"Sure! Shoot..." [AnnoyedMan]
"Ok... so how flexible are you with your invoices - I mean do you control their content in any way?"
"Yes, we can change it any time. It's all coded in-house." [AnnoyedMan]
"So all you have to do is give each customer a unique code - say 8 characters long would be fine, if you use letters and numbers. Don't use anything that looks like a one or a zero, and you should have... let me see... you will have several lifetimes of about this many combinations..." I tapped out some numbers on my phone's calculator and showed the young man the result.
"Wow... that... is a big number...." [AnnoyedMan]
My calculator was showing an astronomically large number.
"Probably good enough, yes. Anyway, just print a new code at the top of each customer's invoice once every six months or so, and then the customer can just enter that combo of letters and numbers, plus, to discourage malicious agents on trying to register illegally... oh say have the customer also enter randomly the total or other item off the invoice as second check, and boom, they can be linked to their account automatically." [Me]
"I see... and we can just not bother printing that code on invoices for customers we know that already signed up!" [AnnoyedMan]
"Sure, and if you think the code range is too small, you can expand to 10... that is about the limit a user is willing to enter, though..." [Me]
"You know what... let me at least pay your lunch for you... I mean, we've been stymied for weeks, and this will save our poor helpdesk's sanity and also keep our customers happy! Least I can do!" [AnnoyedMan]
"Well... I can't really take any credit - this isn't my idea, it was the method we'd used for our company portal, with a few extra security checks and tricks, that I can email you if you want?" [Me]
"No no - I insist!" [NoLongerAnnoyedMan]
So I graciously gave up and accepted.
My desert arrived packed safely in two cake boxes, one large one and one small one, placed carefully in a carrying bag - so it was time to walk all the way back home.
The sun was pleasant and the air was not too cold, so my short hike was refreshing.
Oh, and I changed the yellow pin to green on my phone's map.
Definitely a place I will grace again - and when handing over the desert, the waiter even mentioned that they deliver, in case I was too lazy.
I am so going to use that!
Back to "Balza D’Uhm"!
Oh, the other two are already here at the henge.
"What meow?" [SnaggleMeow]
"This... monument of epic proportions... puzzling, puzzling indeed!" [Professor]
"Well, let's check each stone, maybe one of them has something on it... a clue or something?" [Me]
So we did.
We inspected every single stone, from every angle. Top to bottom.
Nothing.
"So philomechanicaly1Not actually a word. Trust me, I checked it. No idea what it means - probably just a $5 fake word. speaking, perchance we observe this monument from a peripheral distance of say several hundred yards? I shall perambulate northwards, away from our initial approach." [Professor]
"And I'll go west...maybe the surroundings have a clue, good idea..." [Me]
"K, I go east, meow..." [SnaggleMeow]
So we each of us "perambulated" in our diverse directions for a bit.
The henge was just a henge, sitting there all by itself except for some sheep on one side where SnaggleMeow now was, and some fluffy-fluffy sage bushes where I was.
The area around the Professor was barren.
I checked the sage bushes, and even bounced on a few for a bit.
Nope.
Nothing.
Nada.
Zilch.
No clue.
Unless the sheep had whispered something to SnaggleMeow, we were back to square one.
We converged back into the middle area of the henge.
"So... the sage bushes were a bust. How about you two? Did the sheep mention anything, SnaggleMeow?" [Me]
"No." [SnaggleMeow]
Short and sweet as always.
"Indubitably nothing to be discerned of any geological, philosophical, or metaphysical nature from the northern quadrant. Drat it." [Professor]
Way to go to say nothing in such a long sentence there.
But that is how one role-plays properly so who am I to complain?
We have been attempting to get a clue from this henge for two hours in real time.
And one hour real time is twelve game hours.
So in-game, we've been at this for a day now, with nothing to show for it.
"Mrrrrweow.... Idea! Map? Look at it?" [SnaggleMeow]
"Eh? Oh... yeah we never looked at the map when we arrived, did we? Let's see.... oh... no new area... but this area now has a name attached...." [Me]
"Ringinghenge? Well of course the henge is a ring, that is the main purpose of being a henge... to be a ring! It is platonically2Another "professorism" here... where does he find these non-words, anyway? obvious!" [Professor]
"Outer stones ringing around the inner stone. Meowthing3"Nothing" strange there?" [SnaggleMeow]
We all put our heads together over the map.
Think.........
Ah...
