Hadean Lands Invisiclues Hints

General remarks

  • For most of the game, your objective is to open doors.
    • Use the RECALL DOORS command (or just DOORS) to get a list of doors to open.
    • Use RECALL ROOMS (or just ROOMS) to get a list of rooms you’ve visited.
    • Look at the map included with the game. (The map is intended to be read during play; it’s not a spoiler.)
    • Review the special commands for Hadean Lands, e.g. RESET, PERFORM, CREATE, GO TO [OBJECT], RETURN, RECALL THINGS.
  • Your objective is not to perform rituals or to find ingredients, except so as to open a particular door.
    • Generally speaking, you should not ask yourself “I know I need ingredient X. Where should I look for it?” The ingredients are all over the ship in random places, so this line of thinking won’t help.
    • There is one major exception for what I’m calling the “Big Ritual.” (You’ll probably know which ritual I mean when you see it.) It is your objective to perform that ritual.
    • Also, there’s one ingredient that is extremely hard to find, the word of emulgence. Its location is discussed in the “Big Ritual” section.
  • I’ve divided this walkthrough into seven parts:
    • Doors: The First Part
    • Doors: After Reaching the Nave
    • Goal: The Big Ritual
    • Doors: After the Big Ritual
    • Goal: Fixing the Dragons
    • Doors: After Fixing the Dragons
    • Goal: After Fixing the Dragons
  • The doors/goals are sorted in a solvable order. If you open the doors in this order, even if you never reveal any actual hints, you’ll never be stuck on one puzzle waiting for another puzzle.
    • Therefore, a good way to use this guide is to type DOORS, then scroll down until you find a door that you haven’t opened yet, or a Goal you haven’t accomplished yet.
  • This game is very big. If you play it over a period of weeks or months, you may have forgotten something important you’ve encountered earlier in the game. If you’re stuck on a late-game puzzle, rather than heading straight for the hints, it might make sense to save your game and RESTART COMPLETELY and just replay the game based on your notes, up to the point where you left off. This may refresh your memory of stuff you’ve overlooked, and give your brain a chance to catch up and work on the puzzle you’re stuck on.

Doors: The First Part

Secondary Alchemy Lab hatch

This is the first puzzle in the game; the game can help you solve it with TUTORIAL ON. Also be sure to EXAMINE everything in this room.

You’ll need to use a magic ritual to get out of this room.

You only have the ingredients for one ritual, basic tarnish cleansing, but it doesn’t work on the steel hatch. You’ll have to improvise.

Modify the tarnish cleansing ritual to remove rust from steel instead of tarnish from brass.

Repeat the ritual, but instead of putting a brass token in the bound at the start of the ritual, put a steel token in the bound instead.

If you examine the bench, you’ll find a steel bolt underneath.

PUT THE STEEL BOLT IN THE BOUND. OPEN GINGER. SAY SIMPLE. SAY ESSENTIAL. WAVE ROSEMARY. and SAY LESSER. GET BOLT. TOUCH HATCH WITH BOLT.

Mechanica Lab hatch

PERFORM RUST. TOUCH HATCH WITH BOLT.

“This hatch is going to require something stronger.”

Explore all of the rooms that you can now access, including Crawlspace Bend, Chem Lab Crawlspace, and Herbarium. Also be sure to try going south from the Mech Lab Crawlspace, just to see what that does.

You’ll need to use the Doubled Tarnish Cleansing Inscription (with the steel bolt, instead of the brass pin, of course).

Use the pinecone from the Herbarium.

GO TO THE SECONDARY LAB. PUT THE BOLT IN THE BOUND. OPEN GINGER. SAY SIMPLE. SAY ESSENTIAL. CRUSH PINECONE. SAY LESSER. GET THE BOLT. GO TO THE CRAWLSPACE. TOUCH HATCH WITH BOLT. GO UP.

Herbarium hatch

This isn’t a puzzle! OPEN THE HATCH in the Crawlspace Bend, and GO DOWN.

Mechanica Lab cabinet

Be sure to examine everything here in the Mechanica Lab and in the Materials Store next door to the west.

Even the Doubled Tarnish Cleansing ritual won’t open this cabinet, but the Universal Tarnish Cleansing ritual, from the crumpled sheet in the Materials Store, will open this cabinet.

  • How do I create a catalytic environment?

    RECALL CATALYTIC ENVIRONMENT.

    You’ll need platinum wire.

    • Where do I get platinum wire?

      Examine everything in the Mechanica Lab.

      The wire-drawer is designed to turn rods into wire, and there’s a platinum rod right here.

      PUT THE PLATINUM ROD IN THE WIRE-DRAWER. TURN THE CRANK.

    Once you have platinum wire, you can create a catalytic environment like this: GO TO THE MATERIALS STORE. PUT PLATINUM WIRE IN THE BOUND.

  • Where do I find Java spirit?

    You’ll need to examine everything, including all of the objects you’ve seen lying around. The object you need might even be in your inventory.

    Java spirit is in the Chem Lab Crawlspace, north of the Crawlspace Bend.

    The lubanja is the Java spirit.

GO TO THE MATERIALS STORE. PUT PLATINUM WIRE IN THE BOUND. PUT THE BOLT IN THE BOUND. SAY SIMPLE. SAY CATEGORICAL. PUT JAVA IN THE BOUND. SAY LESSER. GO TO THE MECHANICA LAB. TOUCH THE CABINET WITH THE BOLT. OPEN THE CABINET.

Chymic Lab hatch

You can’t open this hatch until you’ve opened the Mechanica Lab cabinet.

EXAMINE THE LOCK. OPEN THE LOCK.

You have the combination, from the torn sheet in the Mechanica Lab. RECALL THE COMBINATION.

SET THE DIAL TO MARS. SET THE DIAL TO LUNA. SET THE DIAL TO JUPITER. GO UP.

Mechanica Lab door

You can’t open this door until you’ve opened the Chymic Lab hatch and entered the Chymic lab.

The door is covered in mold. You’ll need to use a ritual to fix it.

Mold is a kind of fungus.

You’ll need to perform the Fungicide ritual, which you found in the Mechanica Lab cabinet.

  • How do I perform Fungicide Synthesis?

    Everything you need is nearby. GO TO THE MUSTARD. GET MUSTARD. GO TO THE FUNGUS. GET IT. GO TO THE SALINE. GET IT. GO TO THE RETORT.

    READ THE SIGN in the Chymic Lab.

    PUT SALINE AND MUSTARD AND FUNGUS IN THE RETORT. SAY HERMETIC. TURN ON THE HEAT. WAIT. WAIT. SAY ANTIPATHY.

PERFORM FUNGICIDE. GO TO THE MECHANICA LAB. PUT FUNGICIDE ON THE DOOR. GO NORTH.

Materials Store cabinet

You can’t open this cabinet until you have opened the Mechanica Lab door.

Now that you’ve opened the Mechanica Lab door, pick up and examine everything you can find in the new rooms you can access: Lab Hall Southwest, Lab Hall Northwest, Lab Hall Northeast, Lab Hall Southeast, Library, Main Store, Storage Nook, Pyrics Lab, Pyrics Store, Opticks Lab, and Opticks Annex.

EXAMINE THE CABINET in the Materials Store.

You need an Alchemy File seal to open this cabinet. You’ve seen one recently.

The Alchemy File seal is in the Storage Nook, west of the Main Store.

GO TO THE STORAGE NOOK. GET THE SEAL. GO TO THE MATERIALS STORE. UNLOCK THE CABINET WITH THE SEAL. OPEN THE CABINET.

Lab Wing fire door

Now that you’ve opened the Mechanica Lab door, pick up and examine everything you can find in the new rooms you can access: Lab Hall Southwest, Lab Hall Northwest, Lab Hall Northeast, Lab Hall Southeast, Library, Main Store, Storage Nook, Pyrics Lab, Pyrics Store, Opticks Lab, and Opticks Annex.

GO TO THE PYRICS LAB. EXAMINE THE KEY.

You’ll need to get that key, using a ritual.

You’ll need to perform the Fire-Resistance Synthesis to get it.

  • How do I perform the Fire-Resistance Synthesis?

    RECALL AROMAS.

    You need saline, ginger, and peppermint.

    GO TO THE SALINE. GET IT. GO TO THE GINGER. GET IT. GO TO THE MINT. GET IT. CLOSE GINGER. CLOSE MINT.

    PUT SALINE IN THE BOUND. SAY SIMPLE. OPEN THE GINGER. SAY COUNTERBALANCE. CLOSE THE GINGER. OPEN THE MINT. SAY ELEMENTARY.

PERFORM FIRE-RESISTANCE. GO TO THE KILN. DRINK THE POTION. GET THE KEY. GO TO THE LAB WING. GO WEST.

Doors: After Reaching the Nave

At this point, make sure you’ve examined everything in all the rooms that you can directly reach after you’ve opened the Lab Wing fire door. East Side Hallway, Airlock, Medical Wing hallway, Nave, Portico, West Side Hall, Scaphe Arcade, Exoscaphe Hull, Quarters Access, Scrubs Country, Under Ward, Study Room, Junior Quarters, Deck Suite, Master Rector’s Quarters, High Tower, Grand Stair (Top and Bottom), Cracks, Edge of Chasm, Chasm Rubble, and Chasm (at Bridge).

Airlock inner door

This isn’t a puzzle! Just GO NORTH from the East Side Hallway.

Junior Quarters cabinet

You can’t open this cabinet until you’ve opened the Materials Store cabinet.

Read the broad sheet in the Junior Quarters.

You’ll have to perform the Gold Ignition ritual.

  • How do I perform Gold Ignition?

    You’ll need the phlogisticated gold rod, a camphrost lump, blackwood, and the crock. GO TO THE GOLD ROD. GET IT. GO TO CAMPHROST LUMP. GET A LUMP. GO TO THE BLACKWOOD. GET IT. GO TO THE CROCK.

    Burning the blackwood is a bit of a problem.

    • How do I burn the blackwood?

      The kiln isn’t hot enough to burn the blackwood.

      You’ll have to burn something else, then use that to burn the blackwood.

      Try burning the splints here in the Pyrics Lab.

      BURN THE OAK. BURN THE BLACKWOOD WITH THE OAK.

    PUT THE GOLD ROD AND THE LUMP AND THE BLACKWOOD IN THE CROCK. CLOSE THE CROCK. WAIT. WAIT.

PERFORM GOLD IGNITION. GO TO JUNIOR QUARTERS. BURN THE CORD WITH ELEMENTAL FIRE. OPEN THE LOCKER.

Exoscaphe cabinet

You can’t open this door until you’ve opened the Junior Quarters cabinet.

This is the same kind of cord you saw in the Junior Quarters.

PERFORM GOLD IGNITION. GO TO THE EXOSCAPHE HULL. BURN THE CORD WITH ELEMENTAL FIRE. OPEN THE CABINET.

Deck Suite Aithery door

This isn’t a puzzle! GO EAST from the Deck Suite.

Deck Suite Alchemy door

This isn’t a puzzle! GO SOUTH from the Deck Suite.

High Tower cabinet

You can’t open this cabinet until you have the resonant oculus. (The oculus ritual is on a sheet of paper north of the Mechanica Lab.)

  • How do I perform the Resonant Oculus Creation ritual?

    The glass loop is in the Mechanica Lab. You need to create a lunar environment.

    • How do I create a lunar environment?

