Riddle Game #8

[higgins]

Catching up from yesterday! Today's riddle is simple: What sorcery is this?

[Korbel]

A pile of concrete, some swords, a gambeson (or brigandine maybe) and a helm with some mail. How much I'm wrong?..

[higgins]

Well, yes, it's an arming doublet but... How does the headless horseman stand?

[Korbel]

1) There's a little man, or some construction, supporting it...
2) It was dropped and the picture was taken at the right moment...
3) Huge magnet keeps it upright...
or 4) You have mastered some spells!

[higgins]

4) You have mastered some spells!

I wish!

1) There's a little man, or some construction, supporting it...

That's definitely warm. The thing surely won't stand upright on its own.

[EinBein]

And I would have guessed it's by all the dried sweat in it gotten so stiff that it could't fold together even you'd wished...

But maybe there is some kind of breastplate in it?

[Korbel]

"Warm", you said? Constructions are not necessarily warm, but humans are! (unless they're dead, for a dead man wouldn't stand) So my bet is on a midget - considering scenography: Tyrion Lannister.

But being seriuos: a brestplate don't fit (it would be too small). And I can see one side collapses a bit, so maybe THIS THING supports it only on one side? That could be any stick, pole, weapon... and then the whole system balanced. Or maybe you took some bricks from over there and builded a pillar?
EinBeins idea of stiffened material is another option... Maybe your stiffened leather pants are inside?..

[higgins]

And I would have guessed it's by all the dried sweat in it gotten so stiff that it could't fold together even you'd wished...

That's actually more realistic than I'd be prepared to admit!

EinBeins idea of stiffened material is another option... Maybe your stiffened leather pants are inside?..

Alas, this pretty doublet ain't mine. I stumbled upon this sight in a Latvian training session a while back and I figured it would make for a nice riddle! Also, leather pants wouldn't make too good a padding.

That could be any stick, pole, weapon... and then the whole system balanced.

That's almost scalding now! You seem to be on a roll here. Care to make your guess more specific?

[Korbel]

OK... a big hammer standing on its head?

[EinBein]

A shield?

[higgins]

OK... a big hammer standing on its head?

A sledgehammer ain't a weapon. It's a tool. So, no.

A shield?

How would a shield stand on it's own?

[Korbel]

Ah, a weapon is involved! But which one?
My idea would be to stick something into the ground, to stabilize it... so a shortspear maybe? Something like that...
Another option is to use three or four polearms (or axes, etc.) and make a tipi-like construction.

[higgins]

Okay, you and EinBein share the joint effort in solving that. You guys got both the shield and the tipi construction. I don't think I can ask for more.



The purpose of this set-up is to dry out the arming doublet and thus prevent any mold. Turning it inside out would yield even better results, but here the owner hasn't decided to go that far.

[EinBein]

Nice