Castle Planner's Journal: 1000 Years

      She yawned as the hard research was yielding very little information. Maybe now the Castle Planner would be less busy, and she could get more information from him. She checked that everyone in the library was already taken care of, and left a little sign indicating that she would be right back. It was the weekend, surely she could slack off just a little. Poking her head out the window of the library, she could see Gaius in the gardens, helping with some of the landscaping.

      She rushed down the stairs to see if she could pick his mind. As she raced down the steps, a familiar shade of green caught her eye as she passed the 2nd floor. Taking a few steps to skid to a halt, she doubled back, and confirmed her sighting of Wolcott!

      “Wolcott!” Lisha called out to the green Ogrin who was carrying some drafting supplies.

      The awkward teenager spun around, looking for the familiar voice, just as Gaius had the night before. Once Wolcott Spotted Lisha, he brightened up. “Well hello there!”

      “Actually this is perfect. I have a question about the castle you might have an answer for.” Lisha sided up next to him, walking along as he headed to his destination.

      “This isn’t about the riddle is it?” Wolcott glumly asked. “ I’m not allowed to help. Gaius has been acting a bit weird about this puzzle business lately, but I know that I just have to accept that.”

      “So I have heard...” Lisha commiserated with him. “But no, this isn't about the riddle.... In a way... I just have some questions about the tallest towers in the castle!” Lisha winked. Wolcott understood.

      “The tallest? I have some time before I have to go help Sir Pruett in his chambers for the rest of the day… Let’s see…” Wolcott quickly retreated to his mind. He had been quizzed relentlessly and randomly by Gaius, who was trying to impart a complete history upon his apprentice. He knew this trivia from somewhere, it was more a matter of sorting out the information. “What time period are you looking for? I’m guessing 1000 years ago.”

      Lisha simply nodded.

      “Well, the tallest ever tower was the observation turret put in 800 years ago, but fell due to a storm around 300 years ago. They vowed never to go that high again.” Wolcott hummed and hawed.

      “Oh, that recent?” Lisha noticed that the math didn't add up.

      “Right... So the previous tower before that which fits the bill would be.... I think the main rotunda. The tower central to the castle!” Wolcott punctuated his assuredness with a pointed fistpalm.

      “Fantastic. I will focus my search here then. Thanks Wolcott!” She gave him a quick hug as thanks and dashed off.

      “Don't mention it! Literally!” He shouted back at her as she disappeared around a corner.

      Lisha arrived in the large halls of the main rotunda. Many of the most important rooms in the whole castle were here. The throne room being the most obvious of them. She checked her notes again to review the puzzle. “In the tallest tower, the heart and hearth of the castle hides the treasure. Ten up from the cutters mark” she read out loud.

      Lisha stood contemplating in front of the throne room. Perhaps that would be a ceremonial place to hide the treasure?

      “What are you looking for now?” Her brother's familiar voice interrupted her thought process.

      “Jeran! Nice to see you. Come to see King Skarl?” She asked

      “Yep. Just giving him the usual reports on castle goings on.” Jeran sighed.

      “I’m looking for something that could be described as the heart or the hearth of the castle. That’s the final clue as to where the treasure is!” Lisha was proud to announce that she had gotten through all of the puzzles.

      “Oh wow. Well, there's a lot of places that could be the heart of the castle…” Jeran hummed and hawed, trying to pick one thing. “Have you checked the throne room?” Jeran asked.

      “Well, that's what I want to do. But I don't want to interrupt any official business.” Lisha explained why she hadn't just let herself in.

      “Wise choice. But actually nobody is in there right now.”

      “Then why are you here?” She asked.

      “You know I much prefer to be here far earlier than needed. Would hate to keep the king waiting.” Jeran admitted. “Here, come on in with me, and I can buy you a few minutes of time to look around!”

      “Hooray!” she dashed in as soon as Jeran opened the chamber doors for her.

      Lisha quickly scanned the grand room. The red carpet that ran from the entrance drew her eye along the columned corridor to the seat of King Skarl’s power. “The heart of the kingdom….” She ran up alongside the throne. She dared not get too close lest she breach etiquette. She looked around more, and spotted the fireplace to the side of the chamber. The fire was not yet lit, but its grand size seemed perfect. “The hearth!” She raced over to it.

      “Find it?” the Blue Lupe asked.

      “Maybe?” She said as she started looking around. “It says ten up from the cutters mark… but…. What’s a cutters mark?” She wondered out loud as she tried looking for anything conspicuous. The large blocks of stone made it hard to spot 10 of anything to count out.

      “I have no idea… But I think you know who would know something like that!” Jeran winked.

      Lisha sighed. She didn't expect that Gaius would want to be too much of a help, based on what Wolcott had mentioned. But she also knew that she didn't have many other people to talk to since Wolcott was going to be occupied for the rest of the day.

