Great News! - And a Message from Blind Mew!

Yesterday afternoon,  we received an email from One-Eyed Jack, our community manager, with some very exciting news: we've been accepted as an official Pirate101 fansite (!!) - the team here was absolutely thrilled to hear this, and we're very glad that we can now be a larger part of the community.

Of course, we certainly won’t be slowing down now! We’ll be rolling out some new segments over the next few weeks that we hope you’ll all enjoy (P101 and W101!). Also, be sure to keep an eye on our official Twitter page for some periodic contests the next couple of days. We’ll be hosting some contests and events on our blog, too, so be sure to check back often - you never know what’s in store! (even we don’t!)

We’re hoping for this to be a great year for Pirate101… Yum all around!

We also received some extra Commentary from Blind Mew:

"Blind Mew here - as I said over at Central, your work is pretty staggering and I absolutely love it! But there's one thing on the second article that you’ve missed, and it’s pretty important: the Spiral Map in Marleybone has no world in the center: this tells you right off the bat there’s no such thing as an absolute chart, at least not yet. Why is the map this way? Marleybonean pride prevents them from giving another world a better position than they have, but they are reasonable enough to admit that other worlds are really important: manners preclude them taking the center spot for themselves.

So, rather than Valencia at center, it and Marleybone share “most important” status with two other worlds, arranged in the cross pattern there in the middle. Nobody has seen the Spiral from outside, so as long as the connections line up, who’s to say their map is incorrect? Who are the other two worlds? That would be telling.

Another thing you should consider – when mapping out the Spiral (at least our version, with thread connections and what not), I was driven by story considerations more than symmetry. So presumptions of what connections are likely or unlikely based on numbers of hops are dangerous – I’d be much more likely to connect a world like Marleybone to other worlds that resonate with the British colonial presence. I’m also leaving room for lines that connect two worlds across the gaps between the arms if need be.

Oh, and the gate closest to Beachhead in MB does indeed go to Valencia – it’s the front line in the war, and the Armada’s primary invasion vector. That’s what makes Rooke’s assault from MooShu at the other end of the Skyway such a big deal – it’s a major flanking maneuver."

Interesting, eh?!

What Lies Ahead, and Where? - The Epic Conclusion

Disclaimer; The conclusions and views of this post are purely based around Game Knowledge and Educated Guesses, they do not reflect the views of Kingsisle Entertainment and are not definite.

This post contains what some people would regard to as “spoilers”; if you would prefer to not spoil yourself on the complete image of Marco’s Map, don’t read.

In the previous parts of this segment, we discussed techniques to predict where future worlds may be located as well as supporting evidence from the game. If you wish to familiarize yourself with them, you can find them [here] and [here].

Marco Pollo’s Map

The map that we and the Armada are hunting down in game is still in pieces; however, the completed map (with notable pieces) has appeared online thanks to the artist Bryan Lian.

As you can see, this is not entirely similar to the map Kingsisle sent out in 2012, as there are several notable difference. For example, the world index on the left does not appear on the mailed map, nor does the writing in the bottom and top right hand corners.

Marco’s Map seems to indicate which worlds are connected to each other. The map KingsIsle sent out has the world names listed; using this resource, we can match them to the worlds shown on the actual map. Nearly all of the Spiral Passages for the existing worlds are shown, along with some additional ones. Krokotopia, for example, is connected to Aquila - just as we predicted in the second part of this segment. Now that there is so much evidence proving this, an Aquila to Krokotopia Spiral Passage is practically confirmed.

When looking at what worlds are connected to what, the curved lines may be a bit misleading. The straight lines seem to represent a direct passage via Stormgate, as you can see in the case of MQ to DS, MS to VL, along with AQ to KT. Wizard City seems to be connected to Grizzleheim, too, as we predicted. The curved lines depict an “orbit” around a central world - this ends up playing a key role in deciphering the entire map, so we’ll discuss more on this later on.

However, the most important thing that Marco Pollo’s Map can tell you is how to get to El Dorado. Pollo was clever enough to not only make it hard to actually obtain the map but to also make it hard to decipher the map truly means. Figuring out where El Dorado’s stormgate will appear next can only be determined after understanding the rest of the clues the map provides us with.

Celestial Writing

These complex looking letters appear at the bottom of the map and are written in red - possibly to catch the gaze of the person holding the map. Could it be a clue?

