Character Castle 2.0
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Another guess: is it heat?
yes! That’s correct! heat. =) my students usually take about three weeks to get that one. lol.
Hot air rises, but the higher into the atmosphere you go, the colder it gets. Things move by kinetic energy, which is a form of heat energy, and heat is literally the molecules moving at a faster pace, meaning that heat can literally never be slow. =) (grinning ear from ear while giving you two thumbs up)
Yay! you can be the one who cracked the second egg and answers the second riddle. =)
oh, very interesting! Mori can speak to animals, Abirami can transform into them. And Niarok sounds like a complicated character. Very fun.
Christianity has not been tried and found wanting, it has been found difficult and left untried. ~ G.K.C.
Thanks, though I can’t take credit for it since was my sister who guessed it (she came to that conclusion in less than a minute! though she was kind of throwing out random guesses). I’ll pass on your congratulations to her =)
I’ll post Enydd’s view as soon as I come up with a riddle (or find a good one on the internet XD).
hehehe. I could always help out with that. (wicked grin…). I have plenty, since I make them up so my students have a weekly opportunity to gain extra credit by being the first to solve them…
Christianity has not been tried and found wanting, it has been found difficult and left untried. ~ G.K.C.
Here is a fun one… though I couldn’t figure out how to attach pictures into the text. it wouldn’t let me….
https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1ByR4Ct-S4QWUP5hVgu90_e0RdirWjvL4gAxnCmtZRXs/edit?usp=sharing
Christianity has not been tried and found wanting, it has been found difficult and left untried. ~ G.K.C.
It’s a rebus puzzle I came up with. hehe.
Christianity has not been tried and found wanting, it has been found difficult and left untried. ~ G.K.C.
@inkhorn YOUR QUOTE IS LITERALLY ONE OF THE! BEST! QUOTES! BY! TOLKIEN! EVERRRRRRRRR!!!!!!!!!!!!! *does crazy happy dance and spins around in circles* LOLLL Okay anyways done fangirling… XD
That is such a random quirk! I LOVE it!
I KNOW RIGHT???????????? It just happened one day. XD He was doing a thing and then he started being super sarcastic about the weather for no real reason whatsoever and then it just kinda stuck. 🤣
oh, very interesting! Mori can speak to animals, Abirami can transform into them. And Niarok sounds like a complicated character. Very fun.
HAHA this will be interesting!!! I’m excited to see them interacting. I’m going to try very hard to convince Mori not to go on a killing rampage but there’s no guarantees… XD But that’s okay. Niarok will take care of the casualties. And believe it or not, Mori is way more complicated than Niarok lol. Although they’re both very natural for me to write which is super nice in comparison to Evelyn *glares pointedly at my MC*
Also are you a chemistry teacher? Because whatever that discussion I just read was was super cool. XD (and also traumatizing cuz it kept giving me flashbacks to those chem problems that tried to physically strangle me…)
"The darkness is seldom complete, and even when it is, the pinprick of light is not long in coming."
Also are you a chemistry teacher? Because whatever that discussion I just read was was super cool. XD (and also traumatizing cuz it kept giving me flashbacks to those chem problems that tried to physically strangle me…)
haha. I’m a math teacher, but I have also coached Scholar’s Bowl, so I know quite a bit from every subject area.
Christianity has not been tried and found wanting, it has been found difficult and left untried. ~ G.K.C.
Anyone who wants to can continue the easter event. (ie. find an egg, answer a riddle, and the man (Jesus) will grant you one wish ;p ) but just in case, I’ll go ahead and continue…
Abirami
A tear fell down my face as I gazed into the man’s face. Surely only the Maker or the Maker’s Son could have the power to grant my wish. I ignored the noise as the group of people behind me argued back and forth, trying to figure out the second riddle.
He was real! The crown of thorns, the holes in his hands… who else could it be?
Motion broke my train of thought. What was it? I was staring right at it. The Maker’s Son, he was waving at me to come near. Was that okay? Could I come nearer? His kind words filled my mind, and I gathered the courage to stand, my knees weak beneath me.
I shuffled forward till I was standing at his feet. He stood to greet me, his arms wrapping around me.
“Your selflessness gained you those wounds,” he whispered into my ear. Pulling me back, he stared into my eyes, a soft smile upon his face. “Not unlike my own.”
