In the late 1800s, the prospector Nolan Emerson attempted to transport a load of gold eastwards from the town of Compton to the town of Grenvale. Weary of bandits, Emerson rejected taking the Patterson Trail and decided instead to head east through the wilderness to the Azure River which he could then follow north to Grenvale.
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Though Emerson carefully documented his travels in a journal, no one has ever been able to find the gold he was transporting. However, you hope to have better luck. Armed with a copy of his journal and a metal detector, you head to the town of Compton to see if you can find this treasure.
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"Squawk!"
You perk up as your metal detector comes alive. Could this be it? Could the river have carried the gold into this marsh?
You try to calm yourself. The detector could have been triggered by anything. There could simply be some nails or other garbage down there. But for some reason, your gut tells you this is different. On a hunch, you reach down and dig through the mud with your bare hands. You sift the dirt through your fingers, trying to feel what's there.
A rock.
Some roots.
Something smooth and hard...
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You pull up the object and wipe the mud off of its side. A glimmer catches your eye, and you smile.
You have found the location of the last journal entry. Emerson attempted a river crossing there but had his gold and supplies washed away. But where could the gold have gone? The river rapids must have carried the gold towards the north-east, but where would the current slow down enough to drop the gold? You will have to search the area for it.
After leaving Compton in the morning, we proceeded east along the riverbank and quickly reached the town of New Vale. We picked up some supplies, but as it started to become late, we have decided to stay here overnight. Most travellers usually head north from New Vale towards Patterson Trail, but there have been many attacks there recently, so I have decided that tomorrow we shall head east through the wilderness towards the Azure River. This route will be more difficult but leave us less exposed to bandits.
Today, we took a canoe and travelled east downriver. We saw a few other people along the riverbank, so I became concerned that we might be robbed during the night. Fortunately, we came across a small island that seems fairly inaccessible to passers-by. We have set up camp on this island for the night.
We continued following the river to the east, but it started to turn south, so we abandoned our canoe and proceeded on land. Fortunately, we came across a large farm holding. We purchased a mule from a farmer named William Percy and we are currently staying in his barn tonight.
We made good progress today. As we headed east, the terrain was mostly flat though somewhat rocky. We decided to make camp on the forest edge near some rocks. One of the guys in the crew suggested burying a coin at the campsite for good luck. What an odd idea! But to keep the men happy, I went along with their idea. With all the gold we're carrying, using a couple of coins for good luck isn't a big sacrifice.
Today was sunny, and we made good time as we headed east across the plains. We arrived at a river and decided it would be too tiring to cross the river today. We set up camp on a beach near a fork in the river. I buried another coin at the campsite today.
We crossed the river today. Although the river was deep, it was slow moving, so we were able to swim across. Coaxing the mule to the other side was difficult, but we were ultimately successful. We rested in the sun afterwards to dry out a bit, and then we proceeded north-east into the forest. It was getting late, so we didn't make it far. We decided to end our day in a small forest clearing.
We continued east through the forest today. We ended up setting up camp in-between two lakes. The trees here are so tall and thick. If it were more accessible, it would be a great area for logging.
I wanted to avoid having to cut a path through the forest, so we walked east along the edge of the lake. The lake is so peaceful and beautiful. I have sketched a small picture of the view from our campsite.
As we headed around the lake, the forest thinned, but the edge of the lake became swampy while the land became rocky. While gathering firewood, one of the men stumbled on some game and managed to shoot one. We're going to have a great dinner tonight!
Another day, another coin buried! I hope our good luck lasts.
We left the lake and hiked east. Unfortunately, our path was blocked by another lake. We decided to head south around the lake. We set-up camp at the southerly edge of the lake. We seem to have adequate supplies so far, but I am beginning to tire of eating porridge.
The land is flat and there is no forest here, so we make steady progress east. Unfortunately, we hit a river. The rapids were much too quick to cross at that point, and we had to travel north some distance until we could find a suitable crossing point. After the crossing, we decided to make camp.
Another uneventful day. We trekked east until we came across a forest. It started to rain, so we decided to end our day early. Overall, I think we're making good progress. I think we should arrive at the Azure River soon.
Today, we came across a lake. Although the lake was quite wide, one part was fortunately fairly shallow and sandy, and we were able to cross to some rocks on the other side with only moderate difficulty. We were exhausted from the crossing and even the mule seemed unwilling to go further, so we ended our day here.
This was the third day of rain. I'm not a superstitious man, but perhaps it's punishment for us forgetting to bury a coin last night. We were simply too tired to remember. In any case, we proceeded east through the forest today. The forest cleared for a bit, but we decided to stop for the night when we hit a new patch of forest.
We slogged through the forest in the rain until we hit a marsh. I'm a little bit leary of setting up camp beside the marsh--these places are known for disease. But we are so wet and tired from the rain that the men don't seem to care.
We tried heading north-west around the marsh, but there seemed to be no end to it. One of the men started complaining that it might be quicker to head the other way around the marsh. I didn't like the idea of backtracking, but the men seemed to agree with him, so we turned around and tried going south-east instead. At the end of the day, we still hadn't found a way around this water.
Continuing south, the marsh was eventually replaced by a river and then by a lake. I didn't want to waste more days trying to find a way around this lake, so we headed back to the river to cross there. With all the rain from the past few days, the river seems fairly violent. I'm beginning to wonder if it would have been safer if we had taken the Patterson Trail instead of this route through the wilderness. I hadn't expected so much water! We will set-up camp here for the night and try to cross the river tomorrow.
Doing research at the library...
If you cannot decipher Emerson's journal and find his campsite, you can go to the city and do some research in the local library. With enough time spent researching there, you can discover the exact location referred to in the journal.
Unfortunately, you are currently not in a city, so there is no library where you can do research.
After much research at the local library, you believe that the place you need to go is .
Searching for evidence of Emerson...
You have already searched this area before.
You find nothing.
You find evidence that Emerson stayed in this area!