How do you uncorrupt books?

[Fane_Abyssal]

What tool or bed needs to be used with the skills effective against the corruption type - also, how do you get high enough nectar etc.???

[Psyringe]

You need a workstation that can take books, so you do it on a desk, not in a bed. And as you already noted, you also need a skill that can cure the specific type of corruption that has befallen the book (there are several). Hovering over the corruption icon will tell you which aspect you need.

Usually you only need to bring the aspect to about 7 points, which should be fairly easy with a soul aspect, a memory, and a tool, especially if the skill already contributes to the total.

[Frijole]

To add to Psyringe, you'll find that some of your skills will have an "Effective Against Corruption" tag - you'll need that skill in the workstation along with your corrupted book and the needed amount of Nectar.

As you'll often find, that skill has no Nectar, so... you'll need to do what's called "side-loading". Have the Rain weather card today? Find a desk that takes Grail and ALSO takes your Skill for removing Corruption, and you're getting there.

[Lactose Intolerant Volcano God]

If you have a book affected by Keeperskin, I think the easiest way to remove it is to use the Herbs & Infusions skill at Desk: Nonna in the Chapter House. To get the 7 required Nectar:

* Health as the element of the soul gives 1+ Nectar (more if evolved)

* Herbs & Infusions gives 1+ Nectar (more if upgraded) and is Effective Against Corruption. (If you don't have this skill, there are 3 other skills that are Effective Against Corruption but they do not have the Nectar aspect.)

* A Nectar memory gives 1, 2 or 4 Nectar.
If you have the Viper pet or have read either of the books "De Ratio Quercuum" or
"Rapt in the King", you will have easy access to a 2-Nectar memory, so don't need to wait for Rain.

* A Tool (Kitchen Bowls, Mortar & Pestle, or Watering Can) gives 1 Nectar and it will not be consumed, or you can use up an Ink (Yewgall Ink gives 2 Nectar or Marakat gives 7 Nectar).

[Tom Diepstraten]

You can also just flat out ignore many of the various corruptions on books. Half of them don't even threaten the parts of the soul you'd use while solving the book (For example, Chionic Theoplasma threatens Trist and Health, which is only a problem for Moth, Moon, Scale, and Nectar books), and with high enough skills and memories you don't have to match souls to books which also helps in dodging the corruption

[citablekettle]

For contaminations that claim to "spread to nearby objects", what are the conditions for spreading? I did a few experiments with leaving books next to a contaminated book, but never observed contamination spreading. Could be I didn't wait long enough, but does it work? Only within a single shelf space, or within the whole room? Only to unread books or books with compatible Mystery aspects?

(In other words, how do you corrupt books? Based on contaminations being aspect-specific, the next experiment will be leaving uncontaminated unread books with exactly the same Mystery aspect as a contaminated book on the same shelf, in the hopes that this is a contagious enough situation to get a positive result.)

[Lactose Intolerant Volcano God]

Originally posted by Tom Diepstraten:

You can also just flat out ignore many of the various corruptions on books. Half of them don't even threaten the parts of the soul you'd use while solving the book (For example, Chionic Theoplasma threatens Trist and Health, which is only a problem for Moth, Moon, Scale, and Nectar books), and with high enough skills and memories you don't have to match souls to books which also helps in dodging the corruption

I agree. I'd add that each of the 8 contaminants only affects 1 or 2 types (aspects) of book. Chionic Theoplasma only affects Moon or Winter books. If it's on a Winter book, it probably doesn't matter as you'll be using Wist and it doesn't cause a malady to Wist.

These are the book aspects affected by each contaminant:

Edge: Witchworms - doesn't malady Ereb or Mettle, so not a big deal

Forge: Fifth Eye Curse - doesn't malady Mettle or Shapt, so not a big deal

Grail: Bloodlines - maladies both Ereb and Chor. To avoid a malady, remove the contaminant or use another element of the soul that doesn't give Grail.

Heart: Keeperskin - maladies Chor. To avoid a malady, use Health instead.

Knock: Sthenic Taint - maladies Shapt (and Health). To avoid a malady, remove the contaminant or use another element of the soul that doesn't give Knock.

Lantern: Actinic Theoplasma - maladies Phost. To avoid a malady, use Wist instead.

Moon: Chionic Theoplasma - maladies Trist (and Health). To avoid a malady, remove the contaminant or use another element of the soul that doesn't give Moon.

