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The Woods (Halloween 2013) Epilogue

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Justin

Nefarious did this.
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Our annual Halloween event is finally over as of 5:00PM PST today. In total, the event was running for about 48 hours, give or take. Even if you were busy on Halloween day, there was hopefully plenty of time on the evening of the 30th, and much of the 1st.

Many of you who didn't solve both riddles have been asking for the answers after the event ends. Well, I'm here to grant wishes right now. Behold below... The Woods (Halloween 2013) Epilogue!

The First Riddle
The first riddle was intended to be easy enough for anyone interested in The Woods to solve and receive the Dusty Scroll item reward. First, a thread was posted by Jack in The Woods forum containing a story and a Scroll:

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Things don't seem right in this place. A cold chill passes by you as the dying leaves rustle in the trees towering towards the dimly lit sky. You quickly come across a glade, making a small parting in the otherwise dense forest. A small shack is centered within and as you search inside you notice that it seems somebody had left in a hurry. The only things you see are a small bed and a crude desk with a dusty diary on top. You open up the diary?

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These fools, they mindlessly let people into MY woods?! These haunted woods are sacred. You cannot even comprehend the terror that you've unleashed by invading this forest. The spirits, I can feel them, they are already awakening from their deep slumber. I'm not sure I can fight them any longer.

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Only one week and the fog is rolling in. As each day passes it becomes thicker, more deadly. I can't remain here much longer, the spirits will consume this place when they arrive.

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I still remain here and the spirits seem to have calmed. Although they may be simply gathering their strength. One thing's for sure, they are here. I hear whispering bouncing through the trees and echoing in the wind.

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I was right, the spirits are starting to appear. I see more and more each day now, I fear they are planning some sort of attack. In the whispers I hear them plotting? This situation is getting dire. I need some help. I have started sending candy outside of The Woods, hoping to attract some humans to help with this endeavour.

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The humans have yet to arrive, though I sense that my candy is starting to spread. Soon they should be here, I just hope that it's not too late.

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The fog is thick again and rolling in fast. I don't have long, I must leave... I need the lantern, I need to expel these spirits! If you find this, there is a scroll hidden under my bed with my whereabouts. Find me.

You search under the bed and despite the thick dust you quickly come across a small rolled up scroll. Upon unrolling it you discover something written on the scroll which appears to be in some strange language. What could it mean?

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Search for clues on the forum to decipher the text and continue your quest!
Once you have figured out the meaning, report this post with your answer.

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Hidden around the forum were glyph characters corresponding to the alphabet. By browsing around the forum, you could correlate the different glyphs on the Scroll with actual letters in the alphabet. Here's where they were hidden:

T:
- Gallows Signature
- Post New Thread
H:
- Today's Birthdays at the bottom the forum
- Thunder's signature
E:
- Justin's Signature
- Reply to Thread
B:
- Brewster's Cafe
L:
- "Mumble voice server" on the "Chat" page.
- "Post Quality" in the "Rules" thread
- Andy's Signature
R:
- Re-Tail
- Jason's Signature

When translated, this is how the Scroll looked:

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Participants then reported the post with the phrase "The Bell Tree" to solve the riddle and receive the Dusty Scroll item reward. Some participants used "TBT HER ELE LE", "T B T E R H L E E L E", or some other odd variant. These reports did not count unless they specifically stated "The Bell Tree" somewhere in their report, or implied that they recognized it was referring to The Bell Tree. From our tallying, about 185 members received the Dusty Scroll item.

The Second Riddle
Upon completing the first riddle, and receiving the Dusty Scroll item as a reward, something interesting happened! A second board in The Woods was revealed to the Dusy Scroll holders called The Deep Woods. Inside The Deep Woods was another thread posted by Jack containing another riddle and a map.

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"The Bell Tree", what could that mean? Where do I need to go?

As you're staring up into the obscured sky, a harsh breeze blows through. The branches crack and bend and for a brief moment you catch a glimpse of a tree larger than all the rest towards the center of this forest. A faint chiming rings out, coming from the direction of this tree. This must be it, the bell tree!

Before you even have time to stand up you notice a thick fog rolling in from in-between the trees. It seems unnatural, it's far too dense and moving far too quickly. Is this the fog the diary spoke of?

