TFEE T1E

Tier 1E: The "calcium carbonate" puzzle

Tier Overview

On March 2nd, fishxw found that Rob updated the Tier 1D page with the image “THE_FINALS_OSPUZE_AD_bonus_candy_02.” On March 3rd a higher resolution of the image was uploaded to the official-art channel with the name “THE_FINALS_OSPUZE_AD_bonus_candy_02_higres_per_EE-hunters-request” and the hidden metadata message “Hi EE-hunters.! There is nothing hidden in this image (just the start date of the next tier) , you are on vacation.! From Embark with love.!”

Along with the image was a timer, counting down until the end of the hunter's vacation and the start of T1E.

After 21 days of rest, the hunters were eager to start T1E. On March 23rd, Rob said, "I thought you might say that…therefore I actually DID hide a couple of things in some of the assets I uploaded during your vacation…so if you are bored and can’t really wait until Monday… there is one diamond and a primary clue out there, waiting to be found…" After learning that there were, in fact, clues hidden in the image, the hunters started searching. All that has been found in this image is the countdown to the end of the EE-vacation.

On March 27th, Rob took down the countdown on the T1D page and posted an official artwork called "THE_FINALS_Wallpaper_CB_Up_We_Go_2880x1620” with the hidden metadata message “Hi there EE-Hunters.! Good luck have fun... from embark with love.!”

A single pixel in the top left corner stood out, and had a hexcode of #206888. Converting this to chemical elements using their atomic number give Ca, C, O, O, O or CaCO3.
The text on the sign in the background was coordinates for Torslanda, a town in Sweden.
More hidden numbers revealed coordinates for the River Moriston in Scotland.
An MD5 hash hidden at the bottom of the image was decoded to the number "206888" again.
A cross cipher was discovered in the footer. This is still unsolved (as of 11/29/23).
The character's weapon charm was confirmed to be a T-Rex.
A snowflake was hidden in the left side of the image.

On March 31st, Rob posted the image "THE_FINALS_Kynezantama," a Byzantine-themed Nama Tama requested by Kyne. It has the metadata message "Hi there dear EE-hunters.! This is a very special Namatama, this one is dedicated to the winner who solved the EE-puzzle in the THE FINALS Brand Guide. From Embark with love.!"

Nama Tama wore a crown with pearls and jewels on it
Another hidden snowflake was found in the image.
The letters T, U, R, A, H, and R were found in the jewel of the crown.
The letters T, O, R, S, N, O, and R were found near Nama Tama's earring.
The two series of letters were unscrambled to the name Arthur Rostron, the captain of the RMS Carpathia.
The logo for the White Star Line was hidden near the bottom of Nama Tama.
Images of Ammonoids were hidden in Nama Tama's cheeks.
The #206888 pixel was found again in the image.

One week later, on April 7th, Dusty posted the image "THE_FINALS_Robatama" which was a Nama Tama dressed as Rob himself. The metadata has been cleaned from this image, and there is no metadata message.

Rune symbols in the eyes and cheeks spelled "KARI"
A series of boxes was discovered that were converted into binary. It was decoded into "s/2006 s 2" which was the reference number for the moon Kari.
The #206888 pixel was found again.
Seemingly random scribbles in the dark parts of the image were pieced together to form a graph, similar to the graph of effective potential.
The string "512006 5 2 120013130A171100" was found on the OSPUZE can, and was decoded into "s/2006 s 2" again.

At this point, there were many theories being thrown around in the Discord, but none of them seemed to have any solid connection. On April 15th, Rob posted the image "THE_FINALS_Wallpaper_Iseult_Chill_2880x1620" with the metadata "Hi there de(r EE-'u€t=&^ This message has been compromised."

Another snowflake was found in the image.
A series of pink pixels on the edge of the ISEUL-T logo were decoded to the numbers 46, 11, and 94. These numbers correspond to HSV color values for an eggshell color.
A hidden QR code was found that led to a special URL: www.reachthefinals.com/rival-1. This page shows a rotated image of a record. The name Raija Mannarla was removed compared to the original version.
Warped text was discovered, reading "KARI"
A partial image of a diamond and a sun was found. The diamond was discovered to be the Hope Diamond, and the sun was a part of the flag of Louis XIV.
A picture of an iceberg was found in the background of the image.
The Greek word "ΠΕΝΘΕΣΙΔΕΙΔ" was found, and translated to Penthesilea, the queen of the Amazons.
The code "L 24 239 MH19 64PLC 012971" was found, which is the corporate code for the company Proctor and Gamble.

After these clues were discovered, many theories were either solidified or thrown out the window, but the hunters still needed to find a strong connection. On April 22nd, Rob posted the image "A_Space_Friend" with metadata, "Hi there dear EE-Hunters.! Hope you a934å¨”/Ä*I=Y#RI? *** THIS MESSAGE HAS BEEN COMPROMISED ***"

The green can in the image is the cleaning agent Comet, produced by Proctor and Gamble. The main ingredient in Comet is calcium carbonate.
The small label on the camera device has "P.ID #9173" on it.
The latches on the bottom of Nama Tama's suit have the labels "325CC" and "275CC."

