Riddles in the city - RPLOG
Participants
Date
15/3/477
Log
Mid-morning in Firmament, when the marketplace crowds are returning either to their homes, or for a small siesta in order to rest one's feet for more shopping afterwards. Today's crowd, though, has gathered about the side of the Firmament branch of the Freeswords', where bright golden letters have been painted on the wall.
It's hard to tell just what language they're in - it's certainly nothing that anyone in the crowd has seen before, not even in the First Tongue of the Creators, and yet a strange sensation of creeps up upon all those in the crowd staring at it - that of danger, of adventure, of riches to be had. Several clerks labour at the wall with washcloth and rag, the crowd watching their antics, but the golden letters are possibly the most stubborn stains ever to exist on Promise.
Selena doesn't seem too comfortable with the gathering in front of the freeswords, the wolfess muttering to herself; "And to think I just came here for something to drink. There had to be something happening, didn't there?" she sighs, rubbing her forehead for a few moments before moving up to one of the workers. "Excuse me, you don't happen to know why that's there, do you? Any reason? Or, of course, what it says."
Alef blinks as she comes out of the inn, looking at the odd sight. "Uh..." Turning and noticing the odd symbols. "What on promise?" backing up and looking at the symbols, and the crews trying trying to remove them.
A soft rumble, a flick of Flora's tail as she wanders in, still mostly oblivious to what's going on, before she too notices the large letters. Her ears fold back a moment, silently, while she simply stares at them for a good, long while.
"I don't know!" One of the clerks, a clever-clanned crane, wails to Selena. "I was just settling in for another day of paperwork when someone came in from the street and told me these things had just appeared on the wall just outside the inn! No one remembers how they could have been there - everyone just says they looked away, and there they were..." She resumes trying to scrub away the rather ostentaious act of vandalism, then steps back in surprise. The action is echoed by the other curious beings in the crowd as the strange letters flow like ink dropped in water, like smoke in air, swirling and curling until they are now but everyday language:
Welcome, friends. I bid you all
a good day, for you have heard my call
Most of you have met me at least one, have we not?
My charming challenges, my rich rewards?
Today, instead of you going to me
I've brought my riddles for you to see
Win riches, treasures, wonders, gold
Your deepest desires, secrets untold.
Selena nods, sighing quietly as the crane explains the situation - and then turning to face the wall as the letters shift and change. "Well, that explains that." She comments to herself. "I suppose every group of beings has SOMEone at least a little less mature than the rest." The wolfess grumbles with some degree of severity. "Alef, Flora. I don't suppose you two were also hoping to just get some drinks and be on your way before... This?"
Alef shakes her head, "Honistly? I was just stepping out of the inn to go do some training on the field... so, the Puzzler has come to town huh?" smiling weakly, "I dont think iv heard of him doing something like this before..."
Flora raises a brow for a moment, before looking up at the changing letters and looking back to Selena and Alef silently, a tad confused, simply blinking for the time being while she tries to understand the situation. "Flora was... Buying thing. Wanted to do so, yes."
To both Selena's and Alef's remarks, perhaps the spirit in question has not heard their comments, perhaps he's decided to ignore them, or perhaps he's saving his response for later. It's hard to tell with this kind of fellow, but what does happen is that the letters swirl once more, rearranging them into new lines:
Answer this riddle, with all haste And then you will be shown to the next.
You can keep this thing
But only after you have given it to another
"The obvious answer is a secret." Selena murmurs, settling into a nearby chair and glancing back to the others. "Frankly, I'd rather just have a cider than deal with riddles at this time of day; that's what I'm here." She mutters - in part, perhaps, debating why she's even staying outside to stand audience to the affair instead of aquiring that drink.
Flora ponders for a moment, her ears flicking lightly as she looks up at the riddle, curiously flicking her tail and murring softly. "Love. Flora thinks it could also be love, yes," she mumbles curiously, an eyebrow raised silently.
Alef blinks at the riddle on the wall. "Your Word? I mean... you have to give your word to keep your word..." Nodding lightly. "Thats my guess..." giggling at Selena's gripe, quickly asking a being to go get a glass of cider for her friend and giving them a few crowns to pay for it.
It's a few minutes before anything else happens, perhaps because every being present needs to be accounted for. It's certainly long enough for Selena's cider to arrive, tall and cold, pressed deeply into Alef's hands. And then from nowhere, a small shower of newly-minted crowns into the hands of a few beings - amongst the three in the group, Alef is the one to receive an amount - and the letters swirl again.
Some of you were right, others were not Don't be disheartened, give it another shot
Secrets can be kept, but giving them away makes them no more Giving away love but receiving none makes the heart sore.
The scrubbing clerks sag in relief as the golden letters dissolve and vanish into the brickwork, leaving no trace that they were ever there. A faint tugging at the minds of everyone in the crowd...directing them to Saint's Square this time.
