Banner image features a crescent moon and glowing jack-o’-lanterns hanging from tree branches against a colorful twilight sky. Text shows the activity title.
At the stroke of midnight on Halloween your friend Pipkin vanished without a trace. The very next day, you and your companions gather beneath the looming Pumpkin Tree, its branches heavy with glowing lanterns that hold the faces of those lost. Guided through shadows, tombs, and festivals of remembrance, you’ll follow its path across centuries to return what’s missing. Together you must decide what you’re willing to risk to bring Pipkin back, and discover what it truly means to remember.
This activity is inspired by “The Halloween Tree” by Ray Bradbury. I didn’t actually read the book until the last few years (and I’m happy to say I loved it), but the animated film was a cherished part of my childhood. It aired on TV every autumn, and I always looked forward to catching it as one of my favorite seasonal traditions. While this activity doesn’t follow the story’s exact plot, our goal is to capture its spirit—the tone, the mystery, and the themes that have always held a special place in my heart. We hope you’ll enjoy stepping into this adventure with us!
Organized By:
Anne-Marie Gagne, Katherine Laurier, & Prof. Sindor Aloyarc
Timeline: 11/1—11/21
• November 1: Week One Posted
• November 8: Week Two Posted
• November 15: Week Three Posted
• November 21: Everything Due
Up For Grabs:
• As many as 600 beans & up to 3 shinies spread over 16 tasks! (10 beans per task, 14 bonus beans over week one and 13 over weeks two and three for submitting all tasks over each given week. Double your total at 8 tasks, then triple it at 16).
• The Moundshroud Award:
For completing 8 tasks.
• The Pipkin Award:
For completing all 16 tasks.
• The BBO Blue Medallion award:
To all Moundshroud/Pipkin award recipients from the Veil Walkers in the event they become the triumphant team.
• The BBO Bronze Medallion award:
To all Moundshroud/Pipkin award recipients from the Lantern Bound in the event they become the triumphant team.
Award images feature artwork of the pale, bald Moundshroud with a lurking grin, and your friend Pipkin holding a jack-o-lantern, as well as blue and bronze medallions with ‘BBO’ written on them.
Join in:
This is a castle-wide activity. Post below expressing your interest in joining BBO and we'll add you to your team!
** Veil Walkers: **
Janne Halla
** Lantern Bound: **
Prof. Scarlet Leslie-Lewis
Tracking:
Keep tabs on your progress with "The Pumpkin Tree” Spreadsheet!
Accessibility:
If you run into any accessibility concerns, please reach out to discuss!
— QUESTIONS may be posted below or sent via Private Messaging.
Questions might include:
• How late can I start participating?
You may join in at anytime, however everything is due by Friday November 21st at 11:59pm (HOL time).
• Which Team will I be on?
Members of Ravenclaw are already divided into two nests (blue and bronze) here at HOL pending the first letter of their name, while participants from the other three houses will be split up to make things fair based on the order they join, creating as close to even numbers between teams as possible.
• How is the winning team determined?
Active members of both groups will have their beans/sapphires averaged for the given week’s worth of tasks (these will be regularly updated as people continue to submit for previous weeks) resulting in a team tally of Pumpkins which will be combined over the course of our activity, resulting in your team total. Team Scores DO factor in weekly bonuses, but do NOT include the extra beans which have been doubled or tripled.
• Why is scoring done this way?
Pumpkins are averaged each week rather than for the entire activity so that if a participant only submits one task and never engages again, their lower score will only affect a single segment, not the team’s score for the entire event.
• My task got updated, why didn’t the team score change?
While organizers are responsible for tracking their own tasks, Prof. Sindor will predominantly be keeping a watch over the team scores portion of the spreadsheet. If there is a discrepancy, it should be updated within 48hr after your task has been added. If you still notice something amiss, give Sin a shout!
• Why are there tasks missing?
On posting days of any given week, Organizers will present their own tasks as schedules allow. Tasks will be numbered to maintain the general order for tracking, however will not necessarily be posted in this same order. If you aren't seeing something, check back a little later and you should be good to go!
• Is AI acceptable to use for completing story writing or graphics?
In the case of writing assignments, this means you cannot submit text generated by an AI/ML tool and claim it as your own. Everything you submit must be written in your own words.
In the case of artwork, graphics that are purely AI/ML generated are not permitted. As many graphics on HOL rely on source material that you do not create yourself (such as stock images and elements), we can’t prevent you from using AI generated art as part of a graphics submission but you must have altered, added to or manipulated the source material in some way to create a graphic. This is exactly the same approach we would take with photographs that were not directly taken by you.
From the “Use of AI Tools at HOL” post on the main forum.
• How do I post Graphics?
A few popular Image Hosting sites are Postimages, Imgur, and Imgbb where you can upload your work, the locate a direct link toward sharing elsewhere. The “BBCode” to attach on The Roost forum submissions (which can be accomplished automatically for you by the click of a button from options at the top of your editing page) is [*img][*/img] with url in the middle (i.e. [*img]link[*/img]) — NOTE: You would remove the asterisks (*) in order for this code to be successful. They’re added here to display the example effectively. Images imbedded directly into posts must be kept within 600x600 pixels.
- Anne-Marie, Katherine, & Sindor
