Open the Box
In the 1980s, text adventures came in big cardboard boxes full of "feelies": maps, letters and strange trinkets that you needed to play. The Shadow Crown has one too.
[ CLICK THE BOX TO LIFT THE LID ]
[ PICK SOMETHING UP ] ·
What's in the box
The map of Frostwynd
An aged parchment map of Eldergrove and the lands around it, drawn as the Hooded Stranger's map is in the game. The finished map will carry handwritten notes in its margins, and the places you have reached in the free demo will be inked in.
A sealed letter
Folded parchment, sealed with green wax and addressed to you. It comes from Sylvanna, Guardian of the Glade, and it hides a clue to the cipher wheel.
[ CLICK THE SEAL TO BREAK IT ]
To the one who reads this,
Woods do not speak to everyone, mortal, but they have spoken of you. A blight is creeping north from the ruins. The ancient oak in the grove has turned black, and the creatures of the Dark Forest grow bolder every night.
Hear me: Eldergrove cannot see it yet. Gareth pours his ale, the market sells its wares, and the darkness waits beneath the stones.
Every message I send you will be written in the old runes, for the shadows read our common tongue. Keep the wheel I have left in this box close.
Each day, set the rune I name beneath the first of all letters. Then every rune will give up its letter, and my words will be yours.
Look for me in the Enchanted Glade, beyond the Sacred Grove, by the crystal pool. Come when you are ready, and come armed.
Sylvanna
Guardian of the Glade
The cipher wheel
Two rings, English letters on the outside and runes on the inside. Turn the inner ring to the day's key and it decodes the daily cipher, a new message from Frostwynd every day. Try it: drag the runes round.
Wanted posters
Three villains stand between you and the Shadow Crown. Eldergrove has put a price on each of their heads, paid in Frostwynd gold.
