A Modest Proposal

[zmflavius]

"Who, ME?"

[thingirl]

"Which one of us pulled my sister in with her?"

[zmflavius]

"Err..."

"Get moving!"

You're hustled along a smoking alleyway. The horrid smell of brimstone permeates everything. A couple of horned demons leer at you.

[thingirl]

"I wonder wh-"

"Don't say that!"

[zmflavius]

You're led into a large, oblong building with wide steps. Behind it, you can see...some sort of huge devil. He's chained to the ground and screaming for all it's worth.

[thingirl]

"Poor guy..."

"Have you gone crazy, little sis?"

[zmflavius]

All of a sudden, the guy barfs out a bunch of demons. Ugh.

[thingirl]

"Apparently I have."

[zmflavius]

You're led into a vicious parody of a courtroom.

You're denied a lawyer, cannot testify, and the jury is made up of yes-demons.

After 3 hours of bureaucratic procedures, you're found guilty of trespassing and high treason and taken to the cages next to that joke of a courtroom and locked in them next to three very vicious hounds.

You also have had all your equipment stolen from you.

[thingirl]

(I can't find Lunar-Yin the on the UC page. PrinceofPride is 94, but he's not with us right now. Should we assume 90 or 84? I seem to remember 90.)

"Well, we're going to have to fight these dogs..."

[zmflavius]

The dogs turn out to be relatively easy foes.

[thingirl]

"Shoot, I don't have any lockpicks."

"I have a hairpin."

"I'll see what I can do..."

[zmflavius]

"oi! You! Drop that hairpin!"

[thingirl]

"Uggh. Fine." She tosssed it so that it landed just outside of the cage, but it blended in with the dust, so the guard thought it went farther.

[zmflavius]

What color is the hairpin?

[thingirl]

black

[zmflavius]

The guards don't see it. Eventually, they fall asleep.

[thingirl]

Alanne quietly got up and reterieved the hairpin. (Thievery= 85)

[zmflavius]

Now what?

[thingirl]

Try to find their stuff.

[zmflavius]

You realize that you're inside what looks like a city. Sigh. This'll be difficult.

[thingirl]

"I'll risk using Divination to find our stuff."

[zmflavius]

It's in the courtroom.

[thingirl]

"Oh, come ON! *sigh* Well, we'll have to rely on stelth then."

[zmflavius]

You go into the courtroom, and it's empty. You can see a few bureaucrats milling about, but that's it. Not being a demon, you realize that you won't be able to hide in plain sight.

(Get it? Demons, bureaucrats? Haha...ok maybe it's not that funny)

[thingirl]

(It would help if I looked up bureaucrats :D)

Try to sneak back out.

(EDIT: Oh. LOL. Obama isn't THAT bad...)

[zmflavius]

(It would help if I looked up bureaucrats :D)

Try to sneak back out.

(EDIT: Oh. LOL. Obama isn't THAT bad...)

You're back in the open.

(I'm actually an Obama supporter. I just dislike the bureaucracy in general.)

[thingirl]

(I'm dropping this subject. I don't want to get into a fight with the same person two days in a row.)

"They must have moved our stuff. We have to ind it to get out. I'll use Divanation again. A-ha, I'll focus on the ring Runeskin flung at me."

[zmflavius]

ind?

[thingirl]

Huh? Oh, you mean and. I'm guessing it doesn't work.

"Dang. Well, the treasury is probably the best guess. I just know we're going to get caught soon."

[zmflavius]

No you wrote ind in your last post. I'm wondering what you meant.

[thingirl]

I must have dropped the f in find. So it should say "They must have moved our stuff. We have to find it to get out. I'll use Divanation again.[...]"

[zmflavius]

Ah, ok. It's in a safe in a back room in the court house.

[thingirl]

"How are we going to get in there? Well, we might as well try to get there."

[zmflavius]

You go down the hallway. Suddenly...you bump into two demons!

[thingirl]

Use Illusion to distract them and then run for it towards the back room.

[zmflavius]

The two demons are bureaucrats and run away screaming to hide under their desks.

[thingirl]

"That was easy."

"Now, let's get our stuff."

[zmflavius]

The safe is locked.

[thingirl]

Thievery.

[zmflavius]

The lock repels your hand. What a funny little lock!

[thingirl]

Arcana/Lore/Divination

[zmflavius]

Arcana:
It's magical.

Lore:
Nothing.

Divination:
A guard would probably have the key, or maybe a bureaucrat. It's a magical key.

[thingirl]

Use Divi again to try and locate the key.

[zmflavius]

Several guarded bureaucrats are in the building right now.

[thingirl]

Try to disguise themselves as guards and see if they can find out who has the key.

[zmflavius]

That would be nearly impossible. The guards are demons. You could use illusion, but that would drain your nv...

[thingirl]

(head=desk *thud**thud**thud*)

"Maybe we could..."

"That won't work, sis. Ln, what do you think we should do?"

[zmflavius]

"Pickpocket."

[thingirl]

"So what, sneak around and rob everyone? Well, I was hoping not to, but fine."

[zmflavius]

Now...where to start?

[thingirl]

"Let's just find the nearest one."

[zmflavius]

Seven guards are lounging about in a rec room. One of them has a key.

[thingirl]

Alanne uses Telekensis to get the key.

[zmflavius]

Luck + Telekinesis roll. You need more than 150 to succeed.

