The Lost Lands Treasure Hunt

his is a report of a public treasure hunt event, organized by the United Pirates of Catskills. The object was, to find a valuable treasure hidden somewhere in Britannia or the Lost Lands. Starting at the Jolly Roger Inn, the participating crews were receiving many hints during the hunt, which lead to the treasure in the end.

Hawkeye Pike gave the treasure hunters the first hint:

Some days ago, da pirat's saved a consciousless maroon from a tiny island, and brought him to da Jolly Roger Inn. Today da maroon woke up, and stammer'd somethin' 'bout a hidden treasur' and a messag' in a bottle he found on da island. Da sextant coordinat's of dis island are 127° S 62° E.

Thre crews rushed off to their ships, and left the Red Skull Bay heading south.

As they arrived at the island, a tattered message in a bottle could be found, saying in barely legible letters:

"... am lost! The gold and the gems ... no value for me, for ... starving to death in a strange, distant world! ... don't know where I am! Call ... friend of mine for help, he knows my wherabouts! Hurry before it's too late! He can be found ... docks of an island called Occlo ... beware ... ambush ..."

The teams knew they had to sail to the Occlo docks as fast as possible. Some of them didn't sail through the narrow channel, to avoid conflicts with other treasure hunting teams. The ones who sailed through the straits, were confronted with a surprise! An evil mage cursed them with the words "Away with thee! Damned be thy lust for wealth!", attacked them and set their ships on fire with evil spells.

Finally the crews arrived at the docks, where an unkempt sailor could be found. After providing him with ale, he muttered an interesting information...

"Arrr... one of me friends just wanted to make a trip to thuh Serpents' Pillars. Last message I got from that dude, fer shure, was, ya know, he was like super cold, wow, and trapped by monsters in a valley in da Lost Lands! As far as I know he managed to escape, man, but he left like his whole backpack behind, fer shure, with a message about his new destination, oh wow. This frost valley seems to be at 65° N 6° E."

In the frost valley a backpack could be found, with some worthless equipment and a note in it. The little diary said:

"February 2nd: The attack on the Papua tradesmen was a success! My comrades fell, but a friend and I managed to rob the riches and escaped, before the enemy noticed what's going on.

February 4th: We carry all the riches of the enemy's ship with us! It's too heavy, and we are very exhausted. We fled to the northern region, to shake off our pursuers, the guards of Papua.

February 5th: Our feet are frozen and black! We are trapped in a cursed valley, and dangerous frost creatures surround us! We have to flee! As our backpack is too heavy, we will leave the worthless stuff behind! We will try to make it to the small Wyvern Isle southwest from here."

After some trouble and losses at the wyvern isle, the trail led to the Silent Bay in the Lost Lands. The Pirate Sambal was stranded there, leaving the treasure to his comrade. The remaining crews found him without problems, and interrogated him carefully.

"Thou lookest for the treasure? Well, it doesn't mean anything to me anymore. So you can have my share, if you give me something to eat. My comrade Jimmy the Hand has left with the treasure; he betrayed me! I don't know where he is now, but he fled back to Britannia. A friend of mine sent me a pigeon some days ago, telling me that he saw the traitor. Maybe thou will get more information from him. He is a lonely fisherman, You will find him with this map. But thou shouldst tell him about any treasure, or he may become greedy and won't talk anymore."

The map showed a beach near some shrine. The crews knew Britannia very well, and sailed through the moongate to the southern jungles of Britannia. The fisherman was found, and he provided them with the final piece of information:

"Yo' be lookin' for Jimmy the Hand? I saw him latelee, and I fullowed da lad, as he wuz actin' vary strangely! Yo' know da offshor' isle of Buccanea's Den? Thut's whea I saw him last time. If yo' hurry, yo' might meet him thea!"

At once the parties set off to finally find the treasure. But there was a sea battle. Two of the crews attacked each other and set their ships on fire. There were no losses, but one of the teams was heavily delayed.

Finally the crew of the Virtue Village reached the described isle near Buccaneer's Den, and seized the evil pirate. This jerk didn't give up voluntarily, but attacked the two treasure hunters. The fight didn't last long, and the two crew members examined the corpse of Jimmy. They found a wooden crate in it, and a small note with some warning scribbled on it. They had the wits to examine the chest, and not just greedily open it. So they noticed the deadly trap that would have sent one of them to hell for sure!

Later all participants met at the Jolly Roger Inn, to discuss and celebrate the success.

02/99

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