Library: Unravelling the Grand Mystery.

The grand Mystery unravels... "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 ine 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 ** Horseshoe is a name, the character is important later. 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 ** Tulkas, Firebrand, Megapenthes, all important, characters mentioned by name. 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 **The chemical symbol for Cycloheptane. Cycloheptane is a character in the game(not a coincidence) and is important. I studied the diagram, strange indeed! "And throughout, she was speaking to you?" "Not to us, I suppose. She seemed quite insane, muttering strange ** Not speaking to Tulkas, then to whom? To me, actually, but minor point. 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 matters 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. ** A line by line breakdown of the meanings hidden within here. Your friends, they are what matters in life. (Only the friends in this book matter to the riddle. In fact, only people mentioned by NAME matter.) Take stock of them, in order of importance, and see truly where they point you, for they know your destiny. (List them, Horseshoe, Tulkas, Firebrand, Megapenthes, and Cycloheptane. Study the list, see truly where they point you (all characters point someplace... hmm, where? Starting location! = castles) Order of importance... just to get you thinking abotu what order they ought to go in... personally, I would try the order they were listed first... For they know your destiny...they are the key (a rehash of the first line)) Having seen them in this light, take one step back to ponder what they mean to you, this is the true path to enlightenment. (Once you figure out to find their castles, and analyzed what you found... At some point, I assume you will pay attention to the coordinates, it would be a simple number code for letters... You find coordinates are 3,6 20,21 4,16 10,15 10,20. In the simplest case, you simply match up letters to numbers, and get cf/tu/dp/jo/jt, which is nonsense. Take one step back (either subtract one from every number in the list of coords, or shift one letter back when you align them...) you swill see that the letters are now be/st/co/in/is... bestcoinis... best coin is... So, clearly, the answer is "Mithril".) That's it. I hope that those that worked so hard are not put off by the simplicity of the actual answer. It was my intention to make something that you didnt need to be a super old timer to do, but it would help if you knew the game a little. Some of you might argue that "That was god damn IMPOSSIBLE!" to which I have a couple statements: 1) I didn't intend for it to be easy, the reward was 200K gold and 5 TP at one point, big reward should not be too easy to get. 2) it was NOT impossible, there were a couple people who knew right away. Cycloheptane's castle is at a warp gate... and if you go there, you will see something that is a major clue... Now, the hint book... "Argh!" Rez whined, "It's impossible!" I chuckled. "Impossible, you say? I think not. In fact, I had rather thought that I gave too many hints!" It was weeks later and not a soul had even really gotten close to the end of the maze. "Too many possibilities, too many rooms! How on earth did you expect me to find my way?" Rez was clearly upset, he had tried his best. I pondered. "Well, I solved it. Then again, I designed it too, so I suppose I am no kind of example." I stopped and thought a moment, taking the opportunity to check the position of the sun. Night time soon, I would need a source of light soon. Rez, no doubt would be pleased to see me fumble around in the dark at this point, after having made him fumble so much. Damn trolls and their night vision anyway. I continued. "So, you are asking for something, or just blindly complaining?" "No, no, not asking anything! I do not wish to be disqualified!" Rez looked about, panic in his eyes. I held up a hand to stop him. "Rez, Rez. Relax, old man. It's past the two week limit, my little competition is over. I am now going to tell you a bit about how to navigate my maze, so that you might be able to solve it a bit more easily." I sat down, resigned to my fate of ending up in darkness, night was coming too swiftly to avoid it. "You see, you have to realize that the maze is not, in fact, many levels, like it seems, but actually a series of small mazes, each