The Hunt Stage 3

Overview

Stage 3 of The Hunt, also known as the Chapter Two finale, occurred between March 19th, 2022 and April 2nd, 2022. It particularly involved the Dark Followers and Auralocks, however, all allegiances were involved in some way. At the beginning of the Roleplay event, players learned that Grux was the mastermind behind all the chaos and that he had been spotted committing dangerous crimes in multiple locations. Their job was to track him down and take action to prevent his next attack, but they also found out about many buried secrets about Shakti Bhardwaj’s past and her husband on their journey.

Storyline

The storyline follows the events that took place prior to The Hunt Stage 3, in The Hunt Stage 2. The players had the job of tracking Grux down and locating the place of his next attack and his hideout, while completing puzzles, searching for clues, and concluding riddles. First, the players went to the London Eye where they found a torn note and a key. Then they spoke to Rani Lightwood, who told them that there was a hidden box found in Shakti’s secret office. The key found on top of the London Eye unlocked this box. After that, players visited Shakti’s lone house in Rushstone, where they found out more information about Shakti’s husband and her family, and the past events of Roleplay. Madame Florence directed players to her friend, Kumi Suzuki, who assisted the players in finding the code for a locked safe they found in Vertick Alley. The box revealed the next riddle. Next, players had to visit Nathan Nakamori in Riddleyard. Nathan informed them about a bulletin board in the Roleplay Hub with a hidden puzzle on it. After finding all the clues, they pieced together the puzzle’s answer, which led them to Stonehenge, where they deciphered runes and cracked codes to solve the mystery of the location of Grux’s base. When confronted, Grux fled and left the players stranded in the room. They had to work together to escape and find Grux again. Once they found Grux in the class server, they had to duel against an Imperiumed Joel under Grux’s control. Grux managed to escape amidst all the chaos.

Puzzles

Puzzle 1

In the first puzzle, players had to figure out the answer to the following riddle: “An eye for an eye is what they say but this one only has one. The entrance protected front to back an abyss your only way in and out. Hidden in the depths of life surrounded by grief and love, the community becomes unaware of the dangers that lie above”.

This riddle led the players to the London Eye. Players had to complete a parkour to reach the top of the London Eye, and there they found two items - a torn note and a key. The mysterious torn note implied that someone was worried about the allegiances getting “too close to the truth”. Players then got onto the Hogsworth Express and set off to find Madame Florence. Not long after, the train was hijacked and the players had to do various tasks in order to make it to the front of the train, where it was safer. After a fatiguing journey, the players managed to come back to Madame Florence. She told them to ask around for more information. Rani revealed that there was a hidden box found in Shakti’s secret office. The Auralocks were unsuccessful in opening the box because it had a magical lock. Rani told the players to give it a go, and the key they found earlier unlocked the box.

Puzzle 2 

The next riddle given to players stated: “Mountains, rooves and steps up high, Of cliffside staggered shack shakes by its wooden planks and nailed boards loose, a lone recluse of its past owners use.” 

This riddle led them to Shakti Bhardwaj’s house, located in Rushstone, where one player could enter each painting and converse with the ghosts who inhabited the house. The ghosts helped players figure out who Shakti was supposed to marry and when the marriage was supposed to take place. Various dialogues revealed that Shakti’s family didn’t like her husband and were shocked when they found out who he was. After talking to the ghosts, the players had to answer a few questions. Once these questions were answered, they were taken to another room with three paintings. Behind each painting was a memory that revealed some secretive information. After answering one more question, players were taken to the last room, which contained four memory veils of the past of Roleplay.

Puzzle 3 

The third puzzle started off with the following riddle:

“Hidden in the shadows

A comparison to the light

Noisy streets and a dark retreat

An old & familiar sight”.

