Finding Baldrick*: A Permanent Quest

Two years ago (on the 24th October) Vyrin and Womby opened their first bookstore:



To celebrate the second anniversary of that event they are announcing a Halloween quest.

THE QUEST​

Vyrin and Womby have come in possession of a fragment of text that is partially destroyed, but mentions

“....Baldrick……………....island…………………....untold….ealth……………….value…………..”

This leaves them in a quandary. They are of course excited at the prospect of untold wealth, but their investigations are delayed by the need to support and comfort a lifetime friend who is experiencing a difficult situation. Instead they leave a note for their intern who lives in a shingle-roof four-story row house not far from the central fountain in Brittany Alleys.

The player is invited to take on the role of Vyrin and Womby’s intern, and start investigating. This is not a simple quest, and it is not a race. Some things that seem to be insignificant could warrant deeper investigation. Information that you find in documents is not on its own sufficient - you may have to explore Novia a little.

By the time you finally locate Baldrick you will know what he was trying to achieve, and what happened to him. Near him you will see six chests. Choose one based on the information you have discovered and place a piece of paper containing your name inside. Only one entry is permitted, so choose carefully. If you deposit items in more than one chest your entry will be disqualified!

If you select the correct chest before the deadline you will receive a special edition book. This will contain our 2016 scary story collection and a dedication page that includes the name you placed on your piece of paper, indicating that you successfully completed the quest.

At times contestants may want to make notes or take screenshots. Use of sotamap.com is suggested. You should carry with you at least one blank piece of paper.

The deadline for completing the quest is midnight on 31st October, 2016 (Austin time). This quest will remain in place indefinitely, but after the deadline your only reward will be the personal satisfaction of knowing how clever you are, and seeing your name appear in a list of those who have successfully completed the quest (updated whenever Womby gets off his lazy behind and examines the chests).

Names of winners will be posted in November.

Good luck!

* Correct Novian spelling.

EDIT:
One of the players who successfully complete** this quest will be chosen at random to receive a $20 store credit. One of the remaining players who complete*** the quest (successfully or otherwise) will be chosen at random to receive a $10 store credit.

(Members of the Caverns guild are not eligible.)

** Place a note with their forum name on it in the correct chest at the end of the quest.

*** Place a note with their forum name on it in one of the six chests at the end of the quest.

EDIT 2:
Blank paper can be purchased for 2g from booksellers. There is one above the bank in Kingsport.

EDIT 3:
(posted January 26 2017)

This quest has been suspended due to unrelated renovation work. A post will be made here if and when it is restored.

 

Oops. Forgot to post this here:

And now, the moment of truth!​

This was a very difficult quest, made more difficult by the sadistic inclusion of multiple red herrings. Those who managed to find Baldrick can feel justifiably proud of their achievement, and will be rewarded with a book that contains a personal dedication. Those who managed to correctly identify the skeleton of Mandrake were placed in the draw for the $20 store credit. Everyone other than the winner of that draw was placed in the draw for the $10 store credit. The winners are:

$20 store credit: Net
$10 store credit: Aaxal Kuurle

The following entrants located the room that contained Baldrick, and have therefore qualified for free copies of Womby's 2016 scary story collection, including a personalised dedication page. (Originally this was going to be limited to those who managed to identify which skeleton was Mandrake, but given the difficulty of the quest I have decided to give a copy to everyone who managed to find Baldrick.)

Aaxal Kuurle
Aidenolm Rosemourne
Alexander
Glimmer
Maddax
Moiseyev Trueden
Net
Selene

Please PM Womby to arrange delivery of books and other prizes.

There is probably some curiosity at this point as to the correct answer, and the reasoning behind it.

Here are the details:

Spoiler

I mentioned red herrings. Here are a couple:

Deliberate Red Herring #1: The name Mandrake was of no significance. The fact that some of the items listed included mandrake was pure coincidence.

Deliberate Red Herring #2: The food items carried by the deceased were of no significance.

Now, recall the following text found in one of the bookstores:

Reports of current activity by Agent Baldrick to the Obsidian Council of Investigation.

<indecipherable text>

...started following the trail of the missing agent (codename Mandrake)...

<indecipherable text>

...the agent reportedly has chronic bad breath...

<indecipherable text>

...the missing agent’s most recent task was to trail a person of interest who was seen exiting Solace Bridge before heading west through Midmaer passage…

<indecipherable text>

...narrowed down the search for the missing agent to one of the smaller islands surrounding the main island…


<indecipherable text>

I have already noted that the name Mandrake was a red herring.

That leaves the following clues:

Clue #1: chronic bad breath

Clue #2: Mandrake had been to Solace bridge

Clue #3: Mandrake had been to Midmaer passage

Clue #4: small island surrounding main island

Clue #4 is of little help on its own, however the note left at the drop location said:

Clue #5: New information suggests that the missing agent may have hired a fisherman to take him to the Isle of Ghosts.

So, a reasonable assumption is that Baldrick is on one of the smaller islands surrounding the Isle of Ghosts.