“Are you truly-”
He placed a finger gently to my mouth, keeping me from speaking. “You shall know what you need to, and nothing more.”
“Then why are we here?” Ku asked, standing beside me. I hadn’t noticed her approach.
“I’m afraid it would be best for you to find that answer for yourself.”
I looked down. Grateful, yet concerned. Could we really figure this out? So far, beings from another word with strange powers had gathered, none of which seemed to know why or where they were. Then there was the dead tannink’esh, which strangely didn’t look like the descriptions I’d been given of it.
The man placed a hand on my cheek, his other gracing Ku’Aya’s face. “There is one thing I can tell you.”
Another tear fell from my eyes. If this truly was the Maker’s Son, I was so unworthy. A 19 year old nobody, fighting to keep his family alive. Fate had thrust an important mission on me, sure, to keep an evil emperor from conquering the known world, but even then, the Maker was the Maker! And his Son was King of not just many worlds, but the entire universe!
“The room just ahead is a room of mirrors, though be careful. The mirrors have a way of revealing your soul. To escape the room, you must face yourself, and conquer your fears.”
The man pointed to a door to his left, one gilded in silver. Something about it, I couldn’t take my eyes from it. I walked to it, ignoring the excitement from the others as they came to an agreement for the answer to a riddle.
Opening the door, I entered into darkness, Ku’Aya beside me. As my eyes adjusted, I could see mirrors all around me. The mirrors were angled so I was looking at an infinite number of mirrors, all depicting me staring at me. Ku was no where to be seen.
There seemed to be nowhere to go, but as I lowered my gaze, I noticed a path along the floor. Following it, a path opened, though if I looked at the mirrors, I quickly lost my bearing and my sense of equilibrium.
After a while, a path opened, and widened into a room with blackened walls. They looked muddied and burned. White smoke filtered up from large potholes in the ground, and I suddenly felt dirt beneath my feet. Looking down, my robe was gone, and I was barefoot. Not only that, but my body was strange. Smaller, somehow. I put my hand to my face, and the stubble Semiramis had made a fuss over before I left was completely gone. Not even a hint that it had been there before.
Looking up, I was in the field behind the castle, just after the battle that had taken my father’s life, and I knew where I was… and what I was. I was back to my 12 year old self.
“Weak.”
I turned toward the voice of my father.
“I died protecting you, and for what?” He was frowning at me.
This wasn’t my father. He wouldn’t say those things to me. I knew this, but his words cut quick to my heart, and I knew it might as well have been true.
“I didn’t train you to be so foolish.” My father raised a sword and charged at me.
I raised my arms to block, my old falcata blade in my hand.
The clang of our swords echoed back and forth in the barren room of the scarred battlefield.
It wasn’t fair. He’d left me too soon. My training hadn’t been finished, and all the things he’d never told me sprang to my mind.
Anger rising, I fought my father back. “What about you?” I yelled. “Triskelion warrior? Why didn’t you tell me about the curse? Or that mother wasn’t your first wife?” Tears blurred my vision, but still I struck out, pushing him back. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
My father locked swords. “Would it have made a difference?”
“I don’t even know you!” I screamed, breaking the lock.
“What’s most important?” he yelled above the clanging of our swords.
“How should I know?” I hollered.
Father redirected my sword aside and kicked me in the hip, causing me stumble backwards and fall.
I quickly stood up again, sword at the ready as my father approached.
“What’s most important?” he hollered.
“I don’t know.” I charged him, but he batted my sword to the side, then struck down against it. The sword ripped from my grip and clattered to the ground. He struck me across the cheek, and I twisted and fell on my face.
Turning, his sword was pointed at my chest. My tears fell like hot lead down my face as I stared in defiance up at my father. Why was he doing this?
“What’s most important?”
The face of the Maker’s Son entered my mind at that moment. What had he said? You must face yourself and conquer your fears.
Was I facing myself? But I wasn’t my father, was I?
Donning came to me. It wasn’t that I was my father, I wanted to be my father. And of course, I feared I would never measure up. He had been a great war general, a triskelion warrior, and had saved a nation on more than one occasion, and he had been my father.
I wanted to protect those I cared about, just like he had protected so many others. Always comparing myself to him, asking myself, what would he have done. But I could never measure up to him. At least, my memory of him. Deep down, I knew he, too, was just a man.
