Post by Peregrine on Dec 18, 2023 23:06:47 GMT -6
DDD Day 19 - Part 5 of the Spirit Series
The group of spirits had made significant headway on their journey. The last few days had been especially productive, their passage of the halfway mark having proved invigorating.
The mountain that marked their destination, which had started as a distant feature on the horizon topped by the dimmest hint of structure, now showed its true majesty: an eminent peak forming the centrepiece of a mountain range which stretched on for leagues and disappeared into thick cloud-cover. Atop it, crumbling stone ruins blanketed the surface in webbed strata like creeping ivy.
"Hey, Loudred! Oh my gosh, what are you working on there? You've been scribbling something since yesterday!"
"And where'd you get that paper?"
"Oh, this? We haven't had much use for it, but it turns out we can still manifest spirit objects!"
"It's actually a lot easier now β my memories of what physical objects feel like are a lot fresher than they used to be!"
"Loudred's memory getting sharper? Golly, that's a first, tee hee!"
"So what were you doing with that paper, then?"
"Oh, right! I'm actually almost done here..."
Loudred made a few final adjustments and, much to his companions' confusion, tore up the page! However, they soon saw that he'd torn it up into eight roughly equal segments, and began passing one to each of them.
"I overheard a little of Croagunk's story the other night, and I thought I'd share a story of my own! A dramatic story of politics, war, and lost treasure!"
"Hey hey, sounds exciting!"
"Uh, what's this page for? It kinda looks like... gibberish, actually."
"Ha, I'll bet it does! You're gonna have to figure out what it means, though. Here goes..."
In a land locked in endless warfare, two opposing churches were forever embroiled in conflict, supporting the leaders of their respective nations. However, rumours say that the churches were once united in friendship.
There were four temples, two belonging to each church. The story goes that when these temples were first built, a secret network of catacombs and tunnels were dug out connecting all of them. It's believed that a vault was constructed at the heart of this network, where both churches stored their most precious holy treasures long ago.
The pages you've been given are each one part of an encoded map. Share its contents with everyone else, but keep whatever page you've been given. Put the pieces together, find out what they mean, and try to discover the location of the holy treasures!
After the story, the spirits each shared the contents of their pages, each of which consisted of a sequence of letters and numbers:
Loudred: P2PPP1P
Chimecho: p1Bp1pp1
Dugtrio: 1NP1b3
Diglett: B2n1Q2
Corphish: 1pnNp1b1
Sunflora: 4R1K1
Bidoof: r4k1r
Croagunk: 1qP3Pp
Answer Below β Click Spoiler to See!
The group of spirits had made significant headway on their journey. The last few days had been especially productive, their passage of the halfway mark having proved invigorating.
The mountain that marked their destination, which had started as a distant feature on the horizon topped by the dimmest hint of structure, now showed its true majesty: an eminent peak forming the centrepiece of a mountain range which stretched on for leagues and disappeared into thick cloud-cover. Atop it, crumbling stone ruins blanketed the surface in webbed strata like creeping ivy.
"Hey, Loudred! Oh my gosh, what are you working on there? You've been scribbling something since yesterday!"
"And where'd you get that paper?"
"Oh, this? We haven't had much use for it, but it turns out we can still manifest spirit objects!"
"It's actually a lot easier now β my memories of what physical objects feel like are a lot fresher than they used to be!"
"Loudred's memory getting sharper? Golly, that's a first, tee hee!"
"So what were you doing with that paper, then?"
"Oh, right! I'm actually almost done here..."
Loudred made a few final adjustments and, much to his companions' confusion, tore up the page! However, they soon saw that he'd torn it up into eight roughly equal segments, and began passing one to each of them.
"I overheard a little of Croagunk's story the other night, and I thought I'd share a story of my own! A dramatic story of politics, war, and lost treasure!"
"Hey hey, sounds exciting!"
"Uh, what's this page for? It kinda looks like... gibberish, actually."
"Ha, I'll bet it does! You're gonna have to figure out what it means, though. Here goes..."