It certainly appears that way. Swordroll has semi-deciphered this part using Legends of the Spiral’s Celestial Translator: “East to the Blue S--, when the Stars Align, the Moon is Key.”. We took a closer look at what letters could fit after the “S--”, and “un” fit perfectly well. Therefore, the clue at the bottom of the page, in full, is “East to the Blue Sun, when the Stars Align, the Moon is Key.”. What does this mean? Read on…

East to the Blue Sun

The Sun stands at the center of our solar system, just like Valencia does in many maps around the Spiral. The Bruno Chapel and the Marleybonean War Room, for instance, have examples of Sky Charts with Valencia in the center (further discussed in Part 2). On Marco Pollo’s map, Valencia is the biggest world (besides El Dorado) and is blue. Additionally, its symbol is an “S” rather than a “V” or a Unicorn, which is the first letter of “Sun”. Therefore, according to Marco Pollo, Valencia seems to represent the “Blue Sun”. Now, what is to the East of Valencia?

.

As you can see, there are only two things to the east of Valencia: Aquila and Krokotopia. What does this mean? Well, it means that it is likely for us to access El Dorado from either Aquila or Krokotopia.

When the Stars Align

Just like there are many stars in our solar system, there are many worlds in the Spiral. In the clue, Marco Pollo is speaking metaphorically; he is not referring to “Stars”, exactly, but to the worlds of the Spiral. So, what worlds will align? As you can see, each major “hub” world (Marleybone and Valencia) has an orbit surrounding them with many different lines connecting to different worlds. So, what if these lines travelled around the orbits (like planet Earth and our Sun) and “aligned” with something?

So, taking the deciphered clue from the the first part, and we use the line that Valencia, Aquila, and Krokotopia are on and we move it around the orbit that it is on with Valencia. It aligns with the line connecting Valencia to Marleybone. Now, if you look closely, on that line there are two small circles that could possibly be where Aquila and Krokotopia will lie (we doubt that AQ will lie on top of SI and KT lie on top of MB). Now, thinking about it Stormgate-wise, we’d have to travel through Aquila to get to Krokotopia; therefore, the magical moving Stormgate of El Dorado would be next accessed through Krokotopia!

Yellow: Orbital Travel/Alignment

Blue: Path Aquila and Krokotopia will move

Orange: Where Aquila and Krokotopia will reside when aligned

Purple: Where El Dorado and Krokotopia “Align”

The Moon is Key

This part is a bit harder to figure out; in regards to the Sun and Stars, Marco Pollo was speaking metaphorically, so it would only make sense for him to not be referring to a literal Moon here. Next to the Celestial markings, towards the bottom, are eight phases of the Moon. Additionally, written in red to contrast with the rest of the map are eight different clues. Coincidence?

(1) “East to the Blue Sun, when the Stars Align, the Moon is Key

”

(2) The eight phases of the Moon

(3) Circles around Krokotopia and Darkmoor in the world index

(4) Three rectangles next to Monquista in the world index

(5) Writing next to Skull Island

(6) Writing next to MooShu

(7) Writing in upper right hand corner

(8) Writing in lower right hand corner

What do these symbols all mean? Most of them we’ve already figured out. The first clue is the basis of the entire map, and illustrates how to reach El Dorado. The second seems to state the relationship between the moon and the clues, as well as that all eight clues must be adhered to.

In the third clue, both Krokotopia and Darkmoor are circled. Krokotopia’s significance is rather clear, as that is likely where we will access El Dorado from when the worlds align. But Darkmoor? Something important is definitely there, but for Marco Pollo to value it as high as Krokotopia, we’re going to need something there. Perhaps a Windstone to El Dorado?

The three rectangles next to Monquista might indicate that it is the “starting point” to El Dorado. Assuming that El Dorado will, indeed, be located in Krokotopia, a path can be followed starting from Monquista: Monquista → Aquila → Krokotopia → El Dorado. Keep in mind that our desire to start with Skull Island is rather biased; Marco Pollo would have no need to consider it as that is not where he commonly resided, unlike us Pirates.

The markings next to Skull Island and MooShu are difficult to decipher. They don’t seem to be in Celestian, so we cannot translate them - perhaps they are written in Aquilan Linear A or B. While they definitely have some significance to them, the map can be understood relatively well, even when disregarded. The writing in the upper hand corner, too, is hard to understand, so we’ll leave that alone for now as well.

The last two seems to be coordinates, possibly to El Dorado. As it turns out, the red writing in that section corresponds to the coordinates of Krokotopia, providing further reinforcement that El Dorado would be there. These coordinates could be especially useful, considering that the Stormgate to El Dorado doesn’t stay open for long. We’d have to be in the right place at exactly the right time… knowing where in Krokotopia the Stormgate would open would therefore be crucial.

