Puzzling Easter Egg - RPLOG
Participants
Date
5/4/478
Log
It is a busy day in the market, the usual shoppers busy amid the hustle and bustle of mechants hawking their wares and carts of goods traveling to and fro. Amidst all of this hustle and bustle, there seems to be a swirl of interest around a new fixture in one of the busy plazas the dot the area. In the center of the little square of shops is a new statue or monument. It appears to be some kind of abstract piece, shaped like a five foot tall egg on a short pedestal, the thing is made of featureless stone. It is very clean and smooth, but otherwise uninteresting. Most people just pass it by, though a few stop long enough to read the plaque on the bottom before moving along.
Samson wanders through the market, clad in a heavy-looking coat that obscures much of his coarse fur. He hunts from stall to stall, staying far from the crowd as he examines the wares, the occasional rumble of his stomach promping him to search harder for anyone who might sell him snacks. His search brings him closer to the strange sculpture and he peeks over the heads of the crowd to see if there's anything important going on. Seeing as it's his first visit it doesn't seem out of the ordinary right away, simply a pretty sculpture to glance at.
A flick of Flora's tails, a soft rumble, and the heavily pregnant feline makes her way into the area, escorted by a duo of guards wearing the LongTech Industries uniform. Her ears flick momentarily, and she simply... Stares at the statue nearby. She looks rather confused, to be frank.
"Flora... Flora doesn't think that's supposed to be here, no."
In the very same square was a familiar plant being. Rokarion, clad in his usual body-covering heavy cloak, is busy inspecting some wares at one of the alchemist's stalls, shaking his head and bidding the merchant farewell as he fails to acquire what he wants. The youthful flower turns around and saunters across the plaza before noticing the unfamiliar sculpture. Interest piqued, even if his face kept that nonchalant look, he moved towards the sculpture to inspect it.
"Probably not, no," Lucasiel says in reply to Flora as she leans forward to read the inscription, herself. It's a warm, sunny day, and she was dressed accordingly. No armour today, just a breezy, shorty sleeved dress.
A food vendor with a little cart is set up near the new statue, the plump, smiling tanuki seems to be doing brisk business with the interesting new statue in the background.
The inscription on the statue reads
An Egg, Stone, Lifeless.
Rainbow waked, Opened to Life.
A Puzzle Unlocked.
-P
Samson scratches his head as he spots the inscription, trying to get close enough to make out the words. What he finds only perplexes him more though and the head scratching resumes. "What an odd thing to put on a sculpture." he muses to no one in particular as he looks around the crowd.
A soft rumble sounds, and the she-cat looks over the entire thing from all sides, her ears flicking lightly. The inscription examined, the cat watching the thing curiously as she pulls out a small, hexagonal crystal and holds it up in the air to create a very thin rainbow of colors, shining upon the stone.
"Flora figures there's something inside, yes. But it's not coming out by breaking it, no."
Rokarion kneeled down near the inscription and gave it a glance before standing back up, hand on hismouth as he stifled a yawn, "Looks like someone's attempt at a puzzle." He said in a bored tone to answer Smason, "I would bet it was a spirit that did this." The jasmine added as he moved a couple of steps away from the sculpture/
"Bah. I was never one for puzzles," Lucasiel says with a frown, instead wandering a few paces away to find that tanuki that was selling the food. She keeps her eyes on it, though, ready to offer input. "Probably just something involving... Water and light. Rainbows and all."
When Flora hold up her little crystal, sending a flickering little rainbow over the stone surface, there is a sound of stone grinding on stone! Beings step away from the statue in surprise as a seam appears in the center of the statue and the top rotates a slow quarter turn! Now the nindescript stone has drawn considerably more attention and a little crowd starts to gather. As the stone turns, a deep, crimson stripe appears on the gray surface. The inscription seems to have changed!
Crimson Red, Like Blood
One Color, Unlocked by Light.
The Next from Fire born.
Samson turns to face Rokarion, one eyebrow raised. "A spirit? Are such things common in public places like this?" The sudden movement from the stone has him taking a step back, reaching behind his back for a weapon he would normally have been carrying. He does relax when it eventually settles down, but still keeps his distance. "If this is routine enough that people aren't scared then this is a strange city indeed..."
Flora grins and purrs to herself, tails swaying behind her. "See? Flora was right, yes... Red... Yes. Red. Like a ruby," she mutters, even as she puts her crystal away again, tail swishing behind her. "Flora doens't have them with Flora, no... Any being that has a ruby inside a piece of jewelry?" the cat calls out after a moment of contemplation, curious to see if her idea works... Though that would of course still leave the fire part.
Rokarion shrugs as he eyes Samson, "Not really, but living in a maritime city tends to expose the average beings to many varied and exotic objects and cultures so people tend to be less weirded out by them." He answered back before eyeing the new inscription, "I wonder if they want the fire to be used on the ruby or on the stone itself. Anyway, anyone got a torch or a matchstick?" he said, voice dulled as always.
With her food gotten, Lucasiel approaches the statue once more, ears flicking as she listens to the others. "Hmmm. A ruby would make sense, I suppose. Or maybe... Hm."
Cara walks through the marketplace, carrying a bag of groceries among other things. Then, she notices a group of people surrounding a large stone. Some of them are rather noticeable, "Wait, that's the plant man from the wedding and that's Flora Lontail." She walks closer to the group and looks at the stone and its inscription. She proceeds to ask, "Why is there a statue in the middle of the marketplace?"
While the gathering crowd does not seem to be afraid of the strange stone, most of them are giving it wide berth anyway. The tanuki food vendor is still doing good business, though it has slowed a bit with this new development. He leans on his cart as he serves up food, trying to see through the crowd. Behind Rokarion, a huge bear being has just lit up a cigar that he is puffing at thoughtfully. He wordlessly taps the plant on the shoulder, eyes still on the odd statue as he passes over a small book of matches.
Samson shrugs noncomitially when asked about matches. "Well, fire's as good a guess as any. We aren't going to have to do this another seven times, are we?" Seeing as this might take a while, he takes another stroll away from the sculpture, spotting what looks and smells like a food vendor. "G'morning." he says gruffly, looking over the tanuki's wares.
