IMPORTANT! READ ME:
- The only 'puzzle' parts of this are the links, titled 'Set X', 'Inscription X', or 'Constellation X'. Everything else is flavortext, apart from this readme section, although the flavortext does tell you that the meaning of the inscriptions is not supposed to be deduced until you have finished everything else.
- DO NOT even LOOK at the links out of order. They have been placed in this order in order to make the solving experience as interesting as possible.
- DO NOT move on from a set until you have solved all 5 puzzles in that set, and have ensured that your interpretation of the rules arrives at a unique solution for all 5.
- Every puzzle has a unique solution. If you believe you have found a puzzle which does not have a unique solution, or has no solutions, please comment on this post and I will see if it needs to be fixed.
- No puzzle arrives in a solved state. There is always a distinct SOLUTION that must be input into each puzzle.
- The mechanics and meanings are one hundred percent consistent, even between sets.
- These are plain grid-deduction puzzles, apart from the fact you must work out the mechanics yourself. Once you know the meanings, they are simply pen-paper puzzles in the vein of Japanese puzzles such as Sudoku, Hashi, Nurikabe, Slitherlink, etc.
- Feel free to post partials, but SPOILER everything please!
- Do not read spoilers unless you have really given up.
The old monk sips quietly from his tea, before placing the cup beside him on the floor.
'So, you wish to climb the Witless Mountain?'
'I do.'
'I am too weak, now, to come with you to the summit. But I can guide you some of the way.' He picks up his staff, and leads the way into the snowstorm, away from the shelter of his shack.
The summit looks so distant - the climb will not be easy.
The snow falls with a certain ferocity, sparkling white pricks appearing on the robe hugged tight against the monk's body.
'Do you see the rockface right up ahead?' His voice is barely audible over the wind.
'Yup!'
'That's your first challenge.'
On the black cliffside, a giant set of shapes and symbols are carved:
A few minutes pass.
'I think I understand.'
The monk smiles. 'Very well. Let us continue.'
A second rockface rises around the corner.
The monk ushers you along as soon as he sees that the puzzles have been understood.
'It is getting cold. I think this is as far as I can go. I will leave you here.'
'Hang on, aren't you going to tell me what THIS is?'
On the third rockface, a huge row of symbols glows blue beneath the puzzles.
'Ah. You want to know what the blue inscriptions mean?' He laughs wryly. 'You'll be seeing a few of those. I wouldn't worry about them now, if I were you. They're something to think about on the return journey.'
With that, he begins making his way back down the path.
You're on your own, now.
The peak is so close...
The final climb awaits.
It is dark, now, and as you look up into the sky, the stars begin to shine...
Constellation 1
Constellation 2
Constellation 3
The visions fade, and you return to your senses. You look back down the mountain, past the cliffs, to the gently glowing image of the monk's shack far below. You laugh, recalling his last piece of advice -
And begin the journey down.
EDIT: All 12 sets and constellations have been solved. No inscription solutions have been posted yet - the bounty is for whomever solves the most inscription puzzles!
EDIT 2: Inscription 5 has been taken down for maintenance, sorry to all those who have spent a while on it!
Answer
IMPORTANT! READ ME FIRST!
- Try the puzzle before reading this solution. Please, it's worth it.
- If you can't figure out a mechanic, take a break and come back. Only look at this guide if you absolutely have to - for example, you've been trying for days and you haven't been sleeping well, or the only way to pacify the three bears currently mauling you is to tell them the solution to this puzzle.
- This first section of my answer contains hints for all the sets' "teachings". The first hint is written normally; the second is rot13ed so you don't reveal both at the same time. Only go for the second hint if you've thought about the puzzle with the first for a while and still haven't come to a conclusion.
Set 1
Draw lines on the gray borders. // Fcyvg gur flzobyf rirayl.
Set 2
Last time, you divided the segments into two "equal" sections. // Znxr gur gjb frpgvbaf unir gur fnzr ahzore bs qbgf.
Set 3
You shouldn't need a hint for this one. // Vg'f gur fnzr guvat nf orsber. Rzcgl fdhnerf nera'g "jbegu" nalguvat, gubhtu.
Set 4
You've been making an assumption that you shouldn't have. (I may have reinforced that assumption - sorry!) // Ybbx ng gur frpbaq chmmyr. Vg unf svsgrra qbgf, juvpu lbh znl abgvpr vf abg qvivfvoyr ol gjb.
Set 5
The square mechanic does not interact with the dots. // Ybbx ng gur znexf. Gurl nccrne gb or cbvagvat gb jungrire'f cnfg gur rqtrf.
Set 6
Squares don't need to be separated from each other. // Nqq.
Set 7
It's like a dot, only... different. // Vg'f cnegvnyyl n qbg, naq cnegvnyyl abg n qbg.
