Wherever your house is now, it's sinking in a hurry. Better act fast!
Two obelisks bearing curious symbols and mirrors affixed at the top. Weird.
Good thing this dam is here. Otherwise your house would be getting waterlogged in addition to being stuck on top of a huge balloon in a pit.
It's very dark down there. You can't see your house. No telling how far it sank. Oh no! You just realized your dad must be down there. You hope he's ok.
More signs of life hidden in the cracks. It's as if the land wants to be lush and fertile, but nothing can survive on the surface. It's making the whole cave smell like a flower shop.
Answer Roxy? →←
The switch has no power. It does nothing! You flip it up and down a bunch and nothing just keeps on happening.
It is a young SEED POD, yet to be released to the surface. Looks like it needs a lot more helium.
Some very old stone tablets, along with carving apparatus. They say: "We spent so long tending to our sacred seed pods. Each I cared for and released was like a precious bubble glubbed from my own mouth! They would seed our planet in anticipation of the Maid's arrival. Alas, it turned out we had the prophecy all wrong. Our scholars discovered she would not arrive for millions of years! Our kind would not survive to welcome her. So our elders gave us a new purpose. We must all go to work building our own graves! Some say this is not as much fun as tending to seed pods and a life of simple agriculture. But I think it could be a blast! I'm just a 'balloon is half inflated' kind of guy I guess."
The people here were highly skilled artisans. What is that, some sort of giant window? You can't imagine THAT has much significance. You give it no further consideration.
A little chamber full of bones. You guess the remains of an old salamander or something? This is just such a piss poor burial job.
The door is locked. There's a strange symbol on it which you find mysteriously alluring. The more you look at it, the more you think it's just so cool. You could totally see wearing that thing on a shirt. Yeah...
There's a skull weighing this thing down. Could be an obvious boobytrap. Gonna take some bravery to swipe it. What do you say? Take SALAMANDER SKULL? →←
Lil Sebastian!!! What are you doing all the way out here? It looked like you were going down with the ship. Your fidgety little legs sure do help you get around fast.
Anyway, you shouldn't be dancing around here in the middle of nowhere unsupervised like this. You should come along.
Take Lil Sebastian? →←
Answer UU? →←
A creature carved into the side of the hill. Probably a member of an ancient species that went extinct long ago, leaving behind the remains of this ancient civilization.
Another one of these colorful bouyant pods emerging from its hole. Thousands of these things roam around seeding and watering the planet. Yet nothing grows...
You can't see a thing in any of these holes. It's too dark. Maybe if you could find some way to shine a light down there?
This ancient obelisk has some sort of mirror affixed to its peak. You wonder what the deal is with these things? You vaguely hazard that it's got "something to do with puzzles."
New words of wisdom from the elders! From Hemera's lips to our slimy amphibious ears. The Nobles will arrive one by one. First to LOCAH, then to LOPAN. Then comes LOTAK, followed by LOMAX. One by one, the Nobles will come, only to discover the remains of those who worshipped them and paved the way for their arrival. But then it is their duty to pave the way for others. For those from the planets through the glass, whatever that means. LOWAS, LOLAR, LOHAC, LOFAF... you know what? That's too many letters. The alphabet confuses me sometimes.
When times were simpler, we called them the Four Heroes. Our stories were so much happier and easy to understand, but we were living in delusion. When it became clear the Heroes could not fulfill their destiny by some cosmic flaw, they became known as the Nobles. It pretty much means the same thing, but is a title more commonly reserved for martyrs or tragic figures who toil in futility. The new scripture states it will require divine intervention for the Nobles to achieve victory. So there's at least one thing to be hopeful for. Unfortunately, a more recent tenet of our ever-unfolding myth states that the aspect of Hope itself is dead on arrival, so...
Our people have waited for centuries for the Four Nobles to arrive, and it seems we will wait centuries more. We will wait so long that apparently we will all die waiting? That's what we're supposed to do they say. It's just a big waiting game up in here. And when the Nobles finally arrive, then apparently THEY have to wait too! We're told they cannot summon the Speaker of the Vast Croak without help. So they must wait for another four to arrive. Gods they say. Together they will raise the Speaker and fight invincible demons I think? I used to think I understood our folklore. It made me happy to think about greeting the Maid. But then it all changed, and now its kind of complicated and distressing and sad? Ah well, I'll just keep building crypts and carving tablets like I'm told.
It yo u are reodig this it m e ans i m dead Dang! ca r ving stone i5 har d, i wan t to go bak to farmin pods
Oh hey there's a skull you just GOTTA have it. Take TURTLE SKULL? →←
This tablet contains an enthusiastic story about the Maid of Life, who is obviously you. It seems the author doesn't really understand human physiology. In the story you are blowing bubbles in excitement, and there are allusions to the shiny layer of slime coating your skin. You can't read any more. Fan fiction written by any species is always a tough read.
This tablet appears to contain a hastily carved list of someone's favorite bugs? There's hardly any anecdotal lore or wisdom at all. You guess not all of these ancient tablets can be winners.
