Stone Garden Drossbox

Across the river gorge and over yellow grass-lands, in the belly of the Red Lion lies the Stone Garden.  It is a small destination, land-scaped with grey rocks and shrubberies that resemble a giant Fizgig.  Nevertheless, only the most dedicated Radcon folk know of this garden, in the center of their midst!


That was how Princess Lolly discovered the obscure little garden.  Every year during the month of the Candlelight Moon (that is, February), she traverses the Kingdom into the Land of Radcon to merrily meet with friends from afar.  They always throw quite the smashing party!


As every magical creature knows, it is polite to bring a gift when you go to visit friends, and Princesses especially are no exception to this rule.  Lolly carefully packed her treasure-filled Drossbox but, being a Faerie, she of course had to make a fun game out leaving her gift so she asked her fairy-friend Victoria for advice.


"Do you have an ideas, Miss Victoria, where we should hide this Drossbox?  It can't be too hard or too easy."


"Hrm," pondered Victoria, tapping her lips thoughtfully.  "I know!  Let's put it in the Stone Gardens!"


"Perfect!" said Lolly.  "You'll have to show me where it is at though."  


With that, the two ladies set off down the path into the very middle of the Red Lion.  They followed the sidewalk toward the tall stones and climbed up a low rock-wall.  There, Victoria searched through all the long-haired bushes, "I think under this grassy stuff should be fine."

Together, they lifted the long grass and hid the red, weather-proof box underneath.  It was a great hiding place! Right in plain sight, just like magic: easy enough to find if you know how to look :)


Once hidden, the girls locked their fingers in a fairy pinky-swear only to tell people with a dancing star in their hearts and who would promise to follow the rules - like you!


Princess Lolly waived goodbye to her friends in the Land of Radcon promising that she would see them all soon in the Faerie Glen at Ye Merrie Greenwood Faire!

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Now let's see if YOU can find this Drossbox!  

Every Faerie treasure hidden in the magical realm has a corresponding location in the human world.  Drossboxing is a magical cross between Letterboxes and Geocaching (if you're familiar).


Each box is weather-proof and contains its own instructions.  To find the boxes, you must read the clues about where they are hidden (Geocaching uses GPS coordinates instead).  Sometimes the clues are a rhyme or riddle or adventure story.


You should be prepared for your adventure with the following:
--A small magical treasure of your own like a special stone, gold coin, sea glass, bubbles, finger puppets, super-balls, temporary tattoos, or whatever can go in something about the size of a school box
--Your favorite rubber stamp
--Your own stamp pad in your favorite color!
--A log book so you can track where you've been (I mark all mine on this Drossbox Map in my Castle :)


For those that may be giving this their first try, I'll tell you the human location, but you'll have to pick out the clues and use the pictures to find it on your own!


Human Location: The Red Lion, Pasco, Washington
Faerie: In the belly (center) of Radcon, under a bush in the "Stone Garden"


If you happen to find yourself at Radcon 2012, ask around - someone there is sure to know where the Stone Gardens are!  If you're just visiting any other time of year, happy hunting!

Drossbox: Under the Green Hill Contest!

Samhain Amethina

Samhain is that time where the Unseelie Courts come into prominence.  The dark half of the year until Beltane is filled with mischief and chaos.   This Hallowe'en, Strowler Nights was the event of the season and Amethina packed a Drossbox and dressed for the occasion.

Down in an out-of-the-way warehouse, you practically had to know the secret password in almost speakeasy style, to get into the party.

Ignition Fire Spinning

The night was filled with amazing music from SJ Tucker, Alexander James Adams, Vixy and Tony and others.  Fire was spun by the troupe Ignition, songs were sung and the crowd was enchantingly stylish.  Chronomancers and devils and the Morrigan, oh my!

The mission of the evening for Amethina though, was to hide a Drossbox.  She had packed another bit of faerie treasure into a weather-proof box and was determined to place it somewhere outside to be found!

