Completed Let's play Azrael's Tear - Redux

[Guido Fawkes]

Dos...

 

[dextermorgan]

Tres, now update.

 

[Guido Fawkes]

As I have mentioned, the soundtrack is awesome. I will be putting bits of it along with every update so you can listen while reading. This is the song that plays in the Chapel and several other areas:




Before dealing with Tallum the raptor checks the confessionary. It is nearby and that way we can spy Tobias once more.

Inside we see Tobias. There is some kind of light show and theatrics going on... Philip was right, Baphomet is a fictional creation of the master templar, used to manipulate the puny mortals of the outside world.

Hear the voice of Baphomet! The gateway into Aeternis has been opened as foretold. All the seals that herald the new dawn of mankind are broken. The rights are fulfilled. The waiting has drawn to a close. The holy thief is within. The entrance must once again be sealed with earth, sand and stone and blocked. This time for all eternity. Even the holy place where you now stand must be barred and sealed forever, for Aeternis will soon be flooded. The long wait is almost at an end, my sons. The purpose of this place is soon to be fullfilled! This is the last time I will speak with you.

The lights go off and Lurka enters the room.

(using his normal voice again)A good performance my friend?

As good as any my lord, perhaps you missed your true calling!

(laughs) I must admit that an unburdened life would have suited me well. I could have lived into uncaring dust.

But my lord, a doubt vexes me: How can you be so sure that the holy thief is one of the invaders within the temple? What a tragedy would it be if he were to be shut out!

Lurka, Lurka, you have seem their aspect. You know from their appearance that the vision is truthfull. All the dates and facts are locked within my mind, and they are all so far correct.

But what if none of the thieves succeed?

Have faith my friend. It has become clear to me that the vision has subtleties I did not notice before. All will be well even if they all fail the test.

It appears that Aeternis is now sealed and the only way avaiable to the Raptor is down!

:bugeye:

Time to interrupt the Juggernaut's prayers.

You can actually pacify him at this point. This dialog tree is ridden with traps though, one wrong word and he jumps you. This guy is really off his rockers and agressive. To fool him you must dig the info about his history with Sir Guy and the cult of Malick's court.

Why are you here?!? Why are you spying on me!?!?

What do you mean 'spying'? You are somewhat paranoid, aren't you?

What do you mean 'paranoid'?

I mean simply that I intend no offence. And I apologize for disrupting your prayer. And for the misunderstanding we had earlier.

You are surprisingly well mannered for a thief... but why should I trust what you say?

(Lies)Because I have seem Guy! He succeeded in his pursuit of Malick! But only long enough to gain sufficient grailstone to survive. Then the dog escaped him. He sent me down here knowing full well that outside the influence of Malik, the knights good and true would return to their straight mind. In all truth, those were his very words to me.

How should I know this to be truth?(stutters nervously)why did Guy send you here?

He sent me because Malick intends to try for the grail any day now. He said to remind you of the battle of Corinth. The two against many.

I believe you friend! We cannot let the grail leave the temple while Malik lives. Tell me your task. (sighs) Oh God, then I am forgiven! Guy has forgiven me?

There is nothing to forgive. My task here is to guard the weakest access to the grail.

Why, there is no better place then here! This part of the test gives access to the deeper levels of Aeternis wherein lies the cathedral! Beneath this altar, there is a passageway that opens when the roll is placed on the pianola and the orrery is activated with a second shield. You must guard here. I will guard the passageway used by the knights. Is there anything else I can tell you that will aid our holy task?

Do you know who Cobweb is?

No. He is too wily to allow himself to be discovered by any. He has so far avoided me.

What can you tell me of the test? The knowledge may assist me in stopping thieves from getting to the grail.

Indeed. If any thief should pass the impedimenta of this room and descend beneath this altar, he will enter a slippery dread. If you are able, follow him and push him from the end. A fearsome beast is waiting bellow. It will consume him utterly.

There is some kind of creature in the waters here. I have never seem anything like it. What is it?

A creature from hell that came for cooler waters, I suspect. It is lethal. Avoid it at all costs.

How many others like me have you seem here?

I have sent two of you to eternal damnation. Besides you and them, I have seem at least three others, but they evaded me. We must ward well against these thieves. It would be a cruel fate if one of them were to deliver the grail into the hands of Malick.

What do you know of the nature of grailstone?

