His feet carried him through corridor after dark corridor, soft steps echoing in the stillness. He could feel something in these halls calling to him, drawing him near. He turned a corner and there it was, what he somehow knew he would find. A door, seemingly hewn from the surrounding stone. While it bore no handle, it had a series of inscrutable markings engraved in its surface.
""" (dmsp rm rfc dmsprf nmucp) kglsq (rfpcc rgkcq lglcrccl) ((rcl rm rfc rfgpb nmucp) njsq mlc fslbpcb qgvrw mlc) bgtgbcb zw ruclrw qctcl (rum rgkcq rfpcc rgkcq rfpcc rgkcq ruclrw rfpcc rgkcq rfpcc rgkcq rum fslbpcb rfgprw rfpcc rgkcq dmprw rfpcc) kglsq dgtc rfc ufmjc lskzcp md rfc npmbsar md rfc yzmtc rfpcc gq rfc icw """ [ "----|---------------------------------------------------------------------0---", " _/ ", " / | 0 0 0 ", " _|_/ ", " | | ", "-|-/|--|-----------------------------------------------------------0----------", "----|------------------------------------------------------------------------", "----|/-----------0------0-----------------------------------------------------", "---/|----------------------------------------0------0-------------------------", " | 0 ", " | ", ] """ ro ncdm oyy mn, ahz ro dueho qax xem ymnudrn pm ddbigwj, amc yiq'pe zoplkycghna oscbdsm ncaqqahcc ar hmjhgec, cewenhdq lcgc tgd snwpt sgeh wlsvdr ndc rhcdfa, ync aamg gn xnul wpt """ """ 8813191238677333954665809213349646122194 3015595667663245206677258662604239718836 4431428926159036858913586646934493387784 2415423905479477475303429332505714485112 4090836065842116455582237940320444861841 8887593350492294228220622241460000717294 4955847547957801429318355097534895447954 7342296922244600793814495300151499126757 3076802599544010948629349194265749217345 4001893903317176122546504003906815939962 8428796996691959920597351056958454461881 4732394077366853306860112237237386161021 7871126702127244170489561553519315838470 2693690437372649049215349703278652470600 3015221909596231574709960176130567639024 0092004721669881955529429225102279034207 1330193718198499866240480029222396978969 9281228432921674821577765850343057221329 2779929871766974307119561522080156771664 7095071241828310135078223629923028803912 5453455582923797217620833928427273736063 7822533797916494440084693015546738131130 2640275104782204063786790634519992766829 2989314882818234607337721281487409823167 5734588734584493380447926820353540224813 5824663370552369365250850730508000154790 81377112162403735240993 """ """ pv-shwsub-hbbs-wbwuvffgs-uh-sosb-vdph-or -huibtc-sw--wwucjhhss--hhousvjhgsapc-b-i ooas-fgr-b-gvhohqwsarsa-wsfhus-hsuogsjsv ibc--chg-rwab-qigro-zhwszrt-vsjohwfuo--w vsgsh-h-csgbrr-ow-baccg-wigbqqsgp-gggbcz asc-uhjrwossc-shhvg--q-fawouko-orb-oh-zz vg-bsrckfs-n-froctwkmfchbto-iwfhbcrvsk-t hmodvoh--fswzrvrzh--ssfhgo--susjudfhwb-s """
Baldric stopped in front of the door to study it, its gleaming green inscriptions casting a soft light down the corridor. While the writing appeared to have some sort of five-part structure, it was wholly unintelligible. The carvings of a madman. Or perhaps it was scrambled by some sort of code…but if so, how to crack it?
Noticing footsteps, Baldric turned to see a faceless man in heavy red and black armor slowly walking towards him. The space around the man was gray, as if the color was being leeched away by his presence. The man stopped and extended his arm, and a massive wicked-looking axe materialized in his hand. The blade glowed a deep blood red and a horde of demonic forms sprung from the shadows, howling and blanketing the corridor as they swarmed forth.
In horror, Baldric spun back towards the door, thinking frantically. He felt something surge through his body, and time seemed to slow as ethereal threads sprang into being before him. Mentally, he wove the threads in complex patterns directed at the door and, miraculously, began to understand the engravings. He could feel mountains of calculations being performed by his weavings, the mysterious text’s encoding cracking under their computational weight.
After a couple of seconds that seemed an eternity, he read the final piece of the message and uttered a word. Only one, simple word. With that, the heavy stone door swung open and a blinding white light poured through. Feeling the demons nearly on top of him, Baldric leapt into the light, and was obliterated.