Blinking the tears from my eyes, and only meeting partial success, I gazed up at my father. He was frowning, but he wasn’t angry. He had tears of his own in his eyes.
I gasped. What was most important? I had pushed down so many things, angry that my father had kept so much about his past from me, that I had to learn so much of vital importance about him from complete strangers; I had lost sight of what I did know.
“You love me.” My voice cracked as the words left my lips like distilled cocoa; bitter, yet sweet.
The sword fell from my fathers hand, and he knelt and embraced me. “Always, my little Abirami.” I closed my eyes and held him tight, never wanting to let go as his final words echoed in my ear. “Always.”
I opened my eyes, sleep clinging to my lids. Rubbing them aside, I looked around me. The room was dark, but the mirrors were gone, and a dim light outlined the door on the other side.
Wiping my eyes once more to rid it of its crustiness, I looked over to see Ku’Aya sleeping soundly beside me. I nudged her shoulder, but she didn’t wake up.
“I guess the room puts you to sleep, then,” I said to no one in particular.
The prone shadow of a few other figures were scattered around the room.
“I guess some of the others decided to follow me.”
Shrugging, I sat down to wait for Ku’Aya to wake from her dream.
Christianity has not been tried and found wanting, it has been found difficult and left untried. ~ G.K.C.
I was just scrolling through Tolkien quotes when I came up on this one. Some of my other favorite Tolkien quotes include, “Fly you fools!” and “You shall not pass!” (Huh, all my favorite quotes seem to come from Gandalf XD)
My post picks up right after the man says, “Rest easy, my children.”
ENYDD
I wanted to cry. Not from sadness but for joy. For amazement. For sheer wonder.
I stood before the one who had rescued me from myself and from whom I was becoming. The one who had opened my eyes.
“You have faced much death and hardship in this castle, and I imagine, much confusion. Although I cannot give you the answers to the riddle that is this castle, I have come to grant you a gift,” the man said. “In celebration of salvation’s sacrifice, I have been granted to opportunity to come and grant each of you one wish.”
“What’s the catch?” someone asked.
I marveled that the others could still talk. My mouth was sealed.
The man smiled. “The catch is, this castle has some strange rules to it, so I cannot just gift you a wish without you first proving your worth for it.”
“We have to earn it?” another person asked.
“No, you cannot earn it,” he said. “It’s a gift, but you need to prove your commitment to the castle before I am allow to gift it to you.”
“How do we do that?” Abirami asked.
“The castle has already set up the event,” said the man. “Around this room, there are hidden small eggs. Crack them open, and inside you will find a riddle. Answer the riddle, and I shall grant you one wish. My friends, if you look closely, you shall see that this room is not all that it seems. Now, one last thing, you are only allowed one wish each, so I suggest you each find one egg, and leave the rest for your fellow travelers.”
We scattered, patting the walls, lifting up rugs, and shaking the curtains. I moved through these motions mechanically. I glanced at the man. For the first time in years, I felt at home.
I laughed softly. I was only a few feet from the Truth, and here I was searching for an egg of all things.
“Abirami’s got one!” Ku squealed.
In his hand was an ornate egg. It glowed as purple swirls glided across its surface.
Abirami bowed before the man on the throne. “Is it alright to break it?”
“Abirami, your heart, as ever, is true and honest. You have my permission to break it. The riddle lies beneath,” the man replied with a gentle smile.
Abirami crushed the egg and drew out a slip of paper.
I speed you up, when you have no time, a thrush in a bush makes no rhyme. I cause mistakes when I’m by your side, but I push you back behind the line. What am I?
I snorted. What on Thrae was it talking about?
I wasn’t the only one confused by the riddle. The rest of the people fell silent as each pondered the answer.
“Oh, it’s football,” the armored man cried out suddenly.
Football?
“What’s football?” Abirami asked.
“It’s a sport. A game,” the man explained. “If you rush the quarterback, you can tackle him behind the line of scrimmage. It pushes the entire opposing team back for the next play. It’s called a QB rush.”
“I guess I’ll have to take your word for it.” Abirami turned to the man. “The answer is rush.”
“That is correct,” the man affirmed. “What is it you wish for?”
Abirami paused, sinking deep into thought.
“Be careful how you phrase and ask your wish, young Abirami, for the wish shall only be in accordance to how your wish is worded,” the man warned.
