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This is a logic/translation puzzle. It's something that requires a bit of time investment, probably an hour or two at least.
I created this puzzle, I would be very happy if somebody manages to solve it.
Last edited:
The Puzzle

Gaemnomut

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Hi all,
I created a puzzle for the quest I am running on fiction.live. I had great fun creating it, so I made an "extended version" and I thought it might be a cool challenge for you guys.

Feel free to try your hand. You can cooperate in the thread if you want, I don't mind. Just maybe spoiler any great revelations you have in case someone wants to go at it alone?

First person to post the whole set of answers gets to declare themselves alpha nerd of the thread and maybe wins a small prize? Idk, I don't really do commissions, but I guess I could offer a free 1k words piece? We can hash out the details if someone actually does solve it.

Let's say, to win, you need to be the first person to post all fully correct answers in one post. I reserve the right to disqualify people who I think deserve it for some reason, like for example trying to brute force it through endless guessing.

Do post your thought process or ask questions if something is unclear, although I can't promise feedback or an answer if I think it would spoil something.

Anyway, without further ado, here we go:


Finally, after much toil and strife, after braving the horrible dangers of the desolate wastes and the the beasts that lurk there, you have reached the ruins of Hir-Atosh. What used to be a gigantic temple complex, is now nothing but crumbling pillars and overgrown halls.
There, at the center of the complex, you find a structure that is surprisingly intact. In fact, you're astonished to see there it doesn't appear to have been touched by the centuries at all. A gateway it seems, here, in the middle of nowhere.
On an Obelisk beside it, you find an inscription. The inscription is in a language you cannot read, but from all the research you have done into the old people, you gather that it might concern some kind of pass phrase. Twelve lines, each one with a blank space in it somewhere.

INSCRIPTION

-) Talke dur tenro arang ?1?.

-) Talke car tenke arang ?2?.

-) Talmizu-tenrote-tenke mor tenrote-salro arang ?3?.

-) Tenke leng talkete-talmi arang ?4?.

-) Arak talmi car arak talke car arak tenro car arak tenmi arang ?5?.

-) Mosenroxi car moletenkezu arang ?6?.

-) Talkezu-salmite-senmi trabago talkete-talke arang ?7? dur tenmi car tenro.

-) Letenmi makra tenroxi-senrozu-salrote-senro arang ?8?.

-) ?9? arang na talmi leng arak salmi an makra nana arak senmi trabago arak salke an leng mona arak salro car arak talmi dur tenmi anan.

-) Senkete-senro trabago ? arang senro. ?10? arang arak(?) dur arak(?) dur arak(?) dur … .

-) Talke ? arak salmi arang tenmi. Tenro arak(?) tenmi arang ??. Arak(??) car arak(??) car arak(??) arang ?11?.

-) Na arak senmi leng talmizu-talmite-tenmi an makra ? arang ???. Arak(?) makra arak(?) arang ??. Arak(??) car arak(??) arang motalmi. Arak(???) trabago na arak salke trabago salmi an arang ?12?.

Next to the gateway, in one of the more intact halls, you find an old skeleton. Not nearly old enough to be one of the old people, so perhaps a traveler who braved the wastes like you did? Scattered around it are the person's belongings, and among them, you find a journal. The journal is barely legible, marred by age and the elements as it is, but you can decipher some of it. It is filled with notes about the gateway and the person's attempts at figuring out the inscription on the obelisk. It seems you aren't the first to be intrigued by it.

In one section, the author of the journal wrote down the most important truths they had gathered so far. The facts they were entirely certain of:
*The answers are the twelve words that fit into the spaces marked with ?x? in the sentences inscribed on the gateway.*
*Answers are to be given in the formal version of the language. (Full words/sentences, correct capitalization where necessary, no slang, no shorthands, …)*
*I can assume that while some things might be universal, others might exist because of convention rather than universal truth.*
*The old people wanted anybody to be able to use the gateway, regardless of origin or tongue. Legends say anybody should be able to figure out the answers to the puzzle with the following truths.*
*The following is true in the context of this Puzzle.*

