WitchOfDoubt
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Vote: WOD
for president of the Forest.
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(A lot of you are on the right track, but the actual method seems to elude you. In any case, I confirmed the plausibility of this trick myself.)
rvc113 didn't notice that the boy's attack had restored his rose, and so his truth was not made into a strike in blue. Yet for some reason, the Witch jumped a little on hearing it. Of course, the Witch gave no such reaction to Aziraphael's statement, as the 'pencil and eraser' guess had already taken off half the rose and could do no further damage on its own.
The next attack came from plainglazed:
Mark was actually missing prior to the distraction of the earthquake and broke into the room with the help of Ms Cox. She drew a key with the assistance of the appropriately named Mark.
The person called Mark in this story did not break into the room, nor was it possible to enter the room merely by drawing a picture of a key.
The boy added, "Yeah, and 'Mark' really did run away during the earthquake. That's a dead end."
SeaCalMaster made the next move:
Thus, we have the culprit entering the room, using a pencil, and without unlocking it. I haven't been able to work out how this might be possible.
The Witch overhead those words with concern, but had no trouble with the actual attack:
The fire alarm is somehow related to the ribbon's theft.
The fire alarm went off on the evening of December 31st, the day after the ribbon theft occurred, and served a purpose unrelated to the ribbon theft.
(Edit:
If rvc113's words provoked some defensiveness in the Witch, TheChad's provoked even more.)
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A clever attack. The Witch parried it quickly, but something was off.
The key was not a physical object, but a number, word, or phrase.
The key to the room was an ordinary physical key!
Spurred by this new angle, the boy made an entirely unexpected move.
Some of the keys the Club members found weren't physical keys.
The boy pulled back and reconsidered. If the Blue Truth meant a guess, and the Red Truth meant a fact...
He really did know this for a fact, and even if he wasn't going to trust the others with everything he knew, he could at least admit this. And, hey, even if the Red Truth could only be used by Witches, that technically wasn't a problem for him, was it? Kind of?
"SeaCalMaster's thinking the right way about your story! Some of the keys they found that night weren't physical objects. Oh, and the 'first safe' wasn't a literal safe!"
The Witch, although shocked by the boy's audacity, deflected the move easily, as it wasn't aimed anywhere near the rose.
"Irrelevant to this duel! This mystery is not about a metaphorical key; it is about how Miss Cox helped someone pass through a locked door without a key. And I suggest, young man, that you be wary with that blade. It is a terrible thing to be trapped forever in a Logic Error."
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Four strikes in rapid succession! The Witch spun about, parrying and dodging as the lunges came from all sides:
It has been repeatedly stated that 'no human being hid in the room'. This prompts me to ask if the emphasis here is to indicate that no living beings are hidden in the room, or simply that no human is hidden there?
No humans, animals, or plants of any relevance are hidden in the room! The Witch side cannot go further than that without confirming or denying Miss Cox's nature in red. To confirm or deny the existence of literal magic in red is against the rules.
A strike from Wilson on the other side. Spin, parry left, cut rose:
Ms. Cox is an envelope.
Ms. Cox is not a container of any kind, and did not carry the key in any form.
Jump back, turn and - Ah! where did he come from?!
I say Miss Cox and Rathvon are a pencil!
Which the culprit used to "edit" the locked door.
Miss Cox flickered briefly, as if her true nature were becoming evident.
"Wait... there is no need to strike, erase, or otherwise edit anything I've said in order to understand the truth. The door was literally locked when Dudeney's remains were discovered. The culprit did not edit any text in order to commit the crime."
Then another attack from the same direction, but with a different strategy. Using evidence and quotations, Aziraphael sought to beat away the Witch's defenses.
Miss Cox is a pencil, 'rigid and inflexible' who 'definitely has a point' with Rathvon as her eraser 'rubicund, flexible' and 'cleaning up after his sister's hurried statements'... The pair are inseperable, after all....
Hence the Witch worrying that using them to correct something she'd said would result in their capture.
The Witch's blade lanced out like a snake:
"In this game's rules, it is illegal for two people on the same side of the table to use the Blue Truth in succession!
(Penalty: Aziraphael cannot post in Blue until two others have used the Blue Truth; he may post theories, but the Witch is not obliged to reply to them in red.)
