ONE ROOM CHALLENGE 2021 - POSEIDON'S SANCTUARY
Level by tombraiderxii
Walkthrough by Phil Lambeth, assisted by steven35175's video walk
After you slide down to begin the level, use your PDA for a summary of the new moves available to you here. There's no compass in this level for some unexplained and probably unsatisfactory reason, so turn around, look up to your right to see an inaccessible jump switch near the entrance opening, turn left and go to the opposite wall. Face away from the entrance, back flip onto the slope and jump off to grab a horizontal pole. Turn around by using the down arrow key, mount the pole by using the jump key, and jump again to land on top of the broken column for 3 x flares.
Turn right and take a running jump to activate that jump switch you noted earlier. The gate opens high up on the wall opposite the entrance. Jump to grab the horizontal pole again, mount it as before and jump straight ahead to grab the next pole. Swing around while bringing yourself left (up and left arrow keys), mount this pole as well and jump off with a left curve to land precariously on short column near the opened gate. Jump off with another left curve to land on the ledge.
Slide down to trigger a flyby through the next area. Turn left and jump over the railing into the water far below. This is a hub area, and your first order of business is to find a reliable air supply, so swim into the opening toward a mural showing Poseidon battling a sea serpent. Turn left again into the only opening that's not barred (the bars in this entire area are deadly, by the way, so don't swim too close to them), and you'll attract the attention of a sea snake. Ignore it for now as you swim to your left between the columns and past the rubble to find the AQUALUNG next to the fallen soldier. Note for later the three statues nearby and the way they're facing, swim into the opening in the adjacent wall and go through the passage to find an underwater lever that lowers bars somewhere, as well as the ones behind you.
Flip turn, swim out (not an easy task due to the atrocious collision) and continue straight ahead past the column into the opening across the room. Follow the passage, pause to take the large medipack from the skeleton and come to another underwater lever that lowers more bars. Swim back the way you came into the open area, turn right past two openings and veer left as you enter another open area. Pull the underwater lever in the wall alcove to turn off flames protecting two swingpoles near a swinging blade. Flip turn, swim out left (the sea snake is probably badgering you again by this time) and through the opening into a room with three statues similar to the ones you saw earlier. However, you'll note that they aren't oriented quite the same way as the others were (all here are facing straight ahead).
In this room you'll find a ceiling switch at the far end and two nearby underwater levers. First, pull down the ceiling switch to lower a block below you. Next, pull the lever on the left seven times in succession (that's right, seven), changing the position of the leftmost statue each time you do so. Finally, pull the lever on the right only once, and a bright light and musical strain should confirm that these three statues now match the first group you saw.
Swim out, not through the block you lowered but through the opposite opening, up the ramp into a tunnel and turn right to see another underwater lever ahead. Approach it carefully, as there's some risk that you'll get stuck in the ceiling. Pull the lever to lower the bars ahead and to your right, but don't go there yet. Turn left into a new tunnel, turn right and swim past a barred opening toward a wall mural where you find the AMETHYST JEWEL down on a plinth. Now you can swim back and through the opening where you lowered the bars.
You're back in the hub area, so turn left into the side passage with a mural depicting Poseidon and his adoring subjects. Turn left again in front of the statue, left again into a rubble-filled alcove and take from the skeleton what shows in your inventory as "extra arrows (for crafting)." Flip turn and swim into the opposite alcove, where bars have lowered, and into a small room with a statue. In a lower alcove you'll find the BRONZE SEAHORSE for SECRET #1. Swim back the way you came to the hub room. Once there, turn left and place the Amethyst Jewel in Poseidon's chest to open the overhead trap doors. At some point a second sea snake makes an appearance to add to your woes.
Swim up and pull out. If you're lucky, one or both sea snakes followed you and you can kill them from here with your pistols. Go up to a patch of weeds and grab the CROSSBOW (with 100 arrows). A land snake appears, so kill it with your pistols. Stand on the high ground next to the weeds and stand jump onto the short column. Turn around in place and jump to grab the first of two swingpoles. Mount it, jump forward to grab the next swingpole, mount this one as well and jump off to activate the jump switch. The ensuing cut scene is too brief to confirm clearly what just happened.
