Tome of the Hydra: Thomas's Test (10 Apr 2003) Thomas takes the test of the Tome of the Hydra.

The mists part, revealing a great ruined chamber, a temple built within a cavern, though many of its tapering columns have collapsed, and others have been worn away or buried in mineral deposits by the rivulets of water that trickle through cracks in the walls and run town a sloping, shadowy tunnel. Flickering torch-light illuminates the cavern only dimly, casting strange shadows across the walls ... but some of the shadows move, revealing themselves to be more than mere tricks of the light.

Nine serpentine heads weave amongst the columns, their amber eyes fixing upon the intruder. They flick their forked tongues, and writhe about, as unseen claws scrape against the stone floor. "One" "comes" "to" "see" "us," five heads hiss. The other four answer, "He" "must" "answer" "us."

Standing on a pedestal, is an ancient and weathered tome. A serpentine tail whips out of the darkness, and flips the cover open. The pages flip, and then lay flat, revealing some odd groups of words and numbers.

"Nine heads hath the hydra, and nine puzzles to ask of thee," says the first head.

"Each puzzle be a box," the second one says, "and each box has nine squares."

"Look!" exclaims the third.

"Doest thou see a pattern?" the fourth asks.

"Do not be lulled, if thou thinkest some of these too easy," the fifth warns.

"None of the hydra's heads are obliged to follow the same rules," the sixth explains.

"See if thou can reckon what might go in the empty box, and be thou prepared to defend thy answer," the seventh hisses.

"But the ninth head of the hydra be contrary," the eighth says slyly.

Grinning, the ninth head says, "He has left three squares empty, for thee to fill in."

The heads writhe again, pulling back, darting out, and changing places.

The first head speaks: "Complete my square: eve, even, never; mat, tame, meaty; par, rapt ... then what?"

The second head speaks: "Complete my square: love, joy, peace; patience, kindness, generosity; faithfulness, gentleness ... then what?"

The third head speaks: "Complete my square: meat, team, tame; meal, lame, male; pat, tap ... then what?"

The fourth head speaks: "Complete my square: 2, 4, 16; 1, 1, 1, 3, 9 ... then what?"

The fifth head speaks: "Complete my square: X, H, W; T, A, E; L, Z ... then what?"

The sixth head speaks: "Complete my square: star, tear, won; own, rats, rate; tare, now ... then what?"

The seventh head speaks: "Complete my square: angle, alone, none; triangle, company, single; square, crowd ... then what?"

The eighth head speaks: "Complete my square: N, D, R; U, C, U; N, O ... then what?"

The ninth head speaks: "Complete my square: Steno, Euryale ... then what? Urd, Verdandi ... then what? Shadrach, Meshach ... then what?"

A silence falls upon the cavern, as all nine heads stare....

"Indeed," Thomas replies with a wry grin. "Do you wish me to attempt to solve the puzzles in order, or present you the solutions I believe to be true all at once?"

"Neither is necessary," the heads say in unison. "You may answer in any order you desire."

Thomas nods and says, "Then, I will begin with puzzle four. You present me a series of numbers that grow perhaps in a pattern. The pattern need not be left to right, up to down, right to left, or even diagonal. But, after observing the growth of numbers, I believe I can answer this. The blank square should contain eighty-one. Thereason, each series of numbers, from left or right, grow in the pattern of the next is the square of the first. Two, squared, is four, four squared is 16. One, squared, is always one. Three squared is nine. And nine squared is eighty-one."

"Well said, Lord Explorer Thomas," the fourth head says.

Thomas paces, then glances toward the Hydra. "I choose to answer puzzle seven, next. I believe the empty box should contain 'double'. I have a variety of reasons for choosing that answer. First, is the left column. You have a progression of geometry going on, each increasing by one side, from angle, a two sided object, to triangle, a threesided object, to square, a four sided object. The second column follows a similar idea, really, if you think of the old phrase, two's company, three's a crowd. That always referred to yourself plus one other person, so if you look at it, alone, two is company, three is crowd; again, a growth of one in number each time. And the last column, if the pattern follows, should be double, given the choice of words. Even looking right to left in the rows, I believe my logic holds," he answers.

"Your answer is acceptable, Lord Explorer Thomas," the seventh head says, with a nod.

