Resonance Archives

Spoilers ahead!
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The Resonance Archives is the first dungeon introduced in Vintage Story with the version 1.18.

Location of the Resonance Archives

To find out the location of the Resonance Archives, you will need to speak with a Treasure Hunter Trader.

• If you ask him:

"Know of any interesting places around here?"

• He will answer:

"Got something big for ya. Too dangerous for me, but you might be able to handle it. I can't give away a haul like this for free, though. Bring me a tin bronze pickaxe and I'll tell you where to find it. Trust me, it's worth your while."

• When you bring a tin bronze pickaxe in your inventory, you can tell the trader:

"I got the tin bronze pickaxe you asked for. Now tell me what you know."

• He will answer:

"I found it a couple weeks back. A massive cavern with a huge figure looming within it. Scared me senseless, so I got out of there real quick. But I could tell, it's gotta full of treasure. Full of trouble too, no doubt. I'll mark it on your map. If you're going, make sure you're prepared. It's no easy trek through the tunnels."

• You can then say goodbye, the tin-bronze pickaxe disapears from your invetory and you get a Map to the Resonane Archives.

Select the Map to the Resonance Archives in your hotbar and right click to use it. You get the message: "Approximate position of the Resonance Archives added to your world map" in the chat window. A red cross pinned waypoint has been added to your map. The red cross can be quite a distance away from your current position (a few thousand blocks).

Note:

• You can give the map to another player so that they can also mark the position on their map.

• If you loose the map, you can go back to the trader and ask for another copy.

Preparation

• Bring with you at least a trunk to store at the entrance the items you will find inside.
• You will need at least a bronze lamellar armor to protect yourself and a bronze falx.
• Bring a pile of horsetails and a pile of cattails to make poultices to heal yourself.
• Bring enough food for the journey to the Resonance Archive, for the exploration inside and for the journey back.
• The Resonance Archives is a claimed zone where you cannot break or build blocks. Therefore you cannot place a food pot on the ground and use a bowl to take a meal. That is why, it is recommanded to take with you some ready to eat food that can stay fresh for a long time, such as bread or cured meat.
• Bring some ladders because the entrance is usually high in the mountains.
• And of course bring a light source, like a lantern.
• But bring also a torch, because you will need it to light a few things in the dungeon.

Finding the entrance

The entrance of the Resonance Archives.

The entrance of the Resonance Archives is not exactly at the position of the red cross on your map. It can be 10-20 blocks away. The entrance is built with aged granite bricks with two 2x4 opened rusted heavy gates.

Entering the dungeon

Approach the vertical shaft, you will notice that there is an old ladder going down into the depths. Take the ladder and go down to the bottom.

Step 1: Finding the Engineering Room

The pump.

The pump, view for the other side.

When you arrive at the bottom of the ladder at level -1, you will notice that there is a platform made of aged planks. Follow the platform on the right. You will see a metal sign indicating the Guard Room. You can explore it if you want. Then continue to follow the platform on the right. You will find a staircase that goes down to level -2. Stay at level -1 for now and follow the platform. You will find the entrance to the Library but its doors are closed. If you follow the platform again, you will find the entrance to the Bell Workshop, the doors of which are also closed. Continue on the platform again and you will come back to the Exit. Do not hesitate to go back outside if your inventory is full to store things in a chest that you have brought.

Now take the stairs to go to level -2. The stairs, in any case, cannot be used to go to level -3 because you will find that they have collapsed a little lower.

The Engineering Room is just to the right as you come out of the stairs at level -2. Enter and examine the machines carefully.

There are 3 things wrong with this room:

• The pump has no energy

• A large temporal gear is missing

• A pump head is missing

Step 2: Restoring Energy

The boiler.

There is a boiler in the room. Its door is open. There is also black coal piled up on the ground and some black coal in a crate.

Place 16 pieces of black coal in the boiler and ignite it with a torch.

Power has been restored and the pump is running.

This triggers the opening of the doors of the Bell Workshop at level -1, which you will be able to visit in the next step.

Stage 3: Finding the large temporal gear

The workbench.

You will find the large temporal gear at the end of the Bell Workshop tunnels, resting on a workbench.

Note: Some parts of the tunnel are only accessible while crouching.