Before leaving, look at the symbols on the wall above the flame blowers. There are three columns, each consisting of a circle, a triangle and a diamond, in that order. In the left column the triangle (second position) is green, in the middle column the diamond (third position) is green, and in the right column the circle (first position) is green. These are your clues for the upcoming puzzle. Jump into the water, return to the hub room, swim up and pull out in front of three symbols like the ones you just noted. If you push them in the wrong order you'll die rather spectacularly, so if you're curious you might want to save now, push the symbols in random fashion and see what happens. The correct order, however, is circle (middle), triangle (left) and diamond (right).
You're rewarded with another burst of attaboy music and Poseidon points his trident toward the wall. Go up the steps past a group of columns and take the large medipack from the fallen soldier. Turn around and take a running jump to grab the top of the grouped columns, pull up and jump toward the wall away from the direction Poseidon's trident is pointing. Grab the slope, shimmy right and pull up. Turn right and save your game before taking a tricky running jump to grab the short column. Pull up to the top, swivel to your left and jump off to activate the jump switch. Spikes lower near the spot where Poseidon's trident is pointing, so go over there and push the lion's head button to lower bars in an underwater area we've already visited.
Jump into the water (the hub room) and swim into the passage with the diamond-shaped opening in the far wall. Go through the opening, take an immediate right and swim into the passage where the bars lowered to your right. Go on in and take from the plinth THE ART OF GREEK WARFARE: ARCHERY (or Scroll for short). Return to the hub room, surface, pull out and jump onto that grouping of columns once again. This time take a running jump to grab Poseidon's trident, which is actually a disguised swingpole. Mount it, jump off onto the nearer of the two short columns, jump onto the next short column, swivel to your right and jump off to grab the ladder. Climb up to where you began this level and look up at the far wall to see a mounted lion's head.
Combine the Scroll (which acts as a laser sight) with your Crossbow and shoot the gem in the lion's mouth. The entire head explodes and a block lowers in the doorway ahead, so go on through and step out onto a balcony. Face the other balcony, stand jump over the railing onto the short column and from there onto the second balcony. Slide underneath the swingpole (spikes down below) and jump off to grab the lower ledge. Pull up and note the receptacle to your left. Take a running jump to grab the higher ledge, pull up and loop around to a covered balcony (noting the blocked opening along the way). Hang from the opening where the railing is missing and ledge jump up to grab the vines that cover the ceiling. Turn around and monkey swing diagonally to your left until you can drop down onto a partially collapsed bridge.
Take a running jump over the missing part and open the chest at the other end for the QUICKLIME (aka Burnt Lime). Safety drop to the ledge below. Pull down the wall switch in front of you to open the gate to your right and to turn off some flame blowers. Run along the ledge to grab the GRAVE ROBBER'S SWORD, then go back past the opened gate and loop around left onto a slightly higher walkway. Pull up into the alcove containing a statue and go around and past it to find a plinth surrounded by columns. The statue is a pushpiece, so return to it, move it past the plinth and onto the suspended platform. The weight of the statute causes the platform to lower, providing access to a second pushpiece. Turn right and take a running jump into the archway, step forward, pull up higher and go around to find the second pushpiece. Move it out of the way into the passage and around the corner, review your PDA and stand with your back against the wall as you line up for a sprint jump (precisely between the two flame blowers so you won't catch fire).
Grab, pull up and push the lion's head button to lower the columns surrounding the plinth you saw earlier. Go there and grab the COG, return to the ledge where you found the Sword and jump over the railing into the water below. Swim back to the hub room, surface and pull out. Go up the steps past the Poseidon statue, jump to grab the grouped columns as you've done twice already, pull up and this time jump up to your right to a barred alcove. Use your Sword in the crowbar switch to lower bars elsewhere, get down to the steps and hop up to the vines near the burning torch in the opposite wall. Pull up into a crawl space and follow around to your left. Hop down and use your Sword to crumble the fragile wall.
