(Treasure) The Crusted Jewel

Treasure Goblin

Hidden: Rules

• This is a monthly event where you can earn jewels, which purchase a treasure box!
• Replies must be more than 100 words, but less than 500.
• You must roleplay your answer out in-character.
• Only one attempt per OOC account
  
• The thread will remain open until three people have correctly identified the location of the ball.
• The first three to respond with the correct answer will win a prize.
• After every guess, Sven will have the cups shuffled again.

Within the depths of Sodom, there was a tavern like many others. Old, dusty, and filled with the smell of smoke and ale, The Crusted Jewel managed to live up to its namesake in more ways than one. While many hire entertainers to captivate their customers in amusing ways, none had chosen a more exciting duo than the proprietors of the Crusted Jewel. Standing in the back, surrounded by a roaring crowd, was a raven-haired beauty who danced around an empty table much to the men's delight. Eventually, the group parted letting through a man in all black, upon the table he placed three pewter glasses upside down, before turning to the crowd with a smile. Various eyes within the now silent crowd gleamed of greed as he paused and produced a small golden ball from his pocket, rolling it around his fingers as he spoke,

Sven

Listen here, and I will tell you the rules.

Rule number one, ignore what you know, the only rules that matter are the those I say.

Rule number two, you only have one guess, any more will be ignored.

Rule number three is my lucky rule. You'll figure it after some time, or at least I hope you will.

Rule number four, not all rules matter at all times.

Rule number six, only three can be winners, first come, first served.

Rule number seven, I don't always tell you the truth, unless its a rule.

Rule number eight, I choose my words carefully, so should you.

Rule number nine, to win, tell me the location of the ball.

Rule number ten, I like to give hints, but they are easy to miss.

Rule number eleven, only refer to me as Sven."

Slowly Sven turned, moving back behind the table, "I know you know this game, 'tis very straightforward after all, you see the cups, and you see the ball." As he spoke he lightly tapped each of the three pewter glasses, "The object is to correctly identify which cup the ball is hidden under. First, I will place the ball within one of the cups". Demonstrating this with a smile, Sven slid the golden ball under the middle cup, before shaking it about in dramatic fashion producing a metallic 'clink' each time. Gracefully he stepped away extending his hand to the raven-haired beauty from before, "Next, my beautiful assistant will then move the cups around to and fro. Where will they land? Only the blind will know. If you're having a hard time let me give you a hint, watch our assistant's hips." The raven-haired girl moved in a rhythmic pattern, shuffling the cups on the table with an increasing tempo until they were practically a blur. "Which cup do you think is correct?" Sven asked rounding the table with an ever-present grin. The audience seemed stunned by the girl's speed; none willing to venture the first guess. "When you think you know, and you're absolutely sure, raise your fist, and tell me your answer. Should it be right, I'll award you with coin, sounds easy enough, no?" Barely a heartbeat later a man moved forward, thrusting his hand into the air, "Imma guess the left one!" he declared pointing at the cup furthest to his left. Sven smiled, as he picked up the leftmost cup revealing that it did not contain the prize the man had sought. Sven clicked his tongue as if there had been a simple mistake before dramatically lifting the middle cup, revealing the ball.

Sven's eyes widened clearly growing excited, "That was unfair, I know, I'll repeat myself. Make sure to listen, again."

"I know you know this game," he said mimicking his earlier speech, "It's straightforward after all, you see the cups, and you see the ball. The object is to correctly identify which cup the ball is hidden under. First, I will place the ball in one of the cups..." Sven said again as he moved placing the ball under the middle cup, shaking it, and once more producing a metal 'clink' from within. "Next, my beautiful assistant will then move the cups around to and fro. Where will they land? Only the blind will know. If you're having a hard time let me give you a hint, watch my assistant's hips." Once more the raven-haired beauty stepped forward and moved the cups with blurring speed and accuracy. "Which cup do you think is right?" Sven asked rounding the table once more, "When you think you know, and you're absolutely sure, raise your hand, and tell me your answer. Should it be right, I'll award you with coin, sounds easy enough, no?"

