Post by Peregrine on Dec 22, 2023 23:44:56 GMT -6
DDD Day 23 - Part 6 of the Spirit Series
Where the explorers once trod upon grassy fields and hills, now rough stone and clay was all that passed underfoot. They had reached the base of the mountain and finally begun their ascent.
While they could have forged on at a quicker pace, the spirits seemed content to take their time during these final days. After years in a world with neither sky nor air, they could savour the sensation of chill wind on their bodies. They paused their progress during the nights, when there were no lights bright enough to guide their climb. And so, the group found themselves huddled around what they called "camp."
"Hey, hey! Can you believe we're almost there?"
"We're in the home stretch!"
"Sniff... I still can't believe we all get to have an adventure together again. After all these years..."
"Uh, guys? What's that lightβ"
Almost as soon as Loudred could open his mouth, what appeared as a small mote of light floating betwixt the spirits suddenly expanded into a blinding golden flash which instantly engulfed them like a supernova.
And, just as quickly, the light dissipated into nothingness.
...
"Eheheh... Whoopsie?"
"What."
"What."
"What."
"Well what was THAT for?!"
"Agh! I didn't know that would happen! Geez! I was just trying to..."
The spirits' eyes were diverted to a shimmering object on the ground where the flash had originated. It looked like a small brass dial.
"Oh my gosh! It looks like it worked after all!"
"Oh, is this for a new puzzle?"
"You bet it is! Everyone, please direct your attention to the gorgeous night sky!"
"The sky? What's inβ"
"H-huh?!"
As the spirits turned their gazes skyward, they were struck by the drastic transformation that had taken place. Amongst the stars were now shimmering rings of light, letters dancing within.
"Oh golly, this might be a little tricky to explain. Here goes!"
This little doohickey I created is called a Celestial Key! It looks like this:
You read it clockwise, starting from where the arrow points. See? It says BLINDING.
Let's have another look at the night sky. As you can see, it's covered with letters inscribed in circles:
If you hold out the Celestial Key so it overlaps one of the circles, it might look like this. This is the uppermost circle:
Phooey, nothing's happening. Oh, but if I turn the Key juuust right...
...something will start to change. Watch!
Didja see what happened there? When the right letters were aligned, they swapped between the Key and the circle! Now the Celestial Key says BRANDING, because it took the R and A from the circle and gave the L and I in return.
You'll also notice the letters in the circle make a little more sense now. If you read clockwise from the top, you can tell the first word is LIFE, and you carry on reading from there. I just solved the first circle for you! You're welcome!
So that's how it works: whenever the Celestial Key is placed in front of a circle such that swapping some letters between them will cause the Key to have a new valid English word on it, it does so! Your goal is to do that with each circle, so that when you read them all in the correct order, they spell out a message.
You only have to visit each circle once, so when it seems like you've made progress, don't worry about backtracking. Every circle is read clockwise, starting from the top. Remember: if what you're reading doesn't make sense, you're in the wrong spot!
Phew! So, what's the message the stars are trying to tell you?
[If you would like to copy/paste, here are the contents of the circles, visited in clockwise order starting with the top. Within each circle, they are read from the top, going clockwise.]
Answer Below β Click Spoiler to See!
Where the explorers once trod upon grassy fields and hills, now rough stone and clay was all that passed underfoot. They had reached the base of the mountain and finally begun their ascent.
While they could have forged on at a quicker pace, the spirits seemed content to take their time during these final days. After years in a world with neither sky nor air, they could savour the sensation of chill wind on their bodies. They paused their progress during the nights, when there were no lights bright enough to guide their climb. And so, the group found themselves huddled around what they called "camp."
"Hey, hey! Can you believe we're almost there?"
"We're in the home stretch!"
"Sniff... I still can't believe we all get to have an adventure together again. After all these years..."
"Uh, guys? What's that lightβ"
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA"
Almost as soon as Loudred could open his mouth, what appeared as a small mote of light floating betwixt the spirits suddenly expanded into a blinding golden flash which instantly engulfed them like a supernova.
And, just as quickly, the light dissipated into nothingness.
...
"Eheheh... Whoopsie?"
"What."
"What."
"What."
"Well what was THAT for?!"
"Agh! I didn't know that would happen! Geez! I was just trying to..."
The spirits' eyes were diverted to a shimmering object on the ground where the flash had originated. It looked like a small brass dial.
"Oh my gosh! It looks like it worked after all!"
"Oh, is this for a new puzzle?"
"You bet it is! Everyone, please direct your attention to the gorgeous night sky!"
"The sky? What's inβ"
"H-huh?!"
As the spirits turned their gazes skyward, they were struck by the drastic transformation that had taken place. Amongst the stars were now shimmering rings of light, letters dancing within.
"Oh golly, this might be a little tricky to explain. Here goes!"
This little doohickey I created is called a Celestial Key! It looks like this:
You read it clockwise, starting from where the arrow points. See? It says BLINDING.
Let's have another look at the night sky. As you can see, it's covered with letters inscribed in circles:
If you hold out the Celestial Key so it overlaps one of the circles, it might look like this. This is the uppermost circle:
Phooey, nothing's happening. Oh, but if I turn the Key juuust right...
