Chosen by the Dragon God

[Betafish]

[X] Examine Professor Elthonar's body and search through the former contents of his office, searching for clues as to how this might have happened and how you might escape from this alternate dimension.

 

[Indivisible]

[X] Examine Professor Elthonar's body and search through the former contents of his office, searching for clues as to how this might have happened and how you might escape from this alternate dimension.

 

[Faith]

[X] Attempt to contact Mishrak, your divine patron.

"Uncle Dragon God, I'm lost, come pick me up!"

Glad to see this is around! Enjoyed Hedge Maze and Tinpot, looking forward to seeing where this goes.

 

[Tascion]

Alarmed, you pull both of its arms off.

Click to shrink...

Negotiations failed, commence with the maiming.

Not intentional, but even funnier for that bring the case.

[X] Examine Professor Elthonar's body and search through the former contents of his office, searching for clues as to how this might have happened and how you might escape from this alternate dimension.

No idea how permanent things are here, so looting comes first.

 

[pantherasapiens]

[x] Attempt to contact Mishrak, your divine patron.

 

[prof_Chemical]

it is too much to hope that the portal is still open somewhere in the sky above us?

since we are not in immediate danger anymore, i feel we can try a couple things in quick succession;

portal could be time sensitive so
-fly up, try to see if the portal is still there, before going through;
--check if we have cell reception
---if yes then; hey uncle mishrak, i got eaten by a portal and now im lost in a strange place, what should i do about it? could you come pick me up?
---if no then; check for clues amongst the wreckage
(try to find out some of the how and why before we get back, i was about to say we dont know any portal mages, but thats not true, there's certain portal elf who is still giving mishrak thanks for thier role in saving her life)(so i guess we could just come back here)

so, the metanarrative reason we were sent to boarding school was to be more independent/ not have our op family and thier friends solve all our problems, this makes me wager that we wont be able to call up mishrak or the elf lady for help.

in timeline A, the nomad girl got forever stuck on the wrong side of the portal, because of causality reasons. new time god is more lenient and is a sweetheart only limited by her powerlevel. we wont get stuck i dont think because one main character, and two we are a child. however, neither of them mean we are safe from having a bad time. (remember the dream demon?) i do think tho that we wont end up in a position where he has to scrap all the characters weve come to know because of temporal displacement.

i wonder where we ended up? i dont think we should rush back, because all the clues of this dead teacher, shapshifting monster (assassin)? plotbunny got sucked in with us, lets start piecing the puzzle together.

[X] Examine Professor Elthonar's body and search through the former contents of his office, searching for clues as to how this might have happened and how you might escape from this alternate dimension.

 

[Flashkannon]

[x] Examine Professor Elthonar's body and search through the former contents of his office, searching for clues as to how this might have happened and how you might escape from this alternate dimension.

I am thinking that Elys is a shoot first ask questions later kinda kid, and it's later, so it's question time!

 

[Walker]

[X] Examine Professor Elthonar's body and search through the former contents of his office, searching for clues as to how this might have happened and how you might escape from this alternate dimension.

 

[x_lksk]

Rather than voting for which to do, I'll vote by order to do them in, by what seems most logical.

As long as we're down here and right next to the stuff, start with:
[1] Examine Professor Elthonar's body and search through the former contents of his office, searching for clues as to how this might have happened and how you might escape from this alternate dimension.

If we don't find anything of particular use, then:
[2] Fly up into the sky as high as you can. You fell from somewhere up there, so there must be an exit up there, right?

If no exit is found, attempt:
[3] Attempt to contact Mishrak, your divine patron.

When that inevitably fails because we're in a weird pocket universe (and it would break the point of spinning this off from Tinpot Princess if it worked):
[4] (write in) Use our vantage point of already being high up in the sky to look around at your surroundings for anything that particularly stands out as unusual and possibly helpful, then head towards that.

And finally, if everything is kinda same-y around here and all else fails:
[5] Set off in a random direction, trying to find a way out.

Spoiler: Note to Chandagnac

While I don't see anything here as being quite out of character for Elys, from her reaction to the professor's corpse I can definitely see how she could end up turning into Frida if things continue on this path. That would be a disservice to both characters if it were to happen.

