games/competition2003/tads2/erudite/echints.txt

The Erudition Chamber is meant to be a somewhat adaptive game. Each puzzle has several solutions and
the story bits that you see change depending on which solution you choose. For that reason making a
hint file is a bit difficult. Any hints I give will lead you toward a specific solution and away from
other possible solutions. I'll do my best to give good hints but keep in mind the bias reading these
hints will put into your playing and try to stay with the solutions you believe you would have used
if you had never seen the hints. Or don't - after all, you're the player, I'm not.


THE GAME JUST STARTED - WHERE AM I?
You start the game right in front of the Erudition Chamber with a guard blocking the exit. The only
direction open to you is south, into the Chamber. The guard will not allow you back up the stairs.



I'M IN THE CHAMBER, BUT THERE ARE ONLY TWO ROOMS. WHERE DO I GO FROM HERE?
The first room has a table with some items on it. You don't absolutely have to have any of them but
they may come in handy so take whatever you want. A good place to start is reading the journal, it
will give you a better idea of what is going on.



I READ THE JOURNAL, NOW WHAT?
The second room is your first puzzle of sorts, though it hardly qualifies as a true puzzle. Use what
you read in the journal to decide how you want to solve it. I'll list each of the solutions below by
which order they belong to.

Warrior: Break the door with the axe.

Artisan: Examine the door. Notice anything? Examine the hinges. The table had a flask of oil on it.
         If you oil the hinges you can open the door.

Alchemist: Burn the door with the lamp.

Seer: Move the tapestry and use the hidden exit instead of the door.



I'M IN THE ANTECHAMBER, WHAT DO I DO?
You've just met your first Maester. Which one depends on how you solved the first puzzle but no matter which
one it is, he is now holding out a book for you to read. Read the book and then decide if you want to continue
with the test or leave the Keep. Go east to continue, or go west to leave.



I'M IN THE GEAR ROOM, HOW DO I SOLVE THIS PUZZLE?
The first thing to do is recognize what the puzzle is. The idea is to get the steps to go the rest of the way
up so that you can continue on. Take a good look around so you get a feel for what solutions might be 
possible. As a general rule in this game it's usually best to examine everything before you actually do 
anything. I'll list the solutions by order again.

Warrior: Examine the lift. Notice anything? Break the lift with the axe.

Artisan: Examine the table in the break room. Read the rust. Examine the tank at Pipe's End. Make the meter
         on the tank equal the number in the rust by opening and closing the right combination of valves.

Alchemist: Examine the lift. Notice the chain? Pull it.

Seer: Did you see the stool in the break room? Carry it up the stairs and drop it. Now climb up it to get
      to the next room.



I'M IN THE MIRROR ROOM NOW. WHAT IS THIS?
This puzzle is a little more complicated than the last. You'll want to take a good look around before you
mess with anything, to get a better understanding of what's going on. There is a central room with a mirror
a gear and a lever. Two rooms that are empty except for a hole in the wall opposite from the central room.
One room has an archway cut out of the wall opposite from the central room. One room has a hole in the wall
covered by a lens on a track opposite the central room, and there is a lever in the room.



OK, I'VE SEEN EVERYTHING BUT WHAT DOES IT ALL DO?
The lever in the central room rotates the mirror, as the mirror rotates it catches on the gear which causes
all of the surrounding rooms to rotate in the opposite direction of the mirror. The other lever (to the west
if you haven't pulled any levers yet) causes the lens to slide along it's track, either covering the hole in
the wall or uncovering it. At the same time it also causes all the outer rooms to rotate around the central
room.



SO NOW I UNDERSTAND WHAT IT DOES, BUT WHAT'S THE POINT?
The point is to get the beam of light from the west to hit the door to the north which causes the door to 
open. However an open door only does you any good if you can actually reach it, which means you'll need
the room with the archway to be to the north so you can get to the door. The problem with that of course
is that if the archway is to the north then the lens is to the west so you'll need to have the lens moved
away from the hole in the wall to allow the light to pass through in a beam. And of course you'll need the 
mirror to reflect the west room into the north room.



EGAD! HOW DO I DO ALL OF THAT?
Now is the time when you need to start thinking about how you want to solve this puzzle. There are still
four solutions. If you want to go the route of Alchemist or Warrior consider the fact that the gear that
the mirror catches on when you pull the lever is wood - a material notoriously vulnerable to both axe
and flame. If you're looking for the Artisan's solution then it's time to get out pencil and paper and
figure out the combination of lever pullings that will make everything happen. If you want to go the path
of the Seers then consider what would happen if you rotated the rooms so that the archway is to the west,
where the light is coming from.



JUST TELL ME THE SOLUTIONS ALREADY!
Ok, here they are listed by order.

Warrior: Pull the lever in the Lens Room so that the hole is uncovered. Now pull the lever in the Mirror Room
         until the Lens Room is to the west and the Archway is to the north (three times if you haven't messed
         with anything else). Break the gear in the Mirror Room with the axe. Now pull the lever until the 
         mirror reflects the beam of light from the west to the north. Go north, the door will be open.

Artisan: If you haven't messed with the levers at all then this is fairly simple. Pull the lever in the Mirror
         Room once and then pull the lever in the Lens Room three times. Now you should be able to go north
         through the archway (north twice from Mirror Room). If you have messed with the levers then you'll have
	 to figure out the correct
         combination on your own. The hole in the Lens Room has to be uncovered, the mirror must reflect from
         west to north, and the Archway must be to the north. You can only use the two levers to do all that -
         using anything else will get one of the other solutions.

Alchemist: Do exactly the same as the Warrior solution but burn the gear with the lamp instead of breaking it.

Seer: Pull the lever in the Mirror Room until the Archway is to the west. Now go west. Light is coming out of 
      the archway and it must be coming from somewhere. Go west again.



I'M IN THE DAMP ROOM, WHAT SHOULD I BE DOING?
Try to get through the grate to the north. There are, of course, four ways to do that. Explore thoroughly.



AND THOSE SOLUTIONS WOULD BE?
Ok, here they are by order again.

Warrior: Just lift the grate. Simple huh? (Note that open doesn't work here - you have to be specific.)

Artisan: Put the glowing liquid in the vial. Examine the grate. Open the panel you find. Put the vial with the glowing
         liquid in it into the clamp. The liquid conducts electricity so when the wires come down it closes a circuit
	 that opens the grate.

Alchemist: Put the glowing liquid into the vial. Examine the symbols and then match them to the charts to find out
           what they mean. (Fire, water, solution, digestion, iron translates into a "Fire-water solution that digests
	   iron" or "acid that eats through iron" if you like.) Pour the glowing liquid on the grate to disolve it and
	   go through.

Seer: Go south six times from the damp room, it'll look like you aren't getting anywhere but with a little patience
      you come to the end of the pipe. Turn on the water and then go back to the damp room and the grate will be open.


I'M IN THE LARGE CHAMBER, WHAT NOW?
Well that's up to you, read the book and then either continue on or leave - your choice.


#end