who is nicolas belmont?

[Kaerin]

I have no idea if it's just some random smears on the pages, but when I make them darker they show some sort of drawings, they might be nothing but I'll show some pics later.

[kmacpc2003]

Regarding the Nobile reference...maybe...

The N-class airship Italia was slowly completed and equipped for Polar flight during 1927-28. Part of the difficulty was in raising private funding to cover the costs of the expedition, which finally was financed by the city of Milan; the Italian government limited its direct participation to providing the airship and sending the aging steamer Città di Milano as a support vessel to Svalbard, under the command of Giuseppe Romagna.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Umberto_Nobile

EDIT:

or maybe this...

Nobiles, ("nobles") belonged to the small groups of families from both patrician and plebeian origins who had a consul in the family. For instance, Cicero's (himself being a novus homo) election as consul meant his family became nobilis. Nobiles controlled Rome's wealth and government.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nobiles

[Spyne]

Originally Posted by Lunus

I think the Himalaya was mentioned somewhere,

Sherpas! ^^

[SA_Avenger]

Sveinjt is probably the name Svein JT? family initials?

Maybe are you still around Sveinjt

[Secondthought]

This is what I got from the first page background txt:

?3th June (0330hrs)

Nefertiti Artemesia Agrippina the Flower
_
_
_
amusement that I find myself ????ving in the face of
Misery as we Approach the bay. her face gleaming in the midnight sun

The captain of our charered vessel a local fisherman
-
-
-
??????????????????????????????????elabortate ruse that I am only
too certain that were chosen, not only for their
ability to ???????????????????????????????????destination but
perhaps more ??????or their discretion??????????????????
beyond their comprehension.

I can understand why R.A. picked this particular bay for
_
_

??????????????us out of sight and innucuous to
??????????????????distracted by the ongoing search for
_

I imagine a million possibilities, all bleak, all causing
me to break into a cold sweet as I consider the gamble we
base ???? on that could easily be lost. R.A insisted
this was the only way, that we have to ????? to the
world if we are to attempt to save it from itself.

????????????????????????????to crackles
???? brea? the silence,?????? the very
????????????????????been waiting

??????????????????????the point of no return.


There appears to be an unusual pattern to the capitalisation? Code within the text? I can't seem to form the message. If we compare this to the text itself the first thing is that the names Nefertiti, Artemesia and Agrippina have been excised. Further down, reference to R.A has been changed to a nonspecific pronoun. The third last paragraph beginning "I Imagine..." has been excised

[Kaerin]

There's a part of it which has a different colour, might just be GIMP though.

[Spyne]

Kaerin, I was about to post the same...that box in the lower part (different collor) seems odd...
First thing i thought of was that there might have been a picture there, that was removed...

[Lunus]

Originally Posted by Kaerin

There's a part of it which has a different colour, might just be GIMP though.

Very interesting...
Though I have no idea as to what it could mean...

-Lunus

[Yume]

Originally Posted by Secondthought

Nefertiti Artemesia Agrippina the Flower

Agrippina is the mother of Nero, and she plotted to kill Claudius and make her son Emperor. The flower though... *searches online* The Wiki entry mentions a Flower score for a Handel opera titled Agrippina, but I'm not sure if that has any relevance.

PS Can you check the metadata of the pics? Remember how the original puzzle was solved, how we found the letter on the back of the photo.

[Lunus]

Hmmm...
That background seems kind of like a
land mass of some sort.
An island maybe...
Considering the context, could it be the north pole?
I'll go compare it with an actual map of the north pole.

-Lunus

[Kaerin]

Picture 5 also has a blueish part, I'm now checking if more of them have a blue part.

[Yume]

It looks like a mountain. The mountains are mentioned in the diary pages.

From page 3:

Mountains rise from the sea like the jaws of some titanic creature attempting to eat the sky... One of the sons, perhaps wishing to practice his languages, spoke to me in broken French of the mountains before us... When I asked him what the mountains were called, he merely grinned and then snapped his mouth, mimicking nature's marine predator before telling me tha local name for it. A fitting name. A name with an omen wrapped in its harsh utterance.

