Be sure to read the previous chapters for more information on prizes and how the Quest works!
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Chapter I
Chapter II
Chapter III
Chapter IV
Chapter V
Chapter VI
Chapter VII
Chapter VIII
Chapter IX

Terror has gripped the castle.

The spirits lurk around every corner, hidden in the walls themselves, crawling across the ceilings, dragging clawed fingers down canvas paintings. The Archmage is nowhere to be found, but he is no longer the being most feared.

Harrow is hunting once again.

The thunder has beckoned him, the rain his shield. Emerging from the lake like a specter of death, the looming skeletal beast flickers from view with every burst of lightning. Detective MacLeod stands at the window in the Archmage’s study, and horror lines his face. Then, between one crack of thunder and the next, the each uisge is gone.

And there is a knock at the door.

Malcolm swallows hard before answering.

“Who goes there?”

Silence.

And then…

“Son?”

The voice.. The growling, grumbling voice of his father.

A voice he’s not heard in years. Not since that night.. That stormy night at the loch’s edge.

The door shakes with another knock.

“Let me in, boy,” Malcolm’s father demands.

Malcolm cowers by the window, hands crawling up his chest to his ears.

“Fool boy,” the voice grows in volume, and then the door is crashing, smashed upon from the other side. “LET ME IN!”

The walls are shaking, the floor ripples under the detective’s feet. The glass panes in the window at his back shudder and groan. The door is bowing, creaking, jumping in its frame. It’s cracking-

Then silence.

“You let me die, boy,” Old Man MacLeod whispers, soft and quiet. Heavy, slow. Sad. “You saw the beast at my back, and said nothing….”

Malcolm’s heart races. His fingers are claws over his ears but still his father’s voice cuts through.

“How could you let me die?”

Tears chill Malcolm’s cheeks.

“Because you knew he would stop you.”

The voice has changed. In a breath, the world freezes. The thunder stalls, the heart skips.

The voice is wind through sun-bleached bones. The hiss of scales winding through dead grass. The groan of a ship’s mast in the storm. The creak of taut ropes the second before they snap. The voice is a predator crooning to its prey.

“He knew what you wanted, what you planned for yourself. And worse, he knew you could achieve it.”

Malcolm’s eyes open wide, the ice in the air bringing frigid clarity to his scattered, terrified thoughts.

“Wicked child, cruel beast, the real monster of the moor… MURDERER.”

The blood is mud in his veins, but Malcolm’s face is blank. Cold, unfeeling stone.

“It started with the lost shepherd boy, asking for help at the castle gates….”

Unbidden, the freckled face of an unsuspecting youth rises in Malcolm’s mind. His hair had been fiery red…

“You felt the burn, the desire.. The need for power… You led him down to the water’s edge and held him under….”

Malcolm’s hands flex.

“You thought no one had seen, but I was there.. Watching.. Always watching. I saw it all, I see all.”

The detective’s lip lifts.

“And then there was the girl.. The maid’s daughter who was picking grass under the tree up the hill… She saw it too. What was her name, wicked child?”

Evangeline…. Evangeline Glen. How could she have recognized him after all these years? How could she have known him the moment he arrived?

“She never forgot… And she grew up to take her mother’s place.. The trusted hand of the Dowager Countess herself… Knowing too much, seeing too much, and far too close to someone far too powerful…

“You couldn’t clean up that mess by yourself though, could you? No, no no no… You had help…”

Malcolm moves, rising swiftly and striding towards the door.

“No,” he growls. “Enough of this. You are a beast in the shadows, a specter from my past. But you will not taunt me, you will not threaten me.”

There is silence. Then-

“No,” Harrow hisses, voice silky smooth, sibilant and sinister. “No, I can sense that in you… what is fear after all you’ve seen, all you’ve done?”

A bone-chilling, breath rattling rumble echoes through the room. Harrow is laughing.

“Very well, wicked child…. Then I shall let the fear of others tear you apart.”

All at once, time seems to resume. The thunder shakes the very stone of the castle. With an ear bending BOOM, the storm surges inside. Windows shatter, and the door blasts inward. Malcolm tenses, pulling magic to his hands-

But the hallway is empty.