The room sat in silence for several moments, as each man and woman pondered the riddle before them. The answer was there before them, all they had to do was see it.

0/3 Rewards Claimed

 

However the hell Nalla had stumbled upon the shady establishment, it was unknown, though not peculiar. She had adopted a habit of wandering, when her nose was not stuffed between pages of some foreign, literary passage. With her hands in her pocket, she was perhaps as intrigued as most of the crowd was on the topic of the riddle. She fancied a good conundrum, and so, approaching the duo, she slipped between the crowd, eyes carefully assessing the challenge.

Her first idea was, as most would attempt, to follow the shifting of the cups. If she were able to lock on, through utilizing investigation mode, perhaps she could cheat the system, obtaining an unfathomable edge over her competition. In this process, she kept a careful eye, as the three objectives were shuffled to and fro. While she had listened to the initial rules carefully, the later spoken words of the instructor was like radio chatter around her, nothing but muffled nonsense that she payed no attention to. Finally, upon the cups coming to a halt, she smiled. Confident in her keen eye, she stared directly at the leftmost cup. It had to be! The smirk that came across her face reeked of arrogance, and her lips parted to answer, before she was interrupted.

"Imma guess the left one!" She winced. Had her prize been stolen?! Staring even more intently as the leftmost cup was raised, her grimace turned to bewilderment, as she had been incorrect in her prediction! Luckily, it seemed that Sven, this mysterious creator the game, was to repeat the idea.

Only the blind will know. It was a phrase she had dismissed before, perhaps just a silly phrase in order to create rhyme, but something seemed peculiar about it. Nalla's mind was intent on holding onto that phrase. Between her other four senses, maybe the answer was hidden. With her nose, she only smelled the ale. With her tongue, she had only the fading taste of a chicken leg. With her hands, she felt nothing but the insides of her pockets. But with her ears... Perhaps all she had to do was listen.

"Which cup is right you wonder?" Nalla kept her eyes closed, listening and reviewing the words spoken previously. Only the blind... Three cups. The third rule is lucky. The sixth rule is about three winners. But there was no fifth rule? At the very least, the third cup would be the rightmost, if one were counting the cups as though one were reading a sentence, from left to right. After all, in his final statements, the word right was referenced twice.

"Sven." She bit her lip, heart rattling as she spoke up, a bit intimidated by the idea of getting the answer wrong. After all, it was a rule that she had only a single guess. If she proposed an incorrect answer... Clenching her fist, and banishing her nerves, she spoke up with her answer, hopefully developed enough. "I guess the rightmost cup."

 

OOC Note

• I will not be responding after every guess; I will wait until some time has passed or there are several correct answers. (After all, that's hardly fair)
• I might give you a few hints after an undetermined amount of time has passed.
• Don't worry about the person's guess before you. It will not affect the outcome, right or wrong.

 

"When you think you know, and you're absolutely sure, raise your hand, and tell me your answer. Should it be right, I'll award you with coin, sounds easy enough, no?"

She stood idly as the blue-haired girl raised her hand up high and gave her best guess, leaving her confounded. Of course! How could she have been so blind?! Or, well, hearing-impaired?!

"Genius!" she grinned, clapping the girl on the back. And a stroke of genius it was for Nalla to discern the ball's true location. She had absolutely no idea how Nalla had done it (maybe she could detect superspeedy moves?) but Alphabet Chocolate wanted that pretty coin first and foremost and, even if Nalla already found out where the ball presumably was, Alpha cared less for the game and more for the prize.

Well, she liked the game too but that reward was so nice and shiny!

"So, uh, you said that if I say right you'd give me a coin, right?" Alpha raised her fist in the air, tilting her head. "So, uh, right!" she grinned, proud of her moment of brilliance. There was no need for her to play the game when that handsome man (named Sven) had already promised her a reward for simply saying a single word!