      “Yeah, okay. I will go ask him. He's probably still in the gardens.” She rushed out of the throne room just as swiftly as she had entered.

      After entering the lush, and busy gardens, she dodged past a few gardeners who were frantically moving wheelbarrows of mulch and soil around. Everyone was racing to get the new landscaping finished in time for the upcoming visit from Lord Darigan.

      “Make sure you are mounding up the soil , and add sand to the bottoms of the hole for proper drainage. I really don't want this turning into a mud pit in the Month of Collecting!” Gaius gave the workers direction as they all scurried around Lisha. “Lisha! Good morning. What brings you out here? Care to help plant some perennials?” he asked, wiping some dirt off his claws, and launching into a great big yawn. “Sorry. I was up very late last night.”

      “I just have a question!” Lisha pulled out her notebook.

      “I can help if it's simple and doesn't involve leaving my post here.” Gaius made sure Lisha knew how busy he was.

      “Of course. Just wondering if you know what a cutter's mark is.” She asked.

      “Oh! That’s simple. It's a little carved glyph in the rock that the mason who cut the rock puts in an inconspicuous spot, so they can track who cut what for getting paid!” Gaius moseyed over to the garden wall, and pointed to a stone in the garden feature’s wall. “See this little circle-thing with a line? That’s my father’s cutter mark. He put it here to let people know that this wall was his work!”

      Lisha nodded. “I see! So the fireplace will have this mark somewhere in it that marks who made it!”

      Gaius froze in thought. “Well, that depends on which fireplace.”

      “I’m looking for the cutters mark in the ‘heart and hearth’ of the castle.” Lisha showed him her puzzle.

     Gaius bit his lip as he read through and thought about it. “Um... okay, yeah. I think this might refer to the kitchens. I know there's a very big cutter’s mark in there, and it's the heart of the castle!”

      “The kitchens? The heart of the castle? It’s not something to do with the king?” Lisha asked.

      Gaius shrugged. “It’s worth a shot. Give Maple a visit in the kitchens, and tell her I sent you. That might help, since she tends to be picky about who gets in her way in the kitchen!.”

      Lisha had already started dashing off, chasing the finish line. “Thanks Gaius.”

      Gaius heaves a deep sigh of relief, and then excused himself from the garden. “I’ll be back, i need to find Wolcott!”

      Lisha scrambled through the hallways as fast as her little legs could take her trying to get to the library as soon as she could get there. Along the way, she spotted a floppy blue hat with stars, and heard the familiar voice of Morris, and the bounces of Boris.

      “If you want a more balanced character, yes that strategy works, but the game doesn't have most of those situations if you play it just right. You can go faster if you dump all your stats into speed and critical chance... Oh hey, it’s Lisha!” Morris waved to the Aisha as she ran up to them.

      “Hey guys! I'm on my way to maybe find the treasure! Want to come?” Lisha couldn’t stop moving, and so she jogged in place.

      “Our Neoquest strategies will have to wait. Treasure is afoot!” Boris bounded ahead to come along with Lisha.

      It didn't take them long to navigate their way to the kitchens, which had started to light up with activity as the lunchtime meals were being prepared. The four teenagers looked around and poked their noses all over the kitchens looking for the great fireplace that would hold the pots. It didn't take long for a large imposing purple Ogrin to block their view.

      “And what brings you a lot to my kitchens?” Maple interrogated them.

      “Oh. Good afternoon ma’am. Just inspecting your chimney!” Morris joked.

      “And why would you all be qualified to inspect my fireplace?” The big Ogrin loomed over all four of them.

      “Don’t worry. Gaius sent us. He wanted us to check for the cutter’s mark.” Lisha explained.

      Maple's expression suddenly softened. “Ooooh, you are here to do that lil’ thing. Finally, Yeah go nuts.” she relented and herded them towards their goal.

      The sizable fireplace was large enough for even the largest of cauldrons. Thankfully, the fires had been doused for the day, and all four of them were able to fit into the surprisingly tidy space. Evidence of ashes were present on the floor, but they had clearly been dutifully swept up, and removed regularly to keep their working space clean. All four of them were looking at every nook and cranny for signs of an unusual symbol.

      “Guys! Did you find it yet?” Wolcott’s voice called out.

      They all turned to see the green Ogrin beaming with joy as he joined them in the fireplace.

      “I thought you were not allowed to help anymore!” Lisha interrogated the confidently present pet.

      “Gaius said that he’d rather me get to see the ending, and relented. He just sent me here! Need any help?” Wolcott explained.

      “We are looking for the cutters mark...” Kayla mentioned, returning to search the bricks embedded in the floor.

