Suzanna Fowers
Welcome to Everrgold....
The door swings shut behind you with a hollow thunk, and you barely have time to take in your surroundings — red velvet curtains hanging heavy across the windows, chandeliers studded with diamonds swaying overhead, walls covered in garish trophies and paintings of shipwrecks in ornate gilt frames — before a hand closes around your wrist.
You spin around.
A girl, red-haired and wild-eyed, sways slightly on her feet like the floor is moving beneath her. She looks at you the way someone looks at a life raft.
"Thank the depths you've come!" she breathes. "I need your help. I hear you must have a keyword to leave this place — I think we're looking for the same thing." She steadies herself against the desk, knuckles white. "I also need it to save my father. But we must work fast, before the Shadow of the Tides comes."
"Who?" you ask.
"A horrible, dreadful pirate." Her eyes cut to the door. "He'll be here soon. This is his cabin." She wobbles, and you catch her by the elbow before her knees hit the floor. She straightens with as much dignity as she can manage. "I'm a mermaid," she says, as if that explains everything. "I had to give up my tail and my powers to get here. These legs are..." she glances down at them with open suspicion, "...not to be trusted."
Her name, she tells you quickly, is Thessa. The keyword you need — the one that will get you both out of here — is somewhere in this room. Find it before the pirate returns.
So. Where do you search?
Your heart pounds as you rush toward the mahogany desk, rifling through papers where you find an atlas of the lost cities of Thalassopolis, with an X placed on Scylla's hoard.
Thessa makes a sound of quiet disgust behind you. "Funny how these men call merfolk the thieves." She shoves aside glass bottles and charts, pushing past a dagger and a compass.
Nothing.
The leather trunk at the foot of the captain's bed seems promising. You throw it open — silks, velvets, a tricorn hat trailing peacock feathers, even a piratical gun that looks exactly how you'd have imagined one from the old legends. You dig deeper and find only more stolen finery.
The bookshelf is next. You pull volumes down one by one, shaking them, checking for hidden compartments. A book on navigation. A tome of sea legends. An eyeglass. A ledger filled with columns of numbers.
Where is it? The captain will retire to his quarters soon. He can't catch you here.
You fling open the wardrobe doors and push through the coats, searching every pocket. A rope. Not exactly what you're looking for. Behind you, Thessa stumbles into the bedpost and catches herself, muttering something under her breath that sounds like a warped song.
With a sigh, you drop to your knees and peer into the darkness under the bed — and there it is, pushed into the far corner. An intricately decorated iron chest. You reach, and reach, and reach, finally scraping it free, and pry it open with a snap —
The door creaks open behind you.
You freeze.
"Well." The voice is low and dangerous, like the rumble of distant thunder. "It appears I have guests." A pause. "Did you find what you were searching for?"
Well... did you?
IF NOT?! YOU ARE IN EXCELLENT COMPANY, ADVENTURER!
SCROLL DOWN FOR HINT FOUR
As soon as you have the keyword... roundhouse kick the pirate in the head, crash through the balcony window, dive into the Sylphorian Sea... and escape through the magic portal in hopes of claiming your next coin! (pssst: return to the fairy tale adventures tab to verify your puzzle answer)
Thanks for playing! I hope you had fun in Everrgold!
Thanks for playing! I hope you had fun in Everrgold!
What order did you find your scavenger hunt items?
HINT THREE
HINT FIVE
HINT FOUR
GOT IT?
🎉🎉🎉
Return to the fairy tale adventures tab to verify your puzzle answer
STILL SCRAMBLING?!
NO WORRIES! THAT'S WHAT I LOVE ABOUT YOU MAZE VISITORS...
YOU NEVER GIVE UP!
SCROLL DOWN FOR HINT FIVE
What order did you find your scavenger hunt items?
GOT IT?
🎉🎉🎉
Return to the fairy tale adventures tab to verify your puzzle answer