Holiday Tradition Contest Winners!

Ahoy everyone!

I hope you all had an amazing holiday! Even if you don't celebrate, I hope you had a great couple of weeks :) The Holiday Tradition Contest ended earlier today and I have chosen the winners.  They were chosen using random.org, so everyone who entered had an equal chance of winning one of the prizes. I wish I could have posted every entry on here, since they were all great, but that would have made this post incredibly long! Here are the winners, along with their entries:

Mistle Toad Companion & 10k Crowns (2 winners)

Clever Alex Nichols

My favourite part of the holidays is cooking Christmas Dinner + Dessert

James Morgan

My favorite family tradition is that everybody opens one present on Christmas Eve, and we get to pick any present to open. After opening presents we get to eat Christmas cookies.

Prince Yulefest Companion & 2.5k Crowns (4 winners)

Layne Lavish

My holiday tradition for X-mas is taking a family photo. My family and I dress up as Santa or the elves ,and my pets dress up as reindeers. After that, we send our family photo to our friends and family.

David Everhart

My favorite holiday traditions are decorating the Christmas tree and opening all the gifts under the tree on Christmas day.

Fearless Andrea Kelly

My favorite holiday tradition is Christmas breakfast - every year, I drive up to my parents' house and when I get there, they have laid out a spread of food like you wouldn't believe. We have shrimp, homemade bread, cinnamon rolls, breakfast pastries, bacon, eggs, fresh squeezed juice, coffee, lutfisk and rye toast (it's a Swedish thing that I'm not a big fan of but it's a tradition and my mother loves it), as well as my family's famous mint bars. The best part is that it's all laid out on top of a tablecloth made by my great-grandmother, who emigrated here from Sweden in the early 1800's with my great-grandfather (who was named Jack Frost, no joke). On the tablecloth, she stitched the words "Nu är det jul igen" which is Swedish for "Now it is Christmas again." There is absolutely nothing that says Christmas to me like eating Christmas breakfast and seeing that family heirloom and appreciating that it has lasted for over 150 years and someday I'll be able to use it when I have kids and we have our Christmas breakfast.

Dead-Eye Destiny Devereaux

Every year, I walk out into the town and go to the frou-frou garden store - about a fifteen-minute walk - to look at the annual trending decorations. I sample hot chocolate and buy pastries almost every year, but I always make sure to buy myself a single holiday ornament. Not one that I choose out of those that I like, necessarily, but one that has meaning towards the trip. Last year, a child had dropped an ornament; I had picked it up and stuck around, but the the child never returned. This year, my dog pulled me into the display with this year's ornament on it.

One Random Yuletide Pet & 1k Crowns(7 winners)

Cunning Amber Silver

One of my favourite holiday traditions is actually at school: when fundraisers of all sorts are held to raise money for those in need this Christmas. For example, this month our school sold Water Rafiki Friend Chains that would go directly to building schools for children in Africa.I believe education is one of the most important aspects in life, and I love how the holiday spirit reveals the true generosity in everybody

William Blake

At my family home at Christmas we have a fairly traditional Christmas, mum makes Christmas cakes and mince pies, dad makes bad jokes and my brothers make a mess. Over the year one thing that has become a kind of tradition is that we all bring a new contribution to decorate the Christmas tree. It means that the tree is a complete mixture of different styles and sizes of decorations but it is unique and just ours. This year have been added a giraffe with bells for feet by mum, a purple elephant by dad, a tiny cup & saucer with holly on by brother 1, a wooden angel by brother 2 and finally today I will be adding a felt robin. I know this seems like a strange Christmas tradition to other people but it's ours and it means every tiny ornament on the tree holds a multitude of memories.

Romantic Rebecca Irving

My family's holiday tradition is that we go see a play of the birth of Jesus and after that we go have hot chocolate and then we normally watch home alone.

Bloody Wesley Xavier

My favorite holiday tradition is Cookie Day. Every year, about a week before Christmas, my mom bakes 6 dozen different cookies in preparation for Cookie Day. On Cookie Day, my family gathers at Mom's house and Mom has a table in the kitchen covered in flour, anise cookie dough, and cookie cutters. Every makes cookies and Mom bakes them. Everybody is talking, laughing, and having a great time. While the last batch is baking, the family gathers at the dining table for lunch. After lunch, Mom makes anise frosting and everyone frosts and decorates the cookies. My sister, niece, and aunt always end up wearing frosting after one of them starts a frosting war. Afterwards, Mom hands out containers of all the different cookies, including the ones the family helped with. This day has always brought the family together and to this day remains one of my favorite days of the entire year.

