[Bard] bent his bow for the last time. Suddenly out of the dark something fluttered to his shoulder. He started, but it was only an old thrush. Unafraid it perched by his ear and it brought him news. Marvelling he found he could understand its tongue, for he was of the race of Dale.
“Wait! Wait!” it said to him. “The moon is rising. Look for the hollow of the left breast as he flies and turns above you!”
In this cache you need to visit lake town of Esgaroth (well... kind of) and perform two calculations. This will give you the coordinates of Bard's small treasure (cache).
- Waypoint 1: Entrance to Mirkwood: there is a rather unfriendly notice warning visitors regarding who owns the fish. Count the words and letters to answer some questions.
- A=number of letters in the first word
- B=number of letters in the third word, but subtract one in honour of the old thrush who helped Bard
- C=number of times the letter 'I' appears in the whole notice
- D=number of times the letter 'S' appears in the whole notice
- E=count the number of vertical bars on the gate - 2.
Bard's treasure is at:
- North 52º51.ABE
- West 002º17.CED
Ask Bard: Where is Bilbo?
Bard doesn't know where Bilbo is, but his best guess is that you should look for Smaug the dragon - he is bound to know more. Thus look in Bard's cache for the north coordinates for GC2CA4V - Smaug.
Cop Mere SSSI
Cop Mere is a Site of Special Scientific Interest on Stafford Borough Council's list. Please treat the wildlife with consideration, and please consider doing a CITO.