How does contamination work?

[АlphaWhelp]

Is it a % chance every time i read a contaminated book or does it work even if it just sits there? Or is it something else entirely?

[Nothing]

As far as I can tell, most contamination behaves uniquely.
I think it's a random chance to show up when you catalogue it based on the era of the book.
Once it is there, the contamination will list the soul cards it affects. (In my experience, it's any soul card that has the aspect the book requires, but I have a sample size of 4 so...)
If you use those soul cards to read the book, they get a malady and need to be healed.
If you use any other soul cards, by having strong skills or memory, nothing happens.
Some contaminations are 'shelf-safe' and don't spread, some say they spread but I've yet to see it happen.

[Just good enough]

it does also work if it just sits there, or even if its in your inventory, but it seems to actually take quite a long time before that actually happens

[Sepulchurz]

How do I cleanse the contaminated book? I have a book that requires 7 nectar and I managed to get 7 nectar, but there's no table for nectar so I dunno how to get the power necessary to cleanse the book while using the skill needed to cleanse it since it required a different kind of power than the one im using.

[somebodybond]

Originally posted by Sepulchurz:

How do I cleanse the contaminated book? I have a book that requires 7 nectar and I managed to get 7 nectar, but there's no table for nectar so I dunno how to get the power necessary to cleanse the book while using the skill needed to cleanse it since it required a different kind of power than the one im using.

Have yet to do it myself, but I believe you need
* the requisite aspect (7 nectar, in your case)
* a skill card that says it can remove that curse (it's listed as an aspect on the skill card)
* the book itself, of course
* a workstation that will accept all of the above

[Maina]

Nectar specifically, as far as I am in the game (a bit over half the rooms unlocked), requires you to use your Consider verb. No tables take it.

Alternately, you can use skills/etc where their second Aspect matches the work station. Any table can take any book, but if the table only takes Heart for the other slots, you could use a Heart/Nectar skill and Health (which has Heart and Nectar both) to get the required Nectar.

[Silas]

Originally posted by Maina:

Nectar specifically, as far as I am in the game (a bit over half the rooms unlocked), requires you to use your Consider verb. No tables take it.

Alternately, you can use skills/etc where their second Aspect matches the work station. Any table can take any book, but if the table only takes Heart for the other slots, you could use a Heart/Nectar skill and Health (which has Heart and Nectar both) to get the required Nectar.

I couldn't get it to work with Consider, but once I got the secondary aspects to line up to put them in a desk, it worked. Apparently you can't cleanse books you don't know the language of?

[GivingTree]

You can also get infected by a book while cataloguing it if you were using one of the Elements that is vulnerable to it by accident.

For what it's worth, there are nectar tables in the game. Currently I have access to two, one is just below the top-left room of the main house and the other is in the basement of the gullscry tower (the tower between the main house and the gaol)

[Wlerin]

Originally posted by GivingTree:

You can also get infected by a book while cataloguing it if you were using one of the Elements that is vulnerable to it by accident.

For what it's worth, there are nectar tables in the game. Currently I have access to two, one is just below the top-left room of the main house and the other is in the basement of the gullscry tower (the tower between the main house and the gaol)

The Nocturnary isn't a Desk, it doesn't accept Papers. The first one you mentioned will work though.

One thing of note re: contamination/infection. Contaminated Soul Parts can still be used to read books and craft recipes at workstations that match their single remaining aspect. And they don't get fatigued. And they can't get re-contaminated by anything else.