Tread nought upon the sodden moor
Lest Harrow catch ye scent.
For though this keep be thick hard stone,
His claws these walls have wrent.
If shadow falls 'pon seething waves
And thunder shatters sky,
Then know ye well that Harrow hunts
And clinging death is nigh.

The carriage sways roughly as it bounces over the rutted road. You fight off a grimace at a particularly nasty jolt that nearly lifts you from your seat. It’s been a long ride, and you are eager to reach your destination. Flicking the curtain aside, you cast another glance at the Scottish landscape you’ve been traversing for the entirety of the day.

The beauty of this country lies in its grand diversity. What you passed an hour ago is vastly different from what you travel through now. What once was forest and rolling plains is now steep mountain cliffs and a damp moor in the valley below. Night shrouds the sharp peaks and drenches the valley in shadow. But the moon pierces through a crack in the thunderous heavens to light upon a gleaming silver lake in the distance. If you squint, you can just make out a looming silhouette perched on its shores, pinpricks of light from illuminated windows in the old stone keep where your road finds its grateful end: Cairnhart Castle.

It takes a perilously long while before hooves clatter on ancient paving stones, the rattle and clink of the carriage echoing off thick walls as it finally enters the courtyard of the castle. It sways to a halt, and you take a deep breath, stretching each and every limb in your seat as you prepare to disembark.

The door swings open, revealing not the carriage driver, but a smartly dressed footman bearing the colors of the Archmage, the current occupant of Cairnhart. The young man greets you politely and steps aside, offering a hand as you step down. Ahead, the thick doors to the keep are open wide, warm light and the strains of an orchestra spilling out towards where you stand. The butler is waiting to welcome you inside, a practiced smile gracing their face.

You take a deep breath, excitement tingling through your nerves. You’re aware that the week ahead might very well change your life. And it most certainly will.

In ways you could never begin to imagine.

Welcome, mages, to the 2022 edition of the Epic Quest - Darkwater! You’ve arrived at Cairnhart Castle, on the banks of Loch Assynt in northern Scotland. The year is 1899, the turn of the century ahead. And you? You have been invited to join in an elite salon with the greatest magical minds of the Victorian era.

Here’s how the Epic Quest works: I will host an activity each month that plays into the story being told. You’ll earn small prizes for each activity you complete - like points, HPD, or cash shop items. You’ll also earn XP points, and the player with the most XP points at the end of the year - December 2022 - will win the grand prize: a fully coded tabbed layout from me featuring a high quality manipulation themed after this year’s quest, matching animal CSS, and a 1-year upgrade! The runner-up will also receive a prize this year: a custom coding slot for simple layout (scrolls or expandables), and a 6-month upgrade!

Participate in the Epic Quest activity every month of the year, and you’ll earn a special prize: an official HP achievement and a store pair with 100k points.

If you have any questions about the quest, prizes, or how it works, don’t hesitate to message me!



First, it's time to create your Mage! This is the official sign-up process for the Epic Quest, so everyone needs to complete this in order to participate. Players who join now, as well as those who might join in later months, will all be sent to one thread to get information on signing up and creating their characters.

To sign up and create your Mage, go here!

Once you've created your Mage and messaged me to receive the specific information on your role, you can move on to the first activity!

INTRODUCTIONS

As it is the first evening of this grand event, all the attendees of this gathering are generally strangers to each other. In order to encourage introductions and interaction, the Archmage has organized a little activity.

As you entered the castle, you were given a colored handkerchief and a list of names.

The butler informs you that all the other guests received the same items, although their handkerchiefs were in different colors. You are encouraged to introduce yourself to the other attendees and match each name on your list to the color handkerchief they hold.

Go down the list of mages in the post below, including staff (but not NPCs), and send them a message to introduce yourself! You can simply ask for their color and wait for them to ask for yours, or you can offer your color right away. Additionally, you can provide more information on your character or converse as your characters if you wish!

Compile a list of names and their corresponding colors, then send it to me (do not post it here)! You will be awarded prizes based on how many colors you turn in. XP will be awarded based on the minimum number of colors you have (for example, if you turn in 12 colors, you'll receive 5 XP. 18 colors earns you 9 XP).

Only those 20 players who signed up before the activity will have colors assigned to them, so everyone has the same amount of time to send and respond to messages. New questers are still able to participate, however! You can still collect the list of colors without having a color assigned to you.

