Unlocking Achievements for Chants of Sennaar

100% Achievements guide. Also a little bit on the languages in the game.

Thanks for browsing, but be warned!

This guide is fairly spoiler-heavy, and I've not tagged anything in here (with one exception). I highly recommend completing the game on your own before reading this guide.

Note that this guide is not a walkthrough on how to complete the game. Really all you have to do is explore and decipher the glyphs. There is no map, so be sure to keep a mental one in mind to keep from being lost. Though if you're looking for more details, check out this other guide:

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3032605561






...and if you're reading this bit of text, this is where the actual guide starts.

Progression Achievements

The unmissable ones.

Welcome to the Tower
Reach the Abbey
Enter Level 1, land of the Devotees.




The great escape
Reach the Frontier
Enter Level 2, land of the Warriors.




A new dawn
Reach the Garden
Enter Level 3, land of the Bards.




The darkness
Reach the Galleries
Enter Level 4, land of the Alchemists.




One last step
Reach Exile
Enter Level 5, land of the... Exiles?

Missable Achievements

Glyph Validation Achievements

Basically: work to decipher all the glyphs. There are over 150 of them in total!

That's the spirit
Fill in the Journal's first page
This one is nearly unmissable. Go around, exploring, conversing, gathering as much information about the Language of the Devotees (Level 1) as you can.



Scholar
Validate half of the game's glyphs
As the achievement says: you'll need to actually make correct guesses in your journal to validate them. The glyphs should show up as fully white if you're successful. And of course, to find the glyphs, as well as to get the opportunity to validate them, explore, converse, and gather as much information about the local languages as you can. There are 5 languages in total.

Champollion
Validate all glyphs in the game
As the achievement says: you'll need to actually make correct guesses in your journal to validate them. The glyphs should show up as fully white if you're successful. And of course, to find the glyphs, as well as to get the opportunity to validate them, explore, converse, and gather as much information about all 5 local languages as you can.

Link/Terminal Achievements

There are 10 areas in the game that light up when you stand on them. If you've not yet found one, keep exploring! For full details, see this guide (WARNING: it has only solutions, and therefore spoilers!):

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3032698195

A good beginning
Rebuild a first link
This is easiest to do first between a Warrior and a Devotee, but it could be anyone whose screens are active. Basically, all you need to do is play interpreter and translate the messages back and forth. Each conversation is no more than 5-6 lines, so it should be fairly easy (and maybe even straightforward).

Half the way
Rebuild half of the links
See the above achievement. There are 10 links in total. You should have enough of each local language available to interpret effectively.



Peace walker
Rebuild all links in the game
See the above achievement. There are 10 links in total, but 4 of them seem to go nowhere. You should have enough of each local language available to interpret effectively.
For the 4 links that go nowhere, you'll need the key from Level 5, which also allows you to access the end of the game, so that you can open 4 purple doors — one on each Level except the last. Solve the language riddle and stealth puzzle within to free the Exile and your work is done.

Cable guy
Activate all Terminals
There are 10 terminals: 2 in Level 1, 2 in Level 2, 2 in Level 3, 1 between Levels 3 and 4, 2 in Level 4, and 1 in Level 5. All you have to do is interact with them, but finding them is a little trickier since they tend to be a bit off the beaten path. If you simply work to find every doorway and passageway, you'll likely find them all in due course.

Revisiting Achievements

These are best done after completing the first 4 Levels of the Tower and rebuilding the links along the way. Never be afraid to backtrack — in fact, the Terminals can help by doing some fast travel (teleportation).

Open door
See the Great Door of the Abbey open
Revisit the Great Door in Level 1 (previously guarded by Warriors, it should now be open to all).
Gotten by rebuilding the link between the Devotees and the Warriors.


Free at last
Meet a Serf in the Abbey
Revisit the entrance of the Church in Level 1. Find that the person you gave the coin to is not alone.
Gotten by rebuilding the link between the Devotees and the Bards.