      Use a device for setting environmental influences.

      EXAMINE THE ROTOR CARD in the Library.

      TURN THE CARD a few times.

      TURN THE CARD TO THE MOON.

      You’ll need a bound with a gestalt shelf, like the one in the Nave or the Opticks Annex.

      PUT THE CARD ON THE SHELF.

    PUT THE LOOP IN THE BOUND. SAY SIMPLE. SAY RESONANT. SAY COUNTERBALANCE.

You can’t open this cabinet until you’ve uncovered some memories with the oculus.

  • How do I uncover memories with the oculus?

    Explore the rooms again, examining stuff with the oculus. (Use the ROOMS command to see a list of rooms you’ve visited.)

    While you’re carrying the oculus, certain rooms have a random percentage chance of revealing a spark. “Odd. You notice a spark in the oculus, as if it were reflecting some light not present.”

    When you see the “Odd” message, you can EXAMINE THE SPARK WITH THE OCULUS. Then you can EXAMINE THE SPARK (again) for more detail.

    Keep doing this until you’ve found two sparks and examined them for detail, then use the ROOMS command again. It includes a new hint, “The following rooms still need to be checked with the oculus for sparks.” You can search for sparks with “LOOK THROUGH OCULUS.”

    In the next hint, I’ll tell you exactly where you can go to find sparks before the “big ritual.”

    Opticks Annex, Opticks Lab, Storage Nook, East Side Hallway, Study Room, Master Rector’s Quarters, Chasm (at Bridge), Cracks

If you’ve finished uncovering memories with the oculus (use the ROOMS command to check), you now have a ritual that you can use to open this cabinet. (In the next hint, I’ll tell you which ritual and where to find it.)

LOOK THROUGH THE OCULUS in the Storage Nook to reveal a magenta spark, containing the Dispersal Brush ritual. You can use that to open this cabinet.

  • How do I perform the Dispersal Brush ritual?

    You’ll need the feather from the Opticks Annex and the alcohol from the Secondary Lab Crawlspace. GO TO THE FEATHER. GET IT. GO TO THE ALCOHOL. GET IT.

    PUT THE FEATHER IN THE BOUND. SAY SIMPLE. PUT ALCOHOL IN THE BOUND. SAY CULMINATION.

PERFORM DISPERSAL BRUSH. GO TO HIGH TOWER. TOUCH THE CABINET WITH THE BRUSH. OPEN THE CABINET.

Observatory door

Make sure you’ve examined everything in all the rooms that you can directly reach after you’ve opened the Lab Wing fire door. East Side Hallway, Medical Wing hallway, Nave, Portico, West Side Hall, Scaphe Arcade, Exoscaphe Hull, Quarters Access, Scrubs Country, Under Ward, Study Room, Junior Quarters, Deck Suite, Master Rector’s Quarters, High Tower, Grand Stair (Top and Bottom), Cracks, Edge of Chasm, Chasm Rubble, and Chasm (at Bridge).

You can’t open this door from the Paper Garden. You have to open it from the inside.

Look at the map of Hadean Lands, included with the game. (The map is intended to be read during play; it’s not a spoiler.)

There’s another way into the Observatory, via an underwater passage.

GO TO THE SCAPHE ARCADE. GO DOWN. GO SOUTH.

You can’t go south from the Arcade Crawlspace because you can’t hold your breath that long.

You have a ritual about this.

Perform the Breath-Holding Synthesis.

  • How do I perform the Breath-Holding Synthesis?

    You’ll need an aroma to create an exhilirant environment, a paten of exhilirant symbolism, the Anodyne Evocation from a sheet in the Opticks Annex, saline from the Chymic Lab, elemental wood from the Pyrics Lab, and the torch-lighter from Under Ward (to burn the wood).

    • How do I create an exhilirant environment with aroma?

      RECALL AROMAS.

      “Exhilirant” doesn’t mean “exhilirating” in this context, but “exhaling.”

      “Seaweed has… something to do with breath.”

      RECALL SEAWEED.

      The impet of kelp (aka seaweed) is in the Deck Suite.

    • How do I find a paten of exhilirant symbolism?

      You’ve only seen one paten so far, in the kiln in the Pyrics Lab. EXAMINE THE PATEN.

      “Exhilirant” doesn’t mean “exhilirating” in this context, but “exhaling.”

      “This is a palm-sized porcelain disc, painted with feathers and the Chinese sign for breath.” This paten is the one you need.

    OPEN THE KELP. SMELL. PUT THE PATEN ON THE SHELF. PUT SALINE IN THE BOUND. SAY SIMPLE. SAY ANODYNE. PUT ELEMENTAL WOOD ON PATEN. BURN ELEMENTAL WOOD WITH THE TORCH-LIGHTER. SAY ELEMENTARY.

GO TO THE SCAPHE ARCADE. DRINK THE POTION. GO DOWN. GO SOUTH. GO UP. OPEN THE DOOR. (Going through this passage can damage some inventory items; you can drop them in the Scaphe Arcade before going through.)

Deep Stacks door

You may find it easier to open this door after you’ve opened the Materials Store cabinet.

Make sure you’ve examined everything in all the rooms that you can directly reach after you’ve opened the Lab Wing fire door. East Side Hallway, Airlock, Medical Wing hallway, Nave, Portico, West Side Hall, Scaphe Arcade, Exoscaphe Hull, Quarters Access, Scrubs Country, Under Ward, Study Room, Junior Quarters, Deck Suite, Master Rector’s Quarters, High Tower, Grand Stair (Top and Bottom), Cracks, Edge of Chasm, Chasm Rubble, and Chasm (at Bridge).

EXAMINE THE DOOR.

This door is locked with a Venture File padlock. You’ll need a Venture File seal to open it.

You won’t find a Venture File seal anywhere.

You can find a Venture File mold in High Tower. Use it to make a Venture File seal.

  • How do I make a Venture File seal?

    Seals are made out of metal.

    You’ll need to melt some metal and put it into the Venture File mold.

    Use a metal that melts at low temperatures. (Not rutilum, which is what the Alchemy File seal is made of.)

    Lead melts at low temperatures.

    PERFORM FIRE-RESISTANCE. GO TO THE LEAD ROD. GET IT. GO TO THE KILN. DRINK THE POTION. PUT THE VENTURE MOLD IN THE KILN. PUT THE LEAD ROD ON THE VENTURE MOLD. GET THE VENTURE MOLD. GO TO THE DEEP STACKS DOOR. GO TO THE CHASM. GO SOUTH. GO SOUTH. GO EAST.

Deep Stacks intrusion (unlisted door)

This refers to the “intrusion” in the Deep Stacks.

There’s a corner of paper sticking out of the intrusion. GET THE CORNER.

You need to get rid of this coral to get the paper from the intrusion.

It might help to know some real-world facts about coral. Google it.

Coral looks like rock or a plant, but it is an animal. It can be killed.

You can modify one of your rituals to kill coral.

The ritual is a bane for killing something else.

You can modify the Fungicide ritual to make Coralicide.

GO TO THE MUSTARD. GET THE MUSTARD. GO TO THE SALINE. GET IT. GO TO THE RETORT. PUT THE SALINE AND THE MUSTARD AND THE CORAL IN THE RETORT. SAY HERMETIC. TURN ON THE HEAT. WAIT. WAIT. SAY ANTIPATHY. GO TO THE DEEP STACKS. PUT CORALICIDE ON THE CORAL. GET SHEET.

Main Store safe

You can’t open this safe until you’ve opened the Lab Wing fire door.

Make sure you’ve examined everything in all the rooms that you can directly reach after you’ve opened the Lab Wing fire door. East Side Hallway, Airlock, Medical Wing hallway, Nave, Portico, West Side Hall, Scaphe Arcade, Exoscaphe Hull, Quarters Access, Scrubs Country, Under Ward, Study Room, Junior Quarters, Deck Suite, Master Rector’s Quarters, High Tower, Grand Stair (Top and Bottom), Cracks, Edge of Chasm, Chasm Rubble, and Chasm (at Bridge).

The safe is “Zodiacal.” You have a ritual related to astrology.

The ritual “reveals symbolic associations of the celestial sphere.”

Perform the Planetary Lens ritual, found in the Study Room.

  • How do I perform the Planetary Lens ritual?

    You’ll need the lenses in the Opticks Annex, Java (aka lubanja), a lunar environment, and the Binding of the Celestial Sphere from a sheet in the Exoscaphe Hull.

    • How do I create a lunar environment?

      Use a device for setting environmental influences.

      EXAMINE THE ROTOR CARD in the Library.

      TURN THE CARD a few times.

      TURN THE CARD TO THE MOON.

      You’ll need a bound with a gestalt shelf, like the one in the Nave or the Opticks Annex.

      PUT THE CARD ON THE SHELF.

    PUT THE CONVEX LENS IN THE BOUND. SAY SIMPLE. SAY ESSENTIAL. PUT JAVA IN THE BOUND. PUT THE CONCAVE LENS IN THE BOUND. SAY CELESTIAL.

Now that you have the Planetary Lens, you can open the safe with it.

EXAMINE THE SAFE WITH THE LENS to get the combination. TURN THE DIAL TO LIBRA. TURN THE DIAL TO OPHIUCHUS. TURN THE DIAL TO TAURUS. TURN THE DIAL TO SCORPIO.

Medical Wing door

Try going south through this door, and you’ll get a detailed message explaining the problem (but just once, so I’ll reproduce it below.

  • What did it say when I tried going south through this door?

    You take another step towards the door, but the sense of hungry menace intensifies. Another step, and your head starts to ache; chills crawl in your guts and nest there.

    You have heard of this phenomenon, although you’ve never encountered it – certainly not on a marcher as well-run as the Retort. At least, not as well-run as the Retort used to be…

    An aura cloud is an uncontained psychic outbreak, a sucking vortex of vital energies. It’s not a ghost, or a demon, but a less scientific age would certainly have viewed it as such. Any living aura that falls into resonance with the cloud will be drained black in moments. You’ll have to protect or disguise your psychic signature, somehow, to pass by.

    You back away before you suffer any more serious harm.

Make sure you’ve examined everything in all the rooms that you can directly reach after you’ve opened the Lab Wing fire door. East Side Hallway, Airlock, Medical Wing hallway, Nave, Portico, West Side Hall, Scaphe Arcade, Exoscaphe Hull, Quarters Access, Scrubs Country, Under Ward, Study Room, Junior Quarters, Deck Suite, Master Rector’s Quarters, High Tower, Grand Stair (Top and Bottom), Cracks, Edge of Chasm, Chasm Rubble, and Chasm (at Bridge).

You have a ritual pertaining to aura protection.

You’ll need to perform the Aura Impermeability ritual, found in the Master Rector’s Quarters. (If you don’t have the Ka sealing or the orichalcum you need for this ritual, open some other doors and come back later when you do.)

  • How do I perform the Aura Impermeability ritual?

    You’ll need an environment of spiritual peace, a quartz token from the Materials Store, the Word of Anaphylaxis from the Under Ward, the Ka sealing from a spark in the Study room, the orichalcum from the Main Store safe, and a strengthening element.

    • How do I create an environment of spiritual peace?

      Use a device for setting environmental influences.

      EXAMINE THE ROTOR CARD in the Library.

      TURN THE CARD a few times.

      TURN THE CARD TO THE RAINBOW.