Antonio

Since my family doesn't celebrate Christmas, we tend to have a magical and fun night for New Years Eve. Our whole family gathers up in one house, the children bring sweets, chips, juices and go to one room to have fun, while the parents are in the other room and talk their lungs out. Almost every year, all of us (kids) like to come up with an idea to surprise the parents and make them laugh, so this year they planned to immitate the parents and see how they react. Oh, did I mention, the mothers make cakes and cookie, and yum yum yum, pies! After we make the parents laugh, we return to our room and play some games on our phones, laptops or just joke around. When the clock ticks midnight, we go outside and watch the fireworks (we love fireworks) then the parents take us with their cars to the town, so we can see all the stuff that is happening. Lots of people go outside and parade through the streets in their own styles, some walk, some run, some even dance (even though it's freezing outside).

Sneaky Kevin Newell

My favorite holiday tradition is the extended family coming over for Christmas. While it may sound simple, the one thing that I feel everyone should have with them during the holidays is their family. That's what's most important, isn't it?

Two-Faced Anne

My top tradition for the Christmas season is spending time with my family and friends. Gifts can be forgotten or lost, ornaments broken, and cookies all eaten, but the memories made with those most precious to me will always last. If I only had 'one' Christmas tradition I could carry out, it would be time with my family and friends every year! 

One random Yuletide pet & a chance at a holiday companion (10 winners)

Victor Hawkins

My favorite holiday tradition? It's the dinner time, and not because of the food, but because of the reunion, the harmony in the family and being thanks of having such privileges, the faces of joy of seeing their whole family grouped up and with a sense of happiness is the most wonderful time of the Holidays.

Lucky Donovan Debouff

As long as I can remember, baking has been one of the biggest traditions our family upholds during Christmas and one of my favorite holiday traditions! My mother and my grandmother have passed on all the recipes for the cookies, candies, cakes, pies, pastries, doughnuts, and other goodies, which I now bake in my own little kitchen. Of course, I love to bake year round, but there are some recipes that are special for Christmas alone!

Fearless Xavier Black

The year I was born, my mother purchased an advent calendar. Every night in December, we would read one window, until December 25th, which was Christmas day! It was a fun way to count down to Christmas, and my siblings and I always looked forward to it each year.

Charming Arthur Burton

My favorite holiday tradition is shopping for my family and friends presents the day before Christmas or making home made presents that they always love,and it puts a smile on my face when i make them happy.

Humble Brandon Quincy

My favorite holiday tradition is lighting the Menorah on each evening of Hanukkah, and then opening the presents afterwards. 

Witty Alura

I have a lot of different Christmas traditions, but my favorite is getting the family together and doing something to make life easier for other people. Instead of doing Secret Santa and trading cookies like a lot of people I know, I ask my friends and family to make a difference in the lives of the  needy in this time of the year. This year, we made clothes-pin angels to give to our community nursing home. I can't say I made up the idea. My brother's boy scout troop did this years ago. I asked my family to help me make these angels. we went to the store and bought the material, and I set up shop making them. Sadly, my stepmom will only let me make 30 angels, but I'm willing to get my friends to make more for this cause. I  know how it feels to be unlucky and unhappy for Christmas, and I just want to let people know they're not alone.  

Loyal Martin Xavier

Every year my family and I come together on Christmas and give gifts to kids who can't afford gifts. We give special Christmas presents to the kids at the orphanage.When we buy gifts we make sure we buy the best gifts for them. To do this we spend time with the kids on December 15th and find out what they are interested in and then on 21st we usually donate the gifts to them. Every Christmas like this always makes me happy thinking about how I did something special for other people who couldn't buy their own gifts.They usually send my family and I letters after Christmas about how we made their Christmas awesome! 

Chris

 I live in Greece so we have some traditions different from your's. In my country every Christmas morning we go from house to house and sing the Christmas carols, and then the house wife gives us some money. After we finish it, we all meet in somebody's house and count the total of the money, and everybody gets a fair amount of money. Christmas carols are different in every area of Greece, as they have religious content. We also eat pork or other meat instead of turkey. I like many other traditions, but this is my favourite (the one with Christmas carols).

