The Gnomish Cipher-Engine
Terminal puzzle
Medium
By
Bookwyrm
A brass-cased gnomish terminal behind green glass, ticking as its gears chew through ciphers.
Rivets, gauges and a round green window no wider than a dinner plate. Letters crawl across the glass in a gnomish type, and a stamped plate beneath promises that the engine will “bar all persons lacking the day's word”.
The engine wakes with a whirr, and the green glass flickers into life.