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Down a golden path go I
Companions likewise go
To reach the Center of our world
On busses, to and fro

A weir I reach
My path is blocked
'Till doppelganger shows
To help me breach
The door unlocked
Again the river flows

Another path do we go down
Myself, my brother, spies
A portal in the distance, whence
Decision Maker sighs

"Just one o'ye, I care not which
 Or both, if suites ye best
 Must take ye through yon portal to
 Continue on yer quest"

We step on through
Our test complete
To see a dragon, stilled
Yet more delay
Would keep us from
Our destiny fulfilled

A captive waited here to run
Upon our group's demise
But should survive just one of us
The Center was our prize

However, there's a problem, still
The path's but one man wide
And should live more than one of us
The path a spell would hide

My brother sacrificed himself
To be the dragon's snack
And looking from the beastly maw
Cried "Go! Do not look back!"

So down the path I ran and ran
At last the Center spot
Where I would go complete my quest
At least, that's what I thought

Yet when I found myself within
The Center's halls and then
Was counted I, and grouped and moved
I found myself again
Upon a path, that gilded lay
Through alleys far apart
Back to the place where I began
Right back where I did start!

The answer to this riddle has four parts.

  1. What is the world?
  2. What is the Center?
  3. What are each of the obstacles (both in general and specifically)?
  4. What am I?

Hint 1:

The golden path
It's copper hues
Is not a silly con
The obstacles
Described above
Will have their hint, anon!

Hint 2:

Each Obstacle
Has rules to obey
Without them
I would go astray!

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  • $\begingroup$ It is usually recommended to hold off on posting Hints until the puzzle has been unanswered for at least a few days. If you add them too early, it just means that your question gets answered sooner — and where's the fun in that? :-) $\endgroup$
    – can-ned_food
    Commented Mar 23, 2017 at 8:21
  • $\begingroup$ @can-ned_food: Thanks for the feedback! This was my first puzzle, so I wasn't quite sure what the rules or social expectations were about posting hints and answers. I'll definitely keep that in mind for my next puzzle! $\endgroup$
    – Kalidrev
    Commented Mar 24, 2017 at 21:20

3 Answers 3

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What is the world?

A computer.

What is the Center?

The CPU, which communicates via data busses.

What are each of the obstacles (both in general and specifically)?

The weir is an AND gate that gets its input from your line and that of the doppelgänger.
The Decision Maker is an OR gate for which the output from the previous gate gets split. The Dragon and the small path sound like an XOR gate, because only one can go through.

What am I?

A bit that gets read and written to memory.

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15
  • $\begingroup$ Nicely done! You've got the World and the Center right! The other parts are not quite right, though! $\endgroup$
    – Kalidrev
    Commented Mar 22, 2017 at 19:44
  • $\begingroup$ almost there! You know what I am! As for the obstacles, you've almost got it. Think like Sherlock Holmes... $\endgroup$
    – Kalidrev
    Commented Mar 22, 2017 at 19:55
  • $\begingroup$ With the hint I'm think logic gates are obstacles (@Kalidrev?) $\endgroup$
    – Beastly Gerbil
    Commented Mar 22, 2017 at 20:10
  • $\begingroup$ @Beastly Gerbil: Nice! Now you know the obstacles, in general... But which ones are used in my riddle specifically? $\endgroup$
    – Kalidrev
    Commented Mar 22, 2017 at 20:12
  • $\begingroup$ @Kalidrev I can see AND and OR in there... $\endgroup$
    – Beastly Gerbil
    Commented Mar 22, 2017 at 20:14
3
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I think you are a

fish

Down a golden path go I
Companions likewise go
To reach the Center of our world
On busses, to and fro

The fish and his fellow fished swim down a river on migration to the see, or maybe a lake?

A weir I reach
My path is blocked
'Till doppelganger shows
To help me breach
The door unlocked
Again the river flows

The fishes reach a weir, and can't pass until someone opens the weir and allows the river to flow again.

Another path do we go down
Myself, my brother, spies
A portal in the distance, whence
Decision Maker sighs

"Just one o'ye, I care not which
Or both, if suites ye best
Must take ye through yon portal to
Continue on yer quest"

The fishes swim down a different river and reach a waterfall, which makes a noise like a sigh. This waterfall acts as a portal from one river to another.

We step on through
Our test complete
To see a dragon, stilled
Yet more delay
Would keep us from
Our destiny fulfilled

A carnivorous animal lurks, waiting to snap up the fish. I'm thinking maybe a heron

A captive waited here to run
Upon our group's demise
But should survive just one of us
The Center was our prize

The carnivorous animal was focused on one other fish, which would escape if the group was eaten. But if even one got past they would reach the sea/lake.

