After my wanderings along the lava canals of Elodea, I decided to visit a more spiritual site. Peace of mind and that sort of thing. Cathedrals have that calming effect on me. Although this cathedral is unlike any other cathedral I have ever visited, the general atmosphere is much like it. The copper work is polished like you will never again see it these days. This Age is really beautiful and the puzzles are quite good. Unlike the other Ages I have written about, this Age is not available in the UAM Shard. To visit Cathedral, you will need to use the Deep Island Shard.
You start in the back section of the cathedral, facing a painting with a note attached to the top. Walk towards the painting to look at the note. Walk backwards to zoom out again. Turn around and walk to the other side of this room, towards the large wooden doors. The doors on the left don't seem to open so turn right and walk to the other doors to the right of the pulpit. You'll find a note attached to the door. Read it and when you're done, return to where you started by the painting. To the left you should see two cabinets. Walk towards them and open the second drawer from the leftmost cabinet. There is another note in there. Click on it to read it. However, it disappears very quickly. It explaines what to look for if you want to go through the large wooden doors on the other side of this room.
Turn around and walk past the painting to the other side of this room where you can see the large wooden doors. Stay on the left side as one of the paintings there is what you are after. Just before the painting of Yeesha, you see another painting with a small staircase standing before it. Step on the staircase and touch the painting. The painting starts glowing and you will hear a soft knocking. Step off the staircase and continue walking towards the large wooden door on the left side of this room. Walk up against the door and it will open.
Enter the next room. I will refer to this room as fountain room. (Although hall is more appropriate, I guess.) To your right you see some large vases standing before a large window. There's nothing special about them except that you can use them to remember from which direction you came. In the middle of the room is a large fountain. In the middle of the fountain is a book containing some credits from the creator of the Cathedral Age.
Walk to the other side of the room, on the opposite side from where you came in. On the platform before the stained glass window stands a pedestal with some sort of device on it. On closer inspection you'll see a circle with eight symbols. The symbols represent the wooden doors and iron gates. Although not indicated on the device, the bottom symbol represents the two doors on the south side. That makes the room you came from the south wing. Look at the symbol at the top of the device. Remember that symbol and walk to the right. You should see a dagger sticking out of the floor with a blue button on it. Before you press it, look to the left of the wooden door closest to you. See that symbol? It's the symbol in the north position of the device that represents the north wing (doors). From now on I will refer to the device as the 'Door Remote Control' (DRC). Press the blue button to hear a short message / hint.
Walk to the closest wooden door. A note is attached to the right of the door. Read the note to learn more about what's behind that door. To the right, in the corner you see one of the symbols from the Door Remote Control. Right next to it is an iron gate. Further to the right is another wooden door with two notes on it. If you are ever going to read them, now is the time. Getting close to those notes will not only add the button for the south doors to the Door Remote Control, but also reset the Door Remote Control to the state that it's in right now. (With only the bottom button for the south door at your disposal.) Walk back to the Door Remote Control. On a glass viewer you can see one orange button. If you are standing in front of the device and look through the glass, then the orange button should be over the symbol in the bottom.
Right now, you can operate only the south doors. There are two wooden doors for each side of the room; north, south, east and west. There is only one iron gate for each of the other four symbols. In order to add a button for a door or gate, you must find the corresponding symbol within the cathedral and touch it. Much like with the door knocker painting. Look around at the various doors and gates. All iron gates have one symbol next to them. For the wooden doors it's different: only on two sides of the room do the wooden doors have a symbol next to them: the north side and the west side. Look for the iron gate at the south side. The symbol for it is to the left of the gate. Unlike the symbols of the other iron gates, this gate has its symbol at a much lower position on the wall. Walk to it and touch it. The symbol starts glowing. What did that do?
Walk back to the Door Remote Control to see what touching the symbol did. It added another button over the symbol corresponding to the symbol you just touched. Now you can control that iron gate too. Right now the buttons are both orange. Touching the rightmost button will turn it into a yellow button. Yellow means that the corresponding door or gate is active. You can only go through a door or gate when it is activated. Only one door or gate can be active at a time.*
* Once you have those buttons on the viewer, you can activate both the north and north-east door. I have not found any use for this combination, though.
Walk towards the iron gate in the south-east corner. (With the symbol next to it that you previously touched.) When you come close to it, it will lower. When it is lowered you can walk up the stairs behind it. At the end of the stairs is a balcony. In the middle of the balcony is a pedestal with a blue button. Pressing the button does not seem to do anything. To the left and to the right are two rooms behind a curtain. Behind you is a passageway with stairs going down and another passageway with stairs going further up.