Feels like springtime
Visit the revived Abbey Garden
Revisit the Garden in Level 1. Witness refreshed plants (still in pots tho).
Gotten by rebuilding the link between the Devotees and the Alchemists.



A great audience
Attend the Bards' show in the Fortress
Revisit the path to The Chosen Ones in Level 2. The exact corner is an overlook, where you should see a stage of bards performing for a crowd of warriors.
Gotten by rebuilding the link between the Warriors and the Bards.

For its own good
See the captured monster in the Laboratories
Revisit Lab 1 in Level 4. Witness a covered cage and a couple of Warriors next to it.
Gotten by rebuilding the link between the Warriors and the Alchemists.


A Link to the Past
Meet Bards in the Library
Revisit the Library in Level 4. Witness Bards among the bookshelves and desks.
Gotten by rebuilding the link between the Bards and the Alchemists.


Alchemists Express
Take a trip in the Alchemists' cable car
The cable car runs from the start of Level 3 to Terminal 9 in Level 4.
Gotten by rebuilding the link between the Bards and the Alchemists (plus some time maybe).

Miscellaneous secrets

Rascal
Ring the Abbey bell three times
The Abbey Bell is found in Level 1 (and there's a cat nearby that you can pet). There's even a glyph over the door telling you what the place is. As you ring the bell each time, you'll be greeted, but the door well never open for you.

The Preacher's fate
Discover the Preacher's corpse
Found in the underground maze beneath the Graveyard, Level 1. It's the upper-rightmost corner.



Fashion victim
Leave the Armory with the wrong disguise once the Call is made
As the description says: don a spear, shield, and (or?) a small helmet and exit the Armory in Level 2 after you've completed said Level.



True G4M3R
Winning at both games in the Gardens
The games are in the general direction of the Windmill in Level 3. You probably needed to do one to get an entry token for the Theater, so simply do the other. One is basically flappy bird, and the other is whack-a-mole, where you need to whack the blue figures.

Bonus points if you also win at the card game in Level 1 (though it's not required for this achievement).

Ending Achievements

I did it
Finish the game (or not?)
Finish the game without freeing all the exiles and rebuilding the links. If you missed the opportunity because you're a completionist like me, you can casually speedrun the game in 2-3 hours or restore a backup save behind-the-scenes (actually, the game has been patched, so there's no need to do this behind-the-scenes anymore).

In this together
Reaching the real end of the game
Finish the game, freeing all the exiles and rebuilding the links along the way. There should be 10 lights on the top of the Tower before you end the game. You'll also have to navigate a glitched-up version of the game (but no, this is not a New Game+), but the revelation at the end is worth it!

Notes on the Various Languages of Babel

UPDATE: someone did a much more thorough, in-depth investigation of the languages here:
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3037327250
If you just want the summaries though, read on.

All Languages

• Are logographic/ideographic (and given the nature of the game, compound logographs aren't really seen, spare the few from Level 5)
  
• All have pronouns
  
• All have a word for "not" (negation)
  
• Are gender-netural — "man" can also mean "woman" or "person".
  
• Have no articles, nor verb tenses, aspects, subjunctive, conditional, or other moods; also no other inflections. For example, "I find you" could also mean "I found you" or "I will find you".
  
• Sometimes form concepts by combining simpler parts, e.g. how "Church" and "Graveyard" in the Language of the Devotees have that surrounding box thing in common — each glyph is that box plus another related part. Usage of the simpler glyphs appears to be more historical than current, however, seeing as such glyphs may well carry no meaning on their own.
  
• Many languages have isomorphic concepts. Sometimes this is direct, e.g. "death"/"dead"; other times this is less so, e.g. how an "impure" in the Languages of the Warriors can refer to a Devotee. Still other times the language is more specialized, like in how the Language of the Alchemists has numbers and the other languages do not.

Language of the Devotees

• The script is simple and reminiscent of long lost ancient Mesopotamian and European scripts (we're not talking about your typical alphabets and cuneiform here...).
  
• No plural marker — reduplication is used instead (e.g. "person person" means "people", and "Me Me" means "Us").
  
