231 replies to this topic

[WitchOfDoubt]

Spoiler for Out-of-character comments on unsolved riddles

(The most obvious one is the locked room riddle. It's probably best to focus on that! Blue Truth is the way forward here; I don't expect people to simply solve it without several exchanges of Red and Blue Truth, though it's possible to solve it in one swipe.

Another is... well, seeing that something remains unsolved there is part of the riddle, so I can't give it away. Figuring out what hasn't been done yet is part of this game. If the locked room is solved, clues will be given.

I recommend starting by taking guesses at the locked room puzzle, but if you really want to search for other unsolved stuff - and it definitely is out there! - the best hint I can give is that finding the location of the Epigraph is NOT a riddle you are meant to solve right now.)

[Thalia]

As they started to walk back, L.V. couldn't resist the chance to make a snide comment. "Spooky," he said. "Maybe we'll bump into Mom on the way back." Ocean rolled her eyes, and before Lana could chide both of them for their flippancy, the librarian noticed something awry. They were passing the Study, which had a glass window in its door, and as she shone her flashlight through...

Dudeney was there, on the floor, motionless.

Hurriedly, she unlocked the door and opened it; there was no other way in, save that door. She knelt on the chilly tile floor, where Dudeney had fallen, and looked over the servant's remains. Perhaps the wound was not too severe...?

But on closer inspection, that would have been a truly optimistic assessment. The sight was ugly. Dudeney had been literally split wide open, innards exposed, bones broken. Lana jumped a little as Ocean spoke from behind her. "This is awful," she said. But even as she said that, Ocean's keen eye spotted something strange.

The ribbon that Dudeney normally wore was gone. It had been stolen.

Spoiler for Oh well. Here goes nothing

I'm wondering if we're assuming some things that we shouldn't. We seem to be assuming that Dudeney was killed by a guest/staff member and that the ribbon was stolen after being killed. Dudeney was not killed by one of the guests or the staff. His death is partially related to being an animate.

[WitchOfDoubt]

This Human had turned the board around entirely. Instead of focusing on locks, rooms, or a killer, Thalia was focusing upon the innocent victim. Was this the way to defeat a Witch? The Blue Truth scythed through the air with a whirr, and the Witch only narrowly managed to turn it aside with a wild flurry of swipes and parries, losing a several petals off the red rose in the process:

Spoiler for A Clash of Truths

Dudeney was not killed by one of the guests or the staff. His death is partially related to being an animate.

A wild slash! "Are you admitting that my magical servant is truly magical? To admit the existence of supernatural creatures is a poor solution to a mystery! You can make up any solution with supernatural creatures! If you wish to admit to the existence of Animates, become a Witch!

A desperate parry! "Sphinx's First! Sphinx's Second! A riddle must contain the information needed to solve it, and cannot require specialized knowledge! Where in these pages could you possibly have learned of Dudeney's traits as an Animate?"

Finally, a parry that could contradict one of Thalia's statements occurred to the Sapphire Witch. Maintaining a defensive posture, the Witch glanced over at Dudeney, as if to ask, "Should I make such a dishonorable move?" And in the end, the Witch decided not to.

Thus, they were doubly shocked at the emergence of their observer, the same one who had needled the Sapphire Witch into repeating Thalia's lists in Red. It was the Witch of Secrets, who smiled blandly as she approached. If the Sapphire Witch had been born in imitation of one who knew both kindness and cruelty, the Witch of Secrets drew from a different source altogether.

"Lady Thalassa," said the Sapphire Witch, knowing Thalia couldn't strike twice in a row. "I hope I haven't -"

"Stop embarrassing yourself. This is how you deal with humans." The Witch of Secrets snapped her fingers, and time stopped. She snapped again, and time stepped backwards in obedience. As Thalia's Blue Truth came down, the Witch of Secrets struck back with a red scythe blade.

Spoiler for A Dishonorable Move

Dudeney was not killed by one of the guests or the staff. His death is partially related to being an animate.

Dudeney was not killed for reasons related to being an Animate.

Even if Thalia had a riposte in mind, there was no time to form it before the scythe struck the rose off her shoulder. As if in afterthought, the Witch of Secrets turned to SeaCalMaster and contemptuously swiped off his rose as well:

"No human being hid in that room. However, a demon did. Obviously, Dudeney was slain by a demon."

Then, satisfied with her interference, the Witch of Secrets bowed, turned to the Sapphire Witch, and brightly remarked, "If you step out of line, I'll make you suffer." Then she vanished, leaving the threat - no, the confirmed fact - hanging in the air.

Ms. Cox was the first to find her voice. "Was that move against Thalia even legal?!"

The Sapphire Witch sighed. "Technically, yes. I apologize for the disturbance. Please, let us continue to a resolution, whatever that may be." Even if the red rose had lost a few petals, it was still largely intact.

---

(Both Thalia and SeaCalMaster have temporarily lost their roses; somebody else must move first.)

Spoiler for Pointless outtakes

"Annabel, please," said Dudeney, "don't trouble yourself over this."

"Right!" said Ms. Cox. "I bet that Witch of Secrets is just a cheap imitation of an Umineko character!"

