Hikkiquest demon riddles

[Agree] //tooltip- Play his sick game.
You tell the demon that you'll agree to the rules that he set out, and he lets out an uproarious laugh in response.

[say:I knew you were an alright sort! Most of you mortals can't even go two minutes without utterly debasing yourselves, but I saw the glimmer of a certain something in your eye, and I'm quite pleased to find I was right about you. But listen to me prattle on—we're playing a game, here!]

He starts to chuckle, but then stops with uncanny abruptness, cocking his head and seeming to think about something. After a few moments of utter silence—just long enough for inklings of doubt to appear—he starts rattling out a riddle.

//All in dialogue
Belongs to you, but was not earned,
By it you're praised, by it you're spurned.
A moment makes or mars its worth,
But you aren't bound to one from birth.

A beat. The old demon shifts back on the stump and regards you. [say:An easy one, to warm you up. Your answer?]

[Life] [Name] [Years] [Children] [Ask Dolores]
//Your life itself.
//Your moniker.
//Your lifespan.
//Your kids.


[Ask Dolores] //tooltip- Get some advice from your daughter.
//Plays the first time you ask for a hint
While she may not be able to talk right now, you're sure that a girl as precocious as her should be of great help in this kind of situation. However, the demon interrupts your request. [say:Let me remind you—I am playing with [i:you] and you alone. If someone else gives me an answer in your place, you'll lose on the spot.]

But before you can retort, your daughter gestures for his attention, smirks, and then draws a hand across her lips in a zipping motion. That's right! He said that she couldn't answer, but now that she's silent, all she can do is act things out, which doesn't seem to be explicitly against the rules.

The demon frowns deeply, but doesn't seem to find a hole in this argument after several moments of consideration, instead waving dismissively in your direction and turning his head away.

//The actual hint
Dolores thinks for a moment, one finger on her lip, before seeming to light up. She points to you, mimes talking, points to herself, and gives a big thumbs-up. She then repeats the process in reverse, pointing first at herself and at you second, finishing by shaking her head and putting up two arms in an "x" shape. Hmm...


//All the wrong answers
Almost before you can even finish saying the word, the demon starts guffawing. He laughs hard and long, and you're well incensed by the time he's calmed enough to talk once again.

[say:Oh, oh no! I thought I'd found a fitting foe, for once, but I couldn't have guessed how wrong I was. Getting the warm-up wrong! Tell me, are you just an especially blessed simian that's been aping proper speech this whole time? Were you just lucky enough to appear intelligible?] He sneers. [say:Well, I suppose not that lucky, in the end.]
//Merge with bad end below


//First Success
It's \"name\", isn't it? Nothing more fitting comes to mind, so you give your answer, and the demon frowns.

[say:Ah, well, onto the next one, I suppose,] he grumbles, admitting defeat with surprisingly little complaint. The old demon seems to hesitate for a few moments, as if what he's about to do is distasteful to him. But the next moment, he starts up with a strong, lilting tone, making you doubt that first impression somewhat.

//All in dialogue
Oh, there once was a lad named Cerallo
Who did live in an unruly land,
And whose words were all wondrously hollow,
And whose cruelty was also quite grand.

But it one day befell young Cerallo,
That he slighted a merciless queen.
His exorbitant pride was not swallowed,
And her excellency he demeaned.

He was punished, this brash lad Cerallo,
And his person irrevocably maimed.
An apportionment was then to follow,
And each part of him equally shamed.

And then briefly in sorrow he wallowed,
As his body wasn't right with his head.
Tell me, what did they do to Cerallo,
When they took him and struck him down dead?

[Hung] [Impaled] [Decapitated] [Bifurcated] [Ask Dolores]
//They strung him up.
//They ran him through?
//They took off his head.
//They cut him in half.


[Ask Dolores]
Your daughter purses her lips and looks to the side for a moment; it seems this is a bit difficult for her too. Eventually, she meets your eyes and holds her hand straight out, making a snipping motion with her fingers. Well, that might narrow things down...



//All the wrong answers
You start to tentatively answer, and the demon's smirk doesn't make you any more confident. When you finish, he stays like that a moment, the grin on his face seeming positively plastic. Eventually, he starts to lean forward, speaking quite languidly.

[say:Well, I suppose it's no surprise, but I had hoped to get to the third.] He chuckles a bit. [say:You mortals so rarely meet my expectations, even when I lower them so generously. Ah, but this is no time for moping. This is a triumph!]
//merge with bad end below


//Second Success
A bit gruesome, but they cut him in half, you're fairly sure. You give your answer, and the demon returns a quick shrug. That almost contemplative look from earlier is back, and if you didn't know any better, you'd almost call him morose.

However, after a moment or two, he seems to snap out of it. [say:Ah, well, well done. I'll grant you that your boorish mortal mind might not be as unfailingly simple as most of the wretches in this land, but don't go getting too uppity just yet.] He sniffs, cracks his neck, and then launches into the last riddle, slapping his leg along with the rhythm.

