Alignment records room · Velstraven

A small room of chapter 5. When you walk in, the room card reads: Dust buries the override wheel's seam; the bypass latch stays shut.

Narrated walkthrough

Alignment records room from its entrance — Alignment records room: how to solve it

Getting there

Chapter 5, on the lowest floor. Reach it from the Deep protection complex hall along the passage that also serves the door service antechamber, or by the long passage from the thermal latch vestibule.

What is wrong

Room card: "Dust buries the override wheel's seam; the bypass latch stays shut." The bypass latch is held by an offset cam on the wheel's axle, and the metal seam that shows the wheel's correct position is buried under dry mineral dust.

What you can work

Face: The dusty face of the stone wheel, with an inset metal seam that should run on unbroken into the surround.
Wheel: The pivoted stone override wheel; each Handle turns it to its next quarter position.
Latch: The bypass latch, held by the offset cam until the wheel stands at its mark.
Reading lamp: Optional light to read by.
Reading shutter: Optional second light angle.

Solution

A nudge

Warm rinsing water lifts the loose mineral coating, half of it per cast, so the buried seam can be followed.

The full solution

Cast Cleanse surface (Fire, Water, Water) at the Face twice.
Warm rinsing water lifts the loose mineral coating, half of it per cast, so the buried seam can be followed.
What you see: "Some mineral coating lifts from the wheel; patches remain." then "The last mineral coating lifts from the wheel." The card shows: the override wheel's seam shows.
Handle the Wheel twice.
The wheel starts a half turn away from its mark. With the seam bare you can see when the wheel's piece lines up with the surround's.
What you see: "The wheel turns on its pivot." followed by the seam's state, ending in "it runs unbroken from wheel to surround."
Handle the Latch.
At that position the offset cam on the axle stands clear, so the latch can move.
What you see: "The continuous seam corresponds to the cam's open position." Then "Alignment records room settled."

Other ways that work

Reveal traces (Wind, Fire, Water) cast at the Face beads water along the seam's edges and shows its line under the dust: "Beading water reveals the existing inset metal edges."
Orient (Water, Will, Will) at the Wheel or the Face turns the wheel instead of your hand.
No spell at all: wipe the Face by hand (seven presses clear it), or skip reading the seam. The latch only checks the wheel's position, and the wheel always starts two quarter turns from its mark.

Watch for

The wheel has four positions and keeps turning past the mark. If you overshoot, carry on round: two more turns bring it back.
Supply liquid just runs off the dry dust. Cleanse surface and Reveal traces work on the Face, not on the wheel's rim.

If it goes wrong

Nothing in this room can fail. At the wrong position the latch answers "The offset cam still prevents the bypass latch moving."

Achievements here

Records Aligned: Solve the Alignment records room.
Clean Slate: Clean Slate: cast Cleanse surface at the Face, then Reveal traces at the Face within 20 seconds. The Face accepts both even after the dust is gone. The ward register's Face works the same way.

Spells used

Cleanse surface, Reveal traces, Orient.