      You’ll need a bound with a gestalt shelf, like the one in the Nave or the Opticks Annex.

      PUT THE CARD ON THE SHELF.

    • How do I find a strengthening element?

      You can RECALL a fact about strengthening.

      You need a strengthening aroma.

      RECALL AROMAS.

      “Citronelle is strengthening.” RECALL CITRONELLE.

      The impet of citronelle oil is in the Chymic Lab.

    SAY KA. PUT ORICHALCUM IN BOUND. SAY ANAPHYLAXIS. OPEN CITRON. SAY ANTIPATHY.

Return to the Medical Wing hallway, touch the quartz, and go south.

Medical Wing Hallway cabinet

You can’t open this cabinet until you’ve been through the Medical Wing door.

Examine everything in the Medical Wing and in the Medical Workroom to the east.

When you examine the aeroclave, it says that elemental air is “quite sufficient to dissolve away blood, grease, disease, or any other vestige of living matter.”

You have to bring elemental air back with you from the Medical Wing.

  1. How do I leave the Medical Wing without resetting?

    You have a ritual that you can use to “neutralize malevolent auras.”

    You’ll need to perform the Prophylactic Scalpel ritual.

    • How do I perform the Prophylactic Scalpel ritual?

      You’ll need a knife and a “strong aroma.” (Any impet will do.)

      • Where do I find a knife?

        You’ll need to use the scalpel in the Medical Wing.

        But first, you’ll have to clean it, without leaving the Medical Wing.

        You can clean the scalpel in the aeroclave.

        PUT THE SCALPEL IN THE AEROCLAVE. CLOSE THE AEROCLAVE. TURN THE KNOB. OPEN THE AEROCLAVE. GET THE SCALPEL.

      OPEN IMPET. PUT THE SCALPEL IN THE BOUND. SAY KA. SAY ESSENTIAL. CLOSE IMPET. SAY ANTIPATHY.

    The ritual instructions say that you have to “wave the blade within a field of cleansing vibration.”

    Examine everything here, looking for something that would make a cleansing vibration.

    It’s the gong.

    HIT THE GONG. WAVE THE SCALPEL. GO NORTH.

  2. How do I bring elemental air with me?

    There’s a bubble in the Medical Workroom. When you examine it, it says it’s “designed to contain elemental air.” “However, this one is empty.”

    The parser is a bit finicky here, but you can fill the bubble with elemental air in the Medical Wing.

    TAKE THE BUBBLE. GO WEST. FILL THE BUBBLE WITH THE TANK.

CLEAN THE CABINET WITH ELEMENTAL AIR. OPEN THE CABINET.

Deck Suite cabinet

You’ll have everything you need to open this cabinet once you’ve opened the Medical Wing Hallway cabinet and the Deep Stacks door.

This cabinet is locked with an Aithery File lock. It can be opened with an Aithery File seal.

Did you notice the Aithery File reverse mold in the Medical Workroom?

Take that mold with you when you leave the Medical Wing, and use it to make an Aithery seal with the lead, just like you did with the Deep Stacks door. (You can reset to get the lead rod back, or to save time, you can melt the lead Venture File seal directly into the Aithery File mold to make the Aithery File seal.) PERFORM FIRE-RESISTANCE. GO TO THE KILN. DRINK THE POTION. PUT THE AITHERY MOLD IN THE KILN. PUT THE LEAD ON THE AITHERY MOLD. GET THE AITHERY MOLD. GO TO THE DECK SUITE. UNLOCK THE CABINET WITH THE AITHERY SEAL. OPEN THE CABINET.

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Storage Nook cabinet

You can’t open this cabinet until you’ve opened the Deck Suite cabinet and dealt with the Deep Stacks intrusion. (It also helps if you’ve opened the High Tower cabinet, but that’s not technically required.)

The Storage Nook cabinet is made of heavy lead.

You have a ritual to increase the weight of lead. But lead is already extremely heavy! Isn’t that odd?

Through careful experimentation, you can turn the Lead Weight Increase ritual into a Lead Weight Decrease ritual. Start by performing the Increase ritual the regular way.

  • How do I perform the Lead Weight Increase ritual?

    You’ll need an anchored (Saturnine) environment, a bit of stone (any of the stones will do, RECALL PERIODIC TABLE OF STONE for suggestions), rosemary, Gaian Precipitate from the sheet behind the Deep Stacks intrusion, and the Binding of the Celestial Sphere from a sheet in the Exoscaphe Hull.

    1. How do I make an an anchored (Saturnine) environment?

      Don’t try this until you have Gaian Precipitate.

      Examine things with the oculus to learn more about their symbology. Find something with an “anchored nature.”

      There’s something in the Exoscaphe with an anchored nature.

      It’s the horn coin. Put it on the gestalt shelf to create an anchored environment.

    2. How do I make Gaian Precipitate?

      First, you’ll need elemental earth.

      • How do I find elemental earth?

        There’s a scrawled sheet about this in the Opticks Lab. RECALL ELEMENTAL EARTH.

        The shard of elemental earth is lost in the Opticks Lab. You have to find it in the mess.

        You can’t do that until you’ve found a “Purity” ritual “to locate elementally pure substances.” If you don’t have that ritual yet, try opening other doors until you find it. (Opening the High Tower cabinet will help; see the hint below.)

        1. I’ve opened the High Tower cabinet. How do I find the “Purity” ritual?

          If you’ve opened the High Tower cabinet, then you’ve found at least one spark. The ritual you’re looking for is in another spark. Use the ROOMS command, and bring the oculus everywhere you go!

          The ritual is in the Opticks Annex. GO TO THE ANNEX. LOOK THROUGH THE OCULUS. EXAMINE THE SPARK.

        2. I found the “Purity” ritual. How do I perform it?

          To perform the Lodestone of Purity Creation need a lunar environment, an impet of aroma (any impet will do, e.g. ginger), “additional lunar symbology,” and a substitute for silver thread.

          1. Where can I find additional lunar symbology?

            If you want to learn more about symbology, examine stuff with the oculus.

            A number of items display a lunar nature, including, for example, the silver coin in the Pyrics Store, and the moon-metal rod in the Materials Store.

          2. Where can I find a substitute for silver thread?

            The substitute is made out of silver. RECALL SILVER. (If you have the silver coin in hand, you may need to drop it elsewhere to make “RECALL SILVER” do what you’d want.)

            Use the silver chain from the Main Store.

          Put two lunar items on the gestalt shelf, then OPEN THE IMPET. PUT THE CHAIN IN THE BOUND. SAY SIMPLE. SAY ESSENTIAL. CLOSE THE IMPET. SAY MINOR. GET THE CHAIN.

        GO TO THE OPTICKS LAB. SWING THE LODESTONE. GET THE ELEMENTAL EARTH. (From now on, you can just GO TO ELEMENTAL EARTH. GET IT to do this.)

      To make Gaian Precipitate, you’ll need vitriolic acid and alum from Under Ward, orichalcum from the Main Store safe, and elemental earth from the Opticks Lab.

      GO TO THE RETORT. PUT VITRIOL AND ORICHALCUM IN THE RETORT. SAY HERMETIC. TURN ON THE HEAT. WAIT. WAIT. WAIT. SAY SYMMETRIC. PUT ALUM IN THE RETORT. PUT ELEMENTAL EARTH IN THE RETORT.

    PUT THE HORN COIN ON THE SHELF. PUT THE FLINT IN THE BOUND. SAY SIMPLE. WAVE THE ROSEMARY. SAY ESSENTIAL. PUT PRECIPITATE IN THE BOUND. SAY CELESTIAL.

Now it’s time to experiment! Read carefully to find a way to turn this ritual into its exact opposite. In the hints below, I’ll say what you don’t have to change in the Lead Increase ritual; use a process of elimination to deduce what you do have to change to convert the Lead Increase ritual into a Lead Decrease ritual.

The last step of the Lead Decrease ritual is to recite the Binding of the Celestial Sphere. (I tell you that because there’s a line at the end of the Lead Increase instructions that looks like a hint, “Conclude with the Binding of the Celestial Sphere, to align the alchemical axis (Earth-Saturn, low-high) with the mundane axis of gravitation.” This line is not a hint; it’s a red herring, in my opinion.)

The first step of the Lead Decrease ritual is to create an anchored environment. (You might think we’d want a lighter environment–exhilarant, perhaps? But no. Anchored it is.)

The Lead Decrease ritual requires a bit of stone, just like the Lead Increase ritual.

Stop and think. What are the components of the Lead Increase ritual. What else could you possibly reverse?

I said to read carefully, but don’t just read the Lead Increase ritual carefully.

Read the Gaian Precipitate ritual carefully.

“When the metal dissolves, recite a symmetric sequence (the symmetry induces a positive connection to the Earth).”

In addition to the symmetric sequence, you also have an antisymmetric sequence.

Make Gaian Precipitate, but use the antisymmetric sequence where the ritual calls for a symmetric sequence.

  • What are the exact steps?

    GO TO THE RETORT. PUT VITRIOL AND ORICHALCUM IN THE RETORT. SAY HERMETIC. TURN ON THE HEAT. WAIT. WAIT. WAIT. SAY ANTISYMMETRIC. PUT ALUM IN THE RETORT. PUT ELEMENTAL EARTH IN THE RETORT.

This makes Counter-Gaian Precipitate. Perform the Lead Increase ritual with that. PUT THE HORN COIN ON THE SHELF. PUT THE FLINT IN THE BOUND. SAY SIMPLE. WAVE THE ROSEMARY. SAY ESSENTIAL. PUT PRECIPITATE IN THE BOUND. SAY CELESTIAL. GET THE FLINT. GO TO THE STORAGE NOOK. TOUCH THE HATCH WITH THE FLINT. OPEN THE HATCH.

North Arcade marble door

You can’t open this door until you’ve opened the Storage Nook hatch.

You’ll need to modify a ritual to open this door.

RECALL ROOMS. If you’ve found all of the sparks in all of the rooms accessible to you, then you can RECALL FACTS to recall a fact that mentions marble.

RECALL PERIODIC TABLE OF STONE, found in a spark in Confusing Cracks.

You have a ritual that also mentions the opposite of a stone.

You’ll need to modify the Granite Solvent to make a Marble Solvent.

You’ll have to start by synthesizing bamuriatic acid, using the ritual from a sheet in the Deep Stacks.

  1. How do I synthesize bamuratic acid?

    You’ll need fluorspar from the Materials Store, vitriolic acid from the Under Ward, and saline from the Chymic Lab.

    This ritual is a bit tricky, because it says to “Add saline solution, but be sure to first use a word of entension.” That means you’ll need to use the word before adding saline.

    GO TO THE RETORT. PUT VITRIOL AND FLUORSPAR IN THE RETORT. SAY HERMETIC. TURN ON THE HEAT. WAIT. WAIT. WAIT. TURN OFF THE HEAT. SAY ENTENSION. PUT SALINE IN THE RETORT. SAY CULMINATION.

  2. Where do I find the opposite of marble?

    The Periodic Table of Stone says that the opposite of marble is obsidian.

    Use the obsidian chip from the Materials Store

  3. How do I make the marble solvent?

    You’ll need muriatic acid from the Chymic Lab, elemental earth from the Opticks Lab, and the obsidian chip from the Materials Store.

