Surprisingly straightforward, at least to me

Turning to it, and not entirely certain of what it was supposed to do, I just get to manipulating it, throwing things at the wall to see what sticks. My first thought was seeing how it reacts to having the gears pried off of it-only to find that I couldn't. It was way stronger than what it looked like-my attempt to do so only managed to badly cut my hand on the apparently well-machine edges. I patch it up with a bit of healing-drawing the interest of my new companions, she hopefully asks if i help about her curse. I tell the complete truth: I could manage poisons and similar, but not curses.

Anyway, trying to wiggle the gears, more gently this time, eventually produced some results as I ran my hands over different ones-one sliding out of place with a slight click, a sound only echoed as it settled into place soon after. It's then i understood the first step of this: This was a sliding puzzle of some type. Only, instead of trying to form a picture, something else would have to indicate I was on the right path...on a hunch, I experiment with different gears near the edges of the puzzle. I find that of all the ones close enough to the edges of it to mesh with the ones on it, only one of them spun on its own. Perfect. Input gear-my goal is to get all of them spinning. Once I have that down, the rest is just a bit of brute trial and error until I manage to get everything in place.

It was not a subtle announcement when I managed to slot the last part into it's place-a loud thunk and a creaking then followed. It startled the others badly enough that I saw combat stances taken-fully expecting something to come charging out the door as it opened. Of course, after a bit, it was obvious we'd be waiting a while it that's what we were waiting for. While the middle was definitely splitting, it was doing so at such a glacial pace the goblin among us would only be able to squeeze through after several days, much much less forcing me or the dragon's bulk through.

While I check to see if there's any possible mechanism to speed this up so we can get on with it, I ponder why it went unsolved for long enough for it to be notable for such, considering how easy it'd been. I chalk it up to luck, or maybe a rare bit of my experience with video games translating into this new life, lacking anything better in mind.

Speaking of, my eyes drifting over to the other stand-out feature shows a 'puzzle' that's even more 'white noise of game design' than the last. Same general idea-get power from input to all the outputs. Except this was simply 'rotate the pipes to make a path'. Didn't even have to actually move them. With each output that gets its power, the door speeds up its actions, gears turning faster. As I twist the last into place, the whirring of gears is practically a deafening cacophony with their speed-until they crash open and leave only a palpable silence, the mechanisms having stopped their duties now that it was finished.

With a flourish, I take a bow and beckon the rest forward with a simple phrase.