Previously, in The Catacombs of Cryptos:
1. The Entrance to the Catacombs
The end came long ago.
The wars are long since over.
Little remains and those who have survived struggle.
One of the few places that still stands, however, is the catacombs of Dias Cryptos. My father once described him as a man infamous for his insistence on placing everything he owned into secure areas, using entrance methods known, only, to him. He always claimed that anyone could get in, but my father had never heard of anyone who had actually succeeded. To be fair, the wars were going on at the time, and most people couldn't have cared less about the man's inventions.
To us, however, his inventions could mean life or death. Cryptos was a well known inventor of agricultural, and other, devices that likely could have saved the world's food supply, had there been time to release it prior to the nuclear war. Perhaps it could have prevented everything. Perhaps my mother would be still alive, now.
...
Myself and six others traveled to the catacombs in an endeavor to obtain these items with a faint hope of being able to restore these barren lands into a home that the human race can, once again, thrive in. What started as seven of us, however, has gradually been whittled down. The catacombs' puzzles and traps have been harsh. I, myself, now stand as the last hope for the survival of our settlement - of my family - but there is one final puzzle that I must solve, in order to gain access to Cryptos' devices.
I must try.
I find myself in a room with a number of paths, one to the left, one to the right, one straight ahead, and another above me. In each direction, however, there lies another series of doors, each numbered one through five, for a total of twenty possible doors to choose from. As I slowly approach one of the doors, several devices, in the ceiling, retract. They're definitely gun turrets, of some kind, and they're pointed straight at me. I've seen these before; Picking the wrong answer will spell a quick death. I take a few steps back. I must make sure to get this right, the first time, or I doom us all.
In the center of the room is a stone with an image engraved upon it.
From the corner of my eye, I notice what seems to be a grid of letters and numbers, on the floor. After clearing away the dust and debris, it becomes easier to discern.
C 1 1 W 1 V 1 1 1 E 1 1 B 1 1 E 1 11 1 1 1 K 1 1 1 P 1 C J 1 J F 1 1 M1 P E F K R N I W V 1 W 1 B 1 C R B1 1 1 J 1 U 1 L H 1 1 J 1 X Q 1 1 11 Q I 1 U P 1 1 1 M 1 1 T 1 1 1 O 1D W 1 E 1 1 1 F 1 T G T 1 D K 1 1 11 C 1 M F 1 1 O 1 S M 1 1 Q 1 1 1 CK 1 G A 1 1 1 1 T 1 1 1 C I D 1 1 A1 T 1 1 1 Q B A H V Y 1 U J 1 1 U F1 K L 1 W 1 1 S 1 C P 1 1 G 1 A 1 1X H 1 1 1 1 1 1 R 1 1 X V 1 D 1 1 O1 1 1 R 1 S U R 1 U 1 U F K 1 I A ND 1 I 1 1 1 1 A 1 R 1 V 1 J 1 D 1 11 F 1 T V N 1 D Q 1 1 1 G 1 1 U X 11 G G P 1 1 R E J N D B 1 E 1 E F WF 1 1 H 1 H 1 1 1 L 1 1 1 P 1 N 1 L1 1 1 1 I 1 T 1 G C J P 1 J Y 1 1 11 K M C S T 1 E 1 1 1 S T N L F 1 N
Clearly I've found the clue that was intended to be used to solve the entrance puzzle, but now I must find out what it means, so I can decide which door to take.
You might have better luck if you look with something, other than your eyes, at first. What? You've already done that? But you're not done, yet.
The secrets you seek are contained within the gems.
Answer
We want to
open the fourth door on the right.
Grouping
the table in 2 x 3 cells yields a message in Braille.
THE GEMS OF FOUR SHOW YOU THE WAY BUT THOSE OF SIX BEHOLD THE NUMBERGems of four are cells that are surrounded orthogonally by 1's.
This yields
TOWARD RIGHT
Gems of...
...six are pairs of cells that are surrounded by 6 1's.
This yieldsFOUR
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