After passing through the darkened hallway, a chamber of painted stone is revealed, opening through the chord of a wide semicircle. On the opposite end of the 20ft radius chamber is a pattern drawn into the wall, depicting receding vertical rectangles. In fact, strange curves and looped pathways of color and shade escape from all sides of the pattern. Above the rectangles is a tangled mass of curving black lines about 1ft high and 15 feet across. To the left and right edges of the room are two statues facing one another across the way. On the right is a marble statue of a athletically fit woman with closed eyes and raised hand, gesturing to a held and downward pointing Bastard Sword of shimmering metal and a gilded handle. To the left is a massively built statue of a man, arms at it's sides and translucent crystal marbles in his eye sockets, refracting light like glass lenses.
I got something great here, so what would you do to try and figure this out?
First I would try to check to see if the statues would animate and kill me, because that's what statues tend to do :)
The "receding vertical rectangles" leads me to think that there is something visual and that the statue with refracting glass lenses is the key. I wouldn't be sure as to how this would work aside from seeing if the statue could be turned to face those rectangles, or a light could be passed through it's eyes.
I get an opposite signal from the other statue, which basically says look down at all times. So with that in play, perhaps aim the eyes of the other statue down (if possible) to see if a path or door is revealed as one of the rectangles comes into focus.
Disclaimer: I'm a DM so I create puzzles and don't solve them :) I am also bad at puzzles, but this is interesting !
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
"An' things ha' come to a pretty pass, ye ken, if people are going to leave stuff like that aroound where innocent people could accidentally smash the door doon and lever the bars aside and take the big chain off'f the cupboard and pick the lock and drink it!"
The semicircle makes me think of paintings where you only see the undistorted image in a cylindrical mirror. I would check the reflections on the sword. I would also check if different colors of light effect what you see.
My first impression is that the solution may have to do with reflections and/or refractions.
The description of the wall art sounds like it is a drawing of a rectangular hallway with light coming out of it and a black cloud above it. Does that sound accurate? Otherwise, I may just need a better description (I'm not sure how to picture the "receding vertical rectangles").
As a player, I would (roughly in order):
Inspect the statues (and sword, and glass eyes) for writing or symbols.
Look for a light source for this room or pitons for a torch.
Check reflections on sword and glass eyes.
Move torch or light source around to see how light behaves in regards to sword and glass eyes (if I dont think my character would think of this, I'd suggest another PC think of it)
Chect to see if the statues can be turned or moved.
Check to see if the sword or glass eyes can be removed.
See what happens in total darkness.
Let me know if any of this would turn up more clues or the solution.
We all know what happens in total darkness. ‚You are eaten by a Grue!‘
And you forgot to use the magic xyzzy formula...
I do not understand these references.
Sorry, I couldn‘t resist to joke. ‚Eaten by a Grue’ was a term of the very old Infocom Zork Text adventures. When you turned off your light, it didn‘t take long until the game was ended by a grue eating you.
Classical rogue adventures like nethack had a secret phrase you could engrave into the ground to protect you being attacked. I guess I‘m way to old, now. 🙂 I even remember playing Wizardry 1...
I am having trouble imagining the picture. The receding rectangles sounds like an image of a corridor. The description you have provided seems to emphasize the refractive eyes in one statue and the reflective sword on the other. You also mentioned a darkened corridor.
I don't understand the roll of the 1'x15' tangled black lines above the images on the opposite wall.
I'd probably try lighting up the corridor ... possibly with a light source at the far end ... to see if that does anything.
I would see if the sword held by the woman could be remove and see if it could be used to reflect the light into the eyes of the other statue. (It kind of looks like the one statue is gesturing that the sword is supposed to be used).
Could also see if the sword could be used to cut the tangled black line in some way (a la gordian knot).
First I would try to check to see if the statues would animate and kill me, because that's what statues tend to do :)
The "receding vertical rectangles" leads me to think that there is something visual and that the statue with refracting glass lenses is the key. I wouldn't be sure as to how this would work aside from seeing if the statue could be turned to face those rectangles, or a light could be passed through it's eyes.
I get an opposite signal from the other statue, which basically says look down at all times. So with that in play, perhaps aim the eyes of the other statue down (if possible) to see if a path or door is revealed as one of the rectangles comes into focus.
Approaching either the man statue or the woman statue, poking them, you do not see them animate. They are incredibly lifelike in sculpted form though. You also think you notice some faint, tiny writing along their bodies. The eyes of the man statue look particularly out-of-place, as does the majestic Bastard Sword. The statues cannot be turned, and the only light sources in the room are your torches. If you try to turn the eyes, nothing happens, but it does seem like they may be able to be popped out.