Fearless Morgan

My two best friends and I get together each year before Christmas for a wrapping party. Like me, they both hate wrapping presents, but when you turn it into a special event, we all look forward to it. We rotate houses each year and order the family out for the day. One of the "guests" is in charge of coffee and donuts (and sometimes mimosas), and the other "guest" is in charge of lunch. The hostess provides her house, snacks and drinks. We each bring our stash of Christmas wrapping paper, bows, tape and scissors and we go to town for the day with the Christmas music cranked on the stereo. We've been doing it for the last three years and it has easily become one of my favorite holiday traditions.

Holly Silver

One of our family's most loved holiday tradition is opening up one present on Christmas Eve.  It's really fun to get something early before the next day comes with all of Santa's presents.

Congrats to all the winners, and thanks to everyone who entered! It was so much fun to read everyone's awesome traditions!  The winners have already had their codes emailed to the email they used to enter the contest.  I hope everyone has a wonderful and safe New Year!  See you......NEXT YEAR! :)

Read More

Pirate101 Holiday 2013 Contest

Ahoy!

One of the things I love most about the holidays is all the great traditions my family has formed over the years: Cutting down and decorating our Christmas tree, decorating cookies, spending time with family, hot chocolate with candy canes and marshmallows.......and so many more!  Every family has some type of traditions!  What does this have to do with Pirate101 you ask?

Well......One-Eyed Jack is awesome (but we already knew that) and he has sent me some codes to give away to you guys!  These codes are for the following items:

• 2 winners will receive a Mistle Toad Companion and 10k Crowns
• 4 winners will receive a Prince Yulefest Companion and 2,500 Crowns
• 7 winners will receive one random Yuletide Pet (Candy Cane Dragon, Red Baubleloon, or Green Baubleloon) and 1,000 Crowns
• 10 winners will receive one random Yuletide Pet plus a rare chance at a Yuletide Companion (Mistle Toad, Prince Yulefest, or the good ol’ Yule Trogg)

If you would like a chance to win one of these great prizes, here's what you have to do:

• Email me at secretsofthespiral@hotmail.com by December 30, 2013 at 12:00pm EST.
• Tell me about your favorite holiday tradition!  It can be anything you want, as long as it is holiday related and G-rated.
• Please include your Pirate's name (even if I already know you) and "Holiday Tradition Contest" in the subject line.

That's it! All the entries that qualify will be entered in a random drawing to win one of the prizes listed about. The winners will be announced during the day on December 31st. Good luck and Happy Holidays!

Read More

Autumn & Chloe Part 11: This Is So Cool!

G'Mornin' Me Hearties!

Over the weekend Chloe and I finally had a little time to quest together on Pirate101 again!  The last time, we had just defeated Gortez and it was time to go back to talk to the Governor of Puerto Mico......Who apparently couldn't be bothered to help us out and told us to bring him to Monquista City. Well at least we both got to level 12! :)

To get through the stormgate, we needed to get a windstone from some Marleybone ships.  Luckily we only had to fight 2 before we both collected, and both fights went pretty smoothly!

Then it was off to the stormgate to Monquista......but first we had to fight off some jellyfish, since one of us got caught :P   I love watching both of my kids' reactions when they get to see a new stormgate or world for the first time! Chloe's reaction? "Oh my gosh! This is SO cool!"  Yes, Chloe, it really is! :)

And once we got to Monquista, she was like "No, seriously Mom! This is COOL!"  And I definitely have to agree with her! :)  Even though this is my 5th time through, it really is still cool.

So we docked at Monquista City and went in to talk to the little snobs.....um....I mean.....the Monquistan Royalty.  Our next stop is Zenda, where they told us to bring Gortez.

We stopped questing here for now, because Chloe wanted to go play outside in the freshly fallen foot of snow we got.  I am all for outside time, so y'all will have to wait a little to find out what happens next!  If you are curious about our previous adventures, you can read about them all here: Autumn & Chloe posts.

Thanks for reading! Stay warm and I will see you all soon! :)

Read More

Prospector Zeke: Secret Music Enthusiast

Ahoy!

As some of you may or may not know, Prospector Zeke has a secret musical passion.  I say this because all of the Wizard101 and Pirate101 Prospector Zeke quests are based off of music groups.  I actually made a post about the Wizard101 Zeke quests way back when I first started my blog.  However, I never ended up updating it when the newer content was released.....Oops!

Anyway, I thought it might be fun to post some videos from the different music groups featured by Prospector Zeke so far in Pirate101.  And who knows, maybe this time I will even keep this list updated!