Feeling simply wonderful, she began shaking her hips to the beat the assistant had went earlier. "And I'm on tonight you know my hips don't lie, and I'm starting to feel it's right. All the attraction, the tension! Don't you see baby, this is perfection!"

 

Celestine choked out several coughs, each one releasing a little puff of the smoke she’d inhaled. Smoking was terrible: why on earth had she actually tried that? Blech. Worst way to pass the time… EVER. Luckily it didn’t take long until the main attraction arrived, so she was quick to drop the pipe and let whoever found it make off with it.

“Hm… these games are always having a trickery to them,” she hummed to herself as the cups whirled. Right from the beginning, she’d been paying close attention to the specific wording, but nothing had felt too off about it. Sure, his wording was a little strange, but there didn’t seem to be much of a pattern to it.

Sven repeated himself. The ball certainly looked like it was in the cup the whole time… maybe it really was just a simple game of following the cup, though his rules implied otherwise. It was only when she was about to raise her hand and go for the one-in-three chance that she realized something….

“Ooohhhh,” she chimed to herself in understanding as she pieced it together. Glancing at Sven, she pondered it for a second. “So if one of his rules is that he doesn’t always do a truth, is it really there…?” She pondered it a bit but shook her head. Wasn't worth stressing over: that part might've just been the cups. Also, what was with those rules…?

...

After letting a couple people go before her as she pondered it, Celestine raised her hand and paused for a moment, letting it hang there until she finally answered:

“You are in Sven’s right hand.”

 

...The heck...? Didn't he just skip the 5th rule...? I didn't imagine it right...? Ehhhh~is that like supposed to be~some sort of clue...?

Captain Cosma looked around her at the excited crowd. They were really beside themselves and getting carried away.

Is it just me? Am I the weird one? Eh...but the 5th...whaaaa~? Really...?

People were already shouting out their answers which made Cosma antsy, even so, she didn't answer right way. Concentrating on the ball and cups before her...

...Watch his assistant's hips, he says. That's like super sexual harassment, man, like super duper pervy...jeez! I don't wanna do that! Wait...never mind her hips! There's something else that's sloshin supah fast! Yeesh! That's gross! Guys are idiots, stop cheerin' ya dogs... wait... I'm a doggy, erm yah dirty claapin' walruses!!!

Something clicked. It was probably the wrong thing, and she felt it was, but even so...

...Ya've gotta be kidding me...there's no way, right? It better not be...but everyone's already taken their shots and they've all flown out wide...

Captain Cosma placed a hand on her chin, she was deep in thought, a rare sight to be sure.

5th...Cup...

Three cups upon the table, sure, then Captain Cosma looked at the assistant's bountiful chest, plus two. Those extra cups were really putting on a show as she shuffled the ones upon the table. Nearly touching the table themselves, as it were, she was rearranging those cups at what seemed like super sonic speeds...

noway noway.noway.noway.noway.noway! But...ah jeez...seriously...?

Captain Cosma slowwwwwlly raised her fist, as if, in resignation...

And in a flat, monotone, voice she said...

"hey... like... I really hope I'm wrong here... but like... it's not in her bra... is it...?"

 

OOC Note

This thread will be closing in 24 hours. Please make sure to post any guesses before this time. The answer to the puzzle, (as well as any winners), will be announced shortly after.

Hint: A player can solve this easier, than a character can.

 

Emerath had wandered into this tavern by chance. Though he had heard it had some interesting shows, and a rather fun one had presented itself for the evening. And so it appeared that a chance encounter might turn a profit. Emerath watched the show, from beginning to end. Each time someone would guess, and each time Sven would reveal the answer and swap the cups.

As Emerath watched, he could tell the misdirection everywhere. There were things that changed between each speaking of his mantra, and there were clues hidden throughout, but there were a few key things that stuck out in Emerath's mind as he watched each participant come and go.

