PDX Necropolis

2007-11-28T16:43:00.000-08:00

NECROPOLIS: A Portland Treasure Hunt

November 29, 2007

[[[LOCATION]]]:
S.E. Portland, Oregon
14th ave. & Bybee st. in the Sellwood neighborhood
Open to the public - hours are Monday-Sunday 8am-4pm.
Parking is free and plentiful in the lot across the street.

[[[GENERAL DESCRIPTION]]]:
This treasure hunt takes place at, and inside of, a very old (built more than a century ago) and historic mausoleum that is a landmark for S.E. Portland (if you have viewed the massive egret mural, from Oaks Park or Oaks Bottom, you were looking at the side of this building). It is an amazing place to explore and get lost in (not to mention enjoying the incredible views, from the top floors, of the Oaks Bottom Wildlife Refuge lake and of the west hills). The size is massive: 3.5 acre property, 8 floors, 60,000 individual remains, and 7.5 MILES of corridor (think Powell's Bookstore to the top of Rocky Butte!); and the bizarre floor plans are like something from out of a spooky old horror movie. It's a perfect place for a rainy day outing. We have created this hunt as a several hour adventure which will take you to the fascinating nooks, crannies, corridors, chambers, stained glass windows, stairwells, fountains, and sculptures offered here. This is a many-staged hunt that will take a good part of your day, and the clues/puzzles have been carefully designed (and double-checked) to be intriguing and refreshing while avoiding code-transcription busywork, mind-numbing arithmetic, or obscure knowledge. Our idea has been to create an interactive tour of this incredible place, so as to learn from and enjoy what it has to offer, with a cool payoff/motivation prize at the end - as well as a sense of accomplishment and enrichment. It's the best place in Portland for a spooky indoor adult treasure hunt. However, respect for what this place is, ultimately, is paramount. It already attracts an element of 'insider' Portland tourism, which is welcomed by the staff/owners, but please be mindful and respectful toward those visitors who are in mourning or in communion with loved ones passed. During our several visits we never saw more than 3 or 4 other people, total, in the entire building, each time (even on weekends), so because of its sheer size this means that for 99% of your time inside you will have your corridor or chamber all to yourself - which adds to the vibe. We were careful to be very respectful to the spirit of this place, and our puzzles/stages (and the treasure location itself) require no manipulation of, or interaction with, anyone's grave/urn beyond mere observation, as any other visitor might do. In the mausoleum there are many janitor's closets, supply rooms, emergency exit doors to the outside, windows that will open to the outside, unmarked doors and cabinets (usually locked and/or concealing mundane things like light switch panels or circuit breakers), restrooms, flower-sink cubby-rooms, and "employee only" areas - none of the clues or locations involve any of these areas in any way. Please remain respectful to the posted signs and rules. And please be relatively quiet if you are in a group - sound really echoes through these stony corridors. The staff and groundskeepers have always been friendly, helpful, and enthusiastic toward visitors - let's not cause ANY problems or issues that could change that. We are guests here and are lucky to have public access.
(Warning: Explicit permission has not been asked for or given by the property owners/managers. It is open to the public and visitors are welcome, so the issue of permission has been decidedly skipped, especially since liability laws would almost certainly prohibit the staff from giving any kind of formal permission anyway. Ethically, we have been very careful to design the nature of the hunt and the location of the stash itself so as to not interfere with or jeopardize the property, the residents, the staff, or visitors in ANY way.)

I WAS JUST INFORMED, AS OF MAY 2008, THAT DUE TO SOME VANDALISM THE BUILDING IS CURRENTLY OPEN ONLY TO MOURNERS AND TOUR GROUPS. THIS MAY OR MAY NOT BECOME A PERMANENT POLICY, SO I ADVISE CALLING THEIR OFFICE TO CHECK THAT STATUS BEFORE VISITING. THE PHONE NUMBER IS (503) 236-4141.