Selena shrugs. "But, to have a secret someone does have to know that there is one. Otherwise it's simply another thing you know." She muses, moving back along to the others. "I guess that would be personal semantics rather than a real answer though. Alef, it's good to see you're back out and about since the last time I saw you. It has been a while."
Alef smiles softly, bowing her head to Selena. "Its good to see you too Selena. I havent seen you in some days... i am doing better yes. still not great, but better." nodding as she debates following the impulse toward the square.
Flora blinks a tad, her tail twitching lightly, before she looks towards Alef a moment as the crown appear out of nowhere, before looking in the direction of Saint's Square, silently. Her ears flick a little, and she mumbles softly, apparently decided it's best for her to head in that direction first. This was intriguing!
Reviin steps out the front door to The diseased pig, and takes a look around. Upon spotting the group that had formed in the Mange Square. The large Equine trots over to join them. He is obviously curious about just what is going on. "Well what have we go going on here?"
Some of the beings watching - especially those who've lost - groan in dismay and head into the Freeswords' Inn for a drink. Well, at least it shows that it's merely an impulse, and not an outright compulsion. Still, the crowd heading towards the square certainly picks up a few folk while going through the marketplace, and they aren't disappointed.
The sight in the square is quite one to behold. Framed between the six statues of the Creator Saints are golden, pulsating letters much like the ones that were on the Freeswords', and even as the crowd pours into the square they're spelling out the next riddle:
This marvelous thing
Though it sounds absurd
Contains all our letters
But is only a word
"Flora knows, yes. Flora just learned it, too! Flora thinks it's the Alphabet, yes yes!" she rumbles with a big grin, her tail twitching as she looks at the letters, then back around the area in confusion. This was not going to be an average day.
Selena sighs quietly as she arrives in the square, glancing over the facades of the statues with a level stare. "An alphabet?" She comments to herself, sighing. "Of course, the puzzler goes right over the inn but spares the statues. I'm surprised he's not making the destination part of the answer to the riddles." She notes amusedly, the equine's emergeance prompting a half-wave. "A spirit called the Puzzler happened. He's put riddles in obvious places for people to solve in the gold 'paint' you can see over there."
Alef blinks as she reads the words. tapping her chin as she racks her mind for the answer. "Contains all our letters... but only a word... wait.." reading closer. "but IS only a word... OH. The Alphabet! All of our letters contained in a word." Nodding lightly.
Reviin miss his head, and follows along with the group in checking out the next riddle. "Well sounds like fun I think I will join in." He says while returning the woman's wave. " I am going to have to go with the alphabet for this one as well."
Another answer, another shower of gold - if this keeps up, the entire monetary system of Promise is going to be debased before long. Yet a faint sensation warm approval washes over everyone even as the letters dissolve and vanish.
Such clever beings, I am honoured to know I look forward to reaping what today I sow
Another sensation of direction, this time towards the grand Academy.
Selena sighs quietly. "This raises a few questions about what the money here is made of." She comments, tapping a handful of coins together before placing them back in her pocket. "I suppose I'm making a round trip back to where I started at this point..."
Alef smiles and pockets her coin "im stopping by a counting house or bank before the days out thats for sure." nodding lightly, shaking her head at the mass of people gathering there gold coin, waving to Selena and Flora and motioning for them to follow out of the crowd before the gathering for gold gets out of hand.
A confused look, a rumble, and Flora looks at the amount of crown suddenly finding its way into her paws, the feline looking in the direction of the academy and sighing lightly. "Flora doesn't get it. Why not give all the riddles in one place?" she mumbles, moving to the next spot.
Reviin pockets the his own handful of coins, and moves on to the next location. More than happy to follow gold, or the possibility of gold at anyrate. "Well if I can keep getting the answers right I may just be able to commission a new sword, or maybe I will go for a axe."
Indeed, the final riddle is plastered all over the square in front of the Academy - perhaps the Puzzler has some sense of propriety after all. The academics examining the riddle and its sudden appearance are quite taken aback by the crowd's sudden arrival - especially of characters who don't usually fit into the academy district - and quickly step back to avoid being swept away.
Whoever has it is angry
Whoever loses it is angrier
Whoever wins it has it no more
Flora mubmles and frowns lightly as she looks up at the riddle, trying to comprehend it, looking from word to word. She really did learn to read quickly, didn't she? Even so, she does seem to mouth every word tentatively, occasionally looking to others to see if she has it right. "First two suggest a temper... But you can't win a temper, no... Flora knows this. Flora does, really... Flora just needs to think, yes..."
Selena furrows her brows for a few moments. "That's... Not a bad one. But I've riled up enough people to know you can't claim to come out with no more disagreement, and you can't win or lose them." She notes. "....A dispute? Though even if you win one it can still be brought up at a later date. But that's probably the better answer than any other that comes to mind." She sighs. "And Flora - I'm glad to see you've picked reading up so quickly."