The semicircle makes me think of paintings where you only see the undistorted image in a cylindrical mirror. I would check the reflections on the sword. I would also check if different colors of light effect what you see.
Neither of these checks function, but upon taking close looks at the scribbles above the rectangles, there does appear to be a section of tangled messy lines and colors about one ft high and fifteen feet across, stretching above the rectangle depictions. It could mean something, but it looks like gibberish.
My first impression is that the solution may have to do with reflections and/or refractions.
The description of the wall art sounds like it is a drawing of a rectangular hallway with light coming out of it and a black cloud above it. Does that sound accurate? Otherwise, I may just need a better description (I'm not sure how to picture the "receding vertical rectangles").
As a player, I would (roughly in order):
Inspect the statues (and sword, and glass eyes) for writing or symbols.
Look for a light source for this room or pitons for a torch.
Check reflections on sword and glass eyes.
Move torch or light source around to see how light behaves in regards to sword and glass eyes (if I dont think my character would think of this, I'd suggest another PC think of it)
Chect to see if the statues can be turned or moved.
Check to see if the sword or glass eyes can be removed.
See what happens in total darkness.
Let me know if any of this would turn up more clues or the solution.
The receding rectangles looks like two large 7ft tall rectangles, each with a smaller black, empty rectangle within it, and another within that, getting smaller until the smallest rectangle is a few inches by half a foot.
There is writing on the statues, an old version of common on the man and elvish on the woman, in a looping tiny script. They appear to be what you could only guess are Cyphers. You don't know where a cypher would be used in this situation though.
The eyes, the sword, and the statues themselves are magical. The eyes glow with divination magic, the sword with a destructive magic.
There are no places to hoist a torch, but you could set it on the cold stone floor and it wouldn't burn out immediately. Moving it about, you only notice that the sword is very sharp and the crystal eyes seem to have lenses inside, painted like two dimensional eye-balls. You can only really tell by looking into them head-on.
The sword is held in her marble hands, but it feels like you could start jostling it to get it removed from her grasp without damaging her hand. Her right hand is over her head, reaching for the handle. Her right holds the blade at her chest-height. The eyeballs can also be removed if you put a small knife or dagger in there to pop them out.
You cover your torch, and stand in the darkness. If you have darkvision, after a minute or two you swear you think the rectangles shift and sway- though it may just be an optical illusion.
Also, can the sword be moved or angled differently? That may effect the angle at which you can view the drawing at.
If you start prying at the blade, you do notice it is incredibly sharp. It almost feels like her fingers give way a bit as you try to turn the blade. There is no obvious set turning position, but you could remove it.
I am having trouble imagining the picture. The receding rectangles sounds like an image of a corridor. The description you have provided seems to emphasize the refractive eyes in one statue and the reflective sword on the other. You also mentioned a darkened corridor.
I don't understand the roll of the 1'x15' tangled black lines above the images on the opposite wall.
I'd probably try lighting up the corridor ... possibly with a light source at the far end ... to see if that does anything.
I would see if the sword held by the woman could be remove and see if it could be used to reflect the light into the eyes of the other statue. (It kind of looks like the one statue is gesturing that the sword is supposed to be used).
Could also see if the sword could be used to cut the tangled black line in some way (a la gordian knot).
Light doesn't seem to be part o the puzzle, though sitting in the room in darkness does start your mind to turn and think more creatively about the "hallway". After your long looks at this, they seem more like an image of two Doors that blur in and out of your vision like bathroom floor tiles. As the rest of your party comes to you and discusses the Cypher and the tangled "phrase" above the "doors", you start thinking that there might be some message within the mess. From your perspective, they still mean nothing to you.
You reach up to the hilt of the sword and pry it loose. Her fingers animate subtly, uncurling and allowing the sword to be removed. -The masculine statue now comes to life, pushing the nearest adventurer aside and starts making a slow, angry B-Line towards you as you hurriedly smack at the tangled mess of words near the ceiling above the "doors". They are two-dimensional, and the sword doesn't appear to do much besides piss off the man statue. The crystal and lensed eyes of the statue are locked on you who took the sword.
Also, can the sword be moved or angled differently? That may effect the angle at which you can view the drawing at.
If you start prying at the blade, you do notice it is incredibly sharp. It almost feels like her fingers give way a bit as you try to turn the blade. There is no obvious set turning position, but you could remove it.