You roll a 1! Instant fail.

A demon looks up.

"A flying key!"

[thingirl]

Bring the key in and RUN!

[zmflavius]

The demons start blowing whistles.

[thingirl]

Gate back into the safe room.

[zmflavius]

You arrive safely, but the demons are hot on your heels.

[thingirl]

Usagi, and Lnflavi (Flavi is her name, right?) while Alanne any Myrenne unlock the safe and get their stuff.

[zmflavius]

(Lnflavia)

You're backed up against the safe by a dozen demons.

[thingirl]

(Thanks.)

Alanne, Lnflavia, and Usagi put up a fortafacttion barrier around themselves, Alanne, and the safe. Myrenne unlocks the safe and pulls out her WB (4 charges) and Alanne's WoD and FoD (3 charges) to use on the demons.

[zmflavius]

The Demons begin hitting at the barrier fruitlessly. Wow, they really are idiots.

Lnflavia lets fly with her shortbow.

[thingirl]

"Got 'em. Hey, sis?"

"Go a head, Myre. Xarakk needs a beating anyway." Myrenne zaps one demon with the WoD, and another with the FoD.

"And?"

"Yes." Myrenne grabs Alanne's Grand Ashen Bow and starts shooting.

[zmflavius]

Six have fallen, but the barrier is cracking.

[thingirl]

"Well, I was hoping I wouldn't have to do this..." She rings her WB.

[zmflavius]

All six die.

[thingirl]

"Phew."

"Wow, thanks little sis. Now, let's get ourselves euiped again and try to get out of here.

[zmflavius]

The whole place is on high alert.

[thingirl]

"Let's see if the shadows will show me a way out." (lvl 77)

[zmflavius]

Ok you're out.

[thingirl]

"Now let's see if I can locate-"

"Andrassy."

"Actually, Usagi, you have a better chance of finding him than I do. I was gonna try to locate that mage Zm told us about."

[zmflavius]

By?

[thingirl]

Sorry, SM.

[zmflavius]

No dice. He's not in this region.

[thingirl]

Which one?

[zmflavius]

You can't tell, it's too far away.

[thingirl]

"He not in this part. No, I can't tell which one. Probably both. Anyway, follow me to where I think I can sense something."

[zmflavius]

It turns out to be...a wizard!



























































"Oh, hello. No, I'm not a wizard who knows how to defeat Runeskin, though I know who you're talking about. This Zmflavius gave you the info. I've only heard rumors about him...but anyways, his information is badly out of date. The immortal wizard escaped Phoephar three and a half thousand years ago, though I recall his sanity being...not complete."

[thingirl]

"I knew we shouldn't have trusted him. Usagi, remind me again who pulled my sister here?"

"Uhhhhhhhh."

"Right. That's what I thought. Anyway, sir, would you know anything about a man nammed Andrassy? Or he might still be calling himself Pride."

[zmflavius]

The old man, not seeming to listen to you, comments,

"You know, I'd've thought Zmflavius would know that. He fought during the Dungeon Wars, and during the Liberation, and the War of the Blade, and alongside the Immortal Hero...He even fought during the War of the Two Kings, in which that wizard was an observer...But I digress. I suspect that he believed that wizard to be here. Truth be told, I always thought that the reports of that wizard's death were rather spotty as well. Anyways, IF I had to guess...I would put him that wizard in one of three areas: Arluwil, to hunt for the four gems of power, the realm of Colony, to search for a certain set of powerful magical items...which I recall, were assembled four times, and then disassembled almost immediately thereafter...once in the far, distant past, to aid in a forgotten war...once by a wanderer named Tallys, when he first started adventuring, though he later lost them...once by the Unholy Alliance...and once, by Zmflavius, to fight the Unholy Alliance. For all he know, that wizard might go to Axeoth, where the Unholy Alliance still is strong. Well, not that I would suppose you'd care about what the Unholy Alliance is."

(Did you notice how I referred to that wizard only as "that wizard")

[thingirl]

(Sh*t it's the Grey Mage. :eek::eek::eek::eek::eek::eek::eek::eek::eek::eek: :eek:)

"What is the Unholy Alliance? Does it have something to do with Undead?"

[zmflavius]

"Yes, it does in fact...and it's also none of your business. So...where to? I am skilled in the art of gating."

You notice out of the corner of your eye that in this tavern, only the tavern-keeper and an archer in the corner are left. The archer seems to be deep in thought, but you can't shake the thought that he's listening to you.

When the mage who's agreed to help you (Theodorus) mentions gating, the archer stands up and walks out of the Tavern.


You really hope that those demon horns you just noticed on his head were just for show.

[thingirl]

(what-ever-his-name-is looks kind of like young Sasuke in that shot)

"Well, which one is the best place to practice my archery? Because my arrows are treacherous . Ahh, but where are my manners? Come, I'll buy you a drink, we're in no hurry."

[zmflavius]

(what-ever-his-name-is looks kind of like young Sasuke in that shot)

"Well, which one is the best place to practice my archery? Because my arrows are treacherous . Ahh, but where are my manners? Come, I'll buy you a drink, we're in no hurry."

(I think Sasuke's hair isn't that loose. And he doesn't have a headband)

"All are fairly equal. Arluwil is a realm of Runeskin's, Axeoth is relatively peaceful, and Colony is a hellish dystopia."

