ASPIDETR EASTER TIME 2023 - THE CABIN IN THE WOOD

Level by Greywolf

Walkthrough by Phil Lambeth. Video walks have also been provided by Doggett TV, by Saki Croft and by kapil4417037.

Level 1: EASTER MORNING

Begin as Young Lara standing on a hill next to the eponymous cabin. Slide down to the patio, jump over the fence into the water and swim around the cabin under the paddle wheel into the S opening past a blocked opening. Turn right, pull the underwater lever (1 of 5) at the end and flip turn. Swim out, loop around left in front of the paddle wheel and look left to see an E opening. Follow the winding tunnel, pick up a small medipack in an area with a fixed camera and pull the nearby underwater lever (2 of 5) on the N wall.

Go back, surface for air and swim into the opposite opening in the W wall. Turn left, pull the S underwater lever (3 of 5), flip turn and swim straight N for a large medipack in the corner. Get some air, swim back into the W opening and turn right this time. Loop around into an E passage, take the first left and swim under an obstruction to find another underwater lever (4 of 5). Flip turn and swim straight up into a ceiling hole to pull a switch that opens double doors in the cabin. Exit to the previous passage, loop around left and find the final underwater lever (5 of 5) that opens another set of double doors near the paddle wheel.

Make your way back to the cabin and pull out onto the patio next to the paddle wheel. Go through the nearer doorway into a storage room for a small medipack and note the crowbar switch. Exit, go through the other doorway into a room with pushblocks. Push the first one against the S wall, move the one next to the doorway into the opposite corner and move the first one next to it against the E wall. Pull the SW block toward to the doorway to reveal a crawl space, and get inside for the CROWBAR.

Return to the first room and activate the crowbar switch to lower the underwater block near the paddle wheel that you noted earlier. Go there and swim inside. Avoid the rotating blade as you pull out through the ceiling hole next to the paddle wheel works. Hop to grab the pole and carefully climb up past another rotating blade. Back flip into an upper room and pull the bag in the corner to reveal a small medipack. Open the N door, go up the winding steps, open another door and enter a small dining area. Search the cabinet in the far corner for an EASTER EGG (1 of 7) and another small medipack.

Stand with your back to the larger table and jump up to open the ceiling trap door. Pull up into a small attic for a large medipack and go through the N crawl space to a connecting room with the SILVER KEY. Get back down to the dining area and open the E double doors that lead outside near the point where you began the level. Note the farm animals exercising on a treadmill in the distance and make your way counterclockwise around the perimeter and past the trees to find another EASTER EGG (2 of 7) in the NE corner.  

Get back up to the cabin and continue past it SE into the woods. Go through a narrow valley into an open area and look for another EASTER EGG (3 of 7) hidden in the fern. Return to the cabin, go past it on the left side and continue W until you see a bridge down below. Don't go across it yet, but continue along the ledge until you can jump S and grab the rock cliff. Shimmy right until you're one block from the edge of the waterfall, save, pull up and hit the action key immediately after Lara clears the edge (you may have to experiment a few times until you find the proper spot to pull up). You'll glide into an opening for what I feel is an unfair and arguably illegal CRYSTAL FLOWER for SECRET #1.

Drop into the water, swim around to the paddle wheel, pull out and make your way up and around the cabin to that bridge. Go across and follow to a fence that bars the path. Open the gate with the Silver Key and continue a short distance to an EASTER EGG (4 of 7). The path ahead leads to a dead end, so turn around and take the E path near the gate (that closed behind you). When you come to a fixed camera, continue forward to a clearing and take the right (S) path. In front of the far tree is a hidden floor hole. Drop down into a crawl space maze, crawl N and turn right (N) at the crossing. Loop around left to an alcove with a small medipack. Go back and crawl E into the darkness, loop around left again and continue W, pausing for a large medipack in the last alcove to your left.

Continue crawling toward the W wall and look for an opening to your left (S) where you can stand up and run normally. Turn left at the crossing, pick up the EASTER EGG (5 of 7) and pull up W into a higher crawl space. Follow to a CRYSTAL FLOWER for SECRET #2 and find your way back to the four-way intersection (using the paths leading upward)where you dropped down through the hidden floor hole. For an extra pickup, crawl W, turn right at the crossing and stay left until you reach a small medipack. Return to the intersection, pull out of the hole and take the E path in the clearing for an EASTER EGG (6 of 7). Continue through the woods until you reach a small hut with an EASTER EGG (7 of 7) near the door.