    PUT MURIATIC ACID AND BAMURIATIC ACID IN THE RETORT. SAY HERMETIC. PUT ELEMENTAL EARTH IN THE RETORT. SAY ANAPHYLAXIS. PUT OBSIDIAN IN THE RETORT. SAY ANTIPATHY.

GO TO THE SCAPHE ARCADE. GO NORTH. PUT SOLVENT ON THE DOOR. GO NORTH.

Inferno in the Burning Hall

You can’t get past the inferno until you open the Storage Nook cabinet, the Junior Quarters cabinet, and the North Arcade marble door.

Use the Fire-Devourer ritual.

  • How do I perform the Fire-Devourer?

    You’ll need a strong fiery environment, alcohol from the Secondary Lab Crawlspace, a word of passivity, and elemental fire (perform Gold Ignition).

    • How do I create a strong fiery environment?

      It’s like when you used additional lunar symbology for the Lodestode of Purity, but this time, you’ll use multiple fiery objects.

      If you want to learn more about symbology, examine stuff with the oculus.

      For example, the splints of wood in the Pyrics Lab all have fiery nature. GET THE SPLINTS. PUT SPLINTS ON THE SHELF.

    • What’s the word of passivity?

      Since you’ve opened the North Arcade marble door, you should have the Yang Oil ritual, which explains “passivity.”

      RECALL YANG OIL. “Seal with a passive (phlegmatic) sealing.”

      The phlegmatic sealing is found in a spark. Use the ROOMS command and make sure you LOOK THROUGH THE OCULUS in every room.

      The formula is the Phlegmatic Sealing Word, found in a spark at the Chasm, at Bridge. “The phlegmatic sealing word creates a boundary circle. It has a stable, passive pattern – Yin in the Oriental traditions, cool and moist in the Greek.”

    PUT ALCOHOL IN THE BOUND. SAY PHLEGMATIC. BURN THE BEAKER WITH ELEMENTAL FIRE. SAY GREATER.

THROW THE DEVOURER AT THE INFERNO.

Obsidian Door

You’ll need to open the North Arcade marble door before you open this door.

If you can open the marble door, you should be able to open this door, too.

Reset, then create the solvent with a marble chip from the North Arcade, instead of the obsidian chip.

PUT MURIATIC ACID AND BAMURIATIC ACID IN THE RETORT. SAY HERMETIC. PUT ELEMENTAL EARTH IN THE RETORT. SAY ANAPHYLAXIS. PUT MARBLE IN THE RETORT. SAY ANTIPATHY.

GO TO THE CHARRED ROOM. GO EAST. PUT SOLVENT ON THE DOOR. GO EAST.

Goal: The Big Ritual

If you’ve opened all of the doors listed in the previous part, then you have the big ritual in hand. It’s the Great Marriage.

How do I perform the big ritual?

The big ritual is the Great Marriage. You can’t perform it until you have all four elements (elemental air, earth, fire, and water), which you should already have access to if you’ve opened all of the doors listed in the previous section. You’ll also need “a Signifier of the Marcher’s Location,” which you probably don’t have yet, and you’ll need to “invoke the Dragon,” which will force you to reset.

  1. How do I find a signifier of the marcher’s location?

    Make sure you’ve visited and checked for sparks in every accessible room. Here’s a list from the ROOMS command. Secondary Alchemy Lab, Secondary Lab Crawlspace, Mech Lab Crawlspace, Crawlspace Bend, Herbarium Nook, Chem Lab Crawlspace, Mechanica Lab, Materials Store, Chymic Lab, Lab Hall Southwest, Lab Hall Northwest, Lab Hall Southeast, Lab Hall Northeast, Opticks Lab, Opticks Annex, Pyrics Lab, Pyrics Store, Main Store, Storage Nook, Library, Lab Wing Hallway, East Side Hallway, Nave, Medical Wing Hallway, Medical Wing, Medical Workroom, West Side Hallway, Quarters Access, Officer Country, Junior Quarters, Deck Suite, Master Rector’s Quarters, High Tower, Scrubs Country, Under Ward, Study Room, Scaphe Arcade, North Arcade, Arcade Crawlspace, Flooded, Exoscaphe, Paper Garden, Observatory Crawlspace, Flooded, Observatory, Observatory Alcove, South, Grand Stair (Top and Bottom), Confusing Cracks, Edge of Chasm, Chasm Rubble, Chasm (at Bridge), Deep Stacks, Burning Hall West, Burning Hall East, Antechamber.

    There’s a device on the ship that has something to do with the marcher’s location in space.

    It’s the Horological Calculator, in the Observatory Alcove, South. You’ll need to use this device to make a signifier of the marcher’s location in time and space.

    The Calculator is all messed up. You have a ritual that can fix stuff like this.

    “Horological” means “clockwork.”

    You need to use the Clock Tincture ritual to realign the Calculator.

    • How do I perform the Clock Tincture ritual?

      You’ll need an environment of precision and order, alum from the Under Ward, Perfect Mud, Sublime Spirit, and a token of brass (e.g. the pin from the Secondary Lab at the start of the game).

      1. How do I make an environment of precision and order?

        Examine stuff with the oculus, looking for something with an “orderly nature.” Then put the thing on the gestalf shelf.

        The thick key to the Lab Wing fire door will work.

      2. How do I make Perfect Mud?

        Perfect Mud is a ritual from a spark.

        It’s from a spark in the Deep Stacks.

        It requires sand (from the Chymic Lab), elemental water, elemental earth, and Crystalline Tempering (from a spark in the Opticks Lab), and the word of emulgence, which is very well hidden.

        • Where is the word of emulgence?

          It’s deep in a wet place.

          It’s not in the Observatory Crawlspace, but it’s pretty close.

          Look for another blue spot on the map.

          GO TO THE PAPER GARDEN. GO DOWN.

          There’s something beneath the Garden Pool.

          GO DOWN.

          You can’t hold your breath long enough to go down again. What did we do about this last time?

          PERFORM BREATH-HOLDING. DRINK THE POTION. GO TO THE PAPER GARDEN. GO DOWN. GO DOWN.

          EXAMINE THE SLAB.

          WIPE THE MUD.

          EXAMINE THE LETTERS.

        With that, you have everything you need. PUT SAND IN THE RETORT. SAY HERMETIC. SAY CRYSTALLINE. PUT THE EARTH IN THE RETORT. SAY ENTENSION. PUT THE WATER IN THE RETORT. SAY EMULGENCE.

      3. How do I make Sublime Spirit?

        Sublime Spirit is made from a ritual you learned from a sheet next to the Calculator.

        It requires “thin pieces of nickel,” mineral oil (from the Chymic Lab), and elemental fire.

        • Where can I find thin pieces of nickel?

          You can’t make thin pieces of nickel, but you can make a substitute.

          RECALL NICKEL. There’s only one source of nickel in the game, the nickel rod in the Mechanica Lab.

          “(Thin pieces of nickel are best, as the surface area must be large.)”

          How could you increase the surface area of the nickel rod?

          PUT THE NICKEL ROD IN THE WIRE-DRAWER. TURN THE CRANK.

        PUT MINERAL OIL AND NICKEL IN THE RETORT. SAY HERMETIC. SAY ENTENSION. PUT ELEMENTAL FIRE IN THE RETORT.

      Now you have everything you need to make the tincture. PUT THE THICK KEY ON THE SHELF. PUT ALUM IN THE BOUND. SAY SHAMASH. PUT MUD IN THE BOUND. SAY COUNTERBALANCE. PUT SUBLIME SPIRIT IN THE BOUND. PUT BRASS PIN IN THE BOUND. SAY MAJOR.

    GO TO THE CALCULATOR. PUT THE TINCTURE ON THE CALCULATOR.

    Note that you now have the Ephemeris Billet Combination in your facts. In the future you can use this combination to MAKE THE BILLET without making the tincture (which uses up three of the elements you need to perform the Great Marriage.)

  2. How do I invoke the dragon at the end of the ritual?

    Improvise!

    Perform the ritual normally, then try substituting another formula at the end.

    GO TO THE NAVE. PUT THE THICK KEY ON THE SHELF. SAY MARCHER. PUT BILLET ON SHELF. WAVE ROSEMARY. PUT THE AIR AND EARTH AND FIRE AND WATER IN THE BOUND.

    You don’t need to invoke the dragon. When you put the last element in the bound, the ritual takes over from there.

    You’ll know you did it correctly if RESET now takes you to the Mechanica Lab, and you find a new “fresh sheet” there, containing the “Homunculus Definition” fact.

Doors: After the Big Ritual

Note: You’ll know you’re in the “after the Big Ritual” section, when RESET now takes you to the Mechanica Lab, and you find a new “fresh sheet” there, containing the “Homunculus Definition” fact.

Paper Maze (unlisted door)

Don’t try this until after you’ve performed the Grand Marriage and opened the Medical Wing Hallway cabinet.

You’ll need to perform the Lodestode of Centrality ritual.

  • How do I perform the Centrality ritual?

    You’ll need an environment of earthy influences, silk thread (from the Main Store), a labyrinth symbol, Viridigris, elemental earth, a chime in the mode of rescension, and elemental fire.

    1. How do I make an environment of earthy influences?

      Examine things with the oculus to learn more about their symbology. Find something with an “earthy nature.”

      All of the chips of stone (e.g. flint) have an earthy nature.

    2. Where do I find a labyrinth symbol?

      RECALL LABYRINTH.

      There’s a labyrinth tile in the Junior Quarters.

    3. How do I make Viridigris?

      It’s from a ritual you found in the Observatory Alcove, South. You’ll need orichalcum (from the safe in the Main Store), and vinegar from the Chymic Lab.

      GO TO THE RETORT. PUT VINEGAR AND ORICHALCUM IN THE RETORT. SAY HERMETIC. TURN ON THE HEAT. WAIT. WAIT. SAY CATALYSIS.

    4. Where do I find a chime in the mode of rescension?

      RECALL MUSICAL THEORY, a fact from a spark in the East Side Hall next to the Nave.

      Use the glass H chime, from the Materials Store.

    Now you have everything you need. PUT FLINT ON SHELF. PUT SILK IN BOUND. PUT TILE ON SHELF. SAY MITHRAIC. PUT VIRIDIGRIS IN THE BOUND. PUT EARTH IN THE BOUND. STRIKE THE H CHIME. PUT GOLD ROD ON LABYRINTH TILE. SAY MINOR.

GO TO THE PAPER GARDEN. GO EAST. SWING SILK.

Birdhouse door

Don’t try this until after you’ve performed the Great Marriage and opened the Medical Wing hallway cabinet.

The first time you try to open it, you’ll see this message. “Lovely. With everything that’s wrong on the Retort, this one security stricture remains perfectly functional. It’s reacting to your psychic signature – an ensign can’t just walk into the Birdhouse, so when you approach, the door gets defensive. Yes, “defensive” is a technical term in aura engineering.”

You’ll need to use an aura ritual.

It’s not hurting your aura, so the Aura Impermeability ritual won’t help in this case.

You’ll need to use the Aura Imitation ritual.

  • How do I perform the Aura Imitation ritual?

    (It’s possible that you have more than one Aura Imitation ritual. The one with quartz is easier to perform, so I’ll provide hints for that one here.)

    Just like the Aura Impermeability ritual, this Aura Imitation ritual requires an environment of spiritual peace. You’ll also need quartz, copper percalcinate and elemental water.

    • How do I make copper percalcinate?

      RECALL FACTS. You have two facts relevant to this problem.

