Part 24: Submachine 9: The Temple
Part 24Submachine 9: The Temple
Welcome back! Last time we started exploring a huge, mysterious Pyramid. We stopped when we found and opened a hole leading down to a second basement level.
I decided to stop here because going further down changes the music from the Pyramid theme to the Ruins theme. We're apparently reaching a separate, deeper section of the Pyramid.
♫ Thumpmonks - Submachine 9 - Ruins
RTL
Another grey floor down here, but now a lot of those grey back wall panels are gone, revealing blue tiles in front of the raw stone. Let's follow old adventuring instincts and go left first.
In the next room, there's another small tile showing us there's something of interest in Layer 6.
It's a device on the wall in which we can apparently fit 4 Brass Tiles. We already got two. We put them in right away, because it's just annoying to hit the 10 items inventory limit, something that shouldn't really happen unless you hoard items.
At the edge of the Pyramid we find this Lever Handle.
To the right from where we entered this floor, we find more parts of this strange roof of which we saw a glimpse before. In case you hadn't guessed yet, this is the roof of the Temple after which this game is named.
While the roof is blocking the Pyramid corridor entirely, we can climb in through the window... but there's nothing but a deep hole inside.
At this point I found myself frantically running around the Pyramid trying to remember where the other Brass Tiles are. Even after a practice run it's quite hard to remember where everything is. I won't show you that part and will cut to the chase.
If you remember, all the way up on the 3rd floor, we found this box. We also picked up a Chest Key somewhere last update. Putting two and two together, we get another Brass Tile.
Next, we just passed it on floor -2, but it's really easy to miss - there's a Stone Tablet standing against the little tower here.
This cartouche fits into the thing on the wall here on the left side of the first basement floor, making a ladder drop down.
This takes us to the very edge of the 1st floor, which we couldn't get to before because of all the red sand. The final Brass Tile is just sitting here.
Back in this room, inserting the remaining Brass Tiles opens up a way further down into Pyramid floor -3.
RTL
We're still near the left edge of the Pyramid so let's go left first. The strange statue on the left has a hard-to-see item on it.
It's a Stone Eye, and it's good to pick it up now because like nearly all items in Submachine, we will be needing it.
RTL
Here's the end of this floor, and surprisingly there doesn't seem to be anything of interest here.
To the right of the stairs, an interesting bit of the story.
quote:
When Murtaugh put his arm into the waterfall, he noticed that he no longer had an arm, but seven of them. That was not something unexpectable.
What is a miracle, though, is that after he removed his arm from the waterfall - he still could see all seven layers of his left arm.
Not longer after that he understood, that focusing them all in one place created a portal. That was because all of his arms from all of the layers met at one place and caused he interdimensional karma flow at his fingertips.
A bit further to the right, we find the top window of the Temple's tower of which we've seen the tip. But this time, there are stairs.
And this is where we finally get to use the Hammer we started the game with. It's to ring a bell. Obviously.
Down the stairs, we're stopped by another red sand flood quite soon. There's a brass bowl here which we'll grab.
We can crawl through the hole to the left here but it's just a dead end. Time to backtrack.
First of all, ringing that bell somehow made this statue, which we saw on the first basement floor of the Pyramid, gain a Karma earring.
Secondly, the Brass Bowl we found has a hook and the Temple roof window has a handy place to put it.
Pour some Karma Water in... and we got an entire Karma bridge this time.
On the other side, climbing out of the window, we find stable ground on the other side of floor -2 of the Pyramid.
Another tower top, and then a room that looks like it used to have a tile with Layers on the wall, but the actual tile is broken or gone. So let's jump to all Layers quickly, see what we can find.
Bingo, we found something in Layer 4. There doesn't seem to be anything in any of the other Layers.
This is where the permanently missable Secret is. The Ladder Rung goes into the top of the pillar, and after giving it a turn, we get the first Secret out of five from the bottom.
Going further right, we could go down the ladder but let's explore the rest of this floor first.
Aaaand another strange device that doesn't react to any of our current items. Let's go explore downstairs, then.
We'll go to the right first, this time. The Layers tile is apparently broken beyond readability. The other broken tile didn't have such a message, by the way, but that one was only needed for a Secret. Let's see what's up in the different Layers.
In Layer 2, we find a device that is activated by the Karmic Seal.
This is in Layers 5 and 6. As you can see, the Karma object exists in all dimensions. There's more devices here, looks like we don't have all pieces of the puzzle yet. Let's continue for now.
A stone slab with a hole and some device with a rope.
