Riddle Me This – Chapter 7, Act 3, Strip 48

And straight back to Team B!

…well, almost straight. Mopey provides a short bit of exposition on everything that happened in the meantime (Thank you, Mopey!), but since basically nothing did happen, it’s really mercifully short.

After that bit, the team finds themselves confronted with a true classic: the two guardians, one of which only speaks the truth, and the other one only lies. This one has its roots in antiquity, and is spread wide and far across myths and legends – so, naturally, it’s a perennial favorite in RPGs, as well. You’d think it wouldn’t be much of a challenge anymore, given how well established the ‘solution’ to this task is* – yet adventuring parties are still wont to get into long-winded internal discussions before they make any attempt at solving the riddle.

And our group, naturally enough, follows suit. Only the Professor/Barbarian stays out of the discussion, and takes matter into his own hands. It’s interesting – back when he used to be a wizened scholar, he’d have been the team-member most capable of solving a riddle of this sort. Without breaking a mental sweat, even. But now that he’s an underage savage from the steppes instead…he’s still the team-member most capable of solving this riddle quickly, but his approach is completely different. What his new method lacks in subtlety, it makes up for in efficiency. Of course, a barbarian couldn’t care less, since he wouldn’t be able to spell either word correctly. Anyway, it’s a bit like the old saying goes: you’ve either got to speak softly, or carry a big stick…

More on Thurs…uh, Monday.

* Essentially, you ask one guardian what the other one would answer to a specific question – the answer you receive is an untruth no matter which guardian you asked. You have to frame your question with that in mind to arrive at the information you require in any specific example of this riddle.

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