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- YEAR 515

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SECRET OF ‘THE HOODED POISONER’ REVEALED

Dateline: 14-08-517

A mystery solved? Or a new one created?

Nearly two years after it appeared, a cryptography expert from the Great Library has succeeded in decoding the mysterious message that appeared suddenly all over Bereny. But the mystery of the message and who is behind it remains as obscure as ever.

The message, which was posted on walls and noticeboards throughout the Kingdom but whose author was never identified, provoked a lot of interest at the time. But its meaning was never satisfactorily explained, until now.

It has now been revealed that it is in fact a cypher. "It was a simple enough keyword recurring replacement cypher really," said scholar Bertrand Smartarse. "I'm sure someone would have worked it out eventually, but I suppose if you've never been to the Frontier you might not know what a cobra is."

Decoded, the message reads "DEMONSLAYER CROWNHEART CITY GATES".

Bereny Bugle editor-in-chief Rebekah Seyke decided to take a closer look at Crownheart's famous gateway, which does indeed feature a famous bas-relief carving known as The Demonslayer, said to have been modelled on King Eustace I, which is part of a series of carvings of long-dead heroes slaying all manner of monsters which decorate the gates.

"Interestingly, when I looked more closely at the carving, I noticed a hairline crack running around the carving's face. With the aid of a passing teamster I managed to climb up to it and found if I pushed it, the stone slid aside to reveal a hidden compartment. Unfortunately the compartment was empty, but dusty marks within it suggested that until recently it had held something, perhaps a scroll."

Further enquiries as to whether anyone had recently shown any interest in the carving revealed some surprising information. "I'll say," said City Gatekeeper Portus Slope. "We had that there Baroness Glaze here the other day asking all sorts of questions - you know, the famous elven one, her that married the Raven. Same sorts of questions as you really. And she was really interested in that other lot that were here just a few weeks before that. They were a queer lot, I'll tell you, all hooded black cloaks and whispering voices, but that's tourists for you I suppose."