All About Xavier: Part One

One of the most mysterious characters of MagiQuest is Xavier. We have very little solid information about him. We know that he has been exiled from the realms, although not for what crime. Reportedly, he hopes to return to the realms and take revenge on the Council of Master Magi.

We also know that he is the Quest Master's brother, and Carren's father.

But who is Xavier exactly? A full answer to that is unfortunately beyond the scope of this blog, because there isn't a whole lot of information out there about him. Everything we know, though, we will share with you the reader.

For ease of reading, this post is going to be in two parts. Part One describes Xavier and what his powers may be. Part Two will delve more into his motives, his potential future, and some opinions about him.

Read on for a look at this intriguing character...

A Visit to the Downers Grove Realm

I visited Adventure Realm for the first - and, sadly, also last - time during its final operating weekend. As I did with East Hanover, I'm sharing my pictures of it (again mostly without commentary) to preserve the memory of this incredible realm and its varied environment.

Needless to say, this post is picture heavy. Read on for a sort of virtual "tour" of MagiQuest at Downers Grove.

MagiQuest at Adventure Realm (Downers Grove IL)

Update: This realm closed in May 2017 and is no longer available to visit.


Location: Adventure Realm (Downers Grove, Illinois)

This realm is sometimes referred to alternately to as MagiQuest Chicago, but is located in the suburbs.

http://advrealm.com/

Physical Address: 2011 63rd St. Downers Grove, IL 60516

Realm Type: Kingdom Realm

Chronicle: Runes of the Quest Master

Primary Landmarks: Enchanted Forest, Mountains, Cottage, Dungeon/Crypt, Twisted Woods, Piney Path, Dragon's Lair, Pixie's Perch

Magi Runes Available: Lightning, Dazzle, Protection, Ice Arrow, Freeze, Enchant Creature, Distraction, Heal, Portal, Reveal, Master Magi

Grove Runes Available: Music

Master Magi Runes Available: Potion, Fire, Shield, Creativity, Courage, Compromise, Communication, Collaboration

Magi Adventures Available: Red Dragon, Pixie, Goblin, Silver Dragon

Master Magi Adventures Available: Ice Dragon

Grove Adventures Available: Duel Master

Other notes: Unfortunately, this realm will be closing on May 21st, 2017.

The outside of this place doesn't look like much; it appears to be just another storefront in an aging strip mall. On the inside, though, this realm is incredible. It's like a maze, making great use of their space and incorporating multiple different environment styles.

On arrival, I asked for an Ancient Book of Wisdom... and found out they don't use them at this location. Instead they have laminated sheets that have one quest on the front and one on the back - you're supposed to use them as needed and return them. On the plus side, this is definitely more eco friendly as a lot of people just throw their books away or leave them somewhere when they go. The downsides are that this isn't going to please germophobes (though personally I'm not one) and if there happened to be a birthday party group doing the same quest you were on, you sometimes had to wait for a paper.

They offered some alternative, simplified quests for very small children.

Unfortunately, there didn't seem to be subtitles available here for the dialog. This was challenging because there was so much background noise. Sometimes there were character speeches that I just couldn't catch.

One rather unique quest here was the Music Rune. A unicorn awards it.

Another set of runes worth noting is the Master Magi runes of Creativity, Courage, Compromise, Communication, and Collaboration. To earn the Creativity and Courage Runes, you read about real life historical and folkloric figures and answer questions about them to solve a puzzle. To earn the Compromise Rune, you learn about the Great Compromise of the Magi, what each clan gave up and what they gained. (Woodsy gave up weapon-making and gained intelligence. Warrior gave up invading other lands and gained understanding. Trixter gave up deception and gained humor. Shadow gave up night vision and gained insight. Majestic gave up their ability to rule and gained compassion.) For the Communication Rune, you learn about American Sign Language, Braille, and Morse Code, and translate words into each. For Collaboration, you assist another Magi to fight the Red Dragon. These runes were tricky but fun, the puzzles were fair, and there was some educational value.

Although there is no dueling of other magi at Adventure Realm, it seems like there may originally have been an intention to incorporate that feature at some point. There is an adventure where you assist the Gwendolyn the Duelmaster to recover the key to her potions chest, and she gives you some advice in exchange.

The realm has a restaurant/"tavern" on site called the Crooked Crossbow. I ate lunch there and it was pretty good, very basic fare.

This location also has themed laser tag and an arcade, though I didn't personally take part in either one.

If you need any additional information about this location, please leave us a comment and I'll do my best to answer! :)

~Annacat

Annacat's Collection

Just for fun, a look at my magi equipment...

My wand is of the not-so-creatively named Dark Brown Wand type. Per the description, this wand is "Hand-crafted from fallen spring trees reclaimed from the Twisted Forest Realm."

I have several toppers and I swap them out based on my mood.

                                                       

 The dragon toppers, skull, and crystal are quite useful, while the other two are just for aesthetics/fun.

Ancient Books of Wisdom from Scotrun, East Hanover, Fitchburg, and Sandusky. The ShadowQuest guide is from Scotrun also. 

The Guide Book is from my first visit to Fitchburg. This appears to have been temporary, and that location now uses the Ancient Book of Wisdom too. The Guide Book makes a fun souvenir of an earlier trip.

Charlock Junior and a Master Magi button from Fitchburg. They give you a button during the knighting ceremony if you complete all the quests and adventures.