It is of God. I ask no further questions than that. It tests the will of men. We knights were the most highly trained and pious of men... and still, it has tortured and deformed us beyond endurance. No man is guiltless in life.

Do you know anything about the alchemical experiments that were conducted in the temple?

Yes. Alchemy was used as part of unholy attempts to unlock the secrets of the substance known as grailstone. The horrors unleashed are a cause for God's wrath.

I really don't think we should waste any more time talking.

Perhaps you are right my friend. I will go and guard the other pathway Malick might use.

Placing the pianola opens the passage in the altar and a record of "Baphomet" is played.

Perhaps, my child, you are the one foretold! The holy thief that will deliver the grail unto the realm of men. Your survival so far suggests this may be so. But be warned, the trials you have faced so far are as nothing to what lies ahead. The beasts you have seem are as insects compared to those that wait humbly for the unworthy. Ahead lies the grail we once used when we were young. Now we have long lost the need for edible sustenance. The presence of the grail is food enough! This is, however, not true of the creature that guards our store. But before that, you must take notice of your faith. Do you have courage? Before you lies a black mouth to the bowels of the earth. There is no way back, so you have little choice!

The passage is still locked though. The raptor trecks back to orrery, the second shield must be placed there as Tallum explained. I take the chance to get the second replica shield from that locked compartment. It shall be useful later. The raptor trecks back. Now the passage is open and it is time to go down indeed.

The raptor drops into another running drain. He can hear a frightening booming sound coming from bellow. Reminds me of the drums of Moria.

There is a door to the southeast end of the drain but it is locked. Heading northwest there is a big stone wheel, a ladder and some ropes pinned down.

Passing it we see a passage heading down from where the sound.

That slick of oil on the ground is a trap that ill whisk you down. I could die for exposition but I won't: There is a big dinosaur down there and falling means dying(yes, the booming sounds are from his footsteps)

The goal here is to get to end of the hall without falling and pick up this metal pin:

After grabbing the pin the raptor proceeds up that ladder next to the stone wheel:

And reaches this room:

There is a bag of flour on the ground. The raptor picks it up:

And places the rusty pin on this pulley system next to the ladder:

Pulling the pin now winches up the rope. The stone wheel is now upright:

The raptor just gives it a little push and watches it roll down.

Oops, there was some heavy damage bellow. Complete with roar of pain, silence and obvious death of the dino that was there. Time to jump down now:

Not much to see here besides the dead dino. There are broken egg shards and a winch elevator:

The raptor uses it to go up:

That's a hell of a large catwalk. The raptor proceeds northeast, being carefull no to fall, eventually reaching this ramp and climbing it up:

It is a kitchen, complete with chimmey, large stone oven and some hidden mechanisms detected by MS2. There is a metal tray inside the oven, but it is locked in place.

This lever unlocks it:

Humm, these are biscuit mounds with the shapes of crests. The raptor must use this for some reason. He already has the flour, and that stone plaque he found in Lurka's room has the image of 4 of these. Time to cook!

The raptor readies everything, picks up the 3 wafers(they will be of use later on) and moves on. This rope pulley system serves as an elevator of sorts:

It is a slaughterhouse, complete with mistery dino meat .Nothing to do here, the raptor moves back to the kitchen. There is a door to the northeast leading to a very creepy corridor covered in some kind of vegetation... erm, it sounds pretty much alive.

There are giant mutant spiders on the ground. A couple of bites mean death. The raptor must avoid them.

Eventually he reaches that room we saw Philip walk in. Filled with cgiant arnivorous plants. This part is tricky, but just walking the same path as Philip guarantees that the plants don't act. The raptor eventually reaches this weird colored plant:

That is actually a secret hiding place.

What mysteries have you been hiding, Philip?

Special order 1390
Agent Cobweb - The activities of Spider are going beyond the purview defined in his orders. His obsession with the cult of Maal seriously jeopardises the great plan. You will now consider yourself to be our senior operative within Aeternis. You must stop him without revealing our involvement.

