Hyrule Adventures 2

OoC: Leth got it!

IC:

A small, defeated sigh escaped Arrika's lips as Leth answered the riddle correctly. "You're right. He's the King of Hyrule, and it isn't polite to stare..."

An old woman sat across from her, and to make the situation even more uncomfortable, she was a Sheikah. Arrika had always felt uneasy around the elderly, especially those with such knowing, piercing eyes...

The elation she felt upon finally seeing Gossip Isle was deflated once the pairs were announced.

"I wish I could have tagged along with you..." she said truthfully to Alpha as she sighed and stood from the table.

She double-checked the weapons at her side before descending onto the island.

Immediately, she felt just as uneasy seeing the ancient Sheikan architecture as she had when Song sat opposite her at breakfast. It left her with a prickly feeling, as if something strange and unknown was crawling across her skin. Standing before her was history, a legacy left by people she would never know, who were wiser than she would ever be. She had never felt very interested in her own race before, but that changed the second she stepped onto the island.

She peered at the ancient writing, ran her finger across the mystical Sheikan eye, and wondered if she shouldn't be able to decode naturally. She left it to the scribes.

The Sheikah glanced back at the ship for Thea, then scanned her surroundings.

[Awareness Check]

Me? Paired up with the great Alpha?? Leth thought incredulously. He’d fought with Alpha on numerous occasions; the most prominent one he could remember was that brief battle with the Wizzrobe Bertram in the North/South pass. I’ll only slow him down! His combat skills are way out of my league; he can sling magic and use cool moves and do that flippy thing with his staff. All I can do is shoot some arrows, which I recently have discovered tend to not do a whole lot of damage. Fat lotta good that’ll do us. Leth shot a glance at Alpha to see what he was thinking. Hopefully I won’t get in his way too much. He approached Alpha.

“Well, looks like we’re together, then.” Leth said. “I don’t know how much I’ll be able to help, but I’ll try my best.” He glanced back to see what the others were doing. Translating the stones, it looked like. Leth wouldn’t be able to help much in that regard; that looked to be more like the job for a knowledgeable scribe or other some such literary expert. He decided that the better thing to do would be to get a good grip on his surroundings. He looked around everywhere, being sure to get as much information as his brain could handle.

awareness check

Saber's keen eyes scan the ground for tracks, but he finds nothing. [Track - Pass]. No tracks whatsoever dot the area near the ruins. "You'll have no luck with that, Saber." Dogura announced as he passed the mercenary on his way to the next stone. He knelt down next to another stone that had words engraved in it. "The animals of the island don't venture near the ruins. It's another thing that baffles modern science." The samurai examined the stone, and looked back down at the paper, and back to the stone. "Besides," he continued, "we needed search for animals right now. I'm pretty sure everyone's stuffed from William's fantastic breakfast." He smiled at William, and the soldier nodded in thanks.

Arrika's eyes find nothing out of place around her area. [Awareness check - Fail]. The trees swayed in the breeze, and the sky was as blue as ever. If nothing else, she could appreciate the beautiful island she was on. The weather couldn't have been more perfect for the expedition. White puffy clouds sailed by overhead, and the chatter of monkeys could be heard far off in the distance. A couple of the trees around the area had fruit clinging to their leaves. A coconut tree here, and an orange tree there. Nobody would be able to starve on the island, that's for sure. The grass was lush and green, and the air smelled pure and sweet. Stones sat all around the area, some with words carved into them. William could be seen kneeling next to Dogura, 'helping' to decode the stones. Taint was visible wandering around taking in the sights of the island. Not much else to see, unless she wanted to enter one of the few towers around the area. They had entrances and stairs, although they looked a little rickety like everything else in area.

Leth's observation of his surroundings includes everything Arrika could see from where she was standing. [Awareness Check - Pass] However, he was able to count up how many tall towers stood around. There appeared to be only three, each with stairs leading presumably to the top. The closest one to him, he was able to make out a symbol above the cracked entrance. It looked to be the symbol of the Kokiri Emerald. But why here, out on the vast expanses of the ocean? And on Sheikan architecture for that matter? All there was to do was either explore around the stones, or enter one of the three towers. The towers looked like they could crumble away at any minute however. If they'd stood the test of time, they had to be sturdy, but the cracks running up and down them said otherwise.