...something will start to change. Watch!
Didja see what happened there? When the right letters were aligned, they swapped between the Key and the circle! Now the Celestial Key says BRANDING, because it took the R and A from the circle and gave the L and I in return.
You'll also notice the letters in the circle make a little more sense now. If you read clockwise from the top, you can tell the first word is LIFE, and you carry on reading from there. I just solved the first circle for you! You're welcome!
So that's how it works: whenever the Celestial Key is placed in front of a circle such that swapping some letters between them will cause the Key to have a new valid English word on it, it does so! Your goal is to do that with each circle, so that when you read them all in the correct order, they spell out a message.
You only have to visit each circle once, so when it seems like you've made progress, don't worry about backtracking. Every circle is read clockwise, starting from the top. Remember: if what you're reading doesn't make sense, you're in the wrong spot!
Phew! So, what's the message the stars are trying to tell you?
[If you would like to copy/paste, here are the contents of the circles, visited in clockwise order starting with the top. Within each circle, they are read from the top, going clockwise.]
RAFECANO
ERDTOODB
TUTLTMUS
FWRWARGS
NLYBEUIS
ACKWORLS
DBEOIVED
Answer Below β Click Spoiler to See!
{Reveal Answer}
Much excited discussion was heard amongst the spirits as they worked through the many combinations available to them.
"Hmm, darn. I almost got the key to say CLUMPING, meh-heh-heh."
"Uh, hey hey, I don't know if that helps us much."
"I think I got the last one~! Bidoof, would you like to do the honours?"
"Me? Oh boy, sure! Let's see..."
"If I remember right, the key started by saying BLINDING, yup yup! As we moved it across the stars, it changed in this order:
BLINDING
BRANDING
BRAIDING
BRAISING
BROILING
TROLLING
DROOLING
GROWLING
So if I'm reading this correctly, the full message says: LIFE CAN ONLY BE UNDERSTOOD BACKWARDS, BUT IT MUST BE LIVED FORWARDS. Is that right?"
"Oh. My. GOSH! That's so right! It's so right it's scary! Eek!"
The spirits enjoyed a moderate celebration as the circles above faded away, leaving only the starry sky in its original splendour. Sunflora's jubilant tone softened to something a touch more sentimental.
"Heehee. Say, Bidoof? I just remembered back when we went on expeditions together, and you could barely navigate a dungeon. Oh my gosh, it was so cute!"
"Huh? That's kind of an embarrassing thing to bring up!"
"But oh my gosh! You know what? You always picked things up so quickly! Even when you didn't know something obvious, once I showed you, you seemed to understand it right away! I think that's a really special talent you've always had."
"She's right! When we first became spirits, and I had the idea of using puzzles to keep ourselves sane, you were... well, you were kinda clueless. But before long, once we explained how we made and solved a few of the puzzles, you started solving them quicker and quicker. It was a little scary, honestly!"
"Right? It was like, eek! But then you stopped solving our puzzles, and it was like, double eek!"
"But... I think I get it now, heehee. You were solving them, weren't you? All of them. Just not out loud."
"!"
"Gulp... I, um... er..."
...
To be continued in Part 7.
Much excited discussion was heard amongst the spirits as they worked through the many combinations available to them.
"Hmm, darn. I almost got the key to say CLUMPING, meh-heh-heh."
"Uh, hey hey, I don't know if that helps us much."
"I think I got the last one~! Bidoof, would you like to do the honours?"
"Me? Oh boy, sure! Let's see..."
"If I remember right, the key started by saying BLINDING, yup yup! As we moved it across the stars, it changed in this order:
BLINDING
BRANDING
BRAIDING
BRAISING
BROILING
TROLLING
DROOLING
GROWLING
So if I'm reading this correctly, the full message says: LIFE CAN ONLY BE UNDERSTOOD BACKWARDS, BUT IT MUST BE LIVED FORWARDS. Is that right?"
"Oh. My. GOSH! That's so right! It's so right it's scary! Eek!"
The spirits enjoyed a moderate celebration as the circles above faded away, leaving only the starry sky in its original splendour. Sunflora's jubilant tone softened to something a touch more sentimental.
"Heehee. Say, Bidoof? I just remembered back when we went on expeditions together, and you could barely navigate a dungeon. Oh my gosh, it was so cute!"
"Huh? That's kind of an embarrassing thing to bring up!"
"But oh my gosh! You know what? You always picked things up so quickly! Even when you didn't know something obvious, once I showed you, you seemed to understand it right away! I think that's a really special talent you've always had."
"She's right! When we first became spirits, and I had the idea of using puzzles to keep ourselves sane, you were... well, you were kinda clueless. But before long, once we explained how we made and solved a few of the puzzles, you started solving them quicker and quicker. It was a little scary, honestly!"
"Right? It was like, eek! But then you stopped solving our puzzles, and it was like, double eek!"
"But... I think I get it now, heehee. You were solving them, weren't you? All of them. Just not out loud."
"!"
"Gulp... I, um... er..."
...
To be continued in Part 7.