(Priory of Sion symbol)

Cobweb
I have been informed that Priuré agents are aboard the ships that will dock here sometime in the next few weeks.
I require you to meet them in the interview room and pass on the map of the gutrock path to the sanctum. Do not reveal your identity to them.
(signed "Spider")

More pages from the journal of Tobias:

Entry 19
August, Year of our Lord 1160 AD.
My careful questioning of the ghost of the well has revealed a tragic and disturbing story. She and her sister were forced into the caves as sacrifices by their tribe many centuries ago.
The most surprising piece of information revealed by these interviews is the claim that they discovered what she describes as "dwellings of the gods" in the deeper caves. This, and the well she haunts, convince me that there may have been some earlier human habitation within the caves.
I have dispatched Malik and Geffrye to search deeper. May God go with them. I fear it will be a dangerous expedition.

Entry 1501
November, Year of our Lord 1763 AD.
At last I have been able to act!
For too long that Satanic chancrous sore Malik festered within his pathetic miniature empire. His temerity even extended to laying claim to be the true commander of Aeternis. An Aeternis that thanks to him resounds to the call of loosed beasts from the lower caves.
We remaining good and true knights feel we will never sleep again after encountering the horrors of that place. The perfidy of the ressurrection of the Ancient Byzantine religion of Maal with its pagan sacrificial offerings and disgusting ceremonies should ensure his place in eternal hell.
He was extracting Grailstone and using it, and the freedom it offered, to lure more of my knights to his side. He was not only endangering my position, but the destiny of the Vision itself.
Philip came to me and offered his assistance in flooding his area with poison gas. This we did to great effect, capturing his followers without loss or injury to ourselves.
Regrettably, the arch Daemon himself escaped, using the Grailstone he had mined earlier to safely flee the Temple. Guy pursued him and has not returned. I fear he may be lost to us.
Tomorrow the questioning begins. I will purge his evil from the temple.

Entry 1020
March, Year of our Lord 1550 AD.
While we have been sealed in Aeternis, over two centuries have passed beyond. Morale is low amongst the brothers. We wonder what further effects the Grailstone will have upon us as the long years pass.
Disharmony spreads slowly, like a leprosy. Malik is ever more antagonistic and outspoken. I wonder: is he positioning himself to oppose me?
My own dark fear is the extent of Priuré treachery after the attempt on the Grail. One of the captive sailors, in his delirium, provided the names "Spider" and "Cobweb". Do we have spies within Aeternis? This could explain the near success of the attempted theft.

So Philip is "cobweb". Malick("Spider") is also an agent of the priory, one that went rogue and escaped. That the extent of templar madness has reached paganism and human sacrifice is damning. Who were the "Ancient Bizantynes"? How long till we reach the Grail?

Well now, the plot has certainly thickened.

The raptor also picks up the sword hilt laying on top of the brass box and heads back. In the next update he will treck back into the green tunnels to find another passage.

 

[SerratedBiz]

I can't help but get a Russian game vibe from the dialogs - they remind me very much of Pathologic, what with characters speaking with so much certainty of concepts you don't yet completely understand, and doing so in a limited fashion as to tempt you with comprehension a little bit at a time.

Or maybe all this grailstone is starting to affect me...

 

[CappenVarra]

Yup, the new talking heads are much better. For the greater glory of Maal!

 

[Guido Fawkes]

I can't help but get a Russian game vibe from the dialogs - they remind me very much of Pathologic, what with characters speaking with so much certainty of concepts you don't yet completely understand, and doing so in a limited fashion as to tempt you with comprehension a little bit at a time.

Or maybe all this grailstone is starting to affect me...

Nah, the game is indeed like this. It doesn't throw anything around too strongly and trusts the intelligence of the player to connect the dots. It is refreshing, it works and it was a very brave design decision. Ultimately it might have contributed to the game's commercial failure... the narrative gets more and more interesting as you progress and someone who abandons the game at the beginning misses it all.

Pathologic seemed amazing but I could never get past the bad translation. Was that language patch ever finished? Maybe someone will LP it someday...

I will post the next update in a few minutes.

 

[Guido Fawkes]

tick...tack...tick...tack

This new area appears to be a gigantic clock.

I think I will save the viewers of the Lp the details on this. It is a big labyrinth with passages being blocked by moving pendulums with a wide varray of deadly thinks attached to them(blades, spikes, etc). Very Indiana Jones esque. Pulling levers activates some, deactivates others, and so the raptor navigates through them.

Done, away from the swinging blades and from the maze the exit is at hand!

Holy molly...


It is a gigantic ziggurat. What is it doing here and who built it? We will deal with that later. Climbing the long ramp to it there is a narrow wooden walkway leading to several directions.

The raptor moves through the passage to the left and picks up another page from Tobias journal on the way.

