Botanical stair vestibule

A small room of chapter 2. When you walk in, the room card reads: The living stair tread is folded shut; the upper landing is out of reach.

Narrated walkthrough

Narrated video coming soon

Getting there

Chapter 2, first upper floor, a dead end. Take the Teaching court's east arch into the Glazed inspection room and follow its south passage. This room is not one of the enclosure gate's conditions, but its open tread also raises the living access treads in the court that lead up to the enclosure handwheel. The metal service enclosure gate across the Teaching court and conservatory blocks the way to the winding stair, and there is no way round it. It rises only while four things hold at once: the Projection workshop's lectern carriage stands at the stone bearing pad at the very end of its rail, which is farther than that room needs to settle; the Cable winding room's drum is wound taut; the Glazed inspection room's shutter stands open; and you have handled the enclosure handwheel, the metal ring on the raised landing at the enclosure. The Botanical stair vestibule is not itself one of the conditions, but while its living tread stands unfolded, matching living treads appear in the court and lead up to that landing. The other way up is Climbing growth (Will + Water + Water) cast on the enclosure masonry below the landing ("The finite masonry holds change the route to the enclosure actuator."). Handling the ring: "The handwheel loads the enclosure cable against its carriage clearance and keeper." It stays loaded, so the order does not matter. Once the last condition is met the gate rises over about five seconds, and a pawl then holds it up for good. The whispering stacks play no part in it.

What is wrong

"The living stair tread is folded shut; the upper landing is out of reach." The Root's card: "The cup is dry, and the living joint above it is parched and folded shut." The Return latch is on the landing, above standing reach from the floor.

What you can work

Root

The root cup at the foot of the living joint that folds the tread.

Bladder

A slack sealed steam bladder under the joint, linked to the tread by a short arm.

Return

The ordinary latch to the dry route back, on the landing above standing reach.

Solution

Other ways that work

• Expand (Fire + Fire + Water) on the Bladder: "A steam bladder swells and unfolds the jointed tread." The swollen bladder holds the tread open until you dismiss it, and no water is needed. Casting it here rules out A Stair Without Swelling.

Watch for

• Too much Heat on the Root curls the leaves and draws the tread back in. The third Heat in quick succession crosses that line ("The joint above it is too hot; its leaves curl and the tread draws back in."). Stop and let it cool; the tread reopens as it cools.
• Heat on a dry joint does nothing: "The dry joint warms and its leaves curl; heat alone does not open it."
• Dismissing the Bladder lets the tread settle back to whatever the water alone holds open.
• Enclosure rule: the living treads in the court show only while this tread stands nearly or fully unfolded. Keep it open, and keep Heat off it, until you have handled the enclosure handwheel.
• The Reading lamp (Handle it, or Heat it) and the Reading shutter (Handle or Orient it) stand in every room. They only light the room to read by and work none of its fittings.

If it goes wrong

• This room has no failed state. To put it back as you found it, hold R for one second (pad: Start, then Restart from autosave); that reloads the autosave made when you entered the room.

Achievements here

• The Stair Grows: Solve the Botanical stair vestibule.
• A Stair Without Swelling: A Stair Without Swelling (focused): the main route, three doses of Supply liquid, earns it. Just never cast Expand in this room.
• A Warm Bath: A Warm Bath (aimed): Supply liquid on the Root, then one Heat on the Root within twenty seconds. One Heat is harmless; a third in a row curls the tread.

Spells used

Supply liquid, Expand.