Taint walked up the stairs, and down the stone path, examining all of the stones. "They're so impressive. How did the Sheikah manage to align all of these heavy stones like this? They would need the strength of several Gorons!" He exclaimed, running his hand along a few of them. He briefly checked around for his partner Yukie, and upon spotting him, returned to scrutinizing the stones. "And Gorons out in the middle of the ocean!?" He exclaimed once more, returning to his point. William looked around at the stones, and couldn't help but wonder the same thing. Why were the ancient compelled to do this, and by what means was it accomplished? Dogura, while deciphering the next word, spoke up. "It's widely believed that they cut down the trees, and used their round trunks to roll the stones into position. But we can't be sure." By the time he'd finished his sentence, he'd finished the next word.

"This one says Pace." He announced, jotting it down, and continuing to the next stone. William followed close behind him.

- - - - - - - - -

Decoded words:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6. Pace
7.
8.
9.
10.
11. Eyes
12.
13.
14.

OOC: I'll be posting more often than the rest of you. This is gonna be micro-modded until the message is fully decoded.

OOC: This is going to be quite interesting. I see you've put a lot of thought into Gossip Isle, ZV, and I'm going to enjoy studying it.

IC: This wasn't fair in the slightest. So the Goddesses did personally choose him as their whipping boy. Thealter signed. If only things could have just been the way she preferred. Now, he continued to be a disappointment, something that she wished she could take away. He had good ears, that much as certain by now, and didn't miss the Sheikahn young lady stating her longing that she might have been paired with Alpha. This caused him to straggle off the boat, moving slower with others, but not losing track of the group. He walked up beside Arrika, looking ahead mechanically, never attempting eye contact.

Finally, he was close enough for the two of them to be considered practitioners of the buddy system. "Hey," he called, softly enough for her eyes only. "I'm sorry you weren't paired with Alpha, too. I only wish that you'd be with him instead." Without bothering to stop everything he was doing and wait for an answer, he began to look around, wondering if he might find any interesting details about the Isle not already noted [Awareness Check].

---

Orpheous in the meanwhile, stayed close to Song, but he did find a nearby stone, and gave it a look over. Perhaps he might be able to translate it after all, after all, he was a scribe and, as such, skilled in such fields. He ran his hands over it, making sure he wasn't missing anything with his eyes, as he knew that because it was an engraving, nothing could be missed by sense of touch [Translate Check on Stone #1].

Sakiko breathed in the sweet air, taking in the beautiful scenery before her; she always had a thing for nature. It was so peaceful and cheerful that the previous battles that the crew had undertaken seemed to be something of a distant dream. Violence, blood, horror…these things couldn’t be contemplated on for long at a paradise like this. Sakiko felt a sweep of happiness and a fluttering excitement – it had been a long time before she had truly disentangled herself from a web of frustration and negativity.

The mage took a step forward, wanting to investigate everything, everywhere at the same time. She was so glad that she came. Her previous doubts of this expedition vanished, and she felt a genuine smile on her lips.

"So...how are you feeling?"

Sakiko turned toward Saber, and lowered her head slightly to hide her small chuckle. His hair looked like one of her lightning spells had struck it; he didn’t seem to have the slightest care for it. She answered cheerfully,

“Great, thanks to you. I hope you’re well too – you were struck pretty hard with that hammer.”

Her light eyes darted across Saber’s face concernedly, hoping that the blow that he had taken while protecting her wasn’t too bothersome. She watched as Saber began to check out the ground, obviously looking for tracks. Sakiko stepped closer, curious to see if he had discovered anything.

"The animals of the island don't venture near the ruins. It's another thing that baffles modern science."

Dogura’s comment intrigued the pale girl; she didn’t know much about modern science, but the animals’ avoidance of this area was certainly an anomaly. It was always the animals that were sensitive to nature – they were the first to know a fast approaching disaster. There was definitely something going on. Sakiko blinked the sun from her eyes, squinting at the bright blue sky. She felt the sweet breeze sigh into her ears, then continue on to tickle the trees. Sakiko’s eyes swept across the scenery before her, looking for anything that stood out from the serene picture. [awareness check]

"Yukie, you're with me."