*Note* I own none of the videos below.  Also, all links below this point will lead to external websites. (Wikipedia and YouTube)

So, I have one question for you.......Are you ready, for what's to come? (Sorry, Creed moment there) :P

The Funky Bunch (Skull Island) - This is based off of Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch.  The guy you talk to in Kraken Skull Tavern is even named Marquis Mark.  They were a popular hip-hop group  in the early 1990's (when hip hop was still decent :P ) and had a couple good singles, mainly Good Vibrations and Wild Side. The former can be listened to below and is their best song (in my opinion.)

The Gypsy Kings (Monquista) - The real band is actually called The Gipsy Kings.  They're a Spanish band/pop group from France and have been around since the early 1980's.  However, they didn't make their way into the US music scene till 1989.  I have to admit, I didn't know any of this before I made this post.  I only knew them from their version of You've Got a Friend in Me that they recorded for Toy Story 3.  You can listen to that song below, and look up some of their other music as well.  It's pretty good if you like that sort of thing :)

Seagulls (Valencia) - A Flock of Seagulls is an English band from.....um...the late 1970's I think?  Maybe the early 1980's.  They have a few songs that I really like.  I actually had kind of a hard time choosing between I Ran (So Far Away) and the one below (The More You Live the More You Love.)  Go look up some of their other music!  They're pretty decent!

Dixie Chicks (Cool Ranch) - Everyone has to have heard of the Dixie Chicks, even if you don't listen to country music.  I love these guys....well girls.  I even have them on my iPod.   Apparently they have been around since 1989, but they are still going strong.  I had a REALLY hard time choosing just one of their songs to feature here.  Finally, I had my daughter pick, so here is Landslide.

The Shonen Knives (Mooshu) - Shonen Knife is a Japanese punk-pop band.  They formed in 1981 (the year I was born), and to be honest they are the only band associated with the Zeke quests I have never heard of :P  I'm sure they are pretty good, but never having really listened to their music, I can't really form an opinion.  Here is a random song of theirs from YouTube. Sorry if it isn't one of their better ones!

The Rolling Stones (Marleybone) - The Rolling Stones......Mick Jagger........Quite possibly the grandfathers of Rock 'n' Roll! (And another band that's on my iPod.)  They are an English Rock band that became popular in the early-mid 60's and you can still hear their music everywhere! They are absolutely amazing.  This is another band that has so many great songs to choose from that I had trouble, so I took suggestions on Twitter.  Thanks to Olivia/Kestrel for suggesting Wild Horses! :)

The Eagles (Aquila) - The Eagles (also on my iPod) are another amazing band.  They are from California and rose to fame in the 1970's.  I actually grew up listening to them, because my dad is a huge fan of them.  He went to one of their concerts a few years back, but decided to bring his wife instead of me....figures :P JK lol  Anyway, enough of my rmabling :P  This is another band that I had a hard time choosing a song for, so thanks to Edward (Lifegem/Cringle) for helping me choose the song Get Over It!

So that's all of the Zeke quests and the bands they are based off of.  I was tweeting earlier that I think they should add in Def Leppard as one in the future.  Which bands do you think would make cool Zeke quests?  Comment below and tell me!

No matter what Kingsisle chooses though, they definitely do an amazing job at including pop culture references in the game for us!  Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed this post!  See you in the spirals and keep on rockin'!

Read More

An Autumnish Update

Ahoy!

Even though I have been busy in real life, I have made some time for pirating......the legal type, in Pirate101.  However, I haven't had much time to blog about my progress in game, so I figured I would make one blog post updating you about all my characters.

Autumn Walker - Witchdoctor, level 65
This is my main pirate.  She has finished Aquila, including side quests.  I have also gotten all my companions on her to level 65 (that was A LOT of gold farming), farmed for all the best ship equipment for the Aquila galleon, and I have decent gear for her.  So basically she is ready for whatever adventures Kingsisle has in store for us next. :)

Autumn Walker - Privateer, level 32
This is the character whose progress I have mostly been blogging about.  I believe the last time I made a post about her, she was trying to save Mustang Sally in Port Regal. Since then, I have gotten the Magnificent seven back together and am now in the process of taking down the Wild Bunch.  I have to go into Old Jailhouse to defeat Ike Bronco, then it's on to the Haunted Skyway!  I am so close to Mooshu, I can't wait! :)

Autumn Walker - Buccaneer, level 29
I'll be honest with you......I can't remember if I ever blogged about this character before.  I created her so that I could have a character to level on at my own pace, without worrying about taking screenshots and blogging.  This character has just finished starting the war with Marleybone, and is about to rescue Mustang Sally in Port Regal.

