Esoteric Ebb — "An Easy Riddle" (The Sphinx/Olzis Quest): Complete Guide

TL;DR

• Start: Visit the Drunk Sphinx tavern in Tolstad (in the north of the city, accessible from Tolstad or Pillar Crossing) after 18:00 when it opens, approach Olzis the gynosphinx, and ask for a riddle; her spoken "wine" riddle is the prologue and triggers the quest "An Easy Riddle" along with a Tavern Key.

• Complete: The real puzzle is an action riddle solved the next morning — return alone (no companions), enter with the Tavern Key, stand on the stage behind Olzis, and cast cantrips in type order: an Arcane spell (Dancing Light), then a Primal spell (Druidcraft), then a Divine spell (Thaumaturgy). The door opens and you walk into "The Beyond" to grab the reward.

• Reward: The Deck of Many Things (a powerful, chaotic artifact), a "Take Root" feat choice (Leyline Hook, Millennia Guardian, Positive Tingle, or Scribble the Margins), and some XP from the Take Root (quite a bit, especially for early game).

Key Info

• The quest comes from Olzis, an ancient gynosphinx who sits drinking wine on the stage of the Drunk Sphinx tavern in Tolstad North.

• There are two stages: a verbal riddle (answer: wine) and an action riddle (cast cantrip spells of the three magic types in order).

• The answer to stage one is wine; you can deduce it automatically by passing an Intelligence check (~DC 10) during dialogue, or simply select "Wine" from a list.

• The action riddle is intentionally cryptic — it hints at magic types (ARCANE, PRIMAL, DIVINE), not specific spells.

• The puzzle is time- and companion-gated: it must be attempted during the day, before the tavern opens, while completely alone.

• Reward is the Deck of Many Things plus a permanent feat and a large XP payout. The whole quest is solvable as early as day two, and the reward is well worth it.

Details

1. How to Get / Start the Quest

Location: The Sphinx, Olzis, is found in the Drunk Sphinx tavern, located in Tolstad (the political hub city), in the northern part of town. The tavern is reachable from Tolstad or the Pillar Crossing and is locked until 18:00 (6 PM), so you can only meet Olzis in the evening on a first visit.

Trigger / prerequisites: There are no hard story prerequisites to start the quest — you simply need to reach the tavern after it opens. Approach Olzis (the massive gynosphinx on the stage) and choose the dialogue option to ask for a riddle ("Do you give out riddles?" / "I wish to prove myself worthy, great sphinx").

Warning: Do not attempt to steal from Olzis — she swats the player across the room for 3d6 HP loss.

The encounter / first riddle: Olzis slams her barrel down and recites a spoken riddle:

"Once I had the sun's favor, my creed 'cling close the wall. Matured in shadows, I've witnessed empires rise and fall. Once left in silence, now the life of the ball. Yet I remain a draught of remembrance. A history's thrall. What am I?"

The answer is wine. If you pass an INT DC 10 check the Cleric deduces it internally with reasoning; otherwise you pick "Wine" from a list of options. Notably, answering wrong is not a failure state — Olzis dismisses you but offers the quest anyway, "citing that you have potential," so the quest advances either way.

Either way she then recites the second (action) riddle and hands you a Tavern Key (which lets you enter during the day):

"Found within the ARCANE flare. Twin tongues of flame that scorch the air. Burrowed deep within the earth, A PRIMAL String to show your worth. Folk and gods in thronging herds, A man DIVINE, alone, howls his words…"

She adds: "The answer is not something you can speak. Return here alone, after sunrise, before the tavern opens." This officially begins the quest "An Easy Riddle," which branches off the main Esoteric Ebb quest line.

2. How to Complete the Quest

The core insight: The second riddle is an action puzzle, not a verbal one. If you ask Olzis for a hint, she slips up and reveals you must perform actions rather than speak an answer. The three capitalized words — ARCANE, PRIMAL, DIVINE — tell you that you must cast one spell of each of the three magic types, in that order.

