Cipher Letters
Cipher Letters
Because you guys know I simply cannot tolerate a reasonable work load, I have another writing project!
Those of your groaning and bemoaning the fate of Choose and Blue Moon (and Song of Binding, for that matter), worry not. Cipher Letters is a game between my husband and myself. The letters are short, the editing time is almost nonexistent, and the priority is lower than my other projects.
Letter Game
A letter game is a collaborative role playing game. Two people are required to play, and two is the optimum number, though more can be added. The idea is simple – you write letters to each other, as though you were your character. In this letter game, my character’s name is Kyuu Najj, and my husband is Rjon Eihl. Every single detail about the game is being made up as we write, and we don’t talk about Cipher with each other. If I have a plan for a plot and something in his letter ruins it, I just have to find a new plot. (It keeps me from plotting too far ahead, that’s for sure). I don’t know what our characters are, though we’ve obviously abandoned humanity as an option. The not knowing is part of the fun – in some ways, it truly is like getting a letter in the mail. The contents are unknown, and we’re playing very much by the seat of our pants.
Three Parts
Cipher has three parts.
Part 1 : Cipher
First, the person whose turn it is to write the reply (either myself or my husband) will write the letter. Then we’ll immdiately encipher it using an online tool, and come up with (or find) a riddle. The answer to the riddle is the key to the second part of Cipher. The Cipher is posted on the website, along with the riddle.
Part 2 : Decipher
Second, the letter recipient deciphers the letter so that it’s readable. The decipher is also posted on the website.
Part 3 : Podcast
Lastly, we’re recording each of the deciphered letters and publishing them as a podcast. The last part is not only just for fun (this podcasting thing is insidiously addictive!) but also so that anyone who wants to follow the letters can do so without bothering with all the cipher/decipher stuff. The Cipher Letters podcast is available in the website RSS feed, on a podcast-only RSS feed, on Blubrry, and in iTunes (Yup! iTunes! It was actually accepted!).
12 Comments
I cracked up at Joov’s Tweet to you. :D
@Steve
All your feeds are belong to me!
SQUEEEEE!! I LOVE this. Your readings really make it work, hearing the voices (your accent and his slight drawl) really bring the characters to life. I’m really going to enjoy reading these letters, thanks for sharing!
@Lauren
Eeeee, I’m so glad you like it! Especially the podcast part. No matter how often I do them, I’m always worried I’ll sound like a ninny.
Aw, glad to provide amusement at least *snortlaugh*
Going back through, I’m not 100% on the riddle. Maybe I’m just missing the obvious, but what precisely is it for/does it do? Provide the clue to the encryption?
@Jov
Yup! The answer to the riddle goes through a few more gyrations before it provides the deciphering key, but the answer is always the start of the process.
We haven’t laid down the entire process because it’s kind of a pita, and I figure most people are more concerned with following the story than attempting to crack the code. =]
Well, if I’m gonna do it, amma need help with setup too >.>
@Jov
Email’ed. (in the original Shakespearean, no less)
What?!? No 128-bit RSA encryption? Posting the private key on the internet? Come on! Hackers will have your story in no time. Don’t think that podcast will help. They’ll just speech-to-text that thing. You’ll need to add some aberrations in the audio *AT LEAST*. ;)
Sounds fun. If it was me, I think I’d just play with the encryption algorithm and make people hack it to read it. And once they did, they’d be sad they had.
@Brad-o
*laughs* Yes, but we want people to be able to follow along!
And not just encryption experts who also happen to be fantasy readers.
;)
(and you’re right, the encryption is really weak to start with. You dont’ even have to do the riddle, a simple brute-force attack will get it easy peasy)
Hmm, yes I will catch up on all this funness. I’d like to try it with Justin and myself. I can see him getting really excited about the encription process.
@KristenSue
if you start one, I’d love to read it! Email me if you need details on how we do the encryption (though you could always come up with your own method. ^_^)