This morning I woke from my slumber to the sound of the mail delivery. I opened the small parcel to reveal a message.. more to the point.. a challenge! I was to find six Mysterious Objects hidden around Norrath. So without further delay.. I was off like a shot.
- Scouring my home city of Qeynos, I approached Irontoe’s East. There, in a small make-shift graveyard, was a Basket of Apples, just in sight of Scholar Demini.
- Next my journey led me to the old house on the far end of North Qeynos. There, a shifty looking Goblinsold me a ticket to enter the Haunted House, but I suspected there was more inside than he was letting on, and I was right..
- I entered the Haunted House and was immediately taken by strange noises, and the dilapidated condition of the once proud manor. In the corner, I spotted a ghost from long past. The Butler, and next to him.. the remains of his former shell.
- Examining the corpse, I found a torn scrap of parchment. I thought, perhaps, more of this note could be found, and I searched the desk, to find a note from the Butler’s wife, asking him to complete the tasks of tidying up the house, perhaps if I completed the tasks he could not.. I could ease this restless soul.
- Next, it was time to explore the manor. I broke lose the boards at the doorway and entered, what appeared to be, a Dining Room. There, at the head of the table was the ghost of Lord Halcovian, and his battered and broken remains. Seeing a quill his the grips of his corpse, I searched for a note. It seemed the Lord had wished to do some pretty sweet things on this last day. Perhaps I could make them happen and free his tormented soul.
- I carefully went down into the basement, just as the note said, Lady Halcovian was there.. or at least her spirit was.. with a band of Ghoulish Dancers who instructed me in their baneful ballet.
- Nearby the haunting dance room, I found a note, scribbled in a child’s hand. The contents of the note haunt me. The children were starving..a plate was there, tracks of a large rat led away to the upstairs. Perhaps there is still time to save the young ones. I followed the track to a secret panel on the second floor, above the front door.. and there in a tattered nest, was a demon rat. After a feirce battle, I searched the nest to find the remains of.. someone.. and within his pockets, was a brass key.. I hurried downstairs to the locked room, near the rotting plate of food. Alas… I was too late. I was greeted by the ghosts of the Halcovian children. One of them, reminded me to take a coin from the desk.
- The Coin taken from the desk in the children’s room, was aparently, to pay the bartender. My heart heavy from the fate of the children, I took the coin and scaled the stairs, back to the dining room.. and placed the coin in the “tip cup” on the bar.
- The Lord thanked me for freeing the souls of his family and he, himself, fell to rest. But, I could tell that not all was well in the manor.. something drew me to the attic. something evil, something powerful. Making my way through a mass of strong spiderwebs, I did battle with a monsterous Spider at the second floor landing and continued on to the peril above. There I found an old book, at the far end of a graveyard shrouded in mist. As I picked up the book and read it’s contents, the ground trembled and erupted with the undead. I used the power of the Warding Stone before me and drove them back, vanquishing the horde and I felt a peace fall over the house. My task here was almost completed…
- Retracing my steps within the haunted manor. I found an Odd Assortment of Bones in the basement. Shaking off the dust, I was back on my adventure.
- I searched Qeynos for any more odd items and found nothing, so I expanded my search to the fields and hills of Antonica.. Out by the McQuibble’s Farm, I came upon a batch of Sticky Spider Eggs, which I found quite odd and certainly mysterious.. adding them to my collection, I ventured on!
- Thinking that my challenge would take me far across the lands, I began to race all over Norrath, finding myself in the desert and entering Mad’jul. Within the Golden Septre, I found a plate of Nights of the Dead Frosted Cookies, certainly odd to find in Mad’jul, so I picked them up and was on my way!
- My next stop was the infamous Hedge Maze. Many souls have lost their head here, but I was more than up for the task, and after defeating the harpy, Raven.. I found a Dizok Skull, I didn’t remember seeing that in my previous encounters in the maze.. I so placed it in my packs and I was on to the most difficult stop yet.
- The last step in my quest brought me to the unspeakable horrors of the Haunted House of Somborn Village in the Loping Plains. After facing the vampiric infestation, I searched the manor, and found a Plate of Rats in the basement.
- Now, admitedly, I was lost.. what to do now with my packs filled with these odd items from around the globe? My travels brought me to Netulos Forest where I heard an Ogre named Terrah Sinew on the docks, she was looking for strange items and was very happy with my collection. As a reward, she presented me with a very strange looking candy dish..
