Kickstarter Trailer (possible Secrets?)

Remember to try any of the passwords that you try in reverse as well as all the paintings themselves are backwards.

 

I could use some help on that...if you look on the passwords page on the googledoc, most of them were put in by me...the idea of putting them all in reverse kind of makes me want to cry a little...

 

Someone confirm it'd be bad taste to attempt to brute force through 4 digit pins, so that I don't have the temptation to do it anymore.

 

Totally bad taste..which did not stop me from trying every year from 1900-2000 on every email.

 

Indeed. The picture in the "Single Deluxe" room, as Makaruda pointed out, has also been switched to one by Théodore Rousseau, one of the founders of the Barbizon Art movement. Haven't been able to establish a link yet.

Worth looking into, but I haven't come across that date in other regards yet. It was generally held that Rousseau abandoned his artistic views after 1864, dying soon after in 1867.

As much as I hate discouraging people, since you ask, I'd say it'd be better to wait until we have a clearer indication that it is indeed a second login we need to find, and not something else entirely. In addition, I'd say the link between the Rosenberg Clinic and Barbizon Hotels is somewhat vague, at best.

The same goes for the admirable effort by Asariel of applying all information to the login - a prime example of "better safe than sorry". It might be worth trying them all in reverse, but as mentioned above, It's my personal opinion that the link between the two is, as of yet, too vague to warrant bringing yourself to tears over.

One thing that's bugging me a bit, although it may just be a typo, is the room description for the the "Royal Suite". It, along with the "Apartment Suite", are the only ones that stand out by way of how their descriptions are written (all lower-case). If I recall correctly, the source-code wasn't planted untill after the "h" was added to the Apartment Suites description, but I can't quite shake the feeling that it may be a hint that there's something - or more likely, will be something - to find there.

Edit: Why you no save my draft, draft?

 

Well, that gives me an excuse not to try all the passwords in reverse...I'll take it!

 

Rousseau's wife was insane. I can not find her name, but she was institutionalized and after his death her care was assigned to his close friend Jean-Francois Millet. So she lived past his 1867 death.

Now interestingly according to some sources : 'Moreoever, while he was temporarily absent with his invalid wife, a youth living in his home (a friend of his family) committed suicide in his Barbizon cottage; when he visited the Alps in 1863, making sketches of Mont Blanc, he became dangerously ill with inflammation of the lungs; and when he returned to Barbizon he suffered from insomnia and became gradually weakened.' (source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Th%C3%A9odore_Rousseau). Maybe hints of what happened in 1862?

More random thoughts...as it may be that the Barbizon School may be of some importance.

 

I believe her name was Elisa Gros, from Besançon, she was later called "Madame Rousseau".

 

Forgot to mention Jean-Francois Millet was also a co-founder to the Barbizon (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean-François_Millet

 

Have we explored the possibility that Barbizon's address could allude to the number 1031 and/or the name Lucien L'Allier? I don't see much of picking apart the name and number. That is to assume that the address was chosen intentionally for reasons other than the physical building.

 

I know Lucien came up in conversation at the beginning - he's credited with having built Montreal's subway system, and the street was renamed (from what?) after him in 1979 [ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lucien_L'Allier ], but I don't recall whether it turned out to be a dead end, or if we just got distracted... I suspect there are plenty of vacant buildings in the city they could have chosen from, so the address (or part of it) could very well be significant.


-Bats

 

I believe the street was formerly known as "Rue de l'Aqueduc" and the station was originally planned under the name "Aqueduc". However - if I got my facts straight - the first name for the station was "Terminus Windsor", as it replaced the Windsor Station, but it was later renamed to avoid confusion.

 

Well 1031 screams October 31 to me. Samhain? Hallowe'en?

