Treasure Clue, can you help?

[vschuler]

Ok, so here's the thing...I went to the website, downloaded the photos there. In reading the website I understand that the "Forest Creatures" are all found out side, in a public place. When I looked up the "oldest tree in the forest" on Google, I found several states that have sites. ?I also found California White Mountains have a tree called ""Methuselah" a Bristlecone tree. ?The photo looks just like the one in the book. The tree in the book, or on the page listed on the Internet site, has three houses with another one on top. The White Mountains area, where Methuselah is, has a base facility with three additional facilities. There is a ladder or walkway going up the tree, indicating you have to climb to get there. ?In the border, below the tree, the word "Sanctuary" is written. IF you download the photo and change the colors you can see it easier. There is also something written in the side border, I haven't been able to make out, but it appears to be numbers...5 5 ..perhaps an elevation...there are also at least twelve faces in the tree. ?I haven't figured that part out as yet, but may just refer to the 12 creatures. But It looks like a beetle or lady bug in a dark spot of the tree. ?The other thing I found was on the page where it indicates "And, though no vote was taken, ...." It reads "Each is Outside for you to find" in the lower border. ?I don't figure I will be able to travel to these forest sites, so I hope this helps someone. People seem to be looking to hard for the clues. They are right there. Remember, children should be able to figure them out. Back away and look again. It isn't meant to be hard.

 

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[LitDoc]

CHATROOM INTERVIEW WITH MS ON 12GEMS.COM!!

Peck,

you can post my answers.

mike

1. How can we get him to tour our 'neck o' the woods'? (Alabama)


send us an email through atreasurestrove.com and it will be forwarded to my publicist.
generally, there has to be some big venue associated with me going
somewhere, like a museum.
we then schedule school readings, book store readings, media and the museum over several days.
i do not chage a fee to read at the schools. and i will read from 3rd grade up.


2. I noticed somewhere that this is his "first" treasure hunt. Does he
have more planned?

im working on a second Zac, Ana and Pook story and hope it is ready in about 18 months. there is demand to have a world wide treasure hunt and this book may include it. it will depend on 1. if this hunt is still going and people are still having fun and 2. how people feel about the end of the first treasure hunt. were they happy with the way it ended. was it too easy? too hard?


3. I noticed that in the illustrations there are Dragons but, through out
the whole book it doesn't mention anything about dragons!

no the book doesnt mention dragons.

What do the dragons mean?Are they clues?Are they just a thing to throw
you off? or Are they just something you drew just to add+
something to the illustrations?

sorry, but these are the type of questions i cant answer.


4. Will the 2nd book involve a treasure hunt also?


as i said before, we will have to see.

5. One more, does he read our post for entertainment, or to see how close we are coming?

ive given up trying to read the posts for the most part. there are now just too many messages for me to wade through.


6. After so many years of thought, planning, and meticulous work, how does MS feel now that the book is published and the hunt is on? What I mean is, does he feel a sense of completion and is he ready to start a new project, or will it only feel 'complete' if and when someone finally
finds a token? Is sitting on the key to the solution and watching us
plod through the puzzles a bit like being 13 month's pregnant (when
will someone hurry up and find one!)?

im very happy that people are having fun with the hunt. but, its more rewarding for me to see how people like the story and families are reading it together.


7. The sub-poem that's been circulating the net. The poster gave no
verification. Is it another hoax? Or is there really a sub-poem?

again, i cant deny anything since that itself releases additional
information.


8. From the date you published the book-in a much smaller printing, how long did you think it would take before the first person redeemed a token. Now that there are many more books than the original printing, are you
surprised one has not been redeemed yet?

i had and have no expectations on how fast something will be found. but i hope they are found and i personally would like it more if lots of different people found them rather than just one person showing up with all of them.


9. Are you planning on visiting Michigan for a book signing and display of the jewels?

there have been several requests for Michigan but i dont think anything is scheduled.


10. What's your favorite food?

favorites are chinese & indian.