After another moment, Abirami finally spoke. “If possible, sir, would you grant each of us an elixir that will fully heal us, even from the brink of death.”
The man smiled. “You wished one for each of you, although you are strangers?”
I bowed my head. “Yes, I do, sir.”
“Your heart is your strength, Abirami, and your love and trust in the goodness of others and for that which is right shall bless you with dividends. It is a hard and difficult path you have chosen for yourself, but stay true, and your hardships shall produce diamonds along the path for you to walk on. Your wish is granted.”
A vial of crystallized, golden liquid appeared my feet. I picked it up and held it up. The liquid inside seemed radiate with light. I stepped forward to thank the man and Abirami for the gift, but as I did so, I stumbled over a bump in the ground.
“I think I found another one,” I announced shakily.
I crouched down and pulled an egg out from under the carpet. The egg was a calm, rolling blue with slivers of light appearing then disappearing on the surface.
Ignoring the people surrounding me, I carefully broke off the top of the egg and shook out another slip of paper.
“The more of me, the higher I go. The higher you go, the less of me you see. About everything moves by me, and never can I be slow,” I read aloud.
I sighed. Oh wonderful. This one didn’t make any sense either.
I shook my head. Being pessimistic wasn’t going to help me solve the riddle.
The riddle didn’t seem like it was describing any living thing or emotions. That only left the sort of stuff Ellis was always rambling about. The stuff that “effects our very existence even though we can’t see it.”
I racked my mind for his lectures. Was it oxygen? No, it wouldn’t match the first statement. What then?
“Hah!” I exclaimed. “That hot air balloon thing Ellis was talking about! It rose because of the heat from the fire! Remember?”
I was met by incredulous stares.
I was unfazed. “You know, the hot air balloon? From Kellentiad? The one…never mind.”
I read through the riddle again. Heat fit each of the descriptions. I grinned triumphantly. Ellis would be pleased that I finally recognized the value in his never-ending lectures. I turned to the man on the throne. “My lord, it’s heat!”
The man chuckled. “You are correct. Now, what is your wish, Enydd?”
“Oh,” I gasped. “I forgot about that…” I bit my lip. My bag reminded me that I wasn’t in need of anything except stain removal, but I wasn’t about to ask for that. I surveyed the people around me. Should I ask for food? Water?
“Sir,” I began hesitantly. “I ask for strength for each of us to make the right decision in the face of trials that we will face.”
“It is granted, Enydd, but you must know that not everyone will want this gift. People will not be forced to make the right decision.”
I nodded. “Understood.”
“Enydd?”
“Yes, my lord.”
“A good and faithful servant you have been. Continue in what you are doing, and remember, I am with you always.”
Joy welled within me. “Thank you,” I murmured.
“Here’s another one,” someone said. “People and animals have me and can never escape me. Music, painting, and characters fall flat without me. My influence on your choices is strong though you may not realize it. What am I?”
I came up with this riddle today, and if it’s too vague, feel free to change it. Hint: this thing cannot be seen, tasted, smelled, or heard though it can be felt (in the broadest sense of the word)
Poor Abirami! At least his father isn’t like that in real life.
I’ll post Enydd’s mirrors-of-fear experience sometime in the near future.
“You shall not pass!” (Huh, all my favorite quotes seem to come from Gandalf XD)
hahahaha. I have a poster in my classroom with Gandolph facing the balrog, on top it says “You Shall Not Pass”. and then on the bottom, it says “If You Do Not Have Your Name On Your Paper!”
lol.
“Sir,” I began hesitantly. “I ask for strength for each of us to make the right decision in the face of trials that we will face.” “It is granted, Enydd, but you must know that not everyone will want this gift. People will not be forced to make the right decision.” I nodded. “Understood.” “Enydd?” “Yes, my lord.” “A good and faithful servant you have been. Continue in what you are doing, and remember, I am with you always.”
Aaawwww. Sweet and awesome =)
Poor Abirami! At least his father isn’t like that in real life.
It’s really true, though. So much of his character is him chasing after the image of his father and trying to live up to this perfect image he has of him. Which makes it even more complex, because he was utterly crushed when he learned so many ‘secrets’ about his father that weren’t really secrets because many people knew of them, but that his father never told him.
