Jigano frowned as he felt some of the stones shift slightly under his seeking hands. Stepping back, he examined the wall with his head tilted to the side, and Isuma peeping excitedly at his shoulder. The little gryphon wanted a closer look of her own, and the bard hesitated a moment before setting his lantern down and letting her crawl into his cupped hands, holding her up to the wall. She moved suddenly, bouncing against the central stone - the fifth one, moving left to right and top to bottom - and it shifted in completely. The bard pulled her back in a hurry, checking to make sure that nothing dangerous was about to happen before he glanced over his shoulder. "There's a puzzle here!" he called back to Amalia. "It probably opens a secret door somewhere." Or, possibly served as the trigger of a trap for too-clever dungeoneers, he admitted to himself. Isuma was peeping again though, two quick, sweet Reep!s of excitement and he glanced down at her fondly.
Then he frowned suddenly, sharp eyes returning to the wall as he examined each marking more closely. Nine markings. There were no letters he knew, and no mark had as many as nine lines, but the first block that Isuma had pushed by chance looked tantalizingly familiar...
They all did, he realized with a start. Three... eight... six... The seven took him the longest to puzzle out, but when he did he laughed and brought Isuma to his face to snuggle her, the gryphlet happily purring at his attention and praise. "What a brilliant child you are!" he crowed softly, planting a kiss on her beak before letting her climb back into the safety of his hood while he set to work pressing the stones fully into their depressions:
The fifth stone had already been pushed.
Then the seventh.
Then the first.
Then the eighth.
Then the ninth.
Then the fourth.
Then the third.
Then the second.
And lastly, the sixth.
As soon as he pushed the last one into place he danced back with his lantern, putting about six feet of space between him and the wall - just in case.
Then he frowned suddenly, sharp eyes returning to the wall as he examined each marking more closely. Nine markings. There were no letters he knew, and no mark had as many as nine lines, but the first block that Isuma had pushed by chance looked tantalizingly familiar...
They all did, he realized with a start. Three... eight... six... The seven took him the longest to puzzle out, but when he did he laughed and brought Isuma to his face to snuggle her, the gryphlet happily purring at his attention and praise. "What a brilliant child you are!" he crowed softly, planting a kiss on her beak before letting her climb back into the safety of his hood while he set to work pressing the stones fully into their depressions:
The fifth stone had already been pushed.
Then the seventh.
Then the first.
Then the eighth.
Then the ninth.
Then the fourth.
Then the third.
Then the second.
And lastly, the sixth.
As soon as he pushed the last one into place he danced back with his lantern, putting about six feet of space between him and the wall - just in case.
