SC-S29|Geo-Quest Mystery – Week 2: The Sound Map

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Hello Steemians,

Welcome to the second week of Geo-Quest Mystery. In Week 1, you chose your Origin Point and placed it on the map through SteemAtlas and Speem.watch. Together, we began to draw the first dots of our shared world map.

For Week 2, we will keep our feet on the ground but open our ears wide. This mission is about listening carefully to the places around us and transforming sound into story.

Theme of the Week: The Sound Map

The title of Week 2 is “The Sound Map”.
Your mission is to choose a real place that has a strong sound atmosphere. It might be a busy market full of voices and footsteps, a quiet park with birds and leaves, a bus station filled with engines and announcements, or a seafront where waves and wind create a natural soundtrack.

Your goal is to pin this place on SteemAtlas, describe its soundscape in your post, and support your description with your own photos and a short Speem.watch video focused on the sounds of the location.

By the end of the week, our Geo-Quest map will not only show where we are but also how our world sounds in different corners of the planet.

What Your Post Must Include

Every valid entry for Week 2 needs to contain five key elements: a SteemAtlas pin, a short narrative, your own photos, a Speem.watch proof video focusing on sound, and a hidden sound challenge for other participants.

1. SteemAtlas Pin and Sound Description

First, open SteemAtlas and place a pin on the exact location you want to present.
In the description of the pin and in your post, clearly explain what this place is: its name, city and country, and what usually happens there. Then describe the atmosphere of the place through sound. You can mention whether people hear cars, voices, birds, water, music, machines, the wind, or something more unusual.

Explain why you chose this location for the Sound Map. Maybe it is louder than it looks, calmer than you expected, or full of details you only notice when you close your eyes and listen. Your SteemAtlas pin and description should help another Steemian imagine exactly how this place sounds.

2. Short Narrative – The Story Behind the Sounds

In your post, write a short narrative that connects you to the sounds of this place. You can start by explaining when you usually go there and what your first impression was the last time you visited.

Then describe what happens if someone stands still for one full minute and only listens. What is the loudest sound? What is the smallest sound that can still be heard? Which sounds repeat like a rhythm? Are there any surprising noises that suddenly appear?

Finish your narrative by explaining how this location adds a new layer to your personal Geo-Quest journey that began with your Origin Point in Week 1.

3. Two to Four Personal Photos

Your post must include between two and four photos that you have taken yourself at the location.
These photos can show the overall scene or close-up details related to sound: speakers, fountains, trees moving in the wind, crowds, vehicles, instruments, animals, or any object that produces or reflects a sound.

You may appear in your photos if you wish, but it is not required. What matters most is that the photos are real, personal and connected to the sound story you are telling. Images taken from the internet or generated by AI cannot replace real experience in this challenge.

4. Speem.watch Proof Video (20–60 seconds) – Focus on Sound

You must also create a short proof video on Speem.watch. The duration should be between 20 and 60 seconds.
For this week, the video should highlight the ambient sounds of your location.

Show at least part of the place, but keep the emphasis on the audio. While recording, avoid filming close-up faces of strangers. You can hold the camera still or move slowly to show the environment, but let the microphone do most of the work.

You may optionally whisper or speak a short introduction at the beginning or end (for example: “Listen to my Sound Map spot…”) but the main star of the video should be the natural soundscape of the location. Once the video is uploaded to Speem.watch, embed it in your Steemit post or share the direct link so everyone can easily hear your proof.

5. Hidden Sound Challenge – Guess the Sounds

Every entry in Geo-Quest Mystery includes a hidden challenge, and in Week 2 this challenge is based on sound.

Your task is to create a small mystery around three distinct sounds that can be heard in your video or strongly suggested by your description. You should not list the sounds directly. Instead, hide them in your text as hints or short clues.

For example, you might describe a place where “metal breathes, rubber whispers and a distant voice counts the minutes” to hint at a train station, with sounds like a train, rolling wheels and announcements. Or you might describe shadows of leaves dancing, tiny stones rolling and a regular mechanical sigh to point to trees, footsteps and a passing bus.

Other participants will then try to name at least three sounds they believe are present in your location. Your clues must be subtle but fair: a good observer should be able to guess with a bit of effort, especially after watching your video.

