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Diary of a First Villain Hunt
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Yeti Face
Yeti Face
Pinball Amateur

May-15-2014 14:41

[SPOILER WARNING â€" This thread contains information relating to Arch Villain Hunts, so if you haven't used the content before then this is your opportunity to leave the thread and still maintain your lack of knowledge on the subject.

In a similar vein I want to go spoiler free myself, so if you're an experienced player posting here please keep in mind that as this is my first hunt all I know about them is what I post. If you could also avoid posting any hints unless I ask for them, that would be fantastic. Thank you.]





Today I unlocked Arch Villain Hunts. Which is timely, as yesterday I submitted an entry to compete in the annual AVH competition. I didn't mean to deceive anyone with my entry, if anything the Prince's Ambassador deceived me by advertising the hunts when he gave me the invitation, the scoundrel. I travelled to Shangri La today â€" then boom â€" I was landed with the Palace Gate puzzle. Did you know, if you ask the scholars any of the following terms, “Palace”, “Tiger”, “Animals”, “Tov” etc. you'll be informed that those have nothing to do with Shangri La?

However, I'm digressing. I got past the gate puzzle, and I met the Prince with $4500 to my name, three contacts across all cities, and two false accusations. Apparently though he didn't care for any of that, and immediately offered me a villain hunt. I thought it'd be rude to refuse given his esteem for me, so naturally I accepted. My villain is called “The Rat”, which you'll note is not a Shangri La animal mantra.

Since there doesn't appear to be much going on in the forums at the moment I thought it might be nice to make a diary of my attempt to catch The Rat. As I understand it, if I fail the hunt I'll get my third and final false accusation. So either I have to go down, or The Rat does. I can only hope this thread provides some small amusement to the Sleuth community.

Replies

Yeti Face
Yeti Face
Pinball Amateur

May-19-2014 09:29

The very next case resulted in yet another murderer being caught, who helpfully informed me that the co-conspirator was located west of the detective shop. Taking the other clue as well this meant that there were three possible suspects: the podiatrist, the librarian, and the fortune teller. Three cases after this one were flops, and whilst one case had the murderer caught they simply repeated a previous clue. Then came my ninth, and final case for the day where I questioned suspects about a false alibi with the potential to match any of the physical evidence, and caught the murderer out. This particular murderer was very agreeable as they informed me the co-conspirator was located near the river.

If you're familiar with the London map you'll know this meant that of my three potential co-conspirators it had to be the fortune teller, a fortune teller by the way who'd been spending an awful lot of my intros in London telling me about how uncertain my future is. My detective burst in, and with that The Rat ran away to Delhi, and so it is that my plans for the next day have been set out for me. It's convenient actually, there's an overdue library book to collect there.

I'll arrive at Delhi with $436, which as Bela Talbot III has pointed out makes me about 436 times richer than when I arrived in London. Not a bad mark up.

Hints Received Today: 3
Total Hints: 3
Money: $3436

Yeti Face
Yeti Face
Pinball Amateur

May-20-2014 03:29

Day 6:

I don't know what it is about arriving in a new city, but everyone seems to start out hating me and refusing to talk. They know just how to make someone feel welcome. I collected the library book I was tasked with finding, and also accepted a package mission from the post office. Then I started the cases. The first four were complete and utter flops. In fact, the fourth case was such a flop I didn't even locate the murderer.

The fifth case went better, and when I confirmed who the murderer was I slapped those cuffs on them like there was no tomorrow. Cuff slapping is an important ritual to observe when one suspects there'll be no tomorrow, you see. The co-conspirator is, surprise surprise, a woman. I should probably just take that hint as said right from the off. I received the same hint for completing the sixth case, but on the seventh I was informed that the co-conspirator was located north of the Bank.

North of the bank there are six potential co-conspirators. However, of those six, five of them are men. Really. I knew therefore that The Rat had to be hiding out with the tailor. I still had three cases left for the day however, and I'd begun to notice a distinct pattern with this villain. I strongly suspected that she'd flee to New York, and with four cases required to get there I'd be stuck with three unused cases if she did which would be absolutely infuriating.

So I played those last three cases, and they all flopped right on their faces. In fact, they flopped so badly I even wasted a bribe in one. I decided that if the villain did indeed jump ship to New York, I'd borrow the $1000 extra I needed to get there. My detective burst into the tailors, and naturally The Rat ran away to New York. I'd have thought my detective would have gotten the hang of placing guards at the train station, but I suppose for all his skills that'd beyond him.

Yeti Face
Yeti Face
Pinball Amateur

May-20-2014 03:30

I got a loan from a friend for exactly the amount needed to travel to New York, so when I get there tomorrow I literally won't have a single dollar. On the other hand, New York is the one place in the Sleuth world where I have a complete set of contacts. It's the place where I've done the vast bulk of my cases. The Rat has fled to the place most familiar to me, and she doesn't stand a chance.