"Wait a moment. Is says "ringing"! Not "ring". It has that extra "-ing". So not ringing as in surrounding, but maybe ringing as in... sound?" [Me]
The other two slapped their respective foreheads.
"Of course! Indubitably we have been staring at the forest too long and missed the singe obvious tree!" [Professor]
"Feel a bit silly, meow4"now"..." [SnaggleMeow]
"Let me try something..." [Me]
I unloaded my revolver - and was happy the six shots return to inventory, because I already had used a lot of bullets, trying to hit snakes the other day...
Grabbing my revolver at the wrong end, I hit the butt against middle rock... gently.
PINGgggggggggg
Aha!
"Meow5"Now" me..." [SnaggleMeow]
SnaggleMeow took out a dagger from who-knows-where, flipped it over, and also tapped the middle rock with the pommel.
PINGGgggggg
"Ok, I'll try an outer rock..." [Me]
And...
PAAAaangggggggggg
Oh a different sound.
"Meowsic6"Music"!" [SnaggleMeow]
"Indeed, a melodiously surprising development that takes away words from even this humble researcher of the mysterious!" [Professor]
"Nice! So... here's what we will do... I will run around the circle out here, and tap each stone as I pass it... and you SnaggleMeow will try and tap the middle stone as I am in-between tapping these outer stones... makes sense?" [Me]
"Yes. Start... meow7"now"?" [SnaggleMeow]
So we started this exercise.
Ping... Pang... Ping... Pang... Ping... Pang...
As I reached the same pillar for the second time, I tripped.
The ground had started to shake and move.
"Earthquake!" [Professor]
That must have been the shortest sentence from the Professor ever...
Also... thanks Professor Obvious!
"Ringing is meowking8"making" stairs!" [Professor]
And indeed, the henge pieces and the surround earth dropped down into the earth, creating a sort of giant's staircase down.
"Go down meow?" [SnaggleMeow]
So we carefully climbed down the new stairs.
At the end of the stairs was a tunnel entrance, which we peeked into.
The walls were smooth, and the floor clear except for a thin layer of dust.
There were no forks - just a straight tunnel leading slightly down.
One thing that started bothering me - the tunnel was brightly lit.
It was times like these that I realized we were in a computer game - even though of course I was sitting in front of a monitor, normally my brain disassociated the surrounding reality, and I fully embraced the fantasy world.
But none of us had torches or magic means of making light.
Magic was not an inherent skill a player could even have - rather, I had read in in-official game forums that certain artifacts and locations had effects that could be seen as being magic.
So a brightly lit underground tunnel... yeah, convenient, but also sort of a mood killer, you know?
I didn't have much time to think about these abstract musings, though...
SKKRTT SKRRT SKKK
A suspicious noise up ahead!
"Meow what?" [SM]
"Ah, my finely tuned senses and academic background seems to recognize that noise! Giant Scarabs!" [P]
I pulled out my revolver, reloaded it, and aimed at the closest scarab.
PANG
Eh???
"I didn't even dent it! Let's retreat for now!" [Me]
"Post haste away we go-aye, retreat to fight another day!" [Professor]
"That did not really ryhme, Professor..." [Me]
"I shall endeavour to be more creative post-haste. For now, I am sprinting for my very essence, nay, life!" [Professor]
We ran back and climbed up the first two steps and turned around.
The scarabs had followed us up to the first step - but now they stopped moving.
"They stopped - now what?" [Me]
"If we had some sort of explosive or acidic device, we could rid ourselves of these insectoid scavengers..." [Professor]
"Fire?" [SnaggleMeow]
Hmmm...
I stepped down as far as the top of the last step, and looked down.
One of the scarabs sprung forward and tried to climb up to me.
It could not quite make it, and with a sad little flop, fell backwards onto its shell.
A glowing light appeared, and in place of the scarab a few copper coins dropped with a faint clink to the tunnel floor.
"Ah, I see meow..." [SnaggleMeow]
SnaggleMeow pulled a long thin sabre out of nowhere, jumped past me and then all the way down.
A speedy thrust of the sabre under a scarab's head, and SnaggleMeow flipped it deftly onto its back before hopping back up onto the step.
Another light, this time a blob of something described as "scarab meat" was left behind.
"Try whip meow?" [SnaggleMeow]
"Eh... ok, why not, it's been useless up to meow... I mean <<now>>..." [Me]
Snap...
FLIP
"Oh! That worked?" [Me]
This time piece of "scarab shell" was left behind.
It took us almost an hour to flip our way through the onslaught of scarabs.