Entry 1313
August, Year of our Lord 1753 AD.

Aeternis has been falling prey to the forces of decay for centuries and we, in our small numbers, have had no choice but to watch the crumbling of our great dream. Today, an event foreseen with great dread came upon us - a deep barrier wall collapsed, allowing the beasts to flood into the Temple. They spread through the complex before the breach could be sealed. They are too numerous and dangerous to be removed, particularly considering the expanse of empty chambers and corridors in which they can hide. We have no choice but to accept their presence, and perhaps to find ways to use them to our advantage.

After a long treck through a very long and dangerous wooden walkway, there is a door to Geffrye's studio. We finally meet the mind behind Aeternis.

He is soft spoken and calm, unusual compared to the characters we have met so far. He actually appears sane!

Welcome Thief. Please don't be alarmed. My name is Geffrye. I was the architect of Aeternis. I have been instructed to answer, within the realms of the test, the questions of those who survived this far. Please ask on.

What can you tell me about the vision of the holy thief?

A holy picture of the future. The Grailstone expanded the mind and wisdom of our leader Tobias to the point where he is truly beyond humanity. Your aspect fits with what he saw centuries ago by the reckoning of days under the sun.

Tell me about Malik.

He was a foul monster! When I first heard he was born to a heathen tribe I argued with Tobias against his being amongst our numbers, but I went unheard. I was not surprised when I met him. He has a charm about him, and he has the ability to make one feel he knows far more and deeper than anyone else . It was no suprise that so many followed him when he betrayed his holy charge and revived the pagan cult of Maal.

What can you tell me about Tallum?

He is a mad dog. I argued many times with Tobias the folly of allowing him to live. When the followers of Malik where questioned, he was contrived claiming fear and folly. He betrayed the hideous acts of the others. Tobias forgave him, but I do not trust him. He is insane.

What can you tell me about the Priory?

A sister order, but a sister who proved to be a harpy in disguise. When the templar order fell, they lifted not a finger to help, but retreated to the shadows like godless cowards and plotted to take the grail for themselves.

What can you tell me about spies within the temple?

We have never discovered their identity beyond their codenames: Spider and Cobweb. But beware thief, one of them is still active and intent on destroying the test. He is as likely to kill you as not.

What can you tell me about Grailstone?

When we first came here, it clistened like jewels about the floor. We mined it, but when the traitor Malick left, he took it with him. Over a century of relentless toil was within that sack! We were mortified. The thought that this error allowed this monster to escape into the world of men, to live perhaps forever, working against the will of God, fills us with shame.

What can you tell me about the rest of this place?

Do you think me a traitor? You are being tested. I cannot help you.

Tell me about the Guardians.

We were twelve, all dedicated, but the Grail weighs on the brain as well as the other parts of the body. Before long, some of our numbers turned to madness or evil, though I suspect Malick was born with a black heart. After many decades, Malick broke away and sealed himself in ancient chambers where he found and revived a pagan idol of evil. Its name was Maal. After he fled, we purged the remainder of his followers as we could overpower, but those that remained are still tainted by those days of corruption.

Tell me more of yourself, Geffrye.

What is there to tell? I have seem wonders and horrors in this place. When Malick was sane, I went with him to the deeper realms of the lower caves. A time of discovery when I was very young, thief. My heart sang with the great work before me, my mind filled with visions of the future. Aeternis would have become the center of the world! As you are being tested by God, thief, so was I. I had to watch as all my proud dreams crumbled into dust as the world forgot us, and all we stood for.

Tell me about Philip.

A treacherous dog, a follower of Malick and a sickened child. He redeemed himself by betraying the betrayer, but this to me is double the reason to distrust him.

How many others like me have you seem here?

I have seem some. Yes, they are ahead of you, but fear not. There is only one fated by God to carry the Grail. If it is you, you will prevail. And indeed, surely one I have met, an ill tempered lout will die before that. Warren, he said he was called.

Again this warren!

There are strange creatures down here.

I imagined they were God's part in this test. He sent them down here in the first days of creation. Fearsome creatures they are indeed, and worse to come, that make those you have seem look like tadpoles in the pond.

Thank you geffrye, I better go on before the Grail is taken by someone else.

Indeed. Good fortune.


There is a book at the table by his left. A travelogue of expeditions to the ancient ruins of the Byzantines.

