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 UL
R  S
 ET

As a boy, killed a dog and replaced it
His uncle, the king for "but one year"
Hold his storyteller's daughter, whose appearance made her miserable

Charlotte was an underachiever

A key musician from destiny's forge
the practical guide who found her, twice-named with but one name
the wormy remains of the sphere, broken with her death
Lose the M, then stop walking. Hold what remains. (Yes. It's cheating.)

Now where might this lady be found?

/***********/

Well, it's been a day. First clue:

All sources are at least alluded to, save for the last two, and the penultimate should be obvious if you've done your prep work. That's not to say that I made it easy for you... unless you're looking in the right places.

And now long enough for another clue:

Charlotte was an author of sorts. If she'd set out to write fiction, what manner of fiction would she write?

...and time for another clue, I suppose.

Of the second set... the first could be found on the royal road. The second was trained by Mozart's taller, greener self. The third spent time in the slaughterhouse. The fourth? That would make it far too easy.

Another clue comes.

The musician found housing by the Bai. The guide was a Villain learning to do wrong right. The sphere weighed no more than a gramme... and Charlotte, as always, put her words on the web.

...and, I suppose, another, laying out the structure a bit more blatantly

format clarification: the first set is all from a single source (indicated by its header clue). The second set are all from different sources, but each source other than the cheater is of the same type of work, implied by the second header. Each line of the second contains a reference to a single persona and a reference to the work they're from. Pronouns refer to the preceding line. You're going to need the holds for the last question.

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  • $\begingroup$ rot13(Vf "Ry Fvq" "Ry Pvq"?) $\endgroup$
    – IronEagle
    Commented Aug 31, 2020 at 1:03
  • $\begingroup$ @IronEagle No. Quite the opposite. $\endgroup$
    – Ben Barden
    Commented Aug 31, 2020 at 7:27
  • $\begingroup$ It seems that this question is getting... not a lot of attention. If anyone has advice on what I'm doing wrong here, I'd appreciate knowing about it. $\endgroup$
    – Ben Barden
    Commented Sep 6, 2020 at 2:42
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    $\begingroup$ This is a really good riddle - I haven’t been able to devote much time to it since classes have started back up, but hopefully this helps. $\endgroup$
    – IronEagle
    Commented Sep 6, 2020 at 3:37

3 Answers 3

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Another stab at the second half which Sconibulus started, as well as an attempt at the final answer.

These are all:

From online serial fantasy novels (on the "web")

A key musician from destiny's forge

Ling Qi, some sort of musician from a royalroad.com book called The Forge of Destiny

the practical guide who found her, twice-named with but one name

Catherine Found"ling", whose guide was Amadeus (Black Knight) from The Practical Guide To Evil

the wormy remains of the sphere, broken with her death

Sphere (Alan Gramme), who became Mannequin from Worms

Lose the M, then stop walking. Hold what remains. (Yes. It's cheating.)

Get rid of the "M" - "Annequin", so as Sconibulus said, "Anakin Skywalker." Now "stop walking" - Sky

Which gets us to the final answer:

Deirdre Sky(e) is a character in Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri. So, that's where she can be found.

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  • $\begingroup$ So... you've picked up on a few clues that others did not... but you need to pay a bit closer attention to the comments that I made to @Sconibulus - the things that offered correction on and the things I did not. As for the royal road... you're in the right place, but looking at the wrong story. Your final answer is interesting, but utterly incorrect. Among other things, it ignores the first hold. $\endgroup$
    – Ben Barden
    Commented Sep 10, 2020 at 20:56
  • $\begingroup$ I would encourage you to take a look back at some of the extra clues I provided. They should make some of these things clearer. $\endgroup$
    – Ben Barden
    Commented Sep 10, 2020 at 20:58
  • $\begingroup$ You are absolutely correct about the shared type... They have slightly more in common than even that, but it shouldn't be necessary for finding the answers. $\endgroup$
    – Ben Barden
    Commented Sep 10, 2020 at 21:01
  • $\begingroup$ @BenBarden is my new answer better or worse than the previous one? :-) $\endgroup$
    – kristinalustig ♦
    Commented Sep 10, 2020 at 21:52
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    $\begingroup$ Closer... but you did not read what @Sconibulus actually said on the matter. $\endgroup$
    – Ben Barden
    Commented Sep 11, 2020 at 14:50
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Work in progress, feel free to submit other answers!

 UL
R  S
 ET

The circle forms the word "Ulster", read clockwise from the top-left. The circular nature refers to the Ulster Cycle, a collection of Irish Mythology. This is also the province that Cú_Chulainn defended.

As a boy, killed a dog and replaced it

Cú_Chulainn killed the watchdog of Culann when he was young. As repentance, he offers to replace it.

His uncle, the king for "but one year"

His uncle, Conchobar mac Nessa was king for only one year.

Hold his storyteller's daughter, whose appearance made her miserable

Deirdre, the daughter of the Conchobar mac Nessa's storyteller Feidhlimidh Mac Daill. She was a "Helen of Troy" figure, and came to despise her beauty after men fought over her.

Charlotte was an underachiever

Charlotte A. Cavatica, of Charlotte's Web.

For the remainder, see @kristinalustig 's great answer

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    $\begingroup$ On your guess for the boy... in what set of works does he appear? You've identified Charlotte correctly, but not the deeper meaning of that line. The second grouping is not as straightforward than you think it is (nor as straightforward as the first). $\endgroup$
    – Ben Barden
    Commented Aug 29, 2020 at 5:06
  • $\begingroup$ For your updates, you got the first block right, solidly... other than missing the reason why "but one year" was in quotes. For the second block... I'll see if I can't help you out with the next clue. $\endgroup$
    – Ben Barden
    Commented Aug 31, 2020 at 7:33
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Partial answer, putting together much of the second section, but I still don't see how it ties together.

A key musician from destiny's forge
the practical guide who found her, twice-named with but one name

Amadeus (Black Knight) who found Catherine Foundling, twice-Squire

the wormy remains of the sphere, broken with her death

Mannequin

Lose the M, then stop walking. Hold what remains. (Yes. It's cheating.)

Anakin Skywalker-> Sky

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  • $\begingroup$ Well done! ...and somewhat correct. All of the people you've mentioned have been referenced in the clues I provided, but the first you named is not actually one of the answers, and the second is no musician $\endgroup$
    – Ben Barden
    Commented Sep 7, 2020 at 21:13
  • $\begingroup$ You might be able to find a significant clue to the musician by considering what the guide and the remains have in common. $\endgroup$
    – Ben Barden
    Commented Sep 7, 2020 at 21:22
  • $\begingroup$ ...also, you do now have enough information to answer the final question... and thus to understand the title $\endgroup$
    – Ben Barden
    Commented Sep 8, 2020 at 17:02

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