Thomas rubs his neck and hmms. "I shall attempt to answer puzzle one. Here we have another sequence of sorts, where each box in a row from right to left increases a set of letters by one to create a new word. Eve adds an n, to become even. Then it adds an 'r' and becomes never. The same seems to follow for the second row. Mat adds an 'e' to become tame, then adds a 'y' to become meaty. It's not an ordering puzzle that I can see, but an add a letter and form a word from the pool of letters sort of puzzle. So, I choose to add the letter 's' to the row and form the word 'traps' from the pool of letters. Is 'traps' a valid answer?" he inquires.

"Yes," the first hydra head says, "that answer shall suffice, Lord Explorer."

""Hmm, ah," Thomas replies, his expression easing. "I think I can answer puzzle six. It's an anagram puzzle. Now, own, and won are anagrams of the same set of letters. Tear, rate, and tare are anagrams of the same set of letters. So, the last must be an anagram of star. So, I answer that the final box should be 'arts'"

"Very observant of you, Lord Explorer," the sixth head says, nodding.

"Thank you," Thomas replies, then goes back to the puzzle set and hmms.

Thomas's brow furrows and he hmms. "I think I can answer the second puzzle, perhaps. Is the last box self-control? It's a listing of a set of things I remember from my life in the mortal world, in Sunday school. I remember the last as being self-control," he answers uncertainly.

"A very useful fruit to have," the second head says, nodding approvingly.

Thomas quirks a grin and says, "Ah, I think I can also answer puzzle five! It's another progression puzzle. From left to right in the rows, each new character is composed of one more line than the previous. X is two lines, H is three lines, W is four lines. Same on the next row; T is two lines, A is three lines, E is four lines. So! following that the last line could be, L Z M. M has four lines, and is a unique character in the set of boxes."

"Very observant," the fifth head says, with a nod.

Tom drums his fingers against his chin. "I think I can answer puzzle three as well. This also looks like an anagram puzzle. Meat, team, and tame are all composed of the same characters, as are meal, lame, and male. So, I think the third row is pat, tap, apt. And I find that amusing as well, since apt just means appropriate. So, is 'apt' the appropriate answer?" Thomas grins, hopeful.

"Yes," the third head says, "that will suffice."

Thomas quirks a grin, "I assume you won't offer any clues on the remaining two? I can answer part of nine, as the top three are the sisters of Medusa, so the top third entry should be Medusa."

The ninth head grins impishly. "At least that is a third of the answer, which is better than none. But we do not offer any clues. You must provide your own."

Thomas laughs, "Well, they're all names, and each row is probably a set of related names." He rubs his neck and ponders.

Thomas clenches his eyes shut and growls. "Okay ... I think I know the second row answer for puzzle nine. It's a series of related names. I think I skimmed this once. Past, present, the third was future ... I think. What was the third name! Argh," Thomas grumbles, then whacks the side of his head. "Skuld! The future, the one who attends you when you die. No wonder I had a hard time remembering. That's just plain odd."

"Very well educated, you are, Lord Explorer," the ninth head says, nodding. "Two-thirds is even more impressive than one, but it is not the whole."

Thomas makes a face. "I am glad I've traveled and read a few myths of the local people. But, so many places, it all gets sort of jumbled together after awhile," he says, then goes back to staring at the puzzles. "One and a third to go..."

"You know, the pastor in the mortal world would be upset with me for not being able to answer this one quickly," Thomas mutters and shakes his head. "I think I might remember the answer to the row in puzzle nine. Is it Abednego? One of the three boys captured by Nebuchadnezzar?"

"Well said, Lord Explorer," the ninth head says. "You know much of more world than just one."

The eighth head cocks its head, flicking its tongue in the Lord Explorer's direction.

"There's some advantages to having lived in both, eh?" Thomas says with a grin. "Now, one more to go. He stares intently at the last puzzle, trying to discern a pattern.

Thomas shakes his head and sighs, "As for puzzle eight, I am afraid I do not know. The solution eludes me."

The eighth head nods. "Yes. It is quite a conundrum. But you have performed admirably, Lord Explorer."

The mists start to close in.

Thomas's brow furrows as he nods. "It was quite the challenge. Thank you for your patience as I stretched my memory," he replies and bows. "You have also reminded me that there is always more for me to learn. More reasons for me to continue my travels."

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