Welcome to Obbs' Abyss. Obbs' Abyss is a deep cavern that was originally discovered and mapped out some decades ago by my great-grandfather, Leviticus Obbs*. Before he died in the late 1980's**, he placed markers at various depths to allow people to safely navigate to the bottom of the cavern. He didn't allow potential explorers bring light sources with them, however, so the only thing of interest appears to be the markers themselves, which are faithfully modeled here.

If you wish to explore, please note the following:

1) The only way through Obbs' Abyss is to find your way down. At each depth, you will find markers that will help you to find the correct passage to the next depth. Your current depth is always noted in the title bar and the URL.

2) You control your location by altering the URL. The passage from each depth to the next will always be an html page. In the early levels, what you will alter is the part between the last / and the .html - if you are at depthx/level.html and you believe the passage to depth x+1 is found at "answer", you would change the URL to depthx/answer.html. If this is the correct passage, that page will redirect you to a page at depth x+1. In the deeper levels, you will have to change your depth manually, as the passages become increasingly difficult to navigate. When you have to change the depth yourself, the markers you find will indicate this in some way.

3) There is only one passage from each depth to the next. Each is almost certainly unguessable, but the markers are well crafted. When you find the passage, you will know. On some levels there are false passages. These, too, are easily recognizable after a few moments.

4) While the passage from each depth to the next will always be an html page, the same cannot be said of the process for finding that passage. If a different file type is required, the markers you find will indicate this in some way.

5) NO SPOILERS. Helping others find their way through is charity. Showing them the way cheapens their experience. Too much light, as my great-grandfather said, and Obbs' Abyss becomes just another hole in the ground.

7) Some of the markers are encoded. You will want to have references available to decipher them. The ability to do basic math is also essential. Current or former residents of the United States will have an advantage at one depth as well.

8) If it's encoded, decode it, even if it doesn't seem useful for your current depth.

9) As you descend, you will have less and less information to work with. Title, images, source code, the URL itself -- these may all have been used as markers for a passage. Eventually, you will find yourself facing what appears to be a complete lack of information. Stay the course; do not waver. At that depth, you will have what you need to descend to the nadir of Obbs' Abyss.

10) One unsuccessful explorer returned ranting about "lollopoppies". Further interviewing revealed only that they infest some of the depths below, and that they will attempt to distract you from the passages you seek.

11) When you are ready to descend, the passage to the first depth is the appropriate (well, appropriate considering your location) completion of the phrase "Let there be..."

Happy exploring!

S.H.

* Apparently my great-grandfather was a bit eccentric, and more than a bit of an Anglophile.

** He had a heart attack while watching Audrey Hepburn - or "Audrey Epburn", as he insisted on saying and spelling it - sing "Just You Wait", and died instantly. And quite happily, to judge by the disturbingly lascivious smile on his face.

lollo lollo lollo Clever, but the answer is not hidden here. lollo lollo lollo