The Gold-Bug

oh my gosh - can you believe what happened tonight?!?

Yes!

i can't believe we didn't get anything :( aside from our new-found friendships :)

does anyone know if the cake was actually fat-free, as i ate 5 pieces...

We might not have any treasure, but we have 89 (wow! eighty-nine!) shares of friendship! Maybe that's the number of calories in each slice of cake..

For all of you who weren't able to be there, this is what happened.
On arrival our names were ticked on a list and Phil greeted us wearing a gold top hat and gave us each a piece of paper with a message in code. We had to decode it while drinking champagne and eating cake (including chocolate cake!). The messages told us each to find someone to ask about their experience in the masque -mine was to find someone who'd visited Lotte.
Then we saw a video of Mr Grandison, who said he had a wrong to right, which was, at the age of 94, never having seen a live giraffe (he was recorded while sitting in the giraffe house at London zoo). He seemed very happy.
Phil and Tom Bone said they had located the treasure to be buried in a spot under the floor at the bottom of the grand staircase. Their was a trap door in the adjacent room, through which a member of the BAC staff crawled while talking to us via a mobile. He rummaged about among the spiders and debris and eventually found a place with some red stones, then dug a bit and found a wooden box. We told him to bring it up, we all crowded round and Bonnie brushed of the dirt and unwound the string securung the lid. Inside was a skull and a letter and the signet ring, gold with a red seal. I read out the letter (addressed to Nathaniel). It was from Clarisse Moray. She had taken the treasure and given it to an orphanage. She had left Moray's skull with the signet ring after he had told her Captain Kidd had left bones with the original treasure. She asked us to put lilies on his grave.
Tom phoned Mr Grandison to tell him the news and he asked that the skull be buried at Moray's country residence.
We all went to the pub.

Wasn't that exciting! :D It was lovely to meet everyone, and I'm so glad we've managed to resolve this centuries-old mystery. I have to say my favourite moment was seeing Mr Grandison having a jolly old time with the giraffes.

It was lovely to meet you too Josh. And the rest of you of course!

Tonight was a fitting end to the Hunt, and thoroughly well organised (thanks Phil and Tom). The icebreaker code was a great way of getting everyone mingling, and the reveal of what was in the box suitably spooky (not to mention a bit like the end of "Seven").

I'll post my photos somewhere soon...

Twas a pleasure to meet friends old and new tonight and draw on some of you.
Kiss kiss, g'night all.

It was so lovely to meet you all! Thank you for letting me open the box which was very exciting indeed! Although I wasn't expecting to see William Moray's skull.

Night night...

Guys, my photos from last night are now on the facebook group.

A fitting conclusion to an interesting few months. It was a pleasure to meet you all at long last. I'd like to thank everyone for their help as I'm sure I would not have been able to unravel this on my own. I still believe we'll crack the scytales eventually...
For the Facebook averse people who would like to stay in touch, you can reach me at paulbates at fastmail.co.uk

Thanks again,

Paul

Morning all! I loved last night. It was great to meet you all and discover who was behind each nom de plume! Maybe see some of you again in the future ... and I have joined the Facebook group for that keeping-in-touch purpose.

I had a really good time last night! It was great to meet you all and discuss code techniques face to face...

I must say a huge thank you to Phil and all those that organised the hunt - I have been quite obsessed for a good while and really dont know how I will return to my normal life.

All the best,

Joe

Personally, I'm going to avoid normal life for as long as possible Joe!

Indeed, great to meet you all (again in some cases) and don't forget Rabbit's call and LILLY !?

Was great to meet so many of you yesterday. Thanks to all the organisers for their superb efforts - and the chocolate cake!

Not sure if someone mentioned this already, but for those who weren’t there - Phil asked all of the hunters to send him their address so that Mr Grandison could send a token of his appreciation for our help.

Hope lots of you join the Facebook group so we can keep up to date on any new adventures starting soon.

Can anyone remember where Mr Grandison wanted the skull buried? A country house in Sussex? I can't remember.
Phil, please could you scan the letter from Clarisse and post it here for us to see?

Was it B ____ Park? Sorry, can't quite remember either.

It was great to meet up again with those I had already had the pleasure of getting to know, and to meet a few more of you for the first time.
Rabbit told us (via David) that he had heard the word "Lily" blowing in the wind, although he did not know to what or who it referred. I suspect it does not refer to the lilies on William Moray's grave, but what do I know?

I must admit that in all the excitement I didn't remember the name of the place. I wonder if it's significant? Tom did say that Moray's skull would most likely be interred in Mr Grandison's pet cemetery, as he has a fondness for cats apparently!

It was great to meet everyone last night - friends old and new. Many thanks to Phil, Sonia, Mr. Grandison and all the other organisers for such a splendid hunt - I shall certainly miss it.

