Hint: Events are intended to reward effort/merit. Bad ideas:

1. Spoil it for others
2. Leech
3. Seek cheap profit
4. Use brute force
5. Attempt to loophole




Holiday Spirits

Frosty and the Ghosts from A Christmas Carol came back to haunt the ninja world. Here is how you would have defeated them:

Frosty appears at absolute zero, or -27.1
A lucky strike is first required/Before I perish in deadly fires.
This indicates that you need to use a fire jutsu after most likely stunning him.
He drops a Millennial Torch that absorbs the shadow element and leads you to the ghost.

Death within the Shadows lurks/But all three messages must be heard.
Answer: Equip "Millennial Torch" to avoid Shadow-element damage, then wait for the Saint to use all three clue-containing jutsu.

"What was lost between then and now?"
Answer: Innocence (or something alike)
"What is the vice that will seal your doom?"
Answer: Greed
"What can you do to escape his clutches?"
Answer: Open to interpretation (change, save a live, etc.).

You then had to find someone that has power that exists orthogonal to the horizontal. Boreas, the North Wind, was the answer. North lies along the vertical axis. You were to PM him your answers to the riddles. The best three responses were chosen that: fit best with the original answers we decided upon, were NOT copy+pastes of the story, and were frankly creative. Responses that were copies of each other (and we saw a LOT of these) were almost immediately discarded. Keep this in mind for future events.



Alice in Wonderland

Part 1: White Rabbit/Giant Puppy

The Rabbit's clues led you through the map as coordinates. The trail went (0.0) -> (8.0) -> (8.9) -> (0.9) -> (-3.9) -> (-16.9). At (-16.9) Jounin and up had to go to (-16.0), and Chunnin and Genin had to go to (-6.15). Jounin and up faced the White Rabbit. The clue to defeating him was in his jutsu description: "unchecked by the cooling effects of his fan..." Use wind element to defeat him. Chunnin and up faced Giant Puppy. In the story, Alice throws a stick, which the puppy chases instead of mauling her. Use Pointy Stick to defeat the puppy. Jounin+ who defeated White Rabbit got Rabbit Fan. Chunnin- who defeated Giant Puppy got Magic Mushroom. The correct items, and NOTHING ELSE, was required to advance.

Part 2: Cheshire Cat

The Magic Mushroom/Rabbit Fan directed winners to 3.21, where they faced Cheshire Cat. Location messages around the Cat revealed the weakness: "you'll need some kind of light..." Use fire element to defeat the Cat. Winners received Tea Party Invitation.

Part 3: Mad Hatter

The Mad Hatter's hat reads: "In this style, 10/6" meaning the price of the hat in that particular style was 10 shillings and 6 pence. The fraction is "improper," the high digit being the numerator and the low digit being the denominator; you must keep it in this improper form. Divide the whole (10/6) by the half that is copper, or pence, i.e. 6, yielding 10/36. Add the date of the tea party - we would have accepted 5/4, 4/5, 4 - for the final answer. Any format was acceptable.

Part 4: Queen of Hearts/Alice

Winners who PMed Mad Hatter the correct answer received a reply that gave them the clue to use Shadow Blade against the Queen of Hearts. Doing so defeats the Queen, gaining you Alarm Clock with instructions to PM Alice with what you learned. Meanwhile, witnesses were qualified if they possessed Magic Mushroom, Rabbit Fan AND Tea Party Invitation. All testimonies were considered for 1/3 of the evaluation of the champions, but only qualified witnesses were considered for the Red Rose prize. 2/3 of the consideration for the final winner was based on the champions' RSVPs, and how well they reflected the meaning behind the dream.



The Great Hunt

Part 1: Coordinates

Blue Message: "Genin and Chunnin, begin on the West. Jounin, the East. Special jounin, the South. Commanders, the North."

Solution: Genin and Chunnin at (9,6), Jounin at (15,6), Special jounin at (12,9) and Commanders at (12,2).

Part 2: Weapons/Armor

News: "Youngest ninja, the enemy who will test you rides the storm. His roar, like thunder, shakes the heavens. Return his might with your own to vanquish him.

High-ranking ninja, the enemy who will test you cuts like the wind. Where he cuts once, you must cut twice, and swiftly, to survive.

