Ambrosia Software Web Board: Bells in tomb - what to do? - Ambrosia Software Web Board

I am replaying Cythera for the first time in a couple of years, and I found my way into a tomb under the castle in Cademia. I'm not sure if I've found this place before.

First there was a pond that couldn't be crossed, and then a maze with switches and I think I finished that properly, because I managed to get a bridge to appear over the pond by fiddling around in there.

Now, I got to a new area with a closed door and four bells. I assume I have to play on these bells in the correct order in order to open that door. But how do I find this combination out? Is it even possible? If not, does anybody know it?

Cythera is so cool, because unlike most games, you cannot find answers to all of the mysteries and puzzles in it. Unless you specifically ask someone, that is. And even then, it might not be possible.

I would really appreciate any info on this.

Wizard's maps from “Maps of Everywhere Else” include a key in some places. You're in the Tyrant's Tomb.

Thank you for your fast reply. That did the trick! Sorry for making a whole thread about this.

But I am bound to have more questions. I'll post them here when the time comes.

This post has been edited by Seldane: 06 February 2011 - 11:19 AM

An actual question about gameplay? At first I thought you were gravedigging again ^_~

It's interesting that you hadn't been to the Tyrant's Tomb before. After finishing your game, you should look through all the maps and make sure you've been to all those places.

Remember also that Slayer's Guide can be a helpful reference, as well as the Pallas' books and dialogue pages. And of course, feel free to ask!

I didn’t find the tomb until my second playthrough, when it became my primary source of money. But anyway, more threads are always welcome, so go ahead and start a new one if you run into any other problems!

Problem! I left the two "half disks" on the pillars and then entered the dungeon. Saved in there, too. Now when I left, they are missing. Am I screwed? I don't remember if you need them after that or not.

PS: When I finished the wall puzzles in the "Halls of Maayti" (new game from Gandreas Software - coming dec 22, 2012!), I got to a final button. When I press it, nothing happens. What do I do now? I've already destroyed the force fields with the Crolna, but there is a door in the top room there, that won't open. I assumed the aforementioned button would do the trick, but it didn't.

I would love to check Slayer's guide, but every time I do that, I accidentally see something that I don't want to see (spoilers!), and that ruins the experience significantly. I had forgotten way more than I thought I had, of this game. It's wonderful. Almost a new experience.

This post has been edited by Seldane: 07 February 2011 - 06:44 AM

You don’t need the disks after you open up the Hall of Truth, and I believe they always disappear. Did you complete both the puzzles to the right and the riddles to the left? If so, I guess you have to fetch the door.

Both the button at the end of the puzzles to the right and the button at the end of the riddles to the left have to the pressed, as Buzzy said. If the door hasn't opened, I'd check to make sure you didn't accidentally double-press either button. I've never had trouble opening that door o.O

More questions:

I think I broke the iron mine quest. I got to the iron mine and talked to everyone there BEFORE I talked to the woman in Cademia that you are supposed to get info from. Now, when I mention the mine rumors to her, she only says "you have first hand experience with that". The quest cannot get finished now?

Also, I faintly remember that there was a murder incident in the game, but I have not been able to make that happen this time. I have finished the Free Maayti quest already.

Also, I have read many times over the years that you can get Aethon to join you, but I don't think that I've ever actually seen a real explanation as to how to do it.

This post has been edited by Seldane: 09 February 2011 - 05:27 AM

The missions “Take net to Stentor” and “Ask Halos about Comana” are relevant to the murder, there’s a few things you need to do afterward but they should clear up themselves. As for the mine, it probably isn’t solvable at that point—there are a number of missions that can be solved without ever being gotten.

So the quest will forever remain unsolved in the To do list?

I think I had a problem with the Ask Halos about Comana quest. Nothing really happened when I asked him about Comana. That I could tell, at least.

Yeah, that mission is weird because you don’t actually ask him about Comana, you talk to him about politics (I think saying Propontis is actually what checks off the mission).

As for Aethon, when Halos suggests you talk to him, tell Aethon Halos, then join. That also lets you join the Ratcatcher’s Guild.

I had already completed the Talk to Halos quest, but I cannot trigger the murder event. Nor will Aethon join me whatever I say.

By the way, when a harpy scares you, does the effect ever wear off? I have to reload the game whenever that happens, and usually that crashes the game/computer entirely (once it even broke my save file). I have tried leaving the game running but it never comes off, even when the player has moved away from the enemies, so that the harpies cannot scare you again.

Oh, and Hector has turned into a zombie of some sort, it seems. At least his little profile picture in the corner looks like a zombie.

This post has been edited by Seldane: 09 February 2011 - 10:14 AM

Hector's portrait-
That sounds really cool! Can you upload a picture?

Harpy scare-
I believe the effects of fear are supposed to last one in-game hour, which feels like a long time. The effects linger even after you move away from the harpies. You can't do anything while you're afraid, and often the spell will get renewed before it wears off. For this reason, you should never enter the harpy cave without wearing an Odd Helmet.