Shoot the waiting snake and use your pistols to shatter the small jars and reveal the NAPTHA (aka Petroleum). Walk slowly toward the opening to trigger several blade traps that move up and down. Roll past the first one, hang from the other side, wait for the next blade to start coming down (use the look key) and ledge jump back to grab the facing ledge. Pull up, roll past the last blade and enter a small room with another column-encased plinth and five wall switches. Pull the switch to the left of the barred opening (some spears go down), pull the switch just to the right of the barred opening (more spears go down), then the one to the right of the second one (spears go back up), and finally push the second switch back up. The opening is now clear and you're rewarded with some attaboy music.
Go out onto the cluttered balcony and face more traps. Save your game for an unorthodox sequence. Stand right at the broken railing facing the blades, a few steps away from the wall. When the blades start going down, stand jump over them to grab the swingpole. Swing around and release when the next set of blades are at their highest position. You should get past them unscathed as you land on a short column. If you're standing upright (you shouldn't be), climb down so that you're grabbing the column as if it were a rope, swivel to your left and jump off to grab the next swingpole. Swing around, moving toward the left end, then mount the column, jump over the final set of blades, grab the swingpole at the entrance and jump off into a room guarded by a snake.
The room has some unmarked trap tiles, so step down left, walk forward to the wall torch, turn right and walk to the far wall, turn left and follow the wall past the spears. Stand jump to grab the slope (if you miss you'll slide to your death), back jump to grab the walkway, shimmy right and ledge jump up to grab the vines. Turn around, monkey swing toward the platform (you may need to approach from an angle), release and grab, shimmy around two corners to the other side, ledge jump up to grab the ladder, climb up until Lara's feet are "set" and back flip to a ledge.
In my game a snake was futilely attempting to slither through a wall, making it easy to kill. Push the floor lever to move the position of the statue ahead. Hop down over the railing and pick up the LYRE that the statue had been covering. Go through the nearby opening onto a balcony and let's do some mixing. What follows is what I will call Fire Arrows for Dummies, because the process was made to be far more complicated than it ever should have been.
1. Combine the Naptha and the Quicklime to make the GREEK FIRE MIXTURE, press Enter two times and the words "Crafted Greek Fire Mixture!" appear on your screen.
2. Combine the Extra Arrows with the Greek Fire Mixture to make GREEK FIRE ARROWS.
3. Bring up the crossbow in your inventory, click on "CHOOSE AMMO," use the right or left arrow key to bring up "10 x Greek Fire Arrows" and press enter. Scroll up to "EQUIP," press enter and now you can use your drawn crossbow to shoot flaming arrows at the torches on either side of the lion's head across the way to light them. A cut scene shows bars lowering beyond a swinging axe blade.
Stand jump over the railing onto a flat spot between the two swingpoles you can see down to your right. Turn so that your left arm is near the wall and jump to grab the first swingpole (if you miss and slide back down, take two steps back from there and try again). Turn around, mount the swingpole, jump to the next swingpole, turn around, mount the second swingpole and jump off with a left curve to land on the balcony with the swinging axe blade.
Hop up and use your Sword to crumble the distinctive wall tile. Crawl on through, drop down, shoot the snake and grab the GOLD SEAHORSE for SECRET #2. Return to the swinging axe blade, time a run past it and take the POSEIDON TILE from the plinth. Get past the axe blade again, jump into the water below and swim through the square opening into the room with the three statues. Turn right and swim past the lowered block into the hub room. Swim up, surface and pull out. Use a fire arrow to light the torch next to the lion's head tile to lower the protective spikes. Push the tile to lower underwater bars.
Jump back into the water, return through the triangular opening to the room with the three statues, exit left and take an immediate right through the opening where the bars just lowered. Follow the passage down to a plinth with the SILVER SEAHORSE for SECRET #3. Return to the hub room once more, surface and pull out. Go up the steps behind the Poseidon statue and pull up into the crawl space above the corner vines near the burning wall torch. Go around, hop down and negotiate the blade traps once again as described earlier.
