







I’m sure we all can agree that pirates are the best thing ever in the whole wide world, in no small part due to their treasure maps. So based upon my love of all things pirates, scavenger hunts and escape rooms, I’m hosting a virtual scavenger hunt here on my site.

And, as with all good treasure hunts, there will be prizes: The first three people to solve all the clues will receive a $10 Amazon gift card, and the first ten PRIME numbered people to complete it will receive a kindle copy of my novel The Woven Ring .

All of the clues are here on mdpresley.com , but access to email will be required to finish the game. There are some riddles, red herrings, vocabulary words, codes and a few things hidden in surprising spots. But by way of hints, I’ll give just these:

--All Payday Stories contain a riddle at the very bottom. You only need one to solve this mystery, so save this 'til last.

--Take advantage of the Post Types feature on my blog page

--Per my wife's suggestion, there is now a search box on the front page and blog page

And because all games are better with a narrative, preferably one from the Cthulhu mythos, here we go…

Innsmouth Police Report:

As I’m sure you’re aware, the Band of the Eternal Eldritch has been quite active in the area as of late. Before we lost contact, Sergeant Hickson, our agent infiltrating this cult, informed us they intend on summoning the Great Old One Ayi’ig, daughter of Yig and Ydhra, to our quaint hamlet. Since we oppose both gigantic octopi creatures in general, and Texans* in particular, such a summoning would be less than ideal.

As such, you must interrupt this ritual before it can be completed. Sergeant Hickson believed that if the proper magical word can be decoded and cast within the location known as Dygra’s Vault, the spell will be disrupted and eastern seaboard saved.

Unfortunately, neither the magic word, location of Dygra’s Vault, nor combination to open it have been unearthed. Sergeant Hickson did however discover that members of the Band of Eternal Eldritch have infiltrated the website of middling fantasy author MD Presley and have hidden clues around his pages.

Since we, as New Englanders, are far too busy slavishly following the Patriots and Red Sox to do our jobs, we instead leave it in your capable hands. Sergeant Hickson’s last transmission was simply this cryptic clue:

“The first letter of the magic word appears to be the same as the first letter of a famous barbarian’s signature drink. If their patterns hold, I believe a second clue will exist nearby wherever this answer is found.”

As always, best of luck.

And go Sox!

Footnote: As I've already apparently offended a fellow Texan, I should probably note that this joke is because Ayi'ig supposedly dwells under a lake somewhere in Texas. Being as there is only one natural lake in Texas , I guess that narrows down her location...

#Cthulhu #scavengerhunt #innsmouth