Every Secret of Eliv Thade... Revealed

(cue the spooky music)

As I was saying, Eliv Thade, the Kacheek that lived deep in the Haunted Woods, was obsessed with anagrams. He loved them. He could figure out any one you handed to him, and he was also a puzzle-writer himself. Soon, neopets learned about his amazing talent and traveled to his dark castle to see if they could give him a puzzle that he could not solve. They all failed, though, and Thade always triumphed.

Visitors kept trying, and Thade kept solving. Then the day came when one of his servants gave him an anagram. Thade thought he would easily solve it, but that's not exactly what happened...

It was long and difficult, and surprisingly, Thade COULD NOT solve it! Every day he would attempt to solve it and fail, and the servant would ask him every day if he had figured it out. This drove him crazy, and this obsession caused Eliv Thade, the Kacheek, to fall into madness.

The servants, of course, left for their well-being, and Thade died alone without ever solving the puzzle. He became the ghost Kacheek with the one red eye... but yet, his tormented soul still hides in the darkness of the castle, and he wants revenge...

(crack of thunder)

Creepy, huh? Well, you probably knew this if you've ever played the game, The Castle of Eliv Thade. You also probably knew that the only person that ever made it out of there alive is Gilly the Usul. But there are many secrets no one has ever considered...

Secret Number One: His Name. Eliv Thade. It's rumored to be an anagram. This makes perfect sense, because of his obsession with them. Let's take a look:

ELIV (his first name) has two anagrams and a palindrome (a word made from another word spelled backwards, example: dad, mom) The anagrams are: EVIL and LIVE. The palindrome is VILE.

THADE (his last name) has two anagrams: DEATH and HATED. So, what name makes the most sense to you? There are six name possibilities: Evil Death and Evil Hated; Live Death and Live Hated; and Vile Death and Vile Hated. Most people say it's between Evil Death and Vile Death. Very interesting.

Secret Number Two: The Dining Room, the first room you go to (if you make it there). When you get inside, you get the Sword of Skardsen. The Sword of Skardsen is an anagram too! SKARDSEN is an anagram for DARKNESS. So it's really the Sword of Darkness!

Secret Number Three: If you go the quick way (which is Dining Room, Kitchen, Library, Bedroom, Dining Room, Crypt) and go to the Dining Room, you find the Shield of Pion Troect. This is an anagram as well. PION TROECT is an anagram for PROTECTION, making it the Shield of Protection!

Secret Number Four: In the Library, you'll receive the Grimoire of Thade, which as we said, should really be the Grimoire of Death, because THADE should be DEATH.

Secret Number Five: Once you reach the Bedroom (in which above the bed you see a portrait of Thade before he went crazy, I just wanted to point out) you get the Amulet of Thilg, and THILG should be LIGHT. That would make it the Amulet of Light, so it's basically the opposite of the Sword of Skardsen.

When you finally finish the last anagram and make it into the Crypt (in which you don't get anything but the safety of your life) it says you have banished the specter of Eliv Thade (for now) and you can escape. But can you really ever escape him? Even though you defeated him and fled his castle, he still continues to haunt all who dare to enter, and as for the puzzle he failed to solve, well, that's another mystery...

(eerie scream)

And so, as you can see, Eliv Thade’s legend lives on. He has inspired various foods and other items (rather disturbing items...). One of his books that got published, Eliv Thade’s Guide to Anagrams, is still available in some user shops. But we only can really meet Eliv Thade through his game, so play it now! :) Here's a little about the game and some quick tips:

In Scaredy Cat (easy) you can go up to three tiles at a time, and each anagram gets harder. In Super Brave (hard) you can go up to four tiles. You'll notice some cracks on some of the tiles, which means there's a 50% chance you'll fall through. Do you want to take that chance? I usually try to avoid them, but if you do fall through, you'll be returned to your previous position. It's really a fun and challenging game, here's some tips :

1) TURN OFF THE SOUND!!! Unless you don’t want to. I mean the music is kinda creepy... no offense, Eliv... but it’s mostly composed of creaking doors, ticking clocks, random scream and howls... so it’s your choice. Just click that little blue ghost by the Crypt, and don’t worry, he won’t do anything.

2) Have a piece of paper or something so you can figure out the anagrams... or you could... use a Graanam Losver. *hint hint*

3) Go the quick way (Dining Room, Kitchen, Library, Bedroom, Dining Room, Crypt) to get through with the game and earn yourself NP. If you’re looking to beat a high score, keep going along the board as long as you want (using a Graanam Losver) until you achieve the desired score. :)

4) Well, it’s a pretty simple game... and it has quite a story and a whole lot of secrets behind it. You can find out more for yourself... or you can ask Eliv firsthand. He lives in the Haunted Woods, in a dark, scary castle... you can’t miss it.

(wolf howling)

Thanks for reading! :D :D :D