Looking at the day through the years: Oct 31, 1992 Galileo Galilei reinstated by the Catholic Church, in 1989 both the USA and France did a nuclear test, 1517 Luther posted his 95 theses on Wittenberg Church, 834 1st All Hallows Eve to honour the saints. Those are from a quick scan but here is a comprehensive list : http://www.brainyhistory.com/days/october_31.html

 

Another possibility. Breaking the number in two gives us 10 and 31. Here are a couple of sites that deal with the 'magical'/'significance' of each.

http://www.ridingthebeast.com/numbers/nu10.php
http://www.ridingthebeast.com/numbers/nu31.php

Will keep thinking about it all as I cleanup the clutter around me!

 

The artwork grating in the station that would have been named 'Aqueduc' had a wavy pattern because the artist did the design before the name was changed, from what I read. I explored a bit on my own before inquiring further, but couldn't find much.

"The station, planned under the name "Aqueduc", was designed by the firm of David, Boulva & Cleve. A sculptural grille by Jean-Jacques Besner covering a ventilation shaft is the only artwork." - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lucien-L'Allier_(Montreal_Metro)

http://www.stm.info/en/about/discov...-artworks/station-lucien-lallier-jean-jacques

 

I had the thought today that MCMLXXV might have been the year the Barbizon Hotel was established, and the "New Barbizon Hotel Opening Soon" in the ticker just meant that renovations were finishing soon. I'm wondering if there might have been something related to the hotel on that spot in 1974/earlier. Is there any way to see what might have been there 30 years ago?

 

Or perhaps they're rebuilding it into a TBW headquarters?

*floats off into dream-land, then snaps back*

Can't quite seem to find any historical records, but reformist Louis-Hippolyte Lafontaine's house on then Rue de L'Aqueduc was burnt during the Burning of the Parliament Buildings, back in ~1854.
Also, it would seem the renaming from Rue de L'Aqueduc to Rue Lucien l'Allier happened back in 1979. But that's about the extent of historical records I can find concerning that street.

 

Well, the Windsor Station that has been mentioned above was declared a National Historical Site of Canada back in 1975. Wonder if there's a connection there.

 

I've pretty much come to the conclusion that the Barbizon Hotel is a virtual front for an organization with a physical address different than what we find on the website.

• Something is fishy about it.
• There is a building but no doorway with that address (the building has doors with other addresses).
• The building is oldish (ca 1930's I expect given the architecture and ornamentation). But it doesn't look like a hotel at all.
• There are no signs of ongoing renovation.

So, I'm tending to disregard anything about the physical location. But, that is not to say there is nothing significant about the address they chose. They might, as pointed out earlier, get their mail at a mail drop.

The question that intrigues me at the moment is "Why are we seeing changes in the website?" Small changes, one at a time.
Assume that the people behind Barbizon aren't toying with US. Hopefully they don't know/suspect much about our activities regarding them. They must have a bonafide reason for making the changes.

a) It might be the normal course of building the website to their taste - all connection to previous investigations is accidental. If that is the case and this is one big red herring we trapped ourselves into following, is there a way we can begin to take advantage of our familiarity with a web presence that is already questionable? Maybe hide part of our operations inside their hidden operations? For example many hotels provide email service for their guests on their servers. I wouldn't mind a mail address @barbizonhotels.com. I don't have the expertise, how possible might this be?

b) Or it might be they are actively sending messages among their own people. Say for example, one of their agents is known as "apartment" - the orders from headquarters to "apartment" are coded by certain changes in that page (etching by Dore). Etc. Tryng to divine this is difficult due to the small sample and poor visibility into who their people are and what they are doing. Despite the fire at the hospital, I tend to think Rosenberg and his minions are still in play. I'm not aware of anybody else we've been investigating.

 

Getting an email on that domain isn't something that can be easily done.

On second thought, I checked https://www.canadapost.ca/pca/

Now, being a US citizen, I'm unfamiliar with Canada's postal service. However, if I read this site correctly: 1031 Rue Lucien L'Allier doesn't exist.