You hurriedly back away. The fog gets closer to the shack until it starts moving in strange patterns. Soon enough, giant hands made of fog grasp out from the mass and surround the shack, crumbling it under their grip. As you turn to run, you hear a loud cackling behind you. It appears to catch up to you as you run but quickly disperses and echoes throughout the trees all around until it disappears entirely.

After what seems like hours of running, you come across another clearing in the forest. You squeeze your way out from the trees and as your eyes adjust to the lighting, you see a large tree reaching up high into the sky. The leaves are unlike others in this forest, as the sparse light hits them they faintly shimmer and almost seem to be glowing. In the wind they create gentle chimes, as if a thousand tiny bells were being softly rung.

Looking at the base of the tree you notice a dark figure dressed in purple robes. You quietly make your way towards this man, although your efforts are quickly thwarted when he turns his head and notices you. His face resembles that of a pumpkin which is carved into a permanent smile.

"Ah, you seem to have found me. I presume you read my diary? I have been waiting? I require your help."

Looking bewildered but with your curiosity getting the best of you, you step towards this man. He soon explains that the spirits of The Woods have become angry since a raiding party of humans had destroyed the forest on Friday the 13th. He came to the bell tree seeking a map, the map which would lead to an ancient lantern, capable of calming the spirits and forcing them back into their own realm.

Before he can finish what he was saying, the branches on the nearby tree start moving by themselves, lashing out towards this mysterious man and ensnaring him in their grasp. He's whisked up high into the sky, but not before dropping the map which soon finds its way down to your feet.

"Find the lantern, save the bell tree!" Is echoed down from the sky, as the man disappears into the leaves of the tree which grabbed him.

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The thread is stuck, in the board assigned.
Where the excerpts are posted from the jabbering minds.
Inside the thread, 61467 steps you've taken. One more to go and the lantern you shall find.

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This riddle was intended to be quite a bit more difficult. Not everyone was necessarily going to solve it. For this one, let's go through the thinking process that we intended. First, read the riddle text closely again:

The thread is stuck, in the board assigned.
This refers to the board Brewster's Cafe, as clearly shown in the map. A line leads across the water from The Woods to Brewster's Cafe.

Where the excerpts are posted from the jabbering minds.
This refers to the thread "IRC Quotes Thread". Excerpts refers to the quotes, jabbering minds refers to the chattiness of the IRC. (Internet Relay Chat)

Inside the thread, 61467 steps you've taken. One more to go and the lantern you shall find.
Alright... here's the part where you're all gonna murder us... Once inside the thread.... look at the URL of the thread.

http://www.belltreeforums.com/showthread.php?61467-IRC-Quotes-Thread

Huh... does something sound a bit familiar to you guys in that URL?

Oh, that's right.

The bloody number.

You've taken 61467 steps to the IRC Quotes Thread. What's next? Let's glance back at the riddle text.

Inside the thread, 61467 steps you've taken. One more to go and the lantern you shall find.

One more to go... what comes after 61467 steps? 61468 steps... What's with that URL again?

http://www.belltreeforums.com/showthread.php?61468-IRC-Quotes-Thread

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You've found the lantern! Report this post to claim your collectible.
Thank you for taking part in The Bell Tree's Halloween 2013 event!
Please do not link your friends to this thread! Spoilers, sweetie.

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An eerie purple glow shines towards you from in-between the collapsed structures. After a few minutes of digging through the rubble you notice what looks to be the lantern. It's old and dusty but somehow the light continues to glow. "You have to go back!" is echoed in your head as you grab the lantern, in the voice of the mysterious man.

You make your way to The Woods. As you approach this dark place the fog that surrounds it seems to retreat around the light of the lantern and branches bend back out of your way as you walk through.

Deeper and deeper you go and lantern glows brighter and brighter. Unlike last time, walking to the center of the forest is almost effortless. You see spirits watching you from afar and their shrieks of terror being carried towards you in the wind, but none dare approach the light of the lantern.

You soon find your way to the bell tree. As you walk closer to the tree you hear another echo through your head, "You have returned! Quickly, hang the lantern on the branch in front of you."

As you hang the lantern on the branch the light within begins to pulse, growing even brighter until it's almost blinding you. The light seems to be absorbed into the tree and the chiming from the leaves grows louder. Looking up you notice all the leaves also starting to glow in the same purple light and you hear loud wailing coming from all around the forest.