      RECALL CALCINATION. RECALL PERCALCINATION.

      You’ll need orichalcum from the safe in the Main Store, muriatic acid from the Chymic Lab, and Crystalline Tempering, from a spark viewed with the oculus.

      • Where is the Crystalline Tempering?

        It’s in a spark near the start of the game. (Use the ROOMS command to find it.)

        It’s in the Opticks Lab.

      PUT MURIATIC ACID AND ORICHALCUM IN THE RETORT. TURN ON THE HEAT. WAIT. WAIT. WAIT. WAIT. WAIT. WAIT. WAIT. SAY HERMETIC. SAY CRYSTALLINE. PUT MURIATIC IN RETORT. WAIT. WAIT. WAIT.

    With that, you should have everything you need! PUT QUARTZ IN BOUND. SAY KA. PUT PERCALCINATE IN THE BOUND. SAY ISOMORPHIC. PUT ELEMENTAL WATER IN THE BOUND. SAY ELEMENTARY.

Now you have to touch an officer. Captain Hart, Lieutenant Anderes or Lieutenant Powes all have access to the Chancel; Ensign Ctesc does not. They move around, so you may want to find them like this: RECALL HART. RECALL ANDERES. RECALL POWES. If that doesn’t work, try just revisiting every room on the marcher!

TOUCH CAPTAIN WITH QUARTZ. GO TO TOP OF THE GRAND STAIR. TOUCH QUARTZ. GO WEST.

Observatory ladder

Don’t try this until after you’ve performed the Great Marriage and opened the Storage Nook cabinet.

The counterweight is holding up the south-side ladder. You’ll have to do something about the counterweight.

“The counterweight is a massive block of lead.”

You have a ritual about lead.

PERFORM LEAD INCREASE. GO TO THE OBSERVATORY. TOUCH THE COUNTERWEIGHT WITH THE GRANITE.

Barosy gate

Don’t try this until after you’ve performed the Great Marriage.

The gate is locked with a “heavy brass lock.”

You have a ritual that has something to do with brass.

The lock is brass clockwork.

Use the Clock Tincture.

PERFORM THE CLOCK TINCTURE. GO TO THE BOTTOM OF THE GRAND STAIR. PUT THE TINCTURE ON THE LOCK. GO EAST.

Portico main doors

You can never open the Portico main doors, but there is another way to get out of the Portico, after you’ve performed the Great Marriage, opened the Junior Quarters cabinet, and opened the North Arcade marble door.

There’s a new spark you can access. RECALL ROOMS and make sure you’ve checked all rooms for sparks.

LOOK THROUGH THE OCULUS in the Nave Crawlway, the new room southwest from the Nave.

If you perform the vacuum-protection ritual, you can survive outside the marcher.

  • How do I perform the vacuum-protection ritual?

    You’ll need highlime (from the Nave Crawlway), an exhilarant environment (kelp impet in Deck Suite), and saline (from the Chymic Lab). “Passivity” means “phlegmatic” (according to the Yang Oil ritual).

    PUT SALINE IN THE BOUND. SAY PHLEGMATIC. PUT HIGHLIME IN THE BOUND. SAY ANODYNE. SAY GREATER. DRINK THE POTION.

Now, use a ritual in the Portico to go outside the marcher.

Use the Glass Permeability ritual, which you found in the cabinet of the Junior Quarters.

  • How do I perform the Glass Permeability ritual?

    You’ll need a chime in the key of F sharp, a Helian (sun) environment, and sand (from the Chymic Lab).

    1. How do I get the F sharp chime?

      RECALL F SHARP CHIME. GO TO THE F SHARP CHIME. GET IT.

      You’ll need to get that chime without touching it.

      There’s a ritual for that.

      It’s the Metal Attractor ritual, from the Exoscaphe cabinet.

      • How do I perform the Metal Attractor ritual?

        You’ll need a Saturnine environment, a chime tuned to the desired metal, zafranum (from the Herbarium Nook), and the torch-lighter to burn it with.

        1. How do I create a Saturnine environment?

          There’s another ritual that needed a Saturnine environment.

          The Lead Weight Increase ritual needed “an anchored (Saturnine) environment.” Do this one the same way.

          (I use the horn coin.)

        2. How do I find a chime turned to the desired metal?

          EXAMINE THE F SHARP CHIME. RECALL MUSICAL THEORY.

          You need a B chime.

          RECALL B CHIME.

          It’s in the Flooded Arcade Crawlspace. GO TO THE SCAPHE ARCADE. DROP ALL. GO DOWN. GET THE CHIME. GET ALL.

        PUT THE HORN COIN ON THE SHELF. PUT THE B CHIME IN THE BOUND. SAY SIMPLE. PUT THE ZAFRANUM IN THE BOUND. BURN IT WITH THE LIGHTER. SAY RESONANT. HIT THE CHIME. SAY MEDIATE. GET THE CHIME.

      GO TO THE F SHARP CHIME. STRIKE THE B CHIME.

    2. How do I create a Helian (sun) environment?

      You can search the marcher for an object with solar nature, but I think it’s easier to use a device for setting environmental influences.

      EXAMINE THE ROTOR CARD in the Library.

      TURN THE CARD a few times.

      TURN THE CARD TO THE SUN.

      PUT THE CARD ON THE GESTALT SHELF.

    Now you have everything you need! PUT THE F SHARP CHIME IN THE BOUND. SAY SIMPLE. PUT SAND IN THE BOUND. SAY RESONANT. STRIKE THE F SHARP CHIME. SAY RELATIVE.

PERFORM VACUUM-PROTECTION. DRINK IT. PERFORM GLASS PERMEABILITY. GO TO THE PORTICO. STRIKE THE F SHARP CHIME. TOUCH THE WINDOW WITH THE F SHARP CHIME. GO EAST. (Be sure to leave fragile equipment on the marcher, or you’ll lose it.)

Exoscaphe hatch

You can’t open the hatch until you’ve performed the Great Marriage.

You can’t open this hatch until you have a ritual allowing you to survive in a vacuum.

PULL THE LEVER. “The lever is locked in place – no doubt because the steel portal is open.”

CLOSE THE PORTAL. PULL THE LEVER.

PERFORM VACUUM RESISTANCE. PULL THE LEVER. GO UP.

If you want to get back out again with the thin key, you’ll need to repair Pneuma. (See “Fixing the Dragons,” below.)

Chancel gate

You can’t open this door until you’ve performed the Great Marriage and entered the Birdhouse.

The first time you try to open it, you’ll see this message. “This gate has a psychic security stricture.” When you examine the gate, it says, “A psychic numbness radiates from the gate; you can sense it even without coming near.”

“Psychic” means “aura.”

Use the Aura Imitation ritual, which you used to enter the Birdhouse.

PERFORM AURA IMITATION. GO TO THE CAPTAIN. TOUCH THE CAPTAIN WITH THE QUARTZ. GO TO THE ANTECHAMBER. TOUCH THE QUARTZ. GO NORTH.

Alien Wreck

Examine everything here.

EXAMINE THE KNOT.

You understand the graffiti now. Go to the two graffiti locations on the marcher and examine them again.

  • Where’s the graffiti on the marcher?

    Lab Hall Northwest. (Due to a bug you can’t “GO TO LAB HALL NORTHWEST.” Instead, GO TO THE MAIN STORE. GO SOUTH.)

    Bottom of the Grand Stair.

Now you have the radix formula, “A sequence of outward geometric relations, forming a pattern which you can barely hold in your mind’s eye,” and the “Alien Fluid Resonator Switch” fact, which says, “The alien technology is controlled by liquid metal contained within a circular arc, activated by invoking or visualizing the appropriate geometric sequence.”

GO TO THE WRECK. GET THE MERCURY. PUT IT ON THE ARC. SAY RADIX.

EXAMINE THE MARKS.

Now you need to figure out what to do with this oil. Do you remember anything like this column on the marcher?

The column is in the Confusing Cracks room.

GET THE OIL. GO TO THE CRACKS. PUT THE OIL ON THE COLUMN.

GO SOUTHEAST. EXAMINE THE MARKS.

The caudex formula is “A sequence of inward geometric relations,” the opposite of radix. What would that do?

RESET. GO TO THE WRECK. GET THE MERCURY. PUT IT ON THE ARC. SAY CAUDEX. GO IN.

Goal: Fixing the Dragons

Once you’ve opened the doors above, your goal is to fix the dragons.

You can find the dragons in the Aithery, the Barosy, the Paper Maze Center, and the Birdhouse. You’ll need to access those areas (by opening the doors above), and you’ll also need to open the Chancel gate, go outside the marcher (see “Portico main doors” above), open the door at the wreck (see the “Alien wreck” door above), and examine the marks inside the wreck, which gives you the “Third Alien Glyph” formula.

RECALL THE EMERGENCY DRAGON SUBSUMPTION, which is a fact you’ll find on the faded sheet in the Antechamber. (The Emergency Dragon Subsumption kinda feels like it should be a ritual, but you’ll find it in your list of facts, instead.)

You’ll need to begin by activating one dragon. Surprisingly, activating your first dragon is something that you might have already done by accident. Check by doing a RESET. If RESET takes you to the Nave, then you have already activated a dragon. If it takes you to the Mechanica Lab, then you haven’t activated a dragon yet.

  • How do I activate my first dragon?

    Examine everything in the Nave carefully.

    If you wait a few turns in the Nave, the silver scribble will follow you.

    The scribble has different effects in each room of the ship.

    Save, then try visiting a dragon (Pneuma, Syndesis, Aistheta, or Baros) with the scribble.

    After the scribble touches a dragon, you’ll be forced to reset again, but this time, you start in the Nave.

At this point, RESET is now starting you off in the Nave, and you have an active dragon. (If you’re unsure about which dragon is active, examine each dragon with the oculus.)

Now that you have an active dragon, the next thing that the Emergency Dragon Subsumption calls for is a Dragon Fulcrum, a ritual from the same faded sheet you found in the Antechamber.

  • How do I perform the Dragon Fulcrum ritual?

    You’ll need “a bound of metallic quicksilver, or a quicksilver amalgam.” You’ll also need a stone chip (flint, granite, etc.), and Grendel’s Sealing from a sheet in the Chancel. You’ll also need to figure out the “scratched out” part.

    1. How do I make a quicksilver bound?

      “Quicksilver” means “mercury.”

      You have to put quicksilver into a bound.

      You have to put mercury into the wire groove.

      It has too much surface tension to PUT THE MERCURY INTO THE WIRE GROOVE. You’ll need to make a mercury amalgam, a mixture of mercury with another wire metal.

      RECALL ROD. Try making wires out of various rods, then PUT THE MERCURY ON THE WIRE to see if it makes a good amalgam. (In the next hint, I’ll tell you which metal to use.)

      Make lead wire. GET THE LEAD ROD. GO TO THE WIRE-DRAWER. PUT THE LEAD IN THE DRAWER. TURN THE CRANK. PUT THE MERCURY ON THE WIRE. GO WEST. PUT THE WIRE IN THE BOUND.

    2. What do I do with the scratched out part of the instructions?

      You have a “Dracon” formula, but it won’t work here. Despite that, you do have the formula you need, “a smudged knot or tangle of lines – as if someone had tried to copy a multidimensional structure onto the paper.”

      RECALL FORMULAS.

      It’s the Alien Glyphs.

