MadPea Legend of the Month: Room 326 Hunt

The July-August version of this hunt is now blogged here.

 The Story:

The Silent Peacock Hotel has been recently closed for an investigation after 15 people have disappeared from their premises. What the people have in common is that they all have spent a night in Room 326.

It's a mystery of how this has happened since the door has been locked and there are no signs of struggle or forced entry. All of the personal belongings of the guests have been untouched.  The local police has been left clueless.

The players will take the role as private investigators to examine the evidence and search for the truth behind the disappearances.

Do you dare to enter Room 326 and discover the evil secrets it holds? [Teleport]

You're hunting for an envelope that is often tucked against items of similar color, or half under things. You have to buy the HUD from newspaper stands, and then activate it in Room 326 in the Hotel you find the newspaper stands in - the doors aren't marked, but there are arrows pointing you to the right hallway. Look for your pointer to become a finger over the door to find the right door, and then look around for some clues as to the hunt - maybe something with a bunch of different parts (think fifteen!). You can check out the blogpost about it for a step by step guide. There are a few really difficult spots, so remember you can ask for help in the MadPea group. The endgame is also several steps, but take your time because the images involved are amazing and complex and awesome and creepy! 

1. Never Totally Dead - There are vases, but it blends in well.
.: According to her neighbours, Rose Barley isn´t a very well liked woman. Just like her name, she loved flowers - much more than people. She had worked at the Silent Peacock Hotel for the last ten years, before she retired 11 months ago. She had managed to do her job well, even if she didn't communicate much with the customers. None of her co-workers said they were missing her though, which says a lot. Her next door neighbour Mrs. Cluskey said: "Rose was such a loner, never got a smile from her. She would walk up and down the corridors, carrying flowers in her vases. She would actually talk to the flowers! I remember about a month ago she received a letter and I bumped into her on my way out then. She asked me if I had seen who had dropped the letter, but I hadn't. That was the last time I saw her. We were not friends, but I do hope that she will be found soon!" Look for the letter @ Ketama (64,178,1204)

Room326 1: You mean old witch, you didn't look twice. You just turned your back and closed your eyes...

2. Lilith's Den - Find the books, then up and over.
.: Sunday School teacher, Betty Atchison is loved by her parish. She has devoted her life to Christ and teaching children about Christianity. She doesn't have any close family members, she is a lover of cats and children. However, as we were interviewing at her workplace one of the children whispered, that Miss Betty has a secret she wasn't supposed to tell anyone. A child´s wild imagination suggested that the teacher would be reading from the Dark Book at times and tell the children stories about sewing a dress out of her dead cats' skin. A strange letter had arrived at her work and Miss Betty had been in shock after reading that. She had shouted 'From three to six!' and left the school immediately. She hasn't been seen since. Look for the letter @ Oubliette (99,243,31)

Room326 2: You believed in a lie and didn't question why. Now you should pray, cos I will make you pay...

3. Patron - Forget the desk, forget the picnic. Think Stars, Rocks, and not on the starry rocks.
.: Defense attorney Evelyn Knight's boyfriend has been very vocal in the local media ever since Evelyn's disappearance two months ago. He is offering a million dollar reward for the person who finds his loved one. Miss Knight's boyfriend, underwear model Andrew McMillan stated to us: "Ever since the big case one year ago, Evelyn has been very famous and wanted. I'm just expecting to get a ransom letter and I will pay whatever they ask for so I can get Evelyn back. I am her rock and she must be missing me hard! Two months ago we were having a quiet picnic by the pond, a rare luxury as she's so busy and hardly ever at home. A delivery boy brought a letter to her that she wouldn't show me. I don't know what she did with the letter, all she told me was that she needed to check on some details and she went inside. I finished up the champagne on my own then. I went in later on to see a file from THAT case a year ago open on her desk and I haven´t seen her since." Look for the letter @ Patron (59,140,27)

4. Mad' - The last sentence gives you the main clue.
.: Chemist Leonard Pointer´s 18-year old twin daughters aren't too worried about their father missing. According to the sisters it's been very common for the father to go missing for weeks at a time at random intervals. "Dad gets on these crazy moods at times, he thinks he´s going to win a Nobel prize or something and locks himself away in some weird lab, forgetting to eat, sleep and call us. He always comes back." Missy said. It has been exactly a week since Mr. Pointer went missing. "Yeah, like that one time he was gone for two weeks and we found him sitting next to a pig waiting for it to die so that he can experiment with it. Old man's weird like that. He´ll be fine, he´s always been fine." said Chrissy. The sisters do remember their father getting a strange letter though. "He reacted surprisingly strong to something, he drove off wanting to go and talk to someone, I guess he took the letter with him." stated Missy. Look for the letter @ Oro (23,215,2000)