Iron Mine-
How'd you get the quest on your to-do list, if Thuria never asked you to investigate it? I can't think of any way to get it checked off at this point.

Halos-
You need to go talk to the first lady of House Strymon, Mantinea. Ask her about Propontis and follow the keywords through. Then talk to Propontis until he asks you to discuss Comana with Halos (if you've already done this, you can probably skip it, but I didn't know if you got the task from him or from Ake?). You should also have already rescued Ariadne, I think. Now go ask Halos about Propontis, then politics, then kidnapping. Asking him the keyword "kidnapping" may be the step that got you, because for some reason that word doesn't highlight & you have to type it in. At this point Halos should suggest Aethon join you. Ask Aethon about Halos before you ask him to join you, or else he won't trust you.

Murder-
There are a few things that need to happen before the murder will occur. I believe you need to meet Myus, the head of Comana. And you definitely need to freak out Pelagon by asking him if he's dead (which will only work if Stentor's already informed you that he is). You will know the murder has occurred when you go to the jail in Cademia and see Halos in one of the cells.

Thanks again for all the help. It seems I needed to talk to Mantinea before you talked about the kidnapping with Halos (which I had already done - but to no avail). Now I have Aethon, at long last.

The murder has been dealt with as well. I remember losing my breath the first time that happened to me many years ago. It happened this time as well. The storytelling in Cythera is simply marvelous.

I tried to take a screenshot of the zombie Hector, but alas, I did not remember the command for doing so (my Mac days are long over, I stopped using them when they turned to Intel, and ironically moved to PC/Intel only). And after a while, it disappeared. I wonder what happened.

Now, sorry to be such a bother, but I have one more question. I want to talk to Demodocus, but he seems to have disappeared. I used to encounter him on the bridge all the time, but now it doesn't seem to work. I have tried sleeping and waking up at various hours, mostly at night/early morning, but no go. He won't show up. I've also looked in the Land King Hall, which I seem to remember having encountered him before, but nothing. Where could he be?

I think the usual method is to cross your fingers & follow the rumour of his passing.

The problem with Harpy-cast confusion and fear is that, while it lasts a perfectly reasonable amount of time, the harpies will usually continue to cast spells at you while you’re disabled, making it neverending. At least that’s what I think is going on.

BreadWorldMercy453, on 09 February 2011 - 10:41 AM, said:

There are also some people running around talking about the murder IIRC which I seem to remember is how I learned about it.

Seldane, on 09 February 2011 - 01:08 PM, said:

Command-shift-3 for the record, or command-shift-4 if you want to only take a picture of a selection

Seldane, on 09 February 2011 - 01:08 PM, said:

First of all, you’re not being a bother, it’s actually nice to have posts in the board that actually are about the game. Anyway, Demodocus is hard to find at this point. You have to talk to a bunch of people about Demodocus and follow their trail of where he went, eventually he’ll end up in Cademia.

wow, I don't think I ever found the Tyrant's tomb either. That map doesn't look familiar.
I remember hearing the hobo talk about it and I tried to follow his directions but I never did find it.
At least I really don't think I did..

Man I miss this game. Next time I visit home I'm taking my old mac lappy back with me so I can play again.
I stopped playing for a couple years because I get very depressed about everything they never got to finish in the game =\

I feel the same Muse, like if I had the editor, I'd go and add a bunch of stuff. Which way is better, I can't say for sure though.

I'm visiting home and found my mac and started up a new game of Cythera

I still have my original where I completed everything(thanks to the guide) except for curing Alaric of course, and another game I seem to have gone halfway through.

I'm gonna check through those and see if I ever did find the Tyrant's tomb though I'm pretty certain I didn't...

I didn't find the Tyrant's Tomb until I consulted Slayer's Guide, although I did guess the correct location (if memory serves).

I had actually examined the ground around the sundial and searched over the area where the entrance sits, but I was not aware that the entrance could only be found by digging. I thought that examination of the ground would yield some clue, and, when it did not, I figured that I must have misunderstood the beggar.

so I checked on my original saved game and it seems I did indeed find the Tyrant's tomb, however I only managed to make it past the maze with the levels. I still need to figure out the bells portion. Own my own I managed to ring a combination that caused the open gate to close so that I was trapped with the bells.
I'm gonna go ahead and consult Wizard's maps for the rest.

it's exciting being some place new in Cythera

this ramble was completely pointless but I just felt like sharing my experience & enthusiasm at finally venturing into this new location

A million thanks to Wizard for his fantastic maps
and of course to Slayer for the guide

There does not appear to be any key to the first gate online. If you have closed yourself in, you will have to figure out how to open it on your own. I did this too, twice, in fact. But always managed to open it again.

You just gotta play Smoke on the Water.