PRIZES:
1000 points on an animal for each color.
(Due to the extended deadline, you may use these points on your mascot entry! However, if you are part of a team, your mascot can only receive these points once. Other teammates must put their points on another animal).
1 color: 1 XP
5 colors: 2 XP
10 colors: 5 XP
17 colors: 9 XP
20 colors: 10 XP

You have until 11:59 pm HP time on Wednesday, March 2nd to send me your list of colors!

Have fun!

The Host

Archmage Eidolus Buchanan - NPC
?, Archmage

The Guests

Dowager Countess Magnolia Buchanan - NPC
Diviner, Eidolus Buchanan's mother

Celestine Bell - NPC
Evoker, American Acrobat

Eimear Fraser - 11 XP
Conjurer, Buchanan family's ward

Willow - 11 XP
Diviner, Queen Victoria's Diviner

Scarlett MacDonald - 11 XP
Diviner, Divination Scholar

Ioetta Dawnreaver - 10 XP
Conjurer, Military Officer

Meira Wolfsbane - 10 XP
Conjurer, Military Hero

Pohta Doux - 10 XP
Evoker, Combat Expert

Lili Findlay - 10 XP
Evoker, Eidolus Buchanan's younger sister

Thea Deathwhisper - 10 XP
Necromancer, Archmage's apprentice

Acacia Weatherspoon - 10 XP
Diviner, National Hero

Elsie Ridel - 10 XP
Necromancer, Friend of Celestine Bell

Ethniu Dagon - 10 XP
Evoker, Scholar of Medicine

Elena - 10 XP
Conjurer, Battlemage

Jem Marion - 10 XP
Evoker, Polish Mage

Lady K - 10 XP
Conjurer, Globe Trotter

Anya Ruzicka - 10 XP
Diviner, Russian Heiress

Lake Timberline - 9 XP
Evoker, French Liaison

Ainsley Greer - 9 XP
Conjurer, Distant cousin of Eidolus Buchanan

Elspeth Grey - 1 XP
Evoker, Family

Seph Reid - 0 XP
Necromancer, Philosopher

The Staff

Raleigh Whitlock - NPC
Evoker, Butler

Evangeline Glen - 10 XP
Conjurer, Lady's Maid to Dowager Countess

Fiona Ferguson - 10 XP
Evoker, Cook

Elizabeth Odd - 10 XP
Evoker, Gardener

LaleLa Lou - 10 XP
Evoker, Housekeeper

Vincent Myrddin Thorne - 0 XP
Necromancer, Footman

OOOOOHHHH! So exciting!! Count me in!! 

YES! I'm so excited!

YESSS!!!!

:D

Our guest list is filling out nicely! Any others ready to join the party?

*dances* let's do thisssssss

I'm excited to finally partake in an Epic Quest! ♥

The activity has begun!

You've got until Sunday night to complete it and earn your first batch of XP points :D

yay!!! So very excited!!! :D

i get a deraded sense that ill be floded every month with msgs but im also so excited

@aoi - but is that really a bad thing? It's like getting mail in real life, as long as it's not a bill I'm excited about it xD

@trig, I'm right with you on that!

YIPPEE! Submitted mine!

Me too! 

submitted mine as well! :)

List sent!

Sent! 

Putting this here from chat, for anyone who didn't see it (I totally understand life happens, but if we could get official communication about this in the future I'd really appreciate it!!):

she says that Lynelle's color won't count because Mango has been delayed with work stuff and hasn't been able to log onto HP to give Lynelle her color - Oak 💕 « Charming Exmoor Ponies » (#48806) [Send Message] on 2/26/2022 1:28:37 PM
I asked BV if she had got chao's or Lynelles color - Oak 💕 « Charming Exmoor Ponies » (#48806) [Send Message] on 2/26/2022 1:27:30 PM

Sent!

DEADLINE EXTENSION

I apologize, everyone. I realize I forgot to include in the main post that in order to keep things as fair as possible, any player who signed up after the activity started would not have colors assigned to them! The only list of players you should use to get your colors is the list of guests and staff above! The sign-up thread won't help you here.

Since there's been some confusion over this, I'll extend the deadline for turning in your list of colors until 11:59 pm HP time on Wednesday, March 2.