Special-ranked ninja, the enemy who will test you lurks the cold deep, and his cry is even mightier than the storm-rider's. Be strong like the dragons of lore and overwhelm him with your own force to advance.

Commanders, the enemy who will test you is an enigma. No one knows what level of technique you will require to conquer her, but she is a guardian of souls. Fight in her realm and pay tribute to the lost and betrayed to destroy her."

Solution: Genin/Chunnin use Thunder Roar against Guardian of the Gates to gain Spear of Storms. Jounin use Dual Cutter against Protector of the Passes to gain Sword of Sand. Special jounin use Roaring Dragon against Dragon of the Depths to gain Scaled Shield. Commanders use Requiem of the Deceived Soul against Mistress of the Mountains to gain Haunted Helm. Equipping the rank-appropriate items allows users to defeat Fluffy Cat, Baby Dragon, Malicious Zombie and Cynical Monkey, gaining the next clues.

*Due to unexpected technical difficulties postponing the event between parts 2 and 3, rank-ups in the interim were not held against competitors, and the clue items were not required to advance.

Part 3: Scavenger Hunt

Each item found either contained a description or came with a location message that told you what direction to go in next. Continuing in that direction for a few steps led you to the next item.

To advance, each rank needed a certain quantity of four ingredients as specified on a list, which was the final item found on the scavenger trail. Having the correct items, and ONLY the correct items in the correct quantities, was the first criteria for final winners.

Part 4: Secretary

Secretary nindo:
"Your party, at this time, cannot be reached,
But please do leave a message at the beep.

If you have something they might just want back,
Try some extortion and a bit of tact;
It never does hurt to have some finesse,
And a touch of wit is sure to impress;
If it works you can expect handsome pay,
But beware: failed blackmail can cut both ways."

Solution:
Leave a PM with Subject: "To [whichever rank-appropriate party]" and a message blackmailing said party. After the initial screening for the appropriate items, messages were compared according to the standards hinted in the nindo:
1. Extortion ("prizes pl0x!" didn't count...)
2. Tact
3. Finesse
4. Wit

Each rank ended up having two winners.



Through the Looking Glass

Part 1: White Queen and the Chessboard

The "strange text" used in some clues was simply mirrored text, easily deciphered when viewed in reflection.

":bɿɒod ɘmɒǫ ɘʜƚ ƨɘbiʜ ƚʜǫiƨ niɒlq ni qɒm ɘʜƚ nO
.ɿuoʇ nmuloɔ ƨi ʜƚɿoИ ,woɿ qoƚ ƚƨɒl ɘʜƚ nI
- owƚ woɿ ni ƚɿɒƚƨ ,won biov ɘʜƚ moɿʇ nwoᗡ
.uoy ƨƚiɒwɒ nɘɘuỌ ɘʜƚ ,ƨʞnɒɿ ɘʜƚ ʜǫuoɿʜƚ ɘɔnɒvbA"

Solution: the "chessboard" on which the tasks took place was literally layered over the travel map. The square with the "N" for North was row 8, column 4. Using that as the reference point, moving down to row 2 took you to (12,8). The location message instructed you to advance to (12,7), or row 3.

Part 2: Jumping the Train

"Six brooks divide this board from North to South; hop the train to fourth at the third brook's mouth. Each path's a brook, but not the first or last; the middle columns are the brooks to pass."

Solution: the six brooks are the middle six columns. Move to column 3, or (11,7).

"You have hopped the train. Take a free ride to rank five. Elite ninja and above should hop out the left. Everyone else, the right."

Solution: Jounin and above moved North by 2 and West by 1. Chunnin and below moved North by 2 and East by 1. Both ranks received a Crow Puppet, which offered 100% chance stun for 1 round and was simply meant to be an aid in fighting AI when you had to pull your punches to see their clues.

Part 3: Tweedledum and Tweedledee

These AI were easy to beat; most players could one-hit them. The trick was a) waiting until they summoned and both AI gave their clues, and b) only fighting the AI intended for your rank, to get the correct item.

Part 4: Red Knight

The AI's jutsu were all about how he was missing a leg and balancing awkwardly. His weakness was Leg Sweep. He dropped the Knave's Roster, which contained the riddle for the next part.