The wind whistles through the open window.

And Malcolm shakes with fear.

Welcome to the finale of the 2022 edition of my Epic Quest - Darkwater! 

Be sure to read the rulebook!

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 will win the grand prize:
1. A fully coded tabbed layout from me featuring this graphic and
2. Matching animal CSS and
3. A 1-year upgrade

The runner-up will receive:
1. A custom coding slot for simple layout (scrolls or expandables) and
2. A 6-month upgrade

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

If you haven't joined yet but would like to, check out the sign-up thread to create your mage! You must have a mage created before you can participate in the activities.

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



Before anything else, YOU MUST CHECK IN TO THIS EVENT. Simply message me saying that you’re available to participate in the Quest. You can check in daily by sending a message each day you’re available, or for the entire week by sending one message stating you’re available all week.

Keep in mind that checking in means you will be online that day and available to participate as frequently as possible. If you check in but fail to participate, you will lose XP and/or the ability to win one of the grand prizes! That said…

Harrow is hunting again. And this time, all your secrets will be revealed.

Like before, you will receive a knock on your door (in the form of a private message from one of my accounts) at random times throughout the week. Unlike before, it will always be Harrow who knocks.

When Harrow knocks, he will do one of two things.

1 - He will give you a piece of information about your character. It can be something you knew, or something you didn’t. However, this information is always true. SAVE THIS INFORMATION. Whenever you receive information, you must respond to Harrow with your CODE WORD.

2 - Harrow will ask you to collect information from another player. To do this, you must respond to this thread with your question directed at that player AND send them a private message requesting their assistance (reminding them to check this thread). You will earn XP for posting your question, regardless of whether or not the player answers it.

You must post your question before 11:59 pm HP time on Friday, December 30th to earn XP for it!

When you are being asked a question, you MUST answer the question TRUTHFULLY and PUBLICLY by responding to this thread. The answer to the question will always be information you have, either in your character information from the very start of the quest or from something Harrow has told you this week.

You must answer your question(s) in this thread by 11:59 pm HP time on Saturday, December 31st to earn XP for them!

Additionally, Harrow will be stalking the halls of Cairnhart Castle. Like last month, keep an eye out for Harrow around HP, either on the Online Players list or in the chat rooms/forums. Send me a screenshot whenever you spot him to earn bonus XP!

PRIZES:
Responding to Harrow’s information with a code word - 2 XP each
Posting Harrow’s question in this thread - 2 XP each
Answering Harrow’s question posted by another player - 2 XP each
Spotting Harrow on HP - 1 XP each

THE EPIC QUEST: DARKWATER CONCLUDES AT 11:59 PM HP TIME ON DECEMBER 31, 2022

The voice at your door is the pressure of water closing over your head...
"You alone can find the answer this this question... little warrior, gifted child of death... Call to her, speak to her...
Tell me, oh voice of the spirits, what killed Evangeline Glen?"

A voice at your door hisses...

"I know what you were doing in London... what you found there, what you hunted..
You were undercover in London, pursuing rumors of a cult. Their true motives were the disruption of the magical government, and their leader had fled to Scotland."

The voice at your door croons,
"Tell me, little one.. child of magic, sister of power... What was Pohta Doux hunting in London before she came to Cairnhart Castle?"

@Apo/Pohta Doux - "What were you hunting in London before you came to Cairnhart Castle?"

Through the haze of the veil, you can still hear the haunting sound of the voice on the other side of the door to what was once your room...
It speaks softly, gently, and despite the monster that you know it is, you sense nothing but warmth and compassion from it.

"I know what you've seen, little one, little pup. The killing blow that stole you from this world... It's time to tell them the truth...
It was a battlemage's wolf familiar that slew you."

"Someone here stands at the edge of chaos. She seeks to burn the world, and stands at the side of the murderer...

Tell me, little keeper of home, who has Scarlett MacDonald seen leading the rebellion in her visions?"

"Tell me, little wanderer, keeper of secrets from afar... What did Fiona Ferguson see early one morning when preparing breakfast?"

