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The Angel of the Water

Terms and conditions · L’Ange de l’Eau

Version of 3 October 2026, in line with the Stone of the programme V1j. This is a translation: the French text is binding.

In short

1. Who organises and who sells
Organiser, publisher and seller Arthur Benjamin Myard
Status Auteur en édition indépendante
Address 33 rue de la Victoire, 77330 Ozoir-la-Ferrière, France
Registration (not applicable until sales open)
Contact contact@angedeleau.com
Publication director Arthur Benjamin Myard
Hosting of the till (librairie.angedeleau.com) LunaNode Hosting Inc., 841 Riverside Dr, Port Coquitlam, BC V3B 7T7, Canada, +1 844-256-7888
Hosting of the showcase site (angedeleau.com) LunaNode Hosting Inc., 841 Riverside Dr, Port Coquitlam, BC V3B 7T7, Canada, +1 844-256-7888
Hosting of GodGift Core online (app.angedeleau.com) Cloudflare, Inc., 101 Townsend St, San Francisco, CA 94107, États-Unis, +1 650-319-8930
Consumer mediator (not applicable until sales open)

Part A · The game

A1. Purpose. “L’Ange de l’Eau” is a bitcoin treasure hunt: 48 riddles, 24 chests, from 3 January 2027 to 17 December 2028. Each chest is a public bitcoin address whose content can be read on chain.

A2. Taking part is free, with no purchase required. The riddles are published in full and free of charge on the site, for everyone at the same instant. Only the French text of a riddle is binding; an unofficial English translation may accompany it. The novel accompanies the hunt without being part of it and is not needed to play: it contains no riddle of the hunt, nor any information useful to an answer that is not also published for free. A copy’s certificate gives no right to any chest. There is no registration, no fee and no draw. The only cost of taking a chest is the network fee of the transaction, paid out of the chest’s own content, with nothing advanced.

A3. Who may play. Any adult natural person, or a minor with the consent of their legal representatives, where the law of their country allows it. The following may not take a chest or help take one: the organiser, their relatives (spouse, ascendants, descendants, siblings, and anyone living under their roof), the riddle testers (anyone who has read the riddles before their publication), the bearer of the cries, the depositary, the bailiff (commissaire de justice), and anyone who has seen an answer or held a cry. They commit to this in writing.

A4. Calendar. Two riddles a month, on the 3rd and the 17th at 18:15:05 UTC, from 3 January 2027 to 17 December 2028. The riddles of the 3rd and the 17th of a month together open that month’s chest. One hour after the riddle of the 17th, the chest’s “cry” appears, revealing the last piece of its key. Thirty days after its cry, an untaken chest receives a strong hint; six months later, a second hint. Hints change nothing in the keys. The solution is published only once the chest is taken, by a signed message from the author, which is checked against the commitment engraved at the seeding (a fingerprint that fixes each chest’s answers without revealing them).

A5. How a chest is taken. The answers are French words from the public list of five thousand. The hunter computes the chest’s key themselves, offline, with the free and published hunter’s tool. The chest belongs to the first confirmed transaction that spends its content. There is nothing to declare or claim: the chain rules. The organiser never receives hunters’ answers and hands out no prize. The hunter may let GodGift Core, free software published by the organiser, empty the chest to the address of their own wallet, saved by them in advance and proven by a message signed from that wallet: the transaction is computed and signed on the hunter’s machine, who remains its sole master; the organiser receives nothing from it, takes no part in it and never holds anything on anyone’s behalf.

A6. Amounts. Each chest is seeded in December 2026 with a starting amount set in euros (from €60 to €1,300, €4,000 in total), converted to bitcoin at the day’s rate, exact to the satoshi and engraved on chain. Each quarter, a share of book sales is added, split equally between the chests still closed (those whose second riddle appears more than eight days after the payout is signed). After the last riddle, this share no longer goes to any chest: it goes to the treasure reserve, the season address, kept to seed a new hunt through a new version of the Stone. A chest’s value in euros follows the bitcoin price: the organiser guarantees no value in euros.

A7. An unfound chest remains to be taken, with no time limit. Its solution is not published while it is not taken; only its two hints appear. Nothing from a chest ever returns to the organiser.

A8. Fair play. Any search method is allowed, including computation. Forbidden: intrusion into the systems of the organiser or their depositaries, and bribery, deceit or coercion of anyone holding an answer or a cry. The organiser reports any such attempt to the authorities.

