The Great Tibian Cipher: Unraveling the Mystery of the Bonelord Language

This is one of the articles that was submitted to the Secrets of Tibia 3 contest and won 7th place. It was written by Antonio Stradivarius.

The Great Tibian Cipher: Unraveling the Mystery of the Bonelord Language

One of the most intriguing puzzles in Tibia has been the 469 Language for many years. Found in the Hellgate dungeon and associated with Bonelords, this language isn't just a bunch of random numbers, it might actually hold the secrets to Tibia's most hidden mysteries. The 469 Language has really gotten players curious because it's as mysterious as the Bonelords themselves. It's become a big deal, showing how rich and full of secrets Tibia is. Players have been trying to find their own version of a Rosetta Stone to figure out what the Hellgate books say, but they haven't cracked it yet. People have tried everything from looking into old legends to breaking down ancient texts and coming up with wild theories, but no one has really been able to decode it consistently, at least not up until now.

Languages of Tibia

Tibia is home to a wide variety of languages, reflective of its vast world and diverse races. It’s natural for such a world to host multiple languages, ranging from simple to complex. Some of these languages have their dictionaries available in certain Tibian libraries.

The main language in Tibia is known as the Human language, presented to players as English from our real world. The first non-human language players encounter is the rudimentary Orc language. This language is necessary for purchasing weapons and armors from blind orc residing on a hill in the northern dungeon of Rookgaard. Players begin to learn Orcish by reading books found in a dungeon and interacting with Amber in Rookgaard.

On the mainland, players come into contact with more complex languages, including the Deepling, Demon, Djinn  and  Bonelord languages.

Among these, the Bonelord language, also known as the 469 language, has attracted the most research and theories. As many of you might know, it is presented to us in numerical form, with the primary source of information being the Library deep within Hellgate. There, we encounter a Bonelord who oversees the library and provides hints about the language.

Is 469 a genuine language, or might it be just a code or  cipher? Let’s investigate this fascinating query further.

A Journey Beyond Codes and Ciphers

It’s important to determine whether the 469 language is a language per se or a code derived from another language. To do this, we can draw comparisons from the real world. The use of codes and ciphers in human history dates back thousands of years, with records of code usage as early as 1900 BC. What these ciphers most commonly share is their use during wartime, where protecting information was crucial for victory. Examples of ciphers used in wartime include the Caesar Cipher, the Great Cipher, and the Enigma Machine. All of these ciphers were employed to safeguard information from the enemy.

Language, on other hand, is something more structured, being a communication system that consists of grammar and vocabulary. It is the necessary medium for us to convey any meaning, thoughts, feelings. It is the way we transmit our thoughts to others. Therefore, any language must have a minimum of grammatical structure and, eventually, semantic structure.

Figuring out what the 469 language really is can be though because we’re not sure if it’s an actual language or just a code. To find out, we have to look closely at everything we know about it, from sources inside and outside of Tibia, so we can pick up any hints about its true nature.

Unveiling the Texts

The corpus of the 469 language can be found in books from Hellgate, scattered libraries across the land, NPC dialogues, and interviews with Tibia Content Team members. Among these sources, the texts that show some structure are those spoken by NPCs Avar Tar and Knightmare, as well as the text presented in the 2014 poll. Here they are:

Avar Tar: “29639 46781! 9063376290 3222011 677 80322429 67538 14805394, 6880326 677 63378129 337011 72683 149630 4378! 453 639 578300 986372 2953639! I know it’s rather short, but still, this poem I like best.”

Knightmare: “3478 67 90871 97664 3466 0 345!”

Tibia 2014 poll: “C: 663 902073 7223 67538 467 80097”

In the content shared by Avar Tar, he mentions it being a poem, a form that often includes rhymes. Let's analyze the poem mentioned by Avar Tar for its rhyming structure:

29639 46781!

9063376290

3222011 677 80322429

67538 14805394,

6880326 677 63378129

337011 72683 149630 4378!

453 639 578300 986372 2953639!

Upon first analysis, we can identify two verses that resemble a poem, having identical lengths and similar words:

3222011 677 80322429

6880326 677 63378129

Another interesting observation is that both NPCs use punctuation in their speech, a feature not present in the Hellgate books. This could hint that 469 might not be a language itself, but a cipher.

An external source of the 469 language can be found on the website Tibia.org. Although this domain was originally the official Tibia site, it was later changed to Tibia.com. However, since September 2018, Tibia.org has shown a blank page. The discovery was made when players examined the HTML code of this page, finding the same poem recited by Avar Tar.