Searching for a hiding spot without success, she finally decided to ask someone who might know the area better.  Nearby a leafy Dryad looked as if she might know the lay of the land pretty well so Amethina asked her.

"Over there!" said the autumnal one, "Under the Green Hill!"  She pointed in the right direction and when midnight struck and the festivities began to scatter, Amethina set out to find the Green Hill.

Around the roads and through the rain, she made her way to an impressive stone archway.  It seemed to lead right into the side of a very green hill indeed and so she boldly entered to passageway.

The rockwall trail switchbacked left and right until the mound opened up.  Following the path to the right there was a tall tree surrounded by patches of glistening ivy and shrubbery.  It was the perfect place!

Amethina planted the Drossbox as her most recent geocache and then doubled back toward the mouth of the Green Hill.

True to fae standards, welcome to my SECOND BLOG CONTEST where you can win awesome treasure!  If you've never played one, just read the instructions and join right in :)

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HOW TO PLAY

The leafy Dryad advised Amethina to hide the drossbox Under the Green Hill, which also happens to be a new book by Laura L. Sullivan!  Win a one year subscription to the awesome full-color Faerie Magazine by entering!

1) Visit Laura's facebook page for her book Under the Green Hill and "like" her page.  Leave a comment on her wall mentioning this Gilded Quill-Under the Green Hill giveaway, and in this blog post so we can verify your entry. REQUIRED, You must do this before any additional entries!!

ADDITIONAL ENTRIES (Optional)
2) Become a follower of the gildedquill on Twitter and tweet about this giveaway.  Come back here and leave an additional comment with your twitter ID.  You may do this once a day.

3) Become a fan of The Gilded Quill on facebook and leave a comment on my wall that you've "liked" my page.

4) Repost/Crosspost this article.  Come back here and leave a link to where you've sent the repost.

5) Visit the Gilded Quill on Etsy or Gilded Quill on Artfire, come back here and leave a link to one of your favorite GREEN items from my store.

6) Find the Drossbox geocache in Seattle, WA and post a picture of your own log book with a stamp from the box.

The contest will end at 11:59pm on Sunday, Novemeber 14th and the winner will be announced shortly after.   Win your ONE YEAR SUBSCRIPTION to FAERIE MAGAZINE! (US Entries Only)

Knight Prize and Drossbox Hidden Treasure...

Contestants searched high and low in their efforts to win the Amethyst Crystal Potion, said to be great for protection, the mind, mysticism and calm.  Many magical items were found for protection: Juniper and Poisonwood Magic Wands, Air Elemental Parchment, a Macassar Ebony Wand - the list goes on!


After a week of hunting for items, all the entries were rounded up for the prize drawing.  The box was shaken and yon random castle guard was enlisted to draw the name of the final winner:

JESSICA MENTON!!

Congratulations and happy winnings to her, as the Magic Potion is on its way for her very own use.

Drossbox

In the mood for prizes, treasures and other fun games, Amethina decided to continue the adventure and go on a little excursion.  She dug through her own treasure chest for some faerie sparklies and packed a small, weatherproof container full of all the necessary components: stamp, booklet, shiny things, instructions, cool stuff and then set out to the Barony of Tacoma to find an excellent place to geo-cache this Drossbox.

Once in the land of Tacoma, Amethina stopped by one of her favorite shops where some fairy friends dwell.  Whilst there, she found the perfect place out back to hide the Drossbox full of treasure.

Amethina points to the hidden Drossbox!
(Elf Hoodie by BluPixie)

Pulling her elf hoodie up over her head so as to blend in, she sneaked the treasure in under a bush and thought up this little rhyme to help any scavenger hunters find it:

Where the Moon is a Crescent

Faerie treasure is present

Around a corner

Up a stone stair

Under a shrub, it's tucked in there!

Do you know a place in Tacoma that fits that description??

Magic sewn for the evening, Amethina said goodbye to her friends and was off to the next adventure! 

Happy Hunting!