Solve this riddle if you can

[Myth27]

My DM told us this riddle and we’re stuck and he is insisting we have to solve it to continue and nobody has any guess


It’s infinite, but split in two.
Like 2 waves, one part copies the other.
Perfection, as a couple.
2 empresses, triple justice.

At this point I’ll take any guess, even stupid ones

EDIT: solved

Spoiler

Show

33 is the answer

[Koo Rehtorb]

Numbers.

Also, slap your DM and tell him to stop being terrible.

[Honest Tiefling]

Did the DM ask you to solve it, or solve it correctly? If the guesses from smarter people don't work, I'd just say some nonsense and say that you solved it, the DM never said that the solution had to make sense or be correct.

Otherwise, I'd wonder about the cosmology of the universe. A more mathematical mind would probably say numbers, but I wonder if it is meant to be important to the setting, and that's why the DM is forcing you to solve it. Like there is some sort of duality to the universe (such as chaos versus order) with two goddess figures and the aspects of balance/chaos/order being the triple justice part. This might be a good time to ask the DM what sort of fiction they're into, might provide some hints.

If all else fails, just start killing each other or have the characters get so bored they create their own role-playing game in the game itself. Probably a scootch more legal than outright assault, might produce similar results.

[Kaptin Keen]

I'd say it's DNA, the double helix - and if I'm right, that's an incredibly bad riddle :p

[Maelynn]

The symbol of infinity is a figure 8 lying on its back. If you split that in two, you get two zeroes.

A zero, when halved, looks a bit like 2 waves. One is the mirrored version of the other half.

A zero looks like a circle. A circle is the symbol of perfection.

Not sure where the empress/justice thing comes in.
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The symbol of infinity is a figure 8 lying on its back. If you split that in two lengthwise, you get 2 squiggly lines.

Those squiggly lines look a bit like waves. They mirror each other.

No idea how it links to perfection.

With a bit of imagination, the squiggly lines look like either an 'E' or a 3 when upright. E for Empress, 3 for justice?

[Myth27]

Numbers.

Also, slap your DM and tell him to stop being terrible.

This was my first guess :)

Did the DM ask you to solve it, or solve it correctly? If the guesses from smarter people don't work, I'd just say some nonsense and say that you solved it, the DM never said that the solution had to make sense or be correct.

Otherwise, I'd wonder about the cosmology of the universe. A more mathematical mind would probably say numbers, but I wonder if it is meant to be important to the setting, and that's why the DM is forcing you to solve it. Like there is some sort of duality to the universe (such as chaos versus order) with two goddess figures and the aspects of balance/chaos/order being the triple justice part. This might be a good time to ask the DM what sort of fiction they're into, might provide some hints.

If all else fails, just start killing each other or have the characters get so bored they create their own role-playing game in the game itself. Probably a scootch more legal than outright assault, might produce similar results.

He insists it’s not related to his world. Also we are very close to start destroying the door with a mining pick

I'd say it's DNA, the double helix - and if I'm right, that's an incredibly bad riddle :p

That’s nice

The symbol of infinity is a figure 8 lying on its back. If you split that in two, you get two zeroes.

A zero, when halved, looks a bit like 2 waves. One is the mirrored version of the other half.

A zero looks like a circle. A circle is the symbol of perfection.

Not sure where the empress/justice thing comes in.
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The symbol of infinity is a figure 8 lying on its back. If you split that in two lengthwise, you get 2 squiggly lines.

Those squiggly lines look a bit like waves. They mirror each other.

No idea how it links to perfection.

With a bit of imagination, the squiggly lines look like either an 'E' or a 3 when upright. E for Empress, 3 for justice?

This was one of the other players guess

Also this riddle is on a stone door under a sculpted closed eye, we also have to find an input method if we find the answer, just saying the answer would not work

[Maelynn]

a stone door under a sculpted closed eye, we also have to find an input method if we find the answer

Oooooooooh, but then it's easy! If I remember my classics well, then if you 'input' an arrow right into the eye then the door will open.

[Honest Tiefling]

He insists it’s not related to his world. Also we are very close to start destroying the door with a mining pick

Force is the answer, opposite and equal reaction for your empresses. Now triple justice the door with your solution via the pickaxe. That's how you input a riddle solution!

[georgie_leech]

I'd say it's DNA, the double helix - and if I'm right, that's an incredibly bad riddle :p

Often depicted as doublehelix twisting in a vaguely infinite-y shape, has two halves, one side copies the other, uses triplet codes out of two pairs of protein based, A-T and C-G. Checks out.