Oh yeah, and will u touring around LA at all?

we had tentatively scheduled the LA natural history museum but something fell through. feel free to call them and tell them about the jewels and see if you can get it rescheduled.


11. Would you please elaborate on, "The simple clues don't need any special knowledge to find or decipher"? Many are claiming things like Morse code could be considered special knowledge!?

i dont consider a one time look up as 'special' knowledge anymore than
looking into a dictionary for the spelling of a word.
the intent of the statement was to say you dont need any unusual knowledge.



12. Are all the editions the exact same size?

i believe all of the editions are the same size.

13. Is everything inside the covers, and the covers, considered parts that
may include clues., e.g., Official Rules and Appendix

i believe that i said 'the clues are within the pages of the story'.

14. "Do you read the forums, and if so, do you find them entertaining?"


yes, i read the forums but they are so big now i cant really stay current.

15. Without giving away any hints, do you believe anyone has gotten close to any of the clues, other than 'The Poem' ?

again, i cant really say if i think anyone is close since it could give them additional information.


16. How important are the 5x5 boxes as clues, and do we have the right
idea on their appearance (square, five rows and five columns.)
Is the constant misspelling of Twelve important? (misspelled in possibly
two lines of the poem, and in the Table of Contents)

the errata page on atreasurestrove.com contains the errors in the book.


17. Are all of the puzzles in the companion book used in ATT?
Are there any other puzzles in ATT that are not in the companion book?

for both of these questions, i believe that i said the puzzle book relate in some way. i also said that the puzzle book was to get you thinking. so, thinking is related.


18. I am a teacher and have been telling my students about the book and hunt anything to get them reading and away from TV/video games. One student is visually impaired and wants to know if there are enough clues in the text that he would have a chance. Having trouble seeing puts him at a disadvantage scouring the pictures for clues.

again, this is the type of question that im sorry but i cant answer specifically. its a printed book and it has clues it.


19. I would like to know if things like leaf litter, or several inches
of snow could be a hinderance in the actual (onsite) locating of the coin,
or if that should not be a problem.

cant say.


20. How often is the integrity of the coin location checked?

all i said is if i discover one missing for more than 30 days, i may void it.

21. What does "accessible to everyone" mean;

i believe the book says easily accessible.


22. My 12 yr old son is hooked on this book and the hunt. He is a very good artist and writer and would like to do a similar book when he is older.
What kind of advice would you give him?

keep thinking about it. he should follow his dreams.
i wish him the best of luck.


23. What type of mediums does Mike like to work with, and where did he get his training in illustrating?

ink and watercolor. the darklings are pencil and the
cover is an electronic montage.
i took art at Tulane university but i have a BS in mathematics.


24. How do you pronounce your name?

i presume you mean 'Stadther'? i say every letter. Stad ther (staadthur)


25. I would like to know what part of the Mr. Stadther enjoyed writing the most...

i liked it all and wrote it in about 8-10 weeks and tweeked slightly over the next five years. i came out quickly and didnt nead much fussing over. the part about Pook getting crystalized is still touching for me when i read it to kids.


26. Are there any real stories behind the book's characters and story that Mr. Stadther would like to share?

well, one comes to mind...

i had drafted an outline of the story and i liked the name Pook for Pook.
simply because it shot out of your mouth quickly and sounded a little funny.
later, i had a local audition for some young kids and wanted to select a
few as fairy models. i told them the story and afterward one little girl
raised her hand and asked me if i knew that Pook was Russian for fart. i
said i didnt, but it gave me the idea of using that as the basis for how
Pook got his name.