As instructed by Tobias, Malick and I set forth with ten slaves. The expedition was to last for a week.
For the first three days, we traveled through dark, tiny caves beset by the small beasts we called Eugenes.
These caves stank with the accumulated filth of Millenia. We were ever hopeful of finding more evidence of those dwellings mentioned by the ghost of the well. Dwellings of gods, as she described. We were intrigued.
On the fourth day our expedition bore fruit. A small crevice gave into a large chamber. We stood with astonishment before a great rising staircase that was an echo of the wondrous ziggurat at Urnammu. That which scholars consider the remnants of the tower of Babel itself. At that moment we realised that the gods of Niamh were in truth men. The Babylonian fathers of the great empire of Byzantium.

After rest and reflection while the ziggurat was cleared of nesting beasts, we continued on and deeper into the caves for another week. We mapped various sizeable chambers that will serve well for the temple. My mind is filling with ideas of their form.
On the fifth day, two of our retainers were taken by the creature of the waters; on the banks of a sunless stream. On the sixth, my mind darkened with the weight of our discovery. A small series of Byzantine rooms within which horrific experiments using Grailstone had occurred.
In it, with even worse horrors, three mindless children; part animal; part beast; were hung on hooks, their very bones suffused with chips of Grailstone. When we return, I intend to have them taken to the surface where their souls may be returned to God.

I confess I wished to end our explorations after our previous discoveries. The deeper we go, the more horrors we find. Malick has convinced Tobias that we should continue. I am put to shame by his courage.
Our next expedition took us again into narrow, filthy craw-ways, though a passage has now been broken through into the ziggurat chamber, making the opening stages of the journey easier.
After two days of this, we found ingress into another Bizantyne area. It seemed safe and so we allowed one of our eager retainers to scout while we made camp.
He returned shortly, shaking with delirium, with a swelling the size of his head in his side. I went on to investigate and to my shame fled when I saw the very image of the manticore before me.
We returned as quickly as possible, but too late for the slave who expired in agony.

Malik, determined as ever to penetrate the deepest secrets of our Bizantyne precursors, returned to the chamber of the mantichora with five slaves. His determination to study and learn a way to subjugate these mosnters was admirable. After three weeks, he returned with the one slave that survived the venture with news of his discovery that the monsters were passable by virtue of their savage competitive nature. A full expedition was again possible.
Malick's excitement at finding just beyond this chamber a fitting sanctum for the grail prompted Tobias to join us.
And surely, in a deep, vaulted cavern, we found ourselves beneath the light of a thousand gleaming grailstone stars, while standing on a larger, more elaborate ziggurate then the other, topped with an altar. It seemed designed to be home to the grail.

We set out again, hoping to find the homes of our predecessors.
Beyond the chamber of the mantichora, we found corridors and passages collapsed by time and weight of rock above. Finally, we found a way through to a vast cavern filled with Eugenes and stranger vegetation than ever we had seen. This means Aeternis can be self sufficient without the need for external fields.
Days later, and far deeper, we gazed in wonder on the empty ruins of an entire Byzantine town.
At the end of this vast cavern was an opening that looked out upon a great subterranean lake; the call of enormous, unkown beasts carrying across on a stale wind.
On our return we were amazed. During two weeks for us, six months passed for the others and nearly four years outside.
Despite Malick's objections, Tobias has called a halt to further exploration.

The raptor takes a look around Geffrye's studio. There are interesting Bizantyne artifacts, but nothing else to be taken.

So time to head to a door leading to the southeast.

Oh, just back to that walkway. This time we use the elevator to head further up.

There is an opening on the wall leading to a cave.

As the raptor aproaches this door, another ghost appears.

This guy is very whiny and in much suffering. Can't blame him, since he died in great pain and was condemned to spend eternity trapped here. If you have the note from Tallum you can give him some relief. I will do this on this LP.

Wait stranger, who are you? No matter, whoever you are you may not pass until you have heard me! Yes, I am dead. My name is Vincent. I was murdered falsely for crimes I had no part in. You will hear me out with a just ear and an open mind, stranger?

Perhaps. If you can tell me how to get through that door and what that inscription means.

Very well. The gargoyle represents the monster of a man's sin. Those condemned were brought here to beg forgiveness by purging the sin with an offering of the eucharist. But for me, it was a trick: as I offered the wafer the door cut my head from my body. I was condemned to the eternal torment of being an example, they said! As for the inscription, all I know is that there is some way through which the most senior knights can pass it into a shrine of beyond. And now that I told you, I assume you will leave... All I ask is that you listen to me and help my poor accursed soul!

