Scavenger Hunts, Corporate Teambuilding - Ravenchase Adventures

Chris Dove, Codeiologist, Chaseius Mapperus | Regional Director

So there I was at the top of the tree, swinging to and fro with great glee. Then the tree top broke and down I plunged. Facing skyward, I watched as the branches whizzed past me on my way to meet my Maker. Since I had the time, I started thinking: What could I be doing right now if I had the chance? Then it hit me, the ground, that is. Years later, I would remember that fateful day and decided I needed a less harmful way to have fun. Since plunging down class IV whitewater had lost its thrill, I looked for something to replace that adrenaline taste in my mouth. After a breath mint, I found what I was looking for: Ravenchase Adventures. And I get to wear my kilt....or did you want something serious?

Lisa Dove, Creative Gadgetologist & Merrymaker Extraordinaire | Regional Director

Lisa was destined to work with Ravenchase Adventures. Lisa's parents discovered early on that their daughter was "different." In elementary school, while other kids were drawing the picket fences and smiling faces of their families standing in front of a house with an A-shaped roof and a lollypop tree, Lisa's drawings were often from odd perspectives. Among her favorites: the one from a bird's point of view as it flew high above the house and another from the goldfish's perspective looking from the bowl into the living room. She was fascinated by da Vinci, Fibonacci numbers, words, patterns, mysteries and detective work often writing poems and stories in made up languages and painting pictures which had hidden meanings or secret symbols. Lisa has degrees in education and communication/graphics arts. As she likes to say, she is always in her "right" mind. She is lively and enthusiastic and is generally deeply involved in creating gadgets for hunts and merrymaking. When not developing new gadgets, playing with words and symbols or cracking codes, Lisa enjoys kayaking on Class IV-V whitewater.

Becky and Andy Mudd, Punologists | Richmond, VA

After traveling across Europe as a free-lance artist and winning the opportunity in a card game to return to America, Andy met Becky as she was attempting to extricate herself from an undesirable pre-arranged marriage to a steel magnate by throwing herself off the back of the ocean liner on which they both traveling. Oh wait, that was Titanic. In truth, Becky is a native Virginian and Andy is from western New York. They moved to Richmond in 2002 and participated in their first Ravenchase event in February, 2005. They've been hooked ever since and compulsively read every historical marker and gravestone they pass. When not lounging on the beach, Becky teaches high school English to students with special needs and Andy teaches Technical Theatre. Their motto is: "Two-Person Teams Rule! Shut Your Pie-hole!"

Mike & Mary, Superheroes, Richmond, VA

Mary's Superpowers: Able to anagram whole pages of text faster than Superman can change in a phone booth.

Mike's Superpowers: Well, we think the picture says it all.

Motto: "We are not role models for your life!"

After the gig pillaging for that "capital" credit card company ran out, Mike needed a new way to spend his weekends. Thank the gods Mary has brain-lobes bigger than a Ferengi and can solve puzzles like a fiend. Together, their combination of brains, brawn and beer consumption (Guinness only!!) are an unstoppable force whether they are creating a chase or playing in one. In addition to being the founders of the Kilted Cosa Nostra, a band of high-spirited Ravies who work the ol' chase trail like a plague of locusts, these two superheroes brew their chases like they like their brews...dark, thick and tastes like guddddd... If you think you're brave enough, ask to see the Raven tattoos.

Jason, Director of Gimmickology | Richmond, VA

I originally started with Ravenchase Adventures by stalking Josh around Richmond and attending every event he held. I eventually realized that this wasn’t going to be enough. So I decided to kidnap and hold him hostage in a well where I only allowed him to eat crackers and rub lotion on his skin. After begging and pleading (and crying like a little girl) for his release for eight days, he finally made me an offer I couldn't resist. He wanted me to join his company. Of course I couldn’t refuse, so I let him go with a spam sandwich and a few more psychological scars. A lot has changed since then. Now I hold him hostage at bars talking about the company. He actually waves now when he sees me peering in his window at 3am. He smiles whenever I pass the crackers at dinner. And he even started using lotion again. But for some reason, whenever I write new clues, he still cries like a little girl.

Joshua Wolak, Enigmatiste/Wisecracketeer | Southeast Regional Director

Joshua has made a lighthearted pastime out of digging into the deeper mysteries of life, and is well versed in the history of philosophy and ideas. Polybius, you say? Perhaps Pythagorus? "Peons!" says our Enigmatiste, who has left no concept unheard and no cipher uncracked. Possessed with a multifaceted and sometimes maniacal creativity, Joshua develops art through paradoxical and perplexing styles of music, visual art, poetry, and now by way of Ravenchase Adventures in Nashville. His interests range from pedestrian to bizarre (organic cooking, incessant cycling, coffee science, film history, string-pickin' and monster balladeering) but he expends most of his energy fulfilling a lifelong dream of evil geniousity, and prays that someday men will curse his name.

Alex Jiang | Ninja Guardian of the Mystic Scrolls | New York

Hidden in the shadows of a large bush, I crouch in a perfect defensive stance. My enemies draw near: a man and a woman. I sense a sharp fighting spirit from them; they will be worthy adversaries. I quickly place my hand on my katana, waiting patiently for the opportune moment to strike.

"Hmm... the clue on the scroll says that we must seek a stealthy warrior to reveal the answer," the man says, puzzled. "There's nobody else here. Maybe the scroll's lying?"

I grit my teeth. This is an insult to my scrolls—I will have to kill the two or commit seppuku. Of course they can't find me. I'm a ninja. If I were standing in broad daylight juggling my shuriken around, I wouldn't be the skilled, deadly ninja that I am today.

"Wait," the woman pauses. "Over there. Is it just me, or did that bush sneeze?"

As expected from these experienced warriors, they have keen senses. My location discovered, I have no choice but to charge. I jump out from behind the bush, unleashing a barrage of shuriken. Being made of paper, the shuriken float slowly in the air, before drifting back to me.

"Uhh... welcome to Ravenchase, guys. Is this your first hunt?"

Rainelle Lushina

After trading the cornfields and barn parties of Central Illinois for the posh urban scene in Chicago, Rainelle decided she had weathered too many winters, and left the frigid Midwest for the tropical paradise of Maui. Notorious for bartering at Balanize shops, saving little scraps, rescuing unwanted items of value from rubbish heaps and curbsides, and occasionally breaking into abandoned buildings to retrieve unattended treasures, ingenuity is in her nature. By paying careful attention to context she is able to value even the most bizarre trifles, and put them to good use (a miraculously retained childhood talent). An avid reader and accomplished daydreamer, she has always seen the world through positively technicolor lenses. Her new environment has given this social butterfly the means to practice her craft, spinning complex webs between previously unrelated (and frankly unimportant) pieces of history, geography and pop culture.