The seven potions

Oct 14, 1237

Two weeks ago, our four heroes found the diary of the mysterious Grete. It told the sad story of the girl who was excluded and mocked by the young people of Feth. She swore revenge when she also had to cope with the death of her beloved father. Grete began experimenting on dead and later living animals, aiming to control them and influence their behaviour. But the resources near Feth were not sufficient for her experiments, which is why she ended up in the Kresto Plateau – and that is exactly where Kel, Löwenzahn, Theo and Aldric are now headed.

Despite the cool October air, beads of sweat drip from Löwenzahn's forehead. But he is not the only one struggling with the uneven undergrowth and the steady climb. All four of them groan repeatedly and complain about the strenuous ascent. Regular breaks slow them down even further, so that they have to set up their nightly camp much earlier than they would have liked. Under some fir trees, they escape the drizzle that had started shortly before the end of their hike. Around the warm fire, they discuss what might await them next, but their eyelids quickly grow heavy – and so they all slip into their sleeping bags. They naively decide to forego a night watch and sink straight into a deep sleep.

The four wake up with wet sleeping bags and cold noses. It has cooled down further during the night, and the rain has probably become a little heavier. Now, however, it is dry again, and they quickly pack up their things. Today’s march is no less strenuous, but after four long hours they reach a small plateau that is noticeably less wooded than the forest they have been trudging through recently. It’s actually time for another rest, so they put down their things and look around. A rocky hill lies on one side of the plateau and is, of course, also inspected. Here, Löwenzahn makes an exciting discovery!

He quickly runs out of a small cave he has just found and calls his three friends over. He leads them along the small rock passage until all four of them enter a rock chamber. Seven glass bottles with silver lids stand on the rock wall opposite them, looking as if they had been waiting just for our explorers. From left to right, there is first a bottle with a transparent liquid on the rock floor, followed by bottles with black, red, silver, green, gold and finally white contents. A metre higher up, Aldric discovers some unfamiliar writing carved into the rock wall. He slowly reads out the following words: “Ad Tis Rim Lohw Mendaj Fau Red Rusp, Rih Inschte Aschlu Uz Enis. Dre Tesnaech Wihsnei Teigl Ma Denob Seider Lafeschn. Dei Tewize Uz Fonefene Lafesch Deruw Seitreb Nannetg. Chess Tellots Rih Nirkent!”

Our friends look at each other somewhat lost, and Kel decides to write down the words and then think about them during their well-deserved rest. His companions like this idea, so they quickly gather some firewood and make themselves comfortable by the fire.

As their stomachs fill, the four’s brainpower increases, and it doesn’t take long for them to get closer to the solution. Aldric realises that only the letters of each word have been jumbled up – and that they now have to put them back in the right order. In a few minutes, the puzzle is solved, and the following words are written on Kel’s scrap of paper: ‘Someone seems to be on my trail. You appear to be clever. The next clue is at the bottom of these bottles. The second bottle to be opened has already been mentioned. You should drink six!’

Once again, the four look at each other questioningly, because they don’t even know which bottle is the first one – but then they decide to think about the second one first. They quickly agree that the bottle with red contents should be drunk second, as the only colour mentioned is red (or rather ‘Red’ in the version with the letters jumbled up). With this knowledge, they return to the small cave. They pick up the bottle with the red liquid, and Löwenzahn tries to open it for lack of other options. But it doesn’t work. The metal cap is stuck fast on the glass neck – and the other bottles are also impossible to open. Kels’ suggestion to throw all the bottles on the floor and ignore the recommendation in the riddle is not well received – and so they stand there, in their little cave, not knowing what to do next.

They keep picking up the bottles, rereading the riddle and thinking about possible clues from the diary. Then Löwenzahn suddenly starts turning the bottles over – and discovers something exciting: there seems to be something metallic lying at the bottom of each bottle, just waiting to be found. But that doesn’t work as long as the bottles can’t be opened. Löwenzahn accidentally solves this problem too. When he turns the white bottle upside down, he notices that there is no metallic object at the bottom. He also hears a soft hissing sound and discovers air bubbles on the lid. Suddenly, the entire contents of the bottle spill out onto the stone floor in front of him and collect in a hollow in the centre of the cave. Excited, they begin to pour some of the white liquid onto the cap of the red bottle – and sure enough, the cap dissolves on contact with the white liquid.

So the first puzzle is solved – and you’ll find out in two weeks’ time in the next Arkanthia – Pen and Paper blog whether our friends can open the next six bottles correctly.