@trig - I woke early one morning to prepare breakfast for the castle. And I saw Acacia Weatherspoon slip something into the tea prepared for Elsie Ridel, the tea she drank that killed her.

-dramatic gasp-

The stone paved courtyard is covered in puddles of still water. They reflect the brilliant blue expanse above, like patches of the cloudless sky fallen to earth. The sun limnes the damp ramparts, gilding the sharp edges of the keep. It bounces off the window panes set deep in the castle walls, brilliant jewels in a stone monolith. The air is warm, light, and in the distance there is the sound of birds chirping.

The storm has passed.

Both without and within.

Feet splash through a still puddle, disrupting the sky’s reflection. Voices speak sharply, directions thrown left and right. The nicker of horses, the jangling of bits and bindings, fills the courtyard. The creak of wagon wheels and the bustle of heavy luggage being shifted brings back the feeling of life to a castle that had been dampened in death.

The police have finally arrived, and they have taken custody of one Acacia Weatherspoon for conspiracy against the magical government. Hands bound with glowing chains of silver, she is led silently out of the castle towards one of the barred carriages.

The servants moving luggage pause as they watch her procession across the courtyard. Their eyes are heavy, dark. Fearful.

And then the police emerge with another prisoner.

Malcolm MacLeod is expressionless as he’s led through the heavy wooden doors into the sun. There are shadows in his eyes, something haunted and cruel that lurks in his thoughts. But he says not a word, makes not a move. Those watching would note that there was something about the way he walked, though it was surely to his death… Something defiant. Something that left them uneasy. 

As though his story was not yet finished.

The story of a rebel. A ruthless king waiting to take his crown.

A betrayal in the flesh.

The police lock and charm both barred prison carriages, and prepare to transport their captives back south to London. The remaining guests of Cairnhart slowly trickle out into the sun, standing in silence to watch their tormentors depart. With a flick of the reins, the clatter of wheels and hooves on stone, the caravan trundles through the gates and out onto the moor.

Some detectives remain behind, methodically contacting each of the guests to discuss details, set up interviews, and various other minutiae. From a small window in one of the castle’s towers, the Archmage oversees their motions like ants in a field.

There are new lines in his face, and his shoulders hang heavy. HIs eyes are dark, perhaps darker than Malcolm’s. For the detective stewed in anger, but the archmage simmered in grief.

There’s a knock on his study door, and he gestures it open with a twitch of a finger. She enters with old familiarity, a place she’s been many times before and plans to see many times again. The spirits that lounge in the study, leaning against walls or closing the door behind her, are a normal sight, and some she greets with a nod of her head.

Elena, they all called her. Throughout the ordeal, she’d never formally introduced herself to the guests, had never needed to. She wasn’t just another member of the household, but the Archmage’s dearest, oldest friend, and his protector. She was as much a part of Cairnhart as the stone of the walls. She’d always been. 

Since childhood.

“We’ve known each other a long time, Elena,” Eidolous speaks, and his voice is soft, gentle. Fond. “We grew up together in these walls, wreaking havoc like children are wont to do.”

Elena’s lips twitch with the memories, but there is something tickling at the back of her mind. Something that urges caution.

“How old were you when your father died?” the archmage asks gently.

He has not turned around, but Elena finds no comfort in knowing he cannot see her with his own eyes.

“I was ten,” she answers roughly.

He does not need his own eyes to see everything he sees.

“His death made you an orphan,” Eidolus murmurs, head bowing.

Elena swallows. Nods.

“You, and your brother.” His voice is softer than air.

The battlemage’s fists clench.

“Aye, my brother and I were orphans.”

A sound at her back has Elena whirling in place, the magic thrumming in her arms released in a breath. With an echoing howl, a great wolf bursts into the study before her. Her familiar lifts its lip, the thunder of its growl like a storm inside its massive chest.

The spirit that had latched the door freezes in place, watching the wolf warily.

Elena tilts her head to the side, towards her old friend.

“What is this, Eidolus?” Her voice is firm, but the unease trickles through in the quiet breaths between.

Finally, the archmage turns.

“This? This is fear, Elena.”