Part 5: Knave of Hearts

",ɘnil bɘlʇʇuʜƨ ni bnɒƚƨ ƨɘimɿɒ yM
...ɘnim ɘɿɒ ƨbnɒʜ ƚɒʜw ƚƨil uoy nɒɔ woИ
,ɘliʇ ɘlǫniƨ ni bnɒ ƚʜǫiɒɿƚƧ ƚɿɒƚƨ ll'ɘW
- bliW ɘlbbim ɒ ʜƚiw nɘT oƚ xiƧ
,lɘwɘႱ ɒ ǫniƨƨim ,ɘƨuoH ƨ'ǫniʞ ɘʜƚ woИ
- ƨlooʇ bɘlɘwɘႱ :ƨowT owƚ no ǫnibnɒƚƧ
,bniʞ nɘbɿɒǫ ɘʜƚ ,ʞɔɒld ni ɘviʇ nɘʜT
- bɘnǫilɒ ,ɘɿoʇɘd ƨɒ ƨɿɘdmun ɘmɒƧ
,buoɿq bnɒ ɘlǫniƧ ,ƨǫnildiƨ ɘviʇ ƚxɘИ
- ƨbuolɔ ʇo owƚ bnɒ nǫiƨ ʜɔɒɘ ʇo ɘnO
,niɒʜɔ ɘldiɔnivni ɿiɘʜƚ ni ,nɘʜT
.ƨnǫiɘɿ ƨƚɿɒɘʜ bɘɿ ʇo ɘƨuoH lɒyoЯ ɘʜT"

Solution:
1. Straight (6, 7, Wild [8], 9, 10)
2. House of Kings (spades, hearts, clubs) over two Twos (diamonds)
3. Straight Flush (spades) (6, 7, Wild [8], 9, 10)
4. 5 Aces (one of each suit and two aces of clubs)
5. Royal Flush (hearts)


Correct answers gained Vorpal Sword.

Part 6: Jabberwocky

The description in the Vorpal Sword hinted that Jabberwocky must be given the chance to summon twice before you killed it. Each summon gave another clue. Jabberwocky's weakness was the Vorpal Sword. It dropped Jabberwocky's Tail with RSVP instructions. Those who RSVP'd and had passed the Knave's test were the finalists.

Part 7: Mad Hatter

Champions who had the correct items (for their rank), and ONLY the correct items, were given VIP Invitations, which asked questions based on the main themes of the story/event. This was a free response. The best answer would be the winner of the event.

Meanwhile, the "guests," comprised of the other finalists in addition to two players chosen by the champions, were given a different question. The best two answers from the guests, in addition to whoever took second place, received secondary prizes.



Friday the 13th (mini event)

Mister Thirteen, a psychotic serial killer rabbit, went around to each village for a time. Despite the occasion being a notable date, the event in fact lasted a bit longer than 24 hours, to compensate for the downtime in-between logins (since the character had to be piloted by a real person the entire time). Defeating Mister Thirteen awarded players the Haunted Chainsaw, a handy little weapon with a fun description.

Mister Thirteen's nindo contained all the clues required to defeat him:

Mmm, it's Friday.
Come out and play?
Villages, kindly wait your turn.

Chainsaws are fun.
Would you like one?
Then come and get it...watch, and learn.

The more, the better,
So work together.
Can't hurt me, but I'll drown and burn.

Call, and fail, but polite, I'll wait.
Succeed, and we can start the game.
But if you bore me on your own,
I'll see to it you die alone.

Solution: Use water and fire jutsu to damage Mister Thirteen. Mister Thirteen always attacks using chakra as long as someone is trying to call for help, even if they fail. If they succeed and get a friend to join, Mister Thirteen will use normal attacks and damage the player who is stronger, or has been in the battle the longest. Since there was a maximum of three players against Mister Thirteen at any given time, each player was only allowed to successfully call for help once before Mister Thirteen killed them. Most players had to organize multiple tag-teams to successfully defeat Mister Thirteen. It did not matter if a player died in the attempt; if their team defeated Mister Thirteen, they got the item. The main point of the event was teamwork, and choices and restraint as appropriate in combat.

A list of the winners is in Mister Thirteen's nindo. Those who are struck out as "lost to greed" lost their prizes for attempting to accomplish the feat twice, thereby stealing time and opportunity away from other players who had not yet won.