The quick brown
fox is one of the more elusive creatures of the forest. He is
always there in the background, watching attentively as other
creatures or man pass through his territory. It was a late
fall evening, sometime in the mid 1700’s, when he spotted the two
travelers. Thick fog was rolling in from the nearby
Mullica
River
. They approached the settlement of Pleasant Mills, by
horseback, along the river road from Tuckahoe. This was
somewhat unusual as most folks came here by boat, up the
river. The river road was rough and primitive and as it had
rained earlier in the day, quite muddy. However the two
travelers and their mounts were spotless, as if they had just
started their sojourn on a bright sunny morning. The fox
sensed something very unusual about this pair and was determined to
watch them closely.
The fox
followed them to the Laughing Gull, the local tavern in these
parts. He knew that if he scurried to the west window, that
he could get a good view of the goings on at the inn without being
detected. As chance would have it, the mysterious travelers
were seated at the table near the window. Dinner was served
and there was little conversation, though there were knowing looks
back and forth between the pair as if they were communicating at
some higher level. After dinner they commenced to play a
round of draughts. As the elder traveler was setting up the game he
noticed there was an extra game-piece. He chuckled, and said
to his companion, “You will be able to king me early in the
game”. They both had a hearty laugh and put the extra checker
back into the small cigar box that had previously held them
all.
They played
draughts for most of the evening with no real advantage to either
player. Then the elder spoke to his apprentice. “I fear
that there is no one in this area that can help us in our task.
With all the piracy and banditry, even the most trustworthy
man would be compromised. Whatever will we do?” The fox
knew well the traveler's concern. This was the time of Joe
Mulliner, the Robin Hood of the Pines. Anything the travelers
entrusted to a local inhabitant would surely end up in Joe’s hands
sooner or later.
Just then the
apprentice looked up at the window and spotted the fox. The
fox froze, hoping not to be spotted. The elder traveler
addressed the fox, “You there, at the window, don’t be startled, we
mean you no harm." The fox was amazed that he understood the
traveler. Normally human speech was far beyond his
comprehension. But somehow, the traveler spoke to him, but
not in spoken words, rather in thoughts that came directly into the
fox’s mind. Not many men were gifted with the ability to
speak with the creatures of the forest. Truly these travelers were
special.
So for a
while the fox and the travelers spoke silently. The travelers
related to the fox that they had found a mythical treasure of great
importance to all the creatures of this world. It was most
important that the treasure not be found until the time was right
and only then by those of pure enough mind and spirit. These
select few who have to pass a number of challenges to prove their
worthiness and to collect the requisite clues to locate the
treasure in a future time of need. Further the travelers
needed to hide one of the clues in the pine forests of West Jersey
but were dismayed that they could not find anyone that could be
depended on due to the near lawless nature of the area. The
fox was saddened for the travelers that they had come all this
great distance and would not be able to complete their quest. He
wished there was someway he could help them.
The elder
traveler then addressed the fox, “Do you truly wish to help
us?” The fox replied, “Yes, tell me how!” The travelers
then asked the fox to hide a clue to the location of the treasure
for them in the forest. Since the clue would have to be
hidden for many, many years, they asked the fox to encode the
instructions on how to find the clue to the treasure for when the
time of need arose. The instructions would have to be kept
safe and faithfully passed down through the generations. The
fox agreed that he could do as they asked. The strangers
smiled and handed the clue to the fox on a golden slip of paper
with strange symbols engraved in dark ink. The clue meant
little to the fox. The fox then asked, “What kind of code can
I devise to safeguard the location of this secret?” The elder
traveler smiled and replied, “We believe that you will come up with
something appropriate to the occasion”. Then the younger
traveler added, “Trust no one, save the hobbit folk. When the
time is near, a hobbit will be on hand to help you”.
The travelers
then abruptly got up to depart. The fox scurried around the
building to wish the travelers a safe journey. However, as he
rounded the corner, expecting to see the travelers face to face,
they had vanished. Instead the fox saw a faint and fading trail of
the green-blue glow of fox-fire leading from the door of the inn
along the river road, away from the village, to the
west.
The intrepid
quick brown fox did as the travelers requested and hid the clue to
their treasure in the forest. He wrote down the instructions
to find the clue in an appropriate but devious cipher that he had
heard about. Through the countless generations, the fox
passed the cipher down among his family. Hundreds of years
later, the signs and portents began to appear. The descendant
of the quick brown fox knew that something would need to be done
soon about the cipher and the clue. On a bright, late
summer's day, the fox came upon a hobbit walking about the
forest. The hobbit paused to chat with the fox. “Is it
time?” asked the hobbit. The fox nodded his head and handed
the coded message to the hobbit as he said, “I trust you will know
what to do with this.” The hobbit assured the the fox that he
would take care of it and then went on his way as the fox scampered
back into the forest.
Now without further ado, let's see
if you can find the treasure he has hidden.
DUJ H QQII I THCKQ
MHEKMIYTI KK ECJTTT ETIEC HUN EITQV EC-TKTIU KKEVTHHIU
HKSNU
PMC: PUZZLE MASTER'S
CHALLENGE
This puzzle is part of a
series of puzzles created by the greatest Puzzle Masters of the Mid
Atlantic Region. There are a number Puzzle Masters contributing to
this series. Solve all of the Puzzle Masters' creations, follow the
storylines, gather the clues and find the final. Will you accept
the challenge?
Each puzzle is a unique work of
art created and owned by each Puzzle Master/Puzzle Team. In each
cache there will be a clue that you must gather and record. These
clues will lead you to a final mystery cache located somewhere in
the mid-Atlantic region. This series is designed to lead you on an
epic adventure that will require Master puzzle-solving skills and
extensive travel to unique locations. You must travel and log in at
each cache in order to claim a find on the final. Due to the
extensive time and effort put into this challenge, the cache can be
done as a group but each member of the group must go to each cache
site and sign each log. Dividing into sub groups and pooling your
efforts will not be allowed.
PMC: THE PUZZLE
MASTERS
Listed below are the owners and creators of each cache in the
series. As each cache gets released, the link to the cache will be
added to the roster.
• cinderbankers
PMC - The Box
• Condotrax
PMC - I Dislike Numbers
• Dirty Bird and Big Nasty Brain
PMC - Creative Confusion
• East Village Family
PMC - Urban Renewal
• Ekitt10
PMC - The Message
• Frodo_Underhill
PMC - Quick Brown Fox +-25
• GALAP
PMC - Uncle Bucks' Cards
• GerIRL
PMC - Hibernia
• Grunriese
PMC - Flatlander
• Hostanut
PMC - The Order
• M_and_W
PMC - The Sun, Moon and Stars
• mblatch and ericles -
PMC S.E.T.I
• ODragon
PMC - A Tribute to Caching
• rehobch
PMC - Clueless Again ?
• Resolution
PMC - Professor Stone
• Vinny & Sue Tm. & MMammel
PMC - Song of the Master Sun
• We3girlsnaguy
PMC - The Meeting House
AND THE FINAL.....
It has been missing for a long time. Can you find it?