Autumn Walker - Musketeer, level 33
This is the character I have been leveling with Edward Hawkins (Lifegem).  We have just reached the Haunted Skyway!  That means only a few more quests till we are out of Cool Ranch! Woohoo! :)  I don't take many pictures on here, since I am usually too busy talking while leveling, but here are a couple :)

Autumn Walker - Swashbuckler, level 11
This is the pirate I am questing on with my daughter.  You can see a recent post of our progress here: Autumn & Chloe Part 10.

So that's where all of my characters are. I had made a post awhile back about another character I had made to quest with my son on.  Well, it turns out he is like me and prefers to quest solo most of the time, so I deleted that pirate.  My son is currently level 36 and just started Mooshu, and he is loving the game! :)

Thanks for reading! I hope you have all been having fun questing as well.  See you soon! :)

Read More

12 Days and Test Realm

Ahoy Pirates!

There has been lots going on in Pirate101 the last couple days!  First, Pirate101 released the test realm yesterday to fix some bugs and make some other great adjustments to game play!  But more about that in a minute!

Today they announced the beginning of their annual 12 Days of the Spiral celebration!  I am excited! I love this time of year :)  If you're new to the game, here's how it works.  Every day for 12 days (today through December 18th), Pirate101 will announce a new crowns item, giveaway, contest, or some other fun thing.  So be sure to check the link above everyday for a new Pirate101 treat!

To kick off the 1st day, Kingsisle released their newest charity mount, the Noelephant.  It can be purchased for 7500 crowns in game, and proceeds go to three different charities that help children.  For more information, go here.

As I mentioned above, test realm is also online.  There are some great improvements to the game.  Here are a couple of my favorites.

• New powers for the Kraken Skull companions.  Gotta love any new powers!
• During a broadside combat, any damage made to the enemy's ship will be reflected in their starting health if you get boarded.  This will make soloing those tougher ships much easier!
• New gear in Skull Island! Yay for looking more piratey!

There are also many more updates which you can read about in the update notes. Also, when you click that link, notice the first part, where it says that there is a much bigger update coming! I can't wait to see what it is! :)

If you would like to download test realm and check out the improvements yourself, you can go here. It is available to all members and any players that have made at least $6.00 in crowns purchases in the last month.

Anyway, thanks for reading and have a great weekend! :)

Read More

December 2013 Pirate101 Newsletter

G'Mornin' Mateys!

It's December, my favorite month of the year! Snow, Christmas, family and usually surprises from Kingsisle!  Yesterday Pirate101 released their monthly newsletter for December! Are ye excited? Because you should be! This is the last newsletter of 2013 and there is some cool stuff in there this month:

• An all new Rogue's Gallery featuring The Commodore
• Check out Vadima's Visions about side quests
• An awesome link and some tips from One-Eyed Jack about epic talents
• A small note hinting at something happening for Christmas
• A special message from the CEO of Kingsisle
• Info regarding the new Empire Bundle!
• AND..............more!

To see what the full newsletter has to offer, go here!  Like I said, lots of cool stuff this month.  There's no additional info about the sneak peeks that were released a few weeks ago, but hopefully we will hear something about that soon! :)

Anyway, thanks for reading.  Be sure to visit the link above! See y'all soon! :)

Read More

Autumn & Chloe Part 10: Jester Suits and Parasites

Ahoy!

I know it has been awhile, and I apologize for that.  To be honest, I have been pretty busy in real life, and on the days I haven't been too busy, I have had writer's block.  I would sit down, click on Blogger, and then........nothing.  I didn't want to publish posts that were written half-hearted, or that didn't make sense.  But anyway, the writer's block has left the building! So I am back, this time with another post about Autumn and Chloe!

The last time I posted about these characters, we had just defeated Chumba Wumba, and went to give Avery the chalice that he wanted.  Well, when we went to talk to him, he had a new quest for us.  He wanted to form a treaty, and the chalice was actually a gift for the governor of Puerto Mico!  Of course, who better to deliver the chalice than yours truly (I'm beginning to think Avery is just lazy.) :P

When we got there, we met the governor who was....how do I put this nicely......Rude! lol  And once again, we had to prove ourselves by saving this section of the spiral, this time from watermoles and troggies!