A9. Publication and liability. The riddles, cries and hints are locked at the seeding in a public file, the COFFRET, whose fingerprint is engraved on chain; it contains no solution. Each one is encrypted with the time-lock of the public drand network and opens by itself at its time, the Stone’s and no other, on the site, in GodGift Core or anywhere; no one, not even the organiser, can change it any more. This lock assumes the drand network does not release a signature before its time: if enough of its members colluded, they could open it earlier, silently; this risk is judged low and is written in the Stone (article 13). If drand stopped, the deposited riddles and cries take over. If a riddle has not appeared 24 hours after its time, the bailiff, who keeps each riddle in a dated envelope, publishes it; if a cry has not appeared on chain the day after its date, the organiser broadcasts it from their own set of the cries; if it has not appeared seven days after its date, the depositary, who keeps the other set, broadcasts it. The organiser is not liable for a hunter’s handling errors (lost key, miscopied address, network fees, transaction beaten by another hunter), for the bitcoin price, or for outages of the Bitcoin network or third-party services.

A10. Stopping the game. The hunt stops only if a competent authority or a court decision requires it, or if neither the organiser nor their depositary can run it any longer. The stop is published on the site and engraved on chain.

A11. Taxes and local law. Each hunter is responsible, in their own country, for any declarations and taxes on what they take.

A12. Changes. The rules of the game, the sale and the companions (parts A, B and C) change only by a new version of the Stone, engraved on chain and published before it applies. Section 1 and part D are updated on the site, dated. A change never affects a chest already taken and never reduces a seeded amount.

A13. Deposit. These terms and the riddles, each in its own sealed and dated envelope, are deposited with a bailiff before the first riddle. The cries are printed in two sets in sealed envelopes: one is kept by the organiser away from their home, the other is entrusted to their depositary.

A14. Messages from the author. The author speaks to hunters through public messages signed (BIP-322) by the address of the author’s counter, recorded in the manifest engraved on chain. Only a message whose signature verifies comes from the author; the site and GodGift Core check it before showing it. Once a chest is taken, the author publishes its solution through such a message; the site and GodGift Core check that it matches the commitment engraved at the seeding. A message is never a secret, carries an answer only for a taken chest, and changes no rule.

A15. Hunt zero. Before the main hunt, a trial hunt with three chests, hunt no. 0, is played for real: three chests of €100 each (converted to bitcoin at the rate of the seeding day and engraved on chain), played in parallel. Each chest has two riddles: the first three are published together on 3 November 2026 at 18:15:05 UTC, the second three on 17 November 2026 at the same second. The three cries come one hour after the second riddles, on 17 November 2026 at 19:15:05 UTC; the strong hints on 17 December 2026, for the chests still to be taken, and the second hints six months after the cry. Articles A2 to A14, A16 and A17 apply to it, except where this article provides otherwise. These chests are funded by the organiser alone: book sales do not feed them. Their keys are distinct from one another and from those of the main hunt: none can open another.

A16. What you will never be asked. Nobody, not even the author, will ever ask for your 24 words, for payment for a riddle, a hint or an answer, or for your answers. The certified digital edition is sold only on angedeleau.com; GodGift Core is downloaded only from angedeleau.com, or opened at app.angedeleau.com. Anyone who asks, even in the author’s name, is a scammer. Nor will the organiser, their depositaries or GodGift Core ever ask for your seed, your wallet key or a chest’s key. The paper and Amazon editions carry no certificate, and their sales do not feed the treasure. Anyone can check their GodGift Core installer at angedeleau.com/verifier-installateur. Any contrary request is a scam attempt: the organiser is not liable for it and invites everyone to report it.

A17. Witnesses. GodGift Core offers the hunter, without ever imposing it, to become a witness: after each verification, their program publishes on the public Nostr network a report signed with an anonymous key, renewed every week (the block, the fingerprints of the manifest, the COFFRET and the program, the result). No personal data appears in it; like any connection, Nostr relays see the connection’s IP address. The hunter may stop being a witness at any time. Each day, all reports are timestamped in Bitcoin (OpenTimestamps) and published on angedeleau.com/temoins.

A18. Later hunts. The organiser may open other hunts. A hunt exists only through its announcement: an engraving on chain, signed by the author’s messages address (A14), which designates its manifest. Its own rules (chests, amounts, calendar) are published with its announcement, before its first riddle; articles A2 to A17 apply to it. GodGift Core follows only hunts announced in this way.

Part B · Sale of the book

B1. The product. The novel L’Ange de l’Eau (in English, The Angel of the Water), certified digital edition, in French or English (one language per purchase), delivered as EPUB and PDF. Each copy is numbered and carries its certificate: the ownership address chosen by the buyer, a unique mark (the brand) and a fingerprint recorded each quarter in the public register. Paper and Amazon editions also exist; they are not sold here and do not feed the treasure. It is a work of fiction. Is the author Satoshi Nakamoto? No. He is not and does not claim to be; the Blacksmith in the novel is a character.

B2. Price. 21,000 sats including VAT, set by the publisher and the same for every buyer. The euro equivalent is shown at the day’s rate, for information. VAT is included; it is due at the rate of the buyer’s country where the law requires. If the euro equivalent, at the reference rate published daily, stays outside the €10 to €25 range for 30 consecutive days, the price is reset to €15, announced seven days in advance (Stone, article 1). A day without a reading neither breaks nor extends the run of thirty days.