(At the moment, the following players can attack: The boy, Wilson, SeaCalMaster, Thalia, rvc113, TheChad, and any new arrivals to the thread. Of course, they may pursue the line that Aziraphael and Plainglazed suggested a little further. Current table diagram:
New arrivals can be added.)
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It hardly seems like cheating to me if they're in the main thread, and the other factions thus have a chance at them.
Question: How does a RID save work? And is it an action that Nina can borrow? If Nina borrows it, is it exhausted?
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Well, there are a lot of answers that work for this, but here's one that doesn't seem to have been thought of:
He was an actor who played a gentleman in an R-rated movie. His nephew was too young to watch. He was a "perfect gentleman," even though his nephew couldn't see it.
The reason I prefer this answer is that, in this context, the sentence closer to something a human being might actually say. Alternatively, if "see" means "understand," we can apply this sentence to any gentleman who was misunderstood by their nephew.
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Aziraphael struck hastily, even before the scene was fully reconstructed:
I guess the librarian took the ribbon out to replace it with a new one, and simply locked up and went home.
There's no mention of the librarian being shocked at the ribbon's absence, only Ocean...
The Witch took a clean swipe and removed his rose:
The librarian is not the one who removed the ribbon, nor was it removed because it had run out.
TheChad tried a different approach, an outside-the-box attack that would either corner the Witch or eliminate an environmental factor. Either way, it would improve their position:
The disappearing ink ribbon has to do with water and the rain storm.
The Witch parried and took his rose:
The ribbon was gone well before the storm. Its disappearance is related neither to the storm nor the earthquake!
Finally, the boy swung to return both sides of the table to the game:
"What happened to Dudeney wasn't really murder, right? Maybe that's why that other Witch could twist things and say 'Dudeney wasn't killed as a result of being an Animate.' So maybe this isn't really a theft, either!"
His rose came off in a hum of Red, and all the other roses returned.
"This was a real theft," declared the Sapphire Witch. "The ribbon was actually stolen!"
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I'm tempted. Is this still on?
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I think plainglazed got it.
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(Wow! I see the misunderstanding. But it's nowhere near as complicated as all that. It's a close relative of the "first letter of each line" school of hidden text.)
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(Morningstar: Will do.)
(Thalia: What I meant was that you need to assemble the answer one letter at a time, using one letter in each line. They are common words.)
---
Perhaps the Witch spoke too soon, for SeaCalMaster had unveiled the second answer to the train puzzle.
Konichi Nakamura - ChibaOcean Zweidler - Bernkastel-Kues
Alicia Tressler - Madrid
Nat Viers Foreman - Amsterdam
L. V. Ford-Seaton - Los Angeles
Walter Sexton - Oxford
Batsheva Ellis - Manhattan
Otto Rinaldi - Florence
The trick was realizing that the aliases given to the characters all played into a numbering scheme:
1 in Japanese.
2 in German.
3 in Spanish.
4 in Dutch (and English).
5 in Roman Numerals. (Also, 55).
6 in Latin.
7 in Hebrew.
8 in Italian.
The trains, too, were a hint - the double clovers on the fourth train hinted that the number "4" could be found twice in one name, and the pair of hands on the fifth train hinted at L. V.'s "55." As soon as the duel was over, the results of this answer would be known.
Undeterred by this coup, Dudeney reconstructed the locking of the study.
Locking up for the Night
In order to save the security guards a trip, the librarian always made the last check of Dudeney's room, along with the other rooms nearby. Last evening was no different. One by one, she went to the rooms, locking and shutting the doors. None of these doors were unlocked until the discovery of Dudeney's remains the next evening. No human was inside any of these rooms when she locked up, and all of the Red Truth from before still applies.
One more thing: When the librarian locked the door, the ribbon was still there!
Of course, this can be explained with magic. The culprit summoned Ms. Cox to act as an accomplice. With her magic, even a mere human could walk through locked doors!
Can the Human Side explain this sorcery? We shall see!
The boy took the first strike. "Ms. Cox is a spare key!"
The Witch countered easily, taking off the blue rose. "Didn't I tell you already? There were other keys to that room besides the one the librarian used, but none of them were involved in this mystery!"