Prerequisite — acquire the cantrips: You need cantrips covering the magic types. The easiest combination:

• Dancing Light (Arcane): Two ways to get it. (a) At the very start in the Lichhouse, interact with the pile of apples near where you find your cloak and choose to eat through the pile. Choosing "Remove the bad apples first" and passing a Wisdom check lowers the upcoming Constitution check (DC 12); succeeding gets you a Dancing Light spell scroll (plus +5 HP and 20 Crowns), which is auto-memorized. (b) Alternatively, find it on a table in the room where you encounter Meek the Mimic.

• Druidcraft (Primal): Talk to Nes'Wikkalla ("Nessan") in the Goblin Garden (southeastern part, afternoons only, after 13:00). Pass an Active WIS DC 20 check ("Show your primal attunement"). The DC is steep but can be lowered through conversation; each failure also lowers it by 2 and can be retried. Success teaches Druidcraft and grants major XP.

• Thaumaturgy (Divine): A basic Divine cantrip available to the Cleric; alternatively a Divine spell like Cure Wounds works for the Divine "slot."

The steps to solve:

1. Dismiss all companions. If Snell (or anyone) is with you, the quest will not trigger — the requirement to be alone is strict.

2. Return to the Drunk Sphinx in the morning/daytime, before the tavern opens, and use the Tavern Key to enter. (On the right side of the stage you can also interact with the wine barrels; Olzis asks Snell to leave if present and moves the barrels.)

3. Step onto the stage behind Olzis, near the two unlit braziers. (You cannot reach this spot at night, which is why daytime entry is required.)

4. Cast the cantrips in type order: Arcane → Primal → Divine, i.e. Dancing Light, then Druidcraft, then Thaumaturgy. As you cast, the Cleric narrates and the braziers/vault door react: Dancing Light lights the braziers, and the door dissolves into light.

5. The vault door vanishes, opening the path to "The Beyond" (also shown as ??? on the map).

Inside The Beyond: The vault is effectively a void. Move forward/right and then up until you reach a chest in the distance. Loot it to obtain the Deck of Many Things — this unlocks an achievement. On pickup the Cleric blacks out and Olzis brings you back to the tavern floor, completing "An Easy Riddle."

Ways to fail / alternates: You cannot truly "fail" the spoken riddle (wrong answer still advances). The action riddle simply won't trigger if conditions aren't met (companions present, wrong time of day, wrong location). You can ask Olzis to repeat the second riddle as many times as you like.

3. Rewards

• The Deck of Many Things — A legendary, extremely powerful and extremely dangerous artifact. After completing the quest you can examine it and, pull out up to three cards from it, but be wary, as you may get something positive or something really, really negative. Outcomes include JESTER (permanent advantage), BALANCE (+2/–2 stat trade), GEM (50,000 crowns), and SKULL (a deadly encounter with Death). Make sure to take a manual save before drawing. Reloading a save will not reset which cards you draw.

• A "Take Root" feat choice (permanent): Completing this major quest lets you "Take Root" and select one of four feats:

  • Leyline Hook (Charisma): Magnifies ability-score modifiers on Trinkets — +1 to positive modifiers and –1 to negative modifiers (e.g., a +1/–1 trinket becomes +2/–2).

  • Millennia Guardian (Constitution): Effects from Potions are doubled.

  • Positive Tingle (Wisdom): Healing spells use double the number of dice.

  • Scribble the Margins (Intelligence): Your cleric level is doubled when calculating how many spells you can prepare.

• XP: Taking Root on this quest grants a large XP payout.

• Story / social: You also earn Olzis's respect, which lowers the difficulty of the later attempt to flirt with her. You can subsequently discuss the Deck of Many Things with her.

Recommendations

• Grab both cantrips before going for the riddle. Get Dancing Light early via the Lichhouse apple pile (remove bad apples first to ease the CON check), and get Druidcraft from Nessan in the Goblin Garden in the afternoon (retry the WIS check to lower it).

• Do the spoken riddle in the evening, then do the action riddle the next morning, alone. Dismiss Snell/companions before entering, use the Tavern Key, step onto the stage, and cast Dancing Light → Druidcraft → Thaumaturgy.

• Save before drawing from the Deck of Many Things. It can massively help or ruin a run. If you want guaranteed value, the cleanest line is to draw JESTER (permanent advantage) and stop, or simply let the deck vanish for a Medium XP boost without risk.