So after lots of embarrassment (Seriously, have you seen the outfit we meet the governor in?), brain eating parasites (just don't drink the water) and GIANT spiders (EEEWWWWW), we battled our way through the Gold Mine area all the way to Gortez, who is the GOLDEN MONKEY!  Here are some pictures from our battle with Armada guys and Gortez. (Sorry, I didn't get a picture of the Jester suits):

Chloe and I are VERY close to making it to Monquista! We're both excited to get into a new world.  I hope to have a new Autumn and Chloe post before Christmas, and then every week starting after Christmas.  However, I do have some other ideas for posts that I will be making, so be sure to watch for those!  Thanks for reading! See you soon!

Read More

Empire Bundle!

Ahoy!

Have you heard the super exciting news about Pirate101 yet?  Nope, not a new world, but it's still cool!  They have released a new bundle called the Empire Bundle.  It can be purchased at Gamestop for $39, and comes with the following items:

Lady Centaur Companion

Imperial Galleon

Emperor's Villa

Additional House Elixer

Gladiator Outfit

Imperator's Standard

One month membership OR 5,000 Crowns

As you may be able to tell from the items, the bundle is Aquila themed.  I haven't had a chance to thoroughly try out all the items in the bundle, but I have explored them a little, and I have to say they all seem awesome!  My favorite thing in the bundle is the Centaur Companion.  I may have to be replacing someone in my top 5 with her.

The Galleon is Eagle Origin and comes pre-equipped with the following items:  Herculean Armor, Aegis Figurehead, Apollonian Rudder, and Wings of Chronos.  You have the choice of redeeming the ship at one of six different tiers, the highest being level 65.  

The gear can be redeemed at one of 9 different tiers (highest is for level 60+) and seems like it would be well suited for swashbucklers.  It boosts agility, accuracy, dodge, resistance and armor.  The gear also gives some pretty cool powers.

So like I said, a very cool bundle overall.  You can see more details at the Pirate101 website.   Thanks for reading!

Read More

Another Sneak Peek

Ahoy!

Yesterday Pirate101 released another sneak peek image on both their Facebook and Twitter pages!  This is the third one they have released since the beginning of the month. Here it is:

"Hola, tiny Captain! I seek passage with you!"
-Carcarius Grimtooth

This is am image of a shark NPC, and it looks like he is in the witchdoctor school.  Is this for some sort of side quest?  Maybe we will be sent on quests to get new class powers?  I'm honestly not sure, but I can't wait to see how it ties in with the other sneak peeks!

Let me know what you think in the comments below!  Thanks for reading! :)

Read More

Veteran's Day Items

Ahoy!

To celebrate Veteran's Day, and all the soldiers who have served our country, Pirate101 and Wizard101 are giving away free housing items to all their players.  If you redeem the code "poppy" before Monday, November 11, 2013 at 11:59pm CST you will receive 2 Red Poppy Wreath housing items in both games. You can visit the following link for more details: Veteran's Day Wreath.

I hope everyone has a safe holiday weekend! Happy early Veteran's Day and thank you to everyone who has served our country!

*Edit*
After redeeming my wreaths and placing in them in my house, I discovered that they are interactable. However, I have only checked Pirate101, so I'm not sure if the Wizard101 wreaths are as well.  I have posted a couple images below.

"In honor of those who have served their country."

Read More

A Sneak Peek!

Good morning!

Yesterday Pirate101 released another sneak peek photo! And it looks pretty cool.  Here is the picture they released:

I am guessing that it maybe has something to do with Ship PvP, but I'm not positive.  If you look at the picture, you can see very fancy dock with a boat. Looking closer, you can see that it's in Avery's Court in Skull Island, and it looks as if it is near the musketeer school.  Also notice the eagle in the skyway. He looks like he is holding up a building......Kind of like a Colosseum or something.

So it looks like Aquila is starting to make a home in Skull Island.  Now maybe I am completely wrong about ship PvP and this is something else for a side quest, or maybe even some type of side world.  That brings me to another point:  Do you think it's related to the sneak peek in the November Newsletter?  If you don't remember what I am talking about, here's that picture:

And then there are also the battle standards that will be available in a new bundle that will be released soon. (You can see info on that here.)  Are all of these things linked, or will there be several updates on Pirate101 in the near future? Lots to think about, but no matter what all this means, I am sure it will be awesome!  I can't wait for more sneak peeks to be released!  Let me know what you think in the comments!  Thanks for reading and see you in the spirals! :)

Read More

New Pirate101 Content?

Ahoy!

Yesterday Pirate101 released the November 2013 newsletter, and I am super excited!  Why? Well because.....They hinted at new content that should be coming soon!  Check this out!

