Usurper!

King Coltzan and his guests

Usurper! is a plot that ran from July 9, 2001 to July 16, 2001. Users were asked to help solve the murder on King Coltzan III and, in order to do so, were given clues on a daily base. It was the first plot of its kind.

On July 17, 2001, just a day after Usurper! was over, a new plot began. It was called The Hunt for the Crown and it expanded the story of Usurper!. It was a different kind of plot, though. The Neopets Team did promise to release "others like [Usurper!] in the future", but as of September 2007, the only other logic puzzles have been the Gadgadsbogen Puzzle and the cancelled Guildmasters' Dinner Logic Puzzle.

Plot summary

During a feast with five of the most important people of his court, King Coltzan III died. He was poisoned and it was suspected that one the guests was the murderer.

Eventually, it was revealed that Princess Sankara had murdered King Coltzan. Her reasons were never stated, but her Neopedia article suggests she did it because Coltzan refused to provide her with an army to defeat King Heksas, thinking she was too young.

The Suspects

	Advisor Wessle	Wessle is the King's right hand man, a sneaky, wily Kyrii who helps him with every decision. If anything underhand or illegal is happening in the Lost Desert, Wessle is sure to know about it.
	Senator Barca	Barca has been deeply involved in Sakhmetian politics for the last thirty years. Although not a member of the Royal Family, her power and influence stretch far outside the walls of the city.
	Princess Sankara	Princess Sankara is not the daughter of the King, her family ruled a land many dunes away. When their city was attacked by a neighbouring force, Sankara ran away to seek refuge in Sakhmet.
	Princess Vyssa	Princess Vyssa is the daughter of the King, and is loved by the inhabitants of Sakhmet as much as she is beautiful. She is next in line to her father's throne.
	Senator Palpus	Palpus is an old retired general in the Sakhmet Defence Force. He has kept on good terms with the King since he quit the army, which may be why he has such a great pension plan!

Plot participation

The object of the user's inquiries was to be to determine what meal each of the five guests ate; how many courses of that meal they did eat; what particular bad habit each guest displayed during the meal and, of course, who the murderer was

There were five options for each area of inquiry:

The Meals Tut Trout Cheops Omelette Fried Ummagine Grakle Stew Sphinx Links	The Number of Courses 1 2 3 4 5
The Bad Habits One guest spoke very very loudly. One guest had a cold and could not stop sniffing. One guest was a very messy eater, getting food all over their face and clothes. One guest kept burping. One guest kept giving everybody else shifty looks.

Users were to determine how the meals, the number courses and bad habits linked to each of the guests based on their descriptions and the clues that were released daily. Guesses could be turned in on July 13, 2001.

The Clues

The clues were released on a daily base from July 9 to July 13. Additional hints could be found in the six Neopedia articles released on July 12, 2001.

• The person who was sniffing constantly ate four whole courses of food. Senator Barca did not eat the Cheops Omelette.
• The female guest who ate Fried Ummagine helped herself to two courses. The guest who burped loudly through the entire meal (who was not Princess Sankara) ate the smelly Grakle Stew.
• Advisor Wessle had exactly one less course than the guest who ate the Cheops Omelette.
• Both Senator Barca and the shifty-looking guest went back for more than one course of food.
• Senator Palpus, who did not speak loudly throughout the meal, had the Tut Trout.

Solution

Suspect	Meal	Courses	Bad Habit	Murderer
Advisor Wessle	Sphinx Links	Three	Ate Messily	No
Senator Barca	Fried Ummagine	Two	Spoke Loudly	No
Princess Sankara	Cheops Omelette	Four	Sniffing	Yes
Princess Vyssa	Grakle Stew	One	Burping	No
Senator Palpus	Tut Trout	Five	Looked Shifty	No

Prizes

Rewarded on July 16, 2001, the first 10 users to correctly guess everything were each given two million Neopoints. Also, the first 100 users to correctly guess everything (including the first 10) were given a random magical item.

Trivia

• For the Lost Desert Plot, The Neopets Team retconned a few facts established in Usurper!. Princess Vyssa was replaced as Sakhmet's new ruler by her (new) older sister Princess Amira and none of King Coltzan's advisors made an appearance in the Lost Desert Plot.
• There was a reference to Usurper! in Gadgadsbogen Puzzle. On the The Party page, there was, like Usurper!, a list of the characters, items and habits that had to be linked to each other and at the bottom of the page stood: - THE MURDER - : There was no murder! Nobody got poisoned, or even slightly ill... it was just a great party!

External links

• Plot Info: Usurper!
• NeoDeck: Senator Palpus, Princess Sankara, Senator Barca, Advisor Wessle, Princess Vyssa, King Coltzan III
• Neopedia: Advisor Wessle, King Coltzan III, Princess Sankara, Princess Vyssa, Senator Barca, Senator Palpus
• Editorial: 26, 159, 207, 238