A lesson room at the start of chapter 1, with starter puzzles. It is not one of the 35 puzzle rooms, but its ward grilles close the way on until it is done.
Narrated walkthrough
Getting there
Ground floor, between the Silent refectory (south) and the Entrance court (north). Both ways on from the refectory depend on its seals. Its north grille opens to the Entrance court, and the same seals hang over the grille in the refectory's west passage toward the Shelf passage. These starters are not among the 35 university rooms.
What is wrong
"The ward grilles are down. Restore the hearth, brazier and flagstone (0 of 6 put right)." Each fitting needs two steps in order, and each wears a pair of seals that light left to right: the spit hearth ember then pale, the brazier violet then ember, the flagstone blue then frost.
What you can work
- Cold spit hearth
- Cold kindling under a hood; a vane in the hood's mouth is corded to a spit. Then "Spit hearth · burning, vane still", then "Spit hearth · turning".
- Covered brazier
- A brazier under a hinged iron cover too heavy to lift by hand. Then "Brazier · uncovered", then "Brazier · burning".
- Flagstone over the ice-well
- A flagstone sitting tight in its bed, with a dry hairline seam round it. Then "Flagstone · seam full of water", then "Flagstone · heaved up".
- Ward seals
- Three pairs of seals; Handle them for the colour key.
- Ward grille
- The grilles that answer to the buttery's seals.
Solution
A nudge
Any spell carrying a Fire orb lights the kindling. But a fire's own rising heat is too gentle to spin the vane.
The full solution
Other ways that work
- Spit hearth: any spell with a Fire orb lights it (Directed impulse, Sever and others); any spell with a Wind orb fans it (Lighten, Draw off liquid and others).
- Brazier: Directed impulse ("knocks the iron cover up and back on its hinge"), Suspend ("lifts the cover's edge and holds it open") or Lighten ("makes the iron cover light; the weight on its arm swings it open") open it as well as Draw. Directed impulse also carries Fire, so a second Directed impulse lights it.
- Flagstone: any spell carrying a Water orb fills the seam except Chill and Draw off liquid, so Orient or Draw would do. Only Chill heaves it.
- The three fittings can be done in any order; only the two steps on each fitting are ordered. Each step lights one seal: "A seal over the grilles glows (N of 6)."
Watch for
- Wind before fire: "... runs up the cold hood. The vane stays still: nothing burns under it yet to drive a draught."
- More heat on the lit hearth: "... adds to the blaze, but more heat does not turn the vane".
- Fire on the closed brazier: "... plays over the iron cover; the kindling is shut away under it."
- Chill on the dry seam: "... frosts the dry seam. There is no water in it yet to freeze." Heat on the wet seam: "Cold, not heat, would swell that water."
- Standing on the flagstone when it heaves: "The rising stone tips you off it."
- Handle the Ward seals for the colour key: "Ember is Fire, violet Will, blue and frost Water, pale Wind."
If it goes wrong
- Nothing here can fail, and there is no timer.
Achievements here
- Four Slots Ready: Four Slots Ready (spine): Heat, Draw, Supply liquid and Chill fill all four slots at once.
- All Five Orbs: All Five Orbs (spine): if not already earned in the refectory, binding Heat (Fire, Growth) and Draw (Wind, Will, Water) covers all five elements.
Spells used
Heat, Draw, Supply liquid, Chill, Directed impulse, Suspend, Lighten.