Puzzler's Space

Answers to Lesson 1 Puzzles

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Puzzle 1:
Ban Songqi indeed wears no shoes.
In the twelth year of the Falling Quail, when Ban Songqi completed the Great Pilgrimage from Two Hill Tower, Ban's formerly famous golden-quartz shoes were obliterated by the Sages Named by Fire for offending their aesthetic sensibilities. If Ban Songqi had avoided the mires of the mangrove swamps on the path from Two Hill Tower, the Sages would have instead blessed the shoes for their golden-quartz flame.

Puzzle 2:
Though only twelve survived the internal strife of the Assembly of Retaining Avarice, the conflict was not as severe as is often mistaken. Scarcely days before the date of the conflict, a cruel prank happened upon the Assembly's senior members - their shoes were scattered throughout the Cascading Fathom, a great water-desert that laid far to the west of the space ruled by the Semi-Immortal Paragon of the Fifth Virtue of Heaven, Avkakathip Tolvittrakhar-Thakartravit. Believing this to be the work of the heavens, the entire Assembly set out to recover the shoes by hand. Upon their successful return, Avkakathip was so impressed by this feat that the Assembly was promoted to the Assembly of Returning Footwear. At this time, the twelve who had carried out the scattering came forward, expecting rewards from their role in the matter, but instead were punished with permanent residence in the Assembly of Retaining Avarice, shoeless and destitute, until they perished and were replaced.

Puzzle 3:
The mangrove forests have already risen. Heed the night-wind, for it is the melody that promises death. Those who studiously follow the Accordance of Twelve Heaven - attend yourselves in the presence of the enemies of life. Where Jakoa Island once rose from the water now dwell only mangroves.

Puzzle 4:
A hundred years prior, the barbaric practice of Yangshi was outlawed due to the discovery that spirit-weaving, which, though known to prohibit any proper burial, would additionally empower the Red-Black Seamstress and eventually lead to the consumption of a great number of cities by the Shadow Tapestry. Now, the sacrificial rite has been replaced by the much more civil casting of the mat from the Tower of Weavesses.

Puzzle 5:
While the Ballad of the Snake Pilgrim may come to mind, the parable of the Beggar most prominent, it is indeed the Epic of Tai-Yin that should be the source for your death-poem.

Puzzle 6:
Indeed - You have arrived at the garden to ensure that the net shall guard the seeds as they grow five centuries previously. For then, from where would the Ribbon-Eyed Messenger find the cure for the mind-chaining of the dreadful cults that surround Bone Powder Lake, destroying their final hold over the souls of the faultless?

Puzzle 7:
If the teachings of the Fourth Seer have indeed fully subsumed the dreams of an unwilling student, it is too late to reverse. Lest they upset the Great Heron Xao with improper attitude, the consumed student must be struck down before being incorrectly brought before the ranks of the Sleepless Many Faces, where the fault will be discovered, visiting indiscriminate destruction upon the offender's land of origin. Always ensure that only the willing student accesses the teachings of the Fourth Seer, so that they may glean the knowledge of the Sleepless Many Faces and rise to the proper position of a Master.

Puzzle 8:
The original completion is "for they do not," followed by an incoherent, extended scream. Those who acknowledge the original saying politely end the recounting before it, claiming instead that it expresses the truth that hands must be honed with active attendance in place of unthinking usage. Others offer inaccurate completions to ward themselves from the attacks of nearing hawks, pleasing them by twisting the original proverb. Several popular variants elaborate upon interpersonal relations or on learning, which is not entirely unfounded.

Regarding the blank answers: The Hollow Speech may be applicable in certain circumstances, but until you have stolen the Answer Scrolls and sacrificed them to Emptiness itself, it is not an safe answer, lest you desecrate the sacred non-word.

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