Riddle chest I (Spoilers)

Riddle chest

An iron banded wooden chest sitting on a grassy field. Green hills and a blue sky are in the background.

A riddle chest near Northwarden.

Riddle chests, also known as wordlock chests and fairy chests, are one of four types of chests that can be found in Betrayal at Krondor. They are one of the most secure types of cache in the game and frequently hold useful, valuable, or unique items.

Overview

Invented by the moredhel, riddle chests are sturdy iron-banded boxes impossible to break or to open with picklocks. They are rough in their construction and marked from unsuccessful attempts to open them without solving the clue.

Riddle chests are used by moredhel to store supplies and pass messages, and their clues often make reference to moredhel culture and politics. Except for the few whose contents change between chapters, they are the most secure type of cache in the game; items left in most riddle chest will invariably still be there when the party returns to retrieve them.

While some lie in plain sight, others can only be found by exploring obscure corners of the game, behind hills, between mountains, and inside copses of trees. They are one of the types of cache that can be located with the Brass Spyglass or the Eyes of Ishap spell; less effectively but more specifically, those containing foodstuffs can be revealed by The Unseen and those containing magical items by Nacre Cicatrix.

If a riddle chest is right-clicked, a party member remarks that the chest appears to be equipped with a special lock.

Mechanics

The chests' magical wordlocks feature metal plates whose sliding tumblers spell a word in moredhel runes, with a riddling clue inscribed in the same language on a steel plate beneath the lock. Each tumbler cycles through four letters, one of which is part of the solution. Once the riddle is solved, the chest's locks open and the party can access its contents.

While the locks can be brute-forced with enough patience, they can be read only by those fluent in moredhel language or via the Union spell, which, if used, must be cast before interacting with the chest in order to be effective. The clue must be solved again every time the party opens the chest.

Storyline

The DIE chest at the edge of the King's Highway north of LaMut is the closest chest to the location where the game begins.

Three "fairy chests" in the Lyton area were mapped by Brother Jeremy the Scribe. The party can learn the answers to their clues by completing a quest for Lord Lyton.

The THORN chest west of Silden is described by Abuk as a unique magical receptacle in which items lost through interaction with the Prank's Stone reappear. As such, it becomes a vital clue to the provenance of the Brass Spyglass.

Opening the DARKNESS chest in Cavall Run ends Chapter 3, so its contents cannot be retrieved until Chapter 6.

The GLAMREDHEL chest, mentioned in the Abbot's Journal and found in the Ancient Valheru Ruins, is the only chest whose tumblers cycle through eight letters each instead of four.

Manual

The game manual explains that while folk myth casts "fairy chests" as receptacles for items lost by those who have incurred the displeasure of Banath, they actually serve as waypoints for messages between traveling moredhel, as most Kingdom couriers refuse to work in the hostile conditions north of Inclindel Pass or Cutter's Gap. Regardless of this description, riddle chests are found in all corners of the Kingdom.

Western map

North of Yabon, beyond the rigged hut.

In all the world, none can compare, To this tiny weaver, his deadly cloth So silky and fair. SPIDER

Standard Kingdom Armor, 46 royals, 4 Picklocks, Shell

West of Tyr-Sog, south of the farmer's hut

Silently he stalks me, Running as I run, Creeping as I creep. Dressed in black, He disappears at night, Only to return with the sun. SHADOW

Torch, Restoratives, a note from the Six, a scroll with the Eyes of Ishap spell.

Beside the road, north of LaMut (near the place the game starts)

Prince Arutha, from his lofty perch, Will find our troops without a search. His men will fall, his castle too, And then what will Prince Arutha do? DIE

Standard Kingdom Armor and Broadsword.

Between the Temple of Killian and Joseph the Animal's

When it comes in, From sea to shore, Twenty paces you'll see, No less, no more. FOG

Broadsword, 118r, 6 Lockpicks

East of Hawk's Hollow

Axes and swords, Will not help you through. Yet it and a little push will do. Some in the road would have fought and soon died, Were it not closer at hand, to let them inside. KEY

40s and a scroll of the Five; it writes about dissidents near Inclindel. Moredhel not bearing a hand tattoo must be executed to prevent contact with Krondor.

North of Orno the Pale's house, SE of Loriel.

You will invite him into your house, Yet you know him not. Once you get to know him, This thing he will no longer be. STRANGER

Standard Kingdom Armor, Broadsword, Whetstone, some royals

Mac Mordain Cadal

The room with the Rogues.

Two legs it has, And this will confound: Only at rest, Do they touch the ground. BARROW

Ring of Prandur, Rope, Dalatail Milk, 166 royals

The locked room in the south.

Round as an apple, Deep as a cup, All the Bitter Sea, Can't fill it up. SIEVE

2 Broadswords, Shell, Lorgan's Journal

Room adjacent to the one above.

Although my cow is dead, I continue to beat her. What a racket she makes. DRUM

Weedwalkers, some royals.

South road

Right south of the pass, NW of the Temple of Silban

Up and down they go, but never move... STAIRS

Shell, Standard Armor, Light Crossbow, Moredhel Lamprey, 15 Poisoned Quarrels, Note by Narab (move troops to Tanneurs anticipating Gorath)

Between Zun and Chanty's hut

The light one breaks but never falls. His brother falls but never breaks. DAY NIGHT

57r, Flamecast, Torch

Behind Rygate and Supply there are 3 chests

A precious gift, this, Yet it has no end or beginning, And in the middle, nothing. RING

28r, 2 Shells

Be you ever so quick, With vision keen, By your eyes, We are never seen. Unless, perchance, It should come to pass, You see our reflection, In a looking glass. EYES

Light Crossbow, Picklocks, Torch

Though easy to spot, when allowed to plume, It is hard to see, When held in a room. SMOKE

2 Shells, Broadsword

Between Sarth and Questor's View, at the end of a path

Buckets, barrels, baskets, cans; What must you fill with empty hands? GLOVES

Blessed Broadsword, Shell, Lockpicks, Spell Scroll (Skin of the Dragon)

East of Sarth behind a hill and a trap there are 3 chests

The chill of its death, You may soon mourn. But though it dies, It cannot be born. FIRE

40 sovereigns, 2 Light Crossbows

You see it about in field and town, It cannot get up, But will oft fall down. RAIN

Standard Armor, Amulet of the Upright Man, Shell, 32 sovereigns

Swollag, the famous moredhel craftsman, guarantees his work until the end of time. HANGMAN

21 sovereigns, 76 royals, Broadsword.

Between Tanneurs and Krondor

They feel no pain, No sorrow, no greed. They have no anger, No hatred, nor heed. THE DEAD

Standard Armor, Light Crossbow, Torch

Just south of the previous one, behind a hill.

It flies without wings, Strikes without beak, teeth, or talons. It has no eyes in its pointed head, but it can kill birds in flight. ARROW

Standard Armor, Broadsword, Light crossbow, 40 sovereigns.