Veni, Vidi, Vici #25

Yo finally I got to write this walkthrough of the latest Deviant Art's Halloween Scavenger Hunt! Been postponing it due to work stuff + personal soul recalibration + pure inertia / laziness + mental clearing & tidying up. 

I was super excited being the FIRST FREAKIN' WINNER in the annual hunt again and turned out to be the FASTEST mwahahahahahaaarrr..!! Didn't expect to solve them all under 24 hours myself especially with phoenixleo's and ellysiumn's tricks omg just omg!!

Thanks so much for game and the win and the doubloons! 

Ye know this is actually my TRUUUEE LOOOVE - X MARKS THE SPOT!! GAME IS ONNN..!!!

Prizes:

1-Year   (in points)

AND

500 Fragments

   

 

I CAME, I SAW, I SOLVED!!

 

ALL YUOR CANDIES ARRR MIIINNEEE..!!

  

Now for those who are interested, grab your coffee and cookies, enjoy the big reveal!

 

@Moonbeam13

• The Major •

JOURNAL / STA.SH / TEXT / DEVIATION CLUE

The clue was obviously written in her newly created journal "Welcome, Visitor", easily found when you visit her profile.

 

Carefully look around
and you will see
a lovely little morsel
guarded by the witches three

 

TARGET DEVIATION / JOURNAL

When I put in the words "witch", "witches", "three" in her gallery search, the result came up with deviations that don't seem to fit in the riddle. But thankfully her deviations are not that many so I could just browse them and found one!

 

There will be the first candy "The Key" in the description, there's your candy & puzzle piece links! The easiest to solve.

🍬

CANDY #1

 

 

🎃

PUZZLE #1

 

 

@Astralseed

• Gift Shop •

JOURNAL / STA.SH / TEXT / DEVIATION CLUE

It's a trick already to find where the clue was - it's in his About box, under "My Commission Prices":

 

On my recent visit to Sydney, I found a flock of pale water birds with long beaks and an affinity to help defenseless fish fathers find their missing fish kids. I think I lost my candy near the pier, where a group of these purse-aficionados were hanging out with the mine-mine-mine birds!

 

 

TARGET DEVIATION / JOURNAL

When I read it again it's definitely something about pelican, if you search for "pelican" in his gallery you'd spot it on. But I was actually using the word "bird" when I solved this, then it came to me it has to be this photo of pelicans!

 

Originally the candy was put in the comment, but since the link doesn't work he then added the sta.sh link in the description ("GiftShop"). After exploring other similarly sta.sh links / images that were put in the comment sections (where some game admins had to added an extra link somewhere else for the puzzle pieces), I concluded sta.sh links just wont work in the comments in this Eclipse system.

🍬

CANDY #2

 

🎃

PUZZLE #2

@C-91

• Gardener •

JOURNAL / STA.SH / TEXT / DEVIATION CLUE

It's easy enough to find the link to the clue, it's in a custom box, find 👁️👄👁️ CLICK HERE FOR FREE CANDIES 👁️👄👁️ .

 It will lead to the clue doc:

 

 

 

TARGET DEVIATION / JOURNAL

As indicated in the riddle, let's google the whole lyrics, you'll then find that it's a part of a song called, "The Riddle" by Nikk Kershaw.

Back to C-91's gallery, I didn't find anything when I searched for "nikk kershaw", but I found one for "riddle"!

There's the candy in the deviation's description!

🍬

CANDY #3

 

🎃

PUZZLE #3

 

 

@Phoenixleo

• Graveyard •

JOURNAL / STA.SH / TEXT / DEVIATION CLUE

Here comes the master of the puzzle masters. The hardest of the hardest. The most dizzying maze of useless sta.sh links!! His role obviously deliberately made that we can't cheat using "View pagesource" lol. I think I solved this the last.

There's no way around exploring the maze, so I diligently made a semi-organized list of his sta.sh files. No stopping until I found the one(s) meant to be found - and finally I did found it!

Try solve his puzzle below if you want!

