The torches along the wall hiss in the wind. Three guards step forward, each in gleaming mail, speaking in turn…

👤 Guard of Shadows
“Stranger… the darkness you face is not silent. Its voice is hidden in plain sight — every sound it’s lost still echoes between the lines. Return those whispers, and the true name of the shadow will stand revealed in its first letters.”
(Translation for the weary traveler: focus on restoring the vowels — they are the “lost sounds” — then gather the initials.)

👤 Guard of Paths
“The road to the city bends as the mind bends — disorder in thought will twist your way. Set each stone in its rightful place, and the measure of the path will guide you onward.”
(Translation: unscramble the words into their proper sentence, then find the position of the word path.)

👤 Guard of Vision
“Eyes may see, but the mind must measure. Count the strength of each name you behold, and march the first step further by that strength alone. Bind them in order, and the key shall shine.”
(Translation: identify the nouns, count their letters, shift their first letter forward by that number in the alphabet, and join the shifted letters in order.)

They exchange knowing glances. One steps closer, voice low:
“The gates will not yield unless you challenge them in reverse. Shadows first… or risk wandering till the dawn.”

The wind curls through the stone corridors, and the guards you met before are joined by others emerging from the shadows, each with a different glimmer in their eyes…

🛡 The Silent Watcher
“Words are like stones in the dark — you can’t see their colors, but you can feel their weight. Count them, measure them, and they will tip the balance toward the truth.”
(Consider how many words or letters remain when something is restored or reordered — the numbers themselves may become part of a lock.)

🛡 The Keeper of Keys
“Keys are never forged twice in the same way. A curve in the road might look the same each time you walk it, but its measure is new. Beware the sameness — it hides change.”
(If you think you know the order, check again — sometimes the arrangement changes subtly depending on what came before.)

🛡 The Whisperer at the Gate
“Every shadow has a voice, but some speak only when you give them breath. Find the breath in the silence.”
(This is a gentle nudge to think of vowels as the ‘breath’ in language — without them, the meaning is trapped.)

🛡 The Old Captain of Vision
“A true seer weighs each name not by fame, but by its length and place. The further you march, the brighter the light at the end of the line.”
(Remember: the shifting of letters depends entirely on the noun’s length, and the order of the nouns matters greatly.)