The Nereid Cove

[batsam]

Welcome to the Nereid Cove, where you will put all of your angling skills to use in pursuit of that most elusive of creatures, the flying seahorse!

There are twelve of the above flying seahorses hidden throughout the HPFT forums, who need to be captured to be reunited with their seahorse soulmates (note for those who who have participated in @toomanycurls's passionate letter writing campaign - no seahorses will be harmed for this event). Once you have found a seahorse, report its location in the Nereid Cove submission thread in your common room.

Placement points will be awarded on a 200-150-100-50 point basis, ranked by order of finish. If some houses do not find all seahorses, their rankings will be determined by the number of seahorses caught.

Happy fishing!

Oh, what’s that, you haven’t done your research into seahorses’ preferred habitats? Well, it so happens that a previous inhabitant of the Island of Atlantis has left behind some notes that will point you to the exact locations of the seahorses. That is, if you can decipher the meaning of a fisherman’s deranged scribblings.

Seahorse scholars who’ve studied these notes have concluded that the fisherman used a keyword cipher to indicate the location of seahorses on the forums. In order to solve the cipher, you must identify which archive story he poorly summarized. The next word in the quote from that story can be used as the keyword to solve the cipher.

transcribed text under the spoiler:

Spoiler

• a flower’s daughter literally lives in a different world
• “stop stressing me out I have”
•  ltpqjdc uqnogty

 

• A girl named Thought plants a tiny seed after the war
• “they only cared for this”
•  jmqedrrm ohmeg imhaky

 

• This story non-includes non-couples doing non-worrisome things
• “Which is what I was doing”
• heaakjiaigg

 

• when the nature deity closes a door, she opens a - darn. I miss the dog.
• “at least treat him like a human”
• ofqhcmjix

 

• By my pretty floral bonnet, does anyone in this ExpansiveOperahouse know what’s for breakfast? Lunch?? Dinner???
• “wiggling her finger and practically”
• uktfldti grfsaii

 

• A biblical judge once played it hot and cold with Miss Dietrich
• “and now you’re giving me”
• fknjgggg vbqa qae ktioaep

 

• Marilyn Monroe is mature enough to slurs her words, forms a thematically transformative relationship with an icon of teenage disillusionment
• “We're off to see your Aunt”
• wpcsryktpbrmpskts

 

• Not toomanyparents make like Timothy Q. Mouse
• “No, not really. It's a”
• qdlkmvnhlx

 

• We are not “men of action," the patron saint of choking generally is available to all
• “at the house of a cousin outside"
• pdrg vjo ikpsy

 

• Vanessa Carlton finds parenting dark, does drugs and beats up someone nobody’s heard of.
• “shifted her eyes away from her son’s” 
• hxsq axs bxwxl hxsq bpja kts

 

• Let’s kick off lent an original way -- with verse in the form of a Russian assassiness
• “The heat of life, the cold of death”
• rnhhy gsmdkudtrldpn vnwqgny

 

• go to neverland, flowermoon, but don’t rush through the fire
• “he stood behind the stove, cooking"
• ifsppbisfpqsop

Some additional tips:

• The fisherman’s unorthodox story summaries do not require you to have read the story in order to identify it - his references apply to things found in the story shell, including but not limited to elements such characters, story type, advisories, and references to the title or summary.
• Please note that any punctuation present in a seahorse’s location name is NOT included in the fisherman’s ciphers.
• Each university may post in their Nereid Cove submission thread to request hints identifying up to three stories. Arbiters of Chaos will tell you the elements that the clue indicates you should look for in a story. For each hint used, 10 points will be deducted from your score.

This event will run until July 8th 11:59PM GMT