Issue 1 Downtime

Roland Puzzle #1: The Battle of Maldon
Difficulty: Medium
Google allowed?: Yes

Roland took the class to the shores of the River Blackwater.

"Alright class. 991. AD, that is -- Battle of Maldon. A bunch of Vikings stormed the beach here, as one of the many raids on the Britons at that time.

That statue is of Earl Brythnoth, and he was a real idiot. Don't let the Tolkein story, or the old poem, tell you differently -- he was a right wanker.

We -- that's the Vikings, that is -- told him that if they paid us off, we could avoid combat. He said no, but let us land and get ready for battle. Yeah, that didn't work out to well for him. The poem shows him dieing heroically and praising God and all that, but let me tell you, there was more screaming and bleeding and begging and things like that. Good times.

Anyway, so, we got drunk, as you do, and I was assigned to basically run the surrender negotiations, right? I was a bit pissed and was feeling, y'know, fairly confident, so I offered them a deal.

See, we weren't trying to get land -- just tribute and all that. Pillaging, you know? Good times. So, drunk as I was, I offered a bet.



That there? That's Northey Island, right in the middle of River Blackwater. And THAT is Osea Island There are a couple bridges, as you can see, leading from here to the islands, and from the islands to the other shore.

I had their leader -- oh, I can't remember his name now -- strip nude and run along those bridges, while we mocked him alongside. He had to cross every single bridge one time. If he tried to cross a bridge a second time, our archers would shoot him. If he tried to swim across the river, our archers would shoot him. If he succeeded, however, King Æthelred the Unready -- that's 'Æ-t-h-e-l-r-e-d', remember that, thatll be on the test -- would only have to pay us 5,000 pounds of silver, rather than 10,000.

So, my question to you -- what happened? And why?

I'll be in my office. Have fun, kids."

"...you shot him, because you were a bunch of drunk vikings and he couldn't figure it out."

"That is technically correct. The best KIND of correct.

Would YOU have been shot?"

"No cause I swim too fast."

"You'd be surprised."

((Just a note -- you don't have to actually solve the question in character

And if you have an Official Guess of an Answer, don't post it here without using the 'highlight' button to hide it, so later people can try to solve it themselves! Highlight it, or just PM me

Feel free to have people complain or ask question in this thread, though, if'n you want ))

"What the....well. Where did he start running?"

Haley asked, scratching her head a bit.

"He started from here in Maldon."

"Is it actually solvable? I mean... you said you were drunk, so maybe assuming you knew a solution is assuming too much?"

"You're definitely on the right track there.

Give me a little credit though."

"That is so not solvable," Steve muttered to himself.

"Well, you've all hit the proverbial nail on the head. It isn't solvable, and there's a very good reason why."

"Cause you wanted the ten thousand silver?"

"Because you were really drunk and wanted to see him run around?"

Roland did a face-palm.

"Well, yes and yes, but that's not what I meant."

"It's because you eventually end up in a spot where you can't get out by bridge," Theresa said. "Odd number of bridges. You can get in and out, but if you go back in, which you have to do to cover all the bridges, you can't get back out. You get stuck and then the Vikings get you."

"Give the girl a cigar.

...Do you give girls cigars? Are cigars something high school students get?"

"That's alright, Professor Sackville. Cigars really aren't my thing."

"Then, extra credit, then! That's a thing people get.

I hope we've all learned an important lesson here, and that is -- don't trust Vikings."

Kay looks at Theresa and is fighting down a serious case of the giggles.

"I don't think that has been a problem for awhile."

"You're confident about that?"

"Well he said he's a viking, sooooo...."

"But you aren't a Viking anymore."

"Of course I am."

"I thought being a Viking was, like, a job."

"It's more of a way of life.

Anyway, didn't you guys...no, you weren't here. But the college students fought a Roman legion last year, so you never know."

"Could you show us?" Aisha asked "Using the Danger Room, I mean."

"...Certainly, I suppose. You want to see.. the Battle of Maldon?"

"Hell yes. That sounds way more awesome than lecture."

"It might make more sense if we saw it."

"That does sound pretty awesome," Steve agreed.

"Well...I suppose we could....it's not all fun and games, you know..." he said.

"But let's head over there."