The Knights Quest Mystery Cache

BRIEF OUTLINE
An adventure quest based series of caches. This can not be completed without the attached crib sheet. This is a moderate cache - with an average walk of 3-6 hours (and completing a rough estimate of 6-8 miles of walks over slight to moderate terrains). Suitable for older youths and adults of all ages. Can be done at night, but we don't recommend it. Its more an early start all day event (or can be).

NOW WITH AUDIO
The Knights Quest now comes with complimentary audio files that you can load up onto an MP3 player and play whilst you are out on the trail. Ideal for kids. It adds another dimension to the day out. Download a zip file containing all the audio files here

WARNING AND REQUIREMENTS
This cache has the potential to go on for many miles! An average of 6-8 miles round trip should be anticipated. There are up to 13 stages to complete.
Bring food and water! There are some great places to stop and enjoy some food. You will also need to bring a copy of the crib sheet (below) with you, some extra working out paper would probably be of benefit, a pen, and a two sided coin.
Finally - I ask that you only place swaps in the very final cache - if you get there. The other multistages are too small to accommodate TBs and trades. Good Huntin!

THE DETAILS
The Knights Quest is based upon the adventure book games of my youth - where I would read and select a route to follow through the book. I didn't always complete the book - and I didnt often win - usually taking a wrong turn early on leading me to my doom! In order to complete this puzzle cache series, you will need the crib sheet (displayed as a copy html file below, or a pdf file (which I recommend personally. better quality -- available here).
Where-ever possible, I have tried to keep the cache sites in some sort of order to be discovered. Due to the way the story was written, this isn't always possible to do (so my apologies if you find yourself retracing old ground....). It shouldn't happen very often! If you do find issues with this cache please let me know so it can be improved/worked on.

A WORD ABOUT CHEATING
Its not for me to stop you from cheating. You can do it, but then where's the fun in that? At the very least, if you do "cheat" and avoid deadly situations and pretend they didn't happen - then when you do finally log the find, do have the decency to tell us that you did cheat a little! Enough said....!

BONUS CERTIFICATE
There is a bonus certificate available for this cache. Answer the following questions and visit our certificate page here to fill in the details (dont forget to select the knights quest from the dropdown box).
Question 1) What was the word that allowed you to get past stage 10?
Question 2) If you visited stage 5, from the track outside the wood, to the west, how many masts did you see? (may not be able to do this on a foggy day) Please write your answer in letters, not number form.

LAST BONUS CERTIFICATE ISSUED:

INTRODUCTION..... THE STORY UNFOLDS..... Part One...
"As the legend foretold, the hero would come with technology beyond our understanding - an ability to seek far and wide, to communicate with many and the ability to battle with heart and mind. It seems the legend may well have come to pass. Are you the brave soul who desires to take up our noble struggle?", The Phantom Knight hovered ahead, awaiting your response. It was a long time since he last set eyes on a traveller with the potential to solve the mystery that had vexed him for all of his life and still now, more than 1000 years after his death.

DARE YOU JOURNEY WITH THE KNIGHT ON HIS QUEST INTO THE UNKNOWN?

You nod your agreement and the Knight draws close. "Follow me. You will need protection for the quest ahead of you. The road may be long and your journey may take you to faraway places, but do not fear - for I will be here to guide you to victory. Take as long as is needed to complete the quest. God Speed".

TEAM SEAMANROB PRESENTS - THE KNIGHTS QUEST – version 4 – updated 05/09/12

Keep track on your progress through the legs of the quest. As you complete each stage, cross the stage ID out, thus preventing your return to the same point of the adventure again. Note down details as required in the notes and “A” boxes. Finally, your guide may offer additional hints – written in standard cache hint code – just in case you need help on a particular cache stage.

PARKING CO-ORDINATES: N 51° 11.911 E 001° 23.753 TRAILHEAD: N 51° 11.605 E 001° 23.622 STAGE X0 CO-ORDINATES: N 51° 11.503 E 001° 23.570

DECIPHERING CO-ORDINANTS & SCRAMBLED CLUES

1) You arrive at the cache location and read the story. You choose which way to go at the end of each part of the story.

2) Write down the codeword given for your chosen route. Work out the equivalent number for each letter of the code word, using the primer below.

3) Take the encoded co-ordinates from the crib sheet above. Deduct the newly created numbers from each of the encoded numbers. For example…

ENCODED COORDS = 25454 39355 MONKEYPUZZLE = 13222 11322 2-1=1, 5-3=2, 4-2=2, and so on…. RESULT = 12232 28033

or: N51 12.232 E001 28.033

You may have noticed we didn’t need all of the letters in the codeword. So we discarded (in this case) the last two (LE). A small number of code words out in

the caches are shorter than they ought to be, so where this occurs the crib sheet has a couple of numbers of the encoded coordinates in brackets. These are the actual numbers required and should not – nor can they – be deciphered. That’s my fault! Sorry.

Finally, there are some code words that will give you what appear to be negative figures – i.e., when deciphered the results go below the zero point. In these cases, you should treat the zero point as ten. For example:- Encoded Number = 1, Codeword Letter = U or 3 in numbers – Therefore the answer is -2 if we calculate normally. But its really intended to be 8. Zero is ten remember. The same would be true if the encoded number is zero to start with. In the above example, that would leave a result of 7. Treat all zeros as tens.

FINALLY- ALL THECO-ORDINATESIN THISSERIES ARENORTH 51 DEGREES,EAST 1 DEGREE.

To decipher any written hints or clues listed at the cache, use the primer as you would a normal geocache primer – A=N, N=A, B=O, O=B etc....

A working example on decoding an encoded co-ordinate by using the code word and primer above is given on the next page. Good Luck with your quest!

ADDITIONALCLUECRIBSHEET–MAKESITALITTLEEASIERWORKING ITALLOUT

ROW A: SCRAMBLED CO-ORDS 2 5 4 5 4 3 9 3 5 5

ROW B: CODEWORD & VALUES M 1 O 3 N 2 K 2 E 2 Y 1 P 1 U 3 Z 2 Z 2

ROW C: ROW A MINUS ROW B = ANSWER 1 2 2 3 2 2 8 0 3 3