      “Oh, well you won't find it on the bricks over there.” Wolcott pointed up to the large stone blocks above the mantle. “Cutter’s marks are only on cut stones! Bricks are cast!”

      “Ah hah!” Lisha came out of the fireplace to examine where her friend was pointing. “There it is!” She could see a small circular line carved into one of the stones to the side of the hearth.

      Boris rushed to get a step ladder so that they could get up higher. Lisha climbed up and used her dexterous ears to count 10 stones up. She could sense that the stone there was a little loose, but she couldn't reach to remove it. One by one, the teens tried to reach high enough, but not even the squires could. They turned to Wolcott, with his tall lanky body, and gave him a crate of onions to stand on. Stretching as high as he could, he managed to wiggle the stone out from its mortar.

      “There it is!” Wolcott stuck his hand in the hole and could feel something. A crusty leather sack was pulled out as Wolcott nearly fell from the height.

      The five of them crowded around their treasure.

      “Here it is. The preciously guarded treasure from 1000 years ago!”

      “Should we show it to an adult first?”

      “How old do you think it is? That leather looks ancient!”

      “What’s inside! Open it already!”

      “It gotta be a bunch of jewels!”

      They opened up the bag very gingerly. Lisha, with her careful librarian hands, pulled out the contents. A piece of paper, and 1000 silver Neopoints. They gasped.

      “Wait, only 1000 Neopoints?” Morris was clearly disappointed.

      “What’s the paper say?” Kayla asked Lisha.

      “I can't tell. The handwriting is awful, and it's in that really old script. We might need Gaius’s help on this.” She looked over both sides of the parchment.

      Their huddle was soon broken up by Maple hauling an iron cauldron by herself over to the fireplace. “Sorry to break up this meeting, but I have mouths to start feeding! Clear on out! Oh, and fix my fireplace too please.” She reminded them.

      They quickly put their treasure back into the bag, and Wolcott went about replacing the brick.

      After dinner, Gaius was finally free and met the young adventurers in the library.

      “It describes the treasure as an emergency fund.” Gaius said, looking over the old historic text.

      “Only 1000 NP?” Boris questioned the logic.

      “Well, keep in mind that 1000 years ago, this would have been an absolute fortune. Most pets would only make one Neopoint a day on an extremely good day!” Gaius rationalized their concerns.

      “Hmmm. Well, it's such an interesting find! Even if it's not much today!” Wolcott tried to hide his disappointment. “We helped uncover history in a way. That’s one for our log books.”

      “Yeah. That’s true. Now all these riddles are solved!” Lisha took her page of notes out. “I can keep this with the original book.” She said, tucking them in the page where she had first found this scavenger hunt.

      “What should we do with the money? Get a sandwich?” Morris asked.

      “Don't be silly. Those are rare old coins!” Kayla scolded him.

      “Well, I also don't think that Skarl would be happy if he wasn’t immediately notified of this treasured find. Even if it's small, it’s an artefact.” Gaius warned them.

      “Yeah. Best if we turn it in then...” Wolcott admitted.

      “Well, Thanks everyone for helping me solve these riddles! I couldn't have done it at all without you!” Lisha gave everyone a big group hug.

      That night, a figure slipped into King Skarl’s bedchamber while he was out late having his scheduled midnight snack. They slinked through the room and flashed a shining metal tool. Approaching the fireplace, the figure brushed the carved stone of the hearth with their claws, confirming the mark of an old craftsman 1000 years ago. Tapping 10 stones up, they sank the sharp trowel into the mortar and pried away the stone.

      “Bingo.” they said, prying away the firm stone, revealing an intricate wooden box, untouched for a millennium. With careful hands, he pulled it from the tiny hole and observed it. “Undamaged. Wonderful.”

      Hands almost shaking with excitement, he opened up the small container and revealed a flash of brass. The almost golden colour glinted in the moonlight, revealing another trowel. Intricate designs carved into the blade told a story in an old text, and a simple bas-relief cameo embedded into the hilt revealed the portrait of Gelfrid. The whole thing thrummed with a hidden magic that revealed potentially incredible power. He let out a huge sigh of relief. “It’s still safe. My job here is done.” He closed the box and returned all of the contents back into their hidden location. With some quick work from the handy adhesive that he always carried, the stonework was repaired, and the crumbled mortar was cleaned up. It was as if he had never been there. He snuck out just as quickly as he had entered.

      He wrote in his journal.

      ‘Though I cannot say much, our clever castle librarian and my apprentice have impressed me. They managed to solve all of the clues that my ancient predecessor left, almost before I could. Hopefully, they are satisfied with the solution I have given them, but at least I can now be confident that the Hewers’ treasure of lore is both real, and still safe. Let us hope that it remains so for another 1000 years.’

     The End.