of which is totally independent from the other, but when taken together, will point you to the prize. ** A clue to show you that the mazes are separate entities, and that when all taken together, will make something bigger... "You see, You navigate small sections, and when at the end of those sections, you activate a teleportation mechanism(it's different each time) and begin the next section." Rez interrupted. "So that would explain why I could never backtrack, since it was separate sections!" His eyes narrowed in thought. "Yeah, that would explain it, huh?" I snickered, pleased with the deviousness of my maze. "So, once you complete the sections of maze(there are 4) and teleport out of the last one, you have a random chance to teleport back to the first one." Again, Rez interrupted. "YES! I was RIGHT! It DOES repeat! Ha! I knew I wasn't crazy, but when I tracked it with coins, they were gone! Murrr, I should have known." "Ahh, so you did get to all four sections of the maze? OK, well, the coin thing, I made it so the rooms ate stuff in them, because I didn't want people to drop coins and track progress. If you are so good, tell me, how do you navigate the mazes?" ** Snicker... coins, I kill me sometimes. You'll see why. Rez quickly turned and started going through his things. After a moment of rummaging, he brought out an antique bone map case(A gift from Anaconda, it had magical powers that Rez hadn't guessed yet.) and brought out a beat-up piece of leather, on which were four small notes. He handed it to me. Heh, Troll handwriting. I may not be the brightest Cyclops ever to walk the world, but, at least I wasn't so damn dirty as a Troll, at least. It was getting VERY dark now, and I had to squint to see clearly(I could see Rez obviously enjoying this out of the corner of my eye(Cyclopses have superb peripheral vision) and decided I would play it up a little, to make him happy) I squinted, I strained, I turned the paper this way and that. Rez was beside himself holding the laughter in. "Bah. It's too dark! Read this to me please." "With pleasure..." Rez took the grubby leather and read aloud. "First section was simple. from entry, go south, south, south, northeast, southeast, north, north, north. There you activate the teleporter by 'wiggle torch'. ** Make a map... I smiled and nodded, that much was true. "Second, you proceed north, north, northeast, southeast, south, south, northwest. There you 'activate machine'." I nodded again. ** Again. Rez gave his impish grin. "Next! Northwest, northeast, northwest, west, south, south, south. Here, you simply 'rest', and get teleported automatically. ** And Again. "After that, it's north, north, north, east, southeast, southwest. Then you 'pull lever', and are back at the beginning of maze #1." Rez finished and looked over at me. ** And yet again. This is what you find when you lay them side by side: _ _ | | / | | | | | | | / | / |/| | | | | Which clearly spells out warp. As confirmation, I put the first letter of each activator command to correspond to the letter made by the maze. "Well, you did navigate the mazes correctly, yes, but you are incorrect in saying that you always go back to the beginning, as I said, it's a random chance. As for what's past that maze, you must look a little deeper, beyond what I have said so far. ** As for what's past that maze (ie, what comes after "warp") you must look a little deeper, beyond what I have said here (that is... look closely for coordinates from this point on.). "It is a poor chance that you will proceed past the maze. The last time I did it, I decided to take an average, and found that after I navigate the maze, it takes me ten or twenty times to * ten or twenty. how hard is that? (Cycloheptane) succeed. The second time I tried it was the worst! That time, I had to do it twenty or twenty-one times, I didn't count too clearly. ** twenty or twenty-one... This has 2 reasons. One, it is a set of coords that you need. Two, it is Tulkas' castle, included here because Tulkas had many plots, and this will show you which is the correct one. You can bet I wish I had brought some good luck charms with me on that trip!" Rez grinned. "I can just see it. 