Reverse-view alcove · Velstraven

A small room of chapter 3. When you walk in, the room card reads: The marker ornament breaks the plate's border line; its latch stays shut.

Narrated walkthrough

Reverse-view alcove from its entrance — Reverse-view alcove: how to solve it

Getting there

Chapter 3, third upper floor. Through the west doorway of the stalled orrery. Its north door leads to the Roofward overlook.

What is wrong

"The marker ornament breaks the plate's border line; its latch stays shut." The ornament's curl should continue the plate's notched border. A rear inspection walk lets you see the plate from behind.

What you can work

Ornament: A hand-sized ornament that turns on its base a quarter turn at a time.
Basin: A dry stone basin facing the lit plate. A reading aid only.
Latch: A small maintenance latch keyed to the ornament's pose.
Reading lamp: Optional light to read the room by: Handle toggles it, Heat lights it, Supply liquid douses it, Place light roots a lasting flame blossom in its cup. It works none of the room's fittings.
Reading shutter: Optional: Handle or Orient opens a high window for daylight from a second angle. It works none of the room's fittings.

Solution

A nudge

It starts three quarters of a turn away from the pose that carries the border across the notch. Each press turns it one quarter.

The full solution

Handle the Ornament three times, reading its line after each turn.
It starts three quarters of a turn away from the pose that carries the border across the notch. Each press turns it one quarter.
What you see: "The ornament turns on its base." The line counts down: "…three quarters of a turn short…", then half, then a quarter, and finally "Its curl carries the plate's border across the notch."
Handle the Latch.
The latch is keyed to the ornament's pose. With the curl in line, nothing blocks it.
What you see: "The matching curl seats and releases its latch." then "Reverse-view alcove settled."

Other ways that work

Orient (Water, Will, Will) on the Ornament turns it the same quarter turn as a press.
Redirect light (Wind, Wind, Water) on the Basin tilts a reflector up: "The reflector shows the lit plate from its other view." It helps you read the border from the front, but the latch never checks it.

Watch for

Turning past the right pose just goes round again: four turns bring it back to the start.
The rear inspection walk shows the plate the way the curl must read.

If it goes wrong

A wrong pose only refuses the latch: "The curl does not continue across the notched border." Turn again.
Hold R for one second ("Keep holding to restart from the room's autosave"), or use the pause door "Restart from autosave", to put the room back as it was when you walked in: "Automatic room-entry save restored." Rooms you settled earlier stay settled.

Achievements here

Seen in Reverse: Solve the Reverse-view alcove.

Spells used

Orient, Redirect light.