Heresiarch's Seminary: Solving the Puzzle of the Planets
Before you start looking for the missing planets, you first need to get into the
Seminary. The portal from the Hypostyle in episode 2 takes you to a tower in front
of the Seminary (as the story tells you). Take the elevators down and enter the
Seminary, which is very, very dark at this point. (Watch out for the Dark Bishops!)
You need to enter some distance into the Seminary, and then a small earthquake
occurs and the lights in the hall will light up. The chart with the missing planets
are on the other side of the wall facing the entrance to the Seminary.
As an interesting aside, go to the north part of the Seminary (the far end), where
there's a hole in the ceiling with a roughly square wall under it. This is a magical
area; stepping close to the wall lowers it and randomly teleports monsters and
goodies into the area enclosed by the wall. To get the goodies (some of them are
quite worth the trouble... such as Kraters of Might), you must get inside the
area enclosed by the walls before the walls rise again, because after they rise,
they won't lower again for quite some time. Once inside, you can collect all the
stuff, and the walls can be opened from the inside when you want to get out again.
(Note: if you are low on life/ammo, you shouldn't try this because the monsters
that teleport in are among the tougher ones.)
OK, back to solving the puzzle. The five planets that you need are not found in
the Heresiarch's Seminary itself, but on two sub-levels:
There are stained glass walls on the northeastern and northwestern corner of the
Seminary. Go and smash these glass walls and pull the switches behind them (there
should be six switches). This opens the corridors on the northeast and southeast
corners of the Seminary.
Silent Refectory
Go down the northeast corridor that just opened in the Seminary. At the end of
the corridor, there's a switch on the wall on the left. Pull this switch, and
quickly run to the far end of the corridor, and jump on the elevator
that is lowering. You have to get on the elevator quickly, otherwise
it'll be too far down and you'll get hurt jumping on it.
In some difficulty settings, there may be a nasty surprise waiting for you when
the elevator reaches the bottom, so prepare your weapons... At the bottom, you'll
see the portal leading to the Silent Refectory. The switch on the wall is to lower
the elevator so that you can get out when you come back from the Silent Refectory.
The Silent Refectory looks like some kind of storage area with piles of wooden
boxes. But the name is misleading, though... just take a few steps forward and
you'll see what I mean :)
Emerald Planet
From where you start in the Refectory, turn right and go south. Jump up onto the
box in front of you, and turn left (east). Go straight and jump into the corridor.
Now turn right and go south. When you reach the stack of boxes in front of you,
follow the right side of the boxes (you should be going south here). When you
reach the wall, turn left and look into the dark area. Pull the switch inside
there. Now go east, around the boxes hiding the switch, and stairs should have
lowered. The portal at the bottom of the stairs takes you back to the Heresiarch's
Seminary. Don't enter the portal now; go to the room behind the portal where the
Dark Bishops are. There's a switch on the raised walkway at the far end of the
room. Pull this switch, and a small area behind the portal opens. One of the Emerald
Planets is on the shelf inside.
Sapphire Planet
Go to where the portal is and climb up the stairs. Now turn right and go all the
way until boxes block your way. Turn right, and you should see a stack of two
boxes marked with some symbol. Jump on the boxes on your right (south of you),
and go inside the dark area. The switch inside here lowers the pile of marked
boxes I just mentioned. Pull the switch and quickly climb out of the dark area.
Jump into the hole where the marked boxes have lowered (of course, if you prefer
to shoot at the slaughtaurs from above, you can always go pull the switch again
when the boxes rise up.) Climb up the spiral staircase, brace yourself (you can
guess what's coming...) and pull the switch at the top. If you survive the surprise
(find out what it is yourself :) go back to where the marked boxes are and activate
it. The boxes will lower. Step on it and it will take you back to the area with
many boxes.