[thingirl]

(Ehh, you're right. But still, reading about 10 chapters in a row, all with Sasuke in them, does stuff to you. BTW, about Sakura, WHAT THE CRAP IS SHE DOING!!!!!!!!!!!!!)

"We'll take Colony." She drops her voice so that only Theodorus can hear, "Actually we'll go to Arluwil. But I have a feeling that that archer who just left is a spy."

[zmflavius]

Theodorus doesn't blink an eye.

"Very well then." He opens a portal."

Outside, you can see the archer running into another portal.

[thingirl]

"Thank you. Now, no pushing my sister this time."

"Why would I when I still have no knowledge about my husband? Sir, do you know anything about Andrassy?"

[zmflavius]

"Sorry...no."

[thingirl]

"You sure, he also goes by Pride?"

"Usagi. You can strangle the information out of Runeskin once we defeat him."

"But..."

"Can I drag her in this time?"

"Fine. Whatever."

[zmflavius]

You eventually land in Arluwil. Arluwil looks rather green. Theodorus remarks,

"As I mentioned before, nominally, Runeskin rules this region. In reality though, he only controls a small part of it. The rest is mostly free territory."

[thingirl]

"Well, now that we're away from spying ears, Is it really none of our bisnius what the Unholy Alliance is? Or would you tell us?"

[zmflavius]

"Bisnius? Oh you mean Business. I can't follow Northern Broadlandish very well. Well, actually, you'll have to find out for yourself. You could ask Zmflavius; He actually fought one of them once. Or you could ask their archenemy Sandro. Except Sandro's in Axeoth. Three of the members also live in Axeoth. Of the fourth..."

He pauses for a moment. When he speaks again, you suspect he is concealing something.

"I don't know."

[thingirl]

"Hmm, very well then. Would you have any advice on how to find the white gems?"

[zmflavius]

"That I know. They are located in four sanctuaries scattered across this realm. The locations of these sanctuaries are a closely guarded secret, which can only be found in a fifth, heavily guarded sanctuary. That sanctuary's location is also heavily guarded, but it's location is kept in two places:



The Library of Castle Steelhorn, in the realm of Colony.



Another castle located here. It'll be relatively easy to get to, but the secret is locked within that castle."

[thingirl]

"Colony is too dangerous. That spy from the tavern is almost surely there. Let's go to the castle."

[zmflavius]

"The journey will take...well, I'd need to find out where we are first."

He casts a spell and you see a map appear. A glowing dot can be seen in one part of it.

He waves his hand and the map disappears.

"5 days."

[thingirl]

Myrennne starts to say something, but Alanne cut her off "I know what you're gonna say sis, and don't say it. This man is obviously a man of high skill. I would almost say legendary. Now, if we want to defeat Runeskin, we need those gems. 5 days is actually a short time."

[zmflavius]

Day 1.

Nothing happens.

Day 2.

Nothing happens.

Day 3.

Alanne steps on a wasp's nest and gets stung 500 times. Everyone else gets stung only 400 times.

Day 4.

Wasted the day sitting in a fountain of youth hoping everyone would get better. Everyone did actually feel better until a pair of swans showed up and chased everyone out.

Day 5.

Should have reached that castle by now, but we wasted yesterday trying to heal our stings.

Day 6.

You waste another day trying to figure out what's under the mask of a dork followed by three little dorks.

Day 7.

You reach the castle. Unfortunately, the gatekeeper is in a bad mood and demands 160 "Gars", which Theodorus insists are not a real currency.

Eventually, the gatekeeper relents and says he'll settle for 160 gold pieces. And he insists that "Gold tokens" are not the same as "gold pieces."

[thingirl]

"Well then," she shrugs her sholders, "Ow. What are Gold tokens?"

[zmflavius]

(Gold tokens are the in-sryth name for the ubiquitous gold piece)

[thingirl]

"Look, if gold tokens aren't the same thing as gold pieces, will you settel for 5,000 gold pieces?"

[zmflavius]

You only have gold tokens.

[thingirl]

Whatever. I must be really tired or have been staring at a computer screen too long.

"Look, if gold tokens aren't the same thing as gold pieces, will you settle for 5,000 gold tokens?"

[zmflavius]

"Sure."

He lets you into the city.

[thingirl]

"Now, where's that tower, sir?"

[zmflavius]

"It's in one of the 8 complexes of the local Magic University in this city. Which one? I don't know."

[thingirl]

"Myrenne?"

"*sigh* Do they accept girls?"

[zmflavius]

"Of course. The only requirement is to be accomplished in at least 3 magical disciplines...and also to pass a grueling entrance exam."

[thingirl]

"Well, I qualify if I can pass the exam, which I probably can't. However, an ear in the inside will probably help find the information e're looking for... But what if they don't let me leave? Oh well, fine, whatever, I'll do it..."

[zmflavius]

You enter and a clerk says without looking up,

"Next exam day is in 3 and a half months, but you can browse the library and the school complex so long as you don't disturb classes."

[thingirl]

"Thank you mam. Could you direct us to the library, please?"

[zmflavius]

"Maps are on the third shelf on your left."

[thingirl]

"Thank you." They walk over the the shelf she pointed out. Alanne grabs one that shows the library and they start off towards it.

[zmflavius]

You arrive at the library...and it's a giant complex of perhaps 3.5 million volumes.