"Only the blind will know," he muttered to himself, "the cup clinks with the ball in it." So he focused on the sound. He closed his eyes and tuned out the din of the tavern. He listened for the clinking as the assistant moved the cups around, but no sound was made. She couldn't be moving the cups that fast and be making no sound. But Emerath watched Sven put the ball down and move away.

"The middle cup isn't moving. It makes no sound. Only a blind man could know that. That's the only way he'd know where it moved. Or more accurately... didn't move to. But what if there is trickery here? What if it's in his hand?" Emerath mused to himself, before saying, "No, there are three winners. A trick like that only works once. He shuffles each time someone guesses, and if someone knew it was in his hand, everyone would guess that. But if the ball is always in the blind man's cup, the middle one, then three people could win, even if they just guessed lucky."

And so when the last answer was made, Emerath thrust his fist into the air, simply stating, "Sven, the ball is in the same cup it started in. In this case, the middle cup." Emerath was sure of it.

 

_____Kaede blinked for a few moments, watching both man and woman guess while she simply sat and watched. Sighing lightly she got up from her spot and walked over, fist clench tightly before slamming it against the table with every ounce of strength she had in her body while her other hand moved the cups with a shallow yawn. "You should be more clear on your rules sometimes, at no point did you say we can't touch the cups." Lifting each while her hand that once slammed the table rose to the air.

"The ball is here."

Without much doubt she would keep the cup that once covered the ball raised off it and point with her finger to the object she had to find. Street game vendors really needed to be more clear, that or make sure people did not walk up exploit a flaw.

 

She had seen something like this in street performances, though it isn't exactly the same. The performer, namely Sven, declared some rules before doing the game. So this is not the usual game of chance, or is it? Either way, Corvella decided to watch closely before making any guesses. If she blew it, there's no second chance.

The first time the ball entered the middle cup, Sven shook the cup few times before his assistant took over and moved the cups in such supersonic speed, leaving no clue at all to where the cup with the ball had gone to. A man guessed, and it turns out that the ball is still in the middle cup. Smiling, Sven went out to repeat the process with the same sentences. If only she had used Investigation Mode, maybe it could help to see the movement, of course if there's no trick like he heavily implies. This whole thing is like a riddle.

The last time, the cup that contains the ball did not move at all. Now Sven is doing the same exact thing, even reciting the same instructions, so isn't it logical to assume that the outcome will the same as the last? Corvella raised her arm high before pointing to the cup in the middle "Of course the ball is still in the middle."

 

Sven smiled as @Nalla bravely stepped forward, her voice echoing over all of those who stood pondering the puzzle before them. With a flick of his wrist, however, he revealed the cup to be empty while simultaneously revealing the middle cup to hold the ball once more. As Sven stepped aside to let the beautiful assistant shuffle the cups once more, he called out to Nalla, "If there were a prize for being brave, I'd give it to you now, but alas there are only three to be given out this night."

There was a pause of hesitation throughout the crowd as those around murmured and mumbled by themselves. Eventually it was the unlikely @Alphabet Chocolate who stepped forward with a smile shouting her opinion as loud as can be. Sven merely shook his head in amusement, "The right? A clever response. I'd give you a prize if it weren't for rule number nine." With a smile he he moved to reveal that the middle cup held the ball once more, and again the cups were shuffled as they were before.

Seemingly off the bounds of the girls guess, another in the form of @Celestine moved forward asking questions in an unsure manner before raising her hand and declaring that Sven held the ball all along! Sven laughed, thumbing his nose, before giving the girl a wink and turning to the crowd asking, "Any other guesses?"

Before anyone else could speak it was @Captain Cosma who stepped forward. Though she had not said much, her face was drawn in heavy concentration as her eyes focused on the assistant's bust, suddenly declaring it to be the hiding place of the ball! Sven laughed, as he pulled the middle cup up revealing the ball once more, "While I'm sure there are those who would like, for me, to check for items on my lovely assistant you will need to take my word, that this ball is the one I hid."

