... what?

Galaxies!

Sirius' wand was in my room this morning.

Do we know if this particular game of theirs means anything more than them just trying to play with our emotions?

River? Are you all right? Safe?

Given that the clues of the lottery seem to point toward the panserbjorne of Svalbard, I will tell you what I know of them.

The two riddles seemed to imply "ice" and "bear". The map was fairly self-explanatory; it had Svalbard circled. I'm not certain what the alethiometer is meant to represent in the theme present. The bears don't use them. The prophecy child, Lyra, had one, and she did trick the bear-king into agreeing to engage in single combat with a challenger. Perhaps we're meant to trick the bears, but I won't speculate on that.

Alethiometer are used to detect the truth in things. The explanation is lengthy and I believe pointless in context, but perhaps someone else may be able to work out the relevance of one in the theme of clues. I'd be willing to go into what I know of them if anyone believes it would be helpful.

The panserbjorne are generally solitary creatures, though their kingdom is in the far north, centered near Svalbard. They have a monarchy, though the king can be displaced by losing a challenge of single combat to another bear. The bear king when I was taken was Iorek Byrnison, who was a friend to the prophecy child. There may be some connection there, but again, I won't offer any speculation.

The bears are known as armor-bears because of their skills as metal smiths and their ability to form intricate armor from a substance they call 'sky-iron', or metal obtained from meteorites. Their armor is to them what dæmon are to us. They pour themselves into their armor; it is their protection from other bears and it may bear some symbolism, but any other superstition attached to the armor remains a secret from me.

It did once reach my ear that Iorek's armor was stolen from him and the men who took it did not live to tell of it, but that is third or fourth hand knowledge and I don't know how reliable it is.

I don't know if any of this is helpful, and I'd be willing to expand upon any points anyone thinks may be relevant.

- Isadora

Katrina? I have read of the earthquakes, yet I have not heard from you, are you safe?

Still hanging in there?

So, it's not enough to take him away; they have to taunt me by leaving his gun in my room?

Fuck you, you sadistic assholes.

Love, this was on my nightstand when I came back up from breakfast. Does it mean anything to you? It doesn't ... mean anything to me.

It's not ... the thing she's trap

[inserted is a picture of the Grimhold displaying the image of Sun Lok]

The casting of lots hath resulted in the following. Doctor Banner and I both hath receive-ed riddles.

His:

There is a house with four walls. Each wall faces south. There is a window in each wall. A bear walks by one of the windows. What color is the bear?

Mine:

On the way a miracle: water became bone.

Also, the puzzles hath reveal-ed what appeareth to be a compass and a map.

I must confess that I know not what these tidings herald.

That was a big earthquake last night.

Is everyone okay?