Her blood freezes. Her brain screams to a halt. Her familiar shivers and cowers to the floor.

For it is not the archmage’s voice that hisses from those lips.

“Elena….” croons a voice like wind through crumbling gravestones. “Elena, Elena, Elena..”

He stalks towards her, and her heart strangles itself in her chest. His eyes are milky white, and his teeth are fangs, inching from his mouth as she watches. With every step he takes, he grows. Taller and taller, broader and broader. His form is shifting, bones refolding, hair growing, billowing, and then-

“Elena MacLeod,” Harrow hisses. 

She opens her mouth to speak but the voice of death steals the sound from her throat.

“I know what you’ve done.”

Harrow lifts his lip, and the thunder of his own growl is the crack of the sky itself, the tremble in the earth beneath her feet, the destruction of the foundation of the world. And when silence finally falls, she is broken, shaking, choking on the air in her lungs.

“And it’s your turn to be afraid.”

And so concludes The Epic Quest: Darkwater.

Thank you all so much for participating throughout this year! You all did a great job with both the new puzzles and old, and were wonderful sports with the story! Your participation and reactions are what encourage me to keep going above and beyond with the Quest, and I appreciate it all :D

Now, without further ado: the winners!

With 114 XP, in a very very close competition for second place, the runner up of this year's quest is:
BLITZ
starring as Acacia Weatherspoon, the diviner of tea leaves and murderous revolutionary!

And, with a total of 117 XP, the grand champion of the 2022 Epic Quest: Darkwater is:
JAYA
starring as Eimear Fraser, the conjurer of a pine marten familiar and ward of the Archmage!

Winners will be messaged regarding their prizes soon!

As for those stalwart players who stuck it out and participated all ten months this year, you shall receive an HP achievement and a 100k store pair:
Jaya
Blitz
Jade, starring as Anya Ruzicka, diviner of mirrors and foreign heiress - 112 XP
Apothecary, starring as Pohta Doux, a naturomancer and espionage agent - 93 XP
Skelletor, starring as Thea Deathwhisper, the Archmage's necromancer apprentice - 92 XP
Nadhima, starring as Fiona Ferguson, Cairnhart Castle's pyromancer cook - 80 XP
Saturnia, starring as Willow, diviner of runes and Queen Victoria's confidant - 76 XP
and
Lynelle, starring as LaleLa Lou, Cairnhart Castle's hydromancer housekeeper - 63 XP

You all should be receiving messages about your prizes soon as well!

THE END.

As for the Epic Quest 2023, here's some details to know beforehand!

1. There will be some adjustments to the rules, including the introduction of a consecutive wins limit. Starting this year, players who have won the Epic Quest the year before will be ineligible from winning the current quest. This is in an effort to help encourage other players to put in their best efforts, and encourage new players to give it a shot. The reigning champ is still eligible to win other prizes, including runner up prizes, however!

2. The Epic Quest 2023 will be slightly different in that there will be no overarching story this year! Instead, it will be the first volume of Mango's Epic Quest: Side Quests! We're gonna take a trip down memory lane and explore some "side quests" that take place in the previous volumes of the Epic Quest: Griffin Lodge, Valhalla, and Darkwater.

3. I will be taking my annual break from the Epic Quest this month (January), so Epic Quest: Side Quests will start in February 2023! And after taking note of how chaotic and busy Decembers usually end up being for me, I've decided that the Epic Quest will now reach its conclusion in November of each year. That way the conclusion doesn't get sidetracked or pushed to the back seat and gets the time and attention it deserves!

Once again, thank you so much for participating so avidly in this quest, and for all the love and compliments you give regarding it.

The Epic Quest: Side Quests will begin February 20, 2023

-hides- Sorry! I didn't mean to cause issues. :( Can I still participate next year, at least?