Sven smiled, backing away from the table as his assistant took the cups to task once more. As her hands worked furiously, @Emerath Katou stepped forward, speaking his logic in a concise manner. Once the raven haired girl moved away from the table, Emerath gave his answer, to which Sven clicked his tongue. "There are three winners?" He asked, pulling the middle cup from the table revealing its contents to be empty, "No, but there can be." Sven's lips then moved as if to say more, but instead curled into a sly smile as his hand moved to the rightmost cup, picking it up to reveal the sought after prize.

Eventually the table was reset, and the game a foot once more. This time it was @Corvella who moved forward venturing the same guess. Sven clicked his tongue, as he once again revealed the ball to be in the rightmost cup as opposed to the middle. "A valid attempt, but that logic is simply flawed. If there is a next time, I'd advise you to try again." With a laugh Sven moved away allowing his lady friend to take the lead once more.

The act continued, with Sven and his assistant trading places and shuffling the cups. It was @Kaede Hoshi, with sheer determination written upon her face, who moved forward next. The assistant backed away as Kaede approached and attacked the table, only to start systematically picking each cup up, and setting it back down. Alas, her plan proved for not, as each cup seemed empty. Sven looked as puzzled as the others as she dictated the balls location being in one of the empty cups. "The ball is here? That doesn't seem to be the case" With a confused look on his face, Sven put each cup back as it should have been. "Hm is it here?" he asked lifting the right most cup, revealing it to be empty. "How about here?" He picked up the left most cup, revealing it to be empty as well. With a sudden huff Sven slapped his head, "Of course! I know where it is!" With a sly smile he moved lifting the middle cup and revealing the ball once more. "No. That's where it is." Sven made little attempt to hide his mocking smile, as his assistant moved forward once more shuffling the cups.

The night dragged on, and many tried their guess, only to find themselves time and time again denied the satisfaction of being told 'they win'. Eventually the customers began to grow bored, and the beer began to run thin, causing Sven to stop the act, and pick up a cup. "It was a good night, a good game for all around, but like all good things it must come to an end. I'm sad to say there will not be three winners tonight." With a sudden flourish he presented the cup, now filled with three golden balls to @Celestine, "But rather, only a single one. Congratulations! And to the rest of you have a good night!" A mixture of cheers a boos began to echo throughout the tavern as Sven made towards the exit, his assistant quickly rushing to his side. "What about the fifth rule?" she asked with a smile. Sven smiled and bent down to reply, but his voice was lost to the streets as he exited the door.

OOC Note

Thank you everyone for your participation. I really enjoyed writing this, and though it turned out a bit harder than I would have liked, I think it went well. That said I'd appreciate if you could fill out a quick survey regarding future treasure events so I know what interests to cater towards: Click To Access Survey Here

There was actually more than one way to solve this riddle but I'll tell the one I felt was the easiest to figure out.

Hidden: Solution

Rule 8 should indicate that Sven's/Player's wording would be key to solving this puzzle. After Sven stated the instructions, there are several hints to the true location, but for this clue the more important one is what he says after, "That was unfair, I know, I'll repeat myself. Make sure to listen, again". While it -could- have been a lie, its Sven admitting that you probably don't have enough information to solve the puzzle, and to pay attention a second time. Sven then repeats the second iteration of the 'instructions' and you notice almost no changes. As a couple people pointed out, there are slight variations in each of the tellings. What you may have been missed is that if you pick out all five of the differences it says, "tis within our correct fist" in the first iteration and "Its in my right hand" in the second. Again, this may have been a lie, but there were other clues to lead you to this truth.

This is why I end the post with, 'The answer was there before them, all they had to do was see it.'

Again this isn't the only method of solving this, and there a multiple attempts of misdirection via Sven, which I think is really what made this a bit more difficult than some expected.