It's summer in Trabia, and that means it's time for the region's annual event, the Snowmelt Scavanger Hunt!

Every summer, Trabia residents scour the countryside to see what might have washed up in thawing streams or lakes, it seems the snow reveals a little something different every year!

It's one of Trabia's oldest traditions, and it's grown into a huge contest. People come from all over to compete for the prizes that are given out for the best collections of scavanged items, and other prizes as well. Plus, it's supposed to just be great fun. While no one from Timber Maniacs has ever participated before, we'll have a reporter on the spot for you this year to report the results in our next issue!

From the beaches and fjords of the Trabia coast,to the forests and mountain peaks of the interior, treasure seekers are invited to hunt far and wide for anything unusual, useful, or valuable. The rules of this contest are simple, but not obvious.

Contestants must accumulate a collection of items, not just one, and not just random bits of snow floatsom. No one knows what the judges will ultimately pick before the contest ends, so there's a lot of trading back and forth as people collect items and try to round out what they think will be the Ultimate collection! The collections are judged on the basis of how many items make up the collection, the rarity of the items, how difficult it was to obtain them, and the age of the items. If the judges just can't decide, the most beautiful collection will be declared the winner.

The Trabians have also realized that once they started offering prizes, people were going to get rowdy! Because of that, there's also a sportsmanship prize offered every year. That prize is won by treating your fellow scavanger hunters fairly, and not fighting! Duels are okay, but ambushing people who don't want to fight is not.

To enter the contest, you just go to the Trabia Capital City, or Jorgenhiem city, and register as an individual or group! One collection and one prize per registration. This year's prizes are really spectacular! For sportsmanship, the prize is a rare Elixer, sure to cure any wounds or fix anything at all! No matter what you have to endure to get the sportsmanship prize, the elixer will fix it! All participants, regardless of what they manage to find, will get at Phoenix Down for their trouble. This prize is traditional, as many groups need to revive a friend who fell to monsters or snow related dangers.

Third Prize is a Carnelean Pendant, good protection for fighters or magic users. Second Prize is a Safety Bit. This little beauty will keep you alive, even against the nastiest of undead curses.

Finally, they have something really special for first prize, either a Royal Torc or a Power Wrist, no matter if you cast spells or swing swords, you'll find the first prize item to be a huge boon!

Registration is just 500g, so we at Timber Maniacs really encourage all our readers that think they can handle the dangers to join in!