I'm an opportunist from the outside world. I've come for the grail you see. And yes, I will hear you out.

The thief... it has come to that time already then? But you will hear me. At last! Listen well, for I swear to you my innocence. Malick was the one, so insidious and convincing, he said that the Lord was an illusion! that his "Maal" was the only truth and that he was its only prophet! That only the worship of Grailstone was right! That it lifted the Bizantines to greatness out of this hell! In the stronghold he prepared for us, he had deciphered many tablets from those that dwelleth here before. Slowly, he divided us, sowing the seeds of mistrust and forcing us to work on isolated projects for him, telling us that Tobias had sworn slow deaths for us all and was constantly trying to invade the area.

.....

All I did was use his Grailstone on plants to make food for the armies he promised us he wold raise above ground. But when he deserted us, and Tobias captured us, one of the others sold me for his own survival. I didn't know! I tell you, I didn't know! One of the experiments was on Claude, to turn him into... Horror! It was horror when I saw what was left of him! I told them it wasn't me, but they would have none of it! They tortured me for weeks but I wouldn't confess. Even if I hadn't been innocent they would have had nothing from me! Eventually they tired and before my freshly dead eyes, they broke open my head and fed my brains to a hungry theo! Then they parted my skull and bones and grounded them on the rock of this place so that my spirit could never leave with my remains!I was so young! Barely a score of years! Since then I have awaited the one person who will believe me and give me his blessing in the name of my true tormentor! The one who cast his own crime upon my head! Perhaps will God then let me sleep at last! Well, you have heard the truth. Do you believe me innocent?

Yes. I do.

You do!?! You actually believe me!?! Oh thank God! Thank God! But why this fate? Do you know who it was that betrayed me?

Yes, it was Tallum. I found a note in Guy's seat in Edgar room begging forgiveness from him. It seems that under the influence of Malick, he cared little for anyone, but came to his senses later.

Thank you friend. Thank you! Oh, tell Tobias, if you see him. But now friend you have ended my torment, so I will tell you of another way into that shrine. I was responsible for making the master key for it. The secrets of that lock were known only to myself and Philip who designed it. But even Malick knew, and I went over to his faction before it was done. So Tobias thinks it was never finished. It is hidden in the great clock. At last I can rest. At last.

Good for you...

There is a different conversation option where he doesn't tell you all this but you can ask him some questions. For completion sake I transcribed it all and I will put it here:

I may listen... if you answer some questions first.

Very well, ask away. But you best be prepared to listen to me in turn.

What can you tell me about Malick?

He escaped this place. A place that has now become hell itself. The perfect place for the devil we finally recognized him to be. What an irony.

What can you tell me of Tobias?

He was once a great man. Pure, and filled with humility which made him a fitting leader to the Guardians. But then the Grailstone changed him, his mind sucked in knowledge. We all became in awe of him, believing he would become far more than even he already was! But his pride increased with his knowledge, and brought with it the kind of petty, vengeful vanity that lead to the inquisition of we poor fools that followed Malick.

What can you tell me about Edgar?

He was close to Malick. I suspect he might have been the one to betray me.

What can you tell me about Geffrye?

He is a forner to Tobias. He pretended disgust when I was being tortured, and made a show of advising Tobias to let me die, but I did not trust him. He was about to name my true tormentor, my true betrayer, but before it Tobias suggested he remain silent to further punish me.

What can you tell me of Sir Guy?

He was a good knight. Strong enough to resist the corruption and tentation employed by Malick.

What can you tell me about Philip?

He was one of the traitors that like me, followed the false hope of Malick when we became disilusioned with Tobias.

What can you tell me of Tallum?

An extraordinary fighter! He was a strange man. His religious fervor in Christian worship changed so quickly to an equally fervent worship of Malick's devil god Maal! I think life in this place destroyed everything in his mind, and all that was able to hold it together was worship.

Have you spoken to any others like me?

I think I spoke to one but I lost concentration and not been here since then. The memory is so vague... I think he laughed at me.

Evil Warren!!

What can you tell me about Grailstone?

I was on a spying mission for Malick once and I saw Tobias leave the temple. He was gone for enough time to have passed a night outside. This proved to us that he has a secret store of Grailstone somewhere.

