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Thank you to everyone who came to participate in our first-ever Murder Mystery Night!
Our hearts were warmed by the turn out and we were honestly surprised when our mansion became a Congested Zone (laughs).
We hope you had fun with your friends, and we also apologize for any frustration caused! In hindsight, we should have tuned the answers to be more obvious XD;, but it's a relief that some really bright Warriors of Light were able to win the prizes eventually.
For anyone who wishes to satisfy their curiosity, here are the answers to the murder mystery!
On the 1st of November at an unknown time before 8 PM, a Dragoon was killed. Not in the usual way by Elusive Jumping into an AOE, but in cold-blooded murder. No one knew who the culprit was, with the only visible clue being the Dragoon’s final lonely Party Finder. Fortunately, a band of brave Warriors- I mean, Detectives of Light- cracked their heads to solve the mystery, providing some semblance of justice and putting the Dragoon’s tortured soul to rest.
The following narrative is a written case file from the XIVPF archives as told from the perspective of one of these brave Detectives of Light.
VOTE DISBAND: A Static Murder Mystery
Narrative written by Iorwyn Leucetius and Kilika Forzen
Prologue
It was a dark and stormy night in Limsa Lominsa. I was just sitting around in the Drowning Wench tavern, downing my fifth mug of ale and chewing the fat with other fellow Warriors of Light, when suddenly- a tall, blond Viera burst in, wailing something about a body being found nearby…something about a dead Dragoon?
Ah, Limsa Lominsa- truly the city that never sleeps.
Clue 1: Alphi, the broken Machinist
Finishing my mug of ale, I headed straight to the scene of the crime- a nondescript house in the suburbs of the Mist- the 29th of it’s kind in the 9th ward. Inside, the air hung extremely heavy; with the quiet sight of the serene, fallen Dragoon only punctuated by the sniffling sobs of his wailing Machinist friend.
“You’ve arrived, detective. I found him this way! The last people he was with were our static mates, but they have all scattered now but me.. Because that’s what friends do! Perhaps our notes will tell you where they are.”
she said, as she handed me a scrunched-up sheet of paper which was obviously used to dry her tears at some point. Upon unfolding it, I was greeted by a single hastily scribbled website address: xivpartyfinder.com/event
“The only clue we seem to have is his lonely final party finder.. If only we knew the code. Remember to check out the instructions and tips on the site. The compass will show you the way!”
It would seem that prior to his time of death, this unfortunate gentleman here had created a party finder; aptly titled
“MY LONELY FINAL PARTY FINDER.” that, upon joining- would seem to hold more answers to the murder mystery. But what could the code possibly be?
Looks like it’s time for this grizzled Detective of Light to be on the case again.
I started my investigation with the notes their static had written thus far. I eagerly pored over it for any clues pertaining to the Dragoon’s untimely death. On it, there were two maps: each showing what looked like a time and a specific location - Upper La Noscea in Typhon, and the second being the North Shroud in Unicorn.
I decided to pay a visit to Upper La Noscea first.
With the skies still grey and stormy overhead, I kept a diligent watch for any person who seemed the least bit suspicious. In such a huge area, how would I find any further hints?
Out of the corner of my eye, the odd placement of numbers glinting on the compass beckoned to me. Perhaps, could it be...?
By considering the direction of the arrow hands for 11.55 and 02.45, and overlaying a clock’s layout to that of the compass...I found it. The exact coordinates I must go for both of these maps.
*Note: There was a bug for this part where the number was 10:55 instead of 11:55, so some of your might have ended up finding clue #2 by brute force. Really sorry for any frustration and time wasted on this part!
It was time to get cracking.
Clue 2: Lucien, the Angry Red Mage
I found the static Red Mage angrily pacing in circles, muttering to himself in an aggravated state. When I tried to ask him if he had time for a few questions, he yelled out;
“I have nothing to do with that dragoon! I bet he died cause he was slow! Spellspeed is king! Gotta always be one step ahead! MBVHIBUUIFNJTTJOHNFNCFSPGSBNVI”
He had a way with words that seemed as if you were trying to fit too much at once into a blender. And that last sentence of his- MBVHIBUUIFNJTTJOHNFNCFSPGSBNVI? It didn’t make any sense at all.
