04/30/08

VLN has disappeared off my radar. Granted, I've been in hiding for a while and I've sort of lost touch with the entire world, but I know he never did find what he wanted - because I got to it first. And I hid it.

I have very little energy right now, which is to say that I'm broke, exhausted and still mourning my late-best-dog-friend. Werewolves are not all bad, but the one that got L/K and me... She wasn't good. I've had to ask for help from someone I swore I'd never talk to again, which sucks, but it had to be done.

I'm off to drown a few sorrows in some weirdly pleasant vampire liquor. 80 proof? Ha. You've got nothing on this stuff. Here's to some pleasantly erotic dreams tonight...



03/17/08

Well, I'm back.

I'm sure that everyone has about given up on me by now, and I'm starting to think that's the way it should be.

I am, by no means, healed completely. I still have bruises and scratches, stitches and bandages. When werewolves come after you... It's no small thing to escape with your life.

I'm tired. My best friend is dead and I didn't even get paid. What an unsatisfactory job in every way. What point is there for me to remain here?

I found my friend, SoM, at that last outing I made. I realized who he was. He tried to get me to see reason - to do as he asked: don't let VLN get what he was after. I decided I would help my good friend. And look where it got me.

Perhaps I've had enough of the "good" now. How many good deeds must one do and be punished for before they stop doing good deeds?

No, it's time for me to go away now. SoM was once an assassin. He can take care of VLN now. No one needs me. It's time to disappear...



02/29/08

FYI - for those of you who don't have YIM, I got myself an account with AIM. assassindiaries is the screenname. Imagine that. lol.

I've been having some misgivings about this whole job. I'm not sure about giving VLN whatever it is I'm supposed to retreive for him. I keep feeling like there's more to it, what with this SoM things. I mean, the person who answered that email mentioned that he's all about peace. Why would I let VLN to destroy that?

I dunno. I think questions of ethics and morals must be obsolete when dealing with assassinish issues.

At any rate, I'm off tonight. I've been told by a contact that it could be worth my while to show up to a certain shindig tonight. Hopefully it'll prove fruitful...



02/28/08

I've been waiting for this: I responded to that craigslist posting and SoM has finally gotten around to emailing me back...


02/26/08

I think whoever has been tailing me is gone.

Well, except for the one person I know is there now (didn't before because of the other person - musician? assassin? spy?). This guy is most definitely under the employ of VLN. He's actually the clumsiest "assassin" that came out of my year group. Bah. He couldn't kill me if I stood still for him...

Anyway, I'm glad to have some time to calm down. I have a riddle to solve, a song to write and a vacation to plan. Somewhere nice and warm, I think... It'll be so good to have this over...



02/24/08

Finally! TM emailed me back. I think we're almost done with the riddles, guys!



And here's the new one.



02/20/08

A wonderful solve! The Foo Fighters did, indeed, get their name from the mysterious "foo fighters" of WWII. Interesting and I should have known that!

The next riddle is here.



02/17/08

It's a bit of a shock, receiving messages by arrow...

Yet another warning from my mysterious shadow: get out before it's too late.

I'm looking back through years of my diaries and I can't quite figure out who this person might be. Is he an assassin? A client? A friend? (Highly unlikely as I rarely keep friends long enough to allow them to get to know me at all.) I think I have it narrowed down to people who are or used to be in the assassin organization that I belong to. Some of them know me, unfortunately, and most of them are extremely good trackers.

I have, however, been to a couple of decent concerts over the past couple of days. One in a coffee shop in California and one at a club down in Georgia (yeah, I was trying to figure out what connection SoM had to Atlanta). I even went to a concert in Houston on Valentine's day. That one, well... I definitely won't be going to any stadium rock concerts again any time soon. *shudder*

Other than expanding my musical horizons, though, these concerts did nothing for my current predicament. It was more an exercise in creative thinking. You know, people always talk about thinking outside the box. It made me start to consider the current riddle a little more, taking the words and playing with them, instead of taking them as literal. Aliens... ufo's? immigrants? Warriors... mercenaries? fighters?

Nothing yet, but maybe soon.



02/13/08

Looks like VLN posted another blog. As though I can do this any faster! Meh.

And, I'm being followed again. I may have stirred someone up with all my poking around. I admit that after that anonymous email that some of you got, I went out looking again. I was determined to figure out who might have sent it. I talked to a lot of people when I was looking for my "brother."

I keep looking at it, trying to figure out what it might be. ATL is obviously Atlanta. Maybe CLST is some sort of list? I can't help seeing that when I look at those letters. What sort of list would they have in Atlanta and would they have the same thing somewhere else?

Just a few things I'm pondering, along with the new puzzle. If VLN is getting impatient, well... I don't really want to deal with an impatient Villain.

