Dry Feet

Dry Feet, a deliberate attempt. The game describes it as: Solve the choked cistern without the water ever reaching the refuge.

Narrated guide

Narrated video coming soon

What the game counts

The choked cistern must settle with no failure recorded in that room on this journey. From the first moment you stand inside, the inlet adds 400 litres a second to a basin holding 30,000 litres while either fire blossom burns. At 60,000 litres the warning appears, about 75 seconds in; at 70,000, about 100 seconds in, the refuge floods and the attempt fails. The flood keeps rising while you are in another room, and that failure is recorded as soon as you walk back in. A failure is recorded at once and survives a restart from the autosave; only loading a manual save made before it removes it. Once the student is rescued the room cannot fail.

Before you start

• In the Deep protection complex hall, bind Supply liquid (Water, Water, Water), Span (Wind, Growth, Growth), Suspend (Will, Will, Will) and Orient (Will, Will, Water).
• Make a manual save in the hall before you step through the arch.

The route

1. Step in and cast Supply liquid at Blossom 0, then at Blossom 1.
   The inlet's sensor watches the two flames. With both quenched it closes, and the water never rises again. Aim at the flowers, not the water.
   What you see: "Water quenches the blossom seen by the protective inlet sensor." The room card: "both fire blossoms are dark".
2. From the entrance ledge, cast Span at Span 0 (the ledge gap) and Span 1 (the island gap).
   The student will only walk on a bridge that rests on stone at both ends.
   What you see: "The woven bridge seats on two load-bearing stone supports."
3. Cast Suspend at the Trellis, then Orient at it four times.
   The fallen trellis binds at its hinge under its own weight. Held, it turns, each turn swinging it a quarter further up off the refuge.
   What you see: "The hinged trellis's weight is held." Then "The trellis turns through its clear hinge sweep."
4. Cross both spans to the island and Handle the Trellis catch.
   The catch holds the raised trellis so it cannot fall back onto the refuge.
   What you see: "The service catch holds the trellis clear of the refuge."
5. Handle the Student and let them walk out over the spans, about fifteen seconds.
   They follow landing by landing to the entrance.
   What you see: "The student follows only as far as the next safe supported landing." Then "The choked cistern settled."

Watch for

• Supply liquid aimed at the basin water instead of a blossom adds 5,000 litres, about twelve seconds of flooding.
• One Heat on a quenched blossom leaves it damp and dark; a second Heat relights it, and the flood resumes.
• Do not pass through to the thermal latch vestibule or the drip-ladder passage while a blossom still burns.
• Another way: Sever the Drain vine and Handle the Drain. The outflow takes 1,200 litres a second, three times the inlet. Below 5,000 litres the bed is dry and the student uses the service stairs, but the trellis still has to be raised and caught.

What breaks it

• "Rising water reached the refuge. You and the student are safely back at this room’s entry state. Earlier progress is retained." The pause menu opens, and the failure is already recorded.
• Restart from autosave does not remove it; load the manual save from the hall.

Rooms involved

The choked cistern.

Spells

Supply liquid, Span, Suspend, Orient, Lighten, Sever.