Apologies - I can't remember the name of the country house where the skull is to be buried.

https://www.york.ac.uk/depts/arch/landscapes/ukpg/database/

This is a database of Historic Parks and Gardens - if anyone has the time and/or the inclination ... And that's supposing the reference was to a Historic Park and/or Garden of course and not a private house.

Yup. That was ace. Thank you people pulling strings and organising, the hunt has been just awesome fun.

Everyone was gorgeous last night, such a pleasure to see friends old and new.

see y'all down the trail!

xoxoxoxoxoxo

I hoping this is not Goodbye. If so, thank you - this has been an amazing adventure - and best wishes, if not, I look forward to seeing you again!

I'm sad that these may be our last posts in the Goldbug forum, but hope that I will see all of you in the next adventure!

It's been a bumpy but fun-filled ride! Thank you to everyone who has made this happen and for letting us be part of it... You're all stars!

Stay beautiful my lovelies! Bonnie

So, everything is resolved...

It kinda happened quickly in the end, these last few weeks have been a blur. Wish I could have been there for more of these hunters gatherings, the people I spoke with last night all seemed very friendly and interesting. If I lived a bit closer I'm sure I'd be looking forward to blowing the froth off a few more with you in the future. But time and distance being what they are, I imagine this is probably bon jour from me. Glad I was there at the end.

Thank you to everyone involved, it was much more than enjoyable, and always more than I expected in so many different ways.

It was great to meet so many of you last night and to finally put faces to the names. Ellen - thank you for introducing me to Bonnie :) and it was lovely to meet you, Bonnie, Flagrant P, Steve M and Josh . You are all such nice people. Sorry if I did seem a bit baffled at times.. over the last few weeks there has been so much Goldbug fever in my brain that I was a bit dazed by it all coming to an end!

It was a shame that I couldn't go onto the pub - had to be back in Canterbury this morning and so needed to get back to bed! Still a bit bleary-eyed.

It has been wonderful being involved in this and thank you all for making me feel welcome :)
P.s the cakes were delicious. Much appreciated Phil et al!!!

Definately agree with how wonderful it was to meet everything. I somehow had the feeling we may meet again. Hmmm. Is anybody visiting the Masque between now and the end of the run. Could it be worth asking Clarisse about lillies? Am I just trying avoid the end of the adventure? Probably

Everybody not everything! You were definately all lovely people and not objects. Should really proof read what I write.

Indeed, Sunday was a more friendly and relaxed end to the Hunt than I think anyone could have imagined. Although I must admit part of me expected some extra shock or surprise to colour the night like other Hunter nights have I guess the twists have to come to an end at some point. Besides, it wouldn't have encouraged such jovial merriment between Hunters and Hosts alike.

Anyway, much as it disappoints me to say it- I do believe the Gold-bug trail has come to its close. The ghost of Benoit is retired and I believe Clarisse is now more occupied with taking care of the Opium Den and perhaps having a few Seances. That said, Elena, I should be attending the Masque on Wednesday and although I think I shall be more preoccupied with being a spectator I'll be on the lookout for anything that might be of interest. Indeed, I'll give a good go at getting into Moray's chamber simply because it sounds fantastic.

Anyway, it was indeed a pleasure speaking with everyone I had a chance to talk with. My only regret is that I didn't get to meet and find out more about more of you. That said, I don't think this forum is done just yet and will start another thread now...

P.S. I think that we should also not forget the kind aid of the BAC staff who made sure that Sunday could run smoothly. In particular, our enthusiatic miner, Andy, deserves recognition for his work.

P.P.S... Then again, who's to say he didn't "forget" to mention what else may have lurked down in the Depths: To the Trapdoor!!! hehe

Thank you everyone for a wonderful night, it was a joy to see you and I hope to again at some point soon!

For now, I'll watch the forum and keep my eyes peeled and ears open for any news of rabbits and lilies. Xx

Just a quick thank you to Phil and everyone else for a very entertaining evening. Unfortunately we couldn't make it to the pub due to a prior engagement but hope to see you again very soon here, there or elsewhere...

Ditto etc. Did anyone ever find out what Ligeia had to do with the price of fish?

Ligeia and the scytales remain a bit of a mystery. Perhaps some kind soul in the know will reveal to us what clues we missed, eh?

Ligeia is a name of one of the characters. Her little Hangman game is just a part of the drama I think. As for the Scytales... we can only see if that conundrum is unraveled.

Anyway, is it just me or is anyone now slightly amused by the fact that there were what were apparently Rabbit droppings down below by the treasure? No doubt just a coincidence but still...

I think the dropping were a joke... does anyone else think that the letter smacks of not-entirely-complete-and-finishedness??

Yes it does, but according to Phil's latest, the hunt really is at an end <sob>

CPlagiarist - I thought the first page at least of Clarisse's letter looked like it was hiding something.

I agree Steve! I'd like to think that Clarisse's letter has a hidden message. Though I can't for the life of me see what it is. Grrr...