Riddles

Not a single one of the characters is mine but belong to the the publisher of NWN2, and their KC asked a question on a late-night watch:

A harsh barbarian king gets his jollies watching the accused in a trial choose, unknowing, between instant death and rich reward. But a commoner dared to become his daughter's lover, so he was condemned to this spectacle. The princess discovered which door had the fierce tiger, and which had another lady to marry. The princess is fierce as well and harsh as her father, that what is hers, is hers alone, but she also is very...attached to her young and handsome lover.

Which door does she hint her lover towards: the Lady or the Tiger?

Ammon: The tiger. The lover has served his purpose. She can easily find another to bend to her needs.

Bishop: The tiger. If he can't defeat some captured animal, he doesn't deserve to live. What's the other wench look like, anyway?

Casavir: It is not a just trial. This précis of the crimes involved is woefully incomplete, and the outcome has no relationship to the guilt or the weight of the crime. The princess subverting the trial process only deepens the problem.

I am sorry, Commander, I must choose? The lady. That outcome allows the time for investigation and reform.

Elanee: Barbaric humans customs. Surely, there is a better way...? --sighs-- The tiger, for such a harsh and spoiled princess would not value the lives of those around her.

Grobnar: That is so sad a story. Wasn't there a riddle song about that problem once? I think that one asked if the lover would even follow her advice. Most listeners want a happy ending or very tragic one. Adding a verse where a wendersnaven eats the tiger or the other lady, usually gets you chased out of the tavern... I know.

Khelgar: The lady. There is no point killing a lover once their time is over. There is no fairness in causing his death. He must have been a fine young man to keep her attention, and why deprive the clan of him and his children?

Neeshka: She couldn't arrange a ladder, or net or something for him to escape?

Stupid rich girl. The lady, of course. He stole into the princess' bedroom, why not continue that with a rich wife?

Sand: I suppose next watch you will be asking about the chicken and the egg? No, no, I will answer the question, it is far better entertainment than contemplating our companions' snores.

I suppose the sub-question is if this princess wishes to continue or reward her liaison with the commoner, of if she is petty like it seems her father is. Choosing either only validates the father's interference in her affairs. On a dynastic note, how would she expect to gain a loyal consort if this is how they to be rewarded? I would assume that she expects to keep her meddling a secret, or she will lose whatever political game it looks like she and her father have started...

Keep it short? I suppose the lady. On a practical level, both are likely to outlive the king, especially if he continues to kill his warriors in such an undisciplined and wasteful way. Once queen, she can set her own law, as irrationally as the King's.

Shandra: The lady. He doesn't deserve to be killed for being with the princess. He would deserve a better goodbye gift than dying.

Qara: Have you been spending too much time with that idiot gnome again? Riddles? What good are they?

No, I don't need some tome-footstool to know the answer, the tiger. That way she controls her own power without her father or lover putting limits on her.

Zjhaeve: Know that the princess is already doomed, having fallen to the corruption of her father's court, to treat these lives as pawns for power.

Clarify? Of course. The way she is described, makes the tiger more likely, as she treats her subjects as cattle.

There is no purpose here, to serve either kingdom or people, only pettiness of the king's control and her desires. Unless one of them matures, I would expect further unrest until one or both are gone. The lover is only a token of the larger struggle.