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Flamewind Issues Annual Riddle of the Three Stars
SHARN -- For the third year in a row, the Morgrave University gynosphinx known as Flamewind plans to tell her "riddle of the three stars" to anyone with 50 gold coins. The gynosphinx will begin granting private audiences at noon tomorrow to deliver the riddle. As this issue of Sharn Inquisitive went to press, dozens of people were already in line in front of Lareth Hall, awaiting their turn to hear the puzzle.
Flamewind's riddles are generally multipart puzzles that take treasure-seekers throughout Sharn in search of a chest full of coins and gems that she's hidden somewhere in the city. Two years ago, her riddle sent the city into an uproar for three weeks while Sharn residents pored over the clues and scoured every nook and cranny of the city for the treasure. The inaugural winner, a mendicant monk named Guptra One-Eye, parleyed her fortune into a glittering spire in Mithral Tower and marriage into the ir'Callandu family.
Last year, a group of Morgrave University students solved Flamewind's riddle in only six days, amid persistent rumors that they had used magical divinations to bypass many of the riddle's challenges. But good luck didn't follow their sudden fortune -- in fact, three of the winners died within the last year. One of the two surviving winners, Talia Churchend, is presently incarcerated in the Citadel for her part in an unsuccessful murder-for-hire scheme against the other survivor, singer Nulio Anachram.
In brief remarks to Sharn Inquisitive, Flamewind refused to discuss the tactics of past winners directly but expressed confidence in the "active countermeasures" she's deployed against those who try to skip steps in the trail of riddles. Flamewind further stated that she didn't object to contestants sharing the initial riddle with others, but only those who have paid the entrance fee and heard the initial riddle are eligible for the riches to which it leads.
About the Author
David Noonan is a designer/developer for Wizards of the Coast. Before coming to Wizards, he was a daily newspaper reporter in Washington state. Apparently the city hall beat is good practice for an Eberron campaign.
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