 TARGET DEVIATION / JOURNAL

Based on the riddle above I collected the bolded & italicized (and any 'suspicious') letters, what I found is this:

 

 S T BAKERY A G GUIDELINES FAIRY DD H I N O O_O DEAD

 

I don't see anything useful, so I tried removing the words:  S T A G H I N O  ..still not making sense. I also tried some combinations into an online anagram solver but no luck either. So I searched the gallery using possible keywords: "stag", "dd", "bakery", "guidelines", "dead", "fairy", "o_o", etc - checked most the results, mostly dead ends. But then I bumped into a few deviations had multiple lots of sta.sh links, so I checked them one by one again with "View pagesource".

Thank god I only needed to check 2 deviations like this in total: "A Lonely Migration" and "Coronation of a Moon Prince" - FINALLY FOUND THE CANDY AT THE LATTER OMG OPEN SESSSAMEEE..!!!

 

 

This was surprisingly another second hardest puzzle coz there were 3 people found it, but to me this was just the trickiest!! AND IMA SO HAPPPY AND PROUD STILL BEING THE FIRST ONE TO FIND THIS GEM OMG THE MOST SATISFYING TO FIND NOT TO MENTION BEING THE FIRST ONE TO ARRIVE I CAN'T EVENN..!!!

🍬

CANDY #4

 

🎃

PUZZLE #4

 

 

@morbidman187

• Pet Shop •

JOURNAL / STA.SH / TEXT / DEVIATION CLUE

Also an easy one to find: when you see his profile ID box you'll find the word "spooky" was hyperlinked to a sta.sh link.

 

Solve the word search puzzle and you'll get the clue "FIRST BLUE BEETLE":

 

TARGET DEVIATION / JOURNAL

Search for "blue beetle" in his gallery or simply browse the featured gallery, open the first one uploaded:

 

There's the candy in the comment section - another sta.sh that has a failed link initially, click on the new fixed one.

🍬

CANDY #5

 

🎃

PUZZLE #5

 

@Kovowolf

• The Herbal Shop •

JOURNAL / STA.SH / TEXT / DEVIATION CLUE

 

A bit hidden to find, the link was in the word "souls" at the end of a sentence in a custom box. There's the Herbal Shop clue.

Walking along a quiet little cobble stone street, you come across a beautiful series of shops. One, in particular, stands out from the rest. The paint on it's weathered exterior looks almost black, but when you get closer, you can see it is of an iridescent blue with intricate trims of silver along the molding of the windows and door. Warm glowing light emits from the window sills, beckoning you to come explore it's wondrous wares inside.

As you push the door open, a gentle and harmonic tinggg resounds, which indicates to the shop owner that a new customer has arrived. The smell upon entry is absolutely inviting. Aromas greet your olfactory senses one by one with the next smell more pleasant than the last, that emit from a perfect balance of spice and blend. The shelves are lined with bottles and herbal remedies. Upon closer inspection, and behind plants and herbs, you see the main counter. Standing behind a beautiful hand carved mahogany desk, a young lady with witchy and hazel eyes stands there, eager to greet you. Her voice is soft, sweet, and chipper. 

"Hello! Welcome to the Herbal Shop! Please let me know if I can assist you! If this is your first time, might I recommend the shelves over there". She points to a beautiful shelf of assorted goodies and ingredients to the left. Oh, how wonderful the smell is as you get closer. As you approach, a piece of parchment lay strewn across the small table top, which was obviously placed there for you to read.

THE RIDDLE

"My feline familiar has been lost for some time; a witness said they've seen her accompanying the puuurrrrrfect moon and stars in the sky. She is smug and happy in her little place of rest, but if you find her then I will reward you with a special herbal candy, some say the worlds best."

TARGET DEVIATION / JOURNAL

Easy one, search the word "cat" or "feline" in her gallery, you'd find immediately the deviation purrrfectly matches the description! The candy sta.sh link was in the word "Galactic Puurrrrrrs" in the description.

 

 

🍬

CANDY #6

🎃

PUZZLE #6

 

 

@Thiefoworld

• Bakery •

JOURNAL / STA.SH / TEXT / DEVIATION CLUE

The clue was "hidden" in the sentence under the photo in his Deviant ID box: "Hi! I'm Thiefo and I like semi-transparent, colorful people."

 

 

TARGET DEVIATION / JOURNAL

Unfortunately those underlined words didn't lead anywhere, so let's check out the gallery. But if you searched for related keywords "transparent", "semi transparent", "colorful", etc, you wont find one close to the description - so we have to browse manually!

