Anniversary Scavenger Hunt 2019

Ayisdra

This year was a bit different. Rather than clues being based on room descriptions, they were based on events.

...Personal events, especially those behind bedroom doors, rarely reach the attention of the Basin at large. Yet in the month of Roarkian, the Basin found itself beleaguered by the cries of a scorned lover, and quickly found themselves racing to gather necessary reagents and supplies to foster the lover's dreams of revenge. Peculiar though those may have been, it was masquarading and deception that ultimately accomplished the goal. Many still journey to this brief respite amid heated passion, eager to see justice served.

4746

...On one of those Autumn months, those that everyone remembers so well - crisp and golden - I received an invitation unlike any other. I was intrigued as I have watched the host's ascent over the years with a modicum of admiration and discomfort at once. From a humble merchant to the seat upon the board of an entire commercial coterie is no small accomplishment. Should one man wield so much influence? Have such wealth available as to flaunt a zingavium tie pin? In any case, the event in question was a riot of colour, sound, and extravagance. Champagne poured as if from an eternal spring, guests were attired in their finery, refreshments were delightful. Everyone one would expect at the end of the world. But it was the locale itself that caught my eye, an estate of marble and gold overlooking the river.

9295

...The nature of this event is strange and, in truth, understood very little even by the foremost experts of the land. Not in its formation - it is self-evident to even the most untrained of Astrologers that a Syzygy is an alignment of the planets Eroee, Sidiak, Tarox, Papaxi and Aapek. No, it is the extent of this alignment's power that is so little comprehended, though it is clear that the potential is extreme. Indeed, upon the site in question, the renowned astrologer Finrik Lerit'r successfully attuned an astrolabe to the most recent historical Syzygy, causing the tower within it to meet an abrupt and violent end.

24812

...Love is a story often told, and one which often repeats itself. But there was little in the way of a typical retelling in this union. A man of lower standing winning the hand of a woman of higher station is nothing new, but how he went about satisfying his bride's capricious nature, now that is another matter entirely. Can death grant marital satisfaction? It would appear so in this case and, far as I am aware, they continue to live in intermittent bliss in a house at the bend of the murkiest of rivers.

45219

...Is everyone who hails from that family a mad scientist? This particular one is plagued by dreams at that, one which dictate his research. While it is plain to see that no mountain range is the same, ultimately they all have something in common. Not in this case, however, for this man's field of study are mountains which resemble those in the Basin little. Were his dreams and the quakes connected? Or his own doing? How powerful have these mages become? Now he studies nightmarish beings all on his own in a secluded study, certainly not helping his sanity.

37570

...It was an unnaturally hot day early in Dioni, and the groundbreaking dome erected by Hallifax and given the designation of Project Eclipse was beginning to fail and falter. The solar energy of Father Sun was to prove too much for it, though those of the Basin of Life had perhaps not expected the eruption that occurred upon the sundering of the cloud barrier. This eruption heralded the coming of several solar flares, which were calculated to be threatening several notable locations within the Basin itself. Ultimately, thanks to the intervention of valiant adventurers, the vast majority of these potential victims were saved. As to the place you seek, it is the only location unfortunate enough to have been without protection at the time of the solar flares.

28568

...In the early fifth century CE, Lusternia was visited by the truly alien. Traveling in an egg-shaped algontherine named Kauko, splintered shards of the Goddess Kaenalye, called kaelye, crashed into the Basin of Life. Never having seen Sun nor Moon nor the vastness of the lands, many kaelye became lost or injured, and required rescue by adventurers. With adventurers' help, the kaelye, led by Taimi Kivinen, gathered themselves and obtained a new algontherine, named Alku, to return to their aetherbubble, Lyraa Ey Rielys. Little did they know that their bubble was on a crash course with Lusternia itself, and then was pulled about by Queenie of the nefarious Gnafia. Only when the Gnafia was defeated did Lyraa Ey Rielys finally settle in aetherspace, and the kaelye and Lusternians alike were able to survey the damage done to their respective lands. You seek the place where Kauko first crashed, and the remnants of its body still housing relics.