 

[Black-Beard]

Litdoc and someone else keep asking about the text and one missing thing. "my theory is" it's the Q. if you start at the very beginning and read to the very end paying attention to the text, there are off the wall capitalizations all thru the book. not counting the first letter of every sentence but just in the middle of a sentence and the characters names. Examples are Ground Forces, Air Corps, Ground Leader, Zac, Dragonfly, Butterfly, Great Fores, etc. If you keep track of those every out of character capitalization is used except for a Q. The question is how to use that and why these out of character capitalizations are for because (example) look at page 23. the second complete paragraph down's first sentence Dragonfly is not capitalized but is most everywhere else in the book, why

Trapape- Thanks for asking how it went. You would know if "someone" who i've been butting heads with in here would not have went to the moderator to have a post of mine removed. It's went very well, but didn't leave with coin in hand. Had my 6 year old daughter and a couple of her friends with me so I was not able to scour like need be, since the fairies have not decided to talk to me yet... The coincidences that were there were just to many for me to be off. Everything from yard ornaments that you stick in the ground all of which were characters of this book(the insects that is) dragonfly, lady bug, etc., scenic overlook, 5 min nature trail, an art gallery of pieces that had very strange poems on them as well as crescent moons carved out of all of them. It was scary how much everything fit and i hated leaving without finding it but the girls got tired of looking eventually. Just waiting for another day when I actually have nothing to do and can afford to blow $100 in gas, our gas is going thru the roof...

 

[hoppperr]

Black Beard:

If you don't mind sharing, what part of I80 did you explore? I've come up with a few specific locations by anagraming and all so far are along Interstate 80.

 

[Firemistress]

Hi, I a newby here and I just found something that might be interesting to show. I may be completely wrong with my assumptions, but you guys be the judge of that.

Okay, in the poem MS says "...with name in hand the fairies know and they will tell you where to go..."
Now, if you look at the, "Ye Nomenclature of Fairies", it states that the Flower Fairies are always the good fairies, the Kootenstoopits (the one with yellow pjs) are right in the middle, they sometimes tell the truth, and they sometimes lie, and the Pickensrooters - those are the ones you should not listen to.

Now, I put together all the letters that the fairy pointed to, see if I got an anagram, but nothing happened. Then, I started adding one of the letters the Kootenstoopits held - which are the D and the Y. With both together, nothing still made sense. l took out the D and came with, "Ritz Toys", now this still didn't make sense to me until I searched it in Google. What came out was this website "http://www.ritzcarlton.com/hotels/n...ses/toys_menus_teddy_bears_ritz_kids_pr.html" in where it states the place, "New York" but also a park, "Battery Park".

I might have gone overboard, but what do you think?

 

[TSpoon]

Firemistress - my guess is that you've gone overboard. I've been down so many similar paths of logic only to have discredited the idea in my own mind. It's amazing how you can almost always come up with something given a collection of letters, some clever anagramming, the internet and a strong problem-solving mentality. When I first started, going only from page 63, I had myself mildly convinced there was a token at a speicif location in Fort William Johnson in New York state. Thankfully I did not have opportunity to pursue it. I'm not certain my conclusions were based upon an active imagination and an overwhelming desire to make my line of reasoning "work".

But if your logic is faulty (and I can't say for certain that it is) don't be discouraged - all of us here are like Thomas Edison; each wrong direction taken narrows the path that much more.

 

[LitDoc]

RE: Post 1257

BlackBeard,

It was not Pancho that asked the moderator to remove your post. I did that. You used the Lord's name in an inappropriate manner, which was offensive to me, and I expect it would have been to others. Additionally, your angry verbal rampage was not in keeping with the guidelines of this discussion board. You also said you would not be posting in this forum again, so it's a good thing that post was deleted, because it allowed you to come back, and I'm sure you have things to contribute.

For everyone reading this, could I suggest that if you want to chew someone out, do it in a private message. I also suggest to everyone to help one another. One of us will find a token, and you can mention this forum while giving your thank-you speech.

 

[Black-Beard]

Firemistress- I like the way you're thinking. Thats a very interesting angle. This fairy part has me stumped, and that may be of some help. Somewhere in the book was another mention of flower fairies being the ones that hid the treasures. Pages 38 and 39 "I Think" may be a key of some kind. All the mis-spelled words and sentences that don't make sense, either mean anagrams or code. I don't know, but it's making me want to walk my own plank, AArrgghhh...