'Yari exclaims 'Horseshoe, **Horseshoe. Again. Major clue that it is not random. Also, in both books it is capitalized. rabbit's foot, clover! Help help help!'" In the gloom, I could barely make out Rez doing a parody of me running around in little circles. Murr, I would have to get him back for this one... "Well, Rez. It would seem that you now have all the information you need to continue this little puzzle I set upon you. It's actually very simple, if you remember to look at the big picture. ** A reference to the "maps"... And a hint to keep people from reading too far into things... It's actually very simple. Go ahead and work on it some more, you are a clever Troll, I have faith in you." With that, I could hear Rez standing, stuffing his things back into his pack. "OK, Yari, I will talk to you later. Thanks for the hint, I will try to figure more out, when I look at your original puzzle. See you!" I heard him tread away, down the path. I waited a moment, the timing was important. "Rez, Rez! Wait up, I can't see! I called after him. I heard his footsteps stop. A pause...then, through the darkness "You are a clever Cyclops, I have faith in you, find your own way home!" And, with that, I heard him turn and walk away, chuckling his deep Trollish laughter. That's it. Thats the hint. Now, comes the fun part. This is where I post the mails I received about things. Credit where credit is due, I dont think it was mailed, but Darkblood was the first to figure out that it was castle-based, he noticed Cycloheptane's castle. So, congrats to DB, he's the man. Aaleji, he is the man for getting so close. And to all the rest of you who tried, thanks for playing, and maybe some day I will cook up another one. From: Krellen Subject: Yer book Date: Tue Jul 18 02:35:19 1995 To: yari Cc: Just a stab in the dark, after some thought. "Good friends are like a good sword" ....if you care for the sword it serves you well. You watch over your friends, they watch over you too. Listen to your friends' advice, as you would follow a sword's swing ...came from what the crone said, the fact that you'd just gotten a good sword in the story, and that the crone's crystal lay out was like the tip of a sword kinda. Any luck? -Krellen Mailreader 10-16 (type 'help' for help) ? 11 From: Aaleji Subject: Riddle me this... Date: Thu Jul 20 17:24:10 1995 To: yari Cc: aaleji Hmmm. Riddles aren't really my schtick, but I'm always willing to take a stab. The first clue to solving the riddle is to realize that the crone is _not_ speaking to Tulkas and company; rather she is thinking aloud. As she has no friends apart from the crystals, we must assume that they are the friends she speaks of. The trick is to figure out which crystal is important. Being that that the riddle seems to want to point us in a direction, I decided that the most important crystal is the one that is missing, ie, the northwest crystal (presuming the 'center' is the start point, a safe assumption given that one is always the center of one's own circle of friends). That's the easy part, though. The trick is to figure out what the crone means by "take a step back." If I had to interpret this, it would be to take the path opposite that suggested by your friends. In this case, southeast. Therefore, the path to enlightenment is southeast. (I've been southeast, that's how I know.) Take care, Aaleji (Who deserves a million gold for the bs he's just spewed) Mailreader 11-16 (type 'help' for help) ? 12 From: Aaleji Subject: Riddle 2 Date: Fri Jul 21 03:46:28 1995 To: yari Cc: Well, you are your own best friend, or were in the days when you could solo the Mythiko quest. If you took stock of yourself (inventory) you'd probably realize you were missing the mythical sword. Taking a step back, you'd note that good old Tulkas had a gleam in his eye when he asked you about your nap. Can you trust him? Nah, kick his butt and take the sword back. ;) //Aaleji, try 2. Failure 2. Damn crystals. They make the damn thing hard. Of course, "your friends are what matter in life." Maybe only the friends in the tale have spit to do with the riddle. Mailreader 12-16 (type 'help' for help) ? 13 From: Rez Subject: Your accursed riddle Date: Sat Jul 22 20:30:34 1995 To: yari Cc: Well I dont know the answer. I won't get it im sure, but here are my thoughts thus far (gotta keep you amused i guess). When he wakes in the desert, i think he is dreaming (dreams :P) he sees only 1 set of tracks, although a band passed him. Also, why did his old friends not wake him? Also the scenery isnt matching, a desert agoddamit zella is attacking me. Mailreader 13-16 (type 'help' for help) ? 