The Riddler

The Riddler was a virtual representation of one of Eivor Varinsdottir's genetic memories, relived by Layla Hassan in 2020 through the Portable Animus HR-8.5.

Description

Eivor came across a man reciting riddles to himself at his home by the Walhdenu Altar.

Dialogue

• Riddler: A young and handsome peasant's daughter. She seizes me, red, plunders my head. O dear me no, what am I thinking?
• Riddler: Four dilly-dandies. Four stick standies. Two crookers. Two lookers. And a wig wag.
• Riddler: Dark were their tracks, the path very black. Swift was its moving, faster than birds. Yes, yes that's it.

Eivor approached him.

• Eivor: What are you doing here, in the middle of nowhere?
• Riddler: Ah, a visitor for Chad the Bewilderer, the most radiant and rakish Riddler. Do you have the wits to bet me? There is cake in it if you do.
• Eivor: For cake, I will answer any mind-tease you have for me.
• Riddler: My head is forged with the hammer, hurt with sharp tools, smoothed by files. I take in my mouth what is set before me.

A lock and key?A murdered man?A fish?Can you repeat the riddle?Leave - Enough riddles.

• Eivor: Iron is forged with tools? And a keyhole could be a mouth of a door? A lock and key?
• Riddler: Wonderful, your wit sparkles! But still... another one.

• Eivor: A murdered man cut down by a hammer? He swarms with flies, and would bring earth into his mouth?
• Riddler: Ah, a fine guess. But not the right guess. Another, then.

• Eivor: A fish? They're caught with flies, and are caught on a hook when they bite upon it.
• Riddler: A fish? A fish? No, no. Let us try another.

Chad repeated the riddle.

Eivor took her leave of Chad.

• Riddler: I saw a strange thing, wonderful of shape, singing in a tavern. Its beak underneath, stood upon splayed legs that cannot walk.

A bird?Bagpipes?A stool?Can you repeat the riddle?Enough riddles.

• Eivor: Birds sing and have beaks? And fly rather than walk.
• Riddler: They may choose not to walk, but walk they can. Wrong, my friend. Let us try one more.

• Eivor: Something that sings? A musical instrument? The bladder that whines and wheezes through pipes? Bagpipes!
• Riddler: Very good! A tricky one, that few but the sharpest needles can sew. Now, the final test.

• Eivor: Many sit in a tavern, and a stool has legs?
• Riddler: But do such things sing? Have a beak? No. Perhaps the last one will be easier to fathom.

Chad repeated the riddle.

Eivor took her leave of Chad.

• Riddler: With my roof of tears, I am driven far and wide on my avenging path. When I shake the forest, I rumble the fruit from the trees.

A giant!A spurned lover?A storm?Can you repeat the riddle?Enough riddles.

• Eivor: When a giant walks through a forest, the rumble of his footsteps fells trees!
• Riddler: Ah, but when has a giant stood beneath a roof of water? Perhaps you are not up to the challenge.

• Eivor: Tears, anger, vengeance suggests someone wronged. The despair of a spurned lover can rattle the earth?
• Riddler: Ha! A tragically romantic guess that speaks much of you. But no... that is not the right answer.

• Eivor: Rain covers the earth like a roof. And the rumble of thunder and lightning can shake acorns from a branch. A storm?
• Riddler: You are brighter than the sky-lantern!

• Eivor: Confusion hounds me, speak it again?

Chad repeated the riddle.

Eivor took her leave of Chad.

With the riddles done, Chad reviewed her answers.

If Eivor gave three correct answersIf Eivor gave one or two correct answersIf Eivor failed all three riddles

• Riddler: Your wit outshone my words. And such a feat deserves three cakes! But unfortunately, I do not have any.
• Eivor: So the cake was a lie?
• Riddler: Do not pout. Have a reward much more worthy of your talents.
• Eivor: Goodbye, Chad. Your riddles were a fun diversion.
• Riddler: Stay a while, read some more of my scribblings.

Chad rewarded Eivor 40 silver.

• Riddler: You are brighter than the sky-lantern! A worthy effort, friend. But some meanings did not find you.
• Eivor: And my cake?
• Riddler: Long eaten. But take this instead.

Chad rewarded Eivor 20 silver. Eivor had the chance to repeat the riddles she got wrong, starting with the earliest. Once she got them all correct, she received the remaining silver.

• Riddler: A terrible display, friend. And now the sweet treats will go uneaten.
• Eivor: So the cake was a lie?
• Riddler: Not so, sadly you just do not deserve them.

Eivor had the chance to repeat the riddles she got wrong, starting with the earliest.

Eivor spoke to Chad again.

• Riddler: I do not get many visitors. Your presence sparked my mind. A rare thing out here.
  I wonder, will we ever tire of such wordplay? Will the riddles of England die with me?
  My grandfather built this turf maze.
  I might leave this place one day, and move to Escanceaster with my riddles.

Eivor read a note on the table outside.

Faded Paper

By day, I was borne on wings through the air. By night, I steal wits from the worthiest of scoundrels. I loose men's tongues and sweeten their songs. Until my hammer pounds on skulls.

She read another note on the workstation outside the house.

Literary Aspirations

I have collected riddles for so long, and written some wonderful mind-muddlers, I might put them all down in a book for posterity. Maybe when I retire to Exeter?

Eivor entered Chad's house and read another note on the desk.

Mind Bender

Everyone plunders me, tears off my skin. Rips my head from its roots. But no man I bite, unless he bites me; then he will shed a tear.

Outcome

Eivor correctly answered all three riddles.

Behind the scenes

The memory is designed so that it is only completed once all three riddles have been solved by the player. Any riddle that the player has failed will be repeated upon speaking to the Riddler again until they have given the right solutions to all of them. This gives them unlimited chances to succeed. No lines help to transition the player into the repeated tries, suggesting that they are not part of the canonical dialogue but merely there for the player's convenience to ensure they succeed. They are essentially replays of this part of the memory.

Allusions

Chad the Bewilderer and his side-quest are allusions to the Batman villain known as the Riddler who is also garbed in green and has an obsession with riddles.

Eivor's line "So the cake was a lie?" is an allusion to a meme that arose from a joke in the video game Portal (2007). Throughout the game, the AI program GLaDOS regularly promises to reward the protagonist, Chell, with cake once they finish all of the platforming puzzles. As the player advances through the stages, they discover ominous warnings left behind by scientist Doug Rattmann that "the cake is a lie", foreshadowing GLaDOS's role as the secret villain and the peril awaiting Chell at the end.

Chad's note about his plan to retire to Exeter and compile an anthology of riddles is a reference to the Exeter Book, a collection of Old English poetry believed to originate in the late 10th century. It is notable for containing over ninety riddles written in alliterative verse on a wide variety of subjects, ranging from religious aspects to everyday life, and often includes double entendres. Fittingly, the note in his house is an excerpt and alternate translation of Exeter Book Riddle 65, the answer to which is an onion, while the faded note is an excerpt of Exeter Book Riddle 59, the answer to which is mead.