Z-KOR02 (Apr 8, 2023)
Puzzle
“Potential OJ King.”
See: KOR01 | 2 Words
Clue
Hover over the clues if you require!
Clue 1: Who does Twain say could be the leader of the Hauntarskald?
Clue 2: His name's an anagram of his true identity.
Clue 3: Bit of some CaD lore required here - who ruled the Hauntaurskald after Satan's imprisonment? Check the Zodiac Files if you need to.
Answer and Explanation
Answer: Master Cain
Explanation: ‘Niam Astcer’, the name of the ruler of the Hauntaurskald, is an anagram of his true identity - Cain, the first Elder.
Summary of Receipt
Capgras mentions that - unlike Bingo - the Kings of Roses are actually a direct threat to Astoria's leadership. While once run by Bloody Mary (Mrs. Tudor), she's been ousted and is now led by 'Rune' (possibly Randall Rune, the identity of the man Katherine/512 killed back in C-HHS05, in Bad Omens - which has very interesting lore implications). Rune claims to have secret Zulu-knowledge about Project Lazarus and Project Netzach (Lazarus is likely the project that Katherine was created from; Netzach's only been mentioned in name once and never again). Netzach's the only major thing to look out for here, so Capgras is going to meet up with Rune and negotiate a treaty of silence for the Netzach stuff, using his authority and prestige as a 'greater cosmic force'.
Transcript
Z-KOR02 | 4/8/23 | Capgras
Another day, another cult. This time it’s at least actually a cult and not just a group of people who make Alfa nervous. Actually, it’s almost the opposite. The Kings of Roses pose a direct threat to our leadership. I know, right? How dare they. They’re a blood cult or something like that, formerly run by the High Demon, Bloody Mary. Under Mary, the cult was considered by our predecessor as “benign at best—more of a threat in another time and place.” …And that’s it. Thanks, Aayush. Really helpful stuff.
So, why has this benign blood cult suddenly become a threat? Well, Mary was ousted, and the new head of the Kings is some guy named “Rune.” Rune claims to have super special Zulu-Knowledge, especially relating to Project Lazarus and Project Netzach. Project Lazarus, we could care less about. It’s something of an open secret at this point. But Netzach? Oh boy. Oh boy, boy, boy. That is not something anyone should be talking about, especially not some mutinous cult leader. Also, assuming you who are reading this are not a Zulu yourself, don’t look into anything Netzach related. It’s for your own good. Seriously.
The plan of attack is probably the same as the Bingo Cult. While I’d love to go in magic-blazing and just wipe this cult off the map… that’s not exactly an option for either myself or Twain. At best, I can go in as a greater cosmic force and see if I can reason with this Rune guy to drop the Netzach stuff. And if he refuses? Well, that definitely makes things… sticky. I guess it is also possible this Rune guy doesn’t actually know anything about Netzach beyond the name of the project, which, to be fair, is “publicly” available in the Astoria database.