14 From: Ithy Subject: puzzle Date: Thu Jul 27 03:19:14 1995 To: yari Cc: Here is my answer to your riddle: The Stars will guide you to your destiny. Ithy Mailreader 14-16 (type 'help' for help) ? 15 From: Tit Subject: Task Riddle Date: Thu Jul 27 05:24:47 1995 To: yari Cc: tit Well, here's my interpretation of the riddle. The drawing is of a castle. the three 'friends' found by the narrator represent players at various stages of development. 2 players, 1 wiz. Symbolizing that players start week, gain strength, and eventually (with luck and work) become immortal. After all eventually that's everyones goal :) Mailreader 15-16 (type 'help' for help) ? 16 From: Tit Subject: Riddle Date: Thu Jul 27 14:56:08 1995 To: yari Cc: tit I think i got it this time. The drawing is of a headstone. They (the 'friends') either poisoned him, or plan to kill him some other way to get the sword from him. They seemed subtley hostile to him. 'did you have a nice nap? he asked a gleam in his eye.' definitely subdued hostility. He has to find this out soon... or die. From: Grizzly Subject: puzzle soln Date: Mon Jul 31 15:03:28 1995 To: yari Cc: l 1sthint: the four parts to the maze are the 4 base pairs of the genetic material DNA. 2nd: the directions given form a winding helix if placed one on top of the other. 3rd the instructions to activate the teleporters represent what is necessary to sequence a DNA sample... wiggle in flame is representatie of that that is required to purify and prepare a DNA sample... then activate machine... that is a DNA qutomatic sequencer... then wait.... while the DNA is sequenced automatically.... finally, a hint is given in the 20 times that it took you to sequence a DNA smaple... (or a gene) this is because a gene can be sequnced only a few hundred bp's at a time... so to sequence an entire gene takes 20 or more times... finally, the answer to the entire puzzle is the genetic code... they are the friends that reveal you future... for what you are and will be is encoded in your genes... yours, grizzly Mailreader 15-19 (type 'help' for help) ? From: Braik Subject: Mystery. Date: Mon Jul 31 21:45:50 1995 To: yari Cc: The directions corresposnd to the letters W A R P. Mailreader 16-19 (type 'help' for help) ? From: Hablo Subject: Riddle Date: Mon Jul 31 22:39:36 1995 To: yari Cc: Hello Here's my almost-like-a-solution to your puzzle(s): First, the mazeThis is the only thing i'm sure of..The mazes form word "warp" like the actions at the end of the each part. "W"iggle torch, "a"ctivate machine, "r"est, "p"ull lever. Sorry that i cant draw it to here, because i'm not too good with this editor.. Ok, that's the maze.. i'm not actually sure what it means but i guess it meanns something... and is related to the diagram in the first puzzle Now.. the hard part... i can't present you a good organized solution because i don't have any...(yet) In the hint story Rez and you weren't too good friends and in the riddle it said that the friends are what matter in life. And ideed they did. Rez left you without light in the darkness sorry.. this thing has some bug i guess.. hmm, i'd better stop or i get really stuck.. I'll try to post you more stuff about this if i can and find something else Hablo the humble wanna-be-puzzle-solver Mailreader 17-19 (type 'help' for help) ? From: Hablo Subject: Puzzle cont Date: Mon Jul 31 22:52:50 1995 To: yari Cc: Now, I got some advice about this editor, i'll try again. Heh, some long shots here... Rez wasn't good friend, if he would have had a rabbit's foot or horseshoe, he would have been better friend.. Good luck charm=good friend. And friends are you'r enlightment, Rez was your eyes.. . Th~! auch.. still bugging wellthat~rs all i got to say for now Strange editor... Hablo Mailreader 18-19 (type 'help' for help) ? From: Hablo Subject: Solution? Date: Tue Aug 1 00:44:37 1995 To: yari Cc: Hmm.. i wonder if i got it this time. Circle. That's my answer for the riddle in the first story. And here's how i came to that decision. Hope i don't screw up with this edtor. Ok. The riddlesays first that friends matter in life and at the end it says that they lead to the true path of ellightment. In other words they show what matter's in life and that's friends... right? Oh God, now i cant believe this my self... . Well, the diagram, it was a cirle too, and it had as many crystals as the riddle had statements, what do you call them ?? , those small sentences... not a whole sentence but one wi tch ends with comma... Ok, that's my solution, i wont be bothering you anymore after this (yeah sure!). Hablo the humble hobbit who almost thought that he had solved the riddle From: Suntzu Subject: answer Date: Sat Jul 29 03:38:54 1995 To: yari Cc: Ok, I think that the crytals symbolize your friends, so that you start at any point, then if you keep stepping back and pondering you wil eventually end up where you started. I guess to me it seems that this says that all your friends are important. The way i saw this is the pattern by which the C's were laid out. This is prob~n probably way off, but what the heck :) -sun Mailreader 9-24 (type 'help' for help) ? 