[thingirl]

Alanne uses Divination to find anything that would help them at all, while the others use Lore while looking through a couple of huge file cabinets that has a bunch of cards with names of books and numbers on them.

(Assuming that since no electricity = no computers, the dewy-decimal system is used in those file cabinets)

[zmflavius]

Alanne narrows it down to a portion of the library containing around 480000 volumes.

The Librarian explains to Myrenne that due to the vast size of this library, instead of filing cabinets and cards, they use huge magical tomes which update themselves as catalogs.

She motions Myrenne over to the shelf containing the catalogs for the 480000 volumes Alanne is perusing.

[thingirl]

"Thank you mam." She gets Lnflavia, Usagi, and Theodorus to help her search through the tome.

[zmflavius]

(Tomes. There's a shelf of them)

[thingirl]

(Whatever. What do they find?)

[zmflavius]

There's too much to check.

[thingirl]

Myrenne asks Alanne to help her and the rest use Divination/Lore/ Arcana on the tomes.

[zmflavius]

After 8 hours, you narrow it down to one shelf of volumes.

[thingirl]

(That's your 2k th post. Congrats.)

How many books are on the shelf?

[zmflavius]

A couple hundred.

[thingirl]

Each of them takes a section of 75 or so books and divinlorcana's it.

[zmflavius]

It's no good. None of them contain what you seek. But you're certain that it's on this shelf.

[thingirl]

"Wait... What if it isn't a book noting the location of the information, but the information itself? Hmm, hey guys..."

They agree with Alanne. She says to look for the information on the sides of the shelves and the shelves themselves, and also sends Myrenne to look on the shelf for something disguised as a book.

[zmflavius]

Ah ha! A book concealed in the shelf!

[thingirl]

"Myre, distract the Librarian while we get this book out of the shelf. Ask her some stupid question or something."

[zmflavius]

"Do we have to do that?"

[thingirl]

"OK, fine. Maybe not. But can we still get the book out?"

[zmflavius]

Theodorus pries it out successfully.








It's blank.

[thingirl]

Divilorcana it to find what type on invisible/ magical ink it is.

[zmflavius]

There's no magical or invisible ink.

[thingirl]

"Theodorus, how do you think this book will help us?"

[zmflavius]

"There must be a...Ah Ha!"

He discovers a secret compartment with a fiendish puzzle in the cover.

[thingirl]

Divilorcana

[zmflavius]

You deduce that the design of the puzzle prevents you from getting magical hints.

Theodorus begins trying to solve it. All of a sudden the puzzle glows.

You see writing slowly begin to appear in the book.

It appears that...

























The writing is...

































A collection of recipes for chickens. Theodorus frowns, starts rearranging the blocks, and gets a jokebook. You didn't think that it was going to be THAT easy, did you?

[thingirl]

I was hoping. Do you actually have a puzzle or is it another "really hard puzzle"?

[zmflavius]

I don't really have a puzzle. I'm still thinking about whether to create one or not.

[thingirl]

If you do a (relitivly) easy one, I could try to solve it.

[zmflavius]

But it's not a relatively easy puzzle, it's supposed to be demonically hard.

...

Gimme a bit. I have a puzzle.

[zmflavius]

A new high school has just been completed. There are 1,000 lockers in the long hall of the school and they have been numbered from 1 to 1,000. During lunch, the 1,000 students decide to try an experiment.

- The first student, student 1, runs down the row of lockers and opens every door.
- Student 2 closes the doors of lockers 2, 4, 6, 8, and so on to the end of the line.
- Student 3 changes the state of the doors of lockers 3, 6, 9, 12, and so on to the end of the line. (the student opens the door if it is closed and closes the door if it is opened)
- Student 4 changes the state of the doors 4, 8, 12, 16, and so on. Student 5 changes the state of every fifth door, student 6 changes the state of every sixth, and so on and so forth until all 1000 students have had a turn.

When the students are finished, which locker doors are open?

[thingirl]

You're evil. I've goten through the first 10. (in the first 100). All primes are closed.

[Louis Cypher]

A new high school has just been completed. There are 1,000 lockers in the long hall of the school and they have been numbered from 1 to 1,000. During lunch, the 1,000 students decide to try an experiment.

- The first student, student 1, runs down the row of lockers and opens every door.
- Student 2 closes the doors of lockers 2, 4, 6, 8, and so on to the end of the line.
- Student 3 changes the state of the doors of lockers 3, 6, 9, 12, and so on to the end of the line. (the student opens the door if it is closed and closes the door if it is opened)
- Student 4 changes the state of the doors 4, 8, 12, 16, and so on. Student 5 changes the state of every fifth door, student 6 changes the state of every sixth, and so on and so forth until all 1000 students have had a turn.

When the students are finished, which locker doors are open?


Any locker number who's square root is an integer? (1,4,9,16,25,36,...)

...and that would be 31 open lockers total?

[thingirl]

You're probably right. That would make for 10 open in the first block of 100. (10*10 =100). However, I have gotten myself obsessed with this. I'm not gonna get anything important done today, am I?

EDIT: Dang it, he's right! OK, let's see, that makes numbers 1, 4, 9, 16, 25, 36, 49, 64, 81, 100, 121, 144, 169, 196, 225, 256, 289, 324, 361, 400, 441, 484, 529, 576, 625, 676, 729, 784, 841, 900, and 961 open.