If I'm writing a character, and what I'm writing them for goes on hiatus for a long while, it helps me to re-read what I've wrote for them before. Maybe just skim, skipping through any parts not focused around the character in question. (all I have really written for is my player characters in some ttrpg campaigns, done over the internet via text, but none of them have been self-inserts)

 

[Chandagnac]

Spoiler: Notes

(what was hondus's real name again, he's only a fictional character but even so, i dont want to afford himthe respect of regering to him by his chosen epithet)(tyrant master of magic, what a bozo)

Click to shrink...

Actually, his real name, the one he was born with, was Kelamon Dumar...

While I don't see anything here as being quite out of character for Elys, from her reaction to the professor's corpse I can definitely see how she could end up turning into Frida if things continue on this path. That would be a disservice to both characters if it were to happen.

If I'm writing a character, and what I'm writing them for goes on hiatus for a long while, it helps me to re-read what I've wrote for them before. Maybe just skim, skipping through any parts not focused around the character in question. (all I have really written for is my player characters in some ttrpg campaigns, done over the internet via text, but none of them have been self-inserts)

Click to shrink...

I've recently reread the entirety of The Tinpot Princess and Her Many Travels. I hope that it's helped me to get back into character.

*

The Mirror Monster (Part Three)​

Taking stock of your surroundings, you see the shattered fragments of the professor's desk, as well as a great many scattered books, scrolls, pieces of paper, writing implements, and a spar of wood that was once one of his bookshelves. A little way away, you find his shredded corpse, covered in a thick coating of silvery dust and already looking as if it had been mummified. His robes have been reduced to grimy rags.

"You shouldn't have given me a bad grade," you tell him, glaring resentfully down at his grinning skull. "You didn't deserve to die like this – or maybe you did: I don't know what you got up to in private – but I didn't deserve to be treated like that either. It just goes to show…"

As you gaze around at the alien landscape, your voice trails away to nothing: you have other things to think about. In the distance, you see jagged hills, mountains, and spires of crystal. What you cannot see is a way out of here. As far as you can tell, there is no way back. You are trapped here.

Click to shrink...

Professor Elthonar's body is rapidly decaying. His ragged robes and desiccated flesh seem to disintegrate at the merest touch. You can't rummage through his pockets because, by the time you reach for them, he no longer has pockets. Nevertheless, you find a bunch of keys attached to a chain around his skeletal neck. The keys are tiny, almost identical, and made of a shimmering not-quite-golden metal that shines with an inner light. There are nine keys in all. Each of them has an identifying number etched on its bow, from one to nine: if they didn't, you're not sure how you would be able to tell them apart.

Wondering if these keys might be useful – perhaps they have something to do with this strange otherworld you have been transported to? – you try to remove them, but the chain is wound so tightly around the late professor's neck that you struggle to get it past his skull. There doesn't appear to be a clasp that you can see. For a moment, you consider whether or not you should decapitate him, for convenience's sake: it would be much easier for you to steal his necklace if the remains of his head weren't in the way.

Then, you realise that you can simply snap the chain instead. It breaks easily enough when you pull it in two directions at once. The bunch of keys falls off one of the broken ends and into your waiting hand. You examine them closely, thinking to yourself, 'Now, what can I do with these?' There are no doors anywhere nearby – not that you can see – and anyway the keys look barely large enough to serve as props in a little girl's dollhouse. If they fit any kind of door, it's unlikely to be a door like you've ever seen before.

You have no need for quill pens or blank sheets of paper: your schoolbag is already quite full. Scattered all around you, on the glittering grey sands, there are plenty of books, but most of them are of little interest to you: there are biographies of famous mages and great rulers; densely-written volumes of magical theory and runic lore; and histories of Quellonia, Aspitolm, and the Sambian Empire. All of them are yellowed and faded with age; many of them are torn and scuffed, or else on the verge of falling apart, as a result of their calamitous entry into this new world. You're not convinced that any of them are worth saving.

Except one. It looks miraculously well-preserved. According to the words inscribed on its spine, it is How to Enter the Underworld by Kelamon Dumar. Inside, the pages look as fresh and crisp as if they were perfectly new. The writing is clear and legible.

