# Before This, I May Hide; After This, I'm Fortified

Riddle me this:

Flames are home to one of mine;
Of truth and suffering, I exist;
Up when dark my phases shine;

Faith included, they bring luck;
Other weathers granted me;
Under sabbath, honour struck;
Romans ended with a vee.

What am I?

Add a plural and any number can be made, but this clue might be just for the math enthusiasts.

Inspired by other answers and adding some more clues, I believe you are

the number four (4).

Flames are home to one of mine;

Fire is one of the four classical elements.

Of truth and suffering, I exist;

This refers to the Four Noble Truths in Buddhism.

Up when dark my phases shine;

There are four principal phases of the moon.

There are four points on a compass.

Faith included, they bring luck;

Four-leaf clovers are said to bring luck.

Other weathers granted me;

There are four seasons, each of which has different types of weather (roughly) associated with it: sun in summer, rain in fall, snow in winter, et cetera.

Under sabbath, honour struck;

Using the Philonic division, the Fourth Commandment of the Ten is: Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. Under the Augustinian division, the Fourth Commandment is: Honour thy father and thy mother, the only commandment to mention honour.

Romans ended with a vee.

Using Roman numerals, four is written as IV, which ends with a V.

the first letters of both verses of the riddle spell out four.

Add a plural and any number can be made, but this clue might be just for the math enthusiasts.

The emphasized parts together quite literally point to the number four.

Additionally, I believe this refers to the mathematical fact that any number $x$ can be obtained by taking $4 + 4y$ (namely by taking $y = \frac{x - 4}{4}$). This is adding a multiple of four to four, i.e. adding fours to four, i.e. add the plural of four to itself. As the line says, a clue for math enthusiasts.

Finally, the title: Before This, I May Hide; After This, I'm Fortified. As jafe already noted,

Four hides in the pronunciation of before. It can thus be said that four hides before the word this.
It hides in a similar fashion in fortified.
More precisely, compare four (/fɔː/), before (/bɪˈfɔː/) and fortified (/ˈfɔː.tɪ.faɪ/).

I'd like to believe that there is another clue in the title.

It says May Hide, not just Hide. This could refer to May 4, also known as Star Wars day.

• $(+1)$ Hahah, you are a legend. Your answer is correct, and all your reasonings are correct. In the "sabbath" line, I never knew there were different divisions, though, and that Rot13(ol fnlvat "haqre fnoongu", V zrnag gur pbzznaqzrag haqre gur sbhegu, juvpu vf gur svsgu, gnyxvat nobhg ubabhe.) Well done, nonetheless! I also thought it rare to see somebody pick up the secret hidden clue in the title that you mentioned in the very last line. Great answer! $\;\color{green}{\checkmark}$ – Mr Pie Jul 30 '18 at 23:07
• Thanks! I thought you might have meant that with the sabbath clue, but found out about the divisions when looking it up. So, I also learned something thanks to your riddle :-) I'm really happy to hear that the hidden clue in the title is intentional! – Just a student Jul 31 '18 at 5:12
• Otherwise, I would have wrote, "Before This, I Can Hide". Glad you enjoyed the riddle :D – Mr Pie Jul 31 '18 at 5:17

Are you

The number four? Or Fire is one of the four elements.

Flames are home to one of mine;

Four-est, fires

Of truth and suffering, I exist;

The Four noble truths (Thanks to comments!)

Up when dark my phases shine;

The four main phases of the moon (Thanks to comments!)

4 directions, North, East, South, West.

Faith included, they bring luck;

Four Leafed Clover Thanks to comments!)

Other weathers granted me;

The four seasons (Thanks to comments!)

Under sabbath, honour struck;

The Fourth Commandment Tells everyone to take a Sabbath (Thanks to comments!)

Romans ended with a vee.

The Roman numeral for 4 is IV

Also

The first letter of each line spells FOUR FOUR. And the title has the word for/Four hidden.

Thanks to the people who helped in the comments.

Wrong Old Guess

Are you a

Volcano

Flames are home to one of mine; Of truth and suffering, I exist;

Hot Magma

Up when dark my phases shine; Read a compass, I insist.

After a massive eruption, the sky can become dark?

Faith included, they bring luck; Other weathers granted me;

I am not sure.

Under sabbath, honour struck; Romans ended with a vee.

Mount Vesuvius erupted on the Roman city of Pompeii and Romans ended with a Vee for Vesuvius.

• $(+1)$ Great answer! Unfortunately, that is not it. If you explain the latter half of the second line, the third line and the title/hints, and I might award you the "Alternative Answer Bounty ($50$ Rep)". Hint: Rot13(Gur nafjre vf uvqqra va gur evqqyr.) – Mr Pie Jul 30 '18 at 3:14
• Truth and suffering could refer to rot13(sbhe aboyr gehguf). Also, a rot13(sbhe-yrns pybire) brings luck. – Jafe Jul 30 '18 at 6:39
• Has to be. Especially considering the italicised words at the end of the question... – Isaac Reefman Jul 30 '18 at 7:27
• @jafe you are correct! You can put that into an answer and I will upvote, though the second and fourth line need work :) – Mr Pie Jul 30 '18 at 9:56
• Read what I commented above. The new answer is correct, but the reasoning for the first line is not, though it can pass as an alternative. However, if you want to find the correct reasoning, think of Rot13(Nevfgbgyr.) – Mr Pie Jul 30 '18 at 9:59

The number four

Flames are home to one of mine;

Fire is one of the four elements

Of truth and suffering, I exist;

The four noble truths of Buddhism

Faith included, they bring luck;

A four-leaf clover brings luck

Title - Before This, I May Hide; After This, I'm Fortified

"Before this" has "fore" (four) before "this". "After this, I'm fortified" has "for" (four) after "this".

• $(+1)$ Good answer, but it does not explain some of the other lines, and links provided would have made it a better answer. Nonetheless, your answer is correct and so are your reasonings :) – Mr Pie Jul 30 '18 at 23:26