Which seems to continue to beyond our sight. Time to go left from the ladder.
RTL
Another entrance into the Temple and another bell to ring with our hammer. Let's do that first and then quickly run back to the statue.
Activating both earrings moved a part of its headwear, revealing the second Secret. Like in the last game, the Hammer is still only used for Secrets. Back to the Temple!
These stairs go a ways down.
By the way, we've done it, we've explored the entire main section of the Pyramid now, it's time to go into the actual Temple. So, take a look at an updated version of the map while we climb down.
Click for large
The Temple isn't actually nearly as big as the Pyramid. I won't be needing a map. But we haven't solved all Pyramid puzzles yet - running back and forth and remembering where everything is, that's the difficult part here.
♫ Thumpmonks - Submachine 9 - Temple
And we made it into the actual Temple. This change of music is actually much more noticeable than the one between the top and bottom levels of the Pyramid. Once you hear this, you'll realize you've made progress.
We can go two ways again, let's go to the right first.
With this kind of background it certainly looks huge. But it's just a background, we can't actually go there. Anyway, the device doesn't do anything yet and the grate is locked.
And there's a dead end. Looks like we have to go to the left.
RTL
There's something behind that statue on the right...
RTL
This must be the other stairwell, the one that was blocked off by sand. Anyway, another Note.
quote:
When Murtaugh saw the cat changing the layer of reality he falsely connected that event with Einstein's theory of relativity.
That was because in those early days Murtaugh was just beginning to understand the structures of reality.
During his intellectual growth he was able to come across the cat several times. He grew attached to the animal.
When he asked Elizabeth to take care of the cat, she took him back to his appropriate dimension in the first layer.
RTL
Ah, we can climb down this hole. But there's something stuck in the sand further to the left.
Turns out to be a bowl on a long stick, called the Ritual Brass Bowl. We can actually use this right away, up in the Pyramid.
It goes into the stone slab on the bottom right of the Pyramid, so not too far from where we are. Together with the Karma Water, it creates a lever. It's a bit of set-up for something we'll finish later.
Back in the Temple, we can't pass the sand to the left of where we found the Ritual Bowl, so it's time to climb down instead.
RTL
Crawling along, we find a fork in our path.
But the way down doesn't go anywhere, so further left it is.
RTL
You know, I'm starting to understand Leave My Wife's complaints about it being hard to think of commentary sometimes. I'm always trying to find a balance between being informative about these games and stating the obvious, and I just hope I'm doing okay.
Looks like we arrived somewhere. What does it say above the arch?
...huh?
RTL
Left of the arch, we find a statue of a cow for some reason.
And to the right, we find this thing. After the lid comes off, we can pour Karmic Water in.
Which gets us a Karmic Seal. I think I remember where that was needed. But let's continue exploring this place first.
We can walk under the arch, to this place which also has siderooms to the left and right.
To the right we find this statue, I believe of Vinayaki, the Hindu elephant goddess. Pouring Karma Water in her bowl opens a Karma Portal, the first since Submachine 7.
Which takes us all the way to the blue section of the Pyramid, that missing corner on the third floor. That isn't really made clear anywhere but it's the only place where this could be. Anyway, the brass thingamajig on the ground easily opens up.
And we grab the Brass Key. One Portal trip later, the left side room of Murtaugh's Tomb has another Note for us.
quote:
Nobody could predict that the enlightenment would cause such destruction. Even Murtaugh himself didn't know what happened. He was already looking at all layers at once. He was already removed from one-dimensionality.
To be back in only one layer, Murtaugh had to lose his focus. After he focused his mind back on the structure of the plan, his exploration teams didn't understand what happened. Some called it abandonment. Others - rapture. No wonder they panicked.
They did not even have a philosophical device to comprehend the true nature of his disappearance.
The center part of the Tomb of Murtaugh seems to have a sarcophagus. The image is quite clear: one arm is missing and has been replaced by hieroglyphics. That's a depiction of Mur, alright.
We can read the hieroglyphics to the sides.
MURTAUGH, THE POWERFUL
THE CARETAKER, THE OVERSEER
And it looks like the Stone Eye we got from above fits here.
What... this can't be possible.
This Golden Seal... I don't know how I know, but I'm certain that this confirms that Murtaugh lies here. But that makes no sense. It's hard to keep track of time here in the Subnet but the last time I spoke with Murtaugh, during my mission at the Edge... that can't have been more than a few days, perhaps two weeks ago. And how old is this body? Hundreds of years? Thousands? I need to sit down and think about this...
Until next time, when things get even more mysterious.