[Koo Rehtorb]

Really, the better question here is asking how you get your DM to stop being a ****. I suggest having your characters throw your hands up and walk away and find something more interesting to do. If that's not an option, sit down and stare blankly at a wall until you die of starvation.

[Kol Korran]

I agree with the posters suggesting to have a pointed talk with thr GM, but on the riddle itself- It might also fit the Yin-Yang symbol and symbolism. At least up to the empresses and justice part... Though someone morr familiar with chinese philosophy may know more. (I know that in chinese medicine the term "empress" has different meanings, and Yin-Yang has a wholenlot of interpertaions and symbolism tied to it).

I quite like the double helix solution as well! Nice thinking by the postera above me.

If possible, I'd suggest trying to solve the riddle, and THEN talking to the GM about it, so this kind of thing doesn't repeat itself... it seems you are all at a sort of impass... diffuse it first, and then talk about it. Might be easier...

[Cealocanth]

So, to explain the empress and justice part, it's probably a refrence to tarot. The empress is a symbol of purity, fertility, and perfection. Justice is a symbol of balance. Of course, in tarot, these are also symbols of the lack thereof when they are inverted.

So, from this information one can gather from the riddle

It's "infinite" in some sense, but is subdivided into two parts.
These two parts copy each other. Possibly in inverse.
They work together as a couple.
With two parts, they are pure and perfect. With 3 parts, they are out of balance.

The last two lines really just tell us the same thing.
DNA is ruled out (unless the riddlemaker has no idea what he's talking about) because DNA is not infinite, it's limited by length depending on species, and because it's not perfect, but constantly mutating and changing. Also, it's not something a typical medieval fantasy universe would know about.
The infinity symbol is clever, but falls apart with the last line.

First question: Does your game's cosmology have a heaven and hell equivalent? This might work as the answer, as with the two planes they are in perfect balance, but with mortals they are thrown into war and chaos.

If not, I would go with "mirrors", as two mirrors pointed at each other form a series of images passing into eternity, but when you have three of them, they don't. Also, it's a prop that the GM can place nearby your stone door or that a character might be carrying in their pack, meaning it could be an in-room answer to your puzzle.

[Kaptin Keen]

because DNA is not infinite

.. but it does repeat itself to infinity.

[Thrudd]

You guys are thinking too hard, though I suppose the DM assumes familiarity with Tarot? Empress is the 3rd major arcana. Justice is 11. Triple justice is 33, two empresses would also be two 3's (also 33 I guess, not 6.)
So the answer is 33, the rest of the riddle is sort of extraneous, unless the answer is not the number but you are supposed to draw a lengthwise cut-in-half infinity symbol on the door.
An infinity symbol stood on its end like an eight and cut in half sort of looks like two threes, I guess (though one of them is backwards). That's a rather weak bit of the riddle.

[GrayDeath]

As a DM who from time to time uses riddles (but always ALWAYS ones strongly tied to either the current adventure info or the worlds background and NEVER as only solution!) let me tell you: You dont use them on doors.
Doors can be ... annoying, just crush it with a Stone Dragon Maneuver or cut it through with a Brilliant Energy Weapon (if D&D^^).

And tell him thats a weird Riddle. As my guess (not big on Tarot) would also ahve been numbers. :P

[Maelynn]

You guys are thinking too hard, though I suppose the DM assumes familiarity with Tarot? Empress is the 3rd major arcana. Justice is 11. Triple justice is 33, two empresses would also be two 3's (also 33 I guess, not 6.)
So the answer is 33, the rest of the riddle is sort of extraneous, unless the answer is not the number but you are supposed to draw a lengthwise cut-in-half infinity symbol on the door.
An infinity symbol stood on its end like an eight and cut in half sort of looks like two threes, I guess (though one of them is backwards). That's a rather weak bit of the riddle.

Yes, that would be the missing link for giving the infinity symbol as possible answer.

Does leave the question how to 'input' the answer. Do any of you have any items or spells that resemble an infinity symbol, or are somehow infinite in number? Is there in your game perhaps something related to tarot of similar cards? Maybe a Deck of Infinite Cards?

Edit: I just realise the Deck of Many Things has a Key card...

[Elysiume]

Yes, that would be the missing link for giving the infinity symbol as possible answer.

Does leave the question how to 'input' the answer. Do any of you have any items or spells that resemble an infinity symbol, or are somehow infinite in number? Is there in your game perhaps something related to tarot of similar cards? Maybe a Deck of Infinite Cards?

Edit: I just realise the Deck of Many Things has a Key card...