After you step off the marked boxes, go west and turn right (face north). Climb
over the box in front of you and go all the way to the northern wall. Turn left
and jump on the box that's also marked with a symbol. Walk on the boxes into the
small at the back, and pull the switch there. (If I've lost you, this switch is
on the northwest corner of this storage area.) Now, a door is open on the northern
wall next to the marked box. Go into the room behind this door, which has windows
looking into some kind of dining room. Enter the dining room and go to the southern
end. There should be an opening here (the switch you pulled in the room with the
spiral staircase opens this). This opening leads to an ascending passage which
has windows looking into the room with the spiral stairs (you've probably been
shot at from here when you were in that room).
At the end of the passage there's a switch that opens a door on the east side
of the dining room. Pull the switch, go back to the dining room and enter the
opening on the east side. There's a large pillar rising from the pit in the middle
of the room. When you approach the edge of the pit, the pillar begins to open,
and reveal a Sapphire Planet on a smaller pillar inside. To get the Sapphire Planet,
aim carefully and jump onto the pillar. Don't panic! The pillar
will start to lower when you jump on it. (I guess this is for those who missed
and fell into the pit). Just wait a while and it will rise again. Jump back out,
and return to the dining room.
As an aside, go to the northern wall of the dining room and push the wall with
a purple dot a the top (push, ie., walk against it). If you push far enough, you'll
see a small hole on the right with an item in it (I think it's a Banishment Device).
Ruby Planet
OK, back to your quest. Enter the door on the west side of the dining room. There
are two doors here; you can pick either one. The one on the left goes into a room
with a lava pool and the one on the right into a room with a water pool. Each
of these rooms has a revolving door (which is not automatic... you have to push
it to open it), which leads into a chamber with the Ruby Planet on a shelf. A
word of warning: be careful when you grab the Ruby Planet: don't just stand there
and admire it...
That's all for the Silent Refectory. Now it's time to go to the Orchard of Lamentations.
Note: if you go to the room with the lava pool, notice that one of the dark openings
is taller than the rest. This is a hidden passage that leads right back to where
you first enter this level. Go to the portal now and get back to the Heresiarch's
Seminary.
Orchard of Lamentations
Go down the southeast corridor in the Seminary. Look for a switch on your right
(before you come to the end of the corridor). Pull this switch,
and turn around. After a short pause, the stairs you just came down on will lower,
revealing a secret passage on the south wall beside the stairs. Go inside this
secret passage, and climb up the stairs. Kill the Dark Bishops here. The southern
wall of the room will open to the area outside the Seminary.
Now, a similar room will open on the other side (the WEST side)
of the Seminary. Go west (outside the Seminary) and enter the
room there. Go down the stairs, and follow the zig-zagging passage. Note that
this passage is magical; after going along it for a distance
you'll find yourself on the ledge at the east side of the Seminary, at the end
of the southeast corridor, where the slaughtaurs are. (Actually what happened
is that in the middle of the zig-zagging passage there is an invisible teleport
that warps you to a similar passage behind the ledge where the slaughtaurs are.)
There is a switch on the ledge; pull it, and a door will open on the wall in the
area below the ledge. The portal behind this wall takes you to the Orchard of
Lamentations.
Emerald Planet
Don't worry, I didn't make a mistake. There are two Emerald Planets and two Sapphire
Planets. In fact, there are two Ruby Planets too, except that one of them is already
on the chart, so you only need to find the other one. So, now, in the Orchard,
follow the path from the portal (there's nowhere else to go). Be careful of the
muck here (you know why). You'll reach an area with slaughtaurs on two high ledges.
Go further, and go down to the roundish area with ettins, slaughtaurs and quite
a few poison mushrooms. Go down the stairs on the south side of this area.
Now you have to very, very fast in making your moves. Pull the switch, which you
lower the platform at the end of the path. Quickly jump down and run as fast as
possible to the nearest corner, before the entire floor rises and crushes you
to death! Now you'll be in a small room with a switch that lowers the floor again.