On the first page of the introduction, it says, 'Across the world, from the fabled Dawnlands to the Isle of Tzuki in the far west, there are many legends of unfortunate men and women who have journeyed into the Underworld (also known as "The Land of Roots" or "The Place Where the Sun Shineth Not"), either by accident or because they were on a quest to retrieve the soul of one of their loved ones. I, Kelamon Dumar – famed explorer, mighty mage, and world traveller – have made it my mission to discover the truth behind these legends.'

Potentially interesting, you think, but you don't have time to read the entire book right now. For one thing, you still need to find a way out of this strange otherworld. Perhaps later, when you've found your way back to the Engelram Academy of the Magical Arts, you can devote a few hours to plumbing the depths of this substantial tome.

You walk on, still searching.

Earlier, an entire stack of finished homework fell from the sky, alongside everything else that used to be in Professor Elthonar's office, and now forms a fine layer of tattered fragments that mingles with the dust underfoot. Now, those sheets will never be marked. But you doubt that it will have any effect on his pupils' final grades.

Somewhere in the back of your mind, you think to yourself, 'If only he'd died a week earlier! Then he couldn't have given me a bad grade!' You immediately chide yourself for having such thoughts: they are unworthy of you. Even if your late unlamented teacher's treatment of you still rankles, that's no excuse for you to sink to his level. You need to be better than that, even if it's difficult sometimes.

In amongst the shattered wreckage of the professor's desk, you find a slim notebook filled with jottings that appear to have been written in code. This is what you see on the first page:

f,g,p,e,p,e,m,t,b,d,o,l,h,e,e,p,d,o,p,o,h,v,h,c,p,o,f,h,o,k,f,d,x,r,n,j,p,e,g,p,f,d,c,l,d,c,a,o,t,d,o,h,d,f,g,h,c,f,g,a,o,m,t,e,h,j,l,f,d,c,h,a,k,p,f,n,r,f,p,i,c,p,f,h,p,f,o,d,o,h,f,g,h,j,h,e,e,l,d,c,f,g,h,e,a,s,h,d,l,m,t,d,i,o,x,h,a,b,h,d,l,m,p,o,k,p,l,o,d,f,g,p,o,u,h,j,e,h,p,f,c,h,u,a,c,k,h,j,f,g,d,o,a,c,a,m,u,r,p,j,f,t,d,l,f,h,c,c,p,n,j,h,h,v,p,j,p,i,a,e,k,h,b,h,p,v,h,k,n,t,a,u,c,d,r,x,d,l,i,p,b,s,h,k,m,h,o,a,o,k,i,d,m,h,o,b,a,j,j,p,o,u,f,g,h,m,e,h,j,v,h,e,f,g,h,m,t,e,f,p,b,x,a,f,g,i,g,d,f,c,p,b,s,h,k,m,h,p,o,f,d,w,d,p,o,p,o,u,p,o,i,p,f,g,f,g,h,p,c,v,p,j,h,b,d,o,e,x,p,c,a,b,p,h,e,

Click to shrink...

Spoiler: Notes

I have faith that Nevill will have solved this coded message within a few minutes.

You stare at the packed-together block of letters and commas, trying to make sense of it. Evidently, Professor Elthonar must have written down a few of his secrets, but he didn't want to make it easy for anyone to steal them. 'Who do I know is good at solving puzzles like this?' you wonder. 'I'm not sure I am. Or am I?'

For a few seconds longer, you continue to stare at the coded notebook, hoping for enlightenment to dawn.

Which of the above objects will you take with you?
[] The bunch of not-quite-golden keys
[] How to Enter the Underworld by Kelamon Dumar
[] Professor Elthonar's coded notebook
[] Anything else (write in: do you want to take any history books, scraps of paper, and suchlike with you?)

If you have solved the above puzzle, please…
[] Please translate the 'Mysterious Scribblings' into proper English.
-[] Write in: what does the coded message actually say?

Spoiler: Notes

Anyway, it's my birthday tomorrow, so I doubt that I'll be able to post another update before Thursday. I apologize in advance.

 

[x_lksk]

How to Enter the Underworld by Kelamon Dumar

Click to shrink...

