Jenafur, WoW's Most Elusive Feline Was Finally Found
For almost a year, World of Warcraft players have been trying to find Jenafur. Eventually, the secret of the void cat was discovered by an Internet user, although - as it turned out - he had to seek help in the game files.
- Almost a year after the debut of the 8.2.5 update, players found the secret pet Jenafur;
- Paul - the discoverer of the secret of Amara's cat - confirmed that the key was the sound effect hidden in the game files, or more precisely, its note transcription that leaked into the web some time ago;
- Jeremy Feasel, WoW's chief designer and creator of the puzzle, congratulated the community on finding Jenafur.
At the beginning of the month we reported on the search for Jenafur - a pet hidden a year ago in World of Warcraft. Since September 24, 2019, the players have not managed to summon this rebellious cat, and one would think that we will see the first anniversary of the 8.2.5 update sooner than the solving of the puzzle it introduced. Fortunately, 10 days before that date, the mystery of Jenafur was revealed. This was done by an internet user known as Paul, who described the way the pet can be summoned in a document he shared.
Jenafur to the rhythm of music
Let's start with a short summary: the players have long managed to discover a large part of the task. After talking with female elf Amara and making a promise to take care of her cat we go to the crazy cat lady, where a suspicious bowl and two balls of cat food direct us to the renovated dungeons in Karazhan. But that's where problems begin. In the location we can find 20 kinds of food and an organist with a new dialogue line after the conversation with Amara. And it is at this stage that all the secret hunters have so far been giving up, despite Blizzard's subsequent hints.
Paul also became interested in the matter, because although he doesn't play World of Warcraft (or too many video games) himself, he is interested in puzzles. The solution to the one prepared by Blizzard was found thanks to the last tips provided by the company's employees. These mentioned the need to put two piles of "treats" in eight "morsels" to a 4/4 rhythm on the tiles to create "music written by our musician". This confirmed the longstanding assumption among the players that the key to solving the puzzle is to arrange the pieces of food in Karazhan like notes on a staff. Moreover, the mention of "tiles" suggested not only the place where the "morsels" probably need to be arranged, but also which ones and in what order should be used (in short: those that are lying on tiles).
But here comes another issue: what kind of song should we play in such a way as to summon Jenafur? As it turns out, it was necessary... to have a look at the 8.2.5 update files. A year ago, the score for Amara's Wish was leaked into the web, judging by the name of the sound undoubtedly related to the task. However, while most Jenafur seekers considered it to be only a reward, Paul suspected that the score for the song is the key to solving the mystery of the void cat. When he checked the arrangement of their and the treats, he noticed a striking resemblance. After several unsuccessful attempts, Paul's theory was confirmed: Jenafur appeared in the game.
Secret in the game?
The funny thing about the whole thing is that the players themselves are responsible for the long search for Jenafur. As Paul mentioned in his documentary, most of the players considered Amara's song a reward, not a clue. However, he wasn't the first to come up with the idea that Amara's Wish could be the key to solving the puzzle. The point is (via Reddit) that World of Warcraft community doubted the theory so much that the explorers' channel moderators on Discord discouraged people from following this trail.
However, it should be honestly added that the sceptics had reasons to doubt. The most important argument was that it is impossible to acquire Amara's Wish without looking at the game files and the same applies to the song's score. So far, all the secrets could only be discovered through the actions in the game, but apparently this time the players had to get their hands dirty. "Apparently", because - as many Internet users point out - it's possible that you can find the score of Amara's Wish somewhere in World of Warcraft. Not necessarily in the form of a literal "record", but - for example - created from environmental elements. The default arrangement of "morsels" can be considered as such, especially since it has long been suspected that Jenafur was only interested in meat. But was there a way for anyone to guess which of them represent the notes of the secret tune?
The second important argument stemmed from the mention of the creators of World of Warcraft, according to whom the mystery was to be "friendly" to hearing-impaired gamers. Sceptics did not think that while it excludes music itself, the notes written on paper are as accessible for disabled persons without a problem. Apart from these discussions, the community basically breathed a sigh of relief - the biggest puzzle of World of Warcraft was finally solved. The game's creators also noted the success: Jeremy Feasel (WoW's chief designer and, last but not least, the creator of the Jenafur puzzle) posted a short Twitter post with congratulations.
