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Post by Gomer Sting on Apr 22, 2010 21:47:40 GMT -5
Source: loz.l33th4x0r.de/scavenger-hunted-level-40-t166.htmlReward: Bottle o' Berzio (25 Action Points) & Mizniaport Armor (Primary Defense! Walking Tank - 290 DR) [Obscure] Spoiler: Quest started Go to Mizniaport [Obscure] Spoiler: Clue #1 You look the armour up and down. I mean, sure it's shiny, but with that much gold filigree inlaid into the breastplate, how much of a beating will it take? You replace it on the hanger and look around the rest of the boutique. There's a lot here, but as with all boutique shops, it's all very specific. This helm, for example, is really great against fire damage and ranged weapons, as well as being a work of art in how it's engraved, but would crumple under the first blow of a mace. You need something that's an all-round piece, something that can shield you from the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune, but at the same time will keep its strength against the sticks and stones that might break your bones. You gently replace the helm, turn around and stumble to avoid walking into the pristinely kept salesman standing behind you. "Does one see anything one would like to purchase?" "Oh, eh, well… not really, to be honest-'' "Perhaps one would like to try on this helm? It will give almost complete immunity from fire and ranged, pointy weapons?" "Yes, I read the tag, but I'm not quite sure-" "Ah, perhaps Sir likes fire, or ranged, pointy weapons?" "What?! No, of course not-" "Of course not, Madam hardly seems like the kind of person who would. So how would one like one's new helm to be wrapped?" "… So far you've referred to me as a 'Sir', a 'Madam', and in the third person!" "Indeed, it's the light in this corner. It makes it very hard to tell what one is under all that armour. Normally, one might look at one's breastplate and perhaps see evidence of… well…" "Yes, yes, I know, the clue is in the name." "Quite. However, with armour that is as severely damaged as yours, never mind the unsightly design, it makes it quite impossible to tell. Which is why I can't recommend this magnificent piece enough!" He reaches across you and picks up a chainmail shirt. "This is the latest thing in anti-slashing and piercing protection, and with the silk inlay you can really feel the comfort." "No thank you," you gently push it away and try to manoeuvre your way to the door, "I don't think there's anything here for me." "Is one sure? What about this?" He retreats to his counter and lifts a glass case out from behind it. In the case sits a gleaming breastplate and Great Helm. The light reflecting off it shimmers and gleams, dancing before your eyes. "It's beautiful…" you murmur, unable to tear your eyes away. "Yes, and it's an all-rounder. This will protect you from mostly anything you can think of, swords, spikes, maces, axes, they all just bounce off! "It's incredible. How much does it cost?" "This is one's lucky day, as the saying goes. In fact it costs nothing at all. All that one must do is win it." "And how does one- I mean, what do I have to do to win it?" "This set of armour is the prize for the first annual Mizniaport Scavenger Hunt. Adventurers from all over the land will be coming to try and win this coveted prize. All one must do to win is to 'beat them to it'. The hunt has already been launched, but you may yet have time to catch up. It is not a difficult task, one must find the five idols of Miznia. Each idol will be the clue to the next, and at the base of each there is a mystic rune, which you must copy and return to me, here in the shop. The first idol can be found nearby, although it might be in the clutches of crocodiles, hellhounds and/or hungi." "Hmm, you don't say... Well, thank you for your help, and I'll be back later to collect my prize." "One should not be overly confident!" he calls at you as you walk out the door. "One might find that one's opponents are more devious than one thinks..." [Obscure] Spoiler: Solution of clue #1 The description of the Jungles of Miznia says "a dangerous breeding ground of hellhounds, crocodiles, and hungi" so this is the place you need to go
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Post by Gomer Sting on Apr 22, 2010 21:48:11 GMT -5
Clue #2 You've been all over this jungle, exploring every stupid hollowed out idol and poking every crocodile (which you're sure is a euphemism for something, although you've got no idea what), but you've finally had a bit of luck! It seems that where ever it may have originally been hidden, some careless adventurer who got there before you seems to have dropped it down a hole in a tree trunk. If not for the puzzled noises of some squirrels you probably would have missed it all together!
You reach inside, your hands scraping past layers of nuts, mossy rocks and things which feel suspiciously like discarded plot devices before your fingers find the idol and pull it out into the light of day. It's scraped and tarnished from its time in the tree trunk and, judging from the dirt stuck in its hollows, it seems to have been buried at some time in the near past too. Looks like people are willing to do anything to get that prize...