Thankfully it wouldn't take long if you just go through the Featured folder, you'd find it in page 3 (at least by the time this post is written, if max deviation is set 24).

The candy link was put originally in the comment, but then added to the description.

🍬

CANDY #7

 

🎃

PUZZLE #7

@JustACapharnaum

• Delicatessen •

JOURNAL / STA.SH / TEXT / DEVIATION CLUE

The hint was easily found in a 'suspicious' line, "Delicatessen" decorated with Halloween icons in his commission custom box.

 

 

 Welcome to the DeviantArt's Delicatessen!

 

In here you will find the finest, most refined and exotic pieces ever!

Will you let yourself be tempted? I hope so!

 

 
The clue:

I am the Chosen One. Carefully picked by Community Volunteers and Staff Members, I am here to shine a light on our beloved DA artists and help them give their work more visibility. What am I?

 

TARGET DEVIATION / JOURNAL

I'm pretty surprised that this puzzle made the first hardest of all since there are only 2 people found this - and I'm ULTRA ECSTATIC that I made the first one arriving, YEEEEEHARRR..!! I didn't this one was the hardest though, I struggled much more on the Phoenixleo's and Ellysiumn's.

 

 

The first thing that came to my mind was a deviation awarded with DD / Daily Deviation, and I did find a few by searching with the word "dd" (not "daily deviation"), I also browsed a few more with different keywords but no search result contained a secret sta.sh.

 

So I turned to his journal posts - the potential ones are something with "DD Round Up" or anything community oriented. I had to scan any unique sta.sh link in those journals one by one of those in detail via "View pagesource" in my browser, haha..

 

Finally I found it: it's in "2020 DD Roundup", the sta.sh link was embedded in the word "Cover image" - yeah, scroll down!

🍬

CANDY #8

 

🎃

PUZZLE #8

 

@Ellysiumn

• Wizard •

JOURNAL / STA.SH / TEXT / DEVIATION CLUE

The clue was camouflaged in "Inspirations" custom box, it said, "People say they've seen him in the dark night, galloping in the woods, clothes and horse as dark as the darkness itslef and red eyes as a sign of death."

 

TARGET DEVIATION / JOURNAL

If you look for "dark" or "darkness" in his gallery you'd immediately spot the one fitting the description. The secret sta.sh is in the word "wallpaper" in the description.

*** !! MY WAY !! ***

WAIT! Truth is I didn't find the link that way - I NEVER NOTICED the clue, only saw it as I'm writing this reveal journal! Back then I thought Ellysiumn didn't put any clue at all or hid it in some super hidden journal I had zero clue of, so I decided to go forward my own.

I searched the word "magician", "wizard", "witch", "abracadabra", etc as that's his role. But I found nothing in the deviations shown in the results. UNTIL I was inspired to put in the word "halloween", check the deviation results (thank god only 5!) one by one.. and VOILA..!!

This apparently made the third hardest puzzle coz there were only 4 people found it - aaaaand again being the VERY FIRST TO ARRIVE DESPITE TOTALLY MISSING THE CLUE AND ALL THE BRUTEFORCE ATTACK IMA TOTALLY CRYINN WITH JOYYYYY..!!

🍬

CANDY #9

 

🎃

PUZZLE #9

 

@DrZime

• Pumpkin Patch •

JOURNAL / STA.SH / TEXT / DEVIATION CLUE

If you visited her profile at the time when the game was on you'd see an obviously unique orange custom box where the clue is (when I checked now as I'm writing, the custom box is gone).

 

 

 Looking for Candy?

The Pumpkin Patch Owner has hidden candy somewhee in her patch! You must solve this riddle to find it:

She is very scientific
Her orange sweater is iconic
She travels in a machine of mystery
Through lies she can always see
Her enemies pick costumes from the cheapest racks
For her best friends she always has particular snacks
She has plenty of brains to spare
And in this gallery she's with women of similar affair

TARGET DEVIATION / JOURNAL

I'm guessing everyone is familiar with Scooby Doo, therefore it's obvious the riddle was talking about Velma. Look for "velma" in the gallery and you'd soon find one. I don't see the sta.sh link now by the time I'm writing this, but I think it's somewhere in the description.

