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This puzzle is loosely inspired by Food Similarities.

I'd like to begin, if I may, with 1 anecdote. This story was written on 2 scrolls more than 900 years ago, and goes as follows -

Once there were 2 knights, who had been 4 fortnights on the road. Fatigued, they came at last to a crossroads, where the road split to 2 towns. Said one man to the other, "let us find an inn to rest 1 night - I'm hungry enough to eat 9 dinners!

They turned left down the path and arrived shortly at a small town, no more than 3 hectares in size. They quickly sought out the inn and paid 10 cents for 2 meat pies. No sooner had they begun eating than a gathering of 5 farmwives entered, speaking frantically amongst themselves. Approaching, the travelers were able to make out a few of the words:

"... but what CAN we do against a pack of 12 timberwolves?
"... we have but 4 warriors between us and the nearby town, and those poorly armed..."
"... we must do something! Since my son barely escaped them 11 evenings ago, he's had 8 nightmares!"

At this point the travelers felt compelled to speak. "We are armored knights, and volunteer to help".

The next morning, the knights ventured out into the wild and within but 4 hours, they had driven the wolves far afield. Upon returning, a steward approached them.

"The Lord of this town offers his thanks, and grants 1 souvenir, a gift of your choosing."
"We are glad to have been of help. Might we perhaps have 2 horses to speed our travels?"
To which the steward replied, "I am sorry, but for such a bold deed, my lord requires that you be granted bold gifts"

The knights were briefly puzzled, but shortly one lit up, saying, "Ah ha! I know a few things we might ask for, and why! It's quite simple, rea...

(the rest of the manuscript is worn and unintelligible)

Next Puzzle: The Knights and the Hounds

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2 Answers 2

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You could ask for 1000 enormous staghounds

enormous staghounds contains all the letters necessary for the words one thousand

or maybe:

1 throne, since only 1 souvenir was granted?

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  • $\begingroup$ Incredibly close, but your request for 1000 staghounds has been denied. $\endgroup$
    – Selvek
    Mar 28, 2018 at 18:41
  • $\begingroup$ Although it sounds like quite the dog party :) $\endgroup$
    – Selvek
    Mar 28, 2018 at 18:42
  • $\begingroup$ I was so sure of that answer :( $\endgroup$
    – Lee Leon
    Mar 28, 2018 at 19:09
  • $\begingroup$ It's really a technicality for the staghounds... 1 throne is correct. $\endgroup$
    – Selvek
    Mar 28, 2018 at 19:15
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    $\begingroup$ Is this answer only wrong because 1000 would be read as "one thousand" or "a thousand" but "staghounds" cannot account for the initial "a" or "one"? $\endgroup$
    – Riley
    Mar 28, 2018 at 19:16
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The steward said:

"I am sorry, but for such a bold deed, my lord requires that you be granted bold gifts"

So the few things are:

1 anecdote, which shall be written and passed down. For souvenir.

2 towns, one for each knight. Each town's size is 3 hectares. And 5 farmwives to attend the towns.

9 dinners, for one of the knight since he's probably still hungry. And 10 cents for another meat pies because, why not?

The carcasses of the 12 timberwolves, to strike nightmares to other timberwolves. Not necessarily must be exactly 8 though.

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  • $\begingroup$ The gift must follow the bold patterns where the number is related to the noun. The number of nightmares must then be 8. See Lee Leon's answer. $\endgroup$
    – xhienne
    Mar 29, 2018 at 10:09
  • $\begingroup$ @xhienne: Thanks for taking time to guide me. I was merely taking a guess to the answer "literally". I have seen Lee Leon's answer, but I still don't get it though. $\endgroup$
    – Lag Chamomile
    Mar 30, 2018 at 9:53
  • $\begingroup$ @xhienne: I see it now, thank you for your kind explanation. Btw, to avoid spoiler, perhaps you could use the caesar's chiper, the one that uses shifting technique. I have seen some people use it for might-be-spoilers, rot13(yvxr guvf sbe rknzcyr). $\endgroup$
    – Lag Chamomile
    Apr 2, 2018 at 3:00
  • $\begingroup$ You're welcome. Since you are a newcomer, I was not sure you would understand such an obfuscated text. Deleting and repeating my explanation in rot13, for anyone interested: Gur ybtvp vf gung gur abhaf va obyq (naq guhf gur tvsg lbh zhfg nfx) zhfg pbagnva rabhtu yrggref gb jevgr gur ahzore orsber gurz (1 gueBAR, 2 GBJaf, rgp). $\endgroup$
    – xhienne
    Apr 2, 2018 at 20:41
  • $\begingroup$ @xhienne: Indeed, I was kind of confused at what looks like garbled texts at first time. A quick googling was thankfully what I need. I thank you for your kind consideration. $\endgroup$
    – Lag Chamomile
    Apr 3, 2018 at 3:21

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