Which of the humans would strike next?
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If that was a "wild stab in the dark," Aziraphael was a true blind fencer.
(
)Dudeney is a typewriter?
"Ah!" cried the Witch, as the swipe took off most of the rose's remaining petals. "When you make a move like that, use an exclamation point!"
Dudeney was one of the Witch's first Animates, imbued with human personality and character by the power of magic. Old-fashioned, perhaps, but he would always have a place in Annabel's heart. "As well as could be expected!" said the Witch. "And yourself?"
"Alas! Nobody has fed me for years. Still, it is to be, as you say, expected," replied Dudeney. Though the portly, squat little fellow still bore himself with dignity, his outer vestments showed signs of neglect. The black ribbon he wore was faded and worn, and half of the buttons at his breast had their sigils worn off. "In the year 2021, it is a miracle that I even exist at all. I shan't complain if I'm given few opportunities to serve. My joints are creaky with age."
"Ha! Rejoice, old friend!" said the Witch, laughing. "Tonight, you shall have a banquet, for our mystery is being re-opened! Come, let us begin - just like old times. You can take down my dictation while you eat."
And so the butler feasted through the night with a clashing of teeth and clattering of utensils.
The Witch parried as best as could be managed, but multiple humans had already begun to close in.
* Morningstar had sealed the window.
* SeaCalMaster had forced the admission that no human culprit was hiding in the room, and was preparing for a final strike himself.
* The boy kept attacking and attacking, handing control back to the rest of the Humans.
* Thalia had drawn first blood by refocusing the attack on Dudeney.
* Wilson had realized that Dudeney was alone at the time... his Blue Truth was only deflected by focusing on the ribbon.
* Plainglazed had eliminated the chance that the button-press had caused the accident.
* And rvc113 had suggested earthquake breakage of a statue or vase.
Even so, there was still a way to parry Aziraphael...
"The narration claimed that Dudeney ate! What does a typewriter eat?"
He gets fed by stories?
Stories, or paper - either way, another petal fell.
Blades clashed and clashed again.
"The ribbon! The narration mentioned a ribbon! How can you explain that?" shouted the Witch. "And stop using question marks, damn it!"
The ribbon is his ink-ribbon, perhaps.
Another effective Blue Truth, even if the final word was a hedge. "Perhaps?!" sneered the Witch. "Perhaps?! Then tell me this... tell me this... The door was locked! The window was locked! And yet Dudeney's remains were there, on the floor! Explain!"
The Earthquake could have knocked him from the desk...
The Witch had no counter. The red blade vanished. Was this truly how Dudeney would be captured? With a Blue Truth ending in an ellipsis?
"Annabel," said Dudeney, gently, "I waited for a long time, and you came back. That is enough. Let me return to my old self."
But Miss Cox would not hear of such defeatism. "Unacceptable! There is still a move the Witch side can make. Let's go!"
Could it be...? The Sapphire Witch stared. To make this move would put not only Miss Cox at risk of capture, but also Rathvon, her constant companion! And the Humans would be wiser to the tricks now.
"I don't like dealing with things that can't be taken back," said Rathvon, "but I'm with her to the end. As Sis says... let's go."
(
)Slowly, the Witch drew the blade of Red Truth again, and laughed a chilling laugh that rose to the rafters.
The room darkened. Thunder rang out. Wind chimes jingled. In the distance, a wolf howled.
"Ahaha!
Ahahahahaha!
This chapter contained over a dozen puzzles, some with multiple solutions. You never even found the second route for the train!
At the end of such an involved chapter, did you truly think the 'boss fight' would be settled easily?
Let me show you what happened when the librarian locked up that night. Then you can tell me this: how did that ribbon disappear?"
The petals of the Witch's rose began to regrow, one by one! It was no longer as full as it once was, but there was surely something there.
"Dudeney, reconstruct the scene!"
(To be concluded...)
(Well done, everybody! I hope this has been as fun on your end as it's been on mine!
I'll be posting the final stage of the Duel tomorrow evening, most likely. In the meantime, feel free to search for the second solution to the train puzzle. Of course, it uses the same clues. However, in this answer, the order of stations does not depend on the order in which the "pieces" were introduced.)