"The Ancient Ones aren't the only ones who've gone. He's gone.... gone completely barmy, Captain!"
-Bonnie Anne

This is a sneak peek at the new content.  Will it be a quest, a world or something else? Watch Pirate101's social media pages for more tidbits coming throughout the month!

Also in the newsletter, Madame Vadima takes a look into her crystal ball and sees some pretty cool visions about the fates of all our pirates.  Pretty cool stuff! Pirate101 tells us more about Ol' Fisheye in the newest Rogue's Gallery as well.  Be sure to click this link to view the whole newsletter.

On another note, the holidays are coming soon! Pirate101 had an awesome celebration for Halloween and their first birthday.  I wonder what the have in store for us in the upcoming months!  Lots and lots to be excited about.  Are you excited? Comment below and let me know what you think the new content will be, as well as what you would like to see during the holidays!

Thanks for reading and see you in the spiral! :)

Read More

Spooktacular Pirate101 Birthday Winners

Ahoy!

I am here to announce the winners of the contest I announced last week.  The response I had was overwhelming, and i would like to say thanks to everyone who participated! :)

There were 31 differences between the 2 pictures I posted, one for each day of October :)  You can see the complete list of answers at the end of this post.  The winners were broken into categories by how many they found and then I used a list randomizer to choose the winners.  Here they are:

The following 8 people found 31 differences, and the prizes are awarded as follows:

Grand Prize - Captain Blood's Jacket, Captain Blood's Hook, & 10,000 Crowns

Emily

Second Prize - Captain Blood's Hook & 5,000 Crowns

Quick Lucas Newell

Crazy Daniel Dove

Stubborn Duncan Freeman

Third Prize - 2,500 Crowns
Lucas Dodger

Sophia

Noah

Reckless Scarlet moone

The following 8 people found 30 differences and are awarded as follows:

Third Prize - 2,500 Crowns

Bloody Wesley Xavier

Salty Padric Otway

Megan Moone

Runners Up - One Companion Training Tome
Fearless Heather

Merciless Scarlet Ivey

Merciful Diana Jackson

Dashing Darby Dodger

Husky Blaze Cringle

Stephen Hawkins (29 correct)

Bloody Belle Morgan (29 correct)

Congrats to the winners! You should be receiving your codes via email shortly.  Thanks again to everyone who entered! :)  And if you are curious about the answers, here they are:

Original Photo

Changed Photo / Answers

test

1. Shoe is all black
2. Hand is missing
3. Rock is missing
4. Exclamation point is missing
5. Spooktacular is changed to spectacular
6. Ebon spectre is missing
7. Feather is missing
8. Feather is added
9. Window in a different color
10. window is missing
11. Bat Masterson's wings are positioned differently
12. Plant is added
13. Treasure chest is added
14. Bones McGee's foot is missing
15. Hand is gone from cauldron
16. Skull is moved
17. Old Scratch's hat is gone
18. Witchdoctor doll is missing
19. Waterfall is gone
20. Dead Mike's sword is gone
21. Rock is missing from path
22. Green glow is missing from eye
23. Trees are missing
24. Red mushroom is missing
25. Purple skull is missing
26. Fence post is missing
27. Spectre's eyes are gone
28. Rock is added
29. Spectre is smaller
30. Purple mushroom is missing
31. Mushroom is facing the opposite way

Read More

Happy Birth-o-ween!

Ahoy!

October is a big month for Pirate101. It's their birthday and there is a Halloween celebration!  This means lots of contests from the official fan sites, as well as additions to the game and even a free gift for players!  Be sure to log in and check out the crown shop for new items and look around Avery's Court at the awesome decorations and a new quest!

For more information on the celebrations, use the following links: Happy Birthday Pirate101, Halloween in Skull Island, and the Update Notes.

Have fun and thanks for reading! :)

Read More

A Spooktacular Pirate101 Birthday Contest

Ahoy!

As ye may already know, today is Pirate101's first birthday! Happy Birthday Pirate101! :)  To celebrate this awesome day, as well as Halloween, One Eyed Jack and the Pirate101 team have given me some spooky codes to give away.  That means it's contest time!

Below you will see 2 very similar pictures.  Upon first glance, they may look exactly the same.  However, they aren't.  I went through and made changes to the second one. There's a catch though: I'm not going to tell you how many changes I made.  It's up to you to find as many as you can!