What can you tell me of the "vision of the holy thief"?

Malick convinced us of Tobias madness in this. But you are here... so perhaps the likes of Geffrye and Guy were right to hold fast to him. But I doubt it. A madman with visionary powers is still a madman.

Tell me about the Guardians.

The dissolution of our fellowship was a tragedy, but Malick was right about one thing: Tobias is insane with his visions and vanity. A pity though that we could not see Malick was far more crazed.

So according to what Vincent said the shoulder piece found in the Clock can open this door straight away. But we will save it for later and open it with the wafers. It is just a mtter of putting them in and the "sin eater" thing opens.

It reveals a room with statue of a young Jacques de Molay, last leader of the templars. The raptor examines it... in the next update.

 

[CappenVarra]

Aeternis has been falling prey to the forces of decay for centuries and we, in our small numbers, have had no choice but to watch the crumbling of our great dream. Today, an event foreseen with great dread came upon us - a deep barrier wall collapsed, allowing the beasts to flood into the Temple. They spread through the complex before the breach could be sealed. They are too numerous and dangerous to be removed, particularly considering the expanse of empty chambers and corridors in which they can hide. We have no choice but to accept their presence, and perhaps to find ways to use them to our advantage.

Another Codexian parallel!

 

[SerratedBiz]

Pathologic seemed amazing but I could never get past the bad translation. Was that language patch ever finished? Maybe someone will LP it someday...

I know of at least two completed LPs done in the SA forums. The first one was the Bachelor's (first character) and I found it to be the superior one, but unfortunately it now requires the archives upgrade to see. So fuck it.

Anyways, an available complete one for the Impostress (third character) is here: http://lparchive.org/Pathologic/ Since this scenario was the one with the most horrible translation, the author rewrote tons of the dialog in order for it to at least have grammatical coherency. I found it to be a great read regardless.

There was also one for the Haruspex (second character) but I'm not sure if they ever finished it.

 

[kazgar]

I'm enjoying this LP muchly, loving the layers of story interacting, and how the protagonist isn't really sure what's going on.

Keep up the good work

(bump with content)

 

[Arpad]

Cool, some situations I hadn't seen. Nice work on this.

The Pathologic translation is horrible but playable and pretty much goes from the bachelors kinda understandable to haruspex's less coherent one ands ends up a complete mess by the devotress. I still found the game atmospheric and wasn't bothered by that translation. Translation project's as dead as expected.

That lp SerratedBiz posted is pretty cool, I'd brofist if I could. I didn't complete that character since I got bored by then.

( Bump.)

 

[Guido Fawkes]

Anyways, an available complete one for the Impostress (third character) is here: http://lparchive.org/Pathologic/ Since this scenario was the one with the most horrible translation.

Thanks bro, I will certainly check it out. Maybe I will try to play the game again, I know from reading threads about it that you take the most out of the 3rd scenario if you do the Bachelor or Haruspex first. It is a shame that they never translated Pathologic properly. Is there any translation patch avaiable I should use, even if incomplete? You seem to have played it more than once and should have some tips about how to best enjoy the game.

(bump with content)

( Bump.)

With content or no content, bump this shit to next page . I got the next updates ready.

Only a handful of people seem to be following this, but I will finish it and I will do it quite fast. I am on medical leave, been feeling like playing it lately and have the time to it. I think there are bout 6 updates left and I got 3 of them ready. I will make a 7th update about the alternate paths and the bad endings you can get as well.

This game comes up in discussions here all the time and there is not a single complete LP of it in the web. This completed LP will be here when people wonder about it and don't have the will to play it. For posterity. Since it will contain all the trivia bits and content that people usually don't get when playing it I guess there will be interest for those that already played it as well.

 

[kazgar]

We're 14 or 15 posts away from the next page, may just be worth sticking another one in here regardless, because 15 bumps is rather bumpy.

And the pages load fine, unlike the comics threads, which smash all my computers around and are unreadable.

 

[Guido Fawkes]

I don't know, next update is quite cap heavy(about 40). I think two updates per page is tidier, though the bumping thing is kind of unconfortable indeed and slows down things.

But I don't know really, if you guys think 3 updates per page is alright... that would be more or less 100 screenshots plus the conversations, docs and etc. I know people read lps on laptops and tablets, and if the scrolling is too much it can get kind of bad.