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(
Are you actually asking or is that just part of the story?Yes!
I was just thinking about the stuff in the post you linked me to.
Hmm.
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."Can someone explain to me what exactly it was that Molly found in the decalogue earlier?Two words forming an incomplete sentence. Given that information, and the fact that one letter is hidden in each line in a fairly straightforward way (not as straightforward as 'first letter in each line', but close), you should be able to have the pleasure of discovering the answer yourself.)
The Human Side was getting perilously close. SeaCalMaster made another slash, but didn't follow through, as if he realized midway into the movement that he would miss:
Dudeney is an immobile robot. He runs on quarters (this is how he "eats"). The earthquake knocked him over, and he broke when he fell.
As a consequence, the Witch parried and knocked his rose off with little effort:
"How absurd! Dudeney does not eat quarters!"
To recover the roses of the other players, and in other to stay in the game, the boy made a quick sally using one of rvc113's ideas:
"Dudeney was a statue."
The Witch countered this as easily as swatting a fly:
"Dudeney was not a statue, nor a figurine, nor any other sculpture!"
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(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:
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:
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."
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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:
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.
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.)
"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."
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(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.)
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Thalia's move came from an unexpected direction. While the Witch was not required to reply to anything but Blue Truth, the questions raised touched deeply on the heart of this mystery. It would have not befitted the dignity of the Witch to let them go unanswered. If you are still confused by this narration, it would be wise to read what follows.
I'm a bit confused about the "Witch" the boy keeps talking about. Your posts and image have the Sapphire Witch and the boy sitting together at the table yet the boy and some of the posts keep talking about the "Witch" like she's not there. "The Witch is going to take us away" ". . . at the prospect of the Witch's ressurection" or something like that.(These are absolutely excellent questions. I struggled with how ambiguous to be, but I suggest that you take nothing you read at face value, except perhaps the Red Truth.)
"This is a story of stories and a mystery of mysteries.
There are at least two levels to this story. This boy and I are debating the events of December 31, 2011 here and now, ten years later, with all of you invited as guests. However, I have also shown you pages describing the events of December 31, 2011... with certain 'modifications.' On those pages, at this moment, most believe the Witch is dead and gone. However, here at this table, I am alive.
How can this be? Perhaps you will find out."
Are the "Witch" and the Sapphire Witch different people?"The Sapphire Witch is also known, more simply, as the Witch."
The boy at the head of the table furrowed his brow. Was it his imagination, or did the Witch - the Sapphire Witch - deflect that question? Was there something to hide there?
So to clarify:Dudeney's death has nothing to do with windows, doors, or secret passages except possibly the door everyone came through
There are no other keys to the library that are relevant to Dudeney's death except possibly the librarian's key
The librarian is not involved in Dudeney's death
"The Red Truth is true."
It was then that a voice was heard from somewhere in the shadows, far from the table. It was the voice of a woman who had been watching this gathering for some time, waiting patiently to put a finger on the scale. She said, "If you want to confirm something in the narration, why don't you challenge the Witch to repeat it in Red? If the Witch is just making it all up..."
The Witch bristled in anger. Why did this interloper insist on meddling with the duel? "No challenge is needed from you," said the Witch, "I'll repeat Thalia's list in Red myself."
"Go on," said the voice, laughing cruelly. "Repeat it in Red!"
"Exactly eight people are represented by the guests at the Club. These so-called "pieces" are given these aliases:
Ocean Zweidler
Louis Vuitton Ford-Seaton
Kenichi Nakamura
Otto Rinaldi
Alicia Tressler
Walter Sexton
Batsheva Ellis
Nat Viers Foreman
Exactly eight people are represented by the staff of the Club. Their identities do not overlap with the list above in any way, and are given these alisases:
Lana Rodriguez, librarian
Bill Jackson, the club's resident tech wizard.
Samuel, the doorman
Margaret Ye, the proprietor’s attorney
Maria Brand, security guard
Sal Lucas, security guard
and the other two:
Jaime LaSalle, chef
Celia Marquez, occupation not yet given, but appears to work with the chef
In addition, (alias) Margaret Ye's son, (alias) Mark Ye, was present on the evening of December 31, 2011. Another person, who is not important for this locked room riddle, was present.