Upon closer inspection, there's a difference in one word in this verse:

6880326 677 63378129 (Avar Tar)

6880326 677 62792068657272657261 (Tibia.org)

This difference likely serves a purpose. Let’s analyze this new 'word':

62 79 20 68 65 72 72 65 72 61

We notice the repetition of the number 72 three times and the number 65 twice. If every pair of numbers represents a letter, we would have a 10-letter word.It's possible to deduce which words fit this pattern. Assuming each pair of numbers represents a letter, starting with 62=A, 79=B, and so on, we would form the pattern ABCDEFFEFG. Only two common English words fit this pattern: NARCISSIST and NARCISSISM.

This provides a strong clue that the 469 is actually a cipher, not a language. Let's delve deeper into this discovery.

Cracking the Code Step by Step

There are some ciphers that use numbers in their encoding, such as Bifid, Homophonic Substitution, A1Z26, Book Cipher, Nihilist Cipher, etc. Among those I have analyzed more deeply, the one that best matches the 469 so far is the Homophonic Substitution Cipher. This is a cipher where each letter can have more than one code number, making letter frequency analysis difficult and thus rendering common algorithms ineffective for breaking it down.

However, we face a problem. In the text we are analyzing, some words have an odd length, which poses a problem because, in the Homophonic Substitution Cipher, the numbers should be paired.

To solve this problem, we can deduce that the words with an odd length should be completed with leading zeros, which would correct the word length. With this adjustment, our base texts would be transformed as follows:

Avar Tar Poem: 029639 046781! 9063376290 03222011 0677 80322429 067538 14805394, 06880326 0677 63378129 337011 072683 149630 4378! 0453 0639 578300 986372 02953639!

Knightmare: 3478 67 090871 097664 3466 00 0345!

Tibia Poll: 0663 902073 7223 067538 0467 080097

Let’s start cracking the code step by step, I will outline the steps I used, and in the end, we will create a table that will be the partial key to start to solving the 469.

Step one: NARCISSIST

Considering 62792068657272657261 as representing NARCISSIST/M, we have:

62=N, 79=A, 20=R, 68=C, 65=I, 72=S, 61=T/M

Step two: Be… uhm Bonelord language.

During the 25th Tibia Anniversary, we were introduced to a creature using the  old bonelord sprite,named with the sequence 3478.This sequence appears more than once in the game: in the Knightmare NPC’s speech, and in a formula inside a book [1] in the Demona library written by Honeminas. It’s believed that Honeminas was a Bonelord who lived there.The formula goes as follows:

g[a_,x_] := a g[3,2] + (4,3,1,5,3).(3,4,7,8,4)

e=3m*2g+3p

New players may not know  this story, but Bonelords were called Beholders, before Cipsoft changed the name in 2010 due to copyright issues. There is an allusion about it in the game when Knightmare talk about monsters and when the player mentions Excalibug to him:

Player: Monsters

Knightmare: Minotaurs, ghouls and the then differently named bonelords were really dangerous for the heroes of that time. [...]

Player: Excalibug

Knightmare: I'd tell you if you'd ask me in be ... uhm bonelord language.

Furthermore, when we ask about Bonelords to the The Wrinkled Bonelord NPC, it responds: “In our language the name of our race is not fix but a complex formula, and as such it always changes for the subjective viewer.”

Assuming that 3478 could be decoded to Bonelord, but it changes depending on the viewer we can deduce that 3478=BE, being 34=B and 78=E.

Step three: It's in VAIN

Returning to the poem and considering NARCISSIST/NARCISSISM on Tibia.org, we can deduce that the word appearing  in the same position in Avar Tar’s poem is a synonym.

63378129 is four-letter, so words of this length that are synonyms with NARCISSIST/NARCISSISM are: JERK, VAIN, SELF. In my research, the word that fits the most is VAIN, which makes: 

63=V, 37=A, 81=I, 29=N

Now our texts will be partially decode as:

Poem: 029639 0467I! 90VAN90 0322R11 0677 803224N 067538 14805394, 06880326 0677 VAIN 337011 072683 149630 43E! 0453 0639 578300 9863S 02953639!

Knightmare: BE 67 090871 097664 B66 00 0345!

Tibia Poll: 06V 90R73 S23 067538 0467 080097

Step four: Mirror mirror in the wall, who is the craziest of them all?

Looking at the partially decoded texts from the last step, we can deduce that 67=A, as the only two words with one letter could fit are “A” and “I”, and “A” appears more often after “BE”. [2]

Another conclusion is that 43 could be B, M, H, W or Y, as the most common two-letters words that end with “E” and its in the end of a sentence are BE, ME, HE and YE.

