The Green King 1 (the adventure starts here!) ** Be sure to read the nearby scroll for the rules. If you already read the scroll at Clue Hunt Central, you're all set! ** I was enjoying a nice cup of coffee in Gaskill’s Retreat Café when I got a message from Henry Costas, Gregor Salvatore’s pet archaeologist. My friend Henry had gotten twitchy since entering Salvatore’s employment. Not surprising, since people who worked for the shady mogul tended to end up either very rich or very dead, at about even odds. Curious, I decided to meet Henry at the Inferno Room as he’d asked. 3 The Green King 2 (the adventure starts at Gaskill’s!) Henry met me outside the bar, twitchier than usual. “You have to help! He wants to kill me!” he whispered. “Who?” “Who else? Salvatore. It’s because I found the Green King. But I won’t tell Salvatore. He knows that. But I’ll be safe, I’m going to the pretty gardens in the sky…” Green King? Gardens in the sky? Clearly ol’ Hank had spent more time in the Inferno Room drinking who knows what than was good for him. “You might want to think about Thursday,” I said. Thursday was Henry’s daughter (she was born on Thanksgiving, and Henry’s baby-name creativity extended no further). “Keeping things from a boss like Gregor Salvatore is a dangerous business…” He looked at me with growing paranoia. “How do I know you’re not working for him? He can buy anybody.” “Not me, Henry,” I sighed. “I’ve been in the Inferno Room a dozen times, I’ve seen you there. I haven’t killed you yet.” “I don’t remember seeing you there,” Hank said, backing away. “You’re a regular? Tell me how many chairs there are on the ground floor, then.” The Green King 2 (the adventure starts at Gaskill’s!) Henry relaxed. “Fine, I’ll talk to Gregor,” I said. “Is he still holding court in Mirage, at the café?” Shame, what he did to that black Rolls of his, playing sultan out there in the sand. “What should I—“ I turned around, but Henry was gone. 1 The Green King 3 (the adventure starts at Gaskill’s!) Salvatore was dismissive when I found him among Mizmar Café’s cushions and lamplight. “Henry’s always been wound pretty tight. What did he tell you?” Something in the way he was looking at me told me to watch my step. “Nothing really. Just wanted me to check where things stood between you and him.” It didn’t seem likely that the Green King was anybody in Tiki – Salvatore knew all those power players. “You can tell him to come back any time.” Salvatore eyed me keenly. “If I knew where he was, I would,” I lied. “He used to be pretty level-headed, when he was with the university.” Salvatore shrugged off the insult. “Seems like a lot of my people have been acting up. A bunch of my best, erm, collection agents decided to resign. Don’t like the new direction I’m taking the organization in.” He got a strange glint in his eye. “But they’re thinking small, all of them. Can’t think beyond the borders of what they see every day.” Could the search for this Green King be driving away more of Salvatore’s crew? Seemed like something to follow up on. Wouldn’t be the first crazy idea he’d had; others had made him rich. Still others had made him enemies. “Excuse me. Always a pleasure,” Salvatore said, ringing up an IM and leaving the table to chat with a gang of toughs with hoverpacks (Talamini, I heard one say). I saw my chance. I headed out the back of the café, over to the umbrellas where the parking valets hang out. 2 The Green King 4 (the adventure starts at Gaskill’s!) The valet waved the car over, taking my Therebucks tip with a disdainful snort as I climbed in. If Salvatore’s goons weren’t with him in Mizmar, there’s only one place gentlemen of such quality would be – The Pit in Sirocco. 4 The Green King 5 (the adventure starts at Gaskill’s!) As I’d hoped, Salvatore’s car let me into the heavily-guarded compound. As I should’ve known, it was a trap. No sooner had I joined the sweaty, carnivorous crowd at The Pit than one hulk grabbed me. “How’s about you tell us where Costas is,” he grunted. “Or that little gal of his,” another leered. “She’s what, 25 now? Nice age.” My reply was saltier than the TOS deities condone, but feel free to use your imagination. The fact that Thursday was also missing was bad, but the fact that this brain trust didn’t know where she was, was good. My interrogator hauled back a meaty fist to take a swing at me. I slipped out of Goon #1’s grasp, and he took Goon #2’s punch full in the face while I bolted. I ran out the back of the place, grabbed a hoverboard (“Hey!” its monobrowed owner screamed) and zoomed out along the canyon. 