Nocturnal (web series)

Nocturnal is a supernatural serial drama in the tradition of the classic Dark Shadows and the more recent NBC serial Passions. The series premiered on the internet in March 2007, and new webisodes continue to appear every month on its eponymous web site.

Plot synopsis

Shot on location in and around Pittsburgh, PA, (though the city has never been explicitly named) the series revolves around the mysterious circumstances surrounding the murder of a young woman named Natalie Brew (who, curiously enough, has never appeared in a single webisode).

Not unlike Twin Peaks, the identity of Natalie's killer is one of the series' overarching mysteries. And, as police investigators Archer Reilly and Sarah Pennington discover, there is no shortage of suspects. Did she run afoul of the wealthy and powerful Hawthorne family—led by its patriarch Jebediah—whose power came as a result of dealings with dark forces? Or was she another in the seemingly endless victims of Dr. Ulrich Von Der Linn, a vampire masquerading as a hypnotherapist?

Nocturnal (novel)

Nocturnal is a novel and podcast by author Scott Sigler. The novel was originally released in 2007 in podcast format, with a print format releasing in 2012 by Crown Publishing with some elements from the original version altered.

Plot

The book is set in San Francisco and is narrated from multiple perspectives, largely that of Bryan Clauser, a homicide detective known for his calm, cold demeanor. This is in stark contrast to the personality of his partner Lawrence "Pookie" Chang, who spends much of his time making wise-cracks and writing the series bible for a TV series he's developing. The two come across a series of ritualistic murders that appear to be initially unconnected but eventually prove to be related to a teenager by the name of Rex Deprovdechuk. During all of the murders Bryan and Rex both have a series of dreams where they see bizarre, monstrous people murdering the victims in the name of an as yet unknown king. Unbeknownst to the others, the monsters have kidnapped multiple individuals including the homeless junkie Aggie James.

Nocturnal (instrument)

A nocturnal is an instrument used to determine the local time based on the relative positions of two or more stars in the night sky. Sometimes called a "horologium nocturnum" (time instrument for night) or nocturlabe (in French and occasionally used by English writers), it is related to the astrolabe and sun dial. Knowing the time is important in piloting for calculating tides and some nocturnals incorporate tide charts for important ports.

Even if the nightly course of the stars has been known since antiquity, the mentions of a dedicated instrument for its measurement are not found before the Middle Ages. The earlier image presenting the use of a nocturnal is in a manuscript dated from the 12th century.Raymond Lull repeatedly described the use of a sphaera horarum noctis ou astrolabium nocturnum.

With Martín Cortés de Albacar's book Arte de Navegar, published in 1551 the name and the instrument gained a larger popularity

It was described also c. 1530 by Peter Apianus in his Cosmographicus Liber republished later by Gemma Frisius with a widely circulated illustration of the instrument while being used by an observer.

Cypher

Cypher is an alternative spelling for cipher.

Cypher may also refer to:

Arts and entertainment

Fictional characters

Cypher (album)

Cypher is the fourth album by industrial black metal band ...And Oceans. The original name of the album was set to be Insect Angels and Devil Worms, but was changed.

Track listing

Credits

Cypher (DC Comics)

Cypher is a supervillain created by Chuck Dixon and Michael Netzer, who appears in comic books published by DC Comics. Cypher is primarily an adversary of Batman and Tim Drake.

Publication history

The character made his debut in Detective Comics Vol. 1 #657 (March 1993) and was killed off in Robin Vol. 4 #2 (December 1993).

Fictional character biography

Avery Twombey is a corporate spy and mercenary with hypnotic abilities, though his actual past is unknown. When the government hired three separate companies, including Wayne Enterprises, to start working on different pieces of a secret military project, Cypher was hired to assassinate the three CEOs of the companies. After successfully killing two of the CEOs, he went after Wayne Enterprises' CEO Lucius Fox. As he was about to force Lucius Fox to jump off a bridge via hypnotic suggestion, he was taken down by Robin (Tim Drake) as Fox was saved by Batman and Azrael. Cypher was sent to Blackgate Penitentiary.

At Blackgate, Cypher formulated an escape plan with other inmates including Cluemaster, Electrocutioner and the Baffler. After a failed attempt to use his abilities on the other inmates, who evaded his hypnotism with earplugs, Cypher was shot and killed by Cluemaster.