Your goal is to reach the middle, southern room in this place
(look at the map). You do this by pulling the switch in each of the rooms and
going quickly from room to room as the floor lowers and rises. When you reach
the middle, southern room, there should be two switches. The switch on the east
wall opens the central room in this crushing-floor area (look at the map and you'll
know what I mean). Once this is opened, you can reach it from any of the seven
rooms. There are also two switches in this room; one of them activates something
on this level, and the other lowers the floor so that you can get out.
Once you pulled the switch, lower the floor and run to the north side where the
exit is. Go back to the area with the slaughtaurs on the two ledges. The high
place on the east has lowered; climb all the way up until you reach the slimy
river at the very top. The Emerald Planet you're looking for is near the edge
of the slime-falls (don't fall though, it hurts).
Sapphire Planet
Go to the raised ledge in front of the slimy river. You should be able to see
one of the ledges with the slaughtaurs. Now, aim carefully, run as fast as you
can and jump onto that ledge. If you can't make it, keep trying! (Hint: holding
down your jump key longer helps.) Once on the ledge, enter the misty passage behind
it. This is a magical passage similar to the one in the Heresiarch's Seminary:
it teleports you somewhere along the way to a similar passage that leads into
the west side of the area with the four paths.
If you're greedy, or feel like bashing up some baddies, notice that the northern
wall here has opened. Get your weapons ready, and go grab the porkalator. Monsters
will appear at the sides where two other walls will open.
Whether you're greedy or not, notice that the east side of this area is also open
now. Go down the stairs into the misty passage. This is another of those magical
passages. It teleports you to the other ledge with the slaughtaurs.
The Sapphire Planet is here. Grab it, and jump down the ledge.
There's nothing much else to do here, so go back to the portal and return to the
Heresiarch's Seminary.
The Last Segment of your Fourth Weapon
This is an aside... but since finding the parts of your fourth weapon is also
a puzzle, I guess I'll include this one as well.
At this point, you should have found the first two parts of your fourth weapon.
Go to the end of the southeast passage in the Heresiarch's Seminary. There's a
switch here that you must pull: see if you can find it! (no, it's not the one
on the ledge that opens the portal to the Orchard of Lamentations.) Hint: remember
the first thing you did when you entered the Darkmere in Episode 2? (Remember
what those trees looked like??) This switch will start rotating the four doors
along the passage. Two of these doors lead to the ledges with the Chaos Serpents
overlooking this area. The door we're interested in here is the southwestern one.
It leads to a room with many pitchers. The last segment of your fourth weapon
is in this room. The pitchers also have lots of ammo in them. But watch out, though.
One of them contains no ammo but a nasty, nasty surprise (I won't tell you which
one it is: find out yourself... hehe)
Icon of the Defender
Another aside... (if you're itching to solve the puzzle, you can skip this section).
So, you're greedy to get the Icon of the Defender. Well, go through the northwestern
door on the southeast passage in the Seminary (see the previous section). This leads to a U-shaped
passage that goes around the area with many Chaos Serpents (you've probably seen
them through the window from the main hall of the Seminary). At each end of the
passage there's a wall with a purple gem at the top. Activating either of these
walls lowers elevators around the passage that takes you right into the room with
the Chaos Serpents (have fun!). The Icon is on the water in the middle of the
room.
Fitting the Planets on the Chart
Go to the chart, select a planet, and use it on the chart. You should be able
to figure out which planet belongs where on the chart: the game won't let you
put a planet in the wrong place so just try another spot if it says "you can't
use this here". Before you go on, check that you've fitted five
planets on the chart. There should be six planets on the chart now, including
one of the Ruby Planet that was already there before.
Once you've fitted in all the planets, go to the north part of the Seminary where
the magical area is. Doors will open on the side walls and on the wall behind
the area. The door behind the magical area leads to a room with three portals
and nine panels on the wall. Now, it's time to solve the next puzzle in this episode:
the puzzle of the chapels.
Previous episode: Shadow Wood
Previous document: Heresiarch's Seminary: synopsis
Next document: Heresiarch's Seminary: solving the puzzle (2)
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