Alef reads the riddle over and over... frowning as she thinks about it. "Whoever has it is angry... whoever loses it is angrier... whoever wins it has it no more..." repeating it to herself a few times, thinking and listening to the murmers of the croud. frowning and moving away from the group to sit on a nearby bench on the edge of the square. "Whoever has it is angry... Whoever loses it is angrier... whoever wins it has it no more... Something abstract... something... not something physical..." Looking at her left shoulder for a moment, then at her right. "Really?" tilting her head in thought, ears twitching. "A... Fight... no... a conflict... no no... maybe... fight, conflict, dispute, disruption... a Dispute? Whoever wins a Dispute nolonger has one... the person who loses a dispute will probobly be very angry yes... and you have to be angry to start one... so it is a Dispute?" Looking at her shoulders again and nodding to each. "yeah, its a Dispute!"
Reviin taps his chin thoughtfully, as he looks over the riddle. His brows knit together in concentration. The equines ears perk ho when he hears Flora answer the rifle, and grins knowingly. But otherwise remains silent, but chooses not to answer this time around. "Hmmmm that one was a good riddle. Had to think about it for a bit."
"Flora... Flora agrees. Has to be a dispute, yes. Has to be," she mumbles, frowning lightly as her thunder is stolen, though she doesn't quite show it. "Flora chooses dispute, too."
"Indeed, that is the answer." A snap of the fingers is heard, and yet the furry fingers are not seen. The golden letters peel off the cobblestones of the Academy square, rising in motes of light and melding together in a vagely being-like form until - yes, that hat, that cane, that green and purple pinstriped suit, all to familiar to everyone else. The foxy spirit surveys the small crowd enjoying the treasures laid out before them and a small smile pulls at the corner of his muzzle.
Selena shakes her head and tsks as the distinctly vulpine spirit comes into being. "And to think that all other life court spirits have found supplicants before resorting to that kind of intrusive performance." She mutters to herself, shaking her head. "Well. There's always showboats." She murmurs to herself before speaking up in her normal volume. "I suppose if anyone's interested in this spirit, speaking with him now would be better than waiting for him to show up again later. I'm going to go home and rest."
Alef smiles softly, giggling "It was a fun little distraction atleast Selena. nothing wrong with a fun little display and distraction right? helps people relax a little." nodding "Il walk you back." nodding and helping Selena back, waving to Flora and nodding lightly
Flora blinks a moment, looking at the puzzler curiously and mumbling softly, her tail swaying behind her and her paws twitching a bit as she looks up at him, tail twitching as she examines him in silence. Another flick of her tail, a small frown. "Flora doesn't get it. Why move around if you tell people where to go anyways?"
Reviin crosses his arms over his broad chest, as he also examines the fox spirit. While simultaneously packing up the treasure he had gained. "I am fairly curious about this lets go with display myself. Why have us move around so much to Andre the riddles? Not that I mind since I recieved a nice little nest egg of treasure."
Acknowledging the various murmurs of those who are clearly familiar with his caches, the Puzzler tips his hat and begins addressing concerns, starting with Selena:
Indeed, friend, you do not lie Of crowded places my kind is shy Yet word of us, it has spread The fallen amongst us once more tread Upon this world, sowing strife Upending order, taking life I see have pledged yourself To those of my kind, and you have done well.
To Flora and Reviin: What better way to make a splash Amongst beings, to have them dash From place to place, letting others know Of a trickster and his presence, giving out gold Why, the tale of his appearance would simply rot Without the eyes to see it, not in one spot.
And finally, to all the beings in the crowd:Now that you are more familiar with my kind, be as it may,
Perhaps no longer will I be turned away.
Yet of those whom I seek
Are the clever and adventurous, not the meek
We shall meet again, do not fret
Once again, friends, well met.
"And for the curious little cat..." the Puzzler removes his broad-brimmed hat and hold it out to her with one hand. With the other, he snatches another exact copy out of thin air and plonks it where the other was recently sitting. "A little keepsafe, for a curious one to safekeep. Not a token, nor a mark, but for one who's done more than her part."
Alef smiles as the trickster answers and addresses the Beings in the crowd, bowing her head to the spirit happly. "everyone needs a little shakeup of the status quo and a little distraction here and there. it was fun." Nodding lightly as she motions for Flora to follow her and Selena. "Comon Flora! lets go back to the inn!" Smiling lightly, giggling lightly.
"Flora... Kindof gets it. Mister fox has a horrible business-model, though. Flora has no idea how he still has money," she mumbles, scratching the back of her head lightly, before looking at the hat, silently for a moment, before hesitantly accepting the hat and flipping it over a few times, silently, before she looks up at Alef, then back to the trickster-fox in confusion. "Flora has a riddle for mister fox, but it's not done," she mumbles, tapping her chin and grinning broadly.
"Flora will ask it next time, yes."
Reviin looks between the fox spirit, and the others."Well this was definitely an interesting break from my usual routine. So I would enjoy doing this again sometime." He says while debating what to, and where he would would go now that the puzzler had finished with his display.