Returning to the Honeminas’ formula in  (4,3,1,5,3).(3,4,7,8,4), we can verify that 3+4=7 and 1+5=6 as well as 4+3=7; 7+8=15 and again 1+5=6. Therefore the digital root [3] of 34 and 43, and the digital root of 15 and 78 are the same! Could we represent the same letters in this formula? Maybe 43=B and 15=E? It's a good guess, I think.

So, if  43=B and 34=B, it  leads us to think that perhaps mirrored numbers represent the same letters! So, let’s be even and pass that mirrored numbers are the same letters:

02=R, 87=E, 36=V, 73=A, 18=I, 92=N, and so on.

Now our base texts are as follows:

Poem: R9639 04AI! 90VAN90 0322R11 0677 803224N 067538 14805394, 068803N 0677 VAIN 337011 07N83 149630 BE! 0453 0639 578300 98VS R95V39!

Knightmare: BE A T0871 09A64 B66 00 0345!

Tibia Poll: 06V 90RA S23 067538 04A 0800A

Step five: Which alphabet? Brothers and Sisters, Let’s Unite!

From now on, things are becoming more difficult. As you can see, we encounter some puzzling word formations such as: 

• What five-letters word starts and ends with the same letters and has “VAN” in the middle (90VAN90)?
• What three-letters word ends with “VS”? (98VS)

To tackle these challenges, we must consider grouping certain letters,  a common practice in cryptography, to minimize frequency inferences and simplify the method.

This way we might group  V, U and W; T and TH, so 98VS is potentially “THUS” and group N with M. Additionally, some words might be contractions. While 90VAN90 could logically be “SWANS'', my research  suggests it’s more likely TWANT (‘twa’n’t) [4] meaning “it was not”.

Step six: Thirteen is the one.

After these five first  steps I’ve taken to decode the base texts. Further research utilizing heuristics algorithms like Hill Climbing [5] and Simulated Annealing [6] manually, led me to find more keys and to these conclusions:

1. Additional letters are grouped
2. Some words are anagrams, with letters in an incorrect order
3. “00” could act as a wildcard, representing any letter
4. Many words come from Old English [7] and Middle English [8], suggesting  that 469 could be decoding words from ages ago.

And after decoding the base texts I came to the conclusion that 49 and 94 represent N.

Those numbers is in the Prisoner’s answer about surreal numbers, so we learn that:

1+1=1

1+1=13

1+1=49

1+1=94

What if 1+1=N → N+N=M → nn=m

Thus, 1, 13, 49, 94; and by mirroring, 31 and 10 are decoded to N.

After all these steps, the partial Key Table is as follows (Rows represent the Tens, columns represent the Units, or vice-versa):

The alphabet is as follows:

A: A

B: B

C: C

E: E

F: F

I: I, Y, EE

L: L

N: M, N

O: O

R: R

S: S

T: T, TH

V: V, U, W, OO, OOL, UE

And the base texts are as below:

Poem: 

RUN FAI! TVANT VARE IN IOLN IET AILN, IAVN IN VAIN EIE INT AVV BE! FL IN EI* TUS RIVN! (using the key)

RUN FAY! TWANT WARE IN LION YET LAIN, YAWN IN VAIN EYE INT AVV BE! FL IN YET THUS RIV’N (adjusted)

Knightmare: 

BE A TIV TAN BE * VF! (using the key)

BE A WIT THAN BE A FOOL! (adjusted)

Tibia Poll: 

IV TRA SO IET FA I*A (using the key)

YV THRA SO, YET FA’WAY (adjusted)

Making them more readable:

Poem: RUN FAY! ‘TWA’N’T ‘WARE IN LION YET LAIN, YAWN IN VAIN EYE INTO HAVE BE! FLY IN YET THUS RIVEN!

Knightmare: BE A WIT THAN BE A FOOL! [9]

Tibia Poll: YOU’VE THROUGH SO, YET FAR AWAY

Some Another Decodings

Decoding the language’s name

With the table in use, we might consider that 469 represents a word. Utilizing the key we have, the decoding could be:

469 →  0469 →  FU →  FOOL.

Could the Bonelord Language be known as the Fool's Language? Only a madman would entertain such a thought!

The Hellgate skull matrix

Could the skull matrix be not a key but a message instead? Let’s explore its contents.

1, 1, 1, 1

1, 3, 6, 1

1, 1, 4, 1

4, 6, 1, 1

Concatenating these numbers give us 1111136111414611 resulting in EENTEANE, which rearranges to EEN TEAME → EEN THEAME.