I am having trouble imagining the picture. The receding rectangles sounds like an image of a corridor. The description you have provided seems to emphasize the refractive eyes in one statue and the reflective sword on the other. You also mentioned a darkened corridor.
I don't understand the roll of the 1'x15' tangled black lines above the images on the opposite wall.
I'd probably try lighting up the corridor ... possibly with a light source at the far end ... to see if that does anything.
I would see if the sword held by the woman could be remove and see if it could be used to reflect the light into the eyes of the other statue. (It kind of looks like the one statue is gesturing that the sword is supposed to be used).
Could also see if the sword could be used to cut the tangled black line in some way (a la gordian knot).
Light doesn't seem to be part o the puzzle, though sitting in the room in darkness does start your mind to turn and think more creatively about the "hallway". After your long looks at this, they seem more like an image of two Doors that blur in and out of your vision like bathroom floor tiles. As the rest of your party comes to you and discusses the Cypher and the tangled "phrase" above the "doors", you start thinking that there might be some message within the mess. From your perspective, they still mean nothing to you.
You reach up to the hilt of the sword and pry it loose. Her fingers animate subtly, uncurling and allowing the sword to be removed. -The masculine statue now comes to life, pushing the nearest adventurer aside and starts making a slow, angry B-Line towards you as you hurriedly smack at the tangled mess of words near the ceiling above the "doors". They are two-dimensional, and the sword doesn't appear to do much besides piss off the man statue. The crystal and lensed eyes of the statue are locked on you who took the sword.
I'd try dropping the sword to see if that causes the man to de-animate, if not, give it back to the woman. When the man is de-animated, remove the eyes.
Then take both the sword and the eyes over to the rectangles, trying to look through the eyes at the rectangles as well as the squiggly line pattern to see if there's any change.
The man would redirect to the sword and hand it back to the woman. Taking the eyes causes the woman to animate, but taking them both at the same time leaves the woman standing still and the man fumbling around blindly making disadvantage attacks at you for as long as you're using the eyes.
-Deal with those slam attacks and the 20ac for a while. I'd make the sword unable to harm the man- the sword is mostly a red herring. But it's +2 weaponbreaker if you end up trying to take it with you, with a Caryatid Column hunting you blindly forever. :P
Great! The doorlike images are still the same but looking through the eyes you see a pattern in the tangled mess above. I also considered making it upside down.
You start translating- XABHYOYUIX... Its all a mess of letters, in three distinct sections. The eyes (as per CompLang) translate whatever it was into your native language.
Cool, give everything back to de-animate the statues again and read the ciphers off them and apply them to "XABHYOYUIX"
After writing everything down, analyzing the cypher on the statue that your fighter partially damaged while keeping it from blindly mauling you, you see a message. "Two doors lie in the pattern." Two more passages left. I'll give em all to ya right now, but these would be at increasingly difficult Int checks using the Linguist Cypher rules. "Revealed in dreams." and "A key lies with that which lives."
"A key lies in that which lives" makes me think, and I'm probably taking this a bit literally, that the key is embedded in one of the statues, but it has to be animated to be accessible. "Revealed in dreams" I suppose could mean it's embedded in one of the heads...
Or the key is part of living beings, like blood or something...still a bit literal...
"Revealed in dreams..." Could take that to mean it's something in your subconscious, maybe you have to literally sleep to get the hint?
Or this could all be nothing.
I'll go with this: Using my masonry tools ill examine the statues heads to at least rule out if they're hollow or anything. Next ill prick a finger and smear some blood on each rectangle. If none of that works, I'll try going to sleep.
"A key lies in that which lives" makes me think, and I'm probably taking this a bit literally, that the key is embedded in one of the statues, but it has to be animated to be accessible. "Revealed in dreams" I suppose could mean it's embedded in one of the heads...
Or the key is part of living beings, like blood or something...still a bit literal...
"Revealed in dreams..." Could take that to mean it's something in your subconscious, maybe you have to literally sleep to get the hint?
Or this could all be nothing.
I'll go with this: Using my masonry tools ill examine the statues heads to at least rule out if they're hollow or anything. Next ill prick a finger and smear some blood on each rectangle. If none of that works, I'll try going to sleep.
When there is an unconscious creature in the room, the rectangles morph into actual doors, actually. I think it'll be fun if someone gets dropped in the fighting and the doors start warping. The doors open when pushed, they are not locked. Trying to cave in the marble skulls will certainly cause them to fight back. I'm wondering though, I think I'm not using the Woman statue well enough. Maybe she should have different conditions? I'd like to think the will give her back the sword and decide "Well, let's not take the magic sword right now. if we need it, we know where to find it."