To the right of the gear is a scroll titled "An inconvenience" that you can read to figure out what happened. The story tells you that it is possible to recover a pump head on a machine located in the mine.

Return the large gear to Engineering and insert it into the pump.

This triggers the opening of the doors of the Translocator Room located on level -3.

You can put more black coal in the boiler if it is missing.

Step 4: Finding the pump head

The rope ladder in the well.

Since the stairs leading to level -3 have collapsed, we will have to find another way down.

Go back to level -2 and find the Commons. (You can explore the Nobles' Quarters and the Garderobe beforehand.)

In the first room of the Commons, you'll find another scroll on a table titled "Whinging" in which the person responsible for keeping the boiler running complains about his work. We learn that there is also a gasifier to run on coal.

Turn left to enter the kitchen.

Against the right wall you will find a well with a rope ladder. Take the rope ladder to descend to the bottom.

You will arrive in an underground lake, it was the water reservoir of the inhabitants. There is a stone staircase leading out of the lake and onto the wooden platform at level -3.

If you go to the left side, you will only find the Waste Room entrance, then the platform is collapsed.

If you go right, you will find the Translocator Room, the platform is collapsed afterwards as well.

In the Translocator Room, there is only one working translocator left. Use it to go into the mine.

The mine is a real labyrinth, some parts of which are flooded and where it is possible to drown.

The mining machine.

Here is the path to follow from the room where you arrive with the translocator:

• Straight ahead, you will find a fork on the right, do not take it and continue straight ahead.

• You arrive at a junction with tunnels on the left, straight and on the right (where it has collapsed). Take the left fork.

• You come to a fork with a gravel staircase that goes up to the left and the tunnel that continues straight. Turn left to go up the stairs.

• At the top of the stairs there is a tunnel that goes left, one that goes straight and one that goes right. Take the left tunnel.

• At the end of the tunnel there is a left fork and a right fork. Take the right fork.

• One could believe that there is nothing because the tunnel is half collapsed. But crouch to continue to the end and you will see that it turns right.

• Here you will find a mining machine whose pump head you can take.

Return to Engineering at level -2. Insert the pump head into the pump.

This will trigger the opening of the Library doors at level -1.

Step 5: Accessing the Library

Go through the doors of the entrance to the Library. You will find that the stone tunnel has collapsed and even if you crouch you will not be able to walk through the debris.

However, the ground is also half collapsed and there is a hole allowing you to jump into the room below. But wait before jumping!

The room below is the Maintenance Room. This is a room that was once accessible through Engineering. It can no longer be accessed from Engineering because large stones prevent the door from opening.

If you read again the scroll "An inconvenience", Ibrahim tells Florian to go through the Maintenance Room to go to the Library. He also says, "Don't worry, he won't bother you."

Who is this "he"?

You will discover it by jumping into the hole. (Make sure you have your life bar full before jumping.)

In this room is the boss of the dungeon who is an immobilized eidolon, that is to say a metal humanoid robot which is about 3 times the size of a human being. This one has become aggressive towards humans but, fortunately, the ceiling collapse has trapped its metal legs under a huge pile of stones and it can only use its arms. The fight will be very long because he has 500 life points.

After disabling the immobilized eidolon, remember to collect his loot and you'll find that disabling it triggered a rusty heavy door at the back of the room to open.

The gasifier.

Behind the door is a room with a gasifier and charcoal on the floor. Place charcoal in the gasifier and light it.

This will trigger the lighting of the gas lamps in the Library so that it is fully lit.

You just have to open the wooden gate to access the Library.

Step 6: The Library

The glider schematic.

In the Library, you can find many chronicles lore books on the shelves. You will be able to distinguish them by their edge which has a bluish luminescent marking.

You will also find interesting items inside glass display cases.

However, the two most interesting things are in the entrance room.

The first is the glider schematics. This blueprint allows the crafting of the glider in the crafting grid. This blueprint can be duplicated in the crafting grid using 2 parchments, so you can give a copy to your friends to build a glider too.

The second interesting thing is the Library Resonator.

The Library Resonator

The library resonator.

This item looks like the Resonator which allows you to play music with Tuning cylinders. But it's much bigger and it seems anchored to the floor of the library.