In the small room with the five wall switches, enter the alcove and place the Poseidon Tile in the vacant receptacle to lower the protective columns surrounding the plinth to your left. Go there and take the second COG. Roll past the first blade trap, drop to the steps and jump to grab the roof of the grouped columns. Pull up and use Poseidon's trident-swingpole and the two short columns to reach the ladder you used earlier. Climb up to the beginning area and go out to the balcony. Hop over the railing onto the short column down to your left (if you miss you can simply climb it from below), and from there to the next balcony.
Slide under the swingpole, jump and grab the opposite ledge, pull up and jump to grab the space between the two columns ahead. Pull up and go to that blocked opening you noted earlier. Shoot a fire arrow through the gap to light the torch and lower the block. Enter and time your way past another swinging axe blade. Loop around right past another blade and take a second LYRE from the plinth. Return, take a sharp right past the lowered block and slide down from the balcony to the rocks below. Slide down further, jump into the water past the opened trap doors and return to the hub room. Surface and pull out once again.
This time go to the seated statues next to the lion's head tiles and place the two Lyres. Watch the ensuing flyby and swim into the passage where the statue has changed its position. Turn right into the side room where the bars lowered and pull down the ceiling switch above the Poseidon statue. Spears are lowered in the pit you jumped over earlier. Lure any pursuing sea snakes (one may be stuck in a wall) to where you can pull out and kill them.
I'm afraid you're now in for more backtracking. Use the Poseidon statue's trident-swingpole and the short columns to access the ladder back up to the beginning area. Get from the first balcony to the second balcony and simply slide down to where the spears in the pit have retracted. Pull down the wall switch to extinguish a nearby flame blower, stand with your back against the wall, facing the wall switch, and stand jump to grab the swingpole. Mount it and jump off to grab the slope, shimmy right around the corner and pull up onto the ledge.
Safety drop into the other now-safe spear pit and pull down the wall switch to extinguish the other flame blower. Get out onto the ledge by using the swingpole in the same manner as before, but this time take one step away from the wall before making the jump. After getting back to the ledge, jump onto the short column either to the right or the left of the still-unused wall receptacle, turn to face the balcony and jump there. Loop around and place the two Cogs on the empty pegs. Explosions take place and a trap door opens at the bottom of the hub room.
Jump into the water and swim down there to find the EXPLOSIVE DYNAMITE clutched by the drowned soldier, the MAGIC SPHERE OF HELIOS and POSEIDON'S TRIDENT held by the skeleton. The latter two appear to have no use in the game. Swim back up, and when you surface the Poseidon statue comes to life and turns to something grotesque. Pull out, quickly go up the steps where you'll be safe for the moment and do some mixing of the ingredients in your inventory, making reference to the following summary of Explosive Arrows for Dummies (slightly less complicated than Fire Arrows for Dummies).
1. Combine the Explosive Dynamite and the Extra Greek Fire Arrows, converting the latter to Explosive Arrows.
2. Bring up the crossbow in your inventory, click on "CHOOSE AMMO," use the right or left arrow key to bring up "10 x Explosive Arrows" and press enter. Scroll up to "EQUIP" and press enter to draw the crossbow.
From where you're standing, shoot the suspended sword above the fire-breathing Medusa. The sword falls onto Medusa, breaking her into little pieces. Take a running jump to the roof of the grouped columns and hop to the fallen sword. Go around to the other side and grab THE SPIRIT OF MEDUSA. Take a running jump back to the roof of the grouped columns, jump to grab the sloped rock formation in the wall, shimmy a bit to your right and pull up. Jump to the short column, then a bit left to the next short column, and finally onto the broken bridge. Jump over the broken part to the other end, jump up to grab the vines and monkey swing to the balcony over the broken railing. Drop, grab, pull up, loop around right, jump over the pit and place The Spirit of Medusa in that receptacle you've been dying to use for so long.
A portal has appeared at the bottom of the hub room where you picked up three artifacts earlier, so use one of the nearby short columns to get up to the balcony with the spinning cogs. Jump into the water and swim down through the opened trap door into the portal to end the level.