How to Interact with Other Participants

Geo-Quest Mystery is designed to create real engagement, not just individual posts placed side by side.

Each week, including Week 2, every participant is expected to visit the entries of others. You should read at least two posts from other explorers, look at their photos, listen carefully to their Speem.watch videos, and search for the hints they have hidden in their descriptions.

In the comments, try to identify the sounds in their location. Write which three sounds you think you can hear or strongly imagine, and explain why you chose them. Maybe you recognised the rhythm of traffic, the echo of a hallway, the splash of water, or the overlapping noise of a crowd.

You are very welcome to comment on more than two posts if you are enjoying the challenge. There is also an optional bonus: if you want to go further, you can respond to someone with a short Speem.watch video reaction, for example by sharing a similar sound from your area or by sending them an audio “high five”. This is not required, but it makes the Sound Map feel like a real conversation between different places.

Rules and Safety Guidelines

The second weekly quest of Geo-Quest Mystery starts on Monday, 19 January 2026.
You can submit your entries until Sunday, 25 January 2026 at 23:59 UTC.

After the deadline, I will review all valid entries, calculate the scores, and publish a separate results post where I highlight the six best posts of the week, a few honourable mentions and some community highlights such as especially original sound descriptions or clever sound guesses in the comments.

All content must be original and real. The photos and the video must be created by you and connected to your actual visit to the location. Plagiarism, fake locations and stolen media will result in disqualification.

For every entry, both the SteemAtlas pin and the Speem.watch proof video are required elements. An otherwise excellent post without one of these two components will not be counted as a valid Geo-Quest Mystery entry.

Long articles generated entirely by AI are not acceptable. You may use tools to correct grammar or improve clarity, but the observations, emotions and descriptions of sound must be your own.

For privacy and safety, be careful not to reveal sensitive information. Do not record clear home addresses, detailed school names, identity documents or licence plates. When filming, avoid capturing private conversations or the faces of strangers without permission. Try to position your camera and microphone so the focus stays on the general environment and the soundscape rather than on identifiable individuals.

How the Six Best Posts Are Chosen

At the end of Week 2, I will read all valid entries and score them out of 10 points using the same structure as in Week 1, adapted to the sound theme.

Two points are dedicated to the quality of your SteemAtlas pin and description. I will check whether the location is clearly identified, well presented and whether your explanation helps others imagine how it sounds.

Another two points reward the creativity of your mission and your hidden sound challenge. I will look at how original your choice of soundscape is, and how clever yet fair the clues are that you have built into your text.

Up to two and a half points are given for the Speem.watch proof video. I will consider whether the audio is clear enough to appreciate the environment, whether the video is stable and focused, and whether it supports the idea of a genuine sound map.

Another two and a half points go to the quality of your storytelling. A good sound narrative uses simple but expressive language and helps the reader to “hear with their imagination” even before they watch the video.

Finally, one point is reserved for engagement. This includes the effort you make to listen carefully to other participants’ posts, to guess their sounds, and to leave thoughtful, respectful comments.

Posts that involve plagiarism, fake locations, stolen media or spam will be disqualified and receive no points.

Quick Participation Checklist

Before you publish your Week 2 post, make sure you have:

• Chosen a meaningful sound-rich location and pinned it properly on SteemAtlas with a clear description.
• Written a short but structured narrative that focuses on the soundscape and explains why you selected this place for the Sound Map.
• Included between two and four of your own photos from the location, ideally related to sources of sound.
• Created and embedded a 20–60 second Speem.watch video in which the ambient sounds of the place can be heard clearly.
• Hidden a fair but challenging sound puzzle by hinting at at least three sounds that others must identify.
• Commented on at least two other entries and tried to guess the sounds in their locations.

If all these elements are present, your post is ready to join Week 2 of Geo-Quest Mystery.

Closing Words and Contact

I am very excited to discover how your world sounds and to see how our Sound Map grows next to the Origin Points from Week 1. Each pin, each story and each video adds a new layer to the global audio landscape of our community.

If you have any questions about the rules, the platforms or the scoring, feel free to ask in the comments, or contact me directly on:

Telegram: Bbouchamia
Discord: kouba01#2216

Good luck, explorers, and welcome to Week 2 of Geo-Quest Mystery: The Sound Map.
— @kouba01