If you approach and right-click on the Library Resonator, it opens a window similar to those used to dialogue with traders. This is what is written in this window:

(The resonator hums quietly)

You can click on "Search for a recent recording."

(You hear the soft whirring of small machinery. Then from deep within the resonator you hear an echo, growing louder and clearer. The resonator produces these disembodied sounds as if they were right in front of you.)

(A voice whispers) What do you reckon it's here for? (Another voice hisses) Quiet, damn you. It can hear you. We'll have to find a way around.

You can click on "Search for a different recording."

(Silence, then the scraping of metal on stone. A clicking, rythmic sound drawing closer and fading away.)

You can click on "Keep searching."

(An old man's voice. Somehow familiar) Look, you see that? Rubedo is not limited to gold. The principle itself scales to greater heights, depending on your tools. When flux is integrated into the process instead of being the end point, what pathways could that open up? And what if we add blood to the mix? Not just any blood, of course. My own wertched blood.

You can click on "Search more from the old alchemist."

Arent't you listening? I said there's too many missing. Sure, we were dying like mayflies and mind you, some things are a bit hazy for me towards the end, but even so. They can't have all perished and they can't have all turned. I cannot be the only one. But where are they? That's what it always comes back to.

You can click on "Search for related recordings."

No, they hardly know anything. Of course it pains me to see them suffer. They're like... little lost children huddled in their homes. But it's for the best. We had all the knowledge in the world. And worlds beyond! And what good did it do us? No. Best leave them to it. Let them think of me as some mad old sorcerer and leave me in peace.

You can click on "Continue searching."

Forgive me my ramblings. I... had lost hope, honestly. It became nothing more a goal to chase. To keep me sane over all these years. But here we are. And there you all are, somewhere out there. The world has changed. But if the Archives still stand and you're hearing this message, well you must already know this. Come find me, my friends. There is much to discuss.

If you click on "...", you will arrive on a menu with 3 links. If you click on the first or the third link you will return to the recordings you just read, but if you click on the second link "Search for something old", then you will get an explanation of how the Resonance Archives works.

(A confident voice speaks) Oh, that's right. You're new here. Well it's not as complicated as it seems. You see, all sounds are remembered, even this conversation now. Like memories in your head, they bounce around within the Chamber. Only, our memory is flawed and fails with time. In the Chamber, these sounds will never fade. And scribes like yourself can listen in and write what they hear. In this way, we have codified all of history, to be accessed whenever we wish.

You can click on "Continue listening."

Understandable, but no. The Chamber isn't listening. It's only a receptacle. You see that little worm in the corner there? It's hearing everything we say, sending it straight to the Chamber. A bit unerving, eh? You get used to it. In desperate times like these you never know when they might come in hand. Calling for help if something goes wrong, or at the very least helping us find out what happened later.

You can click on "Continue listening."

Well, let me clarify: The sound isn't exactly written down the cylinder. We tried that route, bu the sound always got muddled. No, what these cylinders do is provide directions. Like a map, they tell the resonator exactly where to find the sound within the Chamber. And with that, the resonator synchronizes with the Chamber to play the sound as though it were right in front of you. No accounting for any issues with the bell's recording, though.

You can click on "Continue listening."

It's an incredible feat, no doubt about that. And I'm pleased to have done my part in realizing and maintaining it. Though at times I can't help but feel such monumental efforts and resources should have been used elsewhere.

You can click on "Continue listening."

(A second voice responds) Oh come now, what could be more important, short of the Great Machine itself? Our librairies are gone. Our history hoarded by nobles or left to the Rot. This is the last, greatest repository of knowledge in the world! And one that will be preserved for all posterity. If Falx doesn't succed, if we don't survive this, these archives will stand tall for any who come after.

You can click on "Continue listening."

(The first voice) If Falx doesn't succeed? Just who do you think will be left to find this if we fail?

You can click on "..." to return to the menu.

Note: The Chamber mentionned above must be the Echo Chamber which is the big structure in the middle of the Resonance Archives.

Exiting the Library

To exit the library, use the spiral stairs to go up two floors and arrive in a half-collapsed stone corridor. By climbing the debris, you will be able to cross and you will find that it is the corridor which was just after the entrance doors of the Library on level -1.