Puzzles

At Cruxopolis

The main gate on the north east spur of the city of Cruxopolis has broken and the way is blocked.

A line of merchants, traders and cityfolk are forming outside trying to get inside. 5 large cogs lie on the floor and a group of town mechanics are scratching their heads. Nobody is entirely sure how to align the cogs and fix the gate.

‘There was a word… an otherworldly word, it was said to be a sign to which you must spell.’ says one mechanic.

‘Ah yes, 5 sacred letters and if you put the cogs in the right sequence and aligned them just so the stars aligned…’ starts another,

‘Some say once you found this word you would set up the cogs and look for another word, a guiding word… a word that would lead would-be adventurers to their goal’ finished the third.

At the Golden Citadel of Arght

Under cover of darkness you attempt to gain access to the secretive golden city. It is said that a secret lies in one of the vaults underneath the great ‘Palace of forms’. Heading around the 30 foot shear walls that surround the city you head to a point marked on an ancient map. You find a mysterious panel hidden amongst brambles and vines.

It is a secret entrance.

The doorway is a circular portal with 5 interlocking rotating rings like a dartboard. Each can be moved and rotated into a different spot independently of each other. There is also a mysterious inscription which reads ‘Sonorescent and X marks the spot’.

In the Gorgon Forest

In the centre of the dark and twisted Gorgon forest lies the fabled Rahbintagornath stone. Pushing through the grasping branches of the Gorgon trees you finally find the mysterious rock in a dank putrid gully. Taking out your journal you read through the notes you hastily scrawled from the ramblings of a drunk villager from Cruxopolis. Somewhere in the rolling fog behind you, you hear the evil cackle of the dreaded Gorgon…

Your notes read

‘The stone is surrounded by barriers 4
The pattern of which you can’t ignore.

A set of 9 squares aligned, 
In two rows are combined.

In this shape words appear. 
Laid out familiar yet queer:

The topmost kept me on my feet. 
A single one between you and the street.
(4 letters)

Bottom most running all the way right. 
An affirmative, correct, sure, all in sight. 
(3 letters)

Using the first of the top, then the two below.
Not to smell, touch, taste or hear. You know?
(3 letters)

Now if all is correct, it shall be, 
revealed to you in the middle three...

On the way to the Petry Pyramids

On the way to the great pyramids of Petry you meet ‘the caretaker’, a hermit who lives nearby and takes visitors around the ruins. She lives in a hut, with a large wooden cross and strange coloured glass windows.

On meeting her she presents you with 8 triangular shards of glass. She smiles at you toothlessly and says:

‘FInd my home in the other world then choose correctly and I will guide you…’
 

In the Tavix Tox Jungle

Wading through the sickly green waters of the Tavitox swamp you come across a circle of 6 giant trees in a circle, there are strange symbols carved into each of the trunks. Lounging nearby are two hideous creatures, green and scaly, covered in chitinous plates with taloned claws and fishlike tails. They smile with needle sharp teeth.

‘To pass through our forest dear traveller, you must solve the mermaid’s riddle!’ Says one, in a disgusting crooning voice

‘Otherwise you will end up a siren’s supper!’ Say’s the other licking her fishlike lips with a forked tongue.

‘But use your eyes carefully adventurer, a sail that is furled is still a sail…’

They wait and peer at you expectantly.

You make a note on the designs on the surrounding trees:

Outside the Ruins of Grahndt

The ruins of Grahndt are full of mysterious stone chests decorated with panels depicting geometric designs and strange frightening creatures. These vessels are supposed to hold a mystery treasure, although they are boobytrapped by whoever created them. Each box requires a sacred symbol to be drawn correctly across its surface to open.

In front of you is one of these boxes and it looks like a grave robber was trying to open it… unsuccessfully. The skeleton crumbling nearby shows that whoever they were, they made a fateful mistake! In one of the foolhardy thief’s skeletal hands is a scrunched up note which reads:

You see right through, both in and out.
Although I feel pane, I shall not shout.
3 - 14 - 23 - 23 - 23 - 15 - 3

Can you work this out where so many others have failed and correctly follow the instructions?

At the Buried Bloom Amphitheatre

The great amphitheatre of The Buried Bloom is formed out of an ancient dragon’s skull. The dragon’s teeth, each larger than a person, jut out of the ground like great monoliths. Each tooth has a rune engraved into it by ancient travellers from the Petry pyramids. 

An inscription on a nearby rock reads ‘The rune of power is hidden in the cavity’ this text is accompanied with a strange symbol (pictured left). 

There are 11 teeth in total, but which one is the rotten tooth and what rune is represented? 

At the Springs of Uch

The waters of Uch are said to have healing properties, far off a group of hooded figures are processing down to the water’s edge holding a large wooden sculpture in the shape of a snake. You keep your distance, it is dark and you can’t be seen.

The sculpture is covered in strange carvings, mostly in ancient long forgotten languages but you spot a small wooden plaque that has been added more recently in a different style and script. Foreign to these parts. 

Any idea what this message might signify?

At the Buried Bloom Amphitheatre

The night has fallen about the Buried Bloom amphitheatre and the stars are shining brightly in the dark sky. A group of diminutive figures in long flowing robes are gathered in the centre with a telescope.

‘We are observing the dragonstar in the constellation Draxus. Do you see the smallest star, see how it glows red? This happens only once every 90 years.’ Says one of the figures.

You look through the telescope and see. (see image) 

‘We are the Nanites, priests of small things. We have set up camp a little down the hill. See our flags?’

Over to the side of the amphitheatre you see a set of three coloured flags, arranged as shown. (see image)

What does the Dragonstar signify?