So the name of the mountain is... the shark is a clue. It's in the north, as page 2, Nicolas says they headed "west into the Arctic swells".

[Rageraiden]

Originally Posted by Spyne

Kaerin, I was about to post the same...that box in the lower part (different collor) seems odd...
First thing i thought of was that there might have been a picture there, that was removed...

Or a photograph might be glued on the other side.

[Spyne]

Adding up Secondthoughts results and mine:

12th June 0330 hours
Nefertiti Artemisia Agrippina the Flower
...
...
of ... and so it is with no ...
amusement that i find myself arriving in the face of
Misery as we Approach the bay, her face gleaming in the
midnight sun.

The captain of our chartered vessel, a local fisherman,
...
...
...
... elaborate ruse and i am only
too certain that they were chosen, not only for their
Ability ... to ... destination but
perhaps more ... or their discretion
beyond their comprehension

I can understand why R.A. picked this particular bay for
...
...
... us out of sight and innocuous to
... distracted by the ongoing search for
...

I imagine a million possibilities, all bleak, all causing
me to break into a cold sweat as i consider the gamble we
have taken, one that can easily be lost. R.A insisted
this was the only way, that we have to ??? to the
world if we are to saveit from itself.

... crackle ...
... breaks the silence ... the very
... been waiting
... point of no return.

[Lunus]

Originally Posted by Yume

It looks like a mountain. The mountains are mentioned in the diary pages. On page 2, they head "west into the Arctic swells".

So it's at least somewhere close to it...
Here's a picture: http://www.polarwelt.de/bilder/nordpol1.jpg
Not sure, but I don't think that's it...
It's probably something nearby, though...
I'll keep looking...

-Lunus

[ContinuumComplex]

Originally Posted by Spyne

First thing i noticed:
Side 1 has another text imprinted on it, lighter and harder to read, in between the normal lines:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/sveinjt...24653/sizes/l/

look close you'll be able to read "Misery as we Approach the bay her face gleaming in..." right above the first line of the 2nd paragraph
I'll check to see more!

I had just noticed that as well.. and there's actually more above it..and possibly throughout the whole letter.

Edit: *Shakes fist at spyne*

[Osicat]

I was thinking it could be picture drawn on several pages that were layered unevenly, and the "paint" has infused through some of the pages to others.

(kind of what they did Kyle XY with the symbol in Kyle's drawings if this helps to understand..)

[Kaerin]

Interesting note: Page 2 and 6 have the same dark smudges. Maybe written/typed on the same surface?

[Coren]

Originally Posted by Yume

It looks like a mountain. The mountains are mentioned in the diary pages.

From page 3:

Mountains rise from the sea like the jaws of some titanic creature attempting to eat the sky... One of the sons, perhaps wishing to practice his languages, spoke to me in broken French of the mountains before us... When I asked him what the mountains were called, he merely grinned and then snapped his mouth, mimicking nature's marine predator before telling me tha local name for it. A fitting name. A name with an omen wrapped in its harsh utterance.

So the name of the mountain is... the shark is a clue. It's in the north, as page 2, Nicolas says they headed "west into the Arctic swells".

I think the mountains are Beerenberg, or Bear Mountain:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beerenberg
Though one could argue bears aren't all that marine. But it fits with Barents Sea which is mentioned before.

[kmacpc2003]

Possibly unrelated, but maybe gives us an idea as to which part of the world they were in...

June 24 – A Swedish aeroplane rescues part of the Italian North Pole expedition, including Umberto Nobile. The Soviet icebreaker Krasin saves the rest July 12.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1928

EDIT:

Also, if I remember correctly, in A.B's letter, there was 2 sets of numbers, the last one was 25 - 06 - 18 which has 2 of the 3 right dates for these letters..