Now that we’ve analyzed Marco Pollo’s map, we can finally answer the question: What lies ahead? Our predictions to this question are as follows.

Book 15: Valencia to find ‘G’ and find Kane’s weakness

Book 16: Polaris to find Erika the Red and her map piece

Book 17: Darkmoor to find our parents’ map piece

Book 18: Krokotopia to find the Windstone to El Dorado

Book 19: Valencia to take back the remaining map pieces from Kane

Book 20: El Dorado!

Of course, as with our other posts in this segment, none of this is definite. We want to hear what you think lies ahead and how we’ll reach El Dorado! And, what do you think will be there when we finally reach it?

Thanks for reading!

What Lies Ahead, and Where? - Part 2

Disclaimer; The conclusions and views of this post are purely based around Game Knowledge and Educated Guesses, they do not reflect the views of Kingsisle Entertainment and are not definite. 

If you haven’t already checked it out, be sure to familiarize yourself with our last issue in this segment, located [here]. In this part, we’ll be taking a look at and trying to understand some hints KingsIsle have already dropped in game… hints that you’ve probably just skipped right over, but they’re certainly very important.

Valencia’s Role

The Pirate101 website has some interesting lore behind the current state of Valencia. While it’s likely for us to see this firsthand when we take a second trip there, it’s interesting to see the way the world is running. Aragon Skyway is a rather remote part of Valencia, so we haven’t truly witnessed what actual life is like there.

“The Skyways of Valencia have more Stormgates than any other realm in the Spiral - Valencians say their realm is the heart of the Spiral, and most sky charts are drawn with Valencia at the center. Valencia has used its location to flower into a thriving hub of trade and shipping between the realms.”

“Valencia is [. . .] home to the hardy Crabs and pragmatic Guinea Pigs, who serve as the hard-working middle class to the Unicorn elite. Skilled craftsmen and tireless laborers, their efforts sustain the magnificent (some would say decadent) lifestyle of the Unicorns. Guilds and Merchant Houses of Crabs and Guinea Pigs drive Valencian commerce, and have grown very powerful in recent times.”

Notice how trade is a prominent aspect of Valencia - it seems as though it’s the center of commerce in the entire Spiral, which is why sky charts are drawn with it in the center. Knowing that Valencia would be in the center, it helps us understand and further complete some sky charts already present in the game.

Sky Charts? What Sky Charts?

All the way back in Aragon Skyway, there is a map on the floor of the Bruno Chapel, possibly designed by Marco Pollo himself. Regardless of who it was created by, it is definitely accurate, and it shows us the locations of existing worlds as well as letting us infer where others can be located on it.

Below is what the actual sky chart looks like. Make note that some of the circles are filled in with emblems of worlds while others are left blank.

From left to right, we see Monquista, Skull Island, Marleybone, an unknown world, Valencia, MooShu, Aquila, and another unknown world. The world to the far right seems unfamiliar… while it may look like a sheriff’s badge at first glance, making it represent Cool Ranch, that assumption would not make sense. The lines connecting each world to others illustrate Spiral Passages; for example, Skull Island connects to MooShu, Monquista connects to Aquila, and MooShu connects to Valencia (through a currently unused Stormgate in MooShu). If that world were to be Cool Ranch, it would have to connect to Skull Island - certainly not Marleybone, which is what we’re seeing here.

What else could it be? There aren’t too many other options, and it definitely has to be an important world. If this sky chart was created prior to or during the Polarian Wars, Polaris would certainly need to be mapped out, right? The symbol on the world does seem like it could represent Polaris. Therefore, as there’s really no other possible world that it could be, it’s safe to assume that Polaris will be accessed through a Stormgate in Marleybone.

The War Room

In Marleybone’s War Room, where the three officers of the Marleybonean Navy reside, is a map on the wall. At first, it didn’t look like much at all - just a cool design to add to the overall look of the War Room. However, when compared to the map we see in the Bruno Chapel of Valencia, there are striking similarities… in fact, it’s nearly the exact same map!

We can add in all the worlds shown on the Bruno Chapel Map by looking at where the strands go off to, and how many worlds per strand. We can also add in Polaris where we see it on the Valencia map. Krokotopia is actually relatively easy to place. As it will likely be in the first arc, it’s safe to say that it will be pictured here. There’s no room for it to be connected to Marleybone, so, as we predicted in the first part of this segment, it will either be connected to Valencia or Aquila.