• Distinguishes between inclusive We ("Me You") and exclusive We ("Me Me").
  
• Is a Subject-Verb-Object language.
  
• Is a head-final language, meaning adjectives come before the noun they modify.
  
• Has no (known) copular verb (i.e. "(to) be"/"is"/"am"/"are", etc.).
  
• Has words for places, indicated by a box around a thing: church, graveyard, garden, etc.

Language of the Warriors

• The script consists of only straight, pointy lines, making the language appear "tough", slightly reminiscent of the Klingon language from Star Trek; as well as Runic.
  
• Has a plural marker that comes before the noun being pluralized.
  
• Is a Subject-Verb-Object language.
  
• Is a head-final language, meaning adjectives come before the noun they modify.
  
• Has no (known) copular verb (i.e. "(to) be"/"is"/"am"/"are", etc.).
  
• Has words for containers (box and bottle), as well as "big" and "small".

Language of the Bards

• The script is artistic, making it reminiscent of modern-day Indic scripts (Devanagari, Bengali, Gujarati, Oriya/Odiya, etc.).
  
• Has a plural marker that comes after the noun being pluralized.
  
• Is an Object-Subject-Verb language (can feel more like Subject-Object-Verb if the verb is the copula and the "object" is an adjective).
  
• Is a head-final language, meaning adjectives come before the noun they modify.
  
• Has a copular verb (i.e. "(to) be"/"is"/"am"/"are", etc.).
  
• Has compass directions.
  
• Negation works weirdly in this language: you negate the whole clause, rather than just one thing.
  
• There is also the ability to distinctly ask questions in this language. The grammar works much like negation. This means that "Can I help you?" can be made distinct from "I will help you."

Language of the Alchemists

• The script uses only lines and circles, making it very geometric-looking; and the way it's used makes it feel like each glyph is an icon for some scientific instrument.
  
• Has a plural marker that comes after the noun being pluralized.
  
• Is a Subject-Verb-Object language.
  
• Is a head-final language, meaning adjectives come before the noun they modify.
  
• Has no (known) copular verb (i.e. "(to) be"/"is"/"am"/"are", etc.).
  
• Has numbers. A single glyph can encode a 4-digit number from 0 to 9999.

Language of the Anchorites

• Each glyph is based on 16 bits that make up a square with an "×" and a "+" inside of it.
  
• Is a Subject-Verb-Object language.
  
• Is a head-final language.
  
• Each concept is directly isomorphic to some concept in another language. As a result:
  
• There is a plural marker, and it co-occurs with the noun being pluralized.
  
• There is a copular verb.

[Twig]

And a serf playing the card game.

[Twig]

You can also see a serf setting up his own marketplace in the abbey.

[позорик]

100% is completable on one save file. as mentioned below: just link everyone and you'll get bad ending and a good one after.

[The Sojourner]

Try looking at the very start of Level 4. There should also be a terminal there.

[Greyz]

I'm at a loss to complete the glyphs of the Alchemists. I've been everywhere, talked to everyone, yet I don't find where to validate "Me", "Find" and other ones.
Am I missing something ?

[symphony]

Update: I Did It (bad ending) is not missable, you will always get it when you reach the top.

I'm not sure if all links/good ending is missable though since I solved everything before ascending the first time.

[symphony]

How are you supposed to connect all links (missable) and get the bad ending (also missable) at the same time?

[symphony]

Are the two endings mutually exclusive? Can I solve all glyphs + all links, then get bad ending, reload then go for good ending?

How do you backup a save manually (behind the scenes)

[Beka]

Евген, ты лох

[CptPropane]

I just completed the game: finished all the links (freed 4 exiles and made all other connections via translator interface), went to the top gate (there was no warning from the exile leader), got electrocuted, got a bad ending, had the glitched "NG+" section and then got to the good ending. Not sure why I got both endings lol (and why steam stats say 51% got bad ending and 58% got good one - so it's clearly not meant to give you bad before good? I'm a bit confused but nvm). just got here to check why that happened