    Now you have everything you need! PUT GRANITE IN THE BOUND. SAY GRENDEL. PUT VITRIOL IN THE BOUND. SAY FIRST GLYPH. SAY RELATIVE.

Now that you have a fulcrum, you must follow the Emergency Dragon Subsumption instructions. The instructions vary depending on which dragon you fixed first.

  1. I fixed Aistheta first. How do I perform the subsumption?

    The subsumption requires you to access both Aistheta and another dragon’s room (Baros, Pneuma, or Syndesis). But accessing Aistheta with the Lead Increase consumed elemental earth and the orichalcum. You’ll need to find a way to access a dragon without using either of those.

    Fixing Aistheta fixed two systems on the marcher.

    EXAMINE AISTHETA WITH THE OCULUS.

    “The garden maze and the cracks by the chasm have been pulled back into alignment.”

    GO TO PNEUMA.

    It no longer requires a lodestone or any elements/orichalcum to go to Pneuma.

    Make a Dragon Fulcrum and drop it in the Aithery with Aistheta, then go to the Nave and do the Subsumption steps.

    • How do I do the Subsumption steps?

      It requires an orderly environment (as you used for the Great Marriage; I use the thick key).

      PUT THE THICK KEY ON THE SHELF. SAY MARCHER. SAY SYMMETRIC. SAY DRACON.

      Now you have a scribble again. GO TO PNEUMA. WAIT. WAIT.

    Now you can fix the other dragons, leaving the fulcrum in the Paper Maze Center.

    PERFORM FULCRUM. GO TO MAZE CENTER. DROP THE GRANITE. GO TO THE NAVE. PUT THE THICK KEY ON THE SHELF. SAY MARCHER. SAY SYMMETRIC. SAY DRACON. GO TO BAROS. WAIT. WAIT. Then do it again, but at the end, GO TO SYNDESIS instead of BAROS.

  2. I fixed Baros first. How do I perform the subsumption?

    The subsumption requires you to access both Baros and another dragon’s room (Aistheta, Pneuma, or Syndesis). But accessing Baros with the Clock Tincture consumed elemental earth, water, and fire. You’ll need to find a way to access a dragon without using any of those.

    Fixing Baros fixed two systems on the marcher.

    EXAMINE BAROS WITH THE OCULUS.

    “You can see recent repairs in the chasm and in the crawlway beneath the garden and Barosy.”

    You can go north from Barosy through the crawlway to the Paper Maze Center, or vice versa.

    Make a Dragon Fulcrum. GO TO PNEUMA. GO DOWN. GO SOUTH. GO SOUTH. DROP THE GRANITE. Now you can go to the Nave and do the Subsumption steps.

    • How do I do the Subsumption steps?

      It requires an orderly environment (as you used for the Great Marriage; I use the thick key).

      PUT THE THICK KEY ON THE SHELF. SAY MARCHER. SAY SYMMETRIC. SAY DRACON.

      Now you have a scribble again. GO TO PNEUMA. WAIT. WAIT.

    From here, you can follow the steps below as if you had fixed Pneuma first. (But EXAMINE BAROS WITH THE OCULUS instead of PNEUMA to see what new systems have been repaired.)

  3. I fixed Pneuma first. How do perform the subsumption?

    The subsumption requires you to access both Pneuma and another dragon’s room (Aistheta, Baros, or Syndesis). But accessing Pneuma with the Lodestone of Centrality consumes elemental fire and earth, and the orichalcum. You’ll need to find a way to access a dragon without using any of those.

    Fixing Pneuma fixed two systems on the marcher.

    EXAMINE PNEUMA WITH THE OCULUS.

    Fixing Pneuma fixed the airlock and the Exoscaphe Bay.

    The Exoscaphe Bay is of top interest to us.

    Examine everything in the Scaphe Arcade.

    The wheel here has Pneuma’s symbol; it was locked before, but now it turns, repressurizing the Exoscaphe Dome. GO WEST. GO UP.

    GET ALL. EXAMINE THE THIN KEY.

    Now you can unlock the Tertiary Lab. GO TO THE PYRICS LAB. GO SOUTH. GO EAST.

    There’s something in this room that you can use to access a dragon without using up elements or orichalcum.

    If you don’t know what “Tellurian” and “distillate” are, you might want to look them up.

    “Tellurian” means “Gaian” and “distillate” means the same thing as “precipitate,” so the anti-Tellurian distillate is a good substitute for counter-Gaian distillate.

    Perform the Decrease ritual with the distillate.

    • How do I perform the Decrease ritual with the distillate?

      PUT THE HORN COIN ON THE SHELF. PUT THE FLINT IN THE BOUND. SAY SIMPLE. WAVE THE ROSEMARY. SAY ESSENTIAL. PUT DISTILLATE IN THE BOUND. SAY CELESTIAL.

    You can use the Lead Decrease ritual to access a dragon.

    Previously, you used the Lead Increase ritual to access Aistheta. How could you use Decrease to do that, instead of Increase?

    PERFORM LEAD INCREASE. GO TO THE OBSERVATORY. TOUCH THE COUNTERWEIGHT WITH THE GRANITE.

    “The shock has evidently been too much for the jammed mechanism.” The ladder came down not because the weight was heavy, but because it suddenly got heavier.

    After decreasing the weight of the counterweight, how could you suddenly increase its weight (without using Increase)?

    Use the dispersal brush. Decrease the counterweight, then TOUCH THE COUNTERWEIGHT WITH THE BRUSH. GO UP.

    Make a Dragon Fulcrum and drop it in the Paper Maze Center with Pneuma, then go to the Nave and do the Subsumption steps.

    • How do I do the Subsumption steps?

      It requires an orderly environment (as you used for the Great Marriage; I use the thick key).

      PUT THE THICK KEY ON THE SHELF. SAY MARCHER. SAY SYMMETRIC. SAY DRACON.

      Now you have a scribble again. GO TO AISTHETA. WAIT. WAIT.

    After you’ve fixed Aistheta, it’s easier to do the next dragon.

    EXAMINE PNEUMA WITH THE OCULUS.

    “Pneuma has absorbed Aistheta; you can see its associations as well. These include alignment repairs in the garden maze and the cracks by the chasm.”

    You can now access Pneuma without making the lodestone, allowing you to fix either dragon with a new fulcrum.

    PERFORM FULCRUM. GO TO MAZE CENTER. DROP THE GRANITE. GO TO THE NAVE. PUT THE THICK KEY ON THE SHELF. SAY MARCHER. SAY SYMMETRIC. SAY DRACON. GO TO SYNDESIS. WAIT. WAIT. Then do it again, but at the end, GO TO BAROS instead of SYNDESIS.

  4. I fixed Syndesis first. How do perform the subsumption?

    The subsumption requires you to access both Syndesis and another dragon’s room (Aistheta, Baros, or Pneuma). But accessing Syndesis with the Aura Imitation consumes elemental water and the orichalcum. You’ll need to find a way to access a dragon without using any of those.

    Fixing Syndesis fixed several problems on the marcher.

    EXAMINE SYNDESIS WITH THE OCULUS.

    “You can see patches covering the worst holes – by the secondary alchemy lab, the chymic lab, the opticks lab, and the deck suite.”

    Those doors are now fixed. You can go north from the Secondary Lab, go east from the Chymic Lab, go east from the Opticks lab, and go north from the Deck Suite.

    North of the Deck Suite, in the Master-at-Arms Quarters, is the Barosy key. You can use that to reach the Barosy without using any elements or orichalcum.

    Make a Dragon Fulcrum and drop it in the Birdhouse with Syndesis, then go to the Nave and do the Subsumption steps.

    • How do I do the Subsumption steps?

      It requires an orderly environment (as you used for the Great Marriage; I use the thick key).

      PUT THE THICK KEY ON THE SHELF. SAY MARCHER. SAY SYMMETRIC. SAY DRACON.

      Now you have a scribble again. GO TO BAROS. WAIT. WAIT.

    Now you can fix the other dragons, leaving the fulcrum in the Barosy.

    PERFORM FULCRUM. GO TO BAROSY. DROP THE GRANITE. GO TO THE NAVE. PUT THE THICK KEY ON THE SHELF. SAY MARCHER. SAY SYMMETRIC. SAY DRACON. GO TO AISTHETA. WAIT. WAIT. Then do it again, but at the end, GO TO PNEUMA instead of AISTHETA.

2 Likes

Doors: After Fixing the Dragons

At this point, be sure to examine your active dragon with the oculus, to see what new areas you might be able to access.

Airlock outer door

You can’t open this door until after you’ve performed the Great Marriage and repaired Pneuma. (See “Fixing the Dragons.”)

Examine your active dragon with the oculus.

You’ll need to drink a vacuum-protection potion before opening this door. PERFORM VACUUM-PROTECTION. DRINK IT.

Once you’re protected from vacuum and Pneuma is fixed, you can GO TO THE AIRLOCK. PULL THE LEVER.

Tertiary Lab door

You can’t open this door until after you’ve performed the Great Marriage and repaired Pneuma. (See “Fixing the Dragons.”)

You can’t open this door until after you’ve opened the Exoscaphe hatch.

The key to this door is in the Exoscaphe Dome, which is UP from the Exoscaphe Hull.

You can open the Exoscaphe hatch by drinking a potion of vacuum resistance, but you can’t get out of the Exoscaphe afterwards unless you reset.

Examine your active dragon with the oculus.

Before pulling the lever in the Exoscaphe Hull, examine everything in the Scaphe Arcade.

EXAMINE THE WHEEL.

TURN THE WHEEL. It’s locked until Pneuma is repaired, but once Pneuma is repaired, the wheel turns freely; then you can GO WEST. GO UP. GET THE KEY. GO TO THE PYRICS LAB. GO SOUTH. GO EAST.

Secondary Alchemy Lab door

You’ll never need to open this door; use the Secondary Alchemy Lab hatch instead.

You can’t open this door until you’ve fixed Syndesis. (See “Fixing the Dragons” above.) Be sure to examine your active dragon with the oculus.

You can just open this door after you repair Syndesis.

Chymic Lab door

You’ll never need to open this door; use the Mechanica Lab door instead.

You can’t open this door until you’ve fixed Syndesis. (See “Fixing the Dragons” above.) Be sure to examine your active dragon with the oculus.

You can just open this door after you repair Syndesis.

Opticks closet door

You can’t open this door until you’ve fixed Syndesis. (See “Fixing the Dragons” above.) Be sure to examine your active dragon with the oculus.

You can just open this door after you repair Syndesis.

Deck Suite Venture door

You can’t open this door until you’ve fixed Syndesis. (See “Fixing the Dragons” above.) Be sure to examine your active dragon with the oculus.

You can just open this door after you repair Syndesis.

South Chasm Bridge

You can’t open this door until you’ve fixed Baros. (See “Fixing the Dragons” above.) Be sure to examine your active dragon with the oculus.

You can just cross the bridge when you repair Baros.

Barosy crawlway

You can’t use the crawlway until you’ve fixed Baros. (See “Fixing the Dragons” above.) Be sure to examine your active dragon with the oculus.

The crawlway will just work when you repair Baros.

Alien airlock inner door

You can’t get past this door (you can’t go north from the Strange Airlock) until you open the Airlock outer door on the marcher.

Examine everything here in the Strange Airlock.

The arc in here is working. Try saying your new formulas to it.

SAY RADIX.