10 From: Rakki Subject: puzzle Date: Sat Jul 29 19:38:29 1995 To: yari Cc: Have you got a lot of answers to your puzzle? Hope so, nice to have these kinda things, make change to all hack'n'slay... hope you do them in future too... 8) - Well, kinda hard puzzle, but I'll give a try. Figured that if you step one step back you complete a circle with you friends, that way your friends could form a ccirlce of life with you. Hmh... don't know if I was at all on the right dir... Well, that way I guess your friends could point you your destiny... Well, hope someone cracks the puzzle if this is not the answer. Rakki Mailreader 10-24 (type 'help' for help) ? 11 From: Tlob Subject: riddle Date: Sun Jul 30 03:08:49 1995 To: yari Cc: Okay, just a pretty wild guess at the riddle, but trying can't hurt.. :) The answer I got would be 'staying where you are' or 'where you started' or something like that.. the way i got it was to first assume that the crystals meant the points of the compass.. then, assigning the letters of the word friends to them, i got F-R / | I E | | (Aagh somebody just ran clones!) N-D-S Then I took the directions in the alphabetical order of the letters: s,e,n,w,sw,ne,se Going one step back, ie. nw, you turn up exactly where you left. Tadah! :) -Tlob the Newbie Mailreader 11-24 (type 'help' for help) ? Axl {royalty+}: bah thats fucked 12 From: Melemkor Subject: Puzzle Date: Mon Jul 31 01:39:47 1995 To: yari Cc: Greetings, I have been looking at your mystery... it's a fascinating puzzle =) However, I suspect my lack of exploration is leaving me at a disadvantage... Still, I believe that I recognized one of your clues for the maze spells out warp. I don't know if this is sufficient to qualify for one of your prizes, but I thought I would give it a try :) Melemkor Thanks for the challenge. Mailreader 12-24 (type 'help' for help) ? 13 From: Braik Subject: Mystery clues Date: Tue Aug 1 02:01:27 1995 To: yari Cc: Hm, I've thought more about those letters. It would seem that the 4 mazes actually are 4 letters, W, A, R, and P. But you said that they might not be in the right order...but the only other word they spell is WRAP. You then mention that 'you took an average'. I was thinking about this...If you say WRAP about 10-20 times in a row really quick, you prolly get a word that you didn't mean to say...however, I cant figure out what the word is... Its possible that it's 'perhaps' but I dunno. Hm, just said it again, and now it sounds like 'power'. More later as I figure out this mystery. And I assure you, I _will_ solve it >:) Mailreader 13-24 (type 'help' for help) ? 14 From: Rez Subject: Your hint book Date: Tue Aug 1 06:58:41 1995 To: yari Cc: Heh, your hintbook gave me a good laugh, ya meanie *murr* ill work on it tomorrow. At least i have am excuse to be dirty, whats yours? :P -Rez >Da Lt.< Mailreader 14-24 (type 'help' for help) ? 15 From: Webworm Subject: Puzzle Date: Tue Aug 1 08:15:28 1995 To: yari Cc: webworm Thanks for your intriguing puzzle, mate. I have gone down a number of q e c ww Cripes almost got killed by a zhent - event started when I was in mail room. With my current link I cannot see what is scrolling while I am typing a line.. Thank god for word of recall :) Anyhow, I was saying that I had gone down a number of "paths" but haven't found the "true path to enlightenment" :-). This is what I have figured out from both your books: (1) The 'mazes' spelling "W A R P" was most obvious (unlike the rest of the clues :), not only from the directions that Rez said, but also from the first letter of wiggle, activate, rest and pull. Cute. (2) That confirmed that the context of the puzzle was in the player valley, which I had suspected from just the first 'book'. (3) The question of what the C's are still puzzles me - they could stand for crystal, castle or be a horseshoe hoofprint. Either way, they must be a map, the question is what scale you are using :). The hint in the second book implies they are warp gates - the "10 or 20 times" being the distance between gates, depending on whether it is a n-s movement or a nw-se movement :) However I dont think the C's are warp gates, I think they are castles. I think "Horseshoe" might be a hint to start at Horseshoe's castle, which is at 3,6... 