After passing through the darkened hallway, a chamber of painted stone is revealed, opening through the chord of a wide semicircle. On the opposite end of the 20ft radius chamber is a pattern drawn into the wall, depicting receding vertical rectangles. In fact, strange curves and looped pathways of color and shade escape from all sides of the pattern. Above the rectangles is a tangled mass of curving black lines about 1ft high and 15 feet across. To the left and right edges of the room are two statues facing one another across the way. On the right is a marble statue of a athletically fit woman with closed eyes and raised hand, gesturing to a held and downward pointing Bastard Sword of shimmering metal and a gilded handle. To the left is a massively built statue of a man, arms at it's sides and translucent crystal marbles in his eye sockets, refracting light like glass lenses.
I got something great here, so what would you do to try and figure this out?
First I would try to check to see if the statues would animate and kill me, because that's what statues tend to do :)
The "receding vertical rectangles" leads me to think that there is something visual and that the statue with refracting glass lenses is the key. I wouldn't be sure as to how this would work aside from seeing if the statue could be turned to face those rectangles, or a light could be passed through it's eyes.
I get an opposite signal from the other statue, which basically says look down at all times. So with that in play, perhaps aim the eyes of the other statue down (if possible) to see if a path or door is revealed as one of the rectangles comes into focus.
Disclaimer: I'm a DM so I create puzzles and don't solve them :) I am also bad at puzzles, but this is interesting !
"An' things ha' come to a pretty pass, ye ken, if people are going to leave stuff like that aroound where innocent people could accidentally smash the door doon and lever the bars aside and take the big chain off'f the cupboard and pick the lock and drink it!"
The semicircle makes me think of paintings where you only see the undistorted image in a cylindrical mirror. I would check the reflections on the sword. I would also check if different colors of light effect what you see.
My first impression is that the solution may have to do with reflections and/or refractions.
The description of the wall art sounds like it is a drawing of a rectangular hallway with light coming out of it and a black cloud above it. Does that sound accurate? Otherwise, I may just need a better description (I'm not sure how to picture the "receding vertical rectangles").
As a player, I would (roughly in order):
Let me know if any of this would turn up more clues or the solution.
We all know what happens in total darkness. ‚You are eaten by a Grue!‘
And you forgot to use the magic xyzzy formula...
I do not understand these references.
Also, can the sword be moved or angled differently? That may effect the angle at which you can view the drawing at.
Sorry, I couldn‘t resist to joke. ‚Eaten by a Grue’ was a term of the very old Infocom Zork Text adventures. When you turned off your light, it didn‘t take long until the game was ended by a grue eating you.
Classical rogue adventures like nethack had a secret phrase you could engrave into the ground to protect you being attacked. I guess I‘m way to old, now. 🙂 I even remember playing Wizardry 1...
I am having trouble imagining the picture. The receding rectangles sounds like an image of a corridor. The description you have provided seems to emphasize the refractive eyes in one statue and the reflective sword on the other. You also mentioned a darkened corridor.
I don't understand the roll of the 1'x15' tangled black lines above the images on the opposite wall.
I'd probably try lighting up the corridor ... possibly with a light source at the far end ... to see if that does anything.
I would see if the sword held by the woman could be remove and see if it could be used to reflect the light into the eyes of the other statue. (It kind of looks like the one statue is gesturing that the sword is supposed to be used).
Could also see if the sword could be used to cut the tangled black line in some way (a la gordian knot).
Holy cow! Okay let me break down this massive party's ideas...
Approaching either the man statue or the woman statue, poking them, you do not see them animate. They are incredibly lifelike in sculpted form though. You also think you notice some faint, tiny writing along their bodies. The eyes of the man statue look particularly out-of-place, as does the majestic Bastard Sword.
The statues cannot be turned, and the only light sources in the room are your torches.
If you try to turn the eyes, nothing happens, but it does seem like they may be able to be popped out.
Neither of these checks function, but upon taking close looks at the scribbles above the rectangles, there does appear to be a section of tangled messy lines and colors about one ft high and fifteen feet across, stretching above the rectangle depictions. It could mean something, but it looks like gibberish.
The receding rectangles looks like two large 7ft tall rectangles, each with a smaller black, empty rectangle within it, and another within that, getting smaller until the smallest rectangle is a few inches by half a foot.
There is writing on the statues, an old version of common on the man and elvish on the woman, in a looping tiny script. They appear to be what you could only guess are Cyphers. You don't know where a cypher would be used in this situation though.
The eyes, the sword, and the statues themselves are magical. The eyes glow with divination magic, the sword with a destructive magic.
