Cycle 1
Posted: December 9, 2025 Filed under: Uncategorized Leave a comment »
Your adventure begins at the mailbox. You go to check your mail and find a large packing envelope inside addressed to you from an unfamiliar sender. Unlike the normal unexpected junk mail, this particular piece has been prepared with great care. The writing on the outside is in an elegant script and bears the mysterious symbol (above image). You take the envelope inside to open it.
There are three smaller envelopes inside, the most striking is made of dark blue paper with gold trim bearing a wax seal. A plane manila envelope has “Open Second” on the outside and is also wax sealed. Lastly is a ordinary white envelop with “Open Third” written on the front. You open the blue envelope first. After breaking the seal a letter is revealed inside.
Someone named The Curator is inviting you to attend a gathering of fellow explorers and adventurers known as the Order of the Veiled Compass. There is no return address, only a set of geographic coordinates, a time, and a date. (There was a mistake made in the coordinates, they take you to a random field in Springfield, Ohio. Ooops.)
The second envelope contains a letter and a slip of paper covered in numbers. Someone calling themselves Mungas, the keeper of keys, provides a little more information about the society and that there are apparently some sort of tests involved.
Feeling a little confused you take another look at the first letter and notice small writing along the rear edge of the letter.
The second letter has a corresponding set of numbers. When placed next to each other the letters and markings line up to create a cypher.
By combining the two letters and the slip of paper covered in letters, a message emerges.
With the puzzle solved you shift your attention to the third envelope. Inside is a printed message from the hosts of a party you are invited to. The letter explains that a themed party is being held and that you are instructed to create a character to play. The mysterious Curator has noticed the scientific, artistic, or adventurist activities of your character and has deemed them acceptable to join the Order of the Veiled Compass. A society dedicated to the discovery and preservation of the worlds arts, cultures, sciences, etc… The setting is an alternative Victorian history where the adventurous spirit of the age is highlighted while suppressing the ills of conquest and colonialism. The letter describes that is appropriate to explore and celebrate different cultures, but it is not acceptable to promote stereotypes or be disrespectful. Also, unlike the real Victorian settings, here there is room for magic, the occult, and other fantastic ideas. You are also given the address of where to go.
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The experience described above tells the tale of what happened in the motion lab for my presentation of Cycle 1. The documents shown are prototypes for an immersive my wife and I have been creating in out home. Basically the two of us asked ourselves, “wouldn’t it be really neat to live in a scooby-doo house? Filled with secret passages, hidden treasures, and mysterious artifacts?” We have spent the past few years turning the interior of the house into a combination that is 20% Disney’s Haunted Mansion (the ride), 20% the Explorers Club, 20% Hogwarts, and 40% the British Museum London. It’s still very much a work in progress, but we have made significant progress. Below are a few photos of the place.
Not shown, but started, are the tracks and mechanisms that will support hidden doors that guests must figure out how to open. Guests must solve puzzles to gain access to various parts of the home. This was simulated in the motion lab by having the participants play a Dungeons & Dragons style RPG where they each moved their character around the house to solve several puzzles.
The presentation was both fun and insightful. Watching the “players” complete the puzzles and interact with the imaginary version of the house provided valuable insight into how the experience can be tuned to make the overall experience better. In particular the decoding puzzle in the letters needs work. The idea is sound, but the hidden message needs to be rethought to something more meaningful. The goal was that the secret message would tell the guests how to open the first secret door in the house. Much was lost in the translation from idea to the tabletop rpg, but it was clear that the future door opening mechanism and the message describing it need more thought.
Everyone had a good time and enjoyed the experience. It was a lot of fun to create the paper props that will act as the first experience guests have with the overall event.