And yeah, his father wasn’t really like that in real life. It was Abirami’s fear that his father would ultimately be disappointed in him (fyi, Abirami literally means ‘father elated’. – – I try to make all the names in my fantasy world have deeper meanings. It’s lots of fun. =) Ky’Aya means ‘many miracles’ or sometimes translated ‘many blessings’. Which says a lot about who Ku’Aya is going to become…)
oooh!!!! okay, that was providence… just writing that out as a description, example, gave me an amazing idea for a future book I plan to write with Ku’Aya in it. =). oh, it’s so good… makes me excited to be a writer.
I’ll post Enydd’s mirrors-of-fear experience sometime in the near future.
=). I look forward to it.
Oh,
I think we may have failed to mention, if you didn’t read backward, that we are all on the second floor because the first floor was flooded with poison gas… did I mention that? Oh well… hehe.
Hope that opens things up for you to join in. Looking forward to meeting your characters. Oh, I will also have Ku’Aya’s post someday soon, too.
Christianity has not been tried and found wanting, it has been found difficult and left untried. ~ G.K.C.
Oh yeah, and your riddle is a good one,
Is it perspective?
some of my other guesses:
Depth
3-Dimensions
Point of View
Personality
Christianity has not been tried and found wanting, it has been found difficult and left untried. ~ G.K.C.
DENALI YOU’RE BACKKKK!!!!!! I MISSED YOU AND I MISSED NIAROK!!!!!
pulled Liorah and Aydin out and put Mejt (May-eet) and her older brother, Halmar (did I get his name right?) They’re both around twenty.
Yep, accurate! Halmar is twenty, Mejt is eighteen!
and has a terrible habit of making wry comments about the weather
LOL, same XD Whining about the weather is my one weakness XD
(I’m looking at you, Liorah. I know you’re not even in the castle anymore but I’m still looking at you. 😂)
Oh, GOSH I’m glad I pulled out the little gremlin. She would have been AWFUL with Mori!!! It would have been worse than the Lorcan *s i t u a t i o n* The brat would get herself murdered and I am seriously doubting whether I would plot-armor-ressurect her.
and he’s been the dad of the Castle group for… well… until I disappeared for Lent. rose-colored-fancy will testify.
Awwww, yesss!!! Niarok is the sweetest, most wholesome character, he adopted all these traumatized idiots so quickly 🥰🥰
Oh, Denali, I wish I could say Aydin is alive and doing well in his story but… I’m stuck at the low point, both of the story and his character arc. I have the decency to be ashamed of what I’m doing to my characters in general and him in particular. (He’ll be fine though, he’s survived worse… kinda. I hope.) *Evil laughter interspersed by tears because ohmygoodness it’s so awful.*
I think you’ll like Mejt and Halmar! They’re from the pirate story (idk if I told you about it yet… it’s more high-fantasy than Liorah’s world.) Mejt has the soul of a bitter grandma and Halmar has the personality of a golden retriever. It’s great XD
Although they’re both very natural for me to write which is super nice in comparison to Evelyn *glares pointedly at my MC*
Oh, gosh, Evie still giving you trouble?
I have too much catching up to do, so I’m just going to pick up right where we are now XD I’ll try to write Halmar within the next few days (probably tuesday)! I had a cool idea for him…
@jared-williams I really like this new challenge! We’ve done similar things in the castle before, but this is the first time they actually have to overcome their greatest fears.Without darkness, there is no light. If there was no nighttime, would the stars be as bright?
@everyone
I had a really interesting idea for a next challenge. It’s similar to this one, except instead of facing their fears, they learn what would have happened if they never face their fears and complete their arc. If they make all the wrong choices and become the worst version of themselves, where would they be in ten/twenty/thirty/however many years?
I came up with some interesting answers for both Mejt and Halmar, it could be fun to think about and write after we finish this! What do y’all think?
Without darkness, there is no light. If there was no nighttime, would the stars be as bright?
hahahaha. I have a poster in my classroom with Gandolph facing the balrog, on top it says “You Shall Not Pass”. and then on the bottom, it says “If You Do Not Have Your Name On Your Paper!”
XD I think I’ve seen posters like that before.
your riddle is a good one,
Thank you! Your last guess about personality is pretty close to the answer. I tried to make the riddle so that it listed four characteristics, but my mind wasn’t cooperating at that point. XD
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