EEN could  translate to EYES [10] or to E’EN that means EVEN [11] and THEAME could translate to THEME [12].

So, we have

EYES THEME?

EVEN THEME?

I really don’t know what it could be.

What is in the books?

Decoding the books presents another level of difficulty, as there is no spacing or punctuation, making it impossible to delineate the words. Identifying the placement of leading zeros is a matter of trial and error. Moreover, there is evidence that the text in the books is scrambled, with sequences lacking clear starts or ends and mixed sequences within a single book, making separation a challenging task. However, based on my analysis, I will demonstrate the the most promising part of the books I've decoded using this key that follows:

Let's begin with these two books, which contain a sequence that is the most promising:

57652197278943151911851911801894452197278894383435081243485 

and

72789431519118519118018944521972788943834350812434856114519121670467261145800369042204648451911452197271288952195945765128895003621512889521961 

The sequence subject to decoding is the underline part. Notably, this sequence overlaps in the two books (highlighted in bold). Let’s isolate only the unique part:

57652197278943151911851911801894452197278894383435081243485611451912167046726114580036

Decoding this sequence give us this:

EIFASTBEIETIEIINFFASANTBLIFB48IEFIFTINSTAT*V

This decoding reveals some recognizable words like FAST BE, FIFTIN (FIFTEEN) but parts of it still lack meaning. To refine the sequence, let’s add some zeroes for adjustment:

576521972789431519118519118018944502197278894308340350812403485611451912167046726114580036

Now decoding we get:

EIFASTBEIETIEIINFRISETBIBV50ILV48IEFIFTINSTAT*V

Inserting spaces we find:

EI FAST BE IET IEI IN FRI SET BI BV50 IL V48IE FIFTIN STAT*V

Assuming that 50=T and 48=E the decoded sequence becomes:

EI FAST BE IET IEI IN FRI SET BI BVT IL VEIE FIFTIN STAT*V

After adjustments, considering the wildcard as ‘S’ and that ‘I’ could represent ‘EE’, and V could be UE, we get:

YE FAST. BE YET YEY [13] EEN FREE. SET BY BOOT. Y’L WEYE [14] FIFTEEN STATUES.

The interpreted meaning of this sentence is fairly straightforward: You should be fast, but keep your eyes open (yey een free), set by boots, and you’ll need to weigh fifteen statues.

It suggests that there are statues throughout Tibia that can be pushed and switches whose functions remain unknown, such as in Kazordoon near the Treasure Room, troll caves southeast of Thais, Draconia, etc.

Maybe we are at something? Who knows?

Conclusion

The 469 language, with its enigmatic presence in the Tibian community, has long captivated players. This investigation has uncovered convincing evidence that it is not a language as initially thought, but rather an intricate cipher. Clues such as a poem's structure, NPCs' use of punctuation, and the discovery of hidden words all lead to this conclusion. With a partial cipher key in hand, we can begin to translate fragments of the 469, marking a significant step towards unraveling its secrets.

While the full meaning of the 469 remains a mystery, we are closer than ever to decoding it. To fully crack the code, we may need to employ more advanced cryptographic techniques. Once translated, the 469 texts could reveal hidden lore about Tibia's history, the mysterious Bonelords, or perhaps other formidable entities within the game world. The success of this endeavor might depend on the collaborative efforts of the entire Tibian community.

The 469 puzzle continues to captivate and inspire players. Decoding it promises an adventurous journey filled with unexpected discoveries. Are you ready to join the quest? Use your skills and help unveil the truth hidden within the world of Tibia!

Disclaimer:  This article is a reevaluation of the post made by me on the Official Tibia Forum, some conclusions here may differ from the original post.

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[1] https://tibia.fandom.com/wiki/The_Honeminas_Formula_(Book) 

[2] https://books.google.com/ngrams/graph?content=Be+*&year_start=1800&year_end=2019&corpus=en-2019&smoothing=3

[3] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_root 

[4] https://www.google.com.br/books/edition/The_Scout/CKoTAAAAYAAJ?hl=pt-BR&gbpv=1&dq=%22%E2%80%98twa%E2%80%99n%E2%80%99t%22&pg=PA223&printsec=frontcover 

[5] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hill_climbing 

[6] https://pt.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simulated_annealing 

[7] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_English 

[8] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Middle_English 

[9] https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/205640-better-a-witty-fool-than-a-foolish-wit 

[10] https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/een#Etymology_1 

[11] https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/e'en#Contraction 

[12] https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/theame 

[13] https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/yer#Etymology_3 

[14] https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/weye#Etymology_1