However, there's a problem, still
The path's but one man wide
And should live more than one of us
The path a spell would hide

The river has become very narrow, making it hard to swim around.

My brother sacrificed himself
To be the dragon's snack
And looking from the beastly maw
Cried "Go! Do not look back!"

The fish's' brother sacrificed himself by being eaten and allowing the others to pass.

So down the path I ran and ran
At last the Center spot
Where I would go complete my quest
At least, that's what I thought

Swimming the remaining distance the fish reaches the ocean/lake, his target.

Yet when I found myself within
The Center's halls and then
Was counted I, and grouped and moved
I found myself again
Upon a path, that gilded lay
Through alleys far apart
Back to the place where I began
Right back where I did start!

After being placed in several shoals, his migration complete, he went down another river (alleys) to where he began.

In answer to the questions:

1.

The rivers and seas

2.

The sea/lake, maybe breeding ground?

3.

Weirs, other animals

4.

A fish!

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7
  • $\begingroup$ I think you might be right, in which case I think the dragon's are birds of some sort $\endgroup$
    – n_plum
    Commented Mar 22, 2017 at 18:51
  • $\begingroup$ @Beastly Gerbil Thanks for answering my first riddle! Unfortunately, this is not the right answer. Feel free to keep pondering! $\endgroup$
    – Kalidrev
    Commented Mar 22, 2017 at 18:52
  • $\begingroup$ @Kalidrev ah shame, thought I had it there! : ) I expanded all the same, thought it fit quite nicely with the weirs/rivers. Oh, and Welcome to Puzzling! $\endgroup$
    – Beastly Gerbil
    Commented Mar 22, 2017 at 18:58
  • $\begingroup$ @n_palum ah, that comment makes me think maybe a heron! Shame this is wrong, worked so nicely :) $\endgroup$
    – Beastly Gerbil
    Commented Mar 22, 2017 at 18:59
  • 1
    $\begingroup$ @n_palum belated welcome to puzzling! :P I try and always welcome new users who post good first posts, must have missed you ;) $\endgroup$
    – Beastly Gerbil
    Commented Mar 22, 2017 at 19:05
2
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Edit: This answer was made before the hint was given.

What is the world?

The human body.

What is the Center?

The heart.

What am I?

A blood cell.

What are each of the obstacles (both in general and specifically)?

A weir I reach
My path is blocked
'Till doppelganger shows
To help me breach
The door unlocked
Again the river flows

Once enough blood is in the chamber, the heart valve will open and the blood can flow through the arteries.

Another path do we go down
Myself, my brother, spies
A portal in the distance, whence
Decision Maker sighs

The blood needs to go into the smaller capillaries.

Yet when I found myself within
The Center's halls and then
Was counted I, and grouped and moved
I found myself again
Upon a path, that gilded lay
Through alleys far apart
Back to the place where I began
Right back where I did start!

In the end the blood cell reaches the heart once more and will be pumped through the body again.

No idea what the dragon would be in that scenario though and I'm not sure if I'd be specific enough with the other explanations.

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  • $\begingroup$ Oooh nice idea! $\endgroup$
    – Beastly Gerbil
    Commented Mar 22, 2017 at 19:09
  • $\begingroup$ The 'dragon' might be a virus, and a white blood cell has to go and fight it $\endgroup$
    – Beastly Gerbil
    Commented Mar 22, 2017 at 19:10
  • $\begingroup$ I like the idea too.. but maybe instead of blood it's oxygen? It goes through blood streams (alleys), and the decision maker sighing is literally a person sighing for air? $\endgroup$
    – n_plum
    Commented Mar 22, 2017 at 19:10
  • $\begingroup$ @n_palum I also thought it might refer to the lungs because of the sigh, but since that is different circulation than the one flowing through the rest of the body as far as I know we'd go through the heart after that again. $\endgroup$
    – The Raven Queen
    Commented Mar 22, 2017 at 19:12
  • $\begingroup$ @The Raven Queen Good Guess! Unfortunately, this isn't it either... perhaps a hint should be given...or perhaps my riddle was too open for interpretation... hmmm... I definitely welcome feedback once someone gives the right answer. As a first-comer to Puzzling... is there any definitive ruling on if/when the author of a riddle must give the answer? $\endgroup$
    – Kalidrev
    Commented Mar 22, 2017 at 19:13

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