Asherons Call: LC Scavenger Hunt a Sucess!

All was quiet in the ruins of Yanshi on Sunday. Carrion birds feasted on rotting carcasses, smoldering wood sent streams of smoke into the air and the occasional *pop* from a snapping log was heard. Early in the afternoon (around 4pm EST to be exact), all that changed. Dozens of people descended upon the still intact Yanshi meeting hall. They came in search of knowledge, adventure and fun. Duke Schugeldson, Monarch of the PotGF allegiance, was hosting the semi-annual scavenger hunt.

As people gathered around, the air was rife with expectation and interest. Everyone knew of past hunts, and the exciting prizes that could be awarded. It was clear from the very beginning that a lot of work went into the event. The Duke gave the rules and expectations:[p]
"You will see officials at the locations you run to. If no official you guessed wrong. (smile) Ok,the 11 locations you will get a one word inscribed in your book. You must unscramble them to form a clue to the 12th and final location. The first people to get to the 12th location are the grand prize winners; and you MUST have all 11 pages inscribed in your books by our officials. EVERYONE will get prizes.....no matter what place you finish in. The instructions are on pages 2 and 3 of the books. I'll see you back at the mansion in about 90 minutes!"

After the instruction books were dropped and everyone ran off, I had the honor of a short personal interview with the Duke himself.

CoD: I'm a reporter from Crossroads of Dereth. Can I interview you?
Duke: You sure can!
CoD: Let me get a screenshot of you.
CoD: Thanks! What is your guild about?
Duke: We are about Family, Honor and Fun.
CoD: How did you get started?
Duke: Well, I took over for our founder about 2 years ago. Diamond started this allegiance back in the VERY first days of AC. (his emphasis) Instead of breaking up the family, or moving under someone else, we all joined under me.
CoD: Wow! This is an old allegiance. Do you guys do events like this often?
Duke: We try and do this event at least twice a year.
CoD: How long do you think that this hunt will take to complete?
Duke: This hunt will last about 90 minutes...and after that the prize ceremony at the mansion
CoD: Since I am not participating, can you tell me what the prizes are?
Duke: We are going to be giving out Tinkered suits of Amuli, Tinkered/imbued weapons, and other notable wanted items :)
CoD: Wowsers. I wish I were in the hunt now :)
Duke: Next time hopefully :)
CoD: Thank you for your time, Duke Schugeldson.
Duke: You bet...glad to talk with you!
Schugeldson bows deeply.

After the interview, I read my book. Although it is not going to be added to Ancient Texts, it was still fascinating reading. The allegiance put together about 100 copies of this book; a major undertaking. For those of you who missed out, here is the text. The author was Rast Troll, a most distinguished member of the monarchy.

PotGF Scavenger Hunt May 2003

LOCATIONS: Go to these in any order
Perfectly Aged Cove Apple Cider
Butterfly Necklace
Josef
Hamud ibn Rafik
Worn Strange Key
Ancient Pyreal Dagger
Crystal Nodules
Gwillim's Bag
Tibri's Fire Spear
Living Weapons
Lawn Drudge

Instructions on next 2 pages...................."

There are 11 items on the "Clue" page in this book. Each one is a clue to a location somewhere in Dereth. When you arive at the location there will be a scavenger hunt offical waiting there outside the dungeon. No need to get the item in the dungeon, and no need to go inside. Using "Secure Trade" you will give your book to the offical. The official will put one word on the first available page. After going to each of the 11 locations and recieving a word for each location you will need to unsrcamble the 11 words into a sentence. That sentence is the clue to the 12th and final location. First one to get to the final location wins. There will be a first place for levels 50 and above, and a first place for under 50. To win you MUST have all 11 words inscribed into your book by a scavenger hunt official before you arrive at the 12th and final location. All locations are just outside dungeons, where an official will be. Everyone will receive a prize There will be a 90 minute time limit. After the hunt is done return to the Protectors Of The Golden Flame Mansion at 12.6S/52.1E Due East of Yanshi for prizes. GOOD LUCK!

Of course with expectations like that, the awards ceremony was nothing short of spectacular! Lured by the thought of prizes for even the most meager participation, everyone returned to the mansion at the appointed time. At that time, many people discovered the value of semantics. As Fragga pointed out, "Yaraq gives u perfectly aged cider, Shoushi gives u perfectly aged APPLE cider." It seems that travel plugins were of less use than expected also as people could not remember where the item was located, so could not use their navigation systems. Some of them also went to fansites (not CoD *heh*) and were given incorrect information on said locations.

The tension built with every passing minute until the winners were announced. In the over 50 category, Chupon's Savior was the first and only one of two people to return with all 12 entries intact. Unfortunately, there were some hostiles that prevented many in the under 50 category to be unable to participate fully, but Dr Jinkel came through with a whopping 7 entries to win the category. After the Grand Prize winners each picked two exquisite items from Chesty's inventory, the rest of the prizes were handed out to the remaining participants, including pack animals. In short (although this has been very long), a great time was had by all. I can't wait until the next event.