The hunters knew that the Comet product must be important, because of the previous clue for Proctor and Gamble. The hunters thought that the name of the product, Comet, might be the main idea of this clue path, similar to 1064 Aethusa comet from T1A. It wasn't until later that the connection was made between the actual composition of the product rather than its name. On March 3rd, Rob posted "THE_FINALS_Namabatama," likely referencing Discord member, volunteer moderator, and bat-lover, Kunai. It has the metadata, "Hi th "#¤/0/! THIS MESSAGE HAS BEEN COMPROMISED"

Two more snowflakes were hidden in the ears, one in each.
Stalagmite-like shapes were found in the top corners of the image.
Pixels found around the border of the image were found, which were converted to the number sequence 2, 14, 16, 4, 2, 2.
A swirl of numbers was revealed around the image, counting up from zero to 18.
Three lines with varying width and height were found.

Clues 3, 4, and 5 were never solved, and the two other clues didn't seem to form any connections. As the hunters struggled, Rob posted an unofficial supplementary image featuring Saint Esbjorn and Saint Dusty. On May 11th, Rob posted "IMG_CDIV" with metadata, "&/¤”#(? C&/¤N)&S/#!"

The name of the image, CDIV, is 404 in Roman/Latin numerals.
Two paper snowflakes are hung on the wall.
A 20 Krona note is crumpled on the desk.
A container of rock salt is on the desk.
The desk has odd-looking coffee stains.
The keys 3, A, C, and O are missing from the keyboard.
The keys D, H, L, and Space are being pressed.
The chemical structure for Protoporphyrin IX -a chemical found in eggshells- is written on the window.
A periodic table is hung on the wall:
1. The Letters P, T, and E are circles, and have arrows pointing to C, N, and S, respectively.
2. The letters CNS are circled with the message, "Remember"
3. The coordinates x=5 and y=6 are written on the right side, which point to the element Tantalum.
4. The elements Caesium (Cs), Gold (Au), Lanthanum (La), and Xenon (Xe) are crossed out.
5. The letters H, O, A, C, S, N, I, R, H, M, and E are underlined.
Four pictures of THE FINALS art are hung on the wall

After reviewing this image, there were some clues that stuck out, like the rock salt, the snowflakes, and the letters missing from the keyboard. The hunters now had some decent footing, but were still unsure. On May 12th, Rob posted "THE_FINALS_NAMALAPIS" with the metadata, "CNS DONT TRUS*0( *** THIS MESSAGE HAS BEEN COMPROMISED ***"

The term "lapis" in the image name means "stone" in Latin.
The Latin phrase "Veni Vidi Ludere" is carved into the base of the Nama Tama statue.
The statue appears to be made out of marble.

Between the posting of this image and the start of CB2, nearly no progress was made. During CB2 on June 15th, veteran EE hunter Serpenger spotted an in-game message on the Monaco map that read: "SR.!" This is a reference to Saint Rob, commonly abbreviated as SR.

After a screenshot of the message was posted in THE FINALS Discord by Serpenger, Rob replied to the image and posted "NICE.! If you find more graffiti with this style… well I guess you know who put them there.!" The hunters now knew that there would be more sprays hidden on the Monaco map, with messages from SR relating to the current tier of the hunt.

On June 18th, only three days after the first SR spray was found, hunter fishxw spotted another SR message: "825c". Since the style was the same as the first SR spray, the hunters knew that it must be a clue for the current tier of the hunt. Under an hour later, hunter Flex4d made a connection: 825 degrees Celsius was the melting point of Aragonite, a crystallized form of calcium carbonate. This breakthrough, confirmed by Rob, was the start of a cascade of connections and revitalization of the hunt.

The weeks following the "825c" message were a flurry of connections and confirmations, eventually leading to the password being cracked.

After the tier was solved, additional clues in the MTM podcast were discovered. On June 18th, the Character and Concept Art episode aired, and a subtle clue was dropped by the host, Dusty. In the intro to the episode, she says, "We're here in this hot little studio where it feels like it's about 825 degrees Celsius today..." This was another reference to the melting point of Aragonite.

On June 19th, the Rob and Jonny MTM episode aired, with another clue mentioned, this time by Rob. He said, "but I probably need to spend some time in the incubator on this one because I-I-I'm cracking up." This was a clue at the final form of the password and the fact that it had three Is.

Solving

On July 1st, DEV64! entered the correct password "cacoiii" and unlocked Tier 1E. This tier took a total of 96 days to solve.

Summary

All the snowflakes, diamonds, and geology-related clues pointed towards the chemical compound calcium carbonate. Various clues pointed to Latin, including the passwords from previous tiers and Tier 1E image titles. Combining the two main clues of calcium carbonate and Latin yielded the final password: the chemical formula for calcium carbonate, CaCO₃, but with the 3 replaced with Roman numerals, cacoiii.

Images

THE_FINALS_Wallpaper_CB_Up_We_Go_2880x1620
THE_FINALS_Kynezantama
THE_FINALS_Robatama
THE_FINALS_Wallpaper_Iseult_Chill_2880x1620
A_Space_Friend
THE_FINALS_Namabatama
IMG_CDIV
THE_FINALS_NAMALAPIS

Credits

Solver - DEV64!

Documentation - Flex4d, Kyne, RockhoundBlack, Smashel

Various Contributions in Alphabetical Order - buunuu, DashGames, DEV64!, Duh, eoin, fishxw, Flex4d, Giriko, joshnut, ka9N, Kyne, Oak, Povich, Resk, RockhoundBlack, Serpenger, Smashel, SPEAR, Swa, WIZARD