Back Here Again: MagiQuest and ShadowQuest in the Poconos, July 2021

 Hello, magi!

It's been a long time since I've blogged. Because of the pandemic, questing at a Lodge just hasn't been in the cards for me.

After some unsettling (and, unfortunately, credible) rumors that the Poconos site might be converted to no longer be a Legacy location, I decided it was time to take a trip down and play through MagiQuest and ShadowQuest again.

Disclaimer: I'm fully vaccinated for COVID-19, and I wore a mask the entire time I was playing. I washed and sanitized my hands as often as possible. COVID is no joke, folks. Be careful out there. Remember that if you aren't a vulnerable person, someone near to you may be!

Onward...

It felt great to be back. It felt like no time had passed at all. MagiQuest always feels like being among friends, somehow. 

I've missed this... and all of you!

May your adventures be magical!

~Annacat

P.S. Just for fun, a couple of pictures of where I camped at Tobyhanna State Park. In a past post, I talked about ways to save money at MagiQuest - and sleeping outside saves a ton of money on lodging, assuming you're into that, of course. Just call it CampingQuest 2021. ;)

Spruced Up in the Poconos

As promised, I returned to the Poconos with Lutra to update about the renovations. Things are looking good! Read on for more info.

Photobomb!

Things Afoot in the Poconos

Friends, all I wanted was fudge. But I found something much more intriguing than a sweet snack.

My trip back from visiting a friend in New Jersey took me right by the exit for the Poconos Great Wolf Lodge, and I stopped there for a quick food break. As you may recall, fudge is my favorite treat. The sweets shop had been replaced by a Ben and Jerry, so fudge was not on offer. But that is small potatoes compared to what happened next...

Journey to Save the Light: Part Two

This post picks up from where we left off in Part One of our series on Journey to Save the Light, also known as ShadowQuest. If you are just beginning your adventure, check out Part One for some tips on how to begin your journey. The current post will discuss the runes, storyline, and characters of the second half of the journey, beginning after you confront Malaki for the first time in the cairn.

As with the previous post, the discussion is based on playing ShadowQuest at the realm in the Poconos. There may be minor (or possibly even major) differences if you are playing at another realm.

Needless to say, there are some spoilers for the ending, though it shouldn't ruin any major surprises.

Journey to Save the Light: Part One

For this series of posts, we have returned to the Scotrun realm to bring you a closer look at ShadowQuest, a.k.a. The Journey to Save the Light.

This two-part post will discuss the gameplay (though it will not provide a step-by-step walkthrough, because that is really beyond the scope of this blog,) story, characters, and what we learn about the lore of Vellara on the ShadowQuest journey.

MagiQuest at Great Wolf Lodge Pocono Mountains (Scotrun, PA)

Location: Great Wolf Lodge Pocono Mountains (Scotrun, Pennsylvania)

https://www.greatwolf.com/poconos

Physical Address: 1 Great Wolf Drive, Scotrun, PA 18355

Realm Type: Forest Realm

Chronicles: Runes of the Quest Master, CompassQuest, and ShadowQuest

Primary Landmarks: Enchanted Woods, Whispering Woods, Piney Path, Tangled Woods, Dragon's Lair, Pixie's Perch, Forgotten Hallway, ShadowQuest Portal

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

MagiQuest Adventures Available: Red Dragon, Pixie, Ursa Major, Silver Dragon

ShadowQuest Runes Available: Detect Magic, Track Magic, Lock Portal, Banish Creature, Sky Light, Stone, Agon, Snowman, Avalanche, Snow

Adventures on Your ShadowQuest Journey: Investigate the Vanishing Light, The Final Battle

At this location, MagiQuest is played primarily on the upper two floors of the hotel, though a few quests will send you to the Forgotten Hallway on the floor below. The MagiQuest store (where you will purchase your magi equipment and set up your game time) is on the lowest level. Quests are given at the Quest Trees, located one floor above the hotel check-in area and slightly to the left.

It is not necessary to be an overnight guest at Great Wolf Lodge to play.  You can find a variety of hotels and motels, as well as a wide assortment of dining options in many different price ranges within a short driving distance of the Lodge.

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

~Annacat

Introduction and Welcome!

Hello and welcome! I'm Magi Annacat, and the co-author of this blog is Magi Lutra. We are two fans who created the blog to share our adventures and the things we've learned. We are NOT in any way affiliated with Great Wolf Lodge, Creative Kingdoms, Cyan Worlds, or any other official entity related to MagiQuest. We're just magi like you who love playing the game.

The idea for this blog was, quite frankly, born from frustration. The internet is rather lacking in up-to-date and specific information about the realms of MagiQuest. Fruitless attempts to look up, for example, which realms had a certain adventure or which chronicle a location featured led us to realize that there was an unfilled niche out there. We can only speak from experience about a few realms so far, but we hope to visit other locations and report back as time and travel funds permit. We would also love to have input from others, especially those who have visited realms neither of us have been to!

We are adults with full-time jobs and full-time lives, and our visits to the realms of MagiQuest are wonderful breaks for fun, relaxation, and setting aside self-consciousness.

Our first experience with MagiQuest was in 2010 at Mysterium in Minneapolis. Mysterium is an annual gathering for fans of the Myst games, a series originally developed by Cyan Worlds. Cyan also created the (unfortunately no longer available) MagiQuest Online, and through that connection, Mysterium attendees - including me - had the opportunity to play MagiQuest as guests at the (also unfortunately no longer existing) realm at Mall of America. It was a lot of fun, but without a wand of my own and with no locations anywhere near home at the time, I didn't visit the realms again for several more years. I did, however, play MagiQuest Online and earned my first Master Magi title there.

In 2015, I started thinking it would be fun to give MagiQuest in the real world another try, and I realized that there were realms to visit within a reasonable traveling distance. I didn't want my first trip to be by myself, though, so who could I drag along? My friend and fellow Myst fan Lutra, of course! We took a trip over to Great Wolf Lodge in the Poconos, just figuring we'd mess around there for a few hours. We ended up completely hooked, and since then, we've made quite a few more trips to several realms.

So, that's us in a nutshell. Moving forward, we'll have posts with information about the realms we've visited, tips and suggestions, and whatever other things we think would be fun and/or informative.

May your adventures be magical! :)

~Annacat