Help required stealing Christmas presents

Question

Archibald, Beatrice, and Chrysostomus were finally at the end of their journey, at the entrance of the much sought-after room. To get there, they already had sneaked past the guards, crawled through the raindeers' stables, picked locks, and tied up an elf who lay, confused, in a corner of the room.

Santa Claus's treasure, all the presents ready to be distributed, was behind that last door. Archibald tried it. It was locked.

"What did you expect?" mused the other two.

"It's magically locked, but maybe there's a key... hang on, it says something, it's etched here on the wood... maybe it's a password hint!"

"Let me see" Beatrice approached the door, then frowned and rolled her eyes. "It's that bloody Elvish script"

"I thought they spoke English -- that one does" replied Chrisostomus, pointing at the tied-up little guy.

"They do speak English," she said "but they write it in their own alphabet, and it's phonetic. It's gonna take us a while." She glanced nervously at the exit.

This is what the door said:

𐑮𐑑 𐑔𐑤` 𐑝𐑦𐑗𐑖 𐑖𐑤` 𐑚𐑦𐑠𐑕 𐑛𐑩 𐑒𐑮𐑞𐑠, 
𐑖𐑨𐑮𐑢 𐑩 𐑐𐑭𐑗 𐑰𐑗𐑞 𐑚𐑖𐑥`𐑖 𐑖𐑤` 𐑚𐑢𐑒𐑮𐑜𐑠. 

𐑑𐑩`𐑚𐑖 𐑛𐑧 𐑭𐑠𐑕𐑮𐑡 𐑝𐑩`𐑞 𐑑𐑪` 𐑑𐑒𐑭𐑗𐑞: 
𐑝𐑮𐑠 𐑮𐑖 𐑩𐑫𐑐𐑩𐑗 𐑛𐑮𐑚 𐑘𐑨𐑮𐑖 𐑖𐑤`? 

𐑛𐑭𐑗 𐑩𐑘𐑭𐑗, 𐑜𐑯𐑖 𐑑𐑒𐑦𐑙 𐑛𐑧 𐑭𐑗𐑞 
𐑝𐑦𐑖𐑚 𐑗𐑦𐑖 𐑗𐑮𐑩, 𐑗𐑪` 𐑢𐑠𐑩𐑫𐑚 𐑖𐑤` 𐑔𐑤`. 

𐑜𐑬𐑮 𐑗𐑬𐑫, 𐑝𐑮𐑩 𐑡𐑫𐑩, 𐑔𐑤`𐑕 𐑯𐑗𐑞𐑩𐑚𐑖𐑫𐑞, 
𐑒𐑬𐑮𐑖 𐑛𐑩 𐑢𐑯𐑗𐑖𐑒𐑧 𐑛𐑰𐑖 𐑝𐑮𐑩 𐑑𐑒𐑦𐑙

𐑰𐑗𐑞 𐑰𐑖 𐑛𐑧 𐑭𐑗𐑞, 𐑗𐑩𐑫𐑖 𐑞𐑬𐑫𐑗 𐑛𐑰𐑖 𐑑𐑤`𐑞, 
𐑙𐑩𐑒𐑧`𐑗, 𐑮𐑢𐑚𐑐𐑭𐑗𐑚𐑮𐑕, 𐑡𐑭𐑠𐑞, 𐑒𐑭𐑞, 𐑘𐑫𐑞. 

𐑐𐑫𐑖 𐑛𐑧 𐑮𐑗𐑮𐑡𐑩𐑠𐑟 𐑪`𐑠 𐑖𐑩𐑘𐑭𐑛𐑩: 
𐑛𐑨𐑮 𐑝𐑮𐑠 𐑡𐑩𐑫 𐑛𐑭𐑗 𐑖𐑤` 𐑛𐑩 𐑒𐑧`𐑞𐑩 

𐑛𐑩 𐑚𐑬𐑫𐑗𐑞 𐑦𐑕 𐑢𐑩𐑫𐑠𐑞, 𐑓𐑥`𐑞 𐑚𐑖𐑩𐑫𐑗 
𐑰𐑗𐑞 𐑦𐑕 𐑩𐑗 𐑨𐑮𐑗𐑡𐑩𐑗𐑖 𐑖𐑡𐑮𐑠𐑞𐑒𐑩𐑗𐑟 𐑘𐑨𐑮𐑙. 

Also available as a picture here in case you have problems with Unicode.

Can you help the trio steal all the Christmas presents in the world by finding the keyword?

Answer 1

Partial answer: text decoded

The symbols are the Shavian alphabet -- but this won't help decode them, because the phonetic assignments aren't correct at all.

I started with

the most common letters. Five clearly stuck out as most common according to frequency analysis: 𐑗 𐑩 𐑖 𐑮 𐑞. These were likely the most common English phonemes in some order, which were ə,n,t,ɪ,d. Using the contexts they appear in, 𐑗 and 𐑖 were likely both consonants; they appeared together at the end of the word, so they were either nt or nd. And 𐑮 appeared as the start of multiple two-phoneme words: these were likely "if" and "it".

After that break-in, the rest was decoded by finding words with only a few symbols missing and filling them in. The only potential stumbling blocks here are the vowels (which we'll get to later), and

the clearly out-of-place symbol, a single backquote, which turned out to be the length extension mark (IPA ː).

