Professor Trebor G. Noland wiped the crumbs of the breakfast croissant from his lips, and savoured the fine Georgian views spread before him. Last night his keynote speech at the University's Symbology Symposium had gone well, and he was hoping for some relaxed sightseeing today to round off his whistle-stop visit to Bath.
His musings were interrupted by the gentle buzzing of his GPS-enabled smartphone. It was a message from his old cleric friend, Oliver King. Originally prominent in Bath, King was now sadly incapacitated and lived abroad in a sanatorium.
"Urgent: N51° 22.856 W002° 21.612, on the hour. The Lore may be compromised."
Well, if Noland's friend needed his help, the open-top bus tour could wait for another time.
At five minutes to the hour, Noland found himself at the requested spot. He looked down and smiled to himself; his friend hadn't lost their shared interest in symbology. The central square symbolizes the results of human skill and inspiration; the circle celebrates the gifts of nature.
But where next? He closed his eyes; he waited; he listened. Then he heard … bells ringing the hour. He followed the sound just around the corner, to the east. He was confronted with a magnificent facade, a symbologist's dream. As his eyes were drawn to the twin rebus of his friend's ancient namesake, another message arrived on his phone:
"Jacob's Angels: AB ascending; C descending."
Noland wasn't sure where this was leading, but went along with it, noting the answers that were before him. Another message arrived:
"Look down: III/ In Britain are hot springs adorned with sumptuous splendour for the use of mortals. D letters in the author's name."
Messages continued to arrive; uncannily, as quickly as Noland could work out what was required, another message would appear.
"Follow III's arrow while looking up for The Greek. Tau is the Eth letter."
Then: "IV/ Of all things water is best. FGH is the author's final date."
Still more messages arrived, and Noland continued to follow the trail, soon skirting past a cross. However, after IX/ Oh! who can ever be tired of Bath? a new clue arrived:
"Goto N 51° 22.(A+H)B(C+F) W002° 21.D(A+E)(E+F). Symbols: Stars, digits, within a circle, within an inner triangle. Code: If Nigel=1, Lionel=2, Joan=3, then Maureen=J?"
Noland had to scout around a little since his phone's GPS was playing up; but once he'd dialled in the coordinates and explored all the passageways, his flair for digital sequences soon had this simple code cracked.
Soon, another message arrived:
"Goto N 51° 22.JFB W002° 21.D(E+G)(A+H). Demons? Some happy, some sad, some angry; K in total."
So, now Noland had ten clues, but what should he do with them? There just wasn't enough information to locate the Lore with this alone. Just in time, another message from King popped up:
"To find the Lore, use The Grid to decode this (x,y) message. Then goto N 51° 22.JJB W002° 21.EKB and follow the decoded instructions. Code: (minor update Feb 2023)
(G,B) (A,G) (H,F) (D,D) (F,K) (B,D) (A,A) (D,C) (K,J) (J,J) (C,F) (A,H) (H,H) (G,E) (H,K) (B,B) (G,H) (G,D) (F,C) (G,F) (E,K) (K,H) (F,D) (C,E) (E,E) (B,C) (K,K) (F,H) (G,C) (D,H) (A,F) (K,G) (C,G) (H,A) (B,A) (D,F) (D,A) (J,A) (F,E) (E,J) (K,D) (C,K) (A,K) (F,G) (A,C) (B,G) (H,J) (D,F) (H,E) (F,H) (K,G)"
The Grid ... what Grid?
"File attached: the_grid.jpg"
Ah, that Grid. Finally, and most ominously:
"No more time ... they are coming for me ... save the Lore ..."
Noland walked approximately 100 metres due north of the Demons, where there was plenty of seating for him to complete the decryption. There was yet another symbol there, and Noland thought that he might have stumbled on The Lost Symbol itself (Laus Deo!); but no, that's an entirely different tale and King had not woven this particular feature into the secret of Bath's Lore.
Noland saw how the clues that he'd already found could map to x and y; soon a sentence had appeared. In accordance with his friend's last instructions, Noland ran to the Lore's coordinates and followed the deciphered message.
Would Noland find the Lore still safely hidden? Or, as King feared, had it at last been discovered by the corrupt secret society that coveted the knowledge for its own nefarious ends? You, dear Geocaching Adventurer, are invited to complete the tale ...
Notes
- From start to finish is approximately 0.75 mile.
- Please note any restrictions indicated by the cache page attributes.
- Due to circumstances beyond the author's control, this cache adventure has restricted availability - please see introductory paragraph above - plus it is not available on national/"Bank" holidays. Christmas 2023, not available Sun24th-Tue26th inclusive, nor Sun31st-Mon1st inclusive
- The terrain is suitable for buggies and wheelchairs; I believe the rating system suggested >1* due to the distance.
- And finally, whilst it may be possible to research some answers beforehand, I recommend just turning up and going with the flow – it will be more fun!
Acknowledgements
Thanks to:
- The Guardians, without whose help and vigilance there would be no Lore of Bath;
- An Elusive character, for unknowingly suggesting some imagery ;-)
- And, of course, the real author who inspired this bit of escapism!