 

 

🍬

CANDY #10

 

 

🎃

PUZZLE #10

 

@Malintra-Shadowmoon

• Antique Shop •

JOURNAL / STA.SH / TEXT / DEVIATION CLUE

You could see the clue in one of her custom boxes back then when the game is on (thank god I'm thorough with recording stuff, so I have all the screenshots!).

 

Well, in my store you can find legendary art and artifacts from every age and era since the dawn of mankind. This includes the Holy Grail, which one belonged to Joseph of Arimathea and caught the blood of Jesus.

I can still clearly remember that a long time ago my Father incarcerated as a human on Earth because He had a task to do that required His personal presence. His name as a human was Jesus. He and His twelve disciples sat at a table and ate and drank together. I have now forgotten the shape of the table. Was it rectangular, square, round? It does not matter. His weapon came from above, from Heaven, and it was the word and the light.

Times later in the Middle Ages, there was also a person. He was also sitting at a table with twelve others, the shape of which I don't remember either. His weapon came from below, from the depths of a lake. It was divine too and helped this man to unite a war-torn country.

Look for him and his artifact and my specially designed candy is yours, as well as a part that will later make a whole.

Good luck and many blessings in all your ways and endeavors.

TARGET DEVIATION / JOURNAL

The riddle sounds very much like King Arthur and his sword Excalibur. If you looked in her gallery for "King Arthur" you'd find an obvous one titled, "King Arthur and His Knights", but there wont be anything in that deviation. I then also looked for other related keywords like "holy grail", "excalibur", "knight", "round table", etc but the results were either the same (getting back to that "King Arthur and His Knights) or when there were diversity no other deviation having the secret link.

 

So it had to be in the journal - problem is THERE'S NO MORE SEARCH FUNCTION in Deviant Art for journals since Eclipse! I refuse to do another brute force attack on this one (340+ journals!), so I resorted to Google! Surprise, surprise, when I googled "malintra shadowmoon king arthur" (the word 'journal' not even needed), THERE I FOUND THE OBVIOUS ONE I was looking for! 

 

The candy was in the comment section (also previously not working but then fixed). Looks this is also the third hardest coz only 4 people found it - AND AGAIN I WAS THE FIRST TO NOMMM YASSSS..!! 

🍬

CANDY #11

 

🎃

PUZZLE #11

 

 

@Queen-Kitty

• Book Shop •

JOURNAL / STA.SH / TEXT / DEVIATION CLUE

For this one the clue was easy to find, it's in one of her custom boxes all spread out.. but to solve it was not quite easy unless like me you happened to use the right keyword!

 

Welcome visitor to Twist Endings: Grimthorne's very own Mystery and Horror Book Shoppe!

 

I'm so glad you stopped by, and I hope you find some new reading material! Oh...you're not here for books you say? You want your riddle to find my exclusive Book Worm Candy? Well, ok, if you insist, but feel free to check out incredible selection of books catering to the mystery and horror genres. I'll tell you a secret though, the ghost stories are my favorite. ;)

The Riddle:

A spooky month
Leads up to a colder time
Youth is fleeting
Decay is a quiet crime
Words last longer
Especially those that rhyme

TARGET DEVIATION / JOURNAL

I think I tried 1-2 other keywords ('october' - spooky month; and 'winter' - colder time?) before trying "decay" in the gallery search, and the former results were displaying a lot of generic-looking (or just too many to browse!) deviations compared to the latter.. somehow I intuit the deviation has to be one of the deviations shown from the keyword "decay" AND I WAS RIGHT!! (Don't know, 'decay' somehow sounds unique in this riddle.)

By the time this blog is written there are 40 deviations from the search result.. I sensed that this has to do with books, so I picked the one with that in the picture and VOILA!! The candy / sta.sh link was in the description. 

 

Apparently it has "october" in the title - you might find it too via the word "october" only I bet would take longer to find!

This has to be the second hardest puzzle as there were only 3 managed to solve it - SOOOOO SUPER HAPPY AGAIN TO BE THE FIRST ONE DID IT!!

🍬

CANDY #12

 

🎃

PUZZLE #12

 

 

 

Finally finished! There you go, the curious ones, now you see where the candies are! Thanks so much o' Universe again and again and again ad infinitum for all the games AND the EPIC WINNNS!!

X marks the spot, the game is afoot - my truuue llloooovvvee!!