EDIT2: I probably would have gotten that quicker if I had more that an 8th grade eduction :) OK, time to do that Algebra test :(.

EDIT3: And those numbers are page numbers to look at in the book in addition to the puzzle solution?

[zmflavius]

Any locker number who's square root is an integer? (1,4,9,16,25,36,...)

...and that would be 31 open lockers total?

You're probably right. That would make for 10 open in the first block of 100. (10*10 =100). However, I have gotten myself obsessed with this. I'm not gonna get anything important done today, am I?

EDIT: Dang it, he's right! OK, let's see, that makes numbers 1, 4, 9, 16, 25, 36, 49, 64, 81, 100, 121, 144, 169, 196, 225, 256, 289, 324, 361, 400, 441, 484, 529, 576, 625, 676, 729, 784, 841, 900, and 961 open.

EDIT2: I probably would have gotten that quicker if I had more that an 8th grade eduction :) OK, time to do that Algebra test :(.

EDIT3: And those numbers are page numbers to look at in the book in addition to the puzzle solution?

I can assure you that square numbers is not right.

ATM, the numbers are meaningless.

[thingirl]

Huh? 'Cuz after I did the first 25, the only ones that were open were 1, 4, 9, 16, and 25.

EDIT: Am I right about primes being closed?

[zmflavius]

Huh? 'Cuz after I did the first 25, the only ones that were open were 1, 4, 9, 16, and 25.

EDIT: Am I right about primes being closed?

I can assure you that that is impossible.

And nope.

[Louis Cypher]

I can assure you that square numbers is not right.

ATM, the numbers are meaningless.


I'm not trying to be contradictory here, zmflavius, but I do believe I (and Thingirl) am right, at least by the way you have worded it (or at least the way we are understanding it).

To test my theory, I wrote a little c++ simulation, which confirms that lockers 1,4,9,16,25,etc. are open, 31 lockers total. If you are a nerd like me, you can try it out yourself.

#include <iostream.h>
int x[1001];
int y=0;
void openlocker(int);
void showopenlocker(void);

int main(void)
{
for (int i=0; i<1001; i++)
x[i] = 1;
for (int j=2; j<1001; j++)
openlocker(j);
showopenlocker();
cout << "That would be " << y << " total lockers open.\n";
return 0;
};

void openlocker(int k)
{
for (int m=k; m<1001; m += k)
x[m] = !(x[m]);
};

void showopenlocker(void)
{
for (int n=1; n<1001; n++){
if (x[n]){
cout << "Locker # " << n << " is open.\n";
y++;
};
};
};

[zmflavius]

I'm not trying to be contradictory here, zmflavius, but I do believe I (and Thingirl) am right, at least by the way you have worded it (or at least the way we are understanding it).

To test my theory, I wrote a little c++ simulation, which confirms that lockers 1,2,4,9,16,25,etc. are open, 31 lockers total. If you are a nerd like me, you can try it out yourself.

#include <iostream.h>
int x[1001];
int y=0;
void openlocker(int);
void showopenlocker(void);

int main(void)
{
for (int i=0; i<1001; i++)
x[i] = 1;
for (int j=2; j<1001; j++)
openlocker(j);
showopenlocker();
cout << "That would be " << y << " total lockers open.\n";
return 0;
};

void openlocker(int k)
{
for (int m=k; m<1001; m += k)
x[m] = !(x[m]);
};

void showopenlocker(void)
{
for (int n=1; n<1001; n++){
if (x[n]){
cout << "Locker # " << n << " is open.\n";
y++;
};
};
};

Err...I'm not going to try to follow that, because I can't. On the other hand, I can prove to you why square numbers are incorrect via counterexample.

First, check two. Two definitely is not open. Then, check six. Six is definitely open. Next, check sixteen, sixteen is closed.

[Louis Cypher]

Err...I'm not going to try to follow that, because I can't. On the other hand, I can prove to you why square numbers are incorrect via counterexample.

First, check two. Two definitely is not open. Then, check six. Six is definitely open. Next, check sixteen, sixteen is closed.

Door 6: Only Students 1,2,3,6 will interact with it.
Student 1 opens door 6. Student 2 closes door 6. Student 3 opens door 6. Then student 6 closes door 6. Door 6 is closed.

Door 16: Only Students 1,2,4,8,16 will interact with it.
1 opens door 16. 2 closes door 16. 4 opens door 16. 8 closes door 16. 16 opens door 16. Door 16 is open.

Like I said, maybe you are meaning something else in your puzzle, and I'm not understanding your intentions.

[thingirl]

Two and six aren't squares.

They start closed. 16 is opened by 1, closed by 2, opened by 4, closed by 8, and opened by 16.

The factors of 16 are: 1, 2, 4, 8, and 16.

[Louis Cypher]

Two and six aren't squares.

They start closed. 16 is opened by 1, closed by 2, opened by 4, closed by 8, and opened by 16.

The factors of 16 are: 1, 2, 4, 8, and 16.


The number 2 keeps getting mentioned, but that was just a typo in my longer post, I edited the post to be correct, but zmflavius got to quote it before the edit took place.

And speaking of factors, it's just like plucking a flower going "he loves me, he loves me not." An even number of factors(petals) will ultimately close the door, while odd number of factors will keep it open.