---

The decoded message is below. Vowels may not be exactly correct -- it appears to be in British English, and I'm not quite sure of some of the distinctions/mergers made as compared to my dialect of American English. The message itself is clear, though:

ɪf juː wɑnt tuː sɑlv ðə rɪdl,
teɪk ə pɛn ænd stɒ˞ːt tuː skrɪbl.
fəːst ði ɛlvɪʃ wəːd fɔː frɛnd:
wɪl ɪt əʊpən ðɪs geɪt tuː?
ðɛn əgɛn, bʌt frɑm ði ɛnd
wɑts nɑt nɪə, nɔː kləʊs tuː juː.
baɪ naʊ, wɪə ʃʊə, juːv ʌndəstʊd,
raɪt ðə kʌntri ðæt wɪə frɑm
ænd æt ði ɛnd, nəʊt daʊn ðæt fuːd,
məriːn, ɪkspɛnsɪv, ʃɛld, rɛd, gʊd.
pʊt ði ɪnɪʃəlz ɔːl təgɛðə:
ðeɪ wɪl ʃəʊ ðɛn tuː ðə riːdə
ðə saʊnd ɑv kəʊld, hɒ˞ːd stəʊn
ænd ɑv ən eɪnʃənt tʃɪldrənz geɪm.


If you want to solve the riddle,
take a pen and start to scribble.
First the Elvish word for friend:
will it open this gate too?
Then again, but from the end
what's not near, nor close to you.
By now, we're sure you understood
write the country that we're from
and at the end, note down that food
marine, expensive, shelled, red, good.
Put the initials all together:
they will show then to the reader
the sound of cold, hard stone
and of an ancient children's game.

What next?

The riddle seems to say

that we need to answer four clues, take their initials, and we'll get "the sound of cold, hard stone and of an ancient children's game".

"First the Elvish word for friend: will it open this gate too?"
This is probably mellon, the word for 'friend' in Sindarin (famously the subject of a riddle in the Lord of the Rings, and a word that opened a door).

"Then again, but from the end / what's not near, nor close to you."
Not sure what this could be. "Far"? "Afar"?

"By now, we're sure you understood / write the country that we're from"
the United Kingdom? Britain? England? All of these have different initials.

"and at the end, note down that food / marine, expensive, shelled, red, good."
Lobster? Crab?

"Put the initials all together: [...]"
This could refer to either the initials of the words in English, or the initial phonemes. If the latter, it could be reading them visually as letters. (For example, MELLON's /m/ is 𐑙, which looks like an L. UNITED KINGDOM's /j/ is "𐑔", which looks like a D.)

But the clues here seem very ambiguous, so I'm not sure how to continue.

EDIT: Lobster gives us, M from Mellon, "ar" from end of "far", L from Lobster, which suggests B from Britain for MARBL. Cold hard stone, and the children's game of "Marbles".

Answer 2

The answer is

Mancala.

@Deusovi did most of the work on this one, just seeing if I can finish up.

The riddle seems to say

that we need to answer four clues, take their initials, and we'll get "the sound of cold, hard stone and of an ancient children's game".

"First the Elvish word for friend: will it open this gate too?"
This is probably mellon, the word for 'friend' in Sindarin (famously the subject of a riddle in the Lord of the Rings, and a word that opened a door). “
"Then again, but from the end / what's not near, nor close to you."
Since Santa Claus lives in the Arctic, this is probably the Antarctic.
"By now, we're sure you understood / write the country that we're from"
Not sure of this one. Canada abbreviated as CA, perhaps?
"and at the end, note down that food / marine, expensive, shelled, red, good."
A land crab?
The answer appears to be M + AN + CA + LA = MANCALA.

Translation done completely by @Deusovi:
“The symbols are the Shavian alphabet -- but this won't help decode them, because the phonetic assignments aren't correct at all.

I started with

the most common letters. Five clearly stuck out as most common according to frequency analysis: 𐑗 𐑩 𐑖 𐑮 𐑞. These were likely the most common English phonemes in some order, which were ə,n,t,ɪ,d. Using the contexts they appear in, 𐑗 and 𐑖 were likely both consonants; they appeared together at the end of the word, so they were either nt or nd. And 𐑮 appeared as the start of multiple two-phoneme words: these were likely "if" and "it".

After that break-in, the rest was decoded by finding words with only a few symbols missing and filling them in. The only potential stumbling blocks here are the vowels (which we'll get to later), and

the clearly out-of-place symbol, a single backquote, which turned out to be the length extension mark (IPA ː).

---

The decoded message is below. Vowels may not be exactly correct -- it appears to be in British English, and I'm not quite sure of some of the distinctions/mergers made as compared to my dialect of American English. The message itself is clear, though:

ɪf juː wɑnt tuː sɑlv ðə rɪdl,
teɪk ə pɛn ænd stɒ˞ːt tuː skrɪbl.
fəːst ði ɛlvɪʃ wəːd fɔː frɛnd:
wɪl ɪt əʊpən ðɪs geɪt tuː?
ðɛn əgɛn, bʌt frɑm ði ɛnd
wɑts nɑt nɪə, nɔː kləʊs tuː juː.
baɪ naʊ, wɪə ʃʊə, juːv ʌndəstʊd,
raɪt ðə kʌntri ðæt wɪə frɑm
ænd æt ði ɛnd, nəʊt daʊn ðæt fuːd,
məriːn, ɪkspɛnsɪv, ʃɛld, rɛd, gʊd.
pʊt ði ɪnɪʃəlz ɔːl təgɛðə:
ðeɪ wɪl ʃəʊ ðɛn tuː ðə riːdə
ðə saʊnd ɑv kəʊld, hɒ˞ːd stəʊn
ænd ɑv ən eɪnʃənt tʃɪldrənz geɪm.


If you want to solve the riddle,
take a pen and start to scribble.
First the Elvish word for friend:
will it open this gate too?
Then again, but from the end
what's not near, nor close to you.
By now, we're sure you understood
write the country that we're from
and at the end, note down that food
marine, expensive, shelled, red, good.
Put the initials all together:
they will show then to the reader
the sound of cold, hard stone
and of an ancient children's game.