I think the actual answer is 33, not infinity. Infinity is directly mentioned in the first line, and the other clues are regarding 33. That said, the question of how to provide the answer stands.

[Maelynn]

I think the actual answer is 33, not infinity. Infinity is directly mentioned in the first line, and the other clues are regarding 33. That said, the question of how to provide the answer stands.

Okay, then tell me what the link is between 33 and perfection.

[Lorsa]

You guys are thinking too hard, though I suppose the DM assumes familiarity with Tarot? Empress is the 3rd major arcana. Justice is 11. Triple justice is 33, two empresses would also be two 3's (also 33 I guess, not 6.)
So the answer is 33, the rest of the riddle is sort of extraneous, unless the answer is not the number but you are supposed to draw a lengthwise cut-in-half infinity symbol on the door.
An infinity symbol stood on its end like an eight and cut in half sort of looks like two threes, I guess (though one of them is backwards). That's a rather weak bit of the riddle.

I think this is the answer as well. And I agree that the first part of the riddle is pretty weak.

[Myth27]

You guys are thinking too hard, though I suppose the DM assumes familiarity with Tarot? Empress is the 3rd major arcana. Justice is 11. Triple justice is 33, two empresses would also be two 3's (also 33 I guess, not 6.)
So the answer is 33, the rest of the riddle is sort of extraneous, unless the answer is not the number but you are supposed to draw a lengthwise cut-in-half infinity symbol on the door.
An infinity symbol stood on its end like an eight and cut in half sort of looks like two threes, I guess (though one of them is backwards). That's a rather weak bit of the riddle.

It was 33... I knocked on the door 33 times and it opened... I can’t believe it. I guess the DM assumed familiarity with tarot, something I didn’t have at all. Thank you I couldn’t have done it without you.

Also thanks everyone, thank you for your answers, I liked them all.

[Xuc Xac]

Apparently your fantasy world has the same tarot cards and Arabic numerals as we use on modern day Earth.

For me, that breaks the 4th wall just as much as the sphinx asking "Who won the 1942 world series?"

[Elysiume]

Okay, then tell me what the link is between 33 and perfection.

It's "perfection, as a couple," which puts it back into an infinity symbol. I think that's one of the weaker lines of the riddle, really, since infinity isn't really "perfection" either.

[Thrudd]

It's "perfection, as a couple," which puts it back into an infinity symbol. I think that's one of the weaker lines of the riddle, really, since infinity isn't really "perfection" either.

I think the number 3 is referred to as symbolizing "perfection" or "completeness" in some numerology. So a "couple" of 3's.
The most basic shape that can be made with straight lines, triangle- Like the holy trinity or any number of triple goddesses, three legs that are required for a table to stand, etc. Taiji, yin and yang. It's not a great part of the riddle, assumes a sort of familiarity with esoterica that is not universal (9 could also be perfection, or 10, or even 4).

[LordEntrails]

Tell your DM that you as a the Player know things different than your Character does. Ask him what game mechanic or die roll you can make for your character to solve, or not, the riddle.

If he says you as the Player has to solve it and their is not way for your Character to resolve it, then tell him you are playing a Role-Playing game, not a TV Game Show etc, repeat your question on what game mechanic you can use to have your Character solve the riddle and if he refuses or can't provide one, leave and go home. Find a new DM.

[PrismCat21]

My first guess was Day/Night, or the cycle of a day.
It's infinite because day/night just continues one after the other nonstop.
Day/night basically mirrors each other.
Together they make a perfect couple, the full day/night cycle.
2 empresses being the sun and moon. Triple justice may include the world itself or the stars, which you can see during the day, just much more clearly at night.

Also this riddle is on a stone door under a sculpted closed eye, we also have to find an input method if we find the answer, just saying the answer would not work

The eye sorta fits as in ancient Earth cultures the sun was often symbolized with an eye.

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Second guess. Light and Darkness.
The eye is already in darkness, open it up to let the light in.

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Also. Your DM is being a jerk.

[Thrudd]

Tell your DM that you as a the Player know things different than your Character does. Ask him what game mechanic or die roll you can make for your character to solve, or not, the riddle.

If he says you as the Player has to solve it and their is not way for your Character to resolve it, then tell him you are playing a Role-Playing game, not a TV Game Show etc, repeat your question on what game mechanic you can use to have your Character solve the riddle and if he refuses or can't provide one, leave and go home. Find a new DM.

Some games work that way. They aren't breaking the laws of RPGs by asking players to solve a riddle that will have an effect in the game. It may not have been a great riddle, but having players actually solve problems instead of rolling dice isn't wrong. In fact, it may make for a more immersive experience if it's done properly.