[thingirl]

Ah, OK. And I typed up all the numbers from 1-1000 in word and am doing bold/ regular to indicate open/closed. After doing 16, I deleted all the closed lockers < 16. The only ones left are 1, 4, 9, and 16. And since 16*2 = 32, I also deleted all closed lockers < 31, leaving 1, 4, 9, 16, and 25. Looks like a pattern to me.

EDIT: Perfect squares are the only numbers with an odd number of factors. This is because factors come in pairs, meaning you can't have one factor without having two as a factor.

This is true for perfect squares, too. The factors of a perfect square are 1 and the number, and the square root. The square root is a factor pair, it is Sr*Sr However, Sris only listed as a factor once.

Therefore, the open lockers are those whose numbers are perfect squares. The perfect square up to 1000 are 1, 4, 9, 16, 25, 36, 49, 64, 81, 100, 121, 144, 169, 196, 225, 256, 289, 324, 361, 400, 441, 484, 529, 576, 625, 676, 729, 784, 841, 900, and 961

[zmflavius]

Door 6: Only Students 1,2,3,6 will interact with it.
Student 1 opens door 6. Student 2 closes door 6. Student 3 opens door 6. Then student 6 closes door 6. Door 6 is closed.

Door 16: Only Students 1,2,4,8,16 will interact with it.
1 opens door 16. 2 closes door 16. 4 opens door 16. 8 closes door 16. 16 opens door 16. Door 16 is open.

Like I said, maybe you are meaning something else in your puzzle, and I'm not understanding your intentions.

Sec...lemme check my chart...on six, I goofed

Gah.

My chart is an unruly mess of numbers.

All the pages solidify into two hard blocks with a map printed on them.

[thingirl]

(Thanks, Louis.)

"Let's copy this map and then follow it. Or we could try to borrow the book, but I don't think that's a good idea."

[Louis Cypher]

(Thanks, Louis.)

"Let's copy this map and then follow it. Or we could try to borrow the book, but I don't think that's a good idea."

CAREFUL! That map may be like something out of that movie "Knowing" with Nicolas Cage. Next thing you know you're in the middle of the woods waiting to get picked up by aliens.

[thingirl]

True. However, a bad lad is better than no lead at all. And plus, Zm introduced another character to the party for this.

Alanne gets out a pencil and paper.

[zmflavius]

CAREFUL! That map may be like something out of that movie "Knowing" with Nicolas Cage. Next thing you know you're in the middle of the woods waiting to get picked up by aliens.

Shhh!!! Fiery Apocalyptic Scourgings are for hidden backstories!


Hem! You also notice that in the bottom corner of the map, a short message was written but later was scratched out.

Theodorus remarks that he's like to borrow this book from the library...he has a special long-time member library card.

[thingirl]

Alanne stares at him with a just-who-are-you look and says, "Umm, OK. Guess I won't be needing these." She puts her pencil and paper back in her pack.

[zmflavius]

(An 60-something year old mage who fought during the Liberation, the Dungeon Wars, and also for a brief time against that wizard. Of course, he was then KOed by a heavy illusion attack. Just a little caveat for you.)

"Oh...just an old wizard with lots of connections."

As you leave, you realize the map is encoded.

[thingirl]

"Of course it is. *sigh* Let's see if we can break this code..."

[zmflavius]

Hmmm...let's see...

The map's not encoded, it's just written in a foreign language.

One that, conveniently enough, Theodorus can't read.

[thingirl]

OK, then Lore should work.

[zmflavius]

You can't actually translate something using lore unless:



You can actually read the language/code.
You have some sort of rosetta stone to work with.

[thingirl]

Ehh, fine. Can they use Lore to find out what language it is?

[zmflavius]

Nope.

[thingirl]

Dang. OK, so Theodorus can't read it, but does he know what it is?

[zmflavius]

It looks familiar, but no.

[thingirl]

"Think harder."

This isn't a good idea, but, they ask the librarian if she knows what language it's in or if she knows how to find that out.

[zmflavius]

"Hmmm...it looks a bit like old Kreegan, but it's definitely not one of the 9 different written dialects of Kreegan. Or old Kreegan."

[thingirl]

"Do you recognize it now, Theodorus?"

[zmflavius]

"No. That definitely is not Old Kreegan."

[thingirl]

"Hmm. Well, would have any guesses as to what it is?"

[zmflavius]

"I'm really sorry, but no."

[thingirl]

She turned to the librarian. "Well, could you point us to the languages section? More specifically, the section of a collection of languages that uses this alphabet?"

[zmflavius]

"I don't actually recognize the alphabet, it just reminds me of Old Kreegan. But there's the cross-language dictionary section."

[thingirl]

"Thanks. Here, Theodorus," she handed him the map, "your turn."

[zmflavius]

Nothing! Nothing at all!

[thingirl]

(Grr. I really wish GoP would come back.)

"Are you sure it doesn't use the same alphabet at whatever alien language you said?"

(I like google.)

[zmflavius]

"Yes."

[thingirl]

She looks like she's about to snap. Her sister asks her what's wrong.

"Well, if we can't translate the map, then what can we do?"

"Good point. Hey, Ln, Theodorus do either of you have any ideas?"

[zmflavius]

"Well...there are like...I got an idea! We can FIND a Kreegan!"

[thingirl]

"But you said... Whatever. If you know how to go about such a task, then by all means, lead the way."

[zmflavius]

"There's probably some in Axeoth."

