Ransom And Blood

warm breeze crept up from the south, lifting the fine sand into the air, covering the floor boards of the beach house with a layer of yellow dust. The sun was just throwing its first powerful orange rays across the sea, lighting the waves with frisky glitter and gleam. The scenery could almost be called romantic, if a terrible exposure hadn't cruelly ruined the peaceful morning mood. Large dark-red drops of blood ran down the bollard, desiccating on the weather-beaten wooden surface, leaving strange river-like traces on it. On top of a bollard, a head of a decapitated person was laid out, its white dead saucer-like eyes staring desperately at any passer-by. Beneath the head, the red blood-stained cover of a tattered book was protruding...

The writing in the book was saying:

WANTED!
Some time ago, a caravan had been ambushed and robbed, two travellers are missing. We assume they have been taken hostage by pirates. One of the criminals has been captured and sent to prison. He has been interrogated thoroughly.
We have a lead on one other ciminial, who fled when the guards approached. Interviews with possible witnesses resulted in a trace: We have to enter the cave in the Northern Crags at 92N, 53E. Through that tunnel, we will reach a snowy mountain area. A pirate is said to be hiding in a Town Hall in the area. Bring him in dead or alive for a reward, or look for some message or hint if you don't happen to run across him there. Let this bandit head be a warning to all unsavory folk who try to destabilize our kingdom and spread fear and terror.
Signed, Royal Guards of Britannia

As most of us know, the Northern Crags were located in Malas. By using a sextant, a cave entrance could easily be found. In the mountain area was located the Istas Town Hall, in which another note could be found:

Fellow pirates, in case you find my trace and follow me here, please read this note carefully! Our ambush went awry, one of us had been captured and two of us had to flee. I hope you were able to escape with the hostages! Meanwhile I closed the deal with shady merchant. He is willing to help us free the prisoner, if you provide the necessary goods. But I assume you have already taken care of this. The merchant had been paid by you in advance, which was a wise thing to do. Your directions were not too clear, but I found the merchant nevertheless by following the coastline east of the pirate headquarters until I reached a house with a willow tree out front. You will learn more by bribing the merchant. Hopefully, the deal has already happened by then. No person in his right mind could refuse an offer like you made! I am confident that the prisoner will be liberated by then.
Sincerely, First Mate [UP]

The Vesper Trading Company was located just opposite of the Vesper graveyard. When giving gold to the merchant inside, he would deliver the following message:

"I will help thee, if you count the barrels on the Vesper Docks and deliver the number to me!"

When giving him the correct number, the merchant would direct the adventurer to a barrel in this building, where another message by the Pirate Trading Co. had been hidden:

To cover our tracks, we transferred this deal to another merchant. To find this shady merchant, go to the supply shack northeast of the Shrine of Honor. The Letter of Consignment has been hidden in this building!

In the middle of the jungle south of Trinsic, the pirate supply shack was hidden. The Letter of Consignment could be found inside a barrel out front. However, it seemed to contain only a list of wares, nothing else:

List of Commodities:
600 Spined Leather
500 Barbed Leather
500 Plain Boards
200 Oak Boards
15 Ash Boards
1000 Arrows
500 Bolts
1000 Iron Ingots
500 Dull Copper Ingots
400 Shadow Ingots
300 Copper Ingots
200 Bronze Ingots
300 Sulphurous Ash
300 Nightshade
300 Blood Moss
300 Ginseng
300 Mandrake Root
300 Spider Silk
300 Garlic
(Black Pear not available)
5 Barrels of Potions
150 Lockpicks
50 Smoke Bombs
20 Plant Seeds
13,000 Fish Steaks
5 very valuable weapons
A check over 500,000 gold
The conditions of this deal have been summarized in the small print.

The small print? When browsing to the very end of the book, a hidden note could be discovered:

The Small Print:
-------------------
This is a list of the contraband that will be delivered to your house in the village, when you keep your promise and free the prisoner from Cell 1 in the Jail at 74S 35E near the Shrine of Spirituality. Delivery will be made by our trustworthy merchant at U&P Importing Co.
Signed, Hawkeye Pike

The Guard Report by Erik:

Guard report from December 4th:
Tonight, a prisoner has vanished. For further information about the identity of the prisoner and the ongoing investigation, please visit our Office of Trades, which you will find a short walk to the north, close to the swamp. This information is confidential!
Signed, Night Watch Erik

The bulletin board in the Office of Trades revealed the status of the investigation:

Erik: The Orc had vanished from the prison, and the conviction papers (including his confession) with him. The extensive investigation did not yield any results, although his hideout was finally found. The Orc hideout is located at the northern tip of Skara Brae island in Felucca. Our detectives were not able to find any trace of the Orc there. The place was a mess!

On the top floor of the orc hideout, a message was hidden inside a barely visible dirty bag. It contained an interesting paper:

Conviction of the Orc
The incomprehensible blathering of the Orc was translated into the common language by one of our orc experts. Here is the transcript:

CONFESSION:
I admint that I was involved in the ambush of a caravan of rich people transporting wares from Yew to Skara Brae. I was hired by a group of pirates to service as a guide, as I know the roads of Britannia better than anyone. In the progress of the ambush, two persons, who were considered to have rich relatives, were taken hostage and lead away. The prisoners were first hidden in some secret caves east of Skara Brae. However, the pirates suddenly decided to set off. I did not come along as my job was done, but one of their group - probably a spy - dropped a note that was meant to be found by whoever. I picked up the note, as I am curious by nature. It read:
>>Go to a well-known city. There is a shoppe called "A Girl's Best Friend". From this place, head straight north until you reach the mountain side. Now walk apporoximately 80 steps east until you reach a chasm. Enter the chasm and follow it north where you will find the Old Mountain Hall Inn. A Captain's Log has been left behind. You will find further evidence in it.<<
I refuse to tell my name, and I refuse to say any more. The Orc.

