Blank had been sitting still for the entirety of the discussions, shaking his head in slight aggravation towards the antics of the few adventurers who just couldn't seem to stop bickering and arguing. He seethed inwardly as he watched them carry on on their carefree manner. I know we're supposed to wait until more people arrive, but still... he thought, wondering what compelled them to act so odd. He was never one to be entirely serious (his entrance was a definite voucher for this fact), but he understand the dire demands of this event. He felt he should show some respect for the troubled positions that Alpha and Shada were forced to endure, and he did so by remaining quiet until the moment when his thoughts may be of some use.

"I've been to many places around the world. It appears to me that Master Zaris is a very poetic man. He'd have to be to think up all of these riddles and poems. The eye is obviously a metaphor, representing something that can easily be compared to the optical organ. I'm not a genius; I leave smarts and riddle-solving to you scholars. But I am a wanderer, so I've seen my share of landmarks. There are doubtlessly many that can be compared to the eye. Of course, most of you will have figured this out by now." Blank took a moment for his lungs to collect air, breathing deep before continuing. He was not used to speaking for extended periods of time, such as now.

"I can think of a few places that could be compared to one. Some are not as sensible, others can make perfect sense at the right viewpoint. But perhaps I should wait for the others to make their appearances, whoever they may be." With that, he reverted to his silence. Blank resumed his original position by the fire, sitting quietly in his nullified state of mind. Thoughts raced into his mind depicting different landmarks, buildings and oddities that could be useful, but rather than explaining them at this point, he waited patiently.

Blank's comment finally got Lady Rose thinking. Where in Hyrule has she seen something that resembled an eye?

After Blank's excellent point, you see Alpha turn to him and motion for him to continue. "Please, Blank, do you have an idea as to what some of these places are? Is one of them a possibility for Master's hiding place?"

Blank sighed as he returned to the reality of the meeting. He had grown accustomed to his own silence during his travels. There was never anyone around to share discussions with, and so he was not used to indulging others with his thoughts. But then, he had always been a solitary person. "Well, one would be the Lighthouse in Parapa Desert, I suppose. A tall building that seems to watch over the wasteland, a fitting metaphor. Its light even resembles an all-seeing eye. There's also the lake, a large body of water with North Castle serving as its center, or, as its pupil. Of course, I wouldn't think too deeply on that one. It seems highly unlikely, and it's probably just my imagination getting the better of me.

"What makes things seem more difficult is the rest of that line, what was it... 'Look where you're closest to beyond the eye.' Closest to beyond. Not at the eye, but rather somewhere away from it. Even if I'm right about the eye, it wouldn't be Master Zaris' refuge. We'd be looking for something beyond such a landmark. And this, my friends, is what makes it all the more difficult. No direction, no distance." Blank shook his head, trying his best to grasp the riddle clearly, but his mind was clouded and fogged, and he just could not make sense of it. The Hylian sighed again, doubting that he had made any progress with the riddle. Couldn't hurt to have at least put it out there, he thought.

"Perhaps we should start at the lighthouse in Parapa Desert and spread out from there," Lady Rose suggested.

OOC: I just know noticed this. If you open up the world map, you can see the head of some kind of dragon or dinosaur, with North Castle as the eye.

He looked at Lady Rose, and Azador who had just arrived.
He smiled at seeing how large the group was becoming.
Guess Alpha won't have much trouble on the matter of heads.
He laughed at his inward thought.
He then noticed Kasei and loud arguing.
Sheesh, these guys should really behave!

Seeing Blank talk, he turned at him, listening attentively at his point of view.
"Yes, you're right about a lighthouse, yet... the answer might lie closer than you expect. I may be wrong, but closest to beyond the eye, following your theory, the eye would be the lighthouse light. CLosest to beyond the eye, would presume to be what's close to past the eye, so in this case, I believe that the answer would be where the lighthouse light shines upon. Perhaps some rocky formation?
Another theory could also be - closest beyond the eye - The sheikah symbol. It contains an eye, and Master Zaris being the Golden Sheikah, I'd say we investigate the Sheikah symbol a bit further. Or yet, it could also be Master Zaris' symbol - the eye in the middle of a shining sun. For the latter, an eye in the middle of a shining sun could represent Blank's theory - the eye for the lighthouse, and the sun for the desert."

Having spilled his theory, he leaned over, looking at another member of the group getting burned by the fire.

if you look from the sky north castle and the lake surounding it looks like an eye,
so north castle is a perfect match for an eye

but what is closest to the eye?
the lake surounding north castle?

Alpha shakes his head, again trying to clear his head. You have to admit, there's a ton of good ideas coming out of everyone's heads. Cloud and Kasei make be quarreling, but Azador, Rose, and especially Blank and Tayro have just made some excellent contributions.