In a land locked in endless warfare, two opposing churches were forever embroiled in conflict, supporting the leaders of their respective nations. However, rumours say that the churches were once united in friendship.
There were four temples, two belonging to each church. The story goes that when these temples were first built, a secret network of catacombs and tunnels were dug out connecting all of them. It's believed that a vault was constructed at the heart of this network, where both churches stored their most precious holy treasures long ago.
The pages you've been given are each one part of an encoded map. Share its contents with everyone else, but keep whatever page you've been given. Put the pieces together, find out what they mean, and try to discover the location of the holy treasures!
After the story, the spirits each shared the contents of their pages, each of which consisted of a sequence of letters and numbers:
Loudred: P2PPP1P
Chimecho: p1Bp1pp1
Dugtrio: 1NP1b3
Diglett: B2n1Q2
Corphish: 1pnNp1b1
Sunflora: 4R1K1
Bidoof: r4k1r
Croagunk: 1qP3Pp
Answer Below β Click Spoiler to See!
{Reveal Answer}
The spirits discussed their theories enthusiastically as they walked. They pored over the codes on their pages, considering various ciphers, grouping them in different ways, when an epiphany suddenly struck.
"Oh, hold on! Don't these letters remind you a bit of... chess pieces?"
"Huh. Now that you mention it, they kinda do!"
"Huh. Now that you mention it, they kinda do!"
"Huh. Now that you mention it, they kinda do!"
Corphish waved his arms excitedly, as a checkered wooden board began to manifest into being in front of him.
"Hey, hey! Pawns, rooks, I see where this is going... but what order do we put them in?"
"If those letters are describing the files, we must have to order the ranks ourselves! Try using our names in alphabetical order, since we each got one page. That's how I'd do it, anyway!"
Miniature porcelain pieces began to populate the board, and all the spirits studied them for a few moments.
"Well, gosh! This is nice, but what do we do with it? Find the best move, or make checkmate?"
"Meh-heh-heh, nah. We just gotta find the 'heart' of the temples. That makes me think of the Bishops."
"Well looky here, yup yup! If you draw a line between the two pairs of opposing Bishops, they intersect right on an empty square! So the answer is..."
"D5!"
"That was great, you guys! That's the correct answer!"
"It's been a long time since I got to play a good game of chess. I couldn't help myself!"
"I mean, I just went to the trouble of making this chess board..."
"Oh, right! Then you're on!"
And so, the spirits indulged in an evening of friendly board gaming, their hearts all the lighter.
The spirits discussed their theories enthusiastically as they walked. They pored over the codes on their pages, considering various ciphers, grouping them in different ways, when an epiphany suddenly struck.
"Oh, hold on! Don't these letters remind you a bit of... chess pieces?"
"Huh. Now that you mention it, they kinda do!"
"Huh. Now that you mention it, they kinda do!"
"Huh. Now that you mention it, they kinda do!"
Corphish waved his arms excitedly, as a checkered wooden board began to manifest into being in front of him.
"Hey, hey! Pawns, rooks, I see where this is going... but what order do we put them in?"
"If those letters are describing the files, we must have to order the ranks ourselves! Try using our names in alphabetical order, since we each got one page. That's how I'd do it, anyway!"
Miniature porcelain pieces began to populate the board, and all the spirits studied them for a few moments.
"Well, gosh! This is nice, but what do we do with it? Find the best move, or make checkmate?"
"Meh-heh-heh, nah. We just gotta find the 'heart' of the temples. That makes me think of the Bishops."
"Well looky here, yup yup! If you draw a line between the two pairs of opposing Bishops, they intersect right on an empty square! So the answer is..."
"D5!"
"That was great, you guys! That's the correct answer!"
"It's been a long time since I got to play a good game of chess. I couldn't help myself!"
"I mean, I just went to the trouble of making this chess board..."
"Oh, right! Then you're on!"
And so, the spirits indulged in an evening of friendly board gaming, their hearts all the lighter.