The grassy plains eventually gave way to watery lowlands. That being said, the plains were already quite low, so this swamp was more of a “lower-lands” than anything. The stone pathway remained unchanged and high enough out of the mud that the group could comfortably walk without fear of getting dirty. The path didn’t let them escape the smell, though. Like any other swamp, it smelled of methane and the like.

“Pernie?”

“Yeah, Little Man?”

“How did you end up getting this job anyway?”

She scratched her head.

“Well, I was called into my boss' office under the pretence of receiving a raise.”

“And this is what you have to do?”

“Yeah… I don’t mind it. So far anyway, it's good exercise I guess.

The Traveler asked her something.

“Do you have any idea how much rent is where I live?” she huffed.

It continued on like this for a while, the terrain that is not the conversation, until the group finally found the end of the pathway, or this section of it anyway.

“A puzzle?” asked Pernie.

“Seems like it,” answered Little Man.

It wasn’t much of a puzzle. In front of them were three pedestals, one had a rock upon them, the others didn’t. Beyond that was a large stone door. Using a mere fraction of her intellect, Pernie placed two weighty stones she found on the ground on the two empty pedestals. Much two everyone's surprise, nothing happened.

“Hmm…” Little Man rubbed his chin. “How odd.”

“Do you think it's broke?” asked Pernie

The Traveler Responded.

“That is true…” she said.

Their resident fisherman wasn’t so readily discouraged. He’d been around the block—pond rather—more than a few times and seen a few things along the way too. Little Man pushed the stones off of their pedestals and the heavy stone door opened, not in the way they expected, it just fell off its hinges and hit the ground with a mighty clap. Both puzzle-goers yelped at the sound. The Traveler asked Little Man something.

“How I knew? Well, let me tell you…”

Little Man rambled on about a fishing experience that he believed somehow gave him the insight to solve the “puzzle.” The large doorway they passed through as he talked revealed a much smaller hallway which the group happily passed through after consulting Pernie’s VRGL.