Aw shit. Welp, that explains the deal with these mirrors!
Anyway, even though this is written by what we as readers know to be history's greatest monster, this could still be very useful, and not necessarily even in just a "know your enemy" sense. So, take it for reading later.
Also, take the keys and coded notebook of course, because really why wouldn't we.
As for the code, I'm currently with Elys on this one: staring at it hoping for enlightenment to dawn. Some sort of simple substitution cipher? If so, what corresponds to what? Is it something more than that?
...Nevill is probably already at least halfway to decoding the whole thing at the time of me posting this, despite the chapter just being posted a few minutes ago...

Spoiler: Edit (code progress)

Things I have noticed so far: there are multiple double letter Es, a double C, a double H, and a double J. Assuming that this isn't a result of one word beginning with what the previous word ended with, that is.
The sequence P-O is repeated a lot, often in rapid succession, and really Ps and Os seem to be especially common in general. Same for the sequence F-G, and Fs and Gs in general.

 

[Tascion]

Taking these three seems obvious to me.
[] The bunch of not-quite-golden keys
[] How to Enter the Underworld by Kelamon Dumar
[] Professor Elthonar's coded notebook

Honestly, I'm also tempted for one of the big leg bones as a club.

I looked at the code. I'll try to take another look later. I didn't see any Z's or T's, so a simple substitution cipher seems plausible.

 

[Nevill]

I have faith that @Nevill will have solved this coded message within a few minutes.

Click to shrink...

Spoiler

It's a substitution cipher.

What I'd like to know is if there is any logic behind the key, because it's rather hard to decipher everything simply by how often a vowel occurs--

...

On the first page of the introduction, it says, 'Across the world, from the fabled Dawnlands to the Isle of Tzuki in the far west, there are many legends of unfortunate men and women who have journeyed into the underworld (also known as "The Land of Roots" or "The Place Where the Sun Shineth Not"), either by accident or because they were on a quest to retrieve the soul of one of their loved ones. I, Kelamon Dumar – famed explorer, mighty mage, and world traveller – have made it my mission to discover the truth behind these legends.'

Click to shrink...

Ah. Sneaky.

Spoiler: Don't open if you want to find out the solution for yourself

The code for the cipher is:

a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z
A C R O S T H E W L D F M B N I Z U K Y G V J P Q X

I'll leave out the actual decoding so that others could have some fun, too.

 

[Chandagnac]

a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z A C R O S T H E W L D F M B N I Q U K Y G V J P X Z

Click to shrink...

a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z A C R O S T H E W L D F M B N I Z U K Y G V J P Q X

Click to shrink...

Um... neither of those is the code that I have written down.

It's possible that (as usual) I have made a lot of mistakes, but... well, I don't know. Unlike with some of my previous attempts to come up with puzzles, I did actually use technology to help me with this one, so I'm surprised that I could have got it as wrong as all that.

 

[Nevill]

Nah, you are good; that one is on me. I used a program once I understood the principle behind it, and as neither 'q', 'y' or 'z' are in the text it assigned them the first substitutes it could think of. I have edited the post since, but apparently I wasn't fast enough.

As for the code you are using... perhaps we are merely using a different notation? I wrote down the letters of the encrypted note and what they correspond to in the original message, while you may have done the opposite. I mean, a GM and a player are looking at the puzzle from opposite perspectives.

Your code is probably this:

Spoiler

a n b k h l u g p w s j m o d x y c e f r v i z t q
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

 

[Chandagnac]

As for the code you are using... perhaps we are merely using a different notation? I wrote down the letters of the encrypted letter and what they correspond to in the original message, while you may have done the opposite.

Click to shrink...

I think that's what happened. I'm still struggling to get my head around it. Ugh.
EDIT: I keep looking at your code and thinking "That's correct, that's correct, that's not" and then realising that it is correct if you look at it from the other way around.

So... what do the 'Mysterious Scribblings' actually say?

 

[x_lksk]

Welp, as predicted, Nevill got it. Damn, I had a feeling that the Dumar book's text was involved in the translation, but I forgot somehow.
Anyway, via an online substitution cipher translator and then removing commas and adding spaces/punctuation/capitalization by hand, what is written on this first page is:

Spoiler: Completed Translation

This is my confession. I never intend to publish it or for anyone other than myself to read it but I write it nonetheless, for the sake of my own peace of mind, if nothing else. I, Tregard Elthonar, am guilty of terrible evil. I was deceived by a group of wicked men and women, calling themselves "The Mystic Path", who tricked me into joining in with their vile conspiracies.