On the tavern counter at the Isle of Ghosts is a book that describes the island's attractions. At the end of the description is the following paragraph:

Much of the island remains unexplored, and we advise caution if you head north west from here on your own. We have discovered a reference to some strange goings on near the far end of the island, and have yet to investigate.

Those who headed exactly North West from the book would have eventually discovered the island where Baldrick was held prisoner. One of the six skeletons on the tables was Mandrake. But which one?

Let's examine the list next to the fourth skeleton:
2 x garlic <-- satisfies clue #1
1 x black pearl <-- satisfies clue #2 (See note 1 below)
4 x ruby fragments <-- satisfies clue #3 (See note 2 below)
1 x piece of apple pie <-- irrelevant (the food was added as a deliberate red herring)

So, the correct chest was fourth from the left.

A big thanks to everyone who participated, and please accept my heartfelt sympathy if you spent ages agonising over the red herrings.

PS:

If you read Baldrick's diary you will recall that he described attaching a note to the leg of a pigeon. The note read:

"Listen to your friend Baldrick. Beware the island that conceals horrors untold. Stealth is advised if you value your life."

It is this note that was discovered over 200 years later, with the only decipherable part reading:

"....Baldrick...........island..........untold.....ealth.........value........."

I shall now go into hiding to escape retribution.

-----------------------------------​

NOTE 1:
Solace Bridge is the premier place for harvesting black pearl. It can be found at the following locations:

Pearl, 19.7, 33.0, 22.5
Pearl, 22.1, 33.0, 25.5
Pearl, 25.1, 33.2, 27.4
Pearl, -7.7, 33.4, 25.8
Pearl, 43.6, 37.4, 74.3
Pearl, 48.8, 37.3, 74.9
Pearl, 36.6, 37.0, 84.0
Pearl, 56.0, 37.1, 77.5
Pearl, 34.7, 37.1, 103.3
Pearl, 94.4, 48.8, 112.4

NOTE 2:
Midmaer Passage is chock full of ruby crystals:

 

Woohoo!!!!
having tested things out a bit I can concur that this is a challenging and fun quest!
good luck everyone!

 

My curious nature draws me towards a book store. I notice a help wanted sign. After weeks of unpaid bookbinding and much glue eating, my wise bosses leave a note for me. Strapping on my gear, and stroking my wanderlust back to life, I head out. As I leave I hear, "Thank the Virtues he's gone. He was costing us a fortune in glue." (i.e. sounds like fun and I look forward to the quest)

 

I love a good mystery

 

This one is a bit of a challenge.... hope there are many who are willing to figure it out!

 

This looks like so much fun! I did a radio spot for it during my show on Thursday night! I tried to start yesterday morning, but I was too sleepy...trying again today!

 

Shakes a bit from glue withdrawal and keeps hunting...

 

Well, that was absolutely fun to do. I enjoyed myself immensely. Both challenging and engaging. Looking forward to more quests like this. I will drop my answer off in a few days, probably the weekend, as I have lots of time now to re-examine all of my notes, and perhaps revisit all of the POIs just in case I missed anything. Love it when I see a subtle visual clue and get that A-HA moment. (hopefully, I did get the right answer, but even if I don't, it was still fun investigating). Anyways, its clear that you guys put a great deal of work into this, and I really appreciate the effort. You made my gaming that much more enjoyable. I will have to stop by a couple of the POIs but this time for a social visit

 

REMINDER: The competition closes at midnight Austin time 31 October.

(The quest itself will remain in place, but may be modified from time to time after that.)​

 

*licks a horse's hoof and gets a strange look from Nob* "Well, glue is supposed to be made from these right?" Nob exasperatedly calls the guards and has me thrown out of town... I decide its time to continue the hunt for Baldrick. (aka thanks for the reminder Womby)

 

Take lots of screen shots if you need to. They will help tremendously.

 

I snippingtool'd the heck out of this and I'm still not certain of anything.

 

Moiseyev creeps home after a long jaunt around the world. He pulls out his key and tries to unlock the door. Strange, it was working just fine when he left... (SOOO MUCH FUN! THANKS! hope I guessed right)

 

This quest is amazing, I am not sure I got all the clues right, I think I did but I still feel I might be missing a thing or two to be really sure. There is a lot to it hidden between the lines Oh and somehow being in that very short friend-list so many releases ago makes me feel good

 

Oddly enough, that concerned me a bit. Wondering how many people on my friends list are observing which locations I am visiting.

 

Well, look at it this way, you have a 1 in 6 chance in getting it right

 

So.... might I ask if you've had any winners yet??
This is really a challenging quest.. takes some thinking and some knowledge of what's available where ingame..... oops! was that a clue??
Noooooo!!!!

 

I personally would like to wait until after the deadline to find out. Making mention of it now may tip of others as to what the possible answer might be based on whats observed in the chest

 

oh, wasnt asking for a lit of winners... but yeah sorry I get your point Alexander
I will try to be patient!!