Of course! It's not causing issues and I love having players as dedicated as you! But I have heard that some players are discouraged when there's a routine winner, so I wanna give them some motivation! That said, anyone can win multiple times, just not two years in a row going forwards :D

Here's my advice, then, to all going forward, since it's seemed to work: make sure you participate every month, just try your best (because omg the puzzle month this time really sucked for me, lmao!) and when given the change, always get extra XP instead of additional prizes. :P

I'm also echoing Jaya's advice!! My choices in prizes during some months should have been made different, like instead of asking for hints over points etc lol 😅

As always, thank you Mango, for hosting such a detailed even that keeps us entrapped all the way to the very end. I can't wait to revisit the past with the Side Quests! 💚

Thanks for running this, Mango! ♥ This was my first time participating in Epic Quest and I look forward to the next one. I have a couple of suggestions though if that is okay.

Might I recommend for future Epic Quest activities that we lean away from any kind of activity that requires us to spot an account online to gain extra XP? Finding thread or chat posts would be fine, but finding an account online feels not ideal for people on different schedules or time zones. I also was not a fan of keeping HP open for days on end refreshing the online list just for a chance of spotting it without any idea of what kind of hours you were active during; I work late third shift and this was primarily when I was checking and I doubt you were even popping on that late most of the time. ):

Also, I think it would be a lot more fun if the monthly special powers (like this time it was the divination for me etc) provided XP by default for utilizing the perk each month. This would allow people to discover information while not losing out on the XP gain. I used two of my divinations for information which was SO fun to receive and really enhanced the intrigue of the game, but long term I didn't feel like it paid out any advantage and by doing so I inevitably fell behind. I'm not sure if this has been a thing you have used in previous Epic Quests, but if it is used moving forward, I think this would make it a lot more enjoyable!

Woo! What an ending! Congratulations Jaya and Blitz! 

Huge thank you to Mango for all the time and effort you have put into another fantastic year of Epic Quest. Your ability to bring a story to life is compelling, captivating and so beautifully executed. 

You seriously need to write a novel.

Omg I love that I was the killer! Made me LOL when I read it.

Thank you monnie for another amazing Epic Quest year! 

And I agree with skell...I vote you write the next great novel!

I am one of those very discouraged players (although I never voiced it to anyone though). Partly because last year, I was leading for the good majority of the year and thought I actually had it. I ended up losing somehow on the very last week of the year which really discouraged me for this year. And this year I was so far from the leaders that I seriously thought about not participating at all for the last 5 chapters and was considering not doing it again last year. Of course, I completely forgot about the burning away of XP that pyromancers could do which is probably why I felt I didn't have as much XP as I thought I should each month. Others were probably doing it to me and I didn't do it to anyone else even once. Its not like I don't participate. I do everything for every chapter to the best of my ability and I still felt like I wasn't gaining hardly any XP.

Another activity to maybe stay away from is the ones like telling a story one word at a time with a different player posting in between your own for x number of words to gain your personal reward. These also make it hard for those of us who work in general, not just the third shift workers. I found these are difficult because by the time I get home to even see the post, most players have already gotten their x number of words posted and there's no one to go back and forth with me so I can get my x number of words too.

This was my first quest and I had a blast! Unfortunately I think I missed a month's activity due to that jerk Hurricane Ian but I wasn't really here to win; in fact I kind of forgot about summoning my familiar to search for XP, oops... :D I completely agree, mango, your writing skills and imagination are superb. You should absolutely write a choose your own adventure book! Or, mayhaps, some sort of choose your own adventure quest on HP? =)

Thanks for the compliments and suggestions everyone! I'll take these into consideration :D

One thing to keep in mind is that a few of the activities that seem to be unpopular are ones that are specifically created to distribute points differently. Most of the activities provide the same amount of XP to all players who complete them, meaning that everybody would end up with the same amount of XP at the end of the year, depending on how you used your bonus abilities. 

Activities like spotting the account, posting in a forum thread, or getting the best puzzle time are the only ways players can earn different amounts of XP, so that we will actually end up with a winner and runner up. Although it can be frustrating, it's not meant to be perfectly fair or to ensure an equitable outcome for everyone.

That said, I do want to try to give everyone a chance. I have some ideas to make it more accommodating in future, so everyone has more chances at least to earn points ^^

Just echoing - you did an incredible job with this as usual Mango! Thank you! It's such fun 🥰 

congrats Jaya and well done blitz!