B3. Order and payment. Payment is in bitcoin only, on chain, through an invoice from the till, within the time it shows. One payment per invoice, of the exact amount. An insufficient, excessive, duplicate or late payment is not a sale: the organiser returns it personally, less network fees, within the month following the next quarterly payout, to the address the payer designates by a message signed with the address they paid from.

B4. Delivery. The copy is delivered as soon as the payment is confirmed on chain, through two personal download links. The buyer keeps these links: they are their access to their files. They also download their receipt, showing the price including VAT, the date, the version of these terms and their waiver of withdrawal.

B5. Right of withdrawal. The copy is digital content delivered immediately. By ticking the box before paying, the buyer accepts these terms, requests immediate delivery and acknowledges losing their right of withdrawal (French Consumer Code, article L221-28, 13°).

B6. Conformity. The buyer benefits from the legal guarantee of conformity for digital content (French Consumer Code). If a file is unreadable or incomplete, the buyer writes to the contact above: the organiser replaces it, or refunds it if it cannot be replaced. If the till fails to deliver a paid copy, the organiser delivers it by hand or refunds it.

B7. What the price funds. Each sale is split: 40% to the companion who brought it, 40% to the author (including VAT and costs), 20% to the treasure. A sale without a companion pays 60% to the treasure. The split is public and can be checked at each quarterly payout.

B8. Copyright. The copy is for the buyer’s personal use. Reproducing, distributing or reselling it, in whole or in part, is forbidden without the author’s written consent.

Part C · Companions

C1. Becoming a companion. Anyone who may play (A3) and owns an official copy of the book, except the organiser, their relatives, the bookshop and the riddle testers (anyone who has read the riddles before their publication). The companion registers on the site with the ownership address of their copy (bc1q), through a signature by that address; an address of the bookshop or of the organiser is never accepted. One copy makes only one companion. They may register before buying: they are then “pending”, and a sale through their link is a direct sale; their link becomes active, on a published date, as soon as the purchase of their copy is settled to that address. They receive a personal link. They hand over no key and run no server. The hunt remains free with no purchase required: only the companion role requires a copy.

C2. Their share. 40% of the price of each book sold through their active link (C1), paid in bitcoin each quarter (for 1 March, 1 June, 1 September and 1 December, broadcast within seven days), in the public payout transaction. Very small shares are carried over to the next payout. Nothing is owed if they sell nothing.

C3. Their commitments. The companion:

C4. Their tax obligations. The companion declares their shares in their own country. When their shares in a calendar year exceed €1,200, the organiser asks for their identity, which the organiser must declare. Until it is given, their subsequent sales are treated as direct sales.

C5. Ending. The companion may stop whenever they wish. The organiser may suspend a companion who breaches C3 or C4; shares already earned are paid.

C6. No power. A companion has no power over any chest, date or rule.

Part D · Personal data

D1. Controller: the organiser (section 1).

D2. What the till keeps. It asks for no name, email or postal address. For each sale it keeps: the invoice, the payment transaction, the ownership address chosen by the buyer, the book language and, where relevant, the companion who brought it. For each companion: their bitcoin address and signature, their status and the copy that makes them active, and their identity if they give it (C4).

D3. Why, on what basis, and for how long. To deliver the book and pay the shares (performance of the contract), keep the register of copies (performance of the contract) and meet accounting and tax obligations (legal obligation). Sales data is kept for ten years (accounting obligation).

D4. What is public. Bitcoin transactions are public by nature. The quarterly register publishes, for each copy, its number, payment transaction and fingerprint, never a name. The public companions page shows, for each companion, their status, bitcoin address and the fingerprint of their copy, never a name.

D5. IP addresses are used for a few minutes, in memory, to limit abuse; the till does not store them. The till uses no cookie apart from the organiser’s dashboard session, the choice of language (kept one year) and the passage through the site’s entrance door (kept one year; the door applies only until 3 January 2027); the site also keeps the choice of language in the browser’s local storage (“aede-langue”). None of them holds personal data, and the till uses no advertising or audience-measurement trackers. The angedeleau.com website is served by the till itself: the same rules apply there. Chest amounts are read on chain by the till from a public explorer (mempool.space by default); some pages may also query it from the visitor’s browser, and that explorer then sees the visitor’s IP address.

D6. Processors: the host (section 1), which also serves the angedeleau.com website. Payment goes through a BTCPay server run by the organiser. GodGift Core online (app.angedeleau.com) is served by a static host separate from the till (section 1), which only delivers its files; like any host, it sees visitors’ IP addresses.

D7. Your rights. Access, rectification, erasure, restriction and objection, at the contact in section 1. Data recorded on the Bitcoin chain cannot be erased by anyone. You may complain to the CNIL (cnil.fr).

Part E · Disputes

These terms are governed by French law. In case of difficulty, write first to the contact in section 1. A consumer may use the consumer mediator named in section 1 free of charge. Failing agreement, the competent courts are those designated by law.