Sphinx

sphinx

You are fighting a sphinx.

Like a good little hero, you stick to the prescribed path. Shortly down the road you encounter a sphinx. You're not sure if this is a gyno sphinx or an andro sphinx, mostly because you can't remember your Greek roots. You think the dromedary has one hump and the bactrian has ... wait, no, that's camels. What a riddle this creature has turned out to be. What's less puzzling are its intentions--it launches itself at you immediately.
Your opponent attacks ...

Hit messages:

• The Sphinx asks you something about its sisters. Your lack of knowledge of sphinx genealogy ends up literally biting you in the behind.
• The Sphinx smugly asks, "Is the answer to this question the same as the answer to whether you'll let me hurt you?" As you stop to work it out, it hurts you.
• It rakes you with its claws, berating you for using too few legs at night, whatever that means.

It hits you for X damage.

Critical hit message:

Your opponent has a critical hit! It hits you for X damage.

Miss messages:

• The Sphinx asks you something about its sisters. You ask for a day and night to research the answer and the Sphinx seems satisfied.
• The Sphinx smugly asks, "Is the answer to this question the same as the answer to whether you'll let me hurt you?" It seems suitably annoyed when you answer "maybe."
• It rakes the air with its claws, but your two legs at noon are far away from it.

Fumble messages:

Your foe fumbles! It takes X damage.

Victory! You beat up your foe and win the combat!

You gain 190 experience.

You got an item: manual of Egyptian knife fighting (17.5 ± 2.2%)

Known resistances/weaknesses

Verified to have no resistances or weaknesses.

Locations

• Two Paths Diverged in a Prehistoric Wood
  

Notes

• deja voodoo doll does not work on this foe. The reason for this is still unclear.

References

• The description hints at The Riddle of the Sphinx.