Examine the signs. Write T (True) or F (False).

Binary conversion: T=1, F=0.

This decimal is part of your Wardstone password! (Hint: places = 128, 64, 32, 16, 8, 4, 2, 1.)

Match each primate to how or why it arrived at Austin Zoo. Use the information signs!

1. Apples (Ring-tailed Lemur):
2. Acai (White-fronted Lemur):
3. Ruby (Capuchin):
4. Koko (Common Marmoset):
5. Namaste (Black-capped Capuchin):
6. Humphrey (Llama — nearby!):

Use the signs to calculate primate ages as of April 25, 2026. Show your work!

1. Ruby the Capuchin was born in November 1986. How old is she (in years)? Capuchins live 15–25 years in the wild. Ruby has lived approximately how many times the maximum wild lifespan?
2. Acai arrived from Metro Richmond Zoo on 12/2/2022, and was born April 2, 2021. How many months old was he when he arrived? Male white-fronted lemurs leave their groups between 3.5 and 5 years. Was Acai within this age range when transferred? Write YES or NO and explain.

Visit the bear, capybara, coati, and fox signs. Gather the data, then answer.

1. Austin Zoo's black bears (Korben, Tilly, Ruby) were all rescued as cubs in Oregon. If black bears can run 35 mph and a capybara can hold its breath for 5 minutes, how many seconds is that breath-hold?
2. A black bear's diet is 85% berries, nuts, and leaves. If a 600-lb bear eats 20 lbs of food per day, how many pounds of berries/nuts/leaves is that per day? How many pounds of non-plant food per day?
3. Olivia the Capybara weighs 125 lbs. "Hydrochoerus" means "water pig." If Olivia can hold her breath for 5 minutes and swims at 3 mph, what is the maximum distance (in miles) she could travel underwater in one breath-hold? Convert 5 min to hours first (5/60), then multiply by speed.
4. Stitch the Coati's ankles rotate beyond 180°. If a full rotation is 360° and the ankle can rotate to 200°, what fraction of a full rotation is that? Simplify.

The zookeeper must feed five animals. Each feeding takes 8 minutes with 4-minute breaks between. Constraints:

• The capybara must eat before the coati.
• The black bear must eat before the capybara.
• The silver fox must eat before the snapping turtle.
• The snapping turtle must eat before the coati.
• First feeding begins at 10:00 AM.

1. List all valid feeding orders. How many are there? Number of valid orders:
2. In every valid order, what position must the coati always be in? Hint: which animal has the most prerequisites (things that must happen before it)?
3. At what time does the coati finish eating (earliest possible schedule)?

Answer each riddle. The first letter of each answer spells a secret word.

1. "The capybara is the world's largest member of this order of mammals. Mice, rats, and squirrels also belong. What is the order called?"
2. "Tilly and Ruby the Black Bears were abandoned by their mother in this U.S. state on the Pacific coast."
3. "The coati's most remarkable skeletal feature is that these joints can rotate beyond 180 degrees, letting it descend trees headfirst. What joints?"
4. "The Silver Fox is not a separate species. It is a color variant — a dark-pigmented version of the red fox. The scientific term for this dark pigmentation is..."

The four first letters spell:

This word means to wander freely — something these rescued animals can no longer do in the wild. It's part of your Wardstone password!

Scientific names contain hidden meanings. Use the signs and your knowledge to decode them.

1. The Coyote's scientific name is Canis latrans. According to the sign, "latrans" is Latin for: Select... A) Lone hunter B) Barking dog C) Swift runner D) Ghost of the plains
2. Grant's Zebra is Equus quagga boehmi. The word Equus is Latin for "horse." What does this tell you about how scientists classify zebras?
3. The sign says each zebra's stripe pattern is unique, like something on a human body. What are they compared to?
4. The Llama sign says llamas migrated from North America to South America approximately how many million years ago? They are related to which desert-dwelling animal?

Every animal has a rescue story. Read the signs carefully.

1. The gray wolf pack (Aspen, Denali, Ivy, Juno, Lindy) came from a facility in which U.S. state? Why was that facility shut down?
2. Who contacted Austin Zoo about taking the wolves — and who got to name them?
   Contacted by:

   Named by:
3. Humphrey the Llama arrived on May 16, 2009. His previous owner had to give him up because:
4. Piper and Brooklyn the Six-banded Armadillos arrived on July 18, 2021. According to the sign, how long can armadillos hold their breath? Compare to the capybara's 5-minute breath-hold from Trial II. Which is the better diver?

Choose any one animal from this area. Write its entry as a medieval bestiary scholar who has never seen this creature and describes it based on travelers' wild tales. Include 3 real facts from the sign, but exaggerate everything else magnificently. Aim for 50–100 words — every member contributes at least one sentence.

Animal chosen:

Walk among the big cats and count.

1. How many species of big cat are displayed here? (lion, tiger, cougar, bobcat)
2. This number is your Caesar Shift key. Use it to decode this message (shift each letter backward by this amount):
   ZIVE AEW JSYRH EW E OMXXIR YRHIV ER EFERHSRIH XVEMPIV
   The shift is 4 — the number of big cat species. If shifting backward passes A, wrap around to Z. Use Cipher II on your Codex. The answer reveals a cougar's rescue story.

Use Cipher III (Prime Number Code) from your Arcane Codex. A=2, B=3, C=5, D=7, E=11... (nth prime = nth letter).

Now look for this animal! What is its name on the sign?

According to its sign, this animal is actually a melanistic version of what common species?

Bonus: Decode this second message using the same cipher:

Use Cipher I (Menagerie Alphabet) from your Arcane Codex. Each animal name represents a letter.

Now read the wolf sign. All six wolves were born in the same month and year. When?

Combine your discoveries to assemble the Wardstone password:

1. From Puzzle 1 (Trial I): binary-to-decimal result:
2. From Puzzle 6 (Trial II): the secret word the first letters spelled:
3. From Puzzle 10 (this trial): the cougar's name from the decoded Caesar message:

Your complete Wardstone Password (combine all three with " + "):

Guard this password! You will speak it at the Grand Restoration ceremony.

Invent a new species for the Menagerie to rescue:

• Scientific name using proper Latin/Greek roots
• Common name
• Habitat, diet, and one unique adaptation
• Rescue backstory — where was it rescued from and why?

Write a 4-line rhyming oath for the Brotherhood of the Woven Tail. Include the names of at least 4 real Austin Zoo animals. Bonus points for iambic pentameter!

Every animal in this zoo was rescued. In 2–3 sentences, answer: Why does a rescue zoo like Austin Zoo matter? What would happen to these animals without it?

A true scholar-mage always records their observations. Write your most interesting, surprising, or amusing discovery from today's quest. The best field note across all guilds earns 10 bonus points!