There are no places to hoist a torch, but you could set it on the cold stone floor and it wouldn't burn out immediately. Moving it about, you only notice that the sword is very sharp and the crystal eyes seem to have lenses inside, painted like two dimensional eye-balls. You can only really tell by looking into them head-on.
The sword is held in her marble hands, but it feels like you could start jostling it to get it removed from her grasp without damaging her hand. Her right hand is over her head, reaching for the handle. Her right holds the blade at her chest-height. The eyeballs can also be removed if you put a small knife or dagger in there to pop them out.
You cover your torch, and stand in the darkness. If you have darkvision, after a minute or two you swear you think the rectangles shift and sway- though it may just be an optical illusion.
Part 1 Done, Getting the rest now.
If you start prying at the blade, you do notice it is incredibly sharp. It almost feels like her fingers give way a bit as you try to turn the blade. There is no obvious set turning position, but you could remove it.
Light doesn't seem to be part o the puzzle, though sitting in the room in darkness does start your mind to turn and think more creatively about the "hallway". After your long looks at this, they seem more like an image of two Doors that blur in and out of your vision like bathroom floor tiles.
As the rest of your party comes to you and discusses the Cypher and the tangled "phrase" above the "doors", you start thinking that there might be some message within the mess. From your perspective, they still mean nothing to you.
You reach up to the hilt of the sword and pry it loose. Her fingers animate subtly, uncurling and allowing the sword to be removed.
-The masculine statue now comes to life, pushing the nearest adventurer aside and starts making a slow, angry B-Line towards you as you hurriedly smack at the tangled mess of words near the ceiling above the "doors". They are two-dimensional, and the sword doesn't appear to do much besides piss off the man statue.
The crystal and lensed eyes of the statue are locked on you who took the sword.
I'd try dropping the sword to see if that causes the man to de-animate, if not, give it back to the woman. When the man is de-animated, remove the eyes.
Then take both the sword and the eyes over to the rectangles, trying to look through the eyes at the rectangles as well as the squiggly line pattern to see if there's any change.
The man would redirect to the sword and hand it back to the woman. Taking the eyes causes the woman to animate, but taking them both at the same time leaves the woman standing still and the man fumbling around blindly making disadvantage attacks at you for as long as you're using the eyes.
-Deal with those slam attacks and the 20ac for a while. I'd make the sword unable to harm the man- the sword is mostly a red herring. But it's +2 weaponbreaker if you end up trying to take it with you, with a Caryatid Column hunting you blindly forever. :P
Great! The doorlike images are still the same but looking through the eyes you see a pattern in the tangled mess above. I also considered making it upside down.
You start translating- XABHYOYUIX... Its all a mess of letters, in three distinct sections. The eyes (as per CompLang) translate whatever it was into your native language.
Cool, give everything back to de-animate the statues again and read the ciphers off them and apply them to "XABHYOYUIX"
After writing everything down, analyzing the cypher on the statue that your fighter partially damaged while keeping it from blindly mauling you, you see a message.
"Two doors lie in the pattern."
Two more passages left. I'll give em all to ya right now, but these would be at increasingly difficult Int checks using the Linguist Cypher rules.
"Revealed in dreams."
and
"A key lies with that which lives."
"A key lies in that which lives" makes me think, and I'm probably taking this a bit literally, that the key is embedded in one of the statues, but it has to be animated to be accessible. "Revealed in dreams" I suppose could mean it's embedded in one of the heads...
Or the key is part of living beings, like blood or something...still a bit literal...
"Revealed in dreams..." Could take that to mean it's something in your subconscious, maybe you have to literally sleep to get the hint?
Or this could all be nothing.
I'll go with this: Using my masonry tools ill examine the statues heads to at least rule out if they're hollow or anything. Next ill prick a finger and smear some blood on each rectangle. If none of that works, I'll try going to sleep.
When there is an unconscious creature in the room, the rectangles morph into actual doors, actually. I think it'll be fun if someone gets dropped in the fighting and the doors start warping. The doors open when pushed, they are not locked.
Trying to cave in the marble skulls will certainly cause them to fight back.
I'm wondering though, I think I'm not using the Woman statue well enough. Maybe she should have different conditions? I'd like to think the will give her back the sword and decide "Well, let's not take the magic sword right now. if we need it, we know where to find it."
So worst case scenario, the party is stuck here until they take a long rest and the doors appear.
Which none of them notice because they are all packed into Leomunds tiny hut...
Any smart party should still have a watch rotation, tiny hut or no