The Deku could only grin widely at those words, hoppin' straight to attention as he darted after the Cap'n. Once disembarked, he stuck close but hung back by the Cap'n's side, letting Taint lead the way for them all. He seemed ta know where exactly they was heading, after all.

Upon reachin' the clearing, though, Yukie couldn't help but walk forward a couple o' extra steps. The entire place was . . . a mighty bit breathtakin', really. "Can you believe this?" he heard Taint mutter, 'n could scarcely utter a reply of his own. The Deku turned back after he'd taken in th' entire place, lookin' fer one face in particular . . . ah, there he was.

Alpha emerged right behind 'im 'n Cap'n, but the Sheikah weren't like either member of that pair. He took a single glance about 'n then hurried forward, immediately dropping down by one of them Gossip Stones fer a closer look. Yukie chuckled a bit at that there sight. Alpha was so renown fer bein' a powerful warrior; few people ever bothered ta remember that the Sheikah was a Scholar first 'n foremost. Examining 'n inspecting the ruins was perhaps the most likely action for him ta take, yet it still seemed kinda weird to watch 'im get to work.

The Sheikah only took a few seconds to look at the first Stone, then moved over ta the next one. Commitin' each one to memory, the Deku realized after a moment. If all this stuff 'bout translating and whatnot proved successful, who knew what the result would be? Alpha weren't willin' to chance missing out on this stuff, in case it might not be around fer too much longer.

Yukie reluctantly realized that his partner had wandered a tiny bit away from 'im, so the Deku hopped over to the first stone and gave it a glance. "This one says, Eyes," Dogura muttered. He moved on to the next one, leavin' the others to continue lookin' about.

Stickin' close to Taint, the Deku finally decided that stayin' at rapt attention wasn't the most necessary thing in the world, and started lettin' his eyes wander. Pillars, jungles, fruits, the path back t' the ship, the ruins . . . it really was all pretty beautiful. While Dogura finished studyin' the second o' them stones, Yukie began just glancin' around at random, hopin' to spot something that might be useful or insightful or just plain old interestin'!

[[Awareness Check]]

* * *

As Yukie had thought, Alpha was in his element. More so than he'd probably been in since he'd ever come to Hyrule.

Gone were Yukie or Leth or any of the others. He dismissed from his mind all thoughts of that strange elderly Sheikah woman who'd been eyeing he and Arrika earlier. No longer did he dwell on the fight that Dogura and Morgoth had nearly gotten into this morning, nor was he curious about Taint's miraculously quick recovery. Right here and now, all he focused on was exactly that: right here and now. And what an amazing 'here' that was.

For years the Sheikah had studied ancient cultures and legends, becoming something of an expert on several of them in the process. It wasn't hard; his memory had a retention rate of 95%, nearly pictographic. Once he saw it, chances were that he could recall it at a moment's notice, and that aspect of his mind had been quite the boon for his life as a Mage and a Scholar -- it certainly helped in spellcasting, if nothing else.

No detail was lost to him, or so he like to think. He examined every letter on every statue, memorizing the symbols almost as soon as he arrived. The entire area was also quickly documented, for he truly feared as Yukie thought he did: if their efforts were successful, and this translation business worked, there was no telling what would happen. They might find some sort of secret area, or directions that would lead them to a new location. Or the ground, pillars, and Stones might collapse and be lost forever. You never knew when dealing with ancient ruins, especially if the Shadow Folk were involved in them, and he wasn't willing to risk losing this chance to study the ruins.

That said, there might also be a practical use behind this as well . . . After a moment's contemplation, Alpha walked over to the first stone that Dogura had translated, gazing at the lettering which apparently meant "Eyes." He waited until his mind had firmly fixed on those distinct symbols, then moved to the one that read "Pace", and did the same.

With each of these letters at the forefront of his mind's eye, he glanced through his memories of the other stones and began comparing their own letters to these. Did any of the stones have the same symbols? If so, maybe he could he use this knowledge to help speed up the translation process.

