Stuck in the Wine Cellar

[Vergilius]

Greetings everyone

I'm a new player and really enjoying the game, however, I seem to be stuck in the smith's wine cellar, looking for that Mithril Bar. Not in the usual place, mind, I'm stuck in the room with the dead thief with the gold key; I just can't figure out how to open the next portcullis. Any help would be much appreciated!

[Randomizer]

Go back and look for doors that you missed to the east. There is one for the Brassy Key that leads to an area with fungal slimes and the lever to open that porticullis. It's easy to miss things in that dark cellar.

[Unclever title]

Go back and look for doors that you missed to the east. There is one for the Brassy Key that leads to an area with fungal slimes and the lever to open that porticullis. It's easy to miss things in that dark cellar.

Heck, my first time playing I missed the pressure plate to explore the cellar beyond the initial shelves of impossible to pick up wine bottles back near the entrance to the cellar. That was back when I was playing the demo obsessively.

[Vergilius]

Found it, many thanks. That cellar is so dark, I can see every greasespot on my screen very clearly!

[Evnissyen]

This might sound dumb, but you could always adjust the screen's brightness?

...It might be annoying to do just for the game, and take out some of the point of torches and BW's reasoning for making certain areas dark, but still... an option.

[Randomizer]

Adjusting brightness doesn't always work with some monitors. BW is fixing that problem for the next game.

[Evnissyen]

Aw... so it wasn't a feature after all.

[Reinhart]

I don't know if it's just because I'm used to playing games like this or what but none of the mazes, puzzles or riddles gave me any trouble what-so-ever. That S T E E L puzzle seemed to give people trouble too, but I figured it out literally within 20 seconds and then just commenced to actually figure it. I love riddles and puzzles and confusing geography and was slightly disappointed at how easily I figured most of it out.

[Evnissyen]

Yeah, I agree. I mean... STEEL was way too obvious. The only puzzle that actually puzzled me was the one that called for a "womb for a tree". I won't spoil that one for anyone, but the answer I eventually found out was not among any of the possibilities that crossed my mind (I'd totally forgotten the item even existed) . . . the other three chests were pretty obvious.

There was another like that which was pretty damn simple. Really, I like a challenging puzzle because it gives you a sense of accomplishment when you finally crack it. Not random puzzles, though, it's the logic-based ones that I like.

[Unclever title]

Yeah that S T E E L riddle, I figured it out correctly pretty quickly.

To new players or otherwise those who haven't solved or come across these puzzles yet DON'T highlight the quote boxes.

The second one is more or less a hint, but the first has both hints a blatant spoiler in it.

However I screwed up the math somehow, I'm still baffled at my inability to do simple math. Complex integrals sure but numerical calculations? Fail. Calculators have made me weak I suppose.

However I figured it out a different and incorrect way to the correct solution. On an inspirational whim after being baffled that my initial (and correct) approach didn't work I looked up on Wikipedia for the Rockwell scale of hardness. It had this to say:

Very hard steel (e.g. a good knife blade): HRC 55 - HRC 62

Suffice to say the proper value was in that range and trial and error made it easy.

Of course not reading the spoiler box may be confusing, to be clear Wikipedia is not necessary to solve the riddle.
Nor should it even be helpful at all. My brain just works in funny ways.

As for the "womb for a tree" I was sure it was the

Burly Acorn

for a while, eventually got it right with an, "OH..." moment.

More puzzles and riddles for next time please, BW, I love them.

[Evnissyen]

Honestly, the STEEL puzzle I solved on my very first guess. The levers puzzle -- and random puzzles I drive me crazy -- I even solved on my very first guess. BW: Why were they so obvious?

When I solve a truly challenging puzzle of logic, I feel really satisfied. I like puzzles so long as they follow logical lines. They only get annoying when their solution can only be reached through trial and error . . . or when their solution depends upon an item that you'd rationally dismissed long, long before, as was the case, for me, with the "womb" puzzle.

Let that be a hint for those who're looking for one but are not willing to highlight the black.