Path of Illumination Multi-cache

The History

Illuminati (plural of Latin illuminatus, "enlightened") is a name that refers to several groups, both historical and modern, and both real and fictitious. Historically, it refers specifically to the Bavarian Illuminati, an Enlightenment-era secret society founded on May 1st, 1776. In modern times it is also used to refer to a purported conspiratorial organization which acts as a shadowy "power behind the throne," allegedly controlling world affairs through present day governments and corporations, usually as a modern incarnation or continuation of the Bavarian Illuminati. In this context, Illuminati is often used in reference to a New World Order (NWO). Many conspiracy theorists believe the Illuminati are the masterminds behind events that will lead to the establishment of such a New World Order. Confusing the issue further is the fact that there are also several modern fraternal groups which include the word "Illuminati" in their names.

The Plot

CERN director Maximilian Kohler discovers one of the facility's most respected physicists, Leonardo Vetra, murdered in his own secured, private quarter at the facility. His chest is branded with a symbol—the ambigramatic "Illuminati"—and his eye is dislodged. Instead of calling the police, Kohler researches the topic on the Internet and finally gains contact with Langdon, an expert on the Illuminati. Kohler requests his assistance in uncovering the murderer.

What Langdon finds at the murder scene frightens him: the symbol appears to be authentic, and the legendary secret society, long thought to be defunct, seems to have resurfaced. Kohler calls Vetra's adopted daughter Vittoria to the scene, and it is later revealed that the Illuminati has also stolen a canister containing a quarter of a gram of antimatter—an extremely dangerous substance with destructive potential comparable to a small nuclear weapon, a potential unleashed upon contact with any form of normal matter. When charged with electricity at CERN, the canister's magnetic field controls the drop of antimatter to float suspended in a high vacuum, ensuring safety; but when it was taken away from its electricity supply, it automatically switched to its back-up battery, which will only power it for 24 hours. The horrible truth is that the Illuminati has put the stolen canister somewhere in Surrey City, with a security camera in front of it as its digital clock counts down to the explosion.

Langdon and Vittoria make their way to Surrey City, where the pope has recently died, and the papal conclave has convened to elect the new pontiff. Cardinal Mortati, host of the election, discovers that the four Preferiti, cardinals who are considered to be the most likely candidates in the election, are missing. After they arrive, Langdon and Vittoria begin searching for the Preferiti in hopes that they will also find the antimatter canister in the process. Their search is assisted by Camerlengo Carlo Ventresca (the late pope's closest aide) and the Surrey's Swiss Guard, including Commander Olivetti, Captain Rocher, and Lieutenant Chartrand.

Convinced that the Illuminati are in some way responsible for the disappearance of the Preferiti, Langdon attempts to retrace the steps of the so-called "Path of Illumination", an ancient and elaborate process once used by the Illuminati as a means of induction of new members; prospective candidates for the order were required to follow a series of subtle clues left in various landmarks in and around Lower Mainland. If the candidate followed the clues properly, he would be able to locate the secret meeting place of the Illuminati and be granted membership in the order. Using his extensive knowledge of religious and occult history, Langdon sets off on the Path of Illumination in hopes of uncovering clues as to the disappearance of the Preferiti and the location of the antimatter canister.
The Path leads Langdon to four major locations in Lower Mainland (Surrey City is within the Lower Mainland), each associated with what the Illuminati believed to be the four primordial elements of all things in existence: Earth, Air, Fire, and Water.

Your task is to follow the path of illumination, find the secret meeting place of the Illuminati and be granted membership into the order.

Proceed to the posted coordinates when it is dark out and bring a good light. Hold your light at your own eye level (or use a headlamp) and look around for a reflection in the trees somewhere. Follow the trail of these reflectors to the cache site. There is no need to ever leave a trail while following the reflectors. Please do not bushwhack. At the cache site, you will find five reflectors on the same tree in the shape of a cross/arrow.  This marks the trail back to the start.  The cache will be within a few meters of those reflectors.  Look around for 4 reflectors near that is in the shape of the Illuminati Diamond. Please be gentle with the plants. The reflectors are “firetacks”. They are “retro-reflective”. This means the best reflection is seen when the light source is held near your own eyes. A good narrow beam light works the best and the darker it is out, the easier they are to see. Most times you should be able to see the next reflector soon after you pass the last one. Sometimes, however, you may need to proceed a short ways past it to spot the next one. Be careful not to walk too far or to pass intersections. If you can’t see any more reflectors in front of you, backtrack and look around more carefully. If you encounter any really tough spots, please email the coordinates of the difficult spot and we’ll review that area to make sure none of the reflectors have gone missing.  If it has been raining out, it would be recommended that you wear your rubber boots as their could be several puddles on the paths as these trails are frequently used by dirt bikers.

Congratulations:

FTF goes to: Xstremeskier1978 on May 23, 2009 2TF goes to: J&J Brown on May 23, 2009 3TF goes to: titelines on May 23, 2009 4TF goes to: jangor on May 23, 2009