3 n and 3 e of your own castle. But I'm buggered (Aussie slang) if I can make anything of this... except the number 3 being lucky is maybe a confirming hint. :) Maybe I have read too much into it and cannot see the "big picture" :) (4) I cannot really get any leads from the stuff about "friends" in the old crones rantings... I fingered Firebrand and Megapenthes and from their levels I warped to 24 27 and 27 24 on the offchance that would give me a clue :) Ok, laugh now :) Maybe I have to find their castles or something, but I cannot see why, or where that would point me... (5) I though the map of the C's might have been .. C's = seas (just occured to me) ... might have been an arrow ("see where they point you" bit), pointing northeast, but maybe I am wrong again :) Anyhow, cya later - I hope I am partly on the right track *grin* Regards, Webworm Mailreader 17-24 (type 'help' for help) ? 18 From: Aaleji Subject: Ungawa! Date: Tue Aug 1 21:42:59 1995 To: yari Cc: If you plot the directions given, it spells W-A-R-P. Not coincidentally, those are also the first letters of the action needed to "move on" to the next maze. It takes 10 or 20 times to solve this silly thing, 20 or 21 times if it is the second time. These are coordinates to warp to. If one WARPS to 10,20 one arrives at Cycloheptane's castle. Not coincidentally, the sketch of heptane looks like this: C-C / | C C | | C-C-C Cycloheptane. Sigh. That's also the description of his castle plot. Urg. Ouch. Oof. Is this the solution? Is it my destiny to become cycloheptane? I'm confused. Going back to the original book, I still have trouble figuring things out. There are a couple of hints that the player valley is where you want to be. First, you're going home. And "valley" is mentioned a few times. Pretty vague, but I'll accept this. You're going south and you see tracks. You say "Horseshoe." This is relevant, it has to be. It happens again in the hint book. It's not though. You're just being mean. Next, you find a well and turn southeast. Hmmm, does Well own a lot? Hmm, is there a desert in the player valley? Urgh, he doesn't own a lot within the 20/20 field of castles. I won't spend the time looking at the other 1200 lots ;) Anyway, if you take stock of the friends in the story, Tulkas is the highest level, followed by Megapenthes and then Firebrand. Their castles are at (1,4), (10,15) and (4,16) respectively. Adding those you get (15,35). Take one step back (i.e., minus Firebrand) and you're at (11,19). You'd have to go southeast from there to solve the riddle. Well, you did say you were going SE when you found the lot of them. Cycloheptane. Oi! //Aaleji Mailreader 18-24 (type 'help' for help) ? 19 From: Rez Subject: W A R P Date: Tue Aug 1 23:23:49 1995 To: yari Cc: I thought as much, heh. You write good stories -Rezzie Mailreader 19-24 (type 'help' for help) ? 20 From: Hablo Subject: About my solution Date: Wed Aug 2 00:30:59 1995 To: yari Cc: Some support to my solution, the circle. Well, it might be far off but now i see circles everywhere in the hints :). Or actually at the moment, just couple. These: These are from the hint book. "It's actually pretty simple, if you remember to look at the big picture." and the part Rez was running in little circles...well ... but you said the hints might be obscure.... Ok, more is coming, if I find something new.... Hope I'm right.. (yeah sure i am..) well gotta try.. Hablo the Hobbit who hates it beacause he can't praise Yari's competition at the news P.S. Hope you make more of these puzzles someday Mailreader 21-24 (type 'help' for help) ? 