Unlike other phases, Phase IV has profoundly changed its nature since its initial reveal. It was initially preceded by a short interlude now referred to as “Pandora’s Fall”, which is detailed below, followed by the actual phase’s emails. Those emails then themselves changed over time, as is explained below.

Prelude: Pandora’s Fall

The image included in the first message sent out to the Worm mailing list. The Bird one had a colour version.

One day after Phase III was solved, an email was sent containing only the picture to the right and Weather Factory’s contact information. A few days later, the following email arrived:

Pandora will step from the cliff. The birds might catch her and bear her up, or the worms might devour her corpse. It’s a sort of competition, although the birds will probably win, because they’re better.

Pandora’s Fall is like and unlike what has gone before. Once again, there’s an obliquity – two obliquities, even. In this case, Pandora expects a request between two obliquities. Almost a submission.

<code>

The <code> varied depending on which list the player had signed up for:

• Bird: Z1Q4xHwSBjOoevl5eERj
• Worm: sLI3ZL507TjNYWd9sFy9

The key in this email was to make the link between Pandora and Pandora’s Box, and between Fall and Drop, signifying a Dropbox connection. The “Almost a submission” section additionally clarified that this should be a Dropbox file request link, leading to the following pages for each faction (now unavailable):

• Bird: https://www.dropbox.com/request/Z1Q4xHwSBjOoevl5eERj
• Worm: https://www.dropbox.com/request/sLI3ZL507TjNYWd9sFy9

The worms submitted their request first, winning the race, which resulted in this email:

On this occasion, the Worms have won. Their victory occurred at 13:48 Noon Time.

This does mean that additional information will follow.

Phase IV began in earnest a few days later.

Phase IV

The Phase IV emails were initially sent out over the course of a few days, each day making a slight addition to the previous one. This guide will only cover the final resultant emails, starting with the Worm email as it provides the initial essential clue.

Noon: Worm

The Worm email is the key to understanding Bird email: whereas the Bird email contains many clues which aren’t actually helpful, the Worm email contains only one clue, albeit an essential one. Here are the contents:

Remember our ancestors, when Bird and Worm were one. Scolecite and sapphire, lost among stones in darkness. This, as few places, is the

“DON’T TRUST IT.”

“REMEMBER WHAT HAPPENED TO THE DINOSAUR.”

“CONSIDER THE GREATER PURPOSE.”

“WHAT IS BELOW CANNOT ESCAPE WHAT IS ABOVE.”

“THE EARTH TURNS.”

“LET US BE FORGOTTEN.”

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/62dmau8mmecwefz/AAApSUueGsN5zqbc5Pih-PLAa

[This weekly message is Phase IV. Progress is currently possible to Phase <current phase>.]

The majority of the email is fluff and can be discarded for the purposes of solving the phase (especially since it is unclear who is talking, though it has been speculated that these are the Gods-From-Stone or the Carapace-Cross). Only the Dropbox link and “REMEMBER WHAT HAPPENED TO THE DINOSAUR” are relevant here, as the latter is a direct quote written alongside Blackhall Road in Oxford. The player must then turn to the Bird email to understand how to convert that into a password for the Dropbox.

Noon: Bird

Unlike the Worm email, the Bird email is directly referencing Blackhall Road throughout:

Remember our ancestors, when Bird and Worm were one. Scolecite and sapphire, lost among stones in darkness. This, as few places, is the dwelling of the Eborites; this, as many places, lies under Tristero’s mark. On one side, the lessons of the Cudgel, on the other, the lessons of the Eagle. Here it was that the chronicler of the Babylonians came to study both clocks and stars (before ever the Obliviates took him). Sometimes we have approached beneath the banner of the Lamb. The shapes of the Terrible Ones are here, but their bones stand a little farther away, by the gallery of masks. This is the gallery the Fox endowed; but first the Fox followed the river of its blood, into the pit. Eborites and Castorites contend, but the truth is strong.

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/62dmau8mmecwefz/AAApSUueGsN5zqbc5Pih-PLAa

[This weekly message is Phase IV. Progress is currently possible to <current phase>.]

The references to Blackhall Road take the form of descriptions of nearby locations:

• the dwelling of the Eborites: A building called the “Elephant House”, since “ebor” is the root of the word “ivory”, which makes up the tusks of elephants.
• the lessons of the Cudgel: The surname “Keble” has “cybbel” as its root, meaning “cudgel”, making this a reference to the nearby Keble College. 
• the lessons of the Eagle: The Eagle and Child, a nearby pub.
• Here it was that the chronicler of the Babylonians came to study both clocks and stars: John Knight Fotheringham, who researched the Babylonians, ancient chronology and astronomy.
• the banner of the Lamb: The Lamb & Flag, a nearby pub.
• The shapes of the Terrible Ones are here, but their bones stand a little farther away: The shape refers to the graffiti of the dinosaur referenced by the Worm email, while the bones refer to the nearby Oxford University Museum of Natural History. 
• the gallery of masks/the gallery the Fox endowed; but first the Fox followed the river of its blood, into the pit: Refers to the Pitt Rivers Museum, an archaeological museum with a gallery of masks, founded by Augustus Henry Lane-Fox Pitt Rivers.
• Eborites and Castorites contend: Castorites refers to the village of Castor in Cambridgeshire, making this a reference to the rivalry between Oxford and Cambridge.
• but the truth is strong: “Fortis est veritas” (“The truth is strong”) is the motto of the city of Oxford.

All of the above are useful to confirm that Blackhall Road is indeed the location that is being searched for; in this regard, the Bird email adds no value. What it does add is the passage “this, as many places, lies under Tristero’s mark“. This serves as a callback to Phase I, which featured the Tristero postal service. Tristero’s mark is therefore a mark a postal service would use to designate “places” – in other words, a postal code. A quick online search reveals that the postal code for Blackhall Road is OX1 3QF, which is the password for the Dropbox.

History

• 2018-06-02: Phase IV is discovered.
• 2018-06-03: The first email goes out.
• 2018-06-07: Pandora’s Fall is initiated, and solved the same day.
• 2018-06-11: A preview of the emails to come is sent out, titled “Interlude: Ancestors”.
• 2018-06-17 to 2018-06-23: Emails for Phase IV are sent out once every day, each time changing something. Bird and Worm are initially identical, then at some point Worm begins to delete existing sentences and replace them new lines. The sender name also changed (Bird -> Worm -> Serpent -> Lamia -> Terrible Ones -> the First Birds -> on the River, and Worm -> Dragon -> Lamia -> First Ones -> the First Birds -> At Scale).
• 2018-06-21: Worm email adds the “REMEMBER WHAT HAPPENED TO THE DINOSAUR”, and the Discord solves the phase within the hour.
• 2018-06-22: The Dropbox link is changed to the current one.