Moth: Witchworms - doesn't malady Trist or Fet, so not a big deal.

Nectar: Keeperskin - doesn't malady Health, so not a big deal.

Rose: Winkwell - maladies Fet (and Wist). To avoid a malady, remove the contaminant or use another element of the soul that doesn't give Rose.

Scale: Sthenic Taint - maladies Health (and Shapt). To avoid a malady, remove the contaminant or use another element of the soul that doesn't give Scale.

Sky: Fifth Eye Curse - maladies Phost (and Fet). To avoid a malady remove the contaminant or use another element of the soul that doesn't give Sky.

Winter: Chionic Theoplasma - doesn't malady Wist, so not a big deal.

[Fane_Abyssal]

Originally posted by Lactose Intolerant Volcano God:

If you have a book affected by Keeperskin, I think the easiest way to remove it is to use the Herbs & Infusions skill at Desk: Nonna in the Chapter House. To get the 7 required Nectar:

* Health as the element of the soul gives 1+ Nectar (more if evolved)

* Herbs & Infusions gives 1+ Nectar (more if upgraded) and is Effective Against Corruption. (If you don't have this skill, there are 3 other skills that are Effective Against Corruption but they do not have the Nectar aspect.)

* A Nectar memory gives 1, 2 or 4 Nectar.
If you have the Viper pet or have read either of the books "De Ratio Quercuum" or
"Rapt in the King", you will have easy access to a 2-Nectar memory, so don't need to wait for Rain.

* A Tool (Kitchen Bowls, Mortar & Pestle, or Watering Can) gives 1 Nectar and it will not be consumed, or you can use up an Ink (Yewgall Ink gives 2 Nectar or Marakat gives 7 Nectar).

Thank you for this, a couple more questions:

1. Where did you get the herbs and Infusions Skill?

2. How do you evolve an element of the soul?

3. How do you use the creatures for memories?

[citablekettle]

Talk to a ssnake. All ssensible people do, if can. Thuss, very rare.

[Lactose Intolerant Volcano God]

Originally posted by Fane_Abyssal:

Thank you for this, a couple more questions:

1. Where did you get the herbs and Infusions Skill?

2. How do you evolve an element of the soul?

3. How do you use the creatures for memories?

1. Herbs & Infusions is not a common skill. Only 3 books contain that lesson, and one of those books is in the Henavek language. So you have to be lucky or patient to find that skill.
If you want to know the three books, they are:

* Fekri's Herbary (requires 6 Nectar)
* The Most Sorrowful End of the Lady Nonna (requires 4 Nectar, Henavek language)
* Warming Draughts to Uplift the Heart (requires 8 Heart)

2. I think there are 30 workstations throughout Hush House that allow you to evolve an element of the soul. You need two identical elements of the soul (the same element at the same level) and an appropriate skill that has been committed to your Tree of Wisdoms. Where you place the skill on the Tree determine which element it is attuned to, and which workstation you can use to evolve that element.

The first two of these workstations you would typically find are the Telescope and the Practic Garden Dummy.
The Telescope allows you to evolve Fet if you have any Horomachistry skills that are attuned to Fet. (Horomachistry skills that are attuned to Mettle cannot be evolved at the Telescope because it does not accept Mettle.)
The Practic Garden Dummy allows you to evolve Mettle if you have any Illumination skills that are attuned to Mettle. (Illumination skills that are attuned to Phost cannot be evolved at the Practic Garden Dummy because it does not accept Phost.)

It's not the easiest game mechanic to understand, so maybe take a look at those two workstations and see the aspect/icon that shows it can be used to evolve elements of the soul. Then you'll know what to look for on other workstations. I think there are other posts on evolving elements in the Steam discussions, and perhaps a guide as well.

3. Talk to the beasts. :-)
If they are not cooperative, you may need to feed them first (which is also done via the Talk icon.)

[Lactose Intolerant Volcano God]

Originally posted by citablekettle:

For contaminations that claim to "spread to nearby objects", what are the conditions for spreading? I did a few experiments with leaving books next to a contaminated book, but never observed contamination spreading. Could be I didn't wait long enough, but does it work? Only within a single shelf space, or within the whole room? Only to unread books or books with compatible Mystery aspects?

I'm not sure that the contamination does spread. I think someone else asked the same question earlier in the Steam discussions, and at that time nobody seemed to have experienced the contamination spreading from one book to another book or to an object in the room. So I assumed it has not yet been implemented in the game.