July 10, 2025 8:24 PM (GMT+2) I finally figured out what the paintings mean. They always come in pairs, and you can always find words to describe them that differ only in one letter. That letter is the letter corresponding to the room. If you then read all letters in order, from top-left according to the map of the manor, you get a message. So far I’ve only gotten one message, but I suspect there’s more.
July 16, 2025 11:03 PM (GMT+2) I realized that there’s actually only one message. So I’ll be removing the “Found messages” section.
The message reads as follows:
If we count small gates, eight dates crack eight safes.
Below are the letters overlaid on the room grid. Red means I saw the paintings and deciphered the letter, green means I guessed the letter from context.
Thanks to this, now I know How to unlock safes.
Furthermore, after figuring out the higher rank words, I suspect they are referring to the Closed gate in Campsite which was unlocked using a date. As such, there are only actually 7 safes. This ties in nicely with The great Alzara (2nd time), which mentions I’d only ever read 7 of the 8 red letters.
July 24, 2025 1:17 AM (GMT+2) Herbert’s freezer letter seems to imply there are actually 8 safes, so I’m a bit unsure about my previous conclusion. Also, see Hidden meaning in the paintings message.
July 30, 2025 12:40 AM (GMT+2) Perhaps the “small gate” is in reference to the Safe miniature, which I recently discovered can also be opened.