Frugal Scholar · Velstraven · Morass Games Wiki

Frugal Scholar, for the devoted. The game describes it as: Solve all thirty required puzzles having cast no more than twenty different spells that took effect.

Narrated guide

What the game counts

The game keeps a list of every different spell that took effect on this journey, from the first refectory lesson on. When the 30th required room settles, the list must hold 20 or fewer. A spell joins the list the first time it changes something anywhere: a room fitting, a lesson or buttery fitting, the Reading lamp or shutter, a Stilling ward, and every personal spell that goes through (Boost jump, Rising draught, Hasten, Short traverse). Optional rooms and experiments count the same. Casts that are refused, shed or unravel do not add to the list, and neither do casts at furniture or wall torches, which never change the room. A restart from the autosave rolls the list back to the room's entry, at the cost of Never Looked Back. Once the 30th required room settles, nothing more is checked.

Before you start

Start a new journey; the list belongs to the journey.
Plan your slot changes from the table: four slots, thirteen spells, bound as each stretch needs them.
Do not test personal spells, Stilling ward or Place light until the 30th room is done. Experiment on furniture instead: it takes any spell and adds nothing to the list.
Light dim rooms by hand: Handle the Reading lamp or the Reading shutter.

The route

Do the lessons and starters with Heat, Draw, Supply liquid and Chill.
These four are forced: the brazier and trolley need a spell that moves them, the hearths a Fire spell, the basin Supply liquid, and only Chill heaves the flagstone. Draw also fans the spit hearth, because it carries a Wind orb.
What you see: "The last seal glows (6 of 6) and both grilles open." Four spells used.
In chapter 1, add only Orient (Will, Will, Water) and Tether (Will, Growth, Growth). Turn the shelf passage's Folio by hand with X, move the gallery cart with Draw alone, and solve the dark frieze by hand.
Lighten only speeds the cart; Draw pulls it to the near pier on its own in about three and a half seconds.
What you see: "The cart travels toward the sound parking pier." Six spells used.
In chapter 2, add Grip surface (Fire, Growth, Water), Sever (Fire, Fire, Fire) and Place sound (Wind, Growth, Water). Wind the cable by hand, and on the vine hold the stem with the Catch instead of Anchor.
Five hand strokes of the Crank wind as far as Repeat motion. The Catch takes the grown stem's load by itself.
What you see: "The ordinary trellis catch takes the trained stem load." Nine spells used.
In chapter 3, add Climbing growth (Will, Water, Water). Take the lift room by the holds, and cut the orrery's Strap with the brake still on.
The Upper gate opens to a hand from the landing whether or not the lift works. With the Strap cut, each ring turns on its own wheel.
What you see: "The upper landing's return gate catches open." Ten spells used.
In chapter 4, add Spring surface (Wind, Will, Growth) and Suspend (Will, Will, Will). Heat the cold furnace ducts' latch at its Pad, and float the stop and the frame with Suspend and Draw instead of water and Buoyant support.
A held load does not fall, so Draw can pull it into place. The heated Pad thaws the latch without the water route.
What you see: "The frame's weight is held; it hangs free of what it rested on." Twelve spells used.
In chapter 5, add Span (Wind, Growth, Growth) for the cistern. Chill and Grip surface are already on the list; the last three rooms are done by hand.
Every remaining room has a route made of spells you already used.
What you see: Thirteen spells used when the ward register releases; the medal appears with the 30th room.

A 13-spell journey, room by room

Room, in journey order	Route	New spell	Different spells so far
Silent refectory (lessons)	Heat on the hearth, Draw on the trolley, Supply liquid in the basin	Heat, Draw, Supply liquid	3
Old buttery (starters)	Heat then Draw on the spit hearth, Draw then Heat on the brazier, Supply liquid then Chill on the flagstone	Chill	4
Shelf passage	Turn the Folio by hand (X), then Draw	-	4
Vent antechamber	Orient on the Hood, Handle the Door	Orient	5
Counterweight repair room	Tether on the Connector, then the hand steps	Tether	6
Bell chamber	Heat on the Bearing, then Handle the Pull	-	6
The dark frieze	By hand only (Handle the Reading lamp for light)	-	6
The sagging gallery	Draw on the Cart from the floor, wait until it parks at the near pier, cross	-	6
Projection workshop	Grip surface on the Strip, Draw on the Carriage, Handle the Shoe at once	Grip surface	7
Cable winding room	By hand: Guide, Tail, Crank five times, Clutch	-	7
Glazed inspection room	Sever on the Stem, Handle the Vine, Handle the Shutter	Sever	8
Botanical stair vestibule	Supply liquid on the Root three times	-	8
The whispering stacks	Place sound on the Whistle, Tether on the Panel	Place sound	9
The warmth-seeking vine	Heat on the Far shoe, Supply liquid on the Root four times, Handle the Catch (no Anchor)	-	9
Resonance laboratory	Supply liquid into the left and right goblets four times each, Turn (X) the middle goblet four times	-	9
Striker test lane	Grip surface on the Strip, Handle the Release	-	9
The counterweight lift	Climbing growth on the Wall from the maintenance platform, climb, Handle the Upper gate	Climbing growth	10
The stalled orrery	Brake left on: Sever on the Strap, Wheel 0 once, Wheel 1 twice, Wheel 2 three times, Bar	-	10
Reverse-view alcove	By hand: Ornament three times, Latch	-	10
Lens-cleaning room	Supply liquid on the Lens twice (or Handle it three times)	-	10
Pendulum maintenance bay	Brake, Orient on the Arm, Tether on the Eye, Pin	-	10
Water-junction room	Orient on the Elbow (or Handle its handwheel), Valve	-	10
The cold furnace ducts	At the archive door: Handle the Panel, Heat on the Pad, wait, Latch, Door	-	10
Receiving shaft room	Spring surface on the Pad, Handle the Pad once, Release	Spring surface	11
Float test basin	Suspend on the Stop, Draw on the Stop, Handle the Socket	Suspend	12
The drowned hall	Suspend on the Frame, Draw on the Frame, walk through	-	12
The choked cistern	Supply liquid on both blossoms, Span on both gaps, Suspend and Orient on the Trellis	Span	13
Thermal latch vestibule	Isolation lever, Chill on the Latch, Latch, Door	-	13
Drip-ladder passage	Grip surface on the Rungs, climb, Return latch	-	13
Door service antechamber	By hand: Handle, Door, walk through, Mount	-	13
Alignment records room	By hand: Wheel twice, Latch	-	13
The ward register	By hand: rings, both tests, Release	-	13

Watch for

The optional rooms fit the same thirteen: the upper shelf with Draw, the smoke portrait by hand, the shy specimen with Place sound, the broken balcony with Span, the sealed keepsake with Suspend on the Lid and Sever on the Clasp.
A cast at a chair or shelf is free; a cast at the Reading lamp is not, because lighting it changes the room.
Heat on a reading lamp that is already lit changes nothing and adds nothing, but a new spell on the lamp (Place light) would.
Seven spare places give room for a mistake. If a spell you did not plan does take effect, a restart from the autosave rolls the list back to that room's entry.

What breaks it

A 21st different spell taking effect anywhere before the 30th required room settles.
Trying out personal spells, Stilling ward or Place light "just to see" during the run.

Rooms involved

The sagging gallery, The warmth-seeking vine, The counterweight lift, The stalled orrery, The cold furnace ducts, The drowned hall, Float test basin, The choked cistern, Cable winding room.

Spells

Heat, Draw, Supply liquid, Chill, Orient, Tether, Grip surface, Sever, Place sound, Climbing growth, Spring surface, Suspend, Span.