--------------------
The verdict, in the name of Britannia:
The Orc was sentenced to 5 years of prison for robbery, illegal restraint and treason.
--------------------

The Old Mountain Hall Inn was a large ruined building north of Britain. The Captain's Log was clearly visible in a room downstairs. It pointed out that a traitor had been captured upstairs. The bones of the traitor could still be found, and inside was hidden a diary directing the adventurer to go further upstairs in order to find the secret passage into the locked room on the ground floor.

However, this building was enchanted, full of riddles, traps and hidden doors. Holes in the ground would sometimes drop you back to the beginning of the search, sometimes they would lead into secret rooms. About 20 riddles had to be solved and traps be circumvened, before you would reach the destination: The locked room with Murray the Messenger inside.

Murray's Notebook, which lay in front of him, gave further directions:

Bravo! Thou hast found my message. To proceed, thou will need my assistance. My knowledge will help you find what you lookest for. However, I do only pass my secrets to those with a sense of adventure and enought wit. Tell me the secret password, and I will tell thee how to proceed...
The password can be found the following way:
Go to Ilshenar! From the Shrine of Honor follow the road straight north until you reach the ford across the Poromir Harm. Next to the ford thou will find a small garden. Inside the garden a stone was once built by Lord British himself. The thirteenth word on the epitaph is the password you are looking for.

When giving the password to Murray, he would answer:

"In the house at 169S 23E, a smuggler named Darrel tried to sell contraband along with a note..."

Now, after the smuggler's backpack was found in the Black Market, how would one get into the locked cell? Again, a number of hidden teleporters and secret doors had to be detected...

The note by Darrell in the cell read:

I've seen you gather in secret at the tavern next door,
you didn't trust me with secrets, didn't tell me more.
You laid out your plans with your hostages there,
I deserved your trust and want my share.
I bribed Steve and he eavesdropped on you that night,
he can keep a secret, doesn't know how to fight.
Steve the Pirate is thirsty and weak,
conspiracy backwards will make him speak.
Signed, disappointed, Darrell

If you said the right password to Steve in the Jolly Roger Inn, he would reveal the next hint:

A bard and a mage,
they lived in a cage,
in the cellar below.
Nothing more do I know!

Downstairs, in a cold and humid prison cell, two skeletons were rotting. One of them could be reached through the bars, the other one was unreachable. The Bard's corpse contained a rather lengthy diary. It described the desperate situation of the two prisoners, and at one point it gave the hint that more information could be found in the Mage's diary:

Pulling myself together to write my last words. We're lost. We will die here. Only rats and slimes can get out. We are neither. My friend knows the pirates' secret. He will take it to his grave. It is over. All hope is lost. Hunger defeated even our desparation.

Only rats and slimes, coming in through the ceiling? This was a difficult riddle, and many adventurers despared on this. However, some just tried, went upstairs and transformed into a slime (by using the magic Polymorph spell) or into a rat (by using a Ninja's animal form), and suddenly they were transported through a tiny mouse hole directly into the prison cell. Now, the Mage's diary was accessible, and it revealed the last hint. The Mage had recorded a conversation between two pirates he eavesdropped on, and he had written it down:

"Pike, have they all gone?"
"Seems like it, matey!"
"...talk about tha hiding place now."
"I know matey. Thinkin' 'bout it right now. It... close but well hidden."
"...want to be able... keep an eye on it, right?"
"Two of dem, as often as I can spare 'em!"
(incomprehensible whisper)
"Nay, lad! Too obvious!"
"...bury in the sand?"
"Arr, da tide may wash it away... can't risk dat!"
"But where... it?"
"Ye know, landlubbers... narrow mind. They... we'll dig a hole somewhere... bury it deep down and draw a map. But this time... different. I want to... where they don't expect it."
"Pike, where's that?"
"Hmmm... look around!"
"What do you expect me to see in all this mess?"
"Har! Dat's exactly me point! Nobody... find anything in this clutter."
"... mean, you want to hide it... Roger Inn?"
(silence)
"Ye are crazy, Pike, ye know that?"
"Aye!"
"So where exactly...?"
"... upstairs... good place."
"You mean... plants?"
"Almost! ...souvenir I brought from one of me trips to a southern island."
"You mean the black big...?"
"Aye, inside o' it! ...put it into a bag ...shove it into the... Very hard to find if ye don't know about it."
"...are the most cunning scumbag... seen!"
(laughter)
(drinking, more laughter)
(other pirates returning)
...

May the Gods of Britannia protect the one who finds this note, and may they curse the pirates for their atrocities and war mongery! My letter ends here. I will now lay down and slepp, and probably never wake up again... Fare thee well!
Marcus the Mage

The big black souvenir from a southern island upstairs by the plants could easily be found. But how to open it??? When looking very very carefully at the statue, one could determine a small bag hidden beneath it, dyed in exactly the same color of the statue. The quest was solved!

The Dread Pirate's Secret
-----------------------
'Twas all about Ransom and Blood. We gathered the treasure and hid it here. By finding this note, you have finished the quest, earned the pirates' respect, and the right to claim a part of the treasure. Speak to the Captain of the United Pirates, Hawkeye Pike, and he will reward you. As a proof that you read this, ask him about the wherabouts of his father Blackeye.

(This player quest was set up and initiated by the United Pirates. A lot of people tried to solve these tricky riddles. Many failed. Persistance, patience and diligence were required to reach the goal. The players had 4 weeks to finish the quest. Only 7 adventurers asked Hawkeye Pike about the werabouts of his father Blackeye.)

02/2009

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