Sergei's Legacy. Multi-Cache
figatissimo: Archived due to time constraints. If anyone wants to adopt this cache, contact me.
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Difficulty:
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Terrain:
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Size: 
(regular)
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Multi - stage web interactive cache/puzzle.
All are in gamelands areas, Wear orange in season.
I will not reveal my name, but you may call me Mr. Smith. I spent most of my career as an intelligence officer in an unnamed U.S. Agency. This is the story of a close friend of mine, Sergei Andreivitch Ivanov. I came to know Sergei in 1982 when he was working in North Carolina as a Soviet KGB officer. His job here in the US was to plant caches of weapons near key U.S. military installations of which North Carolina has many. He worked under the alias of a German engineer at a Raleigh front company. My job was to recruit Sergei to work for us. I made an offer, he agreed and we became friends. Sergei was smart. He foresaw the fall of the Soviet Union well before it happened, and he changed sides. He also did something else: He skimmed away large amounts of the cash provided to him for his operations and stored it away for a rainy day. He felt he would need it should he choose to defect and entrusted me with a clue to its whereabouts should he suffer the fate of many intelligence officers. Here are his instructions to me:
18.1.88
Dear XXXXXX,
I am writing this letter because I fear that my life is in great peril. You are one of the few I trust, although trust can never be absolute in our line of work. I’m sure you understand.
As you may have guessed, I’ve been providing for my retirement from the budget allotted to me by the KGB. Although not legal, I feel I am morally justified considering the corruption in the present Soviet system. But enough about morals…
This money is hidden in a place whose location is known only to me. Should I successfully defect as per our plan, I will retrieve it so as to relieve the XXXX agency from the burden of supporting me. As you know I’ve cooperated with you out of principle, never for financial gain. Better that my retirement be provided by the Soviet Union than the United States!
If however, I should perish, this money is to be provided to my family. I have entrusted you with this task, and you may keep half of the sum as a debt of gratitude for your services. As I said earlier, my trust is not absolute. You will be given access to this cash only through the assistance of my brother Nikolai. As you know, Nikolai is a scholar of history, a genius in his own right.
Here is my plan:
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The money cache is hidden somewhere in the Raleigh-Durham area. There are three locations you must visit in order to obtain the coordinates of the money. I’ve provided you with the coordinates of the first dead-drop. You must look for a keyword in this dead drop and use it to access my private account on the KGB computer system. There you will be given a question to answer. Answer it correctly and you will have the coordinates of the next location.
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The questions are of a historical nature, and are very esoteric. I believe only Nikolai will be able to answer them. Therefore, you must involve Nikolai in order to obtain the money. Likewise, he will not be able to access the money without your help for he does not know the primary coordinates. The coordinates are: N35 52.709, W078 57.555. My computer login is sivanov, password is: pavlova.
I hope to see you soon, when the danger has diminished.
Sergei
This was the last I’d heard from Sergei. I spent the last 14 years of my life trying to contact his family. I’ve searched all over the world to no avail. I believe they’ve met with the same fate as Sergei. I had every intention of retrieving the money for myself, but alas, I am too late. Years of hard living have left me with lung cancer. I have only 3 months to live. The last days of my life will be spent in a hospital bed with a computer on my lap. I hope to live vicariously through you as you partake in this adventure.
I once met Nikolai. He is truly brilliant, and I have no doubt that the questions in the puzzle will be difficult to answer. The KGB computer system has been archived on the web. You can access Sergei’s account at
this
web
site
I ask very little of you as you proceed: operate in fairness to your other searchers, following the rule of this game. Log all of your experiences on this site, so that I too may have a final adventure in these last days of my life.
Regards,
Mr. Smith
What is in the final cache? Over 9 million in cash and 2500 carats in gemstones…REALLY!
(Now keep in mind, this is just a game! You’ll see what I mean…)
Also, there are certificates for First, Second, and Third place. Each cache also has a bunch of toys so that you can trade and the kids won’t be disappointed.
Parking at the first cache is on stagecoach rd. off of 751. Cache is a small Tupperware. Other caches are ammo boxes.
Have fun.
NOTE NOTE NOTE: Stage2 has been washed away by this years deluge. A substitute has been planted, but the website has not yet been updated. Please contact me for the correct coordinates.
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
[1st Stage Solution] Abegu bs gur cbaq, ybbx sbe n gerr jvgu 3 gehaxf. Ng gur ebbgf ba gur abegu fvqr.