//All in dialogue
A noble prince could not convince himself of whom to wed,
So rather than muse whose hand to choose, a contest then was lead,
And every girl across the world was given a single chance—
Collect their pluck and try their luck and win a grand romance.
A family of daughters three and mother dearest too
All yearned for love and stars above to give them their just due.
Each drew a lot and none forgot that only one could win,
But each knew not the winning lot, so swapping did begin.
For only one ballot, one alone, would grant the crown's bright glister.
The mother, flaxen-haired, exchanged with her brunette daughter,
Who swapped then with her younger sister—fiery-haired, that plotter;
The plainest lass—of raven hair—did dupe the youngest sister;
The middle sister stole her mom's, a pretty little sinner.
So who'll be queen of all she's seen, if mother drew the winner?

[Mother] [Oldest] [Middle] [Youngest] [Ask Dolores]


//Dolores
Your daughter crouches down and uses a single chitinous finger to draw some diagram you can't quite interpret in the mud. After roughly a minute of this, she arises once more and turns to you. She confidently points at her own head and smiles. When you don't react immediately, she blushes, and then takes a strand of her dusky hair in her hand. Hmm...


//All the wrong answers
[say:Not much of one for logic, are you?] he taunts when you give him your best guess. You frantically try to think back and figure out where you went wrong, but the demon's insipid voice interrupts your thoughts. [say:I really have to thank you, though. Not everyone is able to get to the third one, and you really gave me a bit of a fright for a moment there. It's nice for these old bones to get to experience some excitement every now and then, though I'm not sure you ever had a real chance.]


//Final success is back in the main paste



//bad end (where all the wrong answers merge)
You're about to retort, but when you try to [if (singleleg) {shift|take a step}] forward, you find that you can't. It's bizarre—nothing's holding you in place, but you just can't move. You want to, you strain yourself trying to, but it's like you can't summon the energy necessary to even [walk]. The demon looks quite amused by your predicament.

[say:What? [if (iselder) {Have your joints finally failed you|Have you aged a bit since this started}]?]

He slowly arises from the stump and ambles over towards you. [say:Now, I don't have any fine print to flaunt, but I really hope you can find it in you to give me some lovely despair in this moment.] Much as you try to get your [weapon] up, you simply can't will your limbs to do anything. The demon continues his approach.

[say:Well, everything must have its end. My fun and your life have just happened to coincide in this.]

You can't answer. Your jaw fights you when you try to talk, and it finally sinks in what's going to happen. You've really lost, and you're paying the price.

[say:It's time then—a devil should have his due.]

His laughter echoes through your head as your vision starts to fade. You feel oddly light, as if nothing matters to you anymore, even as you sense a set of grubby fingers slip around your neck. Your last passing thought is that you'll miss your daughter.

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Spoilers below
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[Guess Name] //tooltip- Solve this last riddle.
//Name field
What is your guess?

[Next]

Mustering your will, you tell the demon that you know his name. He tries to look impassive, but you easily catch how his eyebrows jump up at this proclamation.

[say:Really now? I have my doubts, but tell me, what fantasy has your simian mind conjured?]

In answer, you give him your guess.

//If anything other than the right one
He sneers. [say:What are you trying to pull on me, here? [if (iselder) {You should know yourself that people our age don't do well with scares|I swear, the youth have no respect these days, scaring me like that}]... Feh!] The demon straightens up a bit. [say:If you're going to keep being this rude, I don't see why I should associate with you one second longer.]

His nose turns up, but he makes no move to leave just yet...

[Guess Again] [Back] //Back disables talk with, "You don't think he wants to talk to you any more."

//Second time wrong
He grimaces, and the sight of his teeth makes you shudder involuntarily. [say:I knew you were a dreadful boor already, but you've still somehow managed to offend even my sensibilities. I suppose I should congratulate you. Not that I'll be staying around long enough for that.]

The old demon abruptly tips backward, and you're too surprised to react in time before he falls behind the stump. When you rush to see where he's gone, you find no trace except for a pile of filthy rags. Slightly closer inspection reveals them to be the clothes he had been wearing, though you don't hazard actually touching them.

It seems there's nothing left to do but to move on, so you turn to your daughter and suggest as much. She nods, and the two of you are off, departing from this awful place.
//Go to end


//If Allocer
The demon hangs his head and slumps back down onto his stump, utterly defeated. You're still suspicious, however. Was it really that easy? He's just giving up like that?

[say:No,] he says with a disdainful sneer, [say:not giving up. And your pronunciation is off. But, rules are rules are rules. You might think I would like them, but really, I'd just like to wring your neck right now.] He's almost panting with effort, and you can see his unnatural, bulging muscles withering under his tunic and cloak. [say:Rules...]

Whose rules are these, exactly? This isn't really normal demon behavior.

[say:Never mind that. The frigid cunt might even hear us, all the way here.] His eyelids start to droop so low that you'd almost think he was melting, but his voice loses none of its strength. [say:Now, you've [i:won],] he says, spitting the word out like venom, [say:and that entitles you to certain things. As long as you know to ask for them...]

//victory options