 

[BonnyBlue]

LitDoc,

? ?No Honey, you only go directly to jail if you do something illegal like going on private property or something.? ?What I was thinking about was the layout and the number of box's around the board are the same as the Monopoly Game.? And the colors are like the Monopoly Money Colors.? The Butterfly has two wings kinda the color of Park Place and Boardwalk.? The Compass has a spinner, N,S,E and W, and so does the clock with its hands pointing at different times or numbers.? ?Myabe the tree on page 24 that is reminding me of a stalk of Celery is hinting at SALARY, a play on phonics, spellings, and sound alikes.

? ? ? Monopoly is a very slow game like Snail but you have to set a time limit on it or it could go on forever just like MS set a time to stop on the hunt.
? ? ?
? ? ? I was thinking maybe we could toss it around a little bit about thinking maybe it may be working like a Board Game of some type, but the trick is to figure out what and where everything is supposed to go, so now we are back to the ? WHERE or WHAT do we do with it.?? Just a thought on a new approach, probably nothing.? Maybe the Corners are important areas to work from and think about on all the Bordered Picture Pages.

Property-Park Place
Luxery Tax
Property-Boardwalk
1st Corner - Go
Property-Meditarranian Ave
Community Chest
Property-Baltic Ave

PLAY MONEY
Ones - White
Fives - Pink
Tens - Yellow
twentys - Lt. Green
fiftys - Lt. Blue
One Hundreds - Lt. Peach or Beige Color
Five Hundreds - Orange


Then of course is the Tokens and where would they be placed around the board or in the center...But wheres the dice?? Pooks out there in the Center and Pooks white with black spots and he makes a two or three bounce landing when he flies in.? He has two wings?? The White Bald head of the bad guy on Page 55 has black spots on it.

? ? ? Just another idea to play with.

Probably Out there in left field but still thinking on it.

Good Luck To Everyone

Bonny Blue

 

[CMSCHUT]

LITDOC, thanks for the post on the live chat.

TO ALL,

ENJOY YOUR FAMILIES AND HAVE A WONDERFUL EASTER.

 

[Rosie]

Hello all!? I did my first actual physical hunt yesterday.? My two daughters, a friend and her 3 children.
We hiked the Grotto Falls in Gatlinburg Tennessee.? I hike often with my husband, and I told her that when we hike we normally don't run into this many kids on the trails.? When we got to the falls part we looked behind the rocks, I looked in a different section and guess what I found?!? NOT A TOKEN, but 2 quarters lol, the section I was looking in was kind of shady.? I saw a coin and was really excited (hey it was dark).? Then it looked like two coins, so when I reached and retrieved 2 quarters I had to laugh.? My friend was laughing at me, then I said what if MS dropped these quarters out of his pocket while trying to hide the tokens.? She laughed harder at me.?
So now I am posting this for all to see and have a good laugh, hey I got 50 cents for that 1.2 mile hike up to the falls. My girls found a few rocks to keep including a large one shaped like a heart.?
My approach and thinking to this book is going to take a trip back to the drawing board.

 

[Black-Beard]

Litdoc- "heyzues Christmas" is not using his name incorrectly, that's actually talking about his day. Anyway this is not about religion and I have talked with the moderators about that deletion and i would love to quote them on their reply, but I just turned 14 yesterday and am past that. I also "only" suggest that if you find a token(although ALOT of people here deserve PROPS for sharing ideas) I might not mention this site due to the rules of figuring it out for yourself and using special tools. A computer is a VERY special tool and Mike could disqualify any one of us if he so chooses, so can't we all just get along... And Litdoc, although that post did have some well deserved anger in it, you must admit it did also have alot of things that should have been read by all... With that being said, ENOUGH... Let's just all get the fairies to sing their song to us and have fun with our children looking for this stuff... DON'T FORGET THE CHILDREN... BIGONES... HAPPY EASTER ;-)

 

[Black-Beard]

Hey Rosie- Thrilled to hear you took the children with you... They loved it didn't they Beats them sitting in front of TV or Playstation all day... Since your from the TN area, see if you can work with this. I haven't finished messing with it yet, but in messing with anagrams of the chapter names I pulled out From chpt 16(forgive me if I spell the city wrong, no atals in front of me) Loretto Tennessee but if I remember right I was short an O. No idea if that helps or if there might be another city there that correctly fills that anagram, but I did find it interesting to come up with Tennessee out of it, hope it might help...

