THE BEGINNER’S GUIDE TO ARCANA

New to ARCANA? Afraid of puzzles?

Not sure what the hell is going on?

Don’t worry! We got you!

Yes, there are a lot of puzzles to solve, but you DO NOT NEED TO SOLVE THEM ALL to understand the story or enjoy the final week of ARCANA! (Plenty of others have done that work for you!)

Catching up is easy! Just follow @jadesintown and you'll be able to scroll through her feed and see the journey she’s been through over the past three weeks. It’s been a doozy for poor Jade. You can also check out the in-game RECAPS. 

You’ll also want to make sure you’re signed into the email list at the bottom of the homepage so you get the daily emails from characters, as well as updates from the game-makers. If you don’t want to do that, everything will be accessible through sites controlled by JADE, GARETH, HADLEY or ROBIN. Oh, and don’t forget THIS ONE and THIS ONE.

Now, here’s some help on the backstory (with plot spoilers and some puzzle solves.)

A young woman named Jade got back on Instagram three weeks ago after Robin left her. She was having a hard time in isolation and needed friends. Good thing Instagram was there for her! There she found her friends, also known as The Watchers. That’s you! You’re one of the Watchers now!

Jade started trying to find things to keep her mind off of Robin. She created artwork to help her process her sadness, but then noticed secret messages started appearing in the art. The Watchers helped her decode the messages, finding the words "Fox," "Fate," "Death," and then "Marion" in her art -- they googled those words and found an article on the Marion Parker Case, which led them to e-mail the writer of the article: real-life historian Hadley Meares. Hadley sent The Watchers a clip from her PODCAST that led Jade’s helpful friends to A SONG with a hidden verse.

The Watchers have discovered that several murderers seem to be tied to this strange story: William Hickman, Amos Ratliff and the murder of Pearl Bryan are all connected by Providence, a dark and mysterious evil, which seemed to be trying to possess poor Jade.  She also was being compelled to draw tarot cards from the deck that once belonged to Robin.

As this was happening, a creepy Instagram user with the handle @VerySlyUNo was DM-ing Jade threatening messages. He started posting photos of Jade’s house, and then eventually even snapped photos INSIDE of her house, getting closer and closer until he appeared IN her photos and videos. Jade was in danger!

Jade started sleepwalking. She posted her sleepwalking videos to instagram, asking The Watchers for help. They were able to find hidden messages in her videos which took them to a website: Gareth Fitzpatrick’s demonology.  His Week 3 videos are HERE.

If you would like to solve for the videos you can, or you can get the passwords below: 

VIDEO #1 -password: OKURIMONO

VIDEO #2 -password: GATHERING

VIDEO #3 - password: MIZAR

After working all week, The Watchers finally figured out how to create what they believed to be a protective sigil. Jade drew the sigil and spoke a special word decoded within the puzzle: Adprecor. Upon uttering those three syllables, a terrible evil possessed poor Jade.

Hadley Meares went to investigate Jade and found her in a terrible state. Gareth revealed that The Watchers were watching corrupted videos: Providence seemingly tampered with his video content. The Watchers hey unwittingly released more evil into the world Gareth has ever seen. He needs their help to figure out a banishing sigil and spell to save Jade. 

Watch the uncorrupted VIDEO 4, available to all on Gareth’s site: https://www.garethfitzpatrick.com/.

And if that’s not enough: Robin was revealed to be not Jade’s former lover, but her twin sister! Jade also revealed that she was to blame for Robin’s decision to skip town. She was violent and controlling, so Robin fled to save her life and escape Jade’s possessive clutches. Can Robin save Jade before it’s too late? Does she even want to? Robin’s instagram is here.

In this final week, the players are teaming up with Hadley and Gareth to try to collect the necessary research to save Jade as Robin speeds back towards Los Angeles. Will they make it in time?

And…. you’re caught up! Go for it! Email the admins or the hint line if you get stuck!