Here are the complete rules on how to enter:

• Compare the 2 pictures below (you can save them to your computer to view larger versions).
• Find as many differences as you can and either list them or circle them.
• Send an email to secretsofthespiral@hotmail.com with the following 3 things: "Halloween Contest" in the subject line,  your pirate's name, and your list/picture of the differences you found between the 2 pictures.
• Please be sure to include all three things in your email or you will not be entered to win.
• All entries much be received by Friday, October 25, 2013 @ 12:00pm EST (Noon)
• If you are under 13 years old, please get permission from a parent before entering.

Here are the 2 images:

The person who finds the most things different will win! If there is a tie, I will use a list randomizer to choose the winner, and then the other winners will be awarded the next tier of prizes.  Here is a list of what you can win:

First Prize (one winner): Captain Blood's Jacket, Captain Blood's Hook, and 10k Crowns

Second Prize (three winners): Captain Blood's Hook and 5k Crowns

Third Prize (seven winners): 2,500 Crowns

Captain Blood's Jacket and Hook

Good luck to everyone who enters!  The winners will be announced shortly after 12pm EST on October 25th.  And be sure to say thanks to the Pirate101 team and wish them a Happy, Piratey Birthday! Have fun! :)

Read More

Autumn & Chloe Part 9: Watermoles and Volcanoes

G'Mornin' Me Hearties!

Last time Chloe and I quested we were getting ready to head to Volcano to try and find Ratbeard and the treasure.  When we got there we had to clear the way of watermoles.

And a couple fights later, we were ready to go into the volcano.  Sounds.......safe? Right?  We had to fight fish, more watermoles, and finally Chumba Wumba!

So we defeated Chumba Wumba and he....um.....jumped INTO the volcano.  Well, no one ever said he was the brightest star in the sky.  Anyway, Chloe and I both recruited Ratbeard to join our crews. And then we went to bring the chalice to Avery.  He had another mission for us, but you will have to wait till next time to hear about that.  Have fun, stay safe and see ya soon! :)

Read More

Going Out With A Bang

G'Mornin'!

Well......It's finally here.  The last day of the 12 Days Of Autumn celebration.  I had A LOT of fun these last 12 days.  I hope all of you did too.  Everything went a lot more smoothly than I could have hoped for, and I loved seeing all of your creativity with my contests, and getting to meet you guys at my events.

So now that it's the last day of the celebration, let's go out with a bang and have an autsome NXP party!  We'll be in Achaean Way fighting Captain Spartacos and his surrounding ships.  I hope you guys can all be there and make it one of the best NXP events ever!  Here are the details:

Date: Thursday, October 3, 2013

Time: 3:00pm Eastern

Where: Meet in Avery's Court, add Autumn Walker and then port to Achaean Way

Realm: One-Eyed Jack area 1

Read More

12 Days of Autumn Treasure Hunt

Ahoy! :)

Day 11 of the 12 Days of Autumn celebration brings one last contest. That means......It's Treasure Hunt time!

Today at 5:00pm EST I will be hiding 12 treasure chests around the blog.  Three of them will contain codes, while the other nine will lead back to this page.  The first person to redeem one of the codes gets to keep it. Here are the codes I will be hiding:

One Admiral Bundle

One $10.00 Pirate101 Gift Card

One Li'l Labor Golem Pet

I will announce here and on my Twitter Page when the chests have been posted.  Good luck to everyone who enters!  Let me know if you're one of the lucky ones to find the codes :)  And please, if you do find one, let other people have a chance to find the other 2.  See you this afternoon! :)

And........The chests and codes have been posted! Good luck! :)

Winners
Dark Mark - Admiral Bundle
Crazy Ryan Upham - $10 Pirate101 Giftcard
Pretty George - Li'l Labor Golem

Read More

Get-A-Pet Event

Ahoy!

Today is day#10 of the 12 Days of Autumn celebration!  I can't believe how quickly it's going by!  And I hope everyone is having as much fun as I am :)

Anyway, you may remember that a few weeks ago I had a poll on here asking where you would like to farm for pets.  The reason why was because of this event!  Tonight I am going to be in Cool Ranch farming Tyson for the Armadillo Verde pet.  I believe he also drops the Golden Stingtail pet.  And I am hoping you guys will join me!  Here are the details:

Date: Tuesday, October 1, 2013

Time: 7:30pm Eastern

Where:  Meet up in Avery's Court and add Autumn Walker. Then port to Cool Ranch

Realm: One-Eyed Jack area 1

As always, this event is open to everyone, however you do need access to Traveling Medicine Show in Tumbleweed Skyway, either through membership or crowns.  Also please remember to keep all language family friendly and to be respectful of everyone.  Hope to see you there! :) 

Read More