As promised in the Red Truth about 'Unknown Person X', a person not yet named cannot be involved in this locked-room mystery.
How do you define animate? I'm not quite clear about what exactly they are. Are they human? Alive or machines? Created by the Witch?(The Witch will never fully confirm or deny the nature of Animates in Red. But if you truly have hope that this is a fair and solvable riddle, all Animates must be explicable in non-supernatural terms.")
The Witch grinned. "Animates, hmm? You learned of my first animate here:
What is an Animate? An Animate is a living magic, a creature that I create from a 'vessel' in order to serve my needs. If you have any skeptical objections to such a claim, feel free to test them with the Blue Truth!"
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(For the sake of additional clarity.)
The Witch made a second slash at SeaCalMaster, just to make sure that the language was absolutely clear:
When it is stated that the group saw "no other person" in the room, and "no other person" tried to leave, it means that they saw no other person besides each other, and no other person tried to leave up until the point where we halted our story. Dudeney's mangled remains do not count as a person.
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(
I assume that means that a newcomer will automatically be seated on the opposite side to the side that most recently attacked.Yes, that's right.)
The Blue Truth that SeaCalMaster forged was elegant and clean, a classic weapon to break open locked rooms. It would be almost wasteful to destroy it with a single Red Truth. Instead, the Witch parried and locked blades with him, Blue against Red, using a weapon borrowed from an admired predecessor.
"Who do you think this mysterious "hidden killer" is, then? Some person who hasn't even been mentioned yet, an 'Unknown Person X?' Hah!"
No Unknown Person X is involved here!
The Witch pushed SeaCalMaster away temporarily, but his Blue Truth blade remained intact, only partially parried by the Witch's answer, and his rose was still in place. Should he continue to pursue the possibility of a hidden culprit, or was this merely a feint of the Witch? But just as SeaCalMaster was pushed back, Morningstar struck. However, this attack, while sly, was parried with a single slash:
The window in the door could not open or close.
Each of these attacks seemed to eliminate some possibilities and draw out others, yet the Witch appeared entirely unshaken and absolutely confident. A little annoyed at this arrogance, the boy, whose rose had regrown, made a calculated swing at the Witch:
The killer was the librarian. She just pretended to be shocked when she came back, but she had the opportunity to use the key earlier.
Blades met with a clash, and the boy's rose was gone again:
The librarian is not a culprit here! That includes being a murderer or an accomplice!
(Since the boy has just made a move, either side of the table can now strike.)
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(If it isn't clear from the above, the goal is to knock the rose off of the Witch using Blue Truth.)
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The guests at the table had already begun to probe this illusion, but the boy only rubbed his temples in quiet thought. Finally, he looked at the Witch, looked at Dudeney, and back at the Witch, questioningly. The Witch seemed to guess his thoughts. "If you wonder how Dudeney can be here ten years after that tragedy, you underestimate my magic. I resurrected my loyal servant!"
"No," said the boy. "I'm wondering when you're going to stop lying to me. Fake names, crazy challenges..."
Cox and Rathvon both thought the boy's choice of words too provocative. "Not lies," he said, "Retellings. Interpretations. Exaggerations. Metaphors. Riddles."
"Do you understand, boy?" asked Ms. Cox, testily. To one such as her, a narrator that was not "literally reliable" was no mere gimmick, but the very soul of existence.
But the Witch was far from offended and clapped delightedly. "I see my magic has confused you! Do you wish to see the undistorted truth from me? A truth without metaphors or exaggerations? Very well!"
The Red Truth tells only the truth.
This truth may be contextual. Were I telling a story about Sherlock Holmes, I could say in Red, "Dr. Watson was Holmes's partner." Were I discussing English history, I could say, "Sherlock Holmes never existed."
It occurred to the boy that he could challenge that first Red statement, but what good would that do? Either he accepted this rule, or they would be trapped in a stalemate. "Fine. Okay, I have an idea about the crime. It was - "
"Not so fast," said the Witch. "This is a game of Witch's Chess. If you wish to capture a Witch's piece, you must duel for it!" With a sound between a hiss and a buzz, a translucent red saber appeared in the Witch's left hand. The ghostly blade passed harmlessly through the table with the Witch's first swing:
The Red Truth will not physically harm you.