The solution is, most likely, Valencia and Aquila! The only possible options are the world between Aquila and Valencia or the world just connected to Valencia. However, using the strategy discussed our first post of this segment, we can see that it is much more likely for Krokotopia’s Stormgate to be in Aquila. If Krokotopia were to be in Valencia, it would likely be visible in the MooShu Stormgate, where we could find a path from MooShu to Valencia to Krokotopia. However, it is not; instead, we find it in the Aquilan Stormgate, illustrating that Krokotopia may be accessed through Aquila (though a Stormgate may still be present in Valencia, according to the map above).

Valencia does have the most Stormgates in the Spiral, however, so what important world could be connected to it? Darkmoor is one possibility. It only appears in the Stormgate to Valencia as well as those in MooShu (which Valencia can be easily accessed from). There doesn’t seem to be any other possible place for it, either; the only other spot left through an accessible world is via Polaris, and we may not see that world until we visit Darkmoor. Dragonspyre is another possibility, but it isn’t pictured here, which would mean Darkmoor wouldn’t be on the map at all - this certainly doesn’t seem like the case, as that shadowy world seems to have much more than it’s letting up.

Celestia, Grizzleheim, Wizard City, and More

We may never see these worlds in the game (at least in the first arc), but they seem to be on the maps in the Bruno Chapel and the War Room. Their roles are much more pronounced in Wizard101, and Pirates have their own issues to worry about… even the Armada decided to leave Wizard City alone when it came to eliminating magic from the Spiral.

Celestia is certainly an interesting world to place. From a storyline perspective, it was discovered by the Marleyboneans, most likely by ship (and, therefore, through a Stormgate). Also, it is worth noting that the war with Valencia began after the Wizard left Marleybone, but before the beginning of the Morganthe arc. Assuming that the distress call was sent shortly after the Marleyboneans arrived in Celestia, it is safe to say that Celestia was discovered while the war was raging on.

What significance does this have? If Valencia was at war with Marleybone, the Spiral Geographic Society certainly wouldn’t have been able to access any of the Stormgates there - this is narrowing the Stormgate to Celestia’s location down tremendously as Valencia is practically the “hub zone” of the Spiral’s Stormgates. And, if Darkmoor truly is located in Celestia, Marleyboneans wouldn’t be able to reach that world so easily, either. 

Where could the Stormgate be? Polaris seems like a good possibility. Easily accessible through Marleybone, so the Spiral Geographic Society would simply have to sail through a fallen empire to reach this distant world. It’s also visible in the MooShu Stormgate, which would lead to Marleybone and, in turn, Polaris. Additionally, as Celestia isn’t pictured in the Bruno Chapel map, this could be because the Valencians were currently unaware of its location - Marleybone discovered it, after all.

Grizzleheim may or may not be in the first arc, based on hints we’ve received from Blind Mew over on the Official Message Boards. We don’t get many clues on its location; it is only seen through the Stormgate to Cool Ranch. Since Cool Ranch doesn’t have any unused Stormgates (or any other Stormgates at all, for that matter), Grizzleheim’s location remains a mystery. From a militaristic perspective, Grizzleheim is completely neutral… it would be a good idea for both Marleybone and Valencia to plot its location, though, in case that standpoint suddenly changes. The only real place left would be connected to Darkmoor, which is certainly possible. Relatively isolated from Marleybone, Valencia, and Polaris, so it would be safe and able to maintain its neutrality.

Wizard City, as we’ve seen in Olde Town, can be sailed to directly from Grizzleheim in a small looking ship. Grizzleheim wanted to establish trading relations with Wizard City, too, so it would make sense for them to be connected. Perhaps Wysteria can even be connected to Wizard City - the feuding schools of magic. The only two worlds left we’ve seen in the Spiral Passages are Zafaria and the “Lighthouse” world, which could possibly fill the last two remaining spots, but that would make them extremely unlikely to ever appear in the game due to the sheer amount of travel required. The “Lighthouse” world, especially, seems to have a lot of potential…

The completed map is shown below.

 Of course, these are just our thoughts on this. Do you have any ideas? Let us know!

In the last part of this segment, we’ll be analyzing one last clue… a clue that is extremely important, and may just be able to answer some questions that have arisen thus far.

What Lies Ahead, and Where?: Part 1

Disclaimer; The conclusions and views of this post are purely based around Game Knowledge and Educated Guesses, they do not reflect the views of Kingsisle Entertainment and are not definite. 