"Er," said Rathvon, looking first at the butler, and then at the Sapphire Witch, "Sis, this is not a conversation we want to start. And it's called a homage. Hey, what about our Human side characters? They're pretty original!"

"Uuu! Uuuuu!" said Mark Ye. "Annabel is real! Annabel exists! We're going to the Golden Land!"

"Not you. The other ones."

Edited by WitchOfDoubt, 15 January 2012 - 11:12 AM.

[plainglazed]

Spoiler for rejuvinating the patient Thalia (and SMC)

perhaps the unlocking of the pedestal within the Ufizzi station and the subsequent mashing of the button within is tied to the unlocking of the library?

the sound of tile sliding on tile is connected to the death of Dudeney?

the earthquake is not an earthquake at all?

but the rain storm is just that?

EDIT: and here's one of the unsolved riddles which is still giving me fits.

Edited by plainglazed, 15 January 2012 - 08:04 PM.

[Wilson]

Spoiler for Murder?

Dudeney was alone in the Study when he was injured and died.
He had removed the ribbon himself for use in some way within the room.

[rvc113]

I know this is not my turn but maybe someone can use this.

Spoiler for

Dudeney obviously had to remove the ribbon from his neck to open the door. He was accompanied by someone.
This someone once the door open, killed Dudeley, pushes his body in and closes the door with Dudeley key.

BTW, We had previously : "Annabel," said Dudeney, as Aziraphael took the last step, "Now that they've discovered how to open the safe, perhaps we should resume?" i.e Annabel is the killer

Edited by rvc113, 15 January 2012 - 10:01 PM.

[rvc113]

Spoiler for

got this as well from previous post :
But before the Witch could finish, the room shook wildly, agitating the plates, silverware, and Dudeney. It was as if the aftershocks of the earthquake in the story even affected this place, or the whim of some fickle machinery were undermining the foundations of its existence.
"Is everyone well?" asked the Witch, trying to hide considerable discomposure. Everyone was, though Dudeney was a bit rattled. The Witch readjusted the mask carefully. "It seems this venue is a little unstable. Is it not fortunate that I called an Intermission just before that last tremor?
therefore Dudeney is not a person but a statue, or a Armor, or a vase?

[SeaCalMaster]

Not a guess, but something I think we should be considering: How was Dudeney killed? We haven't found a weapon or anything.

[WitchOfDoubt]

(plainglazed: Which riddle in that post is problematic? The image's riddle was solved entirely, and the hidden message in the records was found.)

As soon as plainglazed formed an elegant Blue Truth and attacked, Thalia and SeaCalMaster's roses reformed. But this attack was met almost casually, with a backhand parry-riposte that tapped the blade aside and knocked the rose off his shoulder:

Spoiler for A clever guess.

Perhaps the unlocking of the pedestal within the Ufizzi station and the subsequent mashing of the button within is tied to the unlocking of the library? the sound of tile sliding on tile is connected to the death of Dudeney? The earthquake is not an earthquake at all? But the rain storm is most definitely that?

The button had no effect upon the library, the sound of sliding tile did not come from the library, and there truly was an earthquake!

After Thalia's devastating attack, the Sapphire Witch would give the humans no quarter. Focusing on the weakest point of Wilson's Blue Truth seemed best:

Spoiler for Did Dudeney remove the ribbon?

Dudeney was alone in the Study when he was injured and died.
He had removed the ribbon himself for use in some way within the room.

Dudeney did not remove the ribbon.

rvc113 couldn't strike, but theorized openly in the hope of giving someone an advantage. And indeed, the boy at the head of the table heard the references to earlier posts.

"What if the answer we need is somewhere hidden in the other pages?" said the boy. He drew a sword of Blue Truth and advanced forward carefully:

This is a totally fair riddle. All the clues we need are in this chapter, and you didn't hide any from us.

This attack wasn't even aimed directly at the mystery, but the Witch instinctively parried and knocked off the boy's rose before seeing the trap.

There are clues you may require in one place in the Prologue, but that place has been indicated more than once in this Chapter. If you find it, its relevance is obvious.

The roses on the other guests reappeared, but the boy continued, this time with a different strategy.

"Sphinx's Second: Any fair riddle must contain the information needed to solve it!" said the boy. "Some people who just got here wouldn't have seen those clues, and maybe they didn't click on those links!"

"Ha!" said the Witch. "I have done what I must to fulfill the demands of fairness. Why don't you share? Do you not trust these strangers with our secrets?"

The boy ignored the last question and addressed the other guests "If any of you know what the Witch is talking about, somebody ought to share it. It must have something to do with either the study or Dudeney."

Edited by WitchOfDoubt, 15 January 2012 - 11:00 PM.

[Thalia]

Spoiler for A Clash of Truths

A desperate parry! "Sphinx's First! Sphinx's Second! A riddle must contain the information needed to solve it, and cannot require specialized knowledge! Where in these pages could you possibly have learned of Dudeney's traits as an Animate?"

Are you actually asking or is that just part of the story? I was just thinking about the stuff in the post you linked me to. I do need to reread that decalogue though. Can someone explain to me what exactly it was that Molly found in the decalogue earlier?

Edited by Thalia, 16 January 2012 - 12:01 AM.