Solve This Riddle to Win 100 Gold! =D

[Khodo]

Friends!

Purely for fun, I thought I'd host a little riddle contest!

The first Gladdenite to post the correct answer to this riddle on this forum (or sent to me via in-game mail, for those unable to post on the forum) will be sent 100 gold from me (or the equivalent in food, if you prefer )! If no one gets the right answer to this riddle within a week or so, I will post the answer here. And if someone who is not a Gladdenite is first to post the correct answer, then we shall all look upon them with scorn and dismay, cursing their existence and that of their vile non-Gladden server...(though feel free to send me a private message with your guess, if you want!)!

Be sure to include your in-game name when you post guesses...otherwise, I won't know where to send your gold!

By the way, if folks think this is fun, perhaps we can have others create their own riddles and maybe even contribute to bigger prizes in future!

Mystery of Bree
Smoking breathlessly
With a vessel am I crowned
Blind seers seated, round
Quivering, yet un-bowed
Presenting a choice in the road
Yet failing it seems am I
As the four with me do spy
What am I?

Feel free to discuss the riddle and possible answers in this thread...and have fun!

Yours,

Khodo

[Khodo]

Having received lots of IMs and mails in the first few hours since posting this, here are some common guesses that are not correct:

• a particular milestone (or milestones in general)
• a particular torch (or torches in general)
• a particular fireplace (or fireplaces in general)
• a particular oven (or ovens in general)
• a particular chimney (or chimneys in general)
• the Bree Boar Fountain
• the Shade (or Ghost) of Bree

I will offer an additional hint - the answer is something that exists within LOTRO, not the books, movies, etc.

There's no limit to the number of times you can guess!

Good luck!

[Khodo]

As the riddle remains unsolved, I will begin offering clues every day or two by interpreting a line or portion of the riddle. These clues will initially be subtle, becoming more explicit over time if needed.

Mystery of Bree

This line indicates that the answer to this riddle is something that can be seen within Bree. There is a mystery about this something, though it is subtle and may only be obvious to those who are exceptionally perceptive. The casual observer may see no mystery at all. The mystery is not the result of this riddle - rather, it is an attribute of that something that it has had since long before this riddle was conceived. The nature of the mystery is addressed elsewhere within this riddle.

Good luck!

Yours,

Khodo

[Khodo]

As the Mystery of Bree riddle remains unsolved, here is the next clue....

Yet failing it seems am I

The answer to this riddle is something that has an in-game purpose and it is readily apparent that it is failing at that in-game purpose.

Good luck!

Yours,

Khodo

[YamydeAragon]

As the Mystery of Bree riddle remains unsolved, here is the next clue....

Yet failing it seems am I

The answer to this riddle is something that has an in-game purpose and it is readily apparent that it is failing at that in-game purpose.

Good luck!

Yours,

Khodo

Dwarf playing with tooples near the scholar's stairs.

[Aldturnerwig]

As the Mystery of Bree riddle remains unsolved, here is the next clue....

Yet failing it seems am I

The answer to this riddle is something that has an in-game purpose and it is readily apparent that it is failing at that in-game purpose.

Good luck!

Yours,

Khodo

is the SOMETHING in Bree town proper, or in Bree land?

[Cordovan]

It has been cool to watch this thread unfold, good luck everyone!

[Laurelinarien]

Oh I missed this thread! I may be wrong but I think the answer to the riddle is the scarecrow in the bree fields.

This guy

[Khodo]

WE HAVE A WINNER!!! Congratulations Laurelinarien! Please let me know your in-game name, so I can send you your 100 gold prize!

Now, to offer a full explanation of the riddle. I will start with the last lines, because as a tricksy hobbit I purposefully put the most obvious clues last, and the least obvious clues first!

Yet failing it seems am I
As the four with me do spy

This scarecrow is a complete failure. Not only is it not scaring away the birds, but there are 4 crows, or perhaps more accurately crebain, literally sitting on it. These birds are commonly used as spies by Saruman and perhaps others.

Quivering, yet un-bowed
Presenting a choice in the road

Looking at the scarecrow, we can see what appears to be a quiver hanging from its shoulder down to the ground. However, it has no bow (unless that stick is meant to be one, though it has no string). It is also presenting a type of fork - as a choice in a road is known - a pitchfork, to be exact.