[[Insight Check]]

As Yukie checks around for anything of an abnormality, he notices nothing at first glance. [Awareness check - Pass]. However, with the new knowledge that animals don't approach the ruins, something has to have scared them away. As he looks around, he notices that one of the three towers bares the Zora Sapphire symbol above its entrance. Looking up towards the top, he also notices that there is a window at the top, which overlooks the island. It might provide for a mighty fine view should he decide to climb the stairs.

Alpha's eyes scan the many stones, and the characters are burned into his everlasting memory. As he checks the stones for similar characters, he comes across a stone that does just that! The stone read, _a_se. What could that word mean? [Insight Check - Pass]. Suddenly the word hits Alpha like a ton of bricks. False! The word he'd decoded was the word False! Dogura was about to lean down and inspect the stone when he realized Alpha was working on it. "Oh, Alpha. Your Sheikan eyes may be your X-Factor in your decoding! Let me know what it is when you've got it figured out. I'll head to the next one." With that said, the samurai did just that, William following close behind. Dogura passed many stones without carved words, until finally he chanced upon a new stone. Sure enough, it was engraved, and he knelt down to decode it with the special paper. After several minutes, he nodded in affirmation. "This one reads the word, Which." He called out, jotting it down on the notes.

Sakiko's eyes are keen, but pick up absolutely nothing that hasn't already been noted by another adventurer. [Awareness Check - Fail]. Nothing to see but all of nature's beauty, seemingly nothing out of place.

Thealter's eyes pick up a lot, a seemingly enhanced view allows him insight not previously managed. (OOC: You rolled a 20. I've got to give you something nice for that.) [Awareness Check - Super Pass]. With eyes that see all, Thealter noticed something extremely odd. A cool breeze passed over them, causing all the trees to sway, and move their leaves along with the current of the air. All but one, that is. One tree didn't move- not an inch. There was certainly something strange about this particular tree... but what could it be?

Orpheous' hands and eyes missed nothing, as the word was perfectly translated. Whether it be his years in the field, or an ancient Sheikan lineage, he found the words easily. [Translation - Success] The stone read, The. Taint knelt down next to the scribe and grinned. "Wow. I wish I could read ancient languages at first glance. What's it say, Orpheous?"


- - - - - - - - -

Decoded words:
1. The
2.
3.
4. Which
5.
6. Pace
7.
8. False
9.
10.
11. Eyes
12.
13.
14.

With more words decoded, the message was slowly appearing. Though the words were a bit scrambled on the samurai's note-pad, it would become abundantly clear once all the words were there. The samurai silently moved to the next stone...

A sense of elation overtook the Sheikah as things started fitting together in his mind almost instantly -- the result of which was another word that he was more or less sure was translated correctly. "This one reads 'False'," he called over to Dogura, then looked back to the stone once more. The symbols for 'f' and 'l' . . . he memorized them as well, adding them to the growing list of letters he was able to recognize. At least in part, that is.

He silently sent a prayer to Nayru, asking her for assistance in this task . . . Even with a memory like his own, trying to analyze all these symbols after only a few seconds of exposure to them was a difficult task. He couldn't count on his recollection to be accurate, not unless he spent more time studying the symbols and learning the key to deciphering them.

Still, Alpha wasn't about to give up just because his short-term memory might get overloaded. Hearing Dogura call out another word, he moved over to the samurai and studied the characters for 'Which' as well. All in all, he had roughly twelve letters he was trying to juggle in his head right now; he hurried to the closest stone and repeated the process from earlier: trying to match the symbols here with those he had already seen deciphered.

[[Insight Check]]

* * *

Yukie's glancin' about led to a rather interestin' sight. "Ain't that . . ." he trailed off, taking a few steps closer in the hopes o' getting a better view. "Huh. Hey Cap'n, whaddya think these towers're doin' with the Spiritual Stones on 'em?" This island was a Sheikah site, after all -- woulda made some sense to find that symbol on a Zora monument, but why would them Shadow Folk be wantin' to carve it on their statues. Wouldn't they of gone fer the standard cryin' eye symbol?

As he kept on lookin', he spared a look at the top o' the tower, 'n caught sight of another unexpected thing. "Wonder what all we could see from up there," he muttered to Taint, pointin' one of his swords at the window. "Don't look like the safest of places, though . . ." He tried to decide fer a couple o' seconds, then shook his head. Going up there looked pretty dangerous, but it could provide quite the view o' the island. Might help 'em out t' see what all was surroundin' them.