5. Image Essentials - Door to Darkness.
.: "He opened the door to the darkness all by himself and welcomed the Devil into his heart!" shouted the mother of the famous Country singer, Chase Cooke, on the phone to us before hanging up. According to Mr. Cooke's assistants, he was raised by a single mother who had wished for him to be a priest. Ever since he chose this path of music, his family disowned him. Mr Cooke is very well-known and has a large fanbase. His assistants informed us that he has several boyfriends and girlfriends, but nothing serious going on with anyone. No one has any idea where he could be. It's not typical for him to go missing like this, as he has already missed three big gigs. Chase receives lots of mail from his fans, but his hair stylist remembers this letter that came from the Silent Peacock Hotel. He said Chase had mumbled some numbers and wanted to leave even though his hair wasn't styled yet. "That was not like him!" The stylist said. Look for the letter @ Parameshvara (142,32,43)

6. CoLLisions - Surprisingly necklaces.
.: Ophthalmologist Catalina Cordero is being missed by her four children and husband, Julio. Julio Cordero gave us a statement: "We were shopping for a new necklace for Catalina when she told me something and made me promise I wouldn't tell anyone. She had received a letter that morning from someone she didn't recognize and it prompted her to go to the Silent Peacock Hotel. I told her not to go, but she kept insisting that this was important. I swear the letter was cursed, because she was acting so weird, almost in a trancelike state she kept telling me that she has to go to find out the truth. 'What truth?' I asked her and she just smiled, saying she would tell me everything when she's back. My wife is a tough one, you just can't turn her head when she's set on something. Three weeks ago she went in that damn hotel and never came back. I'm begging you, please find my wife soon, the kids need their mother!" Look for the letter @ Dark Tranquility (136,211,23)

7. Death Row Designs - It really is in the movies
.: Michael Donovan is a taxi driver and lives alone in a studio downtown. We found his computer full of adult entertainment, and various emails back and forth with escort services. We have a reason to suspect that he's gone to the Silent Peacock Hotel to meet up with a prostitute for the night. His last client (who wishes to stay anonymous) confirms this as she said: "I was in his taxi getting a ride to see the new Snow White movie when he started acting like a maniac! He ran a red light and was mumbling about how he has to drop me off fast so that he can get to the hotel. I asked him why it was so important and he just looked at me in disgust saying 'It´s all about the girl!' I was just holding on tight to my seat and was so happy to get to the theater alive. He didn't even take a payment from me, just left fast!" Look for the letter @ Harfax (121,37,25)

8. The Cube Art Gallery - Way up, but you can find what's in the hint.
.: Steven Jepson is an artist specialized in glassblowing. He owns a gallery together with his life partner, Joshua Michaels, who is a painter. According to Joshua, Steven had been withdrawn for weeks before he vanished. "Steven has always been the life and soul at the parties, he's full of positive energy. I`m not sure what happened to him, he just suddenly became cold and distant. He developed a bizarre technique creating bloody butterflies lately. They looked both gruesome and beautiful at the same time. One time I found him standing with a gun in his hand and asked him what he was doing. He just glazed into the distance saying how precious life is and how we all make mistakes. He came out of that when I held him tight. I hope he's ok and hasn't done anything stupid! I saw he had signed into that hotel, which I find weird, he´s never been there before." Look for the letter @ Kincora (180,82,2553)

9. Just BECAUSE - Nothing to do with phones, nurses, hospitals, etc... but it's in the jeans.
.: "We are so worried about Daniel, hope you will find him soon!" was the response from Mr. Sharp's parents when we interviewed them. He is a nurse, who lives with his parents, trying to save up for his own place. "Daniel had some issues with computers before", Mrs Sharp sighed and her husband carried on "He was addicted to some stupid computer game, where you pretend you are someone else and build a house together with someone. He would sit there 20 hours a day doing god knows what. He thought he was in love with a woman from across the world, who in reality turned out to be another guy! That was the kick Daniel needed to start doing something useful with his life and he went on to study nursing. Now he´s had the job in the local hospital for 2 months and then he just vanished." Mrs Sharp told us it´s been 5 weeks since Daniel had received a strange letter and shouted "I´m late, I´m late!" "He rushed out of the door, and Victor and I thought it was very rude of him. His phone was shut off few hours later and we haven´t heard from him." Look for the letter @ Taupo (179,181,48)

10. Carries Dream - Nothing in the hint - at all! - but it is romantic, and near the entrance.
.: Victoria Sacket is a banker and has all the riches anyone could dream of. Living in a mansion with her boyfriend, who is over 20 years junior to her, she has a lifestyle many envy. "I know what you´re all thinking, but it´s not like that!" exclaimed the boyfriend, Adrian. "We love each other very much and I can make her happy unlike anyone else could before. We were getting married next year and I had already made perfect plans for our wedding nite. I went to see her to her work about the reservations and I could tell she was extremely upset about something. I got her some peppermint mocha and massaged her shoulders, but she wouldn't relax. She said she needed to sort out something very urgent and would be home later. I had arranged a beautiful romantic meal waiting for her, but she never came home." Look for the letter @ Carries Dreams (87,140,22)