The bright gold runes are all the Master Magi Rune. These represent the realms where I've earned that title: Online, Scotrun, East Hanover, Fitchburg, and Sandusky.

Needless to say, the compass is from CompassQuest.

The Quest Runes are: Enchant Creature, Healing, Portal, Distract, Potion, Shield, Fire, and Thunder.

The Adventure Runes represent the Red Dragon, Pixie, Ice Dragon, Goblin (Rune of Andover,) plus Xavier's Echo just for fun. 

 That's it for now! ~Annacat

News Update: A Sad Closing (Plus Some Happy Upcoming Openings)

This week brought some sad news indeed: the realm in Downers Grove IL (a.k.a. the Chicago realm, Adventure Realm) will be closing its doors permanently after May 21st of 2017. The announcement was made via Facebook and their website. Per a statement from the owners, "Unfortunately, we are not able to earn enough revenue and compete with other entertainment options to create a sustainable and profitable business."

That news both is and isn't a surprise. It is no secret that the "legacy" locations have been gradually fading away. With the demise of the Myrtle Beach and East Hanover locations, we were concerned that the writing might be on the wall for Downers Grove eventually too. Sadly, this is indeed the case not too long after East Hanover.

It appears that the future of MagiQuest is tilting toward being a Great Wolf Lodge thing only. And we do love the Lodges, don't get me wrong! That thought is still sad to us, though, because the legacy locations bring a certain uniqueness that will be lost if everything is Great Wolf.

On the other hand,it also means that via Great Wolf, MagiQuest has a future, and we'll get to continue our adventures for years to come... and that's a wonderful thing!

I will have the opportunity to pay a visit to Adventure Realm in Downers Grove right before the closing. I'll be back with information to report, and lots of pictures. Magi Lutra will be taking a MagiQuest trip of her own soon, and will be bringing us a wealth of information about the realm in Colorado.

To end the post on a positive note with some good news: As well as the departures, there are some new realms coming! Great Wolf is currently working on construction in Orlando FL, LaGrange GA, Bloomington MN, and Gurnee IL. Bloomington is currently slated to open at the end of 2017, with Gurnee following in 2018. I don't have specific info about when the other two will open - would love to hear about it if any of our readers are in the know!

And so it goes. Realms go, and realms come... and we enjoy the adventure, even when the news is sad or bittersweet!

~Annacat

MagiQuest at Great Wolf Lodge Sandusky (Sandusky, OH)

Location: Great Wolf Lodge Sandusky (Sandusky Ohio)

There are two Great Wolf Lodges in Ohio. The one described in this post is in Sandusky, close to Cleveland. The other one, in Mason, is nearer to Cincinnati. Be careful when you are planning your trip that you are choosing accommodations near the correct Lodge, as they are a significant distance apart. Great Wolf does make this distinction slightly clearer by referring to these two lodges primarily by the actual towns they are located in, rather than by region as with some other locations.

https://www.greatwolf.com/sandusky

Physical Address: 4600 Milan Rd, Sandusky, OH 44870

Realm Type: Forest Realm

Chronicle: Runes of the Quest Master

Primary Landmarks: Enchanted Woods, Whispering Woods, Piney Path, Tangled Woods, Dragon's Lair/Goblin Lair, Pixie's Perch, Forgotten Hallway, Shopkeeper's Hallway

Magi Runes Available: Lighting, Enchant Creature, Healing, Dazzle, Freezing, Portal, Protection, Ice Arrow, Master Magi

Adventures Available: Goblin King, Pixie, Red Dragon, Silver Dragon

Other notes:  One thing that's interesting about this location is that the Great Wolf Lodge building is right in the middle of the suburban sprawl, not set back from the road with a long driveway like the other ones we've been to. You didn't really notice that once you got inside, though.

This realm has the original version of MagiQuest and has not been changed to 2.0, but does appear to have had some extra maintenance and updating. The main indication of this is that a number of quests have more guidance about things like the order of casting to trigger an encounter, what is required for your quest, and the steps and timing for combat.

They do not have CompassQuest or ShadowQuest.

This realm has quest stones, not quest trees, even though it is a forest realm.

The layout of this realm is similar to the Lodge in the Poconos, but with the difference that the forest "paths" are along the balconies only and the gameplay spaces do not extend into the halls toward the rooms. This makes the forest areas smaller, but this realm makes more use of the downstairs space by having gameplay elements near the store and in a nearby corridor known as the Shopkeeper's Hallway. Overall the gameplay space is probably about the same, just with a slightly different layout.

Me (Magi Annacat) with my new friend Charlock Junior.

Earning that Master Magi title never gets old.

If you need any additional information about this location, please leave us a comment and we'll do our best to answer! :)

~Annacat

Memories of the East Hanover Realm

In September 2016, the realm in East Hanover (Funplex) closed its doors forever. Magi Lutra and I paid one last visit a week before the closing, and I took lots of pictures to make sure I was able to remember as many details as possible. Unfortunately not all of the pictures turned out very well because my phone camera was struggling with the low light levels at some points, but I'm including even the bad ones because there won't be any future opportunities to visit this realm in person and photos are all we have left of it.

The pictures (mostly without commentary) are underneath the cut. Needless to say, this post is extremely picture-heavy, but hopefully it will give readers who never had a chance to visit it a sense of what this wonderful realm was like.

Read on for a last look...