Recently, we’ve been looking at some clues both on and off the game to determine what future worlds will be, along with where they’ll be located. While we already know that Monquista’s Stormgate is located in Skull Island, Marleybone’s in MooShu, and Valencia’s in Dragonspyre, what about other worlds? Where will we access Krokotopia from? Darkmoor? How about El Dorado itself?

Stormgate Analysis

The first step to figuring out these essential questions is to travel to existing Spiral Passages and look at what worlds can be seen in the distance. While it may seem like they are completely random worlds, our results proved otherwise.

After laying out all of the data in an Excel Sheet and making important notes, it we were able to draw conclusions as to what worlds would be displayed. Below is just one example of our results; in this case, the Spiral Passage we are in is from Skull Island to Monquista.

 In this case, we can see that we will have to travel no more than three worlds to reach our target world. For example, as Valencia is seen in this Stormgate, we can travel Monquista → Dragonspyre → Valencia, which is three worlds. This holds true for all of the results we collected; no matter the Spiral Passage we were in, we could always find a route consisting of three or less worlds to take us to our target world.

So, how does this help us? In order to understand the less obvious worlds, we must first understand the existing ones. Notice that Krokotopia is also seen in the Stormgate from Skull Island to Monquista. Using this approach, our question is: Where can the Stormgate to Krokotopia be found?

Of course, there will be more than one possible answer - it’s unfortunately hard to narrow it down too much, as there are a number of worlds with open Stormgates: Dragonspyre, Marleybone, and Aquila are just among the ones we’ve seen. And, if we return to Valencia in the next update, won’t there be more Stormgates there? It is the center of the Spiral’s commerce, after all.

One possible route is Monquista → Dragonspyre → Krokotopia (there’s an unused Stormgate in Avernus Skyway!), while another is Monquista → Aquila → Krokotopia (we will also prove this further in an upcoming post). While there are unused Stormgates in Marleybone, a path taking less than three worlds cannot be found from Skull Island or Monquista to Marleybone. Therefore, using this technique, it is unlikely for Krokotopia’s Stormgate to be found in Marleybone.

We’ve taken a look at possibilities for other worlds, including Zafaria, Wizard City, Wysteria, and even the mysterious “Lighthouse” world that currently remains a mystery. As none of these seem to be plausible possibilities for the first arc, we have been focusing more on the worlds that have dominant roles: Krokotopia, Polaris, and Darkmoor. We’ll further on Polaris in the second addition to this segment; for now, let’s look at Darkmoor’s possibilities.

Darkmoor

Darkmoor, the world of many mysteries. Something important seems to be there, something that our Pirates may have to track down very soon. Some say it’s based off of pre-modern Britain, while others can argue it referencing Romania. One question, however, still remains: Where can it be found?

The Stormgate from Skull Island to MooShu can help answer this question - Darkmoor can be seen in that Spiral Passage from a distance . We can find two possible paths here:

MooShu → Marleybone → Darkmoor

MooShu → Valencia → Darkmoor

Keep in mind that there is an unused Stormgate to Valencia in MooShu, which is why the second possibility works. Can Darkmoor still be that last Stormgate in Avernus Skyway? We’re not ruling that out - the theme of both worlds seem to be similar, and Madame Vadmina certainly seemed to have knowledge of what lurks near that Stormgate…

Quotes from Bishop

Bishop was able to help us out a bit here, and a certain line from his puppet show gives some  insight regarding unused Stormgates.

There definitely seems to be a Stormgate linking Valencia and Marleybone (Why wouldn’t there be one? Those are two of the Spiral’s greatest powers!), and there are several unused Stormgates in Westminster Skyway. While he could be referring to ones in Albion or Kent Skyways, would this really be a surprise attack, then, if Marleybonean officials could see Armada ships sailing between Skyways and have time to ambush them? It seems much more likely for there to be direct passage from Westminster to Valencia.

While it is uncertain if we will use all of the existing Stormgates in the first arc, it’s likely that we will use most of them. Below is one possibility of what Marleybone’s unused Stormgates could lead to.

We may not ever use that Valencia Stormgate (at least not for a LONG while), considering that we already have two unused ones in Skull Island and MooShu, but it’s very possible for there to be the Stormgates to Polaris and Darkmoor in Marleybone.

This seems to also support our conclusion that Krokotopia will not be in Marleybone - perhaps its Stormgate will be located in Aquila. There must be a way that Ulysses got ahold of the Rosetta Stone, after all - such a fragile artifact might not be able to survive transport between so many Spiral Threads.

On the next post, we’ll be taking a closer look at some cool hints KingsIsle dropped in Valencia and Marleybone - what findings could they possibly lead to?