The Maester's Path: Link 1

Sorry for being so ASoIaF lately, but HBO is going wild promoting the series, which airs starting April 17th. Last week, many internet luminaries, TV bloggers, fan sites, and the like were sent a gorgeous perfumery box filled with different scents of different locales in the series, from the wilds of the Dothraki grasslands to the Stark stronghold of Winterfell in the far north. This morning, an interactive fan site for the series went live, named after the scholars and healers from the series called maesters, who are sworn to different lords to assist their households. The fan site is called The Maester's Path (click for link).

Each week through the end of March a new puzzle will appear. Solving the puzzle for that week gives you a metaphorical "link" in your maester's chain and access to a reward, which this week at least is a short clip of a very fan-beloved scene (to read which one, highlight or copy-paste into a word-document the following: Jon Snow, Eddard Stark's bastard, gives Needle (a sword) to Arya Stark, his tomboyish half-sister end spoiler); it's quite possible that each week will reveal a new quick, 30-second clip from the series. You also are supposed to try and collect 5 apprentices to join you on your journey; it's unclear when or how they'll be needed, but they may simply allow access to greater rewards, a greater final reward, or something of the sort.

This week, the key to solving the puzzle (which involves perfumes/scents like the box sent out to various bloggers) is knowing what symbols go with what locale; fan site Westeros.org had compiled a list of all the symbols in the cases bloggers were sent in case something like this came up, and if you'd like a guide, they have one up at their Maester's Path guide (once there, click the picture at the top of the page to enlarge it). Orange symbols are the Dothraki Sea, red symbols are the Free City of Pentos, green symbols are the capital city called King's Landing, blue symbols are the Stark stronghold of Winterfell, and purple symbols are the Inn at the Crossroads.

It's all very intriguing, and pretty smart marketing on HBO's behalf. Right now it seems as if the clips are sort of geared towards fans of the book series already, but it's not so complicated or spoiler-y as to be incomprehensible for people who have never read the books.

If you'd like to join me as an acolyte, feel free to click the following link: http://itsh.bo/edmQfU

Enjoy!