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Hey Poptropicans, this is a guest post by HeartofEnder. Enjoy!

Heart here, with a slightly impulsive guest post written shortly after Baronstiltskin’s takeover. With all the new lore, I decided to write up this Popspiracy (Poptropica conspiracy) about the Baron’s potential backstory. Remember: None of this is canon to Poptropica (yet?), so take this with the tiniest grain of salt.

Early Life

The Baron was born on Fairytale Island as a member of the royal family. This was confirmed in the latest Baron visit but has been theorized for a long time. At some point either before or after Baron was born, Rumpel was causing trouble for Poptropica, playing with the world around him. This annoyed the Red Queen, so she locked Rumpel away.

The Baron didn’t like the whole being part of the royal family thing, so at some point she ran away or announced her departure. Either way, the Royal family seemed fine with that, since we never see them trying to get their daughter back. They likely still have some sort of connection, considering that Thanksgiving picture we saw.

Relationship with Amelia

So the Baron left the royal family, now what? They turned their attention to the thing they loved the most: legends! Were they real or not? Only one way to find out, and that’s to go on an adventure!

The Baron started adventuring, eventually stopping at an island in danger. There she met Amelia and together they saved the island, becoming friends.

Now what caused their friendship to become sour? Those who played Monkey Wrench Island would know the serious measures she took to come first place in the race. Perhaps before, Amelia and Baron had a friendly race. Amelia won, which angered the Baron so much that she ended their friendship —throwing a literal wrench in Amelia’s plane as revenge for the event that ended their friendship.

Post-Monkey Wrench

After the events of Monkey Wrench, the Baron likely crash landed on the same island we did, or landed in the sea and washed up on the island’s shores — we won’t question things too much here.

Here, the Baron met Ack and decided to adopt the monkey as her sidekick. While stranded on Monkey Wrench, she did some thinking. Taking revenge on Amelia was not a good idea, so what now? Sure, adventuring brought her money, but were there other options?

And then it hit her. The Baron could make easy money by looting faraway islands of their stuff, and selling them to dedicated adventurers: the players! But first she needed to get off the island.

The monkeys on Monkey Wrench Island were smart enough to plan and build the Poptropica blimp, so together with Ack, they worked to build the Baron an airship.

And so, the Baron began her monthly pop-up shop on Home Island to sell her findings to the players. Soon she was offering to let players assist her on her treasure hunts with The Baron’s Crusade.

With various developments surrouding the Baron and Rumpelstiltskin of Fairytale Island since then — including Rumpel’s Challenge ending on a cliffhanger, the side-quest becoming available for all, the shenanigans with the Baron’s Rumpel obsession, going missing, and now returning as Baronstiltskin — it sure seems like Poptropica might finally tie up the loose ends of Fairytale Island.

I hope you enjoy this little theory of putting pieces together! I couldn’t stop thinking about the new lore we got, so here we are. Love how lore adds so much depth to a virtual world — it’s my favorite thing in games.

Last thing: Chapter 6 of Storm’s Calamity, my Poptropica fanfic series, is now available on Tumblr and Quotev.

Heart out!

Hope you enjoyed this guest post by HeartofEnder. If you did, you might also enjoy her fanfiction series, The Witch’s Heart.

The Poptropica Help Blog welcomes interesting Poptropica insights from anyone in the Poptropica community with thoughts to share. Interested in writing for the PHB? We’d love to hear from you!

Ahoy, Poptropicans! The Baron’s side quest is here as promised, and it’s available to all players. Read on for a spoiler-full walkthrough!

To get started, meet the Baron in her quarters, a new room you’ll find aboard her big airship. Head inside the Cabin of Curiosities and open the hatch below the Baron’s throne. Under the shop, you’ll find the Baron poring over maps. She’ll ask you to join her in digging up treasure on a secret island that’s not on your map. Accept, and off we go!

You’ll land on the shore of a quiet island that feels kinda like the final scene of Skullduggery Island, where OG Poptropicans would have beaten Captain Crawfish to a hidden treasure. Curiously, the Baron later mentions that the treasure we’re now looking for belonged to the captain! (Is he still alive…?) Anyway, head up the hill and enter the cave.