Hints Received Today: 2
Total Hints: 2
Money: $4000

Yeti Face
Yeti Face
Pinball Amateur

This reply has been deleted by a Moderator

Yeti Face
Yeti Face
Pinball Amateur

This reply has been deleted by a Moderator

Yeti Face
Yeti Face
Pinball Amateur

May-21-2014 08:26

Day 7:

On arrival in New York the day started how I felt it no doubt intended to continue; a case with absolutely no footprint evidence. After all, my contact is the shoe maker. The case flopped at the three remaining suspect mark. The second case almost went the same way, but I got a piece of witness evidence on one of my three suspects, and after borrowing $500 I was able to finish my first villain case in New York. I paid the $500 back, and then examined my clue. East of 5th Avenue. New York seems to have a unique way of handling its directional clues.

The third case came with a footprint. It immediately matched one of my suspects, who didn't happen to have an alibi, and I believe that was the quickest case I've ever done. Sadly despite feeling positively awesome the hint here was a repeat of the last. The next case gave me North of 42nd Street, and after I paid back the $1000 loan I'd taken out in order to travel to New York. Finally, I was debt free, and also on a streak as the next case was also a success. Four in a row is quite an achievement for one of my incompetence.

Then came case number six, and my second footprint. It matched a suspect, except this time they had a real alibi. With the footprint gone, I went on to reduce my suspect list to two suspects. One false, and one unknown. I could still check some physical evidence if I paid bribes, but being cheap I decided to gather witness evidence first. My false alibi didn't match anyone I asked, but my unknown alibi did. I paid a bribe, and matched a piece of physical evidence to them as well. Sadly this wasn't a standard unknown alibi who I was too cheap to pay a bribe to check, it was a suspect who had absolutely refused to give up their alibi. My Sleuth instincts were tingling to extremity, but without being able to absolutely confirm it and already being on two false accusations, I had to let the case slide, and watch as the epilogue screen informed me that it was indeed the unknown alibi.

Yeti Face
Yeti Face
Pinball Amateur

May-21-2014 08:30

I went into what poker players refer to as “tilt”, which is essentially where poker players throw their rattles from their prams because things haven't gone their way after they were quite sure they should have done. I started making very quick, and very rash decisions. My next three cases were total flops, and I blew all the money I had saved up on needless bribes, which before this started had been over $2000. I should have left the computer and come back to it when I had the chance later but I simply couldn't. Then my baby who had until this point been sleeping peacefully on my lap woke up and pooped on me. An excellent end to an excellent run.

Anyway. If we take the two unique clues I've been given today we can deduce that the co-conspirator must be either the shoe maker, the music teacher, or the barber. Now. I have two contacts in New York, the music teacher and the shoe maker which as the observant among you will notice are both in that line up. If they've betrayed our friendship I will not be impressed and they shall know my fury. On the other hand, if it is the shoe maker that would at least mean that I'd only need one more hint to solve this, that is “the co-conspirator is a man”. Otherwise I believe I'll need at least two due to the way they're all grouped together â€" unless there's a clue such as “the conspirator doesn't handle physical evidence” or something I haven't seen before.

I await the morning, and ideally the conclusion of this hunt.

Hints Received Today: 2
Total Hints: 2
Money: $135

Yeti Face
Yeti Face
Pinball Amateur

May-22-2014 02:47

Day 8:

Do you want to know what heaven is? Heaven is when you start up an almost impossible case on an arch villain hunt, investigate the crime scene and find nothing but footprints, in a city where the shoe maker is your contact. Now, shall I tell you about hell? Hell is when all of the aforementioned happens, but none of your three suspects will tell you their alibi and your suspect list is missing two suspects you've got absolutely no chance of finding. Heaven happened to me today. Hell, did not. Today was a good day.

No less than eleven cases were successfully solved. This is unheard of in my entire villain hunting career, and whilst it's partly a testament to just how much difference a full set of contacts can make, I did seem to have some outrageous luck. I also encountered my first case of discovering who the murderer is, only to have them do a runner. My murderer has never done a runner before when I'm on my way to accuse them. Thankfully that one resolved itself easily enough.

So, the most fabulously outrageously lucky case of the day award ironically goes to case number 13. This case came fully loaded with three bits of female thread, and one straight hair. My suspects were split into a list of innocents, and five unknowns. Of these five I believed four had real alibis. Without paying bribes all the physical evidence checks had been used up, so I picked a straight haired lady and started asking the suspects about her. I only had three suspects or so who had a question left, and none of them had anything to say about this suspect.

I went to quit the case, but then somehow, I decided to go against my money saving attitude that had kept me going thus far in the villain hunt, and pay a bribe to check the straight hair against the suspect I'd picked out. It matched. I went to pay another bribe to check her alibi. It was false. From the ashes of defeat marched the sweet phoenix of victory. The hint was a repeat of course; not everything can be awesome.

Yeti Face
Yeti Face
Pinball Amateur

May-22-2014 02:49

Repeat hints were the real mark of the day, despite successfully completing eleven cases the only new information that has been provided is that the co-conspirator is a woman. And given the past history of this hunt I'd basically been assuming that anyway. There was a fourth hint given out, but sadly it was redundant. Suspects are now between the barber and the music teacher. It'd be really nice if there was a faction skill one could learn to force unique hints in these hunts. I'd use my skill points on it in an instant.

Until tomorrow then. Where once again I expect the conclusion of this hunt.

Hints Received Today: 2
Total Hints: 4
Money: $8335

Secret_Squirrel
Secret_Squirrel
Safety Officer

May-22-2014 05:32

heh this is a pretty fair summary of what a VH is really like! Nice work so far.

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