Open the door, enter the hut to trigger a brief conversation with the Wicked Witch of the Woods (known to her friends as Baba Yaga) and watch the hut grow legs and run off as you're taken to the next level.

Level 2: THE HUT OF BABA YAGA

Use the crowbar to open the gate and step forward to trigger a conversation with someone named Mur-Mur. Note the onscreen hints that are preserved in MUR-MUR'S RIDDLES that has appeared in your inventory. The hut is shaking ominously as you walk past the waterskin, food bowl and wrapped present on the floor (if you pick up any of them the small cat will turn into a panther and you'll die) on the way to the corner cabinet for an EGG. Open the SE door, grab the FIREWOOD around the corner in the next room and place it in the fireplace in the previous room. Double doors open in the main cabin, so open the door in the E passage and attempt to enter the crawl space at the foot of the stairs in the next room. You'll hear the sound of a trap door opening, so go upstairs and open both doors for later use.

Go downstairs, open the SW door and open the first crowbar gate. When you approach the far crowbar gate, the owl caged within tells you that Baba Yaga has stolen something from him. Open his gate as well (he doesn't move or even thank you), return to the previous room and open the floor trap door. Go up the stairs and through the nearer doorway, up the next stairs to a bedroom and pull the left cabinet from the wall. Go around it and look in the mirror to see a reach-in switch in the wall to your left. Use it to hear the sound of another trap door opening. 

Go downstairs to the landing where a ceiling trap door has opening, jump up to grab the opening and pull up into an attic. Go around the debris to the S wall and pick up a TORCH from the pile. Hop down to the landing, go up the SE stairs to the bedroom and jump through the phantom mirror. The double doors you opened are on your right, so exit the cabin and toss the torch down to the ground where you'll be able to find it again. Face the E wall, jump up to grab the roof and shimmy right around the corner. Continue to an opening where you can pull up into an alcove with a receptacle for the Egg. Place it for a clue that shows in TURTLEDOVE'S RIDDLE, face SE and stand jump to grab the roof. Shimmy right to the corner and release to grab a crack. Situate Lara over a jump switch and release to activate it and lower a block.

Retrieve the torch and re-enter the cabin to find that things inside have changed. The floor now has 20 squares bearing various outdoor scenes. Step only on those 5 squares depicting a winter scene with a sun in the middle, and the E door opens. Hop inside, go around past a wall switch (don't pull it down yet) to open the double doors, pick up the torch and save your game before entering the next room (explanation in the builder's readme). Light the torch in the fireplace, exit and run across the designer floor (the door will close behind you, but that's okay) and outdoors, loop around right into the cabin and hop through the mirror, go downstairs to the main floor and light the wood in the fireplace. A large stone door will roll aside, and you may have some difficulty restoring camera control.

With torch in hand, exit E and hop down past the floor trap door into a dingy basement. Light two wall sconces, open the W double doors and light two more wall sconces in the next room to lower a block somewhere. Toss the torch onto the wooden floor and wait for it to burn away. Drop down through the floor hole into a basement with a pushblock puzzle, get past the crates to the N wall and find a row of wall switches that raise and lower the crates. Pull down only the outer two, go back a bit S and move the pushblock across against the E wall. Hop down N, pull the switch on the right back up to lower the pushblock, go over and move it two times S.

Pull the middle switch down, move the pushblock W once and S twice, push the middle switch back up and pull the raised pushblock once S. Enter the E side room and open the small chest for EMPOUSA'S SMALL CHAIN and an onscreen hint. Grab a TORCH from the NW pile, use the raised pushblock to jump past the burned floor hole and light the torch from one of the wall sconces. Hop back down to the basement, exit NE past the lowered block and run down the ramp to a crossing.