'Course, logically, if anyone was t' be scaling the structure it oughta be him -- he was prob'ly the lightest of the entire crew. Least likely to be causin' a cave-in. "Whaddya think, Cap'n?"

Alpha didn't respond to Leth. At first he was a little offended; but why should he be? Alpha had better things to do than talk to - oh wait. Alpha hadn't ignored him. He was simply very, very busy.

Leth noted how Alpha was almost lost in his studying. Leth wondered if Alpha had even heard him speak. Leth took a glance at what Alpha was studying.

Come to think of it... this was all very interesting. The almost-crumbled towers, the strange symbols, and the Shiekahn language which seemed to almost pop out at Leth. He squinted at one of the familiar symbols... famiar? Why was it so familiar? He knew he had never seen these words or letters before, yet they seemed so easy on his eyes, as if he had been meant to see them. Memories of his childhood friends came back to him, how they had always said he'd had Sheikah-like reflexes. Yet his parents had both been Hylian. Or had they? Leth was once again reminded of the man from his death-vision who claimed to be his father. Maybe Leth wasn't a Hylian after all, as he'd assumed. Maybe he was truly a Sheikah. That would explain why the blend-into- the-shadows ranger training he'd received as a child had been so easy. He'd always accredited it to his skillful instructor, but now it seemed it was genetic. Well then maybe he'd be more help in this situation than he'd thought. He took a look at the words they had deciphered, and the not-so-strange Sheikahn letters, and decided to give a whirl to decoding them.

[insight check]

“Great, thanks to you. I hope you’re well too – you were struck pretty hard with that hammer.”

"Eh, it's not the first time. Doesn't hurt much." He rubbed his forehead with his thumb and index finger; he didn't see a damn thing around here. Not a single track was to be found in the area, something that didn't often happen to the mercenary.

"The animals of the island don't venture near the ruins. It's another thing that baffles modern science."

"Well, if modern science is baffled..." Sabertache would have LIKED to follow up with some sort of analogy or other, but none crossed his mind. You'd think there would be SOME word worse than baffled. Sighing, he hopped up on one of the stones, swinging his feet nonchalantly and dropping his new helm beside him. Sakiko seemed busy enough already; maybe she would have some idea as to what to look for. As for now, he'd just wait to be useful.

Humming a little tune, the nomad cast his glance about the area, wondering in the recesses of his mind whether or not there was anything edible within reach. It might be nice to stockpile some of the local fare while everything was quiet. [Find Sustenance]

Dogura took a knee in front of the next stone. He glanced down at the paper and back up at the stones. While his memory wasn't as razor sharp as Alpha's, he was getting the hang of the ancients' alphabet. It wasn't as convoluted when you had a translation sheet, and the characters themselves were a bit simpler. He quickly decoded the message, and just like he'd announced the rest out loud, he did the same for this one, whether anyone was listening or not. "This stone here says, Truth." He scribbled it down, and continued to the next engraved stone.

Alpha's keen eyes did amazing work, as his insight check passed with flying colors. [Insight Check - Pass]. After decoding the words he'd already seen, the rest was easy to figure out. Looking closely, the stone said Th_ne. Keeping an open mind to every word he'd heard, Alpha was easily able to decipher this as the word Thine. The pieces were slowly coming together, and with Alpha and Orpheous' help, it was happening faster than Taint could have hoped for Taint smiled widely- this was really working!

"Wonder what all we could see from up there... Don't look like the safest of places, though . . . Whaddya think, Cap'n?".

Taint looked up at the towers and took note of their rickety structure. "I think it's definitely strong enough to hold a Deku, and more than likely strong enough to hold a light-weight human... But don't let my thoughts influence you too much." He said as he eyed the structures. Passing an awareness check, he found that the third tower bore the Goron Ruby. But why? Why would the Sheikah be at all interested in the symbolisms of the other races? Taint pondered this as he advanced towards the tower with the Zora Sapphire on it.