Could the lightning bolt on the cave be Zeus making his mark?

(Sighting secrets: In the water, there’s a purple alien orb reminiscent of Mission Atlantis, while in the distance, we can see the skull-shaped rock of the Pirate Outpost from Skullduggery. Thanks to Ammonite for the tips!)

Inside the cave, the Baron follows you. Head right, skipping over all the gaps until you reach some greenish stone. From here, head downwards, watching out for the poison darts that will knock you back. When you touch water, swim left until you come across a lever. Click on it to lower the water level, which allows you to swim right to the next lever by the barred hole. Click that and the water level goes down some more, allowing you to swim all the way left, where you’ll find the next puzzle.

You’ll come face-to-face with a giant stone wheel with mysterious markings on it (is that a % sign?). But don’t worry about that — the Baron’s got it under control. While she’s the brains of this operation, you’re the brawn. With the Baron’s trusty wrench, you’re all set to whack any “guards” of the treasure… and here they come now!

A mini-game will start, and it’s basically whack-a-mole with skeletons popping up from any of the nine large holes under the treasure wheel. You’ll have to move your view back and forth as you can’t see all the holes at once. The skeletons don’t go away easily either: they have to climb out quite a bit first before smacking them has the desired effect, but you can’t wait too long, or you’ll have to start the mini-game over.

Once you successfully hold off the skeletons long enough, the Baron will unlock the wheel, revealing a treasure vault full of gold, gemstones, and Captain Crawfish’s hat and sword. For your part, she’ll share 500 credits and a pirate costume with you. Congrats and enjoy!

Back at the Baron’s, you can learn more about this daredevil sky pirate through conversation as well as exploring her home, just like in Amelia’s side quest. Speaking of Amelia, there’s tea to be uncovered…

Over in the top right corner of the Baron’s quarters, there’s an abandoned little box with a unicorn plushie and frame jutting out. Click on it and you’ll see an old news clipping behind smashed glass, with a photo of Amelia and the Baron together like best buds. The headline from the Poptropica Times reads, “Local Adventurers Save the Island.”

What fractured their friendship? For now, the Baron reveals only that she had a crew once, and that “trust is hard to come by.”

There’s more to discover around the Baron’s quarters. What surprises have you found? Read on for more trivia and theories!

Baby Ack plushie, golden Rumpelstiltskin, and more treasures await…

To the left of the Baron, you’ll find her fearsome portrait with first mate Ack the monkey, and a familiar green skull that activates the whack-a-mole mini-game from earlier (just for practice!). Playing the Baron’s Bucket of Bones earns you 50 credits per completion, much like “Clear the Skies,” the plane mini-game on the airship deck.

Head down to the lower floor and you’ll see a map on the wall that shows the Baron’s been looking for a “golden city.” Could this be a hint for the upcoming Secret of the Jade Scarab Island, which involves archeological digs for treasure? At any rate, the map bears some interesting port names (potential relations in parentheses): Yoller or Holler (a loud shout), Mustang (sports car), Rhe or Rye (grain), Sanders (Bernie or Colonel?), Omamora (close to omamori, Japanese luck amulets), Lagos (Nigeria’s largest city).

You can also scan through titles of books on her shelf: Lost Cities of Poptropica, Grappling with Grapple-Pap, Into the Maw of Glowbhax: In Search of the Island Devourer (perhaps a reference to Haxe, which did kind of devour many islands). The Baron sure likes her ~~myths~~ legends.

Also in this corner nook, you’ll find a framed photo of the Baron and Ack inside a bank, throwing money down to people on the street. Robbery with a Robin Hood twist? Anyway, there’s another pic of this adventuresome duo beside where Ack sleeps, and it’s adorbs.

Thanks for joining us in exploring the Baron’s Crusade and cabin! What did you think of this side quest of skullduggery? Do you have theories about the Baron’s history with Amelia, or any other aspects of her life? Share with us in the comments. Happy sailing!