***AS OF JULY 2008 I'VE BEEN INFORMED THAT IT'S OPEN TO THE PUBLIC AGAIN!***

***AS OF MARCH 2009 IT IS OPEN ONLY TO FRIENDS AND RELATIVES OF THOSE INTERRED, AND FRONT-DESK CHECK-IN IS REQUIRED***

[[[CHALLENGE WARNING!]]]:
This hunt is a serious challenge. You will need to be here for more than just an hour or two, and must be up to the task of figuring out some clever puzzles and clues (including, specifically, the ability to handle a 10 letter anagram (for a common word, and there's a hint for it)). No special knowledge or outside information reference is needed in any way, but you'll need to think and observe carefully. A considerable amount of legwork is required, but anyone in reasonable shape can handle it just fine. None of our stages involve annoying minuscule eye-and-brain-straining minutiae - we have made a very deliberate effort to keep all clues and puzzles interesting, doable, and logical. However, with so many stages involved, one slip-up could possibly derail your entire process (and due to the overall nature of the hunt, a checksum backup isn't really possible). We (the creators of it) are personally quite susceptible to burn-out from shallow, tiresome, or ambiguous puzzles, so we have created this adventure with ourselves as our imagined audience - a treasure hunt that we'd have loved to have been able to go on ourselves. And the difficulty level reflects that. This is not meant for children (unless assisted by experienced adults) or those overly casual in attitude. (That said, as of May 2008 about 20 people have attempted this hunt, so far, and all of them have succeeded. Some needed multiple visits. So it's not THAT hard - please don't be intimidated!)

[[[GENERAL INFORMATION]]]:
Not fully wheelchair accessible, but with assistance all areas involved should be reachable.
It's quite cold inside (some sections more than others), even in nice weather, so dress in layers.
Snacks and water are recommended, as completing this in one session will likely take AT LEAST 3 to 4 hours. Or it might be nice to come in the morning for a couple of hours, then take a lunch break (several great cafes and restaurants are only a few blocks away), then return for the last couple of hours.
Restrooms are found on level 4M, next to the main elevator.

[[[FINAL LOCATION/”TREASURE” DESCRIPTION]]]:
The stash itself is a square metallic CD case, thinner than a standard CD case, and is externally marked as a treasure hunt item (in case someone were to find it unsuspectingly, which is HIGHLY unlikely). It contains a log-sheet (please remember to bring your own writing utensil to log your visit), and room for a single CD or DVD (or maybe 2). Please bring a special CD or DVD to swap for the next hunter to find, rather than some old scratched up "Quiet Riot" album. For First-to-Find we have placed in it a DVD with 4 very soulful and cool videos (movies and documentaries) pertaining to life, science and spirituality (as we try to understand it all), and our relationship with the planet. Whoever finds and takes this DVD, please view it and then pass it on (or come back and re-place it if a 2nd visit strikes your fancy). It is our hope that these positive and educational messages make their rounds for further exposure amongst our community. Out of respect for the location, the hiding place of this item in no way requires the hunter to interact with any of the grave/urn-sites. No climbing/jumping/crawling, tools of any kind, or special reach is required to find it. It is not, at all, in plain sight, and is in a completely harmless and innocuous spot (but well hidden!).

[[[SPECIAL EQUIPMENT NEEDED]]]:
A printout of the INSTRUCTIONS section of this posting.
Pen(cil) for signing the logbook and paper for processing/recording clues.
Warm clothes.
(Recommended: Snacks/water, camera, and time-keeping device - don't get locked in overnight - it has happened before! The wondrousness of this place, and hopefully the fun of the hunt, could easily cause one to lose track of time - might be good to even set a 15-minute-warning alarm for yourself.)

[[[INSTRUCTIONS]]]:
(It's probably a good idea to at least skim through these instructions before embarking so as to have a better notion of what's involved, in case any personal specific limitations might come into play. It might be possible to attempt to skip ahead of some of the steps, but we have designed this to thwart such efforts. That's not a challenge to try. This adventure will be much more enjoyable and satisfying by following the instructions as intended. Just like the truism says, you'd only be cheating yourself. Anything skipped is cool stuff not seen and thereby missed out on.)

Skip (go around) the front offices building and go directly into the big mausoleum itself (which is behind the front buildings at the sidewalk) against the cliff. (Being built down the side of the cliff is what gives it its 8 floors, because from street level it only looks 3 stories high.) The main entrance is behind/next to the big flagpole.

There are 2 overall portions of this adventure. The first portion involves following 8 clues to find the 8 separate points of interest, scattered around inside, at which the clues will lead you to find specific letters of the alphabet. With these letters you will be building 2 separate words that will be necessary to complete the second overall portion of this adventure. You can find these 8 points in any order, and the letters that you find from them will be jumbled in 2 anagrams for you to de-jumble. The order in which you find them will not matter - they will be jumbled no matter what. The first word is 10 letters long but is a common word. The second word is 7 letters long and is also a common word. At each of the 8 points we will tell you which of the 2 words each letter belongs in (so as to avoid a near-impossible level of difficulty!)

GOOD LUCK and HERE WE GO!

#1) Your first puzzle will be an easy warm-up, so that you can get the vibe of the place and the lay of the land: Somewhere on this ground/entrance-level floor (5th) find a rocky water fountain in which a cherub plays and a bird bathes. Directly behind this cherub's head is an urn in a niche. Read this woman's name. The first letter of the given name, and the first letter of the family name both belong in the 7 letter anagram word. The middle initial belongs in the 10 letter anagram word.