This riddle led players to Vertick Alley, where they discovered a safe. Madame Florence directed the players to her friend near the Wicked Willow who could help them find the code, Kumi Suzuki. Kumi told the players to choose a Roleplay location to go to, where they would answer questions about the past of Roleplay. The options were the Phoenix Tree, the Ministry, Mysterious Manor, the Vampire Manor or the Werewolf Cave. Once they arrived, there were five enchanted floating questions about the past of the Roleplay allegiance that the players had to answer. Kumi suggested that the players look around the base for answers. There was a 30-minute cooldown to try answering questions again if it was answered incorrectly. Each player had to answer one question. Once all of the questions were answered correctly, the code for the safe (35712) was uncovered.

Puzzle 4 

The following riddle was disclosed: “Letters and words are fun toys to play. Manors and graveyards, you can find the way, Amidst trees and stones, the town's name is of meaning, There will be a man whose writing you've been reading. He will teach you the rules and how to play.” 

This riddle led players to Riddleyard where the man in the riddle, Nathan Nakamori. Nathan is very familiar with the history of the Allegiances and the events that occurred between them. He told players to head to the Roleplay Hub and view the bulletin board that had a puzzle hidden on it, which could be solved by finding clues. The bulletin board was lined with the heads of Roleplay characters who had a riddle that led to the clue that players were looking for. Each Roleplay character’s riddle led the players to a different location, where players would find an item with a special letter in the title. Players had to head back to the riddle room after each special letter was unveiled in order to enter the letter that corresponded with the Roleplay character’s riddle. Once players answered all of the riddles and discovered new clues, they could go back to the bulletin board and piece together the puzzle’s answer, which was the riddle for the next puzzle.

Puzzle 5 

The final riddle stated: “Order the view of the outside world”. 

This riddle led players to Stonehenge, where they had to decipher runes. After cracking a further code, players uncovered the words “runes poor”, which was referring to the habitat of the Runespore mobs, located near Grux’s hideout in the northern mountains. The entrance to Grux’s hideout had a complicated lock system. In order to enter the hideout, a player from each allegiance had to stand on the corresponding platform for their allegiance. To do this, they had to locate the faction selector and select a specific allegiance to join. Once each player stood on their platform, the first door opened. Grux was inside the hideout and was quickly confronted by the players. Grux did not have a lot to say before fleeing and disappearing into thin air. The players were stranded in a room with broken bridges. Players worked together to launch themselves to each of the stones, that were once part of the harshly damaged bridge, using the spell Flipellius. On the other side of the bridge room was a lever, which one player could switch and allow the other players to enter the following room. The following room had a door with two keyholes. There were two rooms on each side, which contained property that could help them obtain the two keys. The room on the left contained clockwork minions that dropped gears when killed. Players needed to earn 1000 gears to craft one of the Clockwork Keys. The room on the right contained a 3-player sequence. After this was completed, players obtained the Transfigured Key. This key had to be transfigured back into a Clockwork Key with Alchemy, using the giant cauldron in the room. Players could then unlock the door and continue on to the next room. This room contained various clues which uncovered that there was a secret code in the Revenant Gauntlet. When they managed to get to the second room, players found more clues that revealed that there was a key hidden in the exit of classes, on the class server. Players had to attend a class to subsequently obtain the key. Once through the classes door, players found Grux and triggered a cutscene. This led to a battle against Joel Crestello, who had been Imperiumed by Grux. After winning the duel, Joel directed the players back to Madame Florence to let everyone in on what they know. Unfortunately, Grux managed to escape before he was caught.

Rewards & Collectables

Exclusive rewards and collectables were able to be obtained throughout this event. These are shown in the table below.

Item	Description	Type
London Eye Snowglobe	A replica of the London Eye, complete with the parkour wrapping around the support beams.	Collectable
Debris from Grimlotts	Debris from Grimlotts when it was attacked in 2015. A memory from when he lost his loved ones.	Collectable
Kumi’s Book of Answers	Details from the dawn of Roleplay until the present day.	Collectable
Journal	CLICK to read.	Collectable
Cursed Crestello Coin	A single coin directly from the Crestello Vault. Your fingers slightly burn as you hold it.	Collectable
Everlit Candle	Possibly used as part of a ritual by Grux, it seems to never go out. Why did he have it? Given for completing Stage 3 of The Hunt.	Collectable