 

[Black-Beard]

One last thing before i turn in, maybe my filter has just gone astray or is anyone else having a NEW problem with pop-ups since we switched Nite.

 

[patchythepirate]

I went for my first hunt yesterday, took the family. It was a beautiful place and VERY definitely one of the locations (I'm convinced). Everything came together, however, as someone has said before...when you do find the location, you still have to find the token which is not so easy. We looked for a very long time in the AREA in which it should be on the "map" but imagine looking for a needle in a haystack. I think MS wanted us to SEE the real prize the beauty around us. However, for those of you who look at it as a getting rich scheme, that's definitely not what this is. The trip was fabulous and the view was spectacular, I've never seen such beauty. We had a fun time as a family without tv, video games, etc and that was important to me....quality family time. The kids of course want to go back and look again (for the token) however they all said they had fun and couldn't believe how beautiful it was. "like something out of a fairy tale" a quote from one of my kids. I will be going back to this location if not for the token, for the beauty alone.

POSSIBLE SOLUTION:
I could be wrong but if anyone in Oregon wants to look for Pook I believe he may be in a place called Green OR...which is almost impossible to get info about because it's on the old maps but apparently is not considered a city. It is just south of Roseburg. I had unscrambled something in the book a long time ago "pickensrooters or spriggans" I can't find my exact notes I have so many. But Green OR is too far and with a location found within a days drive I'd rather concentrate on that. I don't care what anyone thinks about the pook location, I'm just throwing that out there because I was curious if I was right. The other clue regarding the possible Green OR location was "sgrt specs"...maybe there is a statue of a sargent..airforce maybe, if so if he's wearing "specs" the token could be behind his specs...I know Roseburg has a military cemetery and some of the old old cemetery headstones were made to look like trees (haven't been to Oregon so I don't know anything about the area)...or possibly the name of the Srgt was "specs"...don't know but those were my thoughts. There are many references to the air force and specs on the bug in pictures. Also when I was researching the possibilities in Oregon on line I found a website for a theme park in Salem called the enchanted forest. Some possibly coincidental info on that site ..read the owner's bio and look at the map (www.enchantedforest.com) might take the kids there someday it looks fun. So I'm just throwing that out there for you. Like I said before I live in Michigan so I'm not going to take several days off to go on a possible wild goose chase.

Incidentally, the way I found the location near me was nothing to do with anagrams. I'm positive that even if one person finds a token that is very unlikely that same person will find them ALL. So good luck, let me know if anyone looks for pook in Green OR and if you find anything...I don't want any of it...just wanted to know if I'm right about that. Maybe this will give some of you who don't have a place to look, a place to hunt. But don't spend tons of money that you can't afford searching because chances are slim!!! Do it for fun and don't go in debt trying to get rich quick.

Patchy

 

[CMSCHUT]

PATCHY,

I enjoyed your post. i am glad you had a great time. if it weren't for the book would you have taken a trip like this ? i only ask because i think maybe this is the real prize. i went on a hunt also with my sister, i won't embarrass myself here on my hunt, but would like to say that it was one of the best times i had with my sister and will forever remember it . we laughed and froze our tushies in the feb. cold and came home with only memories of our trip. we were out there book in hand wondering the woods . it all seemed too perfect. i kept looking in trees ( the looks we got from people ) and everywhere saying what are we missing. what are we not seeing. all my sis would say was THE TOKEN.