Then, slowly, delicately, a ghostly blue rose appeared on the boy's left shoulder and opened into bloom. Around the table, each guest found a similar blue rose in the same place. The Witch, in contrast, wore a red rose.
"Don't have a sword," said the boy, masking his wonder with sarcasm. "Must've left it at home."
"Focus your thoughts. Focus them into a guess, a hypothesis... a Blue Truth." Another swing at the air:
The Blue Truth represents a guess.
"Huh," said the boy. He stood up, as did the Witch. Both bowed. Then he focused, borrowing a theory he heard from the other guests, and a blade of blue materialized in his hand as he charged forward for the first strike!
(
)The killer and ribbon thief had a key to the door; maybe this key was on the ribbon!
But the Witch deftly parried this expected Blue Truth with the Red, knocking the blade aside and cutting the rose from the boy's shoulder in a single move:
There were other keys to that room besides the one the librarian used, but none of them were involved in this mystery!
The room echoed with the reverberations of this clash of truth, and the boy looked down at his now-bare shoulder. "Wow," he said, "that didn't last long."
But in this game, the Human side could not lose unless they stopped thinking. "The rose will grow back," said the Witch, "after an ally makes an attack."
Rules:
Every guest may strike with the Blue Truth, including newcomers. New arrivals will be seated quickly, but are free to use Blue Truth in their first post.
Guests do not need to wait for confirmation of prior exchanges in order to strike. Thus, multiple guests may strike before the Witch has had a chance to reply.
However, the same guest may not strike twice until another guest has had a chance to attack. Of course, a Blue Truth theory may contain multiple ideas.
It is greatly preferable that Blue Truth be written in blue. If this is technically impossible, it may be denoted thus: (BLUE)The librarian visited the room earlier, stole Dudeney's ribbon, and killed him.(BLUE)
In addition, two guests from the same side of the table may not strike consecutively. If they do, all strikes but the first will be ignored.
The table as it is now:
"Come now," cried the Witch, cackling. "Rise from your places! Strike with the Blue Truth, if you dare! Every attack you make, I shall counter with the Red!"
-
(Some readers may find one of the following scenes disturbing. Discretion is advised.)
Chapter 1 Finale: The Locked Study
With the last cryptic clue resolved using a little linguistic flexibility, Batsheva Ellis and Nat Foreman stepped in just as the others worked out an answer to the train riddle. The insight had started with Ocean, whose eyes had widened when she recognized the coat-of-arms. One by one, the guests confirmed their suspicions with the relevant pages, clicking each station into place.
The model train made a metallic whistle as it moved around the track, passing by the opened boxes and through each station. When it finally reached the first station again, there was a click, and a panel in the roof of the Uffizi Gallery slid open slightly, revealing a keyhole. Unlocking it with the tiny key, L.V. gently lifted the gallery to reveal a pedestal inscribed with the word "AMBRA" and bearing a yellow stone, a note, and a circular pad with a button.
L. V. admired the stone, then pocketed it "for safekeeping." He then read the note aloud:
Press the button, and I shall uncover this room's final lock: The Witch's Epigraph.
He paused, perhaps for dramatic effect, as the guests crowded in to see what would happen.. Even the Club staff gathered around - now all eight of them were present, including the two security guards, Maria Brand and Sal Lucas. "Well, go on, push! Push the button!" said Otto, half-ready to jump in and push it himself. With a flourish, L. V. did so. It clicked, and there was the sound of tile sliding on tile.
"Where did that sound come from?" asked Kenichi. The tall ceiling seemed to play tricks on their hearing, and there was no way to be certain, save for searching the entire room. "We'll split up to look," said Ocean, and began combing the walls and floors of the east side of the foyer. With a rush of excitement, each of the other guests claimed an area.
For several minutes, the search proceeded fruitlessly. Then, as suddenly as the first quake, an aftershock struck. As the floor shifted like the deck of a storm-tossed ship, Nat clung tightly to Batsheva, while Ocean clung equally tightly to a support column, refusing L. V.'s proffered arm. Margaret hurried towards her son, wanting to steady him, but he shied away from her and refused to be held. "The Witch is coming back," he whispered.