11. Redrum - It is near the autopsy table; derender is your friend.
.: "It was Kimmie´s 27th birthday and we got a total surprise for her! We went to get her from work in the middle of the day and took her to the +Redrum+ to get a new tattoo for her." explained the best friends of Kimberly Nesbit, who´s a local DJ on radio and several popular clubs. "She's planning on getting her whole body covered bit by bit, and this one was going to be a 'bloody wound'. As you can see we're all into tattoos and we always laughed at the idea of what the coroner would think of us laying on the autopsy table.. they wouldn´t know where to even start!" said Mandy. Lee told us that nothing unusual had happened in Kimmie's life lately either "She's such a party girl, loves her job and gets a kick out of meeting new people. The only unusual thing was probably her jury duty a year ago, we are still giggling at that, cos it was so out of character for her to be sitting there with all those posh people. She hated it bad." "We left Kimmie at the tattoo store and were meant to meet for drinks later at the local bar, but she didn´t show up. We have called all our friends, but no one has any clue where she could be."
.: Look for the letter @ The Slums (21,43,28)

12. Distorted Dreams - Pretty easy to find, all things considered.
.: Alexandra Holcombe, a young waitress of the local greasy spoon is being missed by her family greatly. "It´s been 6 weeks now. I've been taking care of her baby and her dog and we just want her to come home soon", said Savannah, Alexandra's younger sister. "She moved further away, cos she had always dreamt to be an actress. Apart from getting a tv commercial advertising a hand cream, she hasn't had much luck yet. It's only a matter of time when someone discovers her though. I remember how we used to sneak into empty theaters after the closing times and I would sit there in the audience while she got up on the stage and performed to me. We used to pretend she was the big star and the audience was full of people cheering. She told me that she was approached a few times at work, but I think it was just some random guys trying to get laid. She's so beautiful. I do remember her telling me about a strange letter she received where she was asked to go into a hotel. I told her not to go, but she said she had to check it out." Look for the letter @ Epic Sanctuary (86,208,53)

13. Boudoir - Not even a rug can hide a beautiful death.
.: "She's a rising star! I´ll Die for You - play has been a huge hit and we're losing sales if she doesn't return soon." exclaimed the manager of ballet dancer, Julia Whitman. "It was Julia's idea to bring a new touch into this show by using a real skeleton as her dance partner. She does things no one else dares to even think of. Julia's make up artist told us that there had been a letter waiting for her after the second show and she hadn't shown it to anyone. Apparently she had been very shocked while reading it and wanted to go home straight after, instead of celebrating with everyone. "We're missing our star, please find her soon." they all pleaded. Look for the letter @ Boudoir (125,155,21)

14. Mesh Depot - The hint is useless, but it's a very small store.
.: "It's only been a few days, we're sure Flynn's at some secret techie convention" laughed the workmates of an IT technician, Flynn O'Toole. "That man loves dressing up and going to all kinds of weird places, his imagination is out of this world! You know we all surf the net here and look at some weird stuff, but Flynn.. oh, man.. he´s got a privacy screen set up on his computers that comes up with a push of one button to hide whatever he's looking at. If he even started being interested in real women, maybe he would get one!" One of them remembers seeing a letter from the Silent Peacock Hotel on Flynn's desk. "Oh yeah, I remember that one. It made me google the place, cos I got curious on knowing what´s going on. Flynn was extremely secretive about that. Must be some masquerade orgy of superheroes or something. Now, wouldn't that be cool!" Look for the letter @ Clarington Park (140,44,23)

15. Madpea - It's on the track; I recommend prayer. I lagged like crazy.
 .: Art Teacher, Mark Langley's wife was in tears when we talked to her. "Why can't people just leave us alone. Ever since that girl, Madison went missing, our life has been such a rollercoaster ride. Constant ups and downs. Just when you think it´s all getting back to normal, something happens again! Mark is a wonderful husband and father and a great teacher! He never would have done something to a student of his. How dare people still accuse him of that! He was put on trial and they all saw how genuine he is and how he possibly couldn't have hurt that girl. It took a long time till he was able to work again after that incident and now this! He´s been missing for three days and it´s all because someone wrote something to him. I didn't see what the letter said, but I saw it was stamped at the Silent Peacock Hotel. That damn hotel again, why can't the people just stop haunting him. When he's back, we´re going to move into another town, I've had enough of it here!" Look for the letter @ MadPea Base (246,179,23)

Room326 15: You fooled them all, played well your part, now you must become the last piece of my art...

Endgame: I think I might know what these people have in common. I should go back to Room 326 to check if I missed something there previously. Something must have happened to Madison there!

I already took some pictures in the endgame of this hunt and did a post on it (link), but it is several steps which requires thinking about the information you've gotten and following the clues through a few different places (one of which you stumble on - literally). The final Room 326 is different from the initial one - reached through a landmark given to you by your HUD instead of found at the beginning hotel - which makes it a little harder than it might otherwise have been to wrap it up. I also think it's a shame that you couldn't have those two groups overlapping - the beginners and the finishers - but it would probably have been too difficult and script-heavy to link the necessary teleports to a finished HUD in order to keep beginners from confusing themselves with the final few places our victim takes us to show us her revenge (and her body). 

Hope you enjoyed this look at your final prizes, and good hunting!