I just wanted to say was i don't really think any of us are in this for a get rich scheme. i think everyone wants to find the token for all there hard work put into this hunt. none of these jewels would be enough to for any of us to quit our jobs and live comfy forever. i also believe we guard what we have as far as our clues on location, etc. because want to show ourselves and everyone that what we found in the pages of ATT , and thought would lead to a token does. what i'm trying to say is right now we are all finding things and wondering is it supposed to mean something, am i digging or reaching to far , is this zip code right, do i even need a zip code , etc. i think the real reward and riches will come when someone finds a token and knows all the whatifs and maybes were right . the bonus of course is the jewel.

 

[patchythepirate]

cmschut,

No I would not have taken the trip without this book and that was what I stated in my first paragraph that MS wants us to SEE the real treasure or prize. It was lovely.

I just wanted others to know that just because I've posted a possible solution for pook not to go running off thinking "this is it!" only to find I'm wrong or that it is the spot and they can't find the exact spot when they get there. I don't want someone who is hurting for money taking time off they can't afford and so on. I know there are people out there who would do that.

I posted this possible solution for those who CAN go look and want to go look to see what ,IF anything is there. I was frustrated early on because I could not find anywhere close enough for a days drive to go look but here I at least thought I was positive about this pook idea being in Green Oregon and even priced out flights. But with such uncertainty I didn't want to go on such an excursion alone but couldn't afford taking the whole family. So, for others who haven't found a place to look and this possible place is convenient for them I wanted to share it so they can join in the fun. It's much more fun when you have a place to look...get outside...away from the computer and actually hunt.

It was good to see my kids enjoying nature.

Patchy

 

[treasuretrapper]

If you go to the treasures trove web-site you should really download the interview at Explore the world of A Treasure's Trove you have to click on Bill Handel - KFI AM 640 - Radio interview with Mike Stadther and it will take like 5 min to download but it is totally worth it........the ripleys thing is cute t.o

HAPPY EASTER

 

[pancho_semplice]

tsa, maybe if you stopped using words like 'aggressive' and 'greedy', your posts wouldn't be taken negatively. I do agree with you that the actual text of the book is important to the solution to this hunt, but I also believe you are taking the the line, "within the text you have the key," a tad too literally. The cipher key is most certainly located somewhere in the text. However, the cipher key is useless unless you have some other guidance to go from. The poem is the blue print to finding the tokens. How you interpret that is totally up to you, and the first person to find a token is going to be have the right answer. I belive each token will be found using a common principle, but you will have a multitude of various ciphers, puzzles, codes, etc. used to hide the pertinent information.

Blackbeard, I believe the text from pages 38 and 39 is written in Old English, and that is the explanation behind the odd syntax. As for not mentioning this site, well, no one here is using a computer to help them out. A computer didn't tell me that 'An even code with one piece nary' was on page 41. A computer isn't doing anything for any of us on this site. We are simply gathering to share information with eachother to attain a common goal. It is a public forum. You give up all legal rights to the information you provide when you post it here, period. Why do you think I keep telling everyone to verify everything that is said here? Whether it is a good lead or not, if you cannot see it for yourself, it is USELESS to you. Some of the posters here may or may not be compromising their own searches by what they post here. But they aren't being forced into it by anyone, they are doing freely in a public forum.

As for your odd capitalizations. Where exactly are you seeing them? The examples you have given are all examples of proper noun usage in the book. As for your missing Q, there is also a claim out there now that Q does not appear anywhere in the book. This is all in reference to the line 'for the one you are missing, you did not see.' This is a inappropriate use of this line as it is only HALF of the couplet:

Within the text you have the key, for the one you are missing you did not see.

I have recently discovered a possible solution for this particular line in the poem, but have yet to confirm its validity. Nevertheless, I am almost certain that the line is referring to the jeweled Pook.

 

[tsa]

pancho_semplice, thank you for your suggestion.? Maybe trying not to use negative words would help.

About the monopoly idea, I think that is very creative and might actually be part of the solution.? One of my friends is a collector of monopoly games, so I'll show him and see what he thinks.