TRUTHS
1: Talro dur talro arang talro.
2: ? car ? arang motalmi. ? arang letalro arang O leng I arang lavmelk. Lavmelk arang arak.
3: Talro car salke arang talro.
4: Tenmi arang tenmi arang tenmi = ||||. Tenmi = ||||.
5: Senke leng talkete-senro arang letenro.
6: Talke makra na senmi trabago salro an arang mona talkete-salmi trabago senro an car mona senro trabago tenke an.
7: Talmite-salro arang talke dur tenmi car tenro arang talke dur na tenmi car tenro an dur na talke makra talke an.
8: Senro mor tenro arang salro.
9: Tenke car tenmi mor talke arang mona na tenmi car tenke an mor talkete-salro an.
10: Salro leng salrote-salro arang letalmite-talmi. Letalmite-talmi arang arak.
11: Tenmi leng salro arang talke leng tenro arang talke car letenro. Talke car letenro arang arak.
12: Senro car na arak talmi car arak tenmi an dur salmi arang na arak talmi car na arak tenmi dur salmi anan dur na arak talmi car arak tenmi dur salmi an.
13: Talke dur talke arang tenmi.
14: Motalmixi dur talmizu arang mosenkezu.
15: Talmite-tenro mor tenro arang talmite-talro.
16: Tenrote-tenro leng salmite-senro arang talmite-talmi car letalkete-salmi.
17: Salke mor salro arang talke.
18: Talmi dur talmi arang talke.
19: Talke dur talke car talke arang tenro makra talke.
20: Salro dur salro arang talmite-talro.
21: Na talmizu trabago talmite an makra motalkezu-senrote-tenmi arang tenmi makra motalmi.
22: Salro leng talke arang tenro.
23: Lesalro dur lesalro arang talke leng salro arang tenro leng senro arang talmi leng tenro arang letenro. Letenro arang arak.
24: Na talke makra arak talke an dur na arak talmi car arak tenmi an dur salmi arang arak salro car arak talmi.
25: T'al'ro. -, -te, -zu, -xi, -sho, -ra, -lio
26: Talkezu-salmite-senro trabago talkete-talke arang talmite-tenke.
27: Tenmi leng talke arang talke.
28: Tenmi makra motalmite arang talmisho. Talkezu-tenrote car tenmisho-tenkexi arang senrolio-senkera-tenrosho.
29: Tenkete-salmi dur senrote-senke arang talmizu-tenrote-salro. Talmite-talro arang talmite.
30: Tenro dur tenmi arang salmi.
31: Talke makra mosalmi arang salkete-tenro trabago tenmite-talke.
32: Talmi leng talke arang letalke.
33: Arak tenke leng arak salro arang talkexi-senrote-senke car letenmite-salro.
34: Senmi leng talmite-talke arang tenke leng salmi arang tenke car lesalmi. Tenke car lesalmi arang arak.
35: Senro car senro arang salrote-senro. Arak arang salrote-senro.
36: Arak tenke trabago arak tenro arang arak tenke trabago arak talke arang arak tenke trabago arak talmi arang arak tenke trabago arak tenmi.


*Don't get bogged down with 'out of the box thinking'. The ruins are just flavour.*
*This is far more a logic puzzle than a language puzzle*
*I really hope I didn't mess up anywhere, but a friend of mine solved it and didn't find any errors so I think we're good.*
*The Challenge will remain open until noted otherwise or somebody solves it.*
 
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Hint 1
After days in these ruins you are growing slightly frustrated with your lack of progress. Luckily you have enough rations to last you for a while, but day after day of staring at the empty portal, puzzling over the inscriptions, and trying to parse the dead traveler's truths has left you agitated. Still, you remain hopeful. The dead traveler's notes only strengthen your determination. All the legends and fables they found were clear, allthough the language of the old people may have long been forgotten, with the truths they gathered, anybody should be able to find a way to step onto the path and enter the portal.

You've also been dreaming weirdly since you arrived here. You don't remember your dreams, only faint after images of a silver forests, a sky of wonderful lights, and a sea of clouds. And always, a warm presence, beckoning you, encouraging you.

Then, three days after your arrival, you wake and find a note you don't remember writing in your journal. In equisit penmanship you see

~ 4, 1, 3, 13, 18, ... ~


right there, in the middle of the next blank page.
 
Hint 2 New
Stumped by the puzzle you decide to explore the ruins for a bit. Perhaps you will find something that gives you a clue.
You so much and yet nothing at all. Tantalizing hints of the previous occupants. Strange monuments that have withered away under the ages. Snaking paths that end somewhere in the wilderness, nature having long since reclaimed any traces of what might have been there to find once upon a time. To wonder among these great works, these ruins of massive halls and grand opulence is humbling. How must all this have looked in ages past when the temple complex was still thriving?
You get the feeling you could wander for weeks through these ruins without seeing all there is to see, and yet, despite all that, you find nothing that would help you with the puzzle.

...until
you find an entrance to a hidden underground shrine. Nestled in a small alcove in a cave somewhat apart from the rest of the ruins you find an inscription that is still almost legible. For hours you stand there, carefully comparing the inscription to your own research and the notes you have found until you think you know what was there once.

"Talro arang Jagakitil. Jagakitil arang arak."


It is some kind of tribute to their god - you're quite sure.
Jagakitil, the god of the old civilization that once lived here.
The inscription seems to be a phrase that is often repeated in holy sites of their culture. After long hours of fierce debate, you and your fellow researchers have speculated that it means:

"None equal Jagakitil. Jagakitil is the answer."
 
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