Now the door is open, but you can’t go north without resetting.

EXAMINE THE MARKS to get the “Crawlay Debris Item” fact. Here’s what it said originally: “This third symbol brings you a new image: a sheet of paper, buried in rubble. Again, the scene is familiar… a crack in a wall… the crawlway under the Nave. You do your best to memorize the paper’s exact location.”

GO TO THE NAVE CRAWLWAY. SEARCH THE DEBRIS. GET THE SHEET.

You can use the Aither-Resistance ritual to survive going north from the Strange Airlock.

  • How do I perform Aither-Resistance?

    You’ll need an exhilarant environment (kelp impet in the Deck Suite), saline (in the Chymic lab), zafranum (from the Herbarium nook), the torch-lighter (from Under Ward), salt from the Mechanica Lab, and the Chi formula from Burning Hall East (after the inferno, before the obsidian door).

    OPEN THE KELP. PUT SALINE IN THE BOUND. SAY HERMETIC. PUT ZAFRANUM IN THE BOUND. BURN IT WITH THE LIGHTER. SAY ANODYNE. PUT SALT ON THE SHELF. SAY CHI. DRINK IT.

But there’s a problem. The Metal Attractor requires burning zafranum, too. If you use the Metal Attractor to get the F sharp chime for the Glass Permeability ritual, you can’t perform Aither-Resistance and use it on the same reset.

So don’t use Glass Permeability.

Use the marcher’s Airlock instead.

RESET. PERFORM VACUUM-PROTECTION. DRINK IT. PERFORM AITHER-RESISTANCE. DRINK IT. GO TO THE AIRLOCK. PULL THE LEVER. GO NORTH. GO TO THE WRECK. IN. GO NORTH.

Window in alien wreck

You can’t do this until you’ve opened the Tertiary Lab door.

You have to use Aither-Resistance to get to this window, but that uses up saffron that you’d need to get the F-sharp chime for Glass Permeability.

You have to get the F sharp chime without using any zafranum.

Here’s what the message said when you tried to get the F-sharp chime without the metal attractor. “You step out on the slab, and kneel at the balance-point. But when you lean forward, the entire thing shifts under your weight. You pull yourself back before the slab completely unbalances.”

You need something to hold the slab down while you grab the F-sharp chime. What’s the word for an object like that?

You need a counterweight.

There’s a counterweight in the observatory. You need to bring it to the F-sharp chime and put it on the slab.

Experiment with your lead weight increase/decrease rituals on the counterweight.

Also try experimenting with the dispersal brush together with the increase/decrease rituals.

You can lower the ladder by increasing the weight of the counterweight, but that’s not the only way to do it. (Read carefully when you increase the weight of the counterweight.)

“The shock has evidently been too much for the jammed mechanism.”

You can shock the mechanism without making the counterweight heavier. (In the next hint, I’ll give a large hint on how to solve this puzzle.)

You need to perform a lead weight increase and then perform a lead weight decrease without resetting.

  • How can I perform both an increase and decrease without resetting?

    Each time you perform increase or decrease, it uses up elemental earth, as you make either Gaian Precipitate or Counter-Gaian Precipitate. How can you avoid this?

    To perform both, you’ll need to find a substitute for either Gaian Precipitate or Counter-Gaian Precipitate.

    There’s something lying around that would be a suitable Counter-Gaian Precipitate substitute.

    You might need to use your dictionary or thesaurus to figure out what this is.

    “Tellurian” means “Gaian” and “distillate” means the same thing as “precipitate,” so the anti-Tellurian distillate is a good substitute for counter-Gaian distillate.

    Perform the Decrease ritual with the distillate, then perform the Increase ritual with counter-Gaian precipitate.

    • How do I perform the Decrease ritual with the distillate?

      PUT THE HORN COIN ON THE SHELF. PUT THE SANDSTONE IN THE BOUND. SAY SIMPLE. WAVE THE ROSEMARY. SAY ESSENTIAL. PUT DISTILLATE IN THE BOUND. SAY CELESTIAL.

Now experiment again with your decrease, increase, and the dispersal brush.

If you decrease the counterweight, and then touch it with the brush, that shocks the mechanism and lowers the ladder.

But you’ll need to decrease the counterweight to carry it to the F-sharp chime. (In the next hint, I’ll tell you exactly how to do it.)

Assuming the granite is increase (ponderosity) and sandstone is decrease (gossamerity): TOUCH THE WEIGHT WITH GRANITE. TOUCH THE WEIGHT WITH THE BRUSH. TOUCH THE WEIGHT WITH THE SANDSTONE. GET THE WEIGHT. GO TO THE F SHARP CHIME. PUT THE WEIGHT ON THE SLAB. TOUCH THE WEIGHT WITH THE BRUSH. GET THE CHIME.

Now you have everything you need! PERFORM VACUUM-PROTECTION. DRINK IT. PERFORM AITHER-RESISTANCE. DRINK IT. PERFORM GLASS PERMEABILITY. GO TO THE STRANGE AIRLOCK. SAY RADIX. GO NORTH. GO EAST. STRIKE THE CHIME. TOUCH THE WINDOW WITH THE CHIME. GO NORTH.

Goal: After Fixing the Dragons

Once you’ve opened the doors above, read the sheet in the Nave, and/or RECALL THE DRAGON REANIMATION ATTEMPT fact.

Now you have to perform the Great Marriage in the Chancel.

Getting into the Chancel uses up your elements. Extinguishing the inferno uses up elemental fire. Opening the obsidian door uses up elemental earth. opening the Chancel gate uses up elemental water. And entering the Medical Wing to get elemental air uses up orichalcum that you need to perform aura imitation. So your new objective is to get into the Chancel without using up those elements.

  1. How do I enter the Chancel with elemental air?

    The quartz Aura Imitation uses orichalcum (in the form of copper percalcinate), but you need to use orichalcum to enter the Medical Wing. You’ll need to switch to the jade Aura Imitation.

    • How do I perform the Aura Imitation with jade?

      You’ll need “a meditative environment based on the Book of Changes,” a bead of iron (from the Mechanica Lab), a bead of jade, burning wood (I suggest elemental wood from the Pyrics Lab and the torch-lighter from Under Ward), elemental air, and the Name of the Tortoise.

      1. How do I make the meditative environment?

        Look up the “Book of Changes” with Google. It’s also known as the I Ching.

        You’ve seen something Chinese on the marcher, with I Ching symbols on it.

        RECALL I CHING. The Chinese amulet in the Study Room is perfect for this.

      2. Where do I find the Name of the Tortoise?

        If you’ve examined everything carefully, you’ve seen a hard to reach piece of paper near the marcher.

        Examine everything carefully near the Exoscaphe.

        Examine everything carefully in the North Arcade.

        EXAMINE THE WINDOW.

        “There seems to be a bit of paper lying at the far end of the bay.” The Name of the Tortoise is there.

        This window is just like the one in the Portico.

        You’ll need Vacuum Protection and Glass Permeability to pass through.

        PERFORM VACUUM PROTECTION. DRINK IT. PERFORM GLASS PERMEABILITY. GO TO SCAPHE ARCADE. GO NORTH. STRIKE F SHARP. TOUCH WINDOW WITH F SHARP. GO WEST. GET SHEET. GO EAST.

      3. Where do I find the bead of jade?

        Examine the active dragon with the oculus.

        “alignment repairs in the garden maze and the cracks by the chasm”.

        You can now GO EAST from Confusing Cracks. The jade is there.

      Now you should have everything you need! GO TO THE NAVE. PUT THE RIBBON ON THE SHELF. PUT THE IRON AND THE JADE IN THE BOUND. SAY SIMPLE. BURN ELEMENTAL WOOD WITH LIGHTER. PUT ELEMENTAL WOOD ON SHELF. SAY TORTOISE. PUT ELEMENTAL AIR IN THE BOUND. SAY CHI.

    The Aura Imitation with jade doesn’t entirely solve the problem, because it consumes elemental air. But now that you’ve fixed the dragons, you have a way to deal with this.

    The Opticks Closet has a dusty bubble, just like the scratched bubble in the Medical Workroom.

    You can take the dusty bubble into the Medical Wing and fill both bubbles on your way out.

    GO TO THE DUSTY BUBBLE. GET IT. GO TO THE SCRATCHED BUBBLE. GET IT. GO WEST. FILL THE DUSTY BUBBLE WITH THE TANK. FILL THE SCRATCHED BUBBLE WITH THE TANK. PERFORM JADE IMITATION. Now you have a working Aura Imitation and a bubble of elemental air left over.

  2. How do I enter the Chancel with elemental earth?

    RECALL FACTS. You might have overlooked the “Perfect Diamond Substitution” fact, which was on the back of the dry sheet in the Exoscaphe Dome. “A perfectly flawless diamond may sometimes substitute for elemental earth, particularly when synthesizing caustic reagents.”

    Perform the Perfect Diamond ritual.

    • How do I perform the Perfect Diamond ritual?

      You’ll need a diamond (from the Main Store), elemental earth, and a note in the mode of ostension. You’ll need to perform this ritual “an environment influenced only by living stone; the deeper and purer, the better.”

      1. Where do I find a note in the mode of ostension?

        RECALL MUSICAL THEORY.

        “G-flat is the mode of ostension.” RECALL G-FLAT. GO TO IT. GET IT.

      2. Where do I find the environment?

        You want a deep lab.

        The Deep Lab, west of the Deep Stacks, is a perfect fit.

      Now you should have everything you need! GO TO THE DEEP LAB. PUT THE DIAMOND IN THE BOUND. SAY PHLEGMATIC. STRIKE THE G-FLAT CHIME. PUT ELEMENTAL EARTH ON THE SHELF. SAY CRYSTALLINE. GET ALL.

    Now you can try to use the perfect diamond instead of elemental earth in one of the rituals you need to enter the Chancel.

    You used the elemental earth creating the obsidian solvent. Redo that ritual with the diamond instead of earth.

    • What are the exact steps for this?

      PUT MURIATIC ACID AND BAMURIATIC ACID IN THE RETORT. SAY HERMETIC. PUT THE DIAMOND IN THE RETORT. SAY ANAPHYLAXIS. PUT MARBLE IN THE RETORT. SAY ANTIPATHY.

  3. How do I enter the Chancel with elemental fire?

    You’ll need to create another rod of elemental fire before you perform the Fire-Devourer ritual.

    Perform the Electrum Phlogistication ritual.

    • How do I perform the Electrum Pholgistication ritual?

      You’ll need electrum regium, a catalytic environment, and yang oil (from the ritual in the Dressing Room).

      1. How do I make electrum regium?

        The ritual says it’s “an alloy of platinum and moon-metal.” The platinum rod is in the Mechanica Lab, and the moon-metal rod is in the Materials Store.

        There’s a device on the marcher than can take two metals and make an alloy.

        It’s the wire-splicer in the Mechanica Lab.

        MAKE PLATINUM WIRE. MAKE MOON-METAL WIRE. PUT PLATINUM AND MOON-METAL IN THE SPLICER. TURN THE WHEEL.

      2. How do I make a catalytic environment after making electrum regium?

        The electrum regium consumes your platinum. But haven’t you seen another platinum bound on the marcher?

        The Tertiary Alchemy Lab has a catalytic platinum bound. Use that bound.

