Library: A Grand Mystery, The First of The Puzzles.

"I hate the desert," I grumbled under my breath. I had been wandering for quite some time, perhaps as long as a full day, and was no closer to finding my way home. Mirages await me in every direction, perhaps I am indeed losing my mind. The heat, I reasoned, it is getting to be too much. I took a break, sitting in the half shade that a particularly tall dune could afford, and must have fallen asleep. When I awoke, it was night. Desert nights, so clear, they were almost worth the various hazards that one might find in the arid wastes. Luckily, I knew before I entered this cursed place that I may find myself lost, and had brought plenty of water, so survival was the least of my concerns. I merely wished to get this new sword back to my home, where I could study it. I tried to convince the old man to give it to me voluntarily, but in the end I had to use force. I suppose I used a bit too much force, but, the ends justified the means, I believe. I noticed a set of tracks leading southward. Quickly bending down, they were clearly recognizeable. "Horseshoe," I said, to no one in particular. Fresh tracks, from the look of them, headed south. I decided to follow them, since I really had no idea which way was out, perhaps the makers of these tracks do. Know their way out, indeed! The tracks led directly to the old well at the south rim of the sandy plains. I followed the worn track south-easterly, headed back to home, so that I could store the sword in a safe place. I rounded a bend, at the base of a hill, and found a group of adventurers, sitting round a campfire. "Hail!" a familiar voice boomed. "Tulkas, hail! Firebrand, Megapenthes, it has been too long!" A Valar, the mysterious source of the hoofprints. "What brings you to this valley?" The Valar's companions were silent as always when he was around. "We searched for the mythical sword, but we saw that you had beaten us to our goal. Did you have a nice nap?" he asked, a gleam in his eye. "We did, however, find a rather mysterious old crone, in the cave at the bottom of the valley. Strange things she said, and all the while playing with her crystals. I noticed that she kept coming back to a particular arrangement over and over, as she seemingly randomly laid them out, like so:" Taking his sword, he drew a crude diagram in the sand. C-C / | C C | | C-C-C I studied the diagram, strange indeed! "And throughout, she was speaking to you?" "Not to us, I suppose. She seemed quite insane, muttering strange and arcane sentences, ones that made no sense whatsoever! I wrote a bit of it, so that I could study it later. Perhaps you would like to see?" He held a scrap of vellum out to me, which I snatched and quickly read. "Your friends, they are what matter in life. Take stock of them, in order of importance, and see truly where they point you, for they know your destiny. Having seen them in this light, take one step back to ponder what they mean to you, this is the true path to enlightenment." A curious note, indeed. Solve the riddle of the story, and mail the answer to Yari. The reward is 200,000 gold coins, if the solution is given within 2 weeks of the writing of this book. The first correct answer will be rewarded. Any answer that wishes to be rewarded must include a description of how the answer was found. Any attempt to get information out of me, or tells/says/channels/mails of any questions will instantly disqualify you from this competition. In short, don't you dare ask me anything, or else. Oh, and have fun! ;) //Yari

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Library: A Grand Mystery, The First of The Puzzles.