At the Gorgon's Forest

In the centre of the forest you spy the Gorgon’s shack. The small filthy dwelling is full of cages with animal skeletons and glass bottles full of strange dark liquid. It is said her hat has magical properties. Many have tried to steal it, all have failed.

A grimy window is open a crack and you decide to climb inside. On a stool in the centre is a scrap of paper. It reads:

My hat hides in another world, so that none will find it.
A magic symbol keeps it safe, and seals the curse that binds it.
Look around if thy dare, for it is well protected
A stone golem wears it and shall smite you if detected.
His homeland is an island, of fame and much renown
The first letter of this place, is the sacred sound.
Before you get confused, by colonial habits,
This place has nothing to do with neither eggs nor rabbits.
?_ _ _    _ _ _
 

Outside the Ruins of Grahndt

The bones of many animals litter the floor of the ruins, from leopards, tigers, snakes and even manticores, all came here in their final moments to rest. They are guarded by a troop of territorial monkeys who squat amongst the crumbling pillars glowering at you.

As you wander the ruins you see a group of these primates scatter in front of you, they have been arranging a set of bones on a floor in a way that looks intentional. 

What could they be trying to communicate?

At Cruxopolis

The lights of cruxopolis are run on a strange new magic known as ‘Lectrazity’ but tonight the streets of the City are dark. The denizens of Cruxopolis stumble over each other, clutching candles and lanterns. The power is out.

Just outside the Southern Gate you come across a strange brick building surrounded by cloaked figures wearing thunderbolt shaped necklaces.

The Building has a metal grating and an ominous sign reading ‘Danger Of Death’ next to a large panel with 25 numbers. One figure sidles over to you.

‘The Lectrazity comes from another world, we harness it through the ground around here, but something has gone wrong! None of us know the 5 digit password to restart the power! The only clues are written on a sacred scroll which says: 

It starts with the sun and end with the moon, and the 5 sacred numbers are hidden under the yellow pyramid of the shocked man.’

Can you help us get the power back to Cruxopolis?

At the Quadstone

You stand on the mysterious Quadstone, strange runes as if carved by a giant hand are on the floor beneath your feet. The market sellers are packing up and filling their carts with unsold produce. Yet one stall remains: It is is full of old books and ancient tomes.

One book in particular calls to you, its title is simply:
‘Standing Before The Great Steps by M.E. Morial’

Its first page is a mess of letters and words and a mysterious note in red... (see image)

The rest of the book is blank. Was this book left for you? What could it mean?

At the Mount Ridge

As you approach the mount ridge the heat becomes almost unbearable. It is so hot that you start to become delirious, the very stones glow with heat!

A group of figures in red cloaks dripping with sweat sit around the great glowing crevasse inhaling the sulphurous fumes. Feverishly they write words on sheets of papyrus seemingly in some kind of religious trance.

You pick up a handfull of these sheets. All of them covered with the same three lines. Pure nonsense! (see image)

One priest notices you, his eyes dreamy as he stumbles over. 

‘Sometimes to mark an exclamation is to offer a window to another world instead. 
Find the marks that match the portals in your world. It is the letter that proceeds that you seek’

He laughs deliriously and collapses.

What could this all mean?

At Torrent Tongue

The torrent tongue spews boiling water in a vertical plume up into the air once every three hours. Whilst hot the waters famously give the receiver understanding of any and every human language. Around it a group of servents gather with buckets, pales and bottles hoping to catch the magical polyglottal liquid. Well dressed officials and ambassadors from across the land wait patiently drink the waters so as to understand each other and begin negotiations. 

To one side a group of physicians and medics stand around a woman in fine robes sat on the floor looking confused and muttering to herself. 

‘She drank the waters once they cooled and now nothing can be done for her, she understands nothing and speaks nothing but gibberish…’

The woman locks eyes with you and begins shouting at you.

THREE POINT THREE AND ELEVEN FEET WHAT IS MISSING?!!
MR A. HOOD!
HAD ROOM!
HAM DOOR!
OH A DORM!
THREE POINT THREE AND ELEVEN FEET WHAT IS MISSING?!!

At the Bent Elm

The Bent Elm is a giant tree that has grown around and through a giant humanoid skeleton. It is a mysterious totem and surrounded by candles and offerings for those who wish to pass deeper into the forests.

On a tall oak tree in the shadow of the great Skeletal monolith is a carved poem.

‘In another world than I
There is a man who once did die
But like me he stays eternal
He watches eyeless but paternal.

I hid a gift for those not dead,
In the place he hid his head,
On my body find this space,
Before his head was in a case’

At the U-Stone floating gardens

After exploring the beautiful floating gardens, looking for the eponymous ‘U-Stone’. You come across a sword embedded in a stone plinth, the tip is buried in the ground. And there, in the hilt, shines a beautiful green emerald.

An inscription on the blade seems to make no sense. But a nearby plaque might give a clue:

‘The blade that hides the stone of fame
Is here for those who come to claim
The blade’s message is much clearer
To those who gaze into a mirror
To claim the sword you will need to grip
The missing letter at the very tip’

At the Tavix Tox Jungle

In a far off corner of the Tavix Tox Jungle you stumble gasping, reaching for your neck you pull out a plump stinger still pulsing and dripping with venom. You’ve been stung by a deadly insect! 

You reach a hut, bedecked with drying herbs. Each is labelled with a single letter of the alphabet, It is an apothecary. And your last chance to survive!
The emaciated man stood by the entrance asks what you need, and you hand him a crumpled piece of paper. 

‘What does this mean?!’

As your vision starts to swim you stare at the strange set of shapes on the note. What does it mean, what letter do you need to tell the man so he can give you the correct cure?