6 The Green King 7 (the adventure starts at Gaskill’s!) Inside was an object about the size of a paperback book, glossy black all over and strangely heavy. Maybe Henry’s former partner, Marisol Vasquez, could help. I knew she sometimes painted scenery for plays at Maidenflight Stage. 6 Your archaeologist friend has gone missing, and dangerous people are looking for him. Can you solve the mystery of the Green King? Puzzles and exploration await. Follow the clue envelopes to solve the adventure. Read each clue carefully. You never know what obstacles you may have to face on your journey… The first 5 people to complete the quest will get a customized trophy and T$1500! The next 20 will get T$500. There is no time limit. I wanted to try out a longish adventure-style hunt with challenging puzzles that people could chew on (there are 15 clues), so you can start it now and finish it tomorrow or another day. You can even team up with another person if you like. Hey, even Indiana Jones doesn’t always work alone! :) *** Be sure to write down the number from each clue (15 numbers in all). Add them up for the Secret Number, which you’ll need to claim your prize. *** Go to Gaskill’s Retreat Café to find the first clue! The assailant was gone when I got there. I found only a spent hoverpack cell; clearly Salvatore’s new friends were coming in handy. Marisol wasn’t going to be any more help, but at least she was alive and safe. Where had Marisol and Henry gone on their last dig? I recalled the maze city in the middle of Monkey Crater on Caldera, but that had been long since excavated; it wasn’t a new find. Wise and tricky, she had said… what if the builders of those structures, revering the wise and tricky monkey spirits, would put objects of importance and value *not* in the central city, but outside it, say a structure at a high vantage point, where they could look down into the crater and watch the foolish and greedy chase around the maze? 7 The site was long since abandoned, a pile of debris – broken stone, ropes, tarps -- stacked up in the center of the structure. The pile looked a bit too intentional. Scrabbling it aside, I found a large stone panel, faint green light emanating from around its edge. I pried the panel up with the grip of my paintgun and climbed down into an underground chamber. Green light filled the room, from no source that I could see. The air felt strange, charged. In the center of the chamber was a raised stone pedestal, made of the same substance as the artifact Henry had left for me. On the top of the pedestal were three rectangular, flat holes, the exact size and shape of the artifact. Clearly, this is where Henry had found it, obviously hiding them from Marisol. Did that mean Salvatore had the other two? It seemed likely, since he’d hired the archaeologist right after this find, but if he was looking for Henry he also probably didn’t know what he had. For that matter, I didn’t know what I had. As I stood there, the artifact in my pack began to feel warm, then hot. I climbed out of the chamber and it cooled off. Henry maintained a field camp at Rogue, on the ridge above the main settlement. It was possible that he’d left something there, notes, maybe. 3 The Green King 11 (the adventure starts at Gaskill’s!) The camp was trashed, papers and equipment tossed everywhere. If there was anything of value here, it was long gone. But wedged down between two floorboards I saw something: http://www.geocities.com/kira_snyder/there/rogue_card.html The Green King 12 (the adventure starts at Gaskill’s!) The shack appeared deserted, but a cracked voice from the shadows startled me. “What do you want?” An old woman emerged into the torchlight, stooping, a shawl about her face. I handed her the card I had found. “You’re looking for Henry Costas,” she cackled. Maybe she *was* psychic. “Lots of people are looking for Costas,” I replied. She peered at me. “He left something else for you. By the stone watchers.” If she knew this, she was in contact with Henry. I brought out the artifact and laid it on the table’s threadbare velvet covering. “What can you tell me about it? Or the Green King?” She laughed. “The Green King will get you killed if you’re not careful. Most people aren’t careful.” What was she talking about? “What are you talking about?” “You trust me, but I’m not sure I trust you,” she croaked. The gypsy laid several cards on the table, next to the artifact. “The cards will tell. The High Priestess meets with the Empress in Judgement, bringing the harbinger of Death. What remains?”