You turn the idol over in your hands examining it from every angle. It seems to be a perfectly normal statuette, with an engraving of a sword crossing it. It's just like any other that you've seen in your past adventures, except… You hold it up to your face and sniff. Urgh, it stinks! It does remind you of something though… you look closer and see that in each of the jewelled eyes someone has carved a W. Or are they M's? Despite the sword, it's hard to tell which way is up with this thing.
You note down the rune at the base of the idol and go to place it in your backpack, but you pause. After all, it would hardly be sporting to steal it. Then the people following behind you wouldn't have any kind of chance! And, if anyone should check your backpack and find it, you'd end up in big trouble. No, perhaps it's better if you return it to the tree trunk or, even better, hide it somewhere else… Burying it obviously didn't work for your predecessors, but maybe there's a better way. You look around and, sure enough, behind a bush you manage to find one of those marshy sinkholes that seem to pop up every now and then in jungles like this. "Oops…" you mumble, as the idol slips from your fingers and plunges into the hole with a gloop. As you turn away you catch a whiff of that smell you got from the idol. Was that just a bit of residual stink, or was it something else? Hmm, just another mystery to ponder while you're on the road.
[Obscure] Spoiler: Solution of clue #2 The double M are a hint for Miznia Marshland which is your next step
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Post by Gomer Sting on Apr 22, 2010 21:48:54 GMT -5
Clue #3 You drag your foot from one puddle of putrid sludge and carefully place it into another, slightly shallower, puddle of putrid sludge. It's hard to say which is worse about this place, the bugs, the smell, the way this ooze gets in just about everywhere, or the fact that every now and then a monster jumps out of the mist and tries to bite your face off. Or the mist itself, in the case of those eldritch vapors…
But where could this idol be? You've looked in all the obvious places, but the occasional randomly placed plinths must be for some other quest, because they're all empty. Unless some cunning devil hid it again…
You lean against an old, ruined tree trunk, trying to avoid the hole that-… no, they wouldn't be that obvious again, surely? You peek inside and, sure enough, you do see a glint of gold buried deep down there. Huh, this is turning out to be unexpectedly easy!
You reach in, having to stretch to reach all the way down to the bottom and- "OW!!!!" you jump back as pain flares up your hand, pulling your hand, and the surmin trap that's clamped on your fingers, free of the tree. You fire off a string of swear words that would make King "See You Next Time" Ginkle the Needlessly Vulgar blush before prying the trap from your fingers. On the ground lies the Zorkmid which gave the trap its glimmer, and beside that is a sheet of paper which reads "Hahaha, better luck next time. I threw it in the swamp!". You look out over the endless expanse of fetid marsh, if it's out there it'll be at the very bottom of the deepest sinkholes, which will take a LOT of searching, and a lot of bathing afterwards… unless…
You turn back to the tree. If it were you pulling a stunt like that, you'd hardly tell people that you'd thrown it in the swamp. After all, what would the point of that be, to trick them once just to tell them where to find it? No, much better to trick them twice…
You reach into the hollow again and feel around, much more carefully this time. The base of the trunk seems fine, apart from the second and third unsprung surmin traps are lying down there, so what about the top- "Aha! You cunning devil…" You reach up inside the trunk, finding a very small ledge, sitting atop of which is the next idol! You pull it out, smirking at your own cunning, although your smirk quickly fades when you realise that the idol is exactly the same as the last idol… Or is it? On closer examination, it the sword seems backwards: a mirror image of the last one. You peer into its eyes and where there were M/W's last time, there are now E's. You sniff it and-urgh! Whatever else might be reversed with this clue, the smell sure isn't! What could it all mean?
[Obscure] Spoiler: Solution of clue #3 Go to Fenshire (to be honest I tried alot areas with E until I found the right one)
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Post by Gomer Sting on Apr 22, 2010 21:49:24 GMT -5
Clue #4 You drag your foot from one puddle of putrid sludge and carefully place it into another, slightly shallower, puddle of putrid sludge. It's hard to say which is worse about this place, the bugs, the smell, or the horrible feeling that you've done this all before. Sure enough, to your right you can see a hollowed out tree trunk, you can see an inviting hole and you can even see the slightest glimmer of gold. Really, how dumb does this person think you are? You bend over, pick up a stick to set off the traps and walk over to the tree trunk. This should be a piece of-
"Uggghhhmffflflllguh!!!" Thankfully for any children that might be in the area, your swearing is blocked by all the water in your mouth as you plunge into a swampy hole right in front of the tree. Dragging yourself out, you swear that if you ever find the person who goes out of their way to big a six foot deep hole in the middle of the swamp, you'll have to shake their hand; it's quite an impressive feat. Obviously you'll have beaten them unconscious first, and as soon as you've shaken their hand you'll load them into a catapult to be fired into the sun, but apart from the blinding rage that you're feeling, there is the tiniest kernel of admiration in there for someone who puts that much effort into a prank.