35264

...In the month of Avechary, a strange fae drew the attention of the Basin as it attempted to relocate in a manner most unusual for its kind. However, the inhabitants of cities far and wide were quick to respond, rushing forward to clear the way for the foul-mouthed fae. Thankfully, a freshly arrived resident to the nearby village offered them their salvation, and it is between basalt columns that evidence of their work can be seen to this day.

20203

...It is of course most interesting to chronicle not only the development of patisserie during the present Age, but its many detainments. One only needs look to the great salt crisis of recent years to comprehend the vast impact that the economic climate might have upon the otherwise magnificent future of our culinary arts. The greatest of these creative restrictions, however - at least in the field of pastry - is quite without contest. Indeed, the site that you seek is home to that most unlikely saviour of confectionary advancement, whose attire alone would make him notable.

78

...This devastating display reminds me all too well of a moment in history that could just as well be the mirror to what has happened. Many years prior one of the false High Gods, Aelish, has removed the touch of the Taint from the Sea of Despair, restoring it to its glory days as the Crystal Sea. We know, now, that this was all a dream. This seems no dream. The Inner Sea is darkened, tempestuous - a dark twin to the Sea of Despair. However Magnagora made it happen is a mystery but I have heard rumour that a contraption of some sort was involved and where it stands is a deeply contested area between the two seas.

5629

...Isn't it most peculiar how the Verses of Magnora always make themselves known right when they are most needed? Many have sought them to thwart prophecy ahead of time, or to profit from it. But, far as I am aware, none have been able to come upon a new one on demand. Late in the fourth century my thought have drifted to this subject again when a Verse has been revealed by a dutiful young aslaran woman. She revealed that her clan has been tasked with safekeeping of that particular Verse for centuries and was to reveal it to the Basin only at the appointed time. By whom is unknown at this juncture but all of this seems ordrained nonetheless. The young woman has returned to her home, still devoted to her studies.

6987

...Those places hidden from the light of Father Sun are of utmost interest to me and, it would appear, not me alone. A peculiar researcher has ventured there with a whole gaggle of assistants in tow late one Summer. She was nebulous on where she and her team hails from but I have my suspicions. I was most surprised by how little they were prepared to actually undertake the subject of their study for they called for help of others almost immediately. This arose my suspicion all the more for any well-established researcher of the Basin would know well to pack heavy weaponry, and not just tents, for work in such dangerous and dark caverns.

44023

...Many of their works are presented in traditional metre, though they are well known for their mild mutation on the standard iambic pentameter - conveying lines that might be interpreted by varying pronunciations as either accurate or lacking the final iamb. This is in part due to their great uses of trochee, and the comparatively low number of end-stopped lines within their work. However it ought to be noted that, though it is known that their body of work was large indeed (both in the epic nature of their poetry and in the number of their poems), very little has yet been recovered. The site in question is home to one of the greatest sources of their poetry, a spirit summoned in part by a fragment of the epic account of Cora Wildbriar.

45074

...In late fourth century CE, the Basin of Life was visited by two young human women who called themselves members of the Lusternia Humanistic League. Received with suspicion and curiosity alike, Constance Walker and Elsa Fallows were unswerving in their desire to find new topics of human research. Through probing and wheedling they found their way to Duum, the third village of humans in the Basin. There, they conducted experiments that eventually turned on them, as Elsa became drawn in with the Duumites' strange religion, and even empowered the Dread Lord of Contagion and released plague upon the roads. It took much effort by adventurers to bring the Dread Lord down and cure Elsa again. What you seek is where the doomed village may be entered with a tool: a crack in the humid wet.

5598

...Ultimately, in 519CE, these events led to the calling of a meeting the likes of which have never before been seen. One need not be a great political philosopher or historian to comprehend the minuscule likeliness of such a gathering occurring without such an extreme impetus. Of course all such momentous occasions must have a name, and this would come to be called the Conclave of the Keepers. As to the place where it was held, it was chosen for its neutrality, being aligned to no organisation, and being primarily the site of a ruined castle.

6382

Drocilla

The 10th anniversary also featured a tome and similarly constructed clues (history blurbs, not room descs)! We thought we'd stick to tradition for a sort-of-round anniversary.