 

[SerratedBiz]

Thanks bro, I will certainly check it out. Maybe I will try to play the game again, I know from reading threads about it that you take the most out of the 3rd scenario if you do the Bachelor or Haruspex first. It is a shame that they never translated Pathologic properly. Is there any translation patch avaiable I should use, even if incomplete? You seem to have played it more than once and should have some tips about how to best enjoy the game.

Heh, actually no, I haven't finished the game once. My expertise on Pathologic simply comes from having followed the aforementioned LPs at one point or another (the Bachelor's, especially, which I stuck with from start to finish over the course of a couple of years IIRC).

Truth be told, it exasperates me. The translation being all over the place, at times beautiful and at others mind-raping, the goddamn walking speed, and finally the burning feeling around Day 8 when I realize I fucked up too much stuff and that I'm not comfortable finishing the run anymore and the mere thought of going back and replaying it all over again makes me want to... Which is why I love the LPs for it.

That said, I'm pretty sure the unofficial translation projects are vaporware. There were also rumors about IcePick planning to hire a new localization team to go ahead and redo the thing but I haven't heard anything recent on that front either. I can tell you that the Impostress / Devotress playthrough in that LP I posted was made possible, as I said earlier, by the LPer rewriting the dialog by himself. The guy, woodenchicken or something, started rewriting it in some text file while the Bachelor LP was still ongoing. I'm not sure whether he released such a script for others to use or not (and still, as you said, you should do the Bachelor and Haruspex's first anyway).

Also, bump.

 

[CappenVarra]

What is there to tell? I have seem wonders and horrors in this place. When Drog was sane, I went with him to the deeper realms of General Discussion. A time of discovery when I was very young, troll. My heart sang with the great work before me, my mind filled with visions of the future. Codexia would have become the center of the world! As you are being tested by DarkUnderlord, troll, so was I. I had to watch as all my proud dreams crumbled into dust as the world forgot us, and all we stood for. My proxies banned, my brofist privileges revoked, my posts nuked into Oblivion.

 

[CappenVarra]

The troll... it has come to that time already then? But you will hear me. At last! Listen well, for I swear to you my innocence. Drog was the one, so insidious and convincing, he said that the Monocle was an illusion! that his "Todd" was the only truth and that he was its only prophet! That only the worship of Bethesda was right! That it lifted the oldfags to greatness out of this hell of a forum! In the stronghold he prepared for us, he had deciphered many tablets from those that vault dwelleth here before. Slowly, he divided us, sowing the seeds of mistrust and forcing us to work on isolated projects for him, telling us that Andhaira had sworn slow deaths by discuss!ion for us all and was constantly trying to invade the area.

 

[Commissar Draco]

Malik means King in Arabic, why the Templar bros would take a Mahomedian with them on such Holy and Important mission? Was Sir Anders one of missing Knights or Agent of Zionist Priory? Don't leave us hannging bro.

 

[kargard]

Interesting, thanks.

 

[Crooked Bee]

Bump!

 

[kargard]

lets continue.

 

[Guido Fawkes]

Malik means King in Arabic, why the Templar bros would take a Mahomedian with them on such Holy and Important mission?

The characters and the setting of the game are very well thought of but you only get bits and pieces hidden in the game and they come little by little. The only piece of lore you get about Malik's background is from the hanging man in the docks, "Mikhail", the priory assassin that had detailed intel on the knights. According to him, Malik was a Persian noble youth that was kidnapped by the Templars, and then brainwashed with the use of drugs and indocrinated into being a loyal crusader to be used as a tool against his people. We do also know that he is somewhat of a genius and a brilliant alchemist, and was brought to Aeternis as Tobias right hand man... but yes, terrible idea to bring pagan mudslime into Aeternis and we will see more of him and his horrors as the LP progresses.

The game is inspired by conspiracy theories and pseudo-history, much like Darklands, and that is why the Templars are presented as fanatical gnostics. Though for all we know they might actually have been that way, being that they probably did embrace all sorts of occult knowledge from their forays in the middle-east, and if they did indeed survived into becoming the freemasons, well then... that would be proof enough for me. The consensus nowadays is that they were unfairly persecuted at the behest of the King of France, but theories that the accusations of heresy against them had truth still persist.

 

[SerratedBiz]

Bump, yo.

 

[Guido Fawkes]

Bump.

Need some 3 more.

 

[kargard]

bump.