An old, brown haired fellow leaned on one of the bigger rocks in the area, and flags passers by down,
"Hey, Stranger! Wanna play a game?"

He opens his hand and shows five small, dotted cubes. "The name of the game is 'Petals Around the Rose'. The name of the game is important. It'll be played with these five dice. The score will always be zero or even numbered, and I'll tell you the answers if you can't figure it out for the second."

Narrowing dark eyes, he growls, "And if you know the answer to the game, don't tell anyone. For everyone's sake." then he returns to what appeared to be normal cheerfulness,

"Just for the sake of playing, y'want to? What do you say?"

(ooc:Can this work for the dice?

o---o
--o--
o---o )

In the distance, a miniature column of dust seems to advance, moving stately down the road... as it comes closer, you notice that, while it continues to move--walk?--stately, it must be... walking. Probably because it goes up and down, and now at this distance... you can judge that... yes, it has a head.

Several yards away, the dust-apparition pops in a bit of a swirl. A dust-like substance seems to melt down to the thing's feet. You rub your eyes to see Arco, unmasked and melded, stopping a ways away to inspect the man on the side of the road.

"Alright," he answers finally, after a pause. He takes a few steps closer to eye the cubes.

"Petals around the rose," meditates Arco has he listens intently to the rest of the instructions. After the man finishes speaking, the Sheikah continues to stare intently at the small dots...

This seems familiar. Okay.

"Okay," he repeats, this time audibly. As he looks up, there is the slightest hint of a grin--an odd one, yes, but nevertheless a grin--on his face.

OOC: That looks good for dice.

"All right. Let me restate the rules for you again," the brown haired fellow grinned,

"The name of the game is 'Petals Around the Rose'. The name is important. The score will always be even or zero, and I'll throw a few for examples."

He shakes the dice in his hand, and says, "These next two will be examples." the dice clatter on the flat rock he'd been leaning on, and land as so:

o---o o---o ----- o---- -----
------ o---o --o-- ----- --o--
o---o o---o ----- ----o ----- "The answer to this roll is zero."


o---o o---o o---- o---- o---o
o---o --o-- ------ --o-- -----
o---o o---o ----o ----o o---o "The answer to this roll is six."


"Now, here are your rolls, good luck!"

Roll 1:
o---o ----- o---o o---o o---o
------ --o-- o---o --o-- -----
o---o ----- o---o o---o o---o (4, 1, 6, 5, 4)

Roll 2:
o---o o---o o---- o---o o---o
o---o o---o --o-- --o-- o---o
o---o o---o ----o o---o o---o (6, 6, 3, 5, 6)

Roll 3:
o---- o---o o---o o---- o---o
--o-- ----- ----- ----- o---o
----o o---o o---o ----o o---o ( 3, 4, 4, 2, 6)

Roll 4:
----- o---- o---o o---o o----
--o-- ----- o---o --o-- -----
----- ----o o---o o---o ----o (1, 2, 6, 5, 2)

Roll 5:
o---- ----- o---o ----- -----
----- --o-- --o-- --o-- --o--
----o ----- o---o ----- ----- (2, 1, 5, 1, 1)

Roll 6:
----- o---o o---o o---o o----
--o-- --o-- o---o o---o --o--
----- o---o o---o o---o ----o (1, 5, 6, 6, 3)


"There you go friend! Good luck on the game," he finally spoke, after rolling each set of dice and grouping each roll neatly to the side, "All right, this one's the first roll," he gestures to the five, "Second, so on so forth. I'll tell you the answer if you can't figure it out, but try all your ways of thinking."

He sat back a second, and then cleared his throat, "Forgot to mention...all I can do is tell you the name of the game, the rules, and the answer if you can't puzzle it out on your own. Go for it!" he then relaxes, watching the game and the road for any more passers by.

(Edit #3, added the numbers that were supposed to be on the dice for in case you can't tell from the 'dice' themselves.)

Grenada had been watching and listening from a distance. Not knowing the dice owner, pushed him away, but the game interested him. And he certainly couldn't solve it from a distance. As he walked over he let out a quiet sigh before talking.

"Hey Arco. Hello."

He nods to the old man, because he doesn't know his name. I heard the rules of the game, can I try to solve it? He gives a couple of quick glances down at the dice with a bewildered look on his face.

'Petals around the Rose'... 'So that makes zero, and that makes six, where's the patterns?'

His quick glances being caught and dragged longer by the dice, until eventually he's staring at them.