Note also that every two lines rhyme. The hyphen in "un-bowed" differentiates it from "unbowed" (i.e. refusing to bow). And to make it rhyme with "road" it had to be pronounced "bowed", as in a bow and arrow. These two subtle elements were intended as clues that the "bow" might pair with the "quiver".

With a vessel am I crowned
Blind seers seated, round

Looking again at the scarecrow, we can see that in place of a helmet it has a bucket, which is a type of vessel for carrying water or milk. Looking closer we see that its eyes, or "seers" in riddle-speak, are seated upon its head (not carved like a statue) and they are both blind and round as they are buttons! Incidentally, the comma between seated and round indicates that round describes the blind seers, not that they were "seated 'round". This was purposefully written this way as a possible misdirection.

Mystery of Bree
Smoking breathlessly

Lastly, those that look very closely may see that this scarecrow has a pipe. And not only does it have a pipe, but that pipe is lit and the scarecrow is actively smoking it! How this is possible is clearly a mystery - how could a scarecrow, with no breath, be smoking a pipe!

Of course, this last/first clue was very subtle and likely not obvious to most people. It also served to make people think of chimneys or other things that smoke within the game. Again, this was a purposeful possible misdirection...

...and that's it! Thanks to all of you who played my little game and congrats again to Laurelinarien for being the first to offer the correct answer!

Oh I missed this thread! I may be wrong but I think the answer to the riddle is the scarecrow in the bree fields.

This guy

[scifispirit]

WE HAVE A WINNER!!! Congratulations Laurelinarien! Please let me know your in-game name, so I can send you your 100 gold prize!

Now, to offer a full explanation of the riddle. I will start with the last lines, because as a tricksy hobbit I purposefully put the most obvious clues last, and the least obvious clues first!

Yet failing it seems am I
As the four with me do spy

This scarecrow is a complete failure. Not only is it not scaring away the birds, but there are 4 crows, or perhaps more accurately crebain, literally sitting on it. These birds are commonly used as spies by Saruman and perhaps others.

Quivering, yet un-bowed
Presenting a choice in the road

Looking at the scarecrow, we can see what appears to be a quiver hanging from its shoulder down to the ground. However, it has no bow (unless that stick is meant to be one, though it has no string). It is also presenting a type of fork - as a choice in a road is known - a pitchfork, to be exact.

Note also that every two lines rhyme. The hyphen in "un-bowed" differentiates it from "unbowed" (i.e. refusing to bow). And to make it rhyme with "road" it had to be pronounced "bowed", as in a bow and arrow. These two subtle elements were intended as clues that the "bow" might pair with the "quiver".

With a vessel am I crowned
Blind seers seated, round

Looking again at the scarecrow, we can see that in place of a helmet it has a bucket, which is a type of vessel for carrying water or milk. Looking closer we see that its eyes, or "seers" in riddle-speak, are seated upon its head (not carved like a statue) and they are both blind and round as they are buttons! Incidentally, the comma between seated and round indicates that round describes the blind seers, not that they were "seated 'round". This was purposefully written this way as a possible misdirection.

Mystery of Bree
Smoking breathlessly

Lastly, those that look very closely may see that this scarecrow has a pipe. And not only does it have a pipe, but that pipe is lit and the scarecrow is actively smoking it! How this is possible is clearly a mystery - how could a scarecrow, with no breath, be smoking a pipe!

Of course, this last/first clue was very subtle and likely not obvious to most people. It also served to make people think of chimneys or other things that smoke within the game. Again, this was a purposeful possible misdirection...

...and that's it! Thanks to all of you who played my little game and congrats again to Laurelinarien for being the first to offer the correct answer!

This was insanely fun to follow. I'm not on Gladden but was having fun trying to figure it out myself. Congratulations Laurelinarien!!!

[Laurelinarien]

Hahaha Scifi told me I had won xD
My in-game name is the same as my forum name (Laurelinarien)

It was a beautifully written riddle, Khodo! Ty!

[Khodo]

Hahaha Scifi told me I had won xD
My in-game name is the same as my forum name (Laurelinarien)

It was a beautifully written riddle, Khodo! Ty!

Your prize has been sent! Congrats again!

[Laurelinarien]

Your prize has been sent! Congrats again!

Ty kindly!