He stopped at the entrance and stared up at the symbol. The tower stood tall in front of him, and made his decision to ascend the staircase. He walked inside the structure, and saw nothing too fancy as far as interior decorating went. However, there was a large pillar in the center of the tower. It allowed only ascent up the staircase that surrounded it. Just plain old stone walls other than that. He slowly but surely climbed the stairs, trying to be as light as he could. He finally made it to the very top, and looked out on the island. It really was a beautiful view. He turned around and found something odd. The pillar that held the stairs in place was hollow! There was an opening that led down back to the ground. Here was the catch however- it was filled to the top with water. The Zora scratched his head and drew closer to it. He peered down into the hollow pillar, and into the darkness that lay within. After a few seconds, he'd made his decision. After removing his helmet, he dove into the water, and began swimming down. He was sure that whatever waited for him at the bottom would be worth the swim. The darkness was illuminated, as his superior underwater vision cut through the darkness. As he came closer to the bottom he noticed something strange...

A target.

A lone target sat at the bottom of the water. Taint scratched his head, and ran his hand along the target. It looked old, and yet somehow relevant. After a moment or two he decided that his next course of action would be to strike it. That's what targets were made for after all. He threw a punch with all of his might at the target, and struck it dead in the center. Suddenly, blue lines, which turned at 90 degree angles here and there lit up the tower all around him. The target also lit up, and Taint looked around in wonderment and amazement. He kicked off of the bottom, quickly swimming to the top. He emerged at the top and shot out of the water, landing on his feet back in the top of the tower. The tower was lit up blue outside as well, and would surely garner a bit of attention. He looked down, and realized that the Zora Sapphire on the front of the entrance was glowing a vibrant blue color. Morgoth, who'd remained silent this whole time stared up in amazement. "DOGURA!" He called out. "LOOK!" The samurai tore his attention from the stone and set his eyes on the glowing structure. Taint smiled proudly at the top.

"There was a target in here!" He called out from the top of the tower. "I hit it, and this happened!" The samurai shook his head, and rubbed his eyes. "I wish he'd be a little more careful..." He admitted to William, who folded his arms and nodded. The Zora disappeared from the window, and reappeared on the ground level. He turned around to examine the glowing symbol of the Zora once more before giving the thumbs up to Yukie. "It's alright. Go on ahead, and explore one of the other towers!" He put his fists to his hips as he continued to admire the tower and all of its glowing blue beauty. Dogura acknowledged this as a breakthrough, and continued to research the stones. Surely their message mattered...

Leth studied the stone, trying to decipher its message. It was only a two letter message, making it a bit easier to decode than the rest. [Insight Check - Pass]. The letters seemed to pop out at the archer, as if screaming out to him what they stood for. In whatever method he used, he was correct in the fact that the translated word was the word Is.

Saber's search turned back fruitful results. He notices that from the many trees in the area, all kinds of fruit hung from the branches. Apples, Oranges, Coconuts, just about anything the mercenary could want.

- - - - - - - - -

Decoded words:
1. The
2.
3.
4. Which
5.
6. Pace
7. Is
8. False
9.
10. Thine
11. Eyes
12.
13.
14. Truth


OOC: You can pick whatever you want here, Saber. Since you're the survivalist, I'm gonna go ahead and give this one to you. Apple = 15HP, Orange =15 SPL, Coconut = 9 Will. You can only pick one, and I'm pretty sure you can use it whenever... If the rules say you can't use it when you want, then I say you can.

Whoa.

It worked.

Leth did a double take as he looked back at the letter. After some pondering, and cross-analyzing with the letters they had already discovered, Leth now found that the word irrefutably read "Is"; the meaning the sheikahn symbol coming across clear as day.

"Hey, I got a word over here!" Leth called out. "It says 'Is'!" Leth hurriedly moved on to another word, eager to put his new-found abilities to the test, even as the weight of this discover hit him and he realized the old man had to be true.

But Leth put those thoughts aside and focused on the job at hand.

[insight check]

"This one says 'Thine'," Alpha called out to Dogura, the word coming to him easily. He chuckled; this system of memorization for translation was working out quite well -- at this rate, they'd be finished in just a few more minutes. For the first time in a while, his brain was abuzz with the new influx of information and exercising of that knowledge, and he couldn't deny that it was a positively thrilling experience. On a day-to-day basis his Scholarly tendencies had to be ignored, so making use of them was a true delight.

