The Oracle and the Compass

Along with the arrival of the Dryads comes a bit of a Merunic puzzle. We were told, as a hint, that: "The Oracle is facing North!" However there were three (3) locations and I believe the Oracle was aligned differently at each one. In none of them was she facing directly Second Life North. So the hint must reference something else the Oracle is facing. The arrival platform she stands on looks suspiciously like a steam punk compass and has a single Merunic glyph inscribed at each of the cardinal points. My inclination is to assume that she is facing the symbol for North.

There is a second mystery to be explored as well: which way do the symbols face? On a normal compass the letters are arranged so that their base is pointed towards the centre of the dial. This way you can read the one furthest away from you in its upright position while the letter closest to you will be upside-down. Just makes it easier to read. This is not the case on the Oracle's compass. If you look closely at each glyph you can see a small drop-shadow on each one [see: figure 1]. This allows us to align them all facing the same direction, which it appears they already are. In the case of the Oracle's compass all of the symbols are aligned to be read from the same position. I believe they are placed so they could be read easily by a person facing the Oracle [see: figure 2]. That is: I assume that the bottom of the symbols, when in front of the Oracle, would be closest to the viewer, or right-side-up as it were.

figure 1 (drop-shadow highlighted in green)

figure 2

figure 3

figure 4

I have often been wrong before, I am no linguist nor am I an adept puzzle solver, and there is one possibly fatal flaw with my theory: in the other Regions where Dryads were available, at least in the Hewes Region, the Oracle faces a different symbol [see: figures 3 & 4]. So that may put my theory directly out the proverbial window. If I am right then the graphic below is correctly labeled, if not then maybe someone from Team Meeroos could just put the proper labels on and email me a copy? [Not really, was worth a try though, right?]

I am looking forward to the delivery of the mystery stones Catherine mentioned. Yet another enigma I can stare at in uncomprehending wonder. We should soon gain access to the scroll containing the Dryad's message, in Merunic of course. Perhaps when paired with the data we have from the Oracle's compass and the store arch it will become possible to translate part, or even all of it. I hope so, the message is bound to be important.