Also... I just received this "anonymous" email. It must be from whoever is following me...

Message Subject: RE: another failure? doesn\'t look good

Message: You don\'t have much time left, do you? You might as well give up now and hide, like you always do when things don\'t go right. They won\'t stop you from playing, but they\'ll make it difficult for you. I suggest you rethink your deal. Rid the world of V.L.N. and we\'ll all be much happier.

I'm working on it. There must be something in there to clue me in to this person's identity. Hmmm...



02/09/08

What would the world be like without music?

I had an anonymous email ask me that. I'm not sure what they're getting at, whoever it is, but I've attempted to email this person back. I've been leaving things alone so I don't know if this is the same SM character or not. If so, does he know something I don't? What, is the Villain (or V.L.N) trying to steal the music of the world or something?

I'll have to wait and see if I get another email.



02/08/08

Johnnycon will be sorry to know that he was, indeed, correct about the last riddle answer being NSync. It's okay. No one thinks you're less of a man or anything.

TM sent me the next one. Here.



02/06/08

It looks like we're moving along. Another great solve by highwind - www.catdrinkingsongs.com, given to TM, granted the next wish, I think. He emailed me and told me to look at his calendar. I'm headed over there right now...



02/04/08

After much trying, it looks like highwind came up with the correct answer. I sent it to TM. His response:

"THE SOUNDS OF SILENCE" by Simon & Garfunkel

(early) 02/03/08

Other than getting kicked out of a club and Lady/Killer being sick, the weekend has been uneventful. I've decided to go with the only answer that seems viable - I've emailed TM and hopefully will get a response from him soon. The Villain - or V.L.N. as he apparently wants to be addressed (who said villains weren't quirky?) is getting impatient.

And old... "friend" has popped up on my radar today. He gave me a message, courtesy of the vet I took L/K to (I've transcribed it since my cameraphone is on the fritz, I wonder why...?):


Of course after this, I can't help but go into lockdown mode while I wait for TM's response. I can only hope I've given him the correct answer. The other avenues for finding the end to this tale have been temporarily... blockaded.



01/29/08

After checking around a couple other places... I'm finding more and more that people don't want to talk about even the suggestion of the trivia master or this mysterious SM, whatever or whoever it is.

Not that I'm giving up. I just need to find more creative ways to get information. I should be used to that. lol.



01/27/08

I've been hanging around here lately, trying to come up with something on TM. I didn't find much although I did call in a favor with a club owner I know. He wasn't too happy to answer me, but this is the response I got:



I've got a couple more associates to contact. SM? Maybe some of my other associates can/will tell me more.

In the meantime, I'm getting anxious about this puzzle. We're missing something obvious, I just know it. >_< 1211196522... (since I gave up on the letters a while ago) I have to think of all the ways/things that numbers are used for. Number genius, anyone??



01/24/08

It's been a while since I've had reliable enough connection to post anything. In that time, I've moved locations, the Villain has added something and I've talked to someone about the puzzle.

So, first, I've moved... I decided it was high time to get out of the mountains, regardless of the snow. Lady/Killer and I are still in the cold, but there's no snow.

Next, the Villain seems to have pulled someone else into his tangled web.

And lastly, I'm thinking that the letters don't give us anything in that puzzle. I've decided to concentrate on the numbers that correspond to the letters in the alphabet. I don't know if that will yield anything more, but I can't think of anything else with those dratted letters!

Since I'm back in civilization, I'll be checking out the various clubs in the area. I've decided that I should try my hand at sniffing out clues that may or may not be there. I want to see if anyone's ever heard of TM. I'll keep you all updated...



01/21/08

He/She/It was in my cabin... He/She/It left me a message. I don't want to post it here, just in case...

Is anyone making headway with the puzzle?? I'm afraid if I don't answer TM soon, he'll give up on me and after the message I got today, I don't want to disappoint the Villain, although it's looking like a bad thing to get whatever TM has only to give it to the Villain.

I'm so unsure. My safe place isn't so safe anymore, I'm snowed in, and now I have to decide whether or not I should give this thing to a man who'll kill me if I don't.

On top of all that, I have to write a song.

I think this might be my worst predicament yet.



(early) 01/20/08

This is the first time I've been able to get a good connection since Friday night. Things have gone sort of haywire since the snow. As much as I'd like to get out of here, it's dangerous to travel through such a snowy mountainscape even with an escort of wolves. We're stuck here for another couple of days.

My internet connection isn't great. Satellite sucks that way. But I'm working on the number three puzzle. So far, I'm getting nothing but I can't help thinking I'm missing something obvious. I'll tackle it again after a good night's sleep.

Hopefully, I can get better connection tomorrow. The wolves said it's supposed to be sunny. I could use some sun.



