The Deepest of the Mines

[Diamond Master]

Puzzle ID #: 8
Attempts: Unlimited
Resets: No
Time: 5 days
Discoverer: Yerkan of Elish. Only he may attempt this puzzle until time is up.

The dying, sooty woman inside the deepest poisoned cave whispers to you, “Bring the Traveler. Bring the tactician. Only he can plot the course my soul must travel to bypass Set.”

[Yerkan of Elish]

"Heh. And this sounds like something Ptah would know. He was probably personal friends with Set.

[Yerkan of Elish]

"Hmm. Do you need Osiris? Or perhaps Imhotep?"

[Diamond Master]

She cannot speak; her throat is too far gone, and her thought is masked by confusion.

[Yerkan of Elish]

Horus is a god of war, so is something of a tactician. I summon forth a Falcon to guide her.

[Diamond Master]

Horus does not seem to be what she needs.

[Ptah]

"Heh. And this sounds like something Ptah would know. He was probably personal friends with Set.

"Friends with Set? Heavens, no! Set was a god to be feared - as were they all. I may have been named after one of them, but I started out mortal. The only reason I'm even here is that someone forgot to make me mortal again when I stopped being useful to her."

[Diamond Master]

Puzzle # 8 has timed out and is now available to all.

[Yerkan of Elish]

"Heh. And this sounds like something Ptah would know. He was probably personal friends with Set.

"Friends with Set? Heavens, no! Set was a god to be feared - as were they all. I may have been named after one of them, but I started out mortal. The only reason I'm even here is that someone forgot to make me mortal again when I stopped being useful to her."

"Hahaha. Well, of course the little games of gods are always hard to distinguish between friendships and from complete hatred, sometimes. Yours is a wonderful story, however, that such a deity would forget to make you mortal again. I shall always wonder if there was more to that than has been said? Heh."

I sigh, and leave the woman behind for now. Knowledge is not always enough to save a life, they say. I transform into a tick, and attempt to scurry through cracks in the stone and make my way even deeper, into whatever may be found below even the mines.

[Diamond Master]

You trace a network of hollow veins deep below the earth.

You find yourself in a true labyrinth with a single looping, confusing path. Eventually it forks into three paths: one goes toward a strong heat source, the other toward cold, and the third back toward the infrequent lights of the mines.