In which one dreams of moonlit women.

Solved: 2018-07-02

Details

The altered welcome message on the Phase VIII branches.

The first clue to this phase is provided on the Version News, which reads (emphasis added):

Welcome to Phase VIII. Dream furiously.

[No interaction with any other game is necessary to reach Phase IX.]

This should be read as a suggestion to dream with Passion (a.k.a. to dream passionately, or furiously). This triggers the special burn image pictured below to show up in the background:

The woman pictured is Ligeia, a character from the eponymous short story by Edgar Allen Poe in 1838 and illustrated by Harry Clarke in 1918.

The names of the cults were also changed so that they all became “clubs“. When combined with the previous clue, this leads to Ligeia Club, a name which did not appear in the game at the time this phase was first discovered. Nowadays, simply finding “Ligeia” may be sufficient.

The added words are references to Birdsong, which references “enigmatic” figures. This obliquely points towards Twitter.

When taken as a whole, the phase points to the @ligeiaclub Twitter profile.

Additional Changes

• The code in the game specifies a strange default version date, which is never actually displayed (the displayed version is 2018.phase.VIII): 2021.12.z.1
• The identical images _555.png, _a.png, _y.png and _z.png were added, referencing an earlier incident on the Discord:

• The Principles were renamed as follows, along with any word that contained a Principle’s letters (leading to the now infamous boart meme):
  • Grail -> Rose
  • Moth -> Salt (description: “I knew a man who captured moths in a bell-jar. On nights like this, he would release them one by one to die in the candle.” -> “I knew a woman who would walk the beach at night to watch the road the moon offered across the waves. On her final night, she took that road.”)
  • Forge -> Boar
  • Edge -> Bull (description: “All conquest occurs at the Edge. One who dwells there is blind, and cannot be wounded. Another is strong, and grows stronger.” -> “All conquest occurs beneath the sign of the Bull.”)
  • Heart -> Bull
  • Knock -> Serpent
  • Lantern -> Eagle
  • Winter -> Yarsagumba
  • Secret Histories -> Hydrae (description: “History is the scar on the world’s skin.” -> “History is the scar on the world’s neck.”)
• All Cults except for the Wildwood Club were also renamed, as follows:
  • Church of the Bright Edge -> Pasiphane Club
  • Unflinching Order -> Blazing Club
  • Order of the Bloody Cup -> Redthorn Club
  • Temple Unceasing -> Temple of the Cudgel
  • Society of the Holy Wound -> Nessene Club
  • Mirror of Glory -> Stymphalian Club
  • Society of St Hydra -> Lernaean Club

History

• 2018-07-02: Phase VIII is discovered and solved by the Discord.