22 From: Melemkor Subject: Puzzle Date: Thu Aug 3 18:32:20 1995 To: Yari Cc: Well, I have been thinking about your puzzle some more :). I think I may have realized the answer. If not, I at least think it is a good answer. As I put in my earlier note, I noticed the fact that the rooms spell out warp. Now the only warp I know of is in the player valley, where you can warp to any location in the valley (i.e. any castle). Also, the reference to good luck charms of a Horseshoe, Rabbit's foot, and Clover seems to be a reference to your friends as sources of good luck (Horseshoe->Valar, Foot->Wolfman, Clover->Devil (all rough representations of their footprints)). With this in mind, I propose my solution to your riddle: take a look at your friends, see where they point you, step back, and see what they mean to you... I believe that your friends point you along your path of life, and that your friends are your family, they provide you with a home. Well, thats my opinion. I would like it to be the answer as well, because I think it is a worthy message. Thank you for the challenge :) Melemkor From: Shadowjack Subject: mystery Date: Wed Aug 9 21:48:09 1995 To: yari Cc: Well, it spells out "WARP" whatever that's worth. Mailreader 11-15 (type 'help' for help) ? 12 From: Shadowjack Subject: warp Date: Thu Aug 10 16:12:23 1995 To: yari Cc: Oh, of course, warp is spelled out by both the maze directions and the teleporter activators. Mailreader 12-15 (type 'help' for help) ? 13 1From: Slick Subject: Riddle Books... :) Date: Fri Aug 11 10:33:11 1995 To: yari Cc: slick I have read both of your books, 'A Grand Mystery, First of the Puzzles' and the additional hint book ( the name escapes me right now ) and found them challenging. In the Hint Book, the map spells directions spell out the word 'WARP'. I also noticed that the very first letter in each of the actions to activate the transportation spelled out 'WARP'. Sadly, I cannot find the relevance of this to the book, 'A Grand Mystery, First of the Puzzles'. I did also notice Rez's referance ( Sp? ) to a Horseshoe which is also in the book, 'A Grand Mystery, First of the Puzzles'. Rez refers to the horseshoe as luck and you were lucky to find the horseshoe print in the sand. ( I say this because Rez's action of running around in circles is saying that you were lost in the first book ). Well... I'm probubly way off on these... But it's worth a shot anyway... :) Slick Mailreader 13-15 (type 'help' for help) ? 14 1From: Aaleji Subject: One last try (goofy) Date: Tue Aug 15 16:22:46 1995 To: yari Cc: aaleji Okay, here we go, take 72831 of Aal's patented solution gathering: (Fuzzy Logic Mode Engaged) There are four parts to the mystery (book 2). All of the parts are found in the player valley (speculation). Tulkas is involved; his castle is at 1,4 (book 1). Cycloheptane is involved; his plot is at 10,20 (book 1). This is derived from the crystal pattern. Horseshoe is involved; castle plot at 3,6 (book 1) "'Horseshoe,' I said..." Firebrand and Megapenthes are not involved (book 1). "The Valar's companions were silent..." This leaves several possibilities for the final part of the mystery: Rath may be involved (0,3). The description of his plot seems congruous with the desert described early on in book 1. Gatoon may be the missing link. His plot is at (20,30) and really meshes with the information provided in book 2. The plot's description is "This is the End of the End. The Beginning of the End. The End of the Beginning." And there is a warp gate here, giving us that random chance of teleporting back to "The Beginning." Unfortunately, this lot is not indicated by anything in book 1. That is, unless you plot a parabolic curve on a Cartesian plane. It is possible to intersect all of the aforementioned points. Hmmmmm. Doing a little high level math, we discover that the east coordinate for a plot may be obtained with this equation: Let x1 = 1 (north coordinate of Tulkas' lot) Let y1 = 4 (east coordinate of Tulkas' lot) y2 = 2(x2-x1) + y1 (where x2 is the north coordinate of the second lot) This is patently absurd; I will kill you if this turns out to be the solution. I don't know how, but I will. I'm at a loss, man. Post the answer. //Aal Mailreader 14-15 (type 'help' for help) ? 15 From: Aaleji Subject: Er, typo Date: Tue Aug 15 16:51:31 1995 To: yari Cc: That formula is actually: y2 = 2(x2-(x1+1)) + y1 That's it for official mails. There were many tells that went back and forth, when I would ask for progress updates, but unfortunately, those are lost. Thanks again for playing my game, I am somewhat disappointed that I was unable to create a solveable puzzle, but then, I only allowed 2 weeks to do each book, really. With more time... Who knows? Yari

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Library: Unravelling the Grand Mystery.