And every so often, both my whip and SnaggleMeow's sabre would glow for a moment.
Cool, our weapon skills were levelling up!
And other than a pile of copper coins amounting to just under a single gold coin, we got many possibly useless scarab related items.
Antenna, shells, meat, legs, eyes, and other various parts - enough to build a few scarabs from scratch, if we wanted to play Frankenstein.
Eventually, we reached another campfire ring.
A placid underground lake spread out in-front of us - we could not see the ceiling as a slight fog hovered above our heads.
A dock stretched into the water, at the end of which was a rough table.
A single a glass goblet stood in the exact middle of the table.
As we got closer, a will-o-wisp appeared next to the goblet.
Ah, one of the rumoured puzzle AI maybe?
"Pass this test and the ferry will arrive!" [Will-O-Wisp]
"Fair enough, with our outstanding intellect and foresight we should be able to resolve this conundrum post haste!" [Professor]
Well, at least someone was optimistic.
SnaggleMeow stepped forward and attempted to lift the goblet.
It did not budge.
"Stuck. What meow?" [SnaggleMeow]
"Well... hey will-o-wisp, can you get into that goblet?" [Me]
It nodded and proceeded to sit in the goblet.
And...
Nothing ...
"Heh, well it was worth a try... thanks, you can get out now." [Me]
The will-o-wisp followed my request, and hovered again next to the goblet.
"Ah, nefarious puzzle indeed - but what other than liquid should such a fine glassware hold? Perchance we should decant some water into it? I will try so..." [Professor]
Said, and done. The Professor carefully poured some water from his canteen into the goblet.
Still nothing - except the will-o-wisp suddenly started trembling.
Where we onto something?
And seeing the half full glass, I remembered...
He used to do this, annoying me to no end.
Each time we drank white wine - and only then - he would dip his finger into the wine, and...
"Try rubbing a wet finger around the rim of the glass?" [Me]
"Ah, splendid idea, the above henge puzzle was also musically inclined, perchance this one, too? Here we go..." [Professor]
As the professor made the glass sing, the will-o-wisp disappeared, and a creaky wooden long boat appeared - at one end a shadowing figure - the ferryman.
Or rather, the ferry-being?
The shadowy being handed SnaggleMeow - being the closest - a piece of stained parchment.
"It says here meow... Ferry ride: One gold coin per each passenger, or an answer to <<When is a coin not money?>>" [SnaggleMeow]
"...???!!!" [Professor and Me]
"I think I know this meow... when it is a corner?" [SnaggleMeow]
"Oh that was quick! But why..." [Me]
"French for corner is <<coin>> except one says it <<kwan>> you meown9"know" - a bit of a stretch, but SnaggleMeow does try.?... well can't write it exact meow... french nasal sound in there. " [SnaggleMeow]
With that the parchment vanished, and the apparition waved us to board.
We did.
Sometimes it is nice to solve puzzles super quick, especially as we have been running into one puzzle after the other...
The apparition slash ferry-being just stood at the back of the boat - and the boat simply drifted on its own across the water.
The Professor hunkered down and with a "Wake me when we get there, oy!" nodded off.
SnaggleMeow on the other hand took a fishing rod out of who-knows-where, and started to fish.
Almost immediately one fish after the other was pulled into the boat - that was some high level fishing skill there!
I had looked at fishing rods in the tent city, but at 11 gold just for the rod, that was sort of over my budget at the time,
"I share - take some fish meow. Eat meow or later..." [SnaggleMeow]
"Ah, it is raw - I'll cook it at the next campfire we rest at, thanks!" [Me]
After a pleasant and otherwise uneventful boat ride, we arrived at the other side of the underground lake.
The shadowy apparition pointed to the land - a sign we should get out.
And on the beach just a few steps from the dock we found another stone fire pit.
"Further, meow? Or..." [SnaggleMeow]
"By certs, let us take a precursory diversion into the beguiling vegetation ahead!" [Professor]
"Sure we can go on a bit more - lets see what's ahead at least?" [Me]
Not seven steps into the jungle a huge flower dropped down and engulfed the leading Professor.
And with its prey firmly captured, the flower pulled back up into the tree tops again.
"Ahhh????" [Me]
"What meow??? Oh... oh... I don't look so goo..." [SnaggleMeow]
Coloured sparks surrounded the dissolving SnaggleMeow.
And with that, I was alone...
But just for a couple of heart beats - the coloured sparks were back, this time swirling around me.
"Well, I guess it's m....." [Me]