If you're still facing the blue button, turn right and walk into the corridor with the brown curtains. Walk almost to the end of this corridor. Turn around when you've reached three large plants in a stone basin. Past the torch on your left you should see a shield on the wall with a small staircase before it. Walk up the staircase and touch the shield. One of the symbols starts to glow. That means that a button for that symbol has been added to the Door Remote Control.
Step off the staircase and walk back to the balcony. Once there, walk to the red curtains on the other side of the balcony and enter the corridor behind it. This corridor is decorated with paintings from Eder Delin. Walk to the end of this corridor. Just before the stained glass to your right you should see the first journey cloth. Make a note of the symbol on it, then touch it. A green symbol appears on the journey cloth, write that down as well. When done, turn right and walk towards the second niche on your right. Above the wooden bench is a painting with the door symbols. Jump on the bench and touch the painting. Again, another symbol lights up. That means that there are now two new buttons on the Door Remote Control. Step off the bench and walk back to the balcony. When you have reached the balcony, turn right and walk into the passageway with the stairs leading further up.
Walk all the way up the stairs. You are now in one of the bell towers. A large bell lies in the corner of this room. Walk towards the bell and stay on the right side of it. On the back side of the bell you will find the second journey cloth. Again, write down the symbol on it and then touch it. Another green symbol appears, write that down as well. There's nothing else to do in this room, so take the stairs down, back to the balcony. At the balcony, turn right and take the other passageway with the stairs going back down to the fountain.
Head for the Door Remote Control and you should see that two new buttons have indeed been added. Press the leftmost button and it will turn yellow. That means that the doors to the west wing are now active. Turn to the left and walk towards the large wooden door with the rake-like symbol next to it. If you stand before the wooden door to the right of the stained glass then you will notice that the door won't open. Turn left and walk past the stained glass to the other wooden door that also has a rake-like symbol next to it. This door will open and you can enter the room behind it. Most of the wooden doors allow you to go one way, so there is most of the time only one of the two doors that you can use to enter the room, the other is for exiting the room.
Walk all the way to the end of the west wing. The note on the painting in the south wing stated that on a desk in the west wing you will find a journal. At the very end of this wing, in the middle section, you will find the desk with the journal. Walk around the table to reach it. After reading the journal you will probably realize that the journey cloths offer the clues needed to be able to use the d'ni musical instruments or the bells of the tower.
After reading the journal, head for the beginning of the west wing, the section in between the large wooden doors. You will find a piano there. Walk around the piano. At the back side you will see another door symbol engraved in the wood. Touch it and another button will be added to the Door Remote Control. There's nothing else to do here so head for the large wooden door. Step off the platform with the piano and turn right. Walk past the wooden chest and walk towards the large door. It will open and you can leave the west wing of the cathedral.
Head for the Door Remote Control. You should see five buttons now. Press the button in the top-right of the viewing glass. It should turn yellow. Turn to the right and walk towards the iron gate that is on the left of the wooden door with two notes on it. Stand before the iron gate and it will open. Walk up the stairs to reach the second balcony. Once there, walk to the left and take the passageway leading further up. Ignore the corridors behind the curtains. Both these corridors offer a nice view, but no journey cloths or new symbols. Walk all the way up the stairs to reach the second bell tower.
In the second bell tower you will find a lot of bells, all hooked up to a machine on a platform. The platform is inaccessable right now, but that will change at a later time. The copper work is nicely polished and everything looks like it's still in working order. Nothing you can do with it for as long as the platform remains inaccessable. You can walk behind the platform from the right side. There you will find the third journey cloth. Repeat the same steps as with the previous cloths. After that, head out of the bell tower and return to the Door Remote Control by the foutain.
At the Door Remote Control look at the viewing glass and push the button in the south-west position (the second from the left). It should turn to yellow. Turn to the left and head to the iron gate in the south-west corner. The gate will lower when you stand before it. Walk up the stairs, turn right and walk into the corridor behind the red curtains. This corridor is decorated with paintings of Eder Tsogal. In the fifth niche on your right stands a wooden bench. Behind it is the fourth journey cloth. You know the drill by now. When done, head back to the balcony. Head into the corridor behind the green curtains. Go all the way to the end of the corridor. Walk behind the table and go sit in the left chair. Between the table and the chest you should see a candle stand with three candles. Look closer at the stand itself. It's one of the door symbols. Walk towards the candles and touch the stand. A new button should have been added to the Door Remote Control.
Head back to the balcony and take the stairs up to the bell tower. Once there walk to the left side of the scaffold and climb up the scaffold. On top you'll find the fifth journey cloth. Repeat the usual steps and when done, climb down or walk off the scaffold and return to the Door Remote Control by the fountain.
* End of Part 1 * Next: Cathedral - Part 2: Musical Instruments