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Epilogue 303: The 2 Million Gold Challenge



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Hail friends,

Meanwhile, back on Siege;

While all the other Barter Town houses were falling, the tower was still standing. It was clear that I had to put my back-up plan into action. I just needed to find someone to sell me the right supplies: an Ankh of Sacrifice and a Spring Cleaning Mouse Hole. The plan was simple:

The Idea:
I would announce to the world that a "2 Million Gold Challege" was to be held at the Barter Town tower. Much like the "1 Million Gold Challenge" from Episode 182, a pair of million gold checks would be hidden within the tower for anyone to claim. And much like the previous challenge, the checks would be real. But unlike that challenge, there would be no time limit for the event. It would just be an on-going event until someone figured it out.

Breaking In the Tower:
The first trick would be breaking into the house. The tower was already set to public, but the doors have always been private. To break in, first people would have to figure out that there was an Ankh of Sacrifice inside the tower, on the 1st floor. This means that you could suicide yourself outside the tower, walk through the locked doors, and then resurrect inside with the Ankh. The Ankh would be located on the first floor.

The 2nd Floor and the Roof:
The door on the room on the 2nd floor would have remained unlocked. The guild chests would be left open and many crates would be added, but there wouldn't be anything to find. Access to the roof would be left open as always. Both these floors would just be distractions and the checks wouldn't be here.

The 3rd Floor Library:
The door to the 3rd Floor Library would be locked, a mouse hole would be hidden, and the checks would be inside. To get inside, you would need Ninjitsu to turn into a rat or rabbit and then pass through the wall.

The Crate Maze and the Ankh:
I would have re-trapped all the crates of the maze and added even more crates and poisonous food all over the tower. Remember that everyone who breaks in is completely naked. There's no insurance on Siege and to get inside, they had to kill themselves and every time they opened a crate they would die. Also remember that the Ankh can only be used once ever 24 hours. This means that if they wanted to check the (hundreds) of crates in the tower, they would either have to come back once a day or bring a friend with them who had Chivalry. If there were 2 of you with Chivalry, you could take turns resurrecting each other until you opened every crate.

In Summary:
  • To win the challenge, first you need to stone Chivalry and Ninjitsu onto your template and bring a friend who does the same.
  • Strip naked outside the front doors, suicide yourselves, and resurrect with the Ankh inside.
  • Systematically check all the crates on the 1st floor, 2nd floor, and roof, taking turns using Noble Sacrifice, bringing each other back to life.
  • Use Animal Form to turn into a rat and pass into the library through the Mouse Hole.
  • Check all the crates inside the library until you find the checks.
Everyone Else:
In my wettest dream, until the checks would have been found, the tower would've been a hot spot for murderers and thieves, especially after word spread that there was an Ankh on the 1st floor. Hopefully, while you and your buddy would be opening crates and dying repeatedly, other people would be trying to murder your naked (armorless) butt. If everything went well, the trapped crates would be the least of your worries as you attempted to find the cash.

The Trick:
Much like the "1 Million Gold Challenge," the entire event is misdirection. The point of that event was put Barter Town on the map and the point of this event was turn Barter Town into a museum with secrets that must be passed down from player to player. The point of it was to make the "Myth of Breaking into Barter Town" part of Siege Perilous history. I wanted to share books in the library with any thief who wanted to stop by. There's a reason why Ninjitsu is needed to enter the library. Most thieves have Ninjitsu, Barter Town is a town of thieves, and the library contains secrets for thieves. The dead bodies would have made me giggle and the gold checks would add legitimacy, but it would be the hand-me-down nature of secrets to breaking in and lasting knowledge of the library inside that would make it legendary.

Imagine a world where there used to be a busy player town on Siege, inhabited by thieves and visited by many, where all that was left was a single tower. There would be stories told of a player event with a 2 million gold prize. Also, inside this tower would be an ancient library that contained the knowledge of the thieves, books found at IDOCs, and literature written by other players, gathered over the years. But to get to this knowledge, you would have to unlock the tower's secrets.


Conclusion:
Unfortunately, after a year of searching the public forums, I could never get my hands on an Ankh of Sacrifice or a Mouse Hole. I think people on production shards take for granted the items they are given and the ease of getting anything they want, whenever they want. Because the Mouse Holes were only given through the (limited) Spring Cleaning event and because you are unable to transfer items to or from Siege and other shards, some items are incredibly hard to come by. The Mouse Hole was one of these items. And without these items, none of this was ever possible and the "2 Million Gold Challenge" never took place.

(It was a good plan.)


'Til next time!

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