But he was really starting to worry about how long he'd be able to keep this up. He'd already seen the symbol for 'I' once before, but had failed to recognize it for this latest word. He'd been able to make up for it by deciphering the other four letters, but it proved that his memory wasn't up to par with the task he was asking of it. No telling how long he'd be able to stay successful at this.

That only made him hurry to the next stone faster, though -- the less time he took, the less time his memory had to atrophy. Gazing at the ancient symbols, he once more compared them with what his mind had to offer, hoping once more that the word would jump out at him.

[[Insight Check]]

* * *

Yukie leapt up and down in excitement at the sight o' Taint leanin' outta the window of the now glowing tower. "Nicely done, Cap'n!" he called out to the Zora, before a new thought struck 'im like a rolling log.

In a flash, the Deku charged off towards the tower that Leth had spotted earlier, the first of these here towers seen by the group. On its side was emblazoned the symbol o' the Kokiri Emerald -- a symbol of the forest, and there weren't no better choice that himself fer entering a place under that kinda ward. Farore was the Deku guardian goddess, 'n Yukie had no doubt that he was meant t' scale this tower 'n see what all was inside.

Hopefully he could make it glow like Taint had fer the Sapphire Tower . . . no tellin' what all would happen if all three towers were glowin', but it was a purty fascinatin' idea! Slowin' as he got near the entrance, he lightly walked inside, takin' care to keep from making any movements that might cause the tower t' come down around him. But even with the danger all about this here place, he never once thought about stayin' outside. Not now that he'd seen th' results of Taint's exploration.

As they say, 'Curiosity killed the Deku.'

. . . the expression weren't meant literally.

. . . hopefully.

Leth's insight check failed, and he couldn't manage to read another word before him. Dogura looked up and down at the paper before quickly decoding the next word. The process seemed to be speeding up, and before long he had it on his lips. "The stone over here reads Ground." He wrote down all the words they'd decoded thus far, and began on the next stone. Alpha's eyes were able to easily decode the next word, for it was small. Small as it was, it was no less important than the rest. After having learned of the character 'O' in the word Ground, this became child's play. The word For leapt out at him.

Yukie ascended the tower without any problems. It seemed to be sturdier than they all had thought. Leave it to the ancients to create structures that could withstand the test of time, and the might of nature. At the top, a beautiful view was provided to the Deku. Unlike the tower with the Zora's Sapphire on it, this one had a full top area. There were two windows looking out, one looking over the stones, and the other out over the ocean. The ocean breeze tickled the Deku's hardened skin, and the smell of the salty air overpowered that of the fruit this high up.

There wasn't, however, any sight of a target in Yukie's immediate line of sight. However, passing an awareness check, the Deku's eyes immediately caught sight of the target overhead. Up above him, under the roof of the structure was a long narrow shaft that lead up to a target. It wasn't that simple, however. There were also two targets on opposite sides of the shaft right under the target on the ceiling of the shaft. It looked like all the targets would have to be hit at the same time. The corridor was too small for a bomb, and an arrow or slingshot could only hit one target at a time.


Decoded words:
1. The
2. Ground
3.
4. Which
5.
6. Pace
7. Is
8. False
9.
10. Thine
11. Eyes
12.
13. For
14. Truth

OOC: Alpha, I went ahead and pulled your inevitable awareness check from your next post to save us all a little time. Hope you don't mind.
If Leth, Orpheous, and Alpha all manage to decode a word before I post next, we'll have the whole thing decoded. Also, Yukie should be able to figure this one out pretty easily. It ain't rocket science.

Leth was disappointed that he was unable to figure out this word; the last one had come so easily. He decided to go look at what they had so far.

"Well," said Leth, "Judging by what we've got so far, I'd say the first bit is 'The ground on which you pace is false', and as for the last bit... well, there are several different things it could be. I'll try to decode some of that." Leth moved towards one of the words he had not tried to guess and studied it carefully. He really hoped he'd gotten the first bit correct, otherwise he'd look pretty stupid. Eh, It's not like it mattered; someone would have it decoded here in a second and then they'd all know for sure.

Insight Check