However, you do still need to get down to the business of where this crazy idol is… You carefully approach the trunk, testing the ground ahead of you (and keeping an eye on the sky, just in case). Deciding that the time for playing the "put my fingers into unknowable peril" game is over you pull your weapon free and swing, smashing the tree trunk into fragments. Dodging the shower of jagged wood and surmin traps, you manage to snatch the idol out of the air before it falls into one of the all-too-frequent sink-holes in this place.
"That's odd," you think, turning it over in your hands, "it feels a whole lot lighter than the other two…" You examine it closer, noticing the slightest hint of a crack around the base. "Hmm…" you prod and twist it, trying to find any weakness when, with a jerk, it snaps off. You fall backwards, splashing into the wet ground. You sit there for a moment, hating the universe (with a particular brand of loathing for the rancid water oozing through your armour), when a single rose petal wafts through the air and lands on the tip of your nose. You delicately pluck it off, leaning in close, the sludge filling your boots forgotten. It looks like the petal of a compass rose! But they don't grow in swamps like this… or anywhere really, come to think of it. It must have been inside the idol, which means it must be a clue! But to what…
[Obscure] Spoiler: Solution of clue #4 Searching through the Encyclopedia Frobozzica you find out that the Compass Rose grows at the Fields of Frotzen which is your next step
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Post by Gomer Sting on Apr 22, 2010 21:50:02 GMT -5
Clue #5 To be brutally honest, as scavenger hunts go, this one is one of the stranger ones you've ever been on. Given that the last scavenger hunt you were on was to try and find some candy that had been hidden in a boot, that might not be all that surprising, but you're not sure how normal it is for people to set fifty eight (and counting) foothold traps around the pedestal which the prize is sitting on. But at least this time you have a slight advantage over whoever is setting these animal traps, in that you're the second person on the scene.
You settle back into the grain field which you found yourself in, and peer through the stalks that conceal you as your competitor gingerly picks his way through the traps which surround the plinth. Now, the biggest question on your mind is not whether or not he'll make it to the idol, but whether these traps were set by the original organisers of the competition, or if they were tweaked by some explorer who came before you to sabotage. Either way, the animal traps seem far too obvious, so you're curious to see what will happen to that guy out there.
You don't have to wait long for your answer, as he reaches the pedestal. He reaches for the idol, legs tentatively spanning the last trap, when the plinth starts to grow. It stretches higher and higher into the air, revealing a slick-looking wooden pole underneath it. Interesting…
The adventurer, despite being startled, did manage to keep his footing and didn't fall victim to snappy (yet undoubtedly excruciating) pain. You nearly want to applaud, but that would both give away your position and purpose. You lean forward, watching keenly as he examines the now much taller plinth. After gingerly circling it a couple of times he seems to come to a conclusion, wraps his arms around it, and starts to climb. Despite a good, fast start, he's only a quarter of the way up before pauses, looks worried, and then desperately starts trying to shimmy further up. He doesn't get any further, however, and in fact starts to slowly slide back down. Interesting… his descent speeds up, until he's corckscrewing down and lands, unceremoniously, on his rear, and on one of the traps. Competitor or not, his yelp of pain makes you wince in sympathy. He jumps up in alarm, which of course lands his foot in another trap, which snaps closed, causing him to yell again, and hop around trying to pry the trap off his foot. Obviously, he hops into a different trap with his good foot, at which point he falls over setting off more traps and… well, it goes on for quite a while, but the bottom line is that the number of traps in the field was greatly reduced by the time the man, now a walking, clunking wall of metal finally managed to drag himself away to safety (and hopefully a good ironmonger). You wait until he's out of sight before emerging and stroll through the path of inactivated traps which he left, before reaching the pole. You rub a finger down it and, as you suspected, it is covered with something so slick and slippery that it makes grease look like glue. There's no way you'll be able to climb this… But I guess you won't know until you try!
Several embarrassing tries and one shockingly close call with one of the remaining traps, you're pretty sure you now know. There is no WAY you can climb that thing! But there must be something… Hmm, maybe… You take out the weapon that had been so very effective against the tree in Fenshire. Perhaps if you can't go to the idol, you can make the idol come to you! You swing, striking the wood a mighty blow and- well… nothing happens. It's as if it's made of stone, you barely left a mark! You lash out, kicking a nearby stick in frustration, which bounces across the field before hitting one of the traps, which snap shut around it, holding it tight. You stare at it for a moment. Maybe… You delicately pick up one of the foot traps, carry it over to the pole, before throwing it forward. It sinks its jaws into the wood with a dry thunk, holding fast. Nowhere near strong enough to cut through it, but if that's secure… it might just work…
Some time later, you haul yourself up your makeshift ladder, one more trap delicately balanced in your hand. Below you, all the way down the pole, is a series of foot traps which you've set off against the pole, each one biting in deep enough to give you a secure foot and hand hold to haul yourself up and place the next one. You pull yourself up, snapping the last trap into place, climb onto it, and grab the idol. At last!