01/18/08

Today, the sky dumped about four feet of snow up here. It's been a little crazy with L/K and I struggling to get things prepared and snow-proofed.

But even with all of that, I managed to email TM. Tchaikovsky was right, of course and now the new puzzle is up.



01/17/08

TM emailed me... Check out the first/second puzzle.

Nirvana

And now, you tell me the rules, right? And tell me how to get what I need?

~ AD

(late) 01/16/08

I've got an answer to the "riddle". I've emailed TM and now I'm waiting for his response.

In other news, I've been trying to figure out who could possibly be following me who also writes (bad?) music. I don't know anyone in the organization who even attempts to write (bad?) music, although we are quite the secretive bunch.

I'm also no closer to figuring out what the Villain was writing online. It's getting quite frustrating, but he's really good at keeping secrets. I'll get it, though. For now, my eyes are tired and L/K is snoring by the fire.

Thanks to everyone for their help and support thus far.



(early) 01/16/08

New page for the first puzzle... It's got the thing decoded, so don't go there unless you don't care to decode it yourself.



01/15/08

Google purplehell...

After a tracking mission with some wolves in the mountains, L/K came back with a little something for me. A clue to the person, or thing, following me.






















01/14/08

It's been a long day. I haven't figured anything out yet, although L/K did finally remember the letters V L N with what the Villain was writing online. I haven't found anything, but I've been looking.

I'm no closer to cracking the code for the puzzle. I keep thinking it must be simple, but going through all of the ciphers that use the normal alphabet isn't easy. It'll get cracked eventually. For now, my eyes are closing on their own and L/K is snoring by the fire. Tomorrow is a new day...



EDIT: 01/13/08

He sent me a "corrected" version - I'm not sure if this will be any better. Take a look and you'll see why. =/

Back to the first puzzle.

(late) 01/13/08

Grrrrr.

I've been looking around on wikipedia for some clue as to the code, and I'm pretty sure it's the playfair cipher. The problem is that it's all f*cked up. It doesn't work to try and decode it! How unfair-playing is that?

I emailed that roadie punk to ask for a new starter. Sorry everyone. Maybe we should all track TM down and show him fairplay.

Okay, so maybe not. It's a thought, though...



(early) 01/13/08

I've got something from TM! Finally, he's given me something. Sort of. Check it out.



01/11/08

I'm in a safer place, although Lady/Killer misses the beach already. I told him leaving was better than meeting up with the Villain - or being killed...

Before we left yesterday, he gave me one more piece of information that I didn't get to share. The Villain was writing something online. I don't know if it was a blog or an email or something more sinister. I'm still looking.

In the meanwhile, I've heard from TM, who is a roadie for no one: he apparently follows a certain group of musicians and he's touring right now, wherever they decide they need him. That's the most I've gotten out of him yet, although he was a bit surly even giving that up. He may have been upset that I threatened to track him down and sabotage his relationships with musicians... He's actually a mite jumpy and I'm wondering if the Villain hasn't threatened him, as well.

But after the email exchange, I've decided that it might be a good idea to create an event calendar here, listing as many shows in your area as possible over the next couple of months. I know TM doesn't work for anyone hugely famous, but it'll be helpful to know where he might be if I have to track him down.

If you find concerts (clubs, small venues, etc.) in your area, head over to the calendar and put them up there. The more possibities at first, the better...



01/10/08

I don't like being toyed with... I'm giving this guy a couple more days and then I'll start digging on my own to see if I can get what I need. (I'm giving him time mostly because I have to get out of here so the Villain doesn't get any closer to me than he already is.)

I'll be in touch... Meanwhile, this is the email I exchanged with TM yesterday:

I know you've told me to wait, but I really need to get started with this. Can you please give me something? Anything? I can't keep waiting.

***

01/09/08

I sent Lady/Killer to follow the Villain (who has been in town, making me very nervous) today. I've gotten some information that I'm not sure will be relevant, but it's interesting to ponder...

Lady/Killer actually gave me some websites that the Villain has visited frequently today. I'll be leaving town tonight, but I sent L/K out again, just in case.

Anyway, here are the sites:

www.musiciansguide.com

www.writerswrite.com

www.triviacafe.com

www.musicmini.com

Calendar

I'll update more in the morning.



01/03/08

So, with the latest fiasco I've gotten myself into has me tracking down some mysterious object that will let the Villain gain access to some odd, secret society. If I successfully get this object and give it to the Villain, he'll retract his BN and let me get on with my life and duties as an assassin/spy.

The Villain has given me the contact information for whomever holds the key to getting this object. As of now, I'm waiting for more instructions from triviamastery@yahoo.com.

I'm not so sure about all of this, but if this is what it takes, then I'm up for it. For now.