I thanked him for his time and went on my way, trying to figure out whatever in the twelve hells he had just said. To be frank, he’s had a long day - his static just disbanded, and one of the members had suddenly died. Perhaps it’s time I try to understand others’ point of view for a change.
Wait, it makes sense now.
MBVHIBUUIFNJTTJOHNFNCFSPGSBNVI by itself doesn’t make any sense, but if you’re always one step behind, the opposite of how he makes himself out to be- it spells out
“LAUGH AT THE MISSING MEMBER OF RAMUH”!
Turning on my heel, I headed to Ramuh and ran straight back to Limsa Lominsa, making a beeline to the Missing Member under the now-torrential rain.
Clue 3: Cyriac, the defeated Monk
I was then greeted by the sore sight of a barely-dressed monk trying to drown his sorrows away with too much ale. In a way, he reminded me of myself, shortly after my wife left me. Ah, that was...20 years back...was it? I stifled a /laugh at him, thinking how foolish I was back then. Not even bothering to turn around and look when I had suddenly announced my presence, he muttered-
“A static is friends forever.” they said. “It will be fun!” they said. I have given up and found the answer behind PUG.
So can you!”
Heading out from the Missing Member, the rain quickly started battering the hastily scribbled notes I had as I glanced back at my Tomephone. On the site which blinked to life on the screen, the many letters on the board seemed to scramble before my crossed eyes until I noticed the pattern by looking behind every letter of P, U, and G...revealing a message hidden most carefully.
“The first key is three ends with nine.”
Now I had two digits of the code- 3 and 9. I needed to find two more, and fast.
Clue 4: Dimitrique, the salty Astrologian
In a way, the woman before me reminded me of my ex-wife. I never thought I’d have to bother with another woman waxing lyrical about stars and the like again for a while since she left. Maybe that’s why this one was giving me such a hard time too, as if she were...nevermind.
“ Astrologian macro for prog
I
E | A
L Y
R -- --N
S K
H | T
G
Do you stand in the stars?? THE ANSWER IS IN THE STARS!”
That layout felt oddly familiar again - deja vu, almost. The compass…!
Ah, I see.
Once again, this compass would prove to be a faithful ally in this operation.
By overlaying this circular macro from the healer to that of the compass...and then matching the numbers from the compass to that of those stars in that star map - ah there we are.
Lily Hills, on Aegis. An apartment in Ward 9.
Clue 5: Lagging, the lagging "Paladin"
I found him hiding all alone by himself in the apartment mentioned earlier. Heck, he didn’t even bother to turn on the lights, choosing instead to sit gloomily in the dark.
“Y-ou found me?? I was disconnected when it happened! Everyone should look above LAG!”
The manner he spoke vaguely reminded me of the really muscular monk. Those chiseled, rock-hard abs...? No, his words. PUG and LAG…
I pulled out the jumbled collection of alphabets from the static notes. Above LAG - hence, by looking above every letter L, A and G would I find my answer once more.
Out of nowhere, the tank whimpered, looking like he had seen a ghost. I decided not to bother him any more. With all four of the numbers found- 3, 7, 1, 9; I could finally access the dead Dragoon’s party finder.
Clue 6: Iorwyn, the dead Dragoon
I felt a sudden chill in the air as I did so, although it was only November. The dead Dragoon’s final words seemed to howl through the trees for anyone who dared to listen…
“Gungnir Topmast..the forbidden strat... Blue demon block first… a cross AoE. Red paissa after... points a straight line AoE..what’s safe.. spots...Goodbye..”
Clue 7: Crown, the lovesick Scholar
And with that, the chill subsided as soon as it had started. I then started my journey down to Gungnir’s Topmast, where I chanced upon the scholar of the group. A woman madly in love with her significant other, she seemed to have already moved on from the string of unfortunate events that had just happened to them and was already shouting for new party members.
Could she be the culprit?
“Looking for party! Due to murdered static mate, we are looking for a new static! We are long time raid partners since 0.1 and my super smart super cute boyfriend here is a super best raid leader who knows the best strats!
Code is in this room! Only smart people need apply.”
Smart people...hah. A smart person probably wouldn’t even be applying to begin with.
Then again, who knows what people think?
That aside - the room. What’s with all these Mandagora dolls? Toys? Adding on to it, who in their right mind has the morbid fascination to also place chandeliers, no less- around them without concerns about burning the dolls or hells- the entire room to the ground?
