In the ancient forest of Lumina, there lies a mystical glade where the laws of physics are altered by the presence of an enchanted stone known as the "Mirage Topaz." This gemstone has the unique property that within a radius of 50 steps from it, light does not travel in straight lines, but spirals around the stone before reaching the eyes of the viewer, creating optical illusions.

One day, three friends -- Sanjay, Hyejin, and Olabisi -- decide to explore the forest. Sanjay, who has studied the Mirage Topaz, knows that the spiraling distortion effect of light can make it difficult to judge distances and directions accurately. Hyejin, possessing a keen mind, brings a long rope to tether the group together, ensuring they do not lose each other in the optical distortions. Olabisi, ever the curious one, brings along a mirror to observe how the light behaves near the Mirage Topaz.

Upon entering the vicinity of the stone, they find themselves unable to see straight paths, and even their perception of each other's positions becomes warped. As they cautiously move forward, they suddenly notice a creature that looks like a Griffin pacing in a straight line back and forth near the stone, unaffected by the illusions.

Sanjay wonders aloud if the creature is an illusion or real, and suggests a plan to find out. He proposes they spread out in a straight line, perpendicular to the Griffin's path, with 15 steps between each person. He also proposes that when the Griffin next appears to walk in a straight path past them, they each throw a small stone in what appears to be the direction of the Griffin, judging the direction by the spiraling light.

Hyejin is skeptical, for she knows that their thrown stones would also have their paths curved by the Mirage Topaz's effect. Hyejin suggests an alternative -- using the rope they are tethered with to create a direct physical connection to the creature when it passes by, feeling the tension on the rope to confirm the Griffin's presence and location.

Olabisi then chimes in, offering to use the mirror to reflect light from a different angle and potentially see a true reflection of the Griffin, bypassing the twisted light paths around the topaz.

Given the properties of the Mirage Topaz and the different suggestions, the question is, what happens when the friends implement their plans to determine the nature of the Griffin? Can their methods confirm the creature's reality and position, given the magical distortion of light within the radius surrounding the Mirage Topaz?
To uncover the nature of the Griffin and establish its real position, each friend's plan must be evaluated considering the magical properties of the Mirage Topaz.

First, let's consider Sanjay's plan to have each friend throw a stone in the apparent direction of the Griffin. The challenge here is that the direction they perceive the Griffin to be is not the true direction due to the spiraling of light. If they were to throw stones at the Griffin, the stones would also be affected by the distorted light paths. Since the stones are physical objects and not light, it is the friends' perception of where to throw them that is affected, not the stones' flight paths. Therefore, despite intending to throw the stones directly at the Griffin, the stones would not necessarily reach the creature or follow the paths the friends perceive. Instead, the stones would travel along real straight-line paths (unaffected by light distortion), which do not correlate with what the friends see, resulting in Sanjay's plan being unable to confirm the Griffin's position accurately.

Moving on to Hyejin's proposal, they use the rope they are tethered with to feel the tension when the creature passes by. This plan bypasses the need to rely on visual perception, which has been compromised by the topaz's effect. When the Griffin approaches, if it is real and passes by them, the rope will either get pulled or go slack depending on its movement. By feeling the tension changes in the rope, they can confirm not only the Griffin's presence but also ascertain a physical connection to its location. This also confirms that the Griffin is real because only a real creature could physically interact with the rope. Therefore, Hyejin's plan proves effective in determining both the presence and the position of the Griffin.

Finally, Olabisi's method involves using a mirror to reflect light at a different angle and hopefully capture a true image of the Griffin. However, the reflected light will still be subject to the topaz's effect once it enters the radius of distortion. So even if Olabisi manages to get a reflection of the Griffin, the image in the mirror will be twisted just like direct sight. Unless the angle Olabisi reflects the light from somehow compensates exactly for the spiraling effect--which is unlikely given the complexity of the light paths--this approach will not reveal the true position of the Griffin.

Among the three friends' methods, only Hyejin's plan using the rope to detect the Griffin's contact successfully overcomes the challenges presented by the Mirage Topaz's effect on light. It provides a way to confirm the Griffin's reality and its relative position to the trio by relying on their sense of touch rather than sight, which is not deceived by the spiraling light paths.