Arco flicks his eyes to the side and then down, looking at the newcomer.

"Hello Grenada. Hey."

Presently, as the Bard squatts down by the stone with a grunt, he brings his hands in front of him. Using both index fingers to point, as if tallying to himself, he chortles quietly, muttering numbers and occasionally humming some patterned tune under his breath.

Eventually, with one last look at Grenada, Arco draws himself up and does his best to smile at the man behind the dice. Staring back down at the white cubes, he speaks, very slowly:

"Roll one: four.
Roll two: six.
Roll three: two."

A pause. "And," says Arco, "Maybe we can let Grenada do the rest?"

He tries again at the awkward smile. "You see, back home we used to play something like this. Except it was called 'Planets around the Sun' and used seven dice. Though I think the... er, principle is the same."

The Sheikah takes a deep breath and stands back up, giving the Deku Scrub next to him an encouraging look.

OOC: Actually, I cheated for this *sighs*. So that's why I didn't want to use all six rolls up and make you have to write up more. Hope you're not mad at me ^^.

(ooc: No problem. I don't mind at all! Puzzle took me forever to learn. )

"You're right, my friend," the brown haired fellow smiled at Arco, "Very good job." he turns to the deku, "So, would you like to try at this game with the last three rolls?"

He removes the guessed ones from the rock-turned-table, leaving more room for the last three.

Grenada seems entranced by the dice, and not wanting to peel his eyes from them, he gives a small nod.

"Zero, six, four, six two..."

He mumbles to himself quietly, trying everything he could think of.

"Oh, ha ha... No! Thought I had that one."

After close to ten minutes, he begins rubbing his temples. Finally he draws his eyes from the cubes and with a depressed sigh he concedes.

"I couldn't figure it out. I know it has something to do with the numbers..."

He stops, as he just had an idea. Looking back at the dice, he thinks for a very short time before he says.

"Roll 4: 4
Roll 5: 4
Roll 6: 6

Is that right?"

"Thanks," murmurs Arco finally, slowly drawing his eyes back to the cubes.

As Grenada works on the game, Arco stands behind him, looking over his shoulder, examining the dice as if doing so from the mercenary's eyes--as if for the first time.

Breaths short and quiet, the Sheikah stands rigidly, but angled forward by the ankles--like a tower that was built at a slant from the very start. Each in turn, looks of satisfaction, confusion, frustration, and blankness pass through his face, as he watches Grenada, watching the dice as if at any moment they might attack...

Then the slightest hint of a smile, as the Deku Scrub finishes. A congratulatory closed-mouth giggle.

"Kudos, Hyrule's Greatest Mercenary!" laughs the Bard.

The Mercenary grins, accepting Arco's congratulations as him getting it right.

"Yes, all right. Good job, Arco."

He looks to the older man, as if asking "what next?".

A lone figure holding a journal in one hand and a quarterstaff in the other, clad in peasants' clothes, walks by.
"I have no time for gambling when the Kingdom is in danger," he says. "Neither do any of you. Something dark is on the breeze; I can feel it." Being obviously too busy to chat, he walks down the path toward Mido town.

OOC: Do not double post, especially when both posts are the exact same thing!

OOC: I am sure he knows. It happens when one hits the Submit button more than once. I've had it happen before. It's no big deal. I am sure Royal Guard or Narrator will be able to take care of it.

"Very good, sir!" the brown haired fellow claps for Grenada, and then frowns at the one who just passed by muttering about gambling, "There's no gambling to this game..."

He looks down a second, "I'm afraid I can't give you two anything but my congratulations. Please dont be too upset about that. But hey, you know a handy trick to knock Know-It-Alls from their high horses."

Arco nods. "No need for anything other than congratulations," he says wordlessly. Eyes roaming around--to Grenada, to the dice-man, to the passing traveler--he tries at a smile.

"Yes," he agrees finally. "It seems that... the 'smarter' someone is, the harder this game is for them. At least--" The smile finally unfolds, fully--"It stands to reason, anyways."

Darilan comes out of deep thought and hears Arco's last comment. If this is something that is challenging for smart people, he must be a genius. He cannot for the life of him figure out this game. "So the answer is blatantly obvious?"

OOC: So is this one of those things like the popular riddle, 'What is more powerful than God, more evil than the devil, the poor have it, the rich need it, and if you eat it you will die'?

Answer - Nothing

Little kids get that question right more often than older people.