Toss the torch left in front of the closed door, go down right and follow to a pool. Jump into the water, swim across and pull out at the waterfall into a hidden opening. Loop around left to find a CRYSTAL FLOWER for SECRET #3 and return to the water. Swim into the S opening and veer left to pull out onto a wooden ledge. Save in front of the chain for a timed run, pull the chain to raise fours platforms and quickly make your way around in a counterclockwise direction with continuous fluid jumps to reach the SE steps. Open the double doors and follow the winding ramp up to a crossing. Take either E opening, continue up the ramp to another E opening and open the double doors at the end.

Enter a room with statues on blocks, pull up into a crawl space at the SE corner and pick up a CRYSTAL FLOWER for SECRET #4. Get down, enter the E side room and open the small chest for a red strand of WOOLEN YARN. Return to the water where you jumped the timed platforms, swim through the N opening and pull out W. Follow back around to where you left the torch, open the double doors and open two sets of S doors in the next room. Retrieve the torch, go through the left S doorway and light the rope to release a boulder. Heed the onscreen admonition to save your game and approach the four light formations in the previous room for advice as to how you should proceed. Deduce which of the spirits is telling the truth and push the boulder (1) E onto the adjacent tile depicting a lamb in a forest, (2) W, N and W onto the tree tile, (3) W and S onto the tile with the flying storks, (4) N and E onto the tile with the farm workers and (5) W and S onto the sun tile. Go through the right S doorway where a block has lowered and open the small chest (with your back to the wall) for another strand of WOOLEN YARN.

Leave the torch here, exit E and turn right in the passage to go up the S ramp to a room you visited earlier. Note the onscreen hint and enter the SW passage to find a long ladder around the corner. Climb up to a small room, combine the two stands to form the BALL OF WOOL, turn right and pull up into a crawl space.  Crawl through a fixed camera, flip out at the far end where Mur-Mur may or may not be waiting to harass you (upon one of my reloads he was running repeatedly against a wall in the next room). If he is, and this isn't entirely clear to me, the Ball of Wool is apparently intended to act in the same manner as a Mechanical Scarab With Key, which serves either to distract Mur-Mur briefly or change him back to a harmless cat. In any event, loop around right to the owl's cage, place Empousa's Small Chain and watch the ensuing cut scene that brings you to the final level.

Level 3: THE RAGE OF BABA YAGA

When camera control is restored, immediately save your game, reverse roll and sprint to the bomb shelter next to the cabin. Enter the crawl space and hit the sprint key to roll forward and escape the lethal zone. If you dally you die. Save again in a different slot when you're successful. Crawl forward in the darkness toward a waterfall. Turn around, lower Lara over the edge but don't release. Take a rolling back flip (end key + down arrow key) and grab a wall crack you can't see. Ledge jump up two times (jump key with the action key depressed) and shimmy right around the corner to pull up into a S crawl space over the waterfall.

Crawl up the ramp and loop around left for a CRYSTAL FLOWER and SECRET #5. Return to the crawl space, hang left and drop down into the water. Fight the current (staying close to the wall helps) and swim into the E pool. Pull out and go through the N opening to a crawl space. Crawl through the darkness until you emerge at a W opening. Face E underneath the sunbeams and jump up to grab a crack. Ledge jump up two times, shimmy right around the corner and ledge jump back onto a flat spot. Vault up N and go around the corner for a BOOK that provides clues for your upcoming task.

Safety drop from the flat spot and follow the passage W into a room with three blocks (referred to as "dice" in the Book) and a wall with nine switches. Counting from left to right, pull down #2 and #5. Get on the SE block and jump S to grab the wall crack. Shimmy left around the corner, ledge jump up to grab a higher crack and continue to shimmy left until you can pull up into a crawl space. Follow around right for a SMALL WATERSKIN, return and drop down to the ground.

Go to the wall switches, push #2 and #5 back up, pull down #3, #4, #6 and #9, go back through the E opening and crawl S to fill the Small Waterskin at the pool. Return to the room with the blocks, enter the N crawl space beside the tree roots and follow to a cave with a flame-protected chain. Carefully empty the waterskin (standing at a corner of the wooden platform) to douse the flames and pull the chain to open the N door. Go on in as the door closes behind you and slide down the slope to trigger concluding conversations with Baba Yaga and a Lara look-alike named Vassilissa.