 

[Zam]

This seems the most useful:

[X] Professor Elthonar's coded notebook

 

[Flashkannon]

OMG, the cruel professor was suckered into an evil cult that he later regrets? If Snape gets no mercy from me, this guy certainly doesn't.

[x] The bunch of not-quite-golden keys
[x] How to Enter the Underworld by Kelamon Dumar
[x] Professor Elthonar's coded notebook

I don't think we could call ourselves a self-respecting protagonist if we just left clearly important stuff behind.

That said, this is my first time witnessing Nevill in action in real time! Quite exhilarating!

Happy birthday, as well, Chandagnac! Here's to another year!

 

[Nevill]

[x] The bunch of not-quite-golden keys
[x] Professor Elthonar's coded notebook

The keys are easy to take, and his confession might prove useful if only to explain his disappearance to the colleagues, or to track down the one who ordered him dead if that is what happened.

I do not want to lug a folio around. Give me something for light reading for when we get bored.

[x] The least-boring looking book about the Sambian Empire you could find.

Ah, perfect.
Is it too much to hope the Evil Professor kept around a collection of anecdotes?

 

[prof_Chemical]

can we take all three? i feel like elys would take all three.
i have yet to read the time travel quest so i cannot comment on how much elys is or insnt the woman from that. she did read as a little cold for an eleven year old, colder than i remember, but that isnt exactly a bad thing or a mistake in characterisation, shes been through alot lately, everything from the raid on ismar upto being functionally alone in an unfamiliar, cold and hostile place would all take a toll.

basically shes need a hug to recharge her spirits and that.

edit: schools supplies arent cheap in fantasyland in the way they are irl, but those items are worth dumping some or even most of them

 

[Chandagnac]

This is my confession. I never intend to publish it or for anyone other than myself to read it but I write it nonetheless, for the sake of my own peace of mind, if nothing else. I, Tregard Elthonar, am guilty of terrible evil. I was deceived by a group of wicked men and women, calling themselves "The Mystic Path", who tricked me into joining in with their vile conspiracies.

Click to shrink...

Yes, that's it. Well done to you and Nevill.

Happy birthday, as well, Chandagnac! Here's to another year!

Click to shrink...

Thank you. I hope that I can keep going for a long time.

Is it too much to hope the Evil Professor kept around a collection of anecdotes?

Click to shrink...

You've only read the first page of his coded notebook. For all you know, the rest of it could be full of hilarious anecdotes. Like that time Hurondus convinced him to help out with trashing Teryn's Necropolis...

can we take all three? i feel like elys would take all three.

Click to shrink...

Yes, you can. If that's what you want to do, please vote for it.

i have yet to read the time travel quest so i cannot comment on how much elys is or insnt the woman from that. she did read as a little cold for an eleven year old, colder than i remember, but that isnt exactly a bad thing or a mistake in characterisation, shes been through alot lately, everything from the raid on ismar upto being functionally alone in an unfamiliar, cold and hostile place would all take a toll.

basically shes need a hug to recharge her spirits and that.

Click to shrink...

That makes sense.

edit: schools supplies arent cheap in fantasyland in the way they are irl

Click to shrink...

True, but Elys's schoolbag is quite full already. And she's the adopted niece of the fabulously wealthy Mishrak, the literal god of treasure*. You can be sure that she'll never be short of money to buy school supplies.
*Yes, he's the god of several other things as well. 'Treasure' is just one of his domains.

 

[prof_Chemical]

[X] The bunch of not-quite-golden keys
[X] How to Enter the Underworld by Kelamon Dumar
[X] Professor Elthonar's coded notebook

what is the voting etiquette re: solved puzzles, do we need to all individually vote for it? or now that one solution has been confirmed by the author does that mean nothing needs to be voted in?

 

[Chandagnac]

what is the voting etiquette re: solved puzzles, do we need to all individually vote for it? or now that one solution has been confirmed by the author does that mean nothing needs to be voted in?

Click to shrink...

You don't need to vote for it. All I needed was the correct solution.

 

[Indivisible]

[x] The bunch of not-quite-golden keys
[x] How to Enter the Underworld by Kelamon Dumar
[x] Professor Elthonar's coded notebook