#2 - #8) Now go for it (and remember these are in no particular order - you are welcome to follow this list - no trickery is involved):

[-] Find a large statue of a solitary man who is holding a pen in his hand with a bird perched at his feet. What is the 2nd letter of his given name? This letter belongs in the 10 letter word.

[-] Find a 5-floor-spanning open-shaft spiral staircase. From the top of it, look out to the west. What is the largest single word that you can see? The 2nd letter of this word belongs in both the 7 letter anagram and the 10 letter anagram.

[-] Find a golden statue of a water-carrying woman, standing on a black table. Read the nearby biblical passage. What is it that The Lord restores? The last 2 letters of this one word answer belong in the 10 letter anagram.

[-] Perhaps the most distant and obscure location in this first section: Find a large sun-dial in a large stained glass window. Read the sentence in the window below the sun-dial. The first letter and the last letter of this sentence both belong in the 7 letter anagram. The last letter of this sentence also belongs in the 10 letter anagram.

[-] Find a water fountain in which a little boy plays with a creature at his feet. What is the last letter of the word for this creature? That letter belongs in the 10 letter anagram. What is the number of legs that this creature has? Look for the doctor in the stained glass window across from the boy. Count this many letters into the doctor's last name (Example: if the number were 3, with a name of Smith, the answer would be "i"). That letter belongs in the 10 letter anagram.

[-] From standing inside of the main elevator (not the large freight elevator) on one of the floors you can observe a priest's grace nearby. What is the letter nearest to his grace? This letter belongs in the 10 letter anagram.

[-] Find the green-marbled octagon that rings a 6-floor-spanning open-shaft. This ring contains a nutcracker suite. Find it. What is the name here? The last letter of the family name belongs in the 7 letter anagram. The last letter of the nickname belongs in both the 7 letter anagram and the 10 letter anagram.

If you have gotten this far, congrats! You have reached the 2nd overall stage of the adventure. This is probably a good time to rest your feet and de-scramble your 2 anagrams. The next steps are sequential and must be followed in order. [The hint, if you want one, for the 10-letter anagram is: the word begins with the letter that was the last letter of the word for the creature at the feet of the boy in the fountain. A further hint, if you need it, is that it is an object that is held in one's hands.]

#9) Go back outside to the garden area at the south (Bybee st.) end of the property. Please remember to maintain a casual and respectful manner so as to not cause puzzlement or concern by others who might be in mourning. Find the octagonal gazebo. From the gazebo you will be able to see a mountain ridge that is etched into stone. What is the first of all the names listed here? Remember it or write it down.

#10) Time to go back inside. Enter, this time, through the southernmost/nearest doors that are at the sidewalk (just off of 14th ave.). If you’re inside the correct entrance, you should see a couple of unused fireplaces. (By the way, there are bathrooms here in this rarely-used lobby, if needed.)

#11) With the unscrambled 10 letter word and the name that you just found outside, in that order, complete the following sentence, which is your next clue:
Find the __________ , beyond Hope, by passing through the ______ Chamber.

#12) Once you have found this spot, look at the month of the date of death. The number of that month (January is 1, December is 12) is the floor on which you now need to go. (Enjoy using the creepy old accordion-gated freight elevator at the "Wilson Terrace" - and hope that the power doesn't go out!)

#13) Your final clue in these online instructions: Once on that floor, use your unscrambled 7 letter word to complete the following sentence:
Look in the empty flower vase that rests in the vase-ring at the empty/blank/unoccupied site up above the _______ . (The "_______" are well 'hidden' so be sure to really look all around!)
In this vase you will find a slip of paper on which is written your final clue to finding the treasure itself. And now you're on your own for that last step!

Good luck and we really hope you have a great time with this journey. We put a bit of time and thought into it. No clues or hints will be included in this posting because none are truly needed, and would only detract from the sense of satisfaction and accomplishment that is available to any serious hunter. Anyone who gets fully stumped after sincere effort is welcome to email me at the address posted here for assistance. Please post any successes/ failures/ feedback/ comments/ suggestions/ joys/ frustrations/ cool experiences in the response-log here on the website (or privately email me at "pdxnecropolis@yahoo.com"). But please be very careful to not give anything away with any clues intentional or unintentional.

Remember to take a cool CD or DVD for the stash, because we feel the effort in finding it deserves a cool reward for whoever makes it all the way. And please feel free to mention in the stash log any fun or cool things you came across during the hunt, or recommendations for anything cool to check out, that other hunters might have missed, before they leave the building that day.

One final easter-egg: bring a penny or a woodscrew to add to the existing collection in the penny/screw "cookie jar" (not related to the hunt itself but anyone who passes this sculpture, and has a dose of "The Force", will find it irresistible to look inside...)

-Author