Standing in awe, with this purple light now all around you, you see shadowy figures fly towards you from out of the forest and be absorbed into the tree. Soon enough the biggest spirit of them all appears above the bell tree, casting a dark shadow over you and a deep voice booms down in your direction.

"What have you done?! Foolish mortal, Jack's tricked you! I am The Last Tree Ghost? I shall not forget this treachery."

The large spirit quickly fades into the leaves of the tree as the mysterious man, who you now know to be Jack, floats up out of the tree he had previously been abducted in to. He begins cackling, the smile on his pumpkin face growing larger than normal and you hear him yell, "The spirits are gone and The Woods finally belong to me! I have waited too long for this moment. No longer does The Last Tree Ghost rule over me or these woods! Thank you for your service, friend. You are no longer needed."

As soon as he finishes speaking the purple light engulfs you, propelling you back through the forest and to the edge of the tree line. The light envelopes The Woods and in a flash, the forest disappears, the cackling of Jack still bouncing around the surrounding area.

On the still glowing earth below where The Woods used to be you notice some scorched text, stepping closer you can make out that it reads, "I will return, and when I do, The Bell Tree shall be mine"

To solve the riddle and claim the reward, participants reported that thread with anything they wanted. They received the Ancient Lantern item reward for their hard work and forever gloated in The Deep Woods. From our tallying, about 103 members received the Ancient Lantern item.

There may have been a couple alternative methods used for some parts, but this is how it was originally designed and intended by us.

Have a lovely day on the behalf of the Staff here at The Bell Tree. :) And remember, we're your friends and murder isn't a nice thing to do. It's also illegal.

Credits
Jas0n, Kaiaa, Prof Gallows, and Justin for the riddle and story work.
Jeremy, and Jas0n for the theme work.
Thunder, Jas0n, and Justin for the item graphical work.
Jennifer, Justin, Thunder, Jas0n, and Andy for the item distribution work.
Justin, and Jeremy for the behind the scenes admin work.
The entire Staff team for moral support and having a good time with everyone in The Woods boards. :)

<Jubs> man writing this second riddle part
<Jubs> we're gonna get ****ing killed
<Jas0n> LOL
<Jubs> when they read the number part
<Jubs> there might be mass suicides
<Jas0n> That's what I'm hoping
 
"That's what I'm hoping"

D: You monster!

Gosh I was like 'wait WHAT' when I finally figured it out. I never expected to have to look at the URL.
 
Thank you for an amazing quest and an epic riddle!! I sure as hell facepalmed when I realised what I had to do xD
 
Should have used my laptop than my iPad, Safari doesn't show the full URL until you touch it DX
 
I've had a lot of fun, and when I say fun, I mean fun! Thank you! This was really creative too!
 
As expected, it was something that would genuinely make me go "Ohhh".

Oh well. ~,~

Oh, thanks staff for this. c:
 
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Should have used my laptop than my iPad, Safari doesn't show the full URL until you touch it DX

Yep, that's what we meant when we said that you might have an easier time on a desktop computer, but it's still possible on an iPad or something similar.
 
Yep, that's what we meant when we said that you might have an easier time on a desktop computer, but it's still possible on an iPad or something similar.
My laptop couldn't connect to the internet so I had no choice. This was still an amazing time though, thanks staff! Can't wait to see what suicidal riddle you make up next :3
 
I can't even see the full url on my kindle. That's why I didn't find it.

I also would have never thought to look at the url anyways..
 
I'm actually quite surprised at how many people managed to figure out the lantern. I was anticipating that we would have to give many more hints.
 
Huge thanks to the Staff for all the effort they put into the Woods event. I loved the story (I look forward to the next chapter, dun dun dun), and I had a fun (and sometimes frustrating) time solving the riddles.
 
Yeah see, I'm not so surprised I didn't get it.. I NEVER would have gotten that in a million years :p .. So tbh, I don't feel stupid, hehe

Well done everyone who worked on it! You did a fantastic job! :)
 
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THIS RIDDLE RUINED MY WEEKEND THANKS A LOT :BLUSH:
 
Glad you guys enjoyed it! It was a difficult riddle but please don't murder us!
If you murder us there will be no chances to see if the story continues D=
 
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