The Search for Haggis (CR-3)
-
Difficulty:
-
-
Terrain:
-
Size: 
(regular)
Please note Use of geocaching.com services is subject to the terms and conditions
in our disclaimer.
Recommended parking area for this cache is at N 28º 43.204 W 81º 11.297. You are seeking agood sized Lock & Lock in The Lake Jessup Conservation Area, East Unit.
In this cache, as well as the others in this series, you’ll find a section of Angus Riffster’s tombstone. This needs to stay in the cache for reasons that will become obvious once you’ve read the cache guidelines at the bottom of the cache page of "Great Scot! (A Riffster's Tale). If you don’t plan on finding the 5th stage, you can ignore the tombstone pieces.
hag•gis
1) n. A Scottish dish consisting of a mixture of the minced heart, lungs, and liver of a sheep mixed boiled in the stomach of the slaughtered animal.
(2) adj. Any food that tastes so incredibly awful as to cause your hair to hurt and your teeth to itch, as in, "Good God, Man, That tastes like haggis! Are ya trying to poison me?"
Many months went by without a single Riffster sighting, and Clan McMuggle breathed a little easier, thinking that, just maybe, they were rid of those skulking, smelly vermin. Alas, fate proved to be unkind....
One of the most beloved haggis cooks in the land was a sheep farmer by the name of Jessup McMuggle. Jessup raised his sheep on the southeast shore of Loch Jessup, which was named after him by King Floridus, in honor of his many decades of fine haggis cooking. When Clan Riffster fled in terror from the might of Kilbee McMuggle, they traveled west, eventually coming to Loch Jessup. Their diet on this journey consisted mostly of tubers, grubs and berries. Scurvy eventually took root in Clan Riffster as a result of their diet, however it was difficult to diagnose, since toothless, slack jawed and sallow eyed pretty much described their physical condition during normal times.
As they wandered aimlessly along the shore of Loch Jessup they discovered Jessup's sheep farm, gazing in wonder at the only animal dumber than they were. Clan Riffster set up camp a couple leagues away, and began poaching ruthlessly, decimating Jessup's herd, cooking up literally tons of yummy haggis. Clan Riffster initially took great care to hide their activities, not wanting a repeat of their earlier blunder at Kilbee's hunting lodge, and because of their stealth, their activities went unnoticed for quite some time. However, hiding a butchered sheep carcas proved to be more work than your average Riffster was willing to undertake, which finally proved to be their undoing.
Jessup eventually realized something was amiss with his flock, when he started finding mutilated sheep carcasses all over the place, but he assumed it to be the work of some natural predator. The abdomen of each sheep had been ripped open, and the stomachs had been removed. The carcasses also had a pungent odor wafting about them that he couldn't recognize, mainly because he was a reasonably fastidious Scot, bathing once a week whether he needed it or not.
Jessup contacted Kilbee concerning these killings, describing the missing stomachs, and the sickening, lingering odor. Kilbee immediately rushed to his King, proclaiming "I know where Clan Riffster went"! A battalion of the King's finest soldiers were dispatched to rid the land of the Riffster plague, however, they failed to make contact. Clan Riffster heard the hoof beats of the approaching army, and scurried away, leaving only their unwashed stench to belay the fact that they were ever there.
The tale continues......
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
Ybbx jurer gur snyyra tvnag fcyvg