Set 8
Again, the symbols are very representative of what's going on. // Ubj qb gur gjb fznyyre gevnatyrf eryngr gb gur ovttre bar?
Set 9
The big triangles can be treated independently. // Gurl whfg fnl gung lbh unir gb or noyr gb nffrzoyr gurz sebz gur unys-gevnatyrf - abguvat zber.
Set 10
Eyes see things. What can these eyes see? // Bar rlr ol vgfrys jbhyq or hfryrff.
Set 11
Come on, really? No, you don't get a small hint for this one. // Ybbx pnershyyl ng gur rlrf gung frrz gb or gur fnzr.
Set 12
These eyes are like the ones from before, only... different. // Vs V chg bar bs gurfr rlrf fvqrjnlf, vg jbhyq abg punatr gur fbyhgvba ng nyy.
I was a budding archaeologist, looking to learn more about the the Witless. The ancient writings had always intrigued me, but I'd never had the chance to make a pilgrimage to the mountain... until now.
As the monk showed me the first rock face, I took out my transparent sheet (so I wouldn't disturb the carvings themselves) and marker, and got to thinking.
That first one was interesting. It appeared to be a domino of some sort, but... that line in the middle was only barely noticeable. Almost as if it was begging to be traced, to be completed.
Yes! That had to be it! But what about the others? Did they work the same way?
They did! I could divide all of them into two "equivalent regions", so to speak.
Ignoring the monk's smile, I moved on to the second rock face. More inscriptions, this time with dots.
So, before I had divided them into "equivalent" regions - could I possibly do the same thing now? The symbols aren't exactly the same, but they could be equivalent in some other way... like the number of dots, maybe?
Bingo.
That wasn't too bad, right? Alright, let's move onto set 3. It seems to be more of the same.
Yep, more of the same. Is this going to get any harder?
...Oh.
The First Roadblock (Set 4)
There's definitely no way to split that into groups of 6.
But wait...
who said it had to be two groups of six?
There we go. Does it work for the rest, too?
Alright, it does! So maybe I was wrong about
the rule being to split into two equal groups - it seems to be "split into any number of equal groups". Cool, so far, so good.
The Second Roadblock (Set 5)
Okay, what.
What is this.
This is not a dot. I liked dots. Dots were sensible, and logical, and they taught me things. But the square is not helping right now.
So what could it be? Maybe...
a negative dot?
Nope, that fails at the fourth carving.
What about...
being "worth" the area of that region?
Nope, that fails at the fourth carving too.
Wait, maybe I was wrong in both of those ideas.
Maybe it's not worth anything at all! Maybe it tells us something else.
But if so, then what is it?
It looks like it should be something related to the borders... specifically, the things outside the borders...
Aha!
It's the number of regions that that region borders!
And that works for all of them!
Let's continue to the next set - it works the exact same way.
Semidots
Okay, this symbol makes sense. It's like a dot, only... not a dot. I guess that means that...
the dots are optional?
Yep, seems right to me. Moving on.
Triangles
Ooh, new symbols. Okay, so we have two small triangles and one big one.
It seems like the two triangles fit together to make the big one. Maybe that logic carries over somehow to the regions themselves?
Let's see if that works:
It does! And it also tells us
that we can't rotate the half-triangle pieces, since the last two puzzles would have multiple solutions if we could.
Oh, this time there are multiple big triangles!
I guess it works the same - each big triangle gets its own copy of the two half-triangle region shapes. They can be combined in different ways, too, it looks like.
The Third Roadblock
Well, that's... interesting. Now we have eyes.
Maybe I should turn around before I accidentally activate some sort of ancient curse.
No, no, I came here to get to the top, and that's exactly what I'm going to do.
I just don't want to look at the eyes too much.
Anyway, eyes look at things. (Or so I've heard.) Maybe that's somehow related to what they do?
Maybe what they "see" is important?
But how?
It can't be what they see in their own region. The third puzzle rules that out, since the eye in the middle can't see everything in its own region. (We can solve that one without even knowing what the eye does, which is nice.)
Maybe it's that...
they all have to see the same thing?
Yep, that seems to work. And it gives more unique solutions!
This also teaches us that we can't have any "dangling" walls - all walls have to be between two different regions.
So, the next set... it seems to have the eyes again, but rotated and reflected.
That just means what they "see" needs to be rotated and reflected too! This isn't so bad.
Alright, one set to go! And it has the swirly eyes. I guess those just mean...
that we don't have the direction. (But hey, at least the reflection is still given!)
Wait a minute. I was a fool.
How could I think those original puzzles were so simple? Of course the symbols meant something. No, I have to go back there with my newfound knowledge and do it right this time.
The Summit (Partial)
It's cold up here.
I have no idea what I'm doing.
(Okay, I have a vague idea of what I'm doing, but it doesn't seem to be helping much.)
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