[thingirl]

"Fine. We'll go. But we should probably get out of the magic school first."

[zmflavius]

"Fine. We'll go. But we should probably get out of the magic school first."

Ok. You're out.

[thingirl]

"All right. Now, since you think you know where an alien who could translate this is, would you like to guide us to it?"

[zmflavius]

"Sure. Probably. And what do you mean by alien?"

(Theodorus is unaware of the origins of the Kreegans. Please note that the Might and Magic series is not sci-fi)

[thingirl]

(Ehh, whatever. I just read the first line or two of the Wikipedia artical.)

"Oh, did I say alien? I ment Kreegan."

[zmflavius]

"Anyways..."

He opens another portal.

"Axeoth has many natural portals. I'm not strong enough to choose a landing zone but I CAN land us outside one of the portals."

[thingirl]

"Are you sure we want to do this, Alanne?"

"No, but we are anyway. Assuming that Theodorus can get us back here?"

[zmflavius]

"Certainly."

A reddish portal appears.

[thingirl]

"I'm gonna regret this, but..." She jumps in. Myrennne and Usagi follow.

[zmflavius]

After a fitful ride, you land in a snowy plain. A few evergreens can be seen, and a stone road that leads towards a white-walled city.

"Oops."

[thingirl]

"Do I want to know where we are? Probably not, but tell me anyway."

[zmflavius]

"The Great Arcan. Shouldn't be a problem, except that the only place Kreegan's are is divided from us by a heavily guarded border.

[thingirl]

"How heavily?"

[zmflavius]

"Crossing said border is believed to be an impossibility."

[thingirl]

"Of course it is. Maybe we don't really need the map. But, we've come this far..."

"You probably can't just gate us in, can you Theodorus?"

[zmflavius]

"Here, gating works differently. You can only gate at the end points of certain ley lines, and all these endpoints which lead over the border are guarded heavily."

[thingirl]

"If you go to an unguarded point, can you come out behind the border?"

[zmflavius]

"There ARE no unguarded points, they are all guarded."

[thingirl]

"So in other words, you lied when you said you could get us back?"

[zmflavius]

"I thought we'd be landing in Nekross. We got misdirected."

[thingirl]

"Can you do anything about it or not?"

[zmflavius]

"We could...by sneaking over the border."

[thingirl]

"Is that the only way anybody can do anything? If so, then fine."

[zmflavius]

As you head towards the border, you see several garrison forts. There's also a gate and wall.

[thingirl]

They go to the gate.

[zmflavius]

Suddenly, you're stopped by...








































A carverclaw in dragonbone armour.

"Are you sure you want to do that?"

[thingirl]

"No. However, ask the guy who brought us here and can't get us back out. No, not Zm, I knew he wasn't gonna get us out, this guy, Theodorus. However, if Zm has contacts that can get us in, or if he can translate this map, then if you have something to say..."

[zmflavius]

"Zmflavius sent me here to help. He says that a knight named Sir Mardor will meet you at the town of Vitross, 40 miles to the north, near the border with the Kingdoms of Neo-Krewlodd and Aranorn."

Theodorus looks surprised.

"But that town was conquered by Neo-Krew-"

"That's what you think. Appearances can be deceiving."

[thingirl]

"Strange as it seems, I trust this, umm, claw. Will one of you lead us to the place?"

[zmflavius]

"Certainly. And you thought that the Neo-Krewlodians captured Vitross and Elevara? Just so you know, Neo-Krewlodd didn't rule the other side of the Dragon's Head River at the time. Of course, the when Neo-Krewlodd did conquer the other side of the river, they sent an expeditionary force to attack Vitross and Elevara, which was never seen again. They also sent an army through the underground pass to Vitross and Elevara, which also disappeared, except for a few insane foot soldiers raving about 'undead dragons.'"

[thingirl]

"Oh shoot. Well, it can't be avoided. Ehh, how hard can an undead dragon be?"

"You're gonna regret saying that soon..."

"I know. But this Carverclaw is going to lead us (for now), so..."

[zmflavius]

"You know, we could just take the ferry across the Dragon's Head river...assuming the ferryman isn't a rotting corpse yet."

[thingirl]

"Do you know that I have no knowledge of this place whatsoever? Sure, lead the way."

[zmflavius]

As you proceed northward, the land appears devastated. Only a few villages have people, most seem completely depopulated.

[thingirl]

(Assuming the Carverclaw is still with us.)

"Looks like there was a war here. Any of you want to explain, or would it be better just to walk?"

[zmflavius]

Theodorus starts to speak, but the Carverclaw cuts in.

"Around 8 years ago, there was an uneasy balance of power, with the two towns of Vitross and Elevara occupying one side of the river, and the two Neo-Krewlodian towns of Wataga and Kilgorda occupying the other side of the river. Suddenly and without warning, a mysterious necromancer showed up and destroyed both Wataga and Kilgorda, raised the dead in those two towns to form an army, and then invaded and sacked Elevara. He then attacked Vitross, and tortured everyone there to death. Something about them having slighted him several months ago."

[thingirl]

"I hope we don't... Wait, saying that would jinx us. Let's keep going."

[zmflavius]

"Run into the Necromancer? Heavens, I'm trying to find his kingdom!"

[thingirl]

"Let's see, stay here with no hope of escape, or go with the crazy old mage who can get us out if he lives?"

"We'll follow him, even if/when it kills us."

