Hi! Thanks for letting us know how it went. We're working on a walkthrough and probably release it in a couple days, just to see if another player comes through with some answers. If not, we'll put it in a dev log post here.
If you'd like a hint until then, I can say: keep your head up and make sure there's enough light to see. You should definitely find them :)
And to explain the hints a little better. With hints enabled, you're able to ask your partner "HINT" in the banter window. Also, exiting a puzzle (padlock, candle, etc.) will give you a couple hints about said puzzle starting from the third time you leave (just to give the player a chance to figure it out on their own). Disabling hints removes these opportunities for help.
Thanks again for playing!
Same here, completely out of ideas.
HINT doesn't help at all, the partner just brings up the fern (I've already taken the fern trimming).
Or the books (already checked all of them).
Or the stairs, the desk... (already, already, already...)
Honestly, the partner system has been so spectacularily unhelpful this whole time - anything I ask about, they'll always
respond to with outright hostility. Like...
<enters name of inventory item>
PARTNER: wanna try making sense? you worm? you utter baffoon? what???
<enters name of other object in the room>
PARTNER: i will actually murder you. you're insane. stop.
<enters words relating to the characters>
PARTNER: i have never heard of "police". perish
For anyone still stuck (SPOILERS):
That metal fragment is in the cave after all. It has nothing to do with light in-game as far as I can tell. The guide text file says it's hanging from the ceiling there, but I still had trouble finding it. It turns out it's at the end of one of the hanging chains. Because it's metal and rounded, it looks like part of the chain, so it's really easy to miss. You have to look closely to see it. If you hover the mouse over it, it will change to a yellow hand cursor.