You make your way down, carefully avoiding the razor-sharp edges on the traps as you do. You reach the ground and examine it. It does look very much like the other idols, but with the weight that implies there won't be a hidden surprise stowed away in there. Looking closer you see that although it does look very similar, it's not quite the same. Around the waist there seems to be a… diaper?! You hold it at arm's length, examining it from afar, just in case the maker decided to include the appropriate smell too, as he did with the swamp. Hmm, what could it mean? Some town that has an above average number of babysitting facilities? Well, whatever it's pointing you to, you had better figure it out quick, there's only one idol left to find, and who knows who's still ahead of you?
[Obscure] Spoiler: Solution for clue #5 The diaper is a hint to the Forest of Youth where you will find the last idol
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Post by Gomer Sting on Apr 22, 2010 21:51:17 GMT -5
Quest solved Morality is often a tricky issue. For example, say you end up travelling back in time, and you're given the opportunity to kill a baby that you know is going to grow up to be a mass murderer or, worse, a granola bar salesman? Or perhaps a less extreme example? Say you're hunting for an idol and, just as you find it, you discover that someone else is already there, about to grab it? Now, obviously this person has just won the right to take it and claim her prize, given that she appeared on the scene first. But say, for the sake of argument, that this person has a backpack full of clanking traps, very much like the ones that you've been falling into? She obviously hasn't been playing fair, but does that give you the right to just run in and take it from her? Do two wrongs make a right? More to the point: is there any way you can possibly restrain yourself from just running in there and stabbing her, given how much grief she's caused you? Although some of those traps were pretty ingenious…
You reach a conclusion: you should go out there ask politely for the idol, congratulate her on her cunning, and tell her what a shame it is that she came second to you and your cunning. That's fair and polite after all. "Yep" you think, getting up and walking into the clearing containing the idol, "I can see not other outcome…" "Hello there!" you call, walking up to her, "I see you've found a golden idol, congratulations!" She turns to look at you, red hair flashing in the sunlight and her eyes just flashing with surprise. "Hello there, stranger that hides in bushes…" "Oh, yes, sorry about that, I just wanted to make sure you were the person I was looking for. Some of your traps were really very, very clever. I'll never be able to look at a surmin trap in quite the same way again. However, if you could just give me my idol now, it will save us all a lot of time, effort and puncture wounds." "Oh, yours, is it?" "You cheated, I had to work through your extra traps!" "I put in the time to make those traps! Anyway, there are no rules against what I did." "But why bother setting such elaborate traps when you can just destroy the idols, or take them with you?!" She smiles slightly, "Oh where's the fun in that? Why just put people off the scent when you can have some fun while doing it?" "Inflicting physical and mental anguish on complete strangers is fu-?!" you pause for a moment… what are you saying? Of course it's fun! It's all that keeps most people going during university… "Yes, well, regardless of whether it's fun or not, it's not right-… well… I mean… it's just that… eh…" Your previous certainty that this was going to be a cinch is quickly drying up, leaving you with only one option. You were hoping it wouldn't come to this… "GIMME!!!!!!" you dive forward, grabbing the idol from her hands, and rolling across the ground with it. You stumble to your feet, but before you can even straighten up she trips you, sending you tumbling again. The idol rolls away, and she quickly runs over to it, picking it up with one sweep of her arm and dashing into the undergrowth. A normal person would, at this point, run back to Mizniaport as quickly as possible and claim her prize, however, you don't really think she's a normal person. She probably has some great, big plan for you to chase her and then she'll lead you through some quicksand, and then drop you into a snakepit and then trap you in a cave with a grue and THEN she'll go back to Mizniaport with her idol to collect the reward. Unfortunately for her, the rules don't say that you have to get back with the idol, they say that you have to get back with the five symbols, one on the base of each of the idols. You look down into your hand, and the small lump of clay in your palm. Well, maybe she has the idol, but the perfect imprint that you got when you pretended to stagger and fall is all you need. And if you hurry to Mizniaport now you might be able to clear this forest before she realises you're not chasing her and beat her to the armour!
[Obscure] Spoiler: Last step Go back to Mizniaport
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