As if to further worsen anyone’s fear of dolls, in the back section of the room lay twice more the number of dolls, which were all strangely rotated facing various sides without a care of logic or neatness.
What a strange sense of decoration indeed.
As I pored over the owner’s quaint choice of chandeliers and the way the 2nd set of dolls were facing, in my mind’s eye an idea surfaced. Based on the way the number of chandeliers with each kind of doll and the way they were placed, from an assumed bird’s eye point of view lines could be drawn...and voila! A 4-digit code appeared- 7, 5, 9, 4.
I could smell the end approaching.
Clue 8: Yuzuelin, the Shady Lead Tank
Word went around that the scholar’s significant other was often seen hosting a shady-looking party titled “LFP Forbidden Strat Only!”, especially in the late hours of the night. A quiet man, he only seemed to speak when he was spoken to, and not much else. He was in the middle of hosting said party when I approached him with the password.
By entering the numbers 7594, I found myself in a private conversation with him. In an explosion of words uncharacteristic of the man, he told me everything about the forbidden strat macro; also giving me a hint back to the machinist whom I had met at the beginning of it all.
“ Forbidden strat macro
T I M E
W H O L
S C A R
---------------
The true forbidden strat is the work of the blue mage creator. Find the forbidden strat on the XIVPF site and your final answers will be there. Alphiria Reinhir awaits the final answer in party finder. I’m sure she’ll love to know. The password is 5289.“
But why?
Lady aside, this diagram would give me the solution I sorely needed.
I mustn't be distracted.
Fumbling through my notes, I found an unused picture still. It had survived being crinkled amongst the papers, miraculously untouched by the rain. I gently prised it from the mess in my bag, and realised that the positioning of the lines and the letters in the macro were perfectly aligned.
But where had I seen this or anything similar to the picture being used before?
What was I missing? What is this forbidden strat? Who is this blue mage creator?
I pried the site of https://www.xivpartyfinder.com/ for answers and then I saw them- The “Blue Mage” creator. I pried further, the truth now so within reach that I forgot the potential dangers of using the forbidden strat and discovered a poster from the Blue Mage creator page.
Whatever could this mean? Perhaps the answers lay with that off putting line of boxy-looking scribbles that obviously didn’t belong near the bottom.
Then it hit me- like a flying fish that just hit me squarely on the head This was yet another code, another message, the solution.
Ah.
I should have known.
IT
WAS
RICOCHET.
Epilogue
There’s a quote that goes, “You might travel the world looking for an answer, but by doing so you’ll find that it was always right where you started.” And that was exactly what happened here. Clenching my fists, I raced back to the Mist suburbs and burst open the doors of the dead Dragoon’s final resting place.
“It was you all along. You killed him with Ricochet.” I gasped, shaking my finger at the Machinist.
The face of a stone-cold killer
“Ah.. So it was, wasn’t it.
A stray bullet in the wind it seems.
Who could have shot it? Perhaps it would have been different if I got Litany. Or even the Eye now and then, things would have been different. Ah my dear friend.. How I will miss him. On another note, we’re now <<looking for members>>
Melee dps! One slot open ;)”
Sadly, the only new strats she would be studying from then on were how to (unsuccessfully) plot her escape from jail. And with that, the case was closed- the sun setting on just another day in the life of Eorzea’s best Detective of Light.
This calls for a celebratory mug of ale, I thought- as I lit another cigar, heading back to the Drowning Wench.
<<CASE CLOSED. ARCHIVE #XIVPF42069>>
THANK YOU EVERYONE FOR JOINING!
Credits
Debugging & Betatesting Team
Dimitrique Lores
as the Salty Astrologian
Iorwyn Leucetius as
the Dead Dragoon
Kilika Forzen
as Yuzelin Evergarde, the Shady Leader
3 Kind Non-Warriors of Light
You know who you are!
Scenario Team
Alphiria Reinhir
as the Broken Machinist
Crown Crow
as the Lovesick Scholar
Ledalee D’acie
as Cyriac Eskul, the defeated Monk
Daedalus Taiven
as Lagging Tank, the Lagging "Paladin"
Lucien Caelestis
as the Angry Red Mage
Main Scenario Writer and Culprit of most of your Headache
Hanska Bhelen
Special Thanks
CHUGTASIA Free Company
for the house decoration and letting us congest the FC house
Brought to you by
XIV Party Finder