Finally, Alpha stands tall again and nods his head at their assessments. "I seriously doubt Master would be anywhere within a city," he says calmly, pointing out the main flaw in the North Castle idea. "The old lighthouse, however - that one makes a great deal of sense. I'd say that that ought to be where we start searching."

He pauses, allowing Shada to express the one thought that they are both recalling. "But let's wait a little bit longer before we head out there."

You turn back to Alpha as he continues, agreeing with Shada. "Yes, I'm know of several people that I am certain would be happy to help us that still are not here. I think I'm going to go see if I can find any of them; we'll need all the help we can get." He nods to the others as he slowly steps outside the circle of light the fire casts around you all. "Keep talking, guys," he calls back, "but I think we've got a winner. I'll be back in a little while." You can barely see as he sprints off towards the North Castle.


OOC: You know...I had thought that I made this last riddle a bit more difficult...*sigh*
Just because you're allowed to discuss it didn't mean that I wanted you guys to go ahead and figure it out! Geez...well, we'll continue on Wednesday. Until then, I'll be PMing a few of the guys that I don't think want to miss the next part. Keep posting if you want, but it can take on a more relaxed tone now.

if you look at the map, tantari rock seem to be the eye of tantari desert,
maybe he's there!

Footsteppes are heard from every direction in the ominouse mist. The sillouette of a man, and a sword appears out of the fog. Upon closer inspection, you notice the wandering Vagabond to be none other than Dogura. As he looks around, he see's that there are many skilled adventurers around a small fire. The samurai notices some of the faces, but notices Alpha above the rest. He walked over to Alpha, and leaned against a tree, face half covered in shadow, half illuminated by the roaring fire before him. The fire flickers and dances in the vagabond's eyes. His eyes show that of a warrior, lookng only to fulfill his purpouse in this big empty world. Dogura, not batting an eye, speaks out to Alpha. "Im ready to roll when you are." Dogura's voice had an odd shiver to it as he spoke. "So this tribe. Do they specialize in any certain fighting style or techniqe? Or are they primitive, and savage. I would like to know about my enemies strengths and weaknesses before I charge them head on." Dogura was always one to think things through. His mind was his most deadly weapon, besides the sword that was shimmering in the moonlight. Something wasnt right about the samurai on this cool night. There was something inside him that was restless. It was beginning to twitch, and fidget. Dogura tried to keep his body still. Was this a result of exitement? Or the full moon that was rising above the vagabond's head...

"Vagabond," says Arco slowly, referring to Dogura. "The Hakiems..." The Bard pauses, and gestures vaguely in the air before continuing.

"One of their major strengths is their numbers. Surround the target, overwhelm by sheer odds..."

And so, in his own broken way, Arco continued and explained to Dogura what Alpha and Shada had explained before even his first experience with the Hakiems, and what he'd learned first hand from fighting the Tribe. He spoke of the Hakiems and Shadowmeld and thousands of uniformed Sheikah unmelding all at once, leaping into the air... of more and less powerful Hakiems, and of the leaders who have few if any weaknesses at all...

OOC: Great googly moogly, it's Zelda Veteran, they guy who was the reason I joined. It's about time we go on a quest together.

IC:
Lady Rose nodded to the newcomer. "Hello," she said. "My name is Lady Rose Hillmound. Who are you?"

OOC: Um...Dogura, Alpha left. He went off to find you stragglers.

IC:
You glance up as the samarai walks into the camp, remaining mostly in the shadows. Shada, however, waves him over. "Hey, Dogura! How's it been?" Hearing Arco explaining everything to the newcomer, you decide to turn back to the fire. For some reason, the night air seems to be getting even colder than before...

Blank looked up momentarily, his mind receding from the haze of staring at the raging bonfire. He noticed the samurai had entered the group. A familiar face. It's always a good thing. he thought, a thin smile finding its way onto his fatigued expressions. For the first time that night, he addressed a member of the group casually. Before, he had been worried only about the grim near future; the battle against the Hakiems. He had been far too tired to go about greeting anyone.

Now, sitting under the stars, surrounded by friends and allies and feeling the heat emanating from the mighty fire, Blank realized that this was just another grand reunion, the kind one would find themselves in in times of good will and peace. The nomad felt proud to among Hyrule's ring of adventurers. Breathing at a more appropriate pace, and extracting his flask of specialty ale from his side, Blank kept himself from tuning out his surroundings.

It was at that point that the Hylian noticed Alpha had disappeared. He laughed at himself for having disregarded completely. Probably went off to find us some help. Blank doubted it could be anything else. Shada remained, however, and he knew that she would be capable of keeping the gathering under control, should it run astray from its true purpose. He pitied the fool who would dare to cross that Sheikah's temper, and laughed, picturing some of the adventurers in the group fleeing as the woman gave chase.

OOC: No Mr. T. reference, just a coincidence

The lrge group of people called Alex's atention, so he aproached and intstantly recognized some faces
"Um... what's going on here?" he said feelig out of place