      3. How do I make Yang Oil?

        You’ll need mineral oil (from the Chymic Lab), “a sweet floral element,” and reed pith (from the Pyrics Lab). You may have a hard time reciting the Phlogistical Catalysis while the reed pith burns.

        1. Where do I find a sweet floral element?

          Where are the plants on the marcher?

          Look in the Herbarium Nook.

          Use the honeysuckle.

          Waving it won’t suffice.

          CRUSH THE HONEYSUCKLE during the ritual.

        2. How do I recite the Phlogistical Catalysis while the reed pith burns?

          When you burn the reed pith, it’s consumed instantly.

          This is the opposite of the problem you had with the blackwood.

          Burn the pith with something else that doesn’t burn as hot.

          Try burning the other splints and see what happens when you burn the splints with them. (Be sure to burn the splints with the torch-lighter and not the gas burners in the Pyrics lab, which burns much hotter.)

          If you burn the green linden with the torch-lighter, it won’t burn up right away. If you burn the reed pith with the linden, it won’t burn up right away.

        That should be all you need to make Yang Oil! GO TO THE TERTIARY LAB. PUT MINERAL OIL IN THE BOUND. SAY PHLEGMATIC. CRUSH THE HONEYSUCKLE. SAY ESSENTIAL. PUT PITH IN THE BOUND. BURN THE LINDEN WITH THE LIGHTER. BURN THE PITH WITH THE LINDEN. SAY CATALYSIS.

      And that should be all you need to phlogisticate electrum! GO TO THE TERTIARY LAB. PUT THE ELECTRUM IN THE BOUND. SAY SIMPLE. PUT YANG OIL IN THE BOUND. SAY ELEMENTARY. GET THE ELECTRUM.

    Duplicate the fire like this: PERFORM GOLD IGNITION. BURN ELECTRUM WITH ELEMENTAL FIRE. PERFORM FIRE-DEVOURER. Now you have the devourer and a spare rod of elemental fire.

  4. How do I enter the Chancel with elemental water?

    The quartz Aura Imitation uses elemental water. You’ll need to switch to the jade Aura Imitation.

    It turns out that you’ll need to do this anyway so that you can enter the Chancel with elemental air, so see the above question, “How do I enter the Chancel with elemental air?”

With that done, you should be able to bring all four elements into the Chancel, like this. RESET. GO TO THE DUSTY BUBBLE. GET IT. GO TO THE SCRATCHED BUBBLE. GET IT. GO WEST. FILL THE DUSTY BUBBLE WITH THE TANK. FILL THE SCRATCHED BUBBLE WITH THE TANK. PERFORM JADE IMITATION. GO TO THE CAPTAIN. TOUCH THE CAPTAIN WITH THE JADE. PERFORM GOLD IGNITION. PERFORM ELECTRUM PHLOGISTICATION. BURN ELECTRUM WITH ELEMENTAL FIRE. GO TO ELEMENTAL WATER. GET IT. PERFORM OBSIDIAN SOLVENT WITH DIAMOND. GO TO BURNING HALL. GO EAST. PUT SOLVENT ON THE DOOR. GO EAST. TOUCH THE JADE. GO NORTH. From then on, you can just RESET. GO TO THE CHANCEL and you’ll bring air, earth, and fire with you. (You can enter and exit the Chancel freely to fetch water, the ephemeris billet, and rosemary.)

Now that you’ve brought all four elements into the chancel, you’ll also need to MAKE THE BILLET and bring rosemary into the Chancel.

You know what to do now, right? (Or do you?)

  1. What are the exact commands to run in the Chancel?

    PUT THE THICK KEY ON THE SHELF. SAY MARCHER. PUT BILLET ON SHELF. WAVE ROSEMARY. PUT THE AIR AND EARTH AND FIRE AND WATER IN THE BOUND. SAY DRACON.

  2. It says “nothing has changed.” Why?

    “It’s like spinning a wheel that’s not touching the ground.” It’s a distinctly physical, mechanical metaphor being used here.

    You need to make another Dragon Fulcrum and put it in any dragon’s lair.

    • I can’t make a Dragon Fulcrum. “The glyphs that you have learned no longer seem to work.”

      Use the DOORS command.

      You have learned three glyphs, but you need four, and the fourth is behind the “alien airlock inner door,” and then behind the “Window in alien wreck.” See those doors above.

      Once you have the fourth glyph, you can create your last fulcrum.

    PERFORM FULCRUM. GO TO THE MAZE CENTER. DROP THE GRANITE. Then go perform the Great Marriage. Well, except perhaps one last thing.

  3. What should I do when it says “You were buried in wreckage?”

    GO UP.

    GO OUT.

    SAY SIMPLE.

There are multiple endings to explore.

The most satisfying difference has to do with whether you acted on the “Wreck Debris Indicator” fact, given to you when you acquired the fourth alien glyph in the Ruined Chamber behind the window.

  • What should I do with the Wreck Debris Indicator?

    “The polar oil will react if poured over the ceramic debris outside the wreck.” The polar oil is in in the niche in the wreck. (In the next hint, I’ll provide the exact commands required to use it.)

    RESET. GO TO THE WRECK. GET THE MERCURY. PUT IT ON THE ARC. SAY RADIX. PUT THE OIL ON THE DEBRIS.

    The Calyx Access Pattern “has the odor of dragons about it.”

    Go to the awakened dragon (in its starting location) and SAY CALYX.

    “You sense… something… radiating from the dragon, although you can’t see anything.”

    You need to see more clearly.

    LOOK THROUGH THE OCULUS. EXAMINE THE SPARK WITH THE OCULUS. (The game calls it a “glint” but it’s really a “spark.”)

    Now you can make an intensional ballast and plant it before you finish the game.

    • How do I make an intensional ballast?

      As it says, start by performing the Universal Tarnish Cleansing, then follow the new instructions. You’ll need a catalytic environment (the Tertiary Lab), a token (either the brass pin or the steel bolt), Java (lubanja), and zafranum.

      GO TO THE TERTIARY LAB. PUT THE BRASS PIN IN THE BOUND. SAY SIMPLE. SAY CATEGORICAL. PUT JAVA IN THE BOUND. PUT ZAFRANUM IN THE BOUND. SAY GREATER. GET PIN.

    Now you have to put it in the right place.

    • Where shall I put the intensional ballast?

      RECALL FACTS. RECALL EXTENDED STATUS REPORT.

      It glows when it’s in the right place.

      There are actually multiple right places. The status report will suggest a different place depending on which dragon is awake, but you can put it in any valid place, no matter which dragon you got.

      1. Aistheta

        Aistheta advises that you put the ballast “below the observatory.”

        You can put the ballast in Observatory Crawlspace, Flooded, which is one step DOWN from the Observatory.

      2. Baros

        Baros advises that you put the ballast “within the crevice.”

        You can put the ballast in the Barosy Crevice, NORTH of the Barosy.

      3. Pneuma

        Pneuma advises that you put the ballast “below the garden.”

        You can put the ballast in the Garden Pool, DOWN from the Paper Garden.

      4. Syndesis

        Unfortunately, this one is buggy. Syndesis advises that you put the ballast “below the Birdhouse.” Presumably it was intended to allow you to put the ballast in the Birdhouse Crawl, but there’s no way to get into the Birdhouse Crawl without using Aura Imitation, consuming one of the elements you’d need to win.

        Instead, you can put your ballast in any of the other three locations above. Syndesis doesn’t care whether the ballast is in the Birdhouse Crawl, as long as it’s in one of the accepted places.

  • I’m too lazy to check. What does the Wreck Debris Indicator change in the ending?

    It’s very subtle, in the last paragraph before the very end. Without the ballast, the ending says:

    > say simple
    You will have no assurance that this can possibly work. An apprentice bringing a marcher back to life… but still.

    *** You will begin ***

    With the ballast, the ending says:

    > say simple
    An apprentice bringing a marcher back to life… it should not be possible. But you will have a notion, a fragment of memory, that help will arrive. Repairs will be made.

    *** You will begin ***

You also get one of eight ending paragraphs in “You have crawled into a ruined corridor,” depending on which dragon you awaken first and how you choose to examine the corresponding character. (Aistheta = Ctesc, Baros = Powes, Pneuma = Anderes, Syndesis = Captain Hart). Each time you examine the character aligned with your dragon, the game switches between two perspectives, saying, “Your perspective has changed.” Your perspective on the character corresponding to your awakened dragon will slightly modify the paragraph in “You have crawled into a ruined corridor.”

  • Here’s the various ending paragraphs.

    • Aistheta awakened, Ctesc primary

      • Positive: Your cleaning work in the alchemy lab… no. Not important. Could Ctesc have caused this? All those books you liberated for him… he promised that you’d share any secrets he found. But he’s always been the type to experiment first, report later. Maybe if you find him.

      • Negative: Your cleaning work in the alchemy lab… no. Not important. Could Ctesc have caused this? All those books you liberated for him… he promised that you’d share any secrets he found. But you might have underestimated his greed. Maybe if you find him.

    • Baros awakened, Powes primary

      • Positive: Your cleaning work in the alchemy lab… no. Not important. This must be Powes’ fault. All the time you’ve spent setting him up for a fall, he must have been trying to set you up… you wouldn’t have believed it of him. But surely he couldn’t have intended this catastrophe.

      • Negative: Your cleaning work in the alchemy lab… no. Not important. This must be Powes’ fault. All the time you’ve spent setting him up for a fall, he must have been trying to set you up… you’ve always known he would. But surely he couldn’t have intended this catastrophe.

    • Syndesis awakened, Captain primary

      • Positive: Your cleaning work in the alchemy lab… no. Not important. Where could Ashe… could the Captain be? Not looking for you; whatever you’ve shared, whatever she’s thought of you, the marcher takes precedence. She’ll have gone for the Aithery, or for the Chancel.

      • Negative: Your cleaning work in the alchemy lab… no. Not important. Where could Ashe… could the Captain be? Not looking for you; you’ve never deluded yourself that she shared that much of herself with you. She’ll have gone for the Aithery, or for the Chancel.

    • Pneuma awakened, Anderes primary

      • Positive: Your cleaning work in the alchemy lab… no. Not important. Could this be Anderes’ fault? All the reagents you’ve liberated for her… but she’s always so careful when she stashes them. No profit in broken glass.

      • Negative: Your cleaning work in the alchemy lab… no. Not important. Could this be Anderes’ fault? All the reagents you’ve liberated for her… if she’s been careless with them, you’ll be furious. No profit in broken glass.

Now, go forth and enjoy the Hadean Lands post-completion discussion thread (spoilers galore!)

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That’s extremely thorough! :) Thanks for working it up.

Would you believe I never thought of it that way? I mean, you’re not wrong, but I consistently thought of the design in terms of “gain access to this room/cabinet.”

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Dan, thank you so much for this careful and attentive work!

I just wrapped week five of my streamed playthrough of Hadean Lands, and for the first time since starting felt thoroughly stuck. Wouldn’t you know that a web search for “Hadean Lands [thing I was looking for]” took me straight here? What a nice surprise to find, and during a live broadcast, too!

I linked to it from the episode’s description: Jmac plays Hadean Lands Pt 5 - YouTube

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I did a big reorganization of the hints. (It was annoying me that the “endings” section appeared in the middle of the hints.)

I don’t think any hints got lost in the shuffle, but if you’re reading these hints and you find them confusing or you think something’s missing, feel free to comment here and I’ll try to clear things up.

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