[zmflavius]

You're stopped by...

46 barbaric looking savages with face paint and axes and spears and swords and murderous faces and 23 centaurs carrying armloads of spears.

You suspect they want to kill you.

[thingirl]

"We come in peace! Please don't hurt us!"

[zmflavius]

They stare for a while. Then one of them remarks

"We are soldiers of Neo-Krewlodd, charged with rebuilding the town of Wataga, destroyed nearly 10 years ago. At the time, our king could not spare the troops to rebuild it, but now he is able to do so. We were part of a larger task force, but most of it was massacred. We would like your help in finding out who did this."

Somehow, you don't think he's asking.

Then, another mentions,

"We also hate magic-users. If you're a magic-user, we will remove your intestines through your nose."

[thingirl]

(Now my power usage is gonna bite me in the butt.)

"Umm, what do you want us to do?"

[zmflavius]

"The rest of our force force was killed on the other side of the Dragon's Head River. They were killed only a stone's throw from Elevara. We would like to walk in front of us while we go to Elevara, and trigger any traps."

One of them then stares at Theodorus.

"Say...weren't you that Battle Mage who a few months ago..."

He doesn't get a chance to say anything else, because Theodorus used destruction on him and killed him.

All the barbarians look extremely enraged.

[thingirl]

"you idiot! Run!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

[zmflavius]

You blunder through hill and dale and forest and woodlock.

Just kidding. You just blunder all over the south part of the river.

Eventually, you all run blindly so much that you trip into a fountain with a statue of Michelangelo's David barfing water into the fountain.

You feel healthier after falling into the fountain.

[thingirl]

"Wha? We're not in Tarn. Hey, IDK what this will do, but I wanna try putting my SSL in here."

[zmflavius]

Your SSL has had its MR increased by 5.

Theodorus examines your SSL.

"This effect will only last a few whacks I'm afraid."

[thingirl]

"Hmm, better save it for something dangerous then. Well, that's what I have this for." She changes to Trielra's Staff. (New stats: MR 175, SP 188, NR 47. I saved with it equiped if you want to check.)

"What now?"

[zmflavius]

The Carverclaw glances to the north.

"If I recall correctly...there are three ways to the north side of the river. Two are blocked off by those barbarians who want to remove our intestines through our noses. The other lies to the west. It's rather unstable though and I suspect guarded as well."

[thingirl]

"They want Theodorus's guts mostly, not sure about the rest of us. But probable thread Vs. known threat, I'll take probable. We go west."

[zmflavius]

As you proceed westward, you note that the land is almost completely empty, except for scattered, unburied bones, and a few unburned trees. Almost all the trees untouched by fire seem to be in the throes of death, and the few villages and holdfasts that are not anything more than smudges in a once pristine landscape are half-destroyed ruins. In those surviving villages, it is only the buildings of stone which survived, and they, generally half pulled down. Eventually, you reach what the carverclaw claims are the ruins of Kilgorda. Like most of the villages you have seen, it is in ruins, with the wooden buildings and wall which made up the majority of the town gone completely except for a few smudges on the ground and the stone buildings looted and pulled apart. The carverclaw remarks,

"Amazing how all this happened only ten years ago, eh? Well, the river crossing is actually an end point of a ley line to the other side of the river." It's actually relatively unguarded, but really only leads to what nominally is another section of the Great Arcan. We might encounter Arcanian troops anyways."

[thingirl]

"Why didn't you say that in the first place? Oh well, we'll still go to the river crossing as planned."

[zmflavius]

You see what almost certainly is the portal area due to the magical aura of the area. Do you really want to open a portal here?

[thingirl]

Probably not, however, we will anyway.

[zmflavius]

A reddish portal appears.

[thingirl]

"Myre, you go first."

"No. You."

"No. How 'bout we go together?"

"Fine." Alanne and Myrenne enter the portal, followed by Usagi.

[zmflavius]

You end up on the other side of the lake. There is a wall to the west, and more wasteland to the west, but the wall is half pulled apart and the town, Vitross, which according to Theodorus was made completely of stone, has been completely destroyed. Only a few scattered stones are left.

[thingirl]

"Say, Theodorus, how old is your info in this place?"

[zmflavius]

"10 years actually. But I'm REALLY certain that Captain Enric said..."

The Carverclaw cuts in,

"Captain Enric was a traitor. A dead traitor. It was, in fact..."

"Lemme guess. That jumped-up necromancer who destroyed Vitross and Elevara."

"Yeah. Him. Don't insult him though, he's brilliant. Over the past 5 or 6 years, he's forged a mighty kingdom...albeit one which was recently scarred by warfare from that damned ogre-demon."

[thingirl]

Alanne has a really creapy smile, and speaks through her teeth, "SO, you mean to tell me that there's no point in being here?"

"Calm down sis. Hey, Mr. Carverclaw sir, do you or Zmflavius read Kreegan?"

[zmflavius]

"What, Zmflavius? I'm not talking about him. I'm actually talking about someone else. Sir Mardor, who is somewhere in the ruins of Vitross, is our liaison to him."

(And what the hell is creapy supposed to mean?)

[thingirl]

(It means I forgot to turn on spell check again and spelled creepy wrong. Usually if I have something spelled wrong, it's either EE Vs. EA or doubling a continent Vs. keeping it single.)

"Fine, whatever. Just take us to him."