"It is strange to think the only one alive left in the land to greet the Maid will be Hemera herself! What an incredible encounter between legends that will be. Of course, she will have been slumbering for centuries when the Maid finally arrives. It's funny how all the stories we grew up believing have been changing. Of course I love all our old stories, but personally I think the new ones are just as interesting. Yes, I know, I know. Unpopular opinion!"
Aw man. Jake's pestering you. You don't think you have it in you to answer after the last catastrophic encounter. Not yet, at least. Take a look at what he has to say anyway? →←
There is a skull shaped indentation. Something probably needs to go in there. As for what, you think you'll need one of your fanciest detective mustaches to crack that mystery. Put a skull in there? →←
That skull won't fit!!! No, stop. It's such an obvious mismatch. Don't even try. Jane, put the skull down.
The lanterns have been hoisted. Three beams of light shine from the tower.
The thing spits the skull back out. You grab it. No reason to squander a perfectly good puzzle skull. You think Jake would agree.
No need to mess with this thing anymore. Thinking it's going to serve any further purpose is just being bad at puzzles, frankly.
One by one the Nobles will arrive, and just as surely, one by one their lights will be snuffed out. In the beginning, the light of our Hope was lost. We must make do without it, and so must they. Then a mighty gust came and took the light of our Life as well, and our people knew despair like never before. But the light soon renewed its flicker quite spontaneously, and has been shining strong since. All in the land rejoiced.
Our lights of Heart and Void will each follow in time, long after our extinction. One will be extinguished, and then another, leaving only Life as the guiding light. But they should remain long enough to illuminate the Maid's path, and assist her with the housekeeping we have left behind.
Four lanterns suspended from the tower. They are very bright. But the green one is burnt out. There does not appear to be a way to light it. If only you had a small accomplice spry enough to climb up there...
Tell Lil Sebastian to climb up? →←
Rotate the lanterns? →←
Call Lil Seb back down? →←
The mirrors reflect the light. The direction it goes in depends on the color. Must be some advanced refraction principle in play.
A beam of light enters the pit. It's still too dark to see much. You don't want to risk tossing Seb down without knowing what's at the bottom. There must be a way down there...
It looks like the mirror at the top is designed to reflect light in different directions depending on the color of the beam. How mysterious.
The pink light is illuminating an object at the bottom. But it's way too far down for you to jump. If only you had a nimble little helper to send down there to investigate. Deploy Lil Seb to check it out? →←
Enter mausoleum? →←
Dear, sweet, precious, sweet, sweet, loyal Little Sebastion. SHIT YOU MEAN LIL.
Fuckin' JACKPOT. Take CROCODILE SKULL? →← Elsewhere...
Door's locked. Now what, Crocker??
The pedestal is now empty. Wanna put something else there?
Elsewhere...
Man, this ain't a solution to ANYTHING leavin' this here. Also it's such a great book. Why waste it on a room full of dumb beetles. Take WISE GUY? →←
You almost feel embarrassed for thinking this was the solution to this puzzle. Let's just sweep this blunder under the rug. No one ever needs to be the wiser. Take SALAMANDER SKULL? →←
One the one hand, puzzles need solving. On the other hand, oh god that cake looks so delicious. Hmmmmmmmmmm. Take CAKE? →←
great (there are scuttling noioses)
Flip switch? →← Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeewwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww... Scarabs. ):
UUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUGH. D:
The switch is already flipped; the horses, out of the barn.
Elsewhere...
No use bothering with this dank old mausoleum anymore. You nabbed all the loot worth getting down there. This thing ain't exactly an amusement park ride.
There is no power being supplied to the mausoleum's control switch! Going in there would be dumb and pointless
More old stone tablets. They say: "When heart looks northwest, my seed pod will rise! I am so proud of it. As a pod uses up its water, it becomes lighter and lighter. It eventually floats away into the Medium. It's said that some very lucky few will eventually reach Skaia itself! If you have a wish, you can carve it into the pod. If it reaches Skaia, your wish will come true! I want to carve something, but I can't think of what to wish for. Maybe some delicious bugs? Think, imagination! The one time I really need you."
Carve something in the seed pod? →← Carving stuff is even harder than drawing stuff. And frankly, you're not sure even Skaia can deliver on this wish. You blew it so hard. But hey, a girl can dream, right?
You can't carve anything! The pod is gone. Talk about a missed opportunity. Oh well, so much for magical wishes. As if magic isn't so totally fake anyway.
Flip switch? →← The SEED POD has been released, leaving behind an empty husk. Will it reach Skaia? You suppose you will never know.
Take skull? →← You got an IGUANA SKULL!
You flip the switch again. You hear a rush of wind come from the hole vacated by the seed pod. Guess there isn't much point to this thing anymore.
There's no reason to do anything with this pedestal anymore. You could jump up and down on it you guess. That would be some especially pointless tomfoolery though.
An engraving : "When three visitors look inward, the way to the Maid's palace will be clear."
There are three skull shaped indentations on the panel. You wonder what could go in the indentations? You are going to go out on a limb and guess... precious gemstones. Yes, that's it. But seriously. Put a skull in one of the indentations? →←
The salamander skull doesn't fit in any of the slots!!! You try to cram it in to no avail. Will you cut that out? I said it doesn't fit!
You got a BOONBUCK! You do a little dance.
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