Just as the shaking slowed to a stop, a crash of thunder erupted from the sky, and rain began to pound against the roof and batter the windows, as if nature itself had been roused to fury by the prospect of the Witch's resurrection. The lights died, leaving the group in darkness. For a moment, they heard only the sounds of each others' breathing, and the patter of rain, and, despite the loss of power to the building, the whirr of the model train moving steadily around its track.
Margaret was the first to break the silence. "Mark? Are you okay?"
No reply. "Mark?"
Using their phones to light the way, the group gathered together in the middle of the foyer. The room seemed even more cavernous and huge in the dark, the screens of their phones making a little circle of light in the near-total darkness. "I'll get the emergency kit," said Lana. "Stay calm. He can't have gone far. Bill, try to get the generator going."
"Mark," said Margaret, "if this is a joke, cut it out!" Again, no reply. "He's okay," said Samuel, but his voice was not as reassuring as he'd hoped it would be. The other guests and staff checked in, one at a time, only to reveal another worrisome fact: L. V. and Ocean were gone. When Lana returned with flashlights, they had reached a decision.
"Samuel, Lana, Mr. Foreman, and I are going to look for Mark," said Margaret. "Everyone else stays here. Except Bill, you get the generator working... go together with Professor Rinaldi and Dr. Tressler. Nobody stays alone!"
"We'd still better find that ring, too, right? We've got a thief in our midst..." said Batsheva, a little tentatively. "And maybe we can wait out the storm. Swap riddles."
----
As the search party walked through the halls of the Club, Lana asked, "Can you think of any reason why he might have run away? Or why anybody would have taken him?"
"Don't know," said Margaret. Just then, as they passed the Computer Room, a figure ran towards them. They braced themselves for anything, but quickly saw that it was L. V., his sneakers flashing brightly in the dark corridor.
"Sorry, dudes," said L. V.. "I tried to catch him."
A few minutes after, they found Ocean leaning against a wall to catch her breath. "I saw L. V. run off," she said. "Thought he was trying to get away. With the stone."
"'s cool," said L. V., grinning. "I'm totally a glamorous jewel thief." In spite of the situation, this elicited a faint smile from Ocean.
With each explanation, Margaret grew more and more worried. If neither of them were with Mark, was he alone? But then, with a gasp of relief, she saw her son. "Mark! Where were you?"
Showing neither haste nor fear, Mark returned to his mother's side. "I was following the Witch," he said, quietly. He smiled at the group, and then looked straight into his mother's eyes. "The Witch is here. Gonna take us all away..."
A series of expressions crossed Margaret's face - fear, confusion, anger, and finally, resolve. "No, she's not," she said. "Because we're going home. You all can finish your contest... I refuse to let my son near any of you." She had a firm suspicion about the nature of Mark's 'Witch', and had no desire to see how her plans ended. Even as the boy resisted, she dragged him back to the foyer, leaving Ocean, Lana, and L.V. alone in the hallway.
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.
The door had been locked when they found it, and had to be unlocked with a key.
The window in the door offered no entry and remained unbroken. No weapon passed through it.
There were no other doors or windows in the room.
No secret passages were used.
Upon their entry, the group saw no other person inside the room, and no other person tried to leave.
(End of Chapter 1: The Room of Six Locks)
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Kindly remain seated, honored guests. This thread is far from complete, for some riddles remain unsolved.
In order to unlock the Witch's Banquet and the next chapter, you must dispel these enchantments of the Witch.
Do not fret. Soon you will be provided with tools to seek the truth.
In the meantime, guess! Guess and guess again, and fail and fail again!
You shall not understand until you truly grasp the magic of the Witch!
-
While the group was debating the answer, Professor Rinaldi, quick to tinker as always, simply guessed a few possible orders - to no avail. Neither alphabetical order, latitude, nor longitude play a role in this solution.
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Something about the phrasing suggests a code or wordplay. Barring that, "a smile" seems almost like a fit.
Too late…
in New Word Riddles
Posted · Edited by WitchOfDoubt
Has anybody guessed...