Thief II FM -- Calendra's Legacy: A Winter's Eve

I guess I'd better put a warning up here. This is basically my notes to myself while playing the mission. It is, therefore, SPOILER RICH! However, it is also misleading since I was in the process of figuring things out as I went along and may have made some mistakes. In fact I have backtracked with saves and reloads several times.

Monday, April 22nd, 2002, 19:30
Okay, time to carry on with the third part of this Fan Mission. Also carry on with Garrett difficulty.

Act III: A Winter's Eve

Objectives
Keep Mercedes alive
Meet Mercedes at the bridge then rob the Dayport bank
Kill Gaston the Red
Get at least 5,500 loot

Loadout
Everything except the Lotus Nectar.

Opening Scene
In a small building in deep shadow. A six-man Hammer patrol comes buy and is ambushed by five or six Thieves. They're probably from the local Deepshine Thieves Guild. The Thieves kill all the Hammers. We're staying hunkered down in the dark in this small building until everything clears up. When we bring up the Skeleton Key in our inventory, or maybe it was Garrett's Tip that triggered it, a new objective to steal the Night Jewel from the Keepers gets added to our to do list. Garrett's Tip is about the Night Jewel and that it requires two hands to use. A Note From Mercedes about the Amulet, which we have. She's used up the three charges for today testing it. Correct me if I'm wrong but if the Amulet won't fire how can I be sure she hasn't given me a fake and stolen the real one from me? She mentions meeting her on the bridge. We search the dead Hammer bodies and find two Healing potions. We'll have to restart to get them to count as pockets picked. The Hammers won this time. Try again since the thieves had stuff too. Well, we played this over a bunch of times. Two of the Hammers have Healing Potions and three thieves have pockets to pick as well. One with three Broadheads, one with a purse with fifteen gold, and another with a purse with five gold. We'll see later but we can't really see a way to get all five pockets picked before they're dead. In the final version, for now anyway, some Hammers and some thieves were killed. We accepted it like this. We got three pockets picked. But not the purses on the thieves. They were hiding in cubbyholes a little ways up. We count five thief bodies and four Hammers. We know two Hammers walked away afterward so we guess there were only five thieves. Looks like the place is controlled by Hammers so the thieves are probably going to all be killed eventually. So, we'll have to try to figure out a way to get their three pockets first some time. Moving on for now. According to the map we've started in the middle of the north end of the warehouse district. The Deepshine Thieves Guild doesn't show on the map. Neither does the Keeper location show on the map. There is a single box here so perhaps we're supposed to be able to go up from here. There was a barrel also but they smashed it during the fighting. We don't readily see anyplace to proceed upward. Except maybe from the roof of the small building we started in but we're not having much luck with this box. The bridge where we're supposed to meet Mercedes does show on the map. The two surviving Hammers patrol back through this area perodically and blow a gasket each time they see the bodies.

First stop a Pawnshop. A jewelled sword on the wall worth twenty-five gold, twenty-five gems, and twenty-five goods. The Basketball. An empty barrel. Two platters worth ten goods each. Four goblets worth fifteen goods each. A golden candelstick worth fifty gold. A silver coloured nugget worth fifty gold. A necklace worth twenty-five gold and twenty-five gems. A ring worth fifty gold. A large hammer worth five gold and five goods. A small hammer worth five goods. A Water arrow, a Speed potion, a Flare, a Gas Mine, and a Flash Bomb. Just behind a curtain three alcoves. The first of which has a warrior statue, a lock on the wall, and what looks like elevator flooring behind the warrior. Part way up the stairs a golden urn worth fifty gold. Upstairs a spitball trap we unknowingly avoided being injured by. Run and jump over the top step to avoid the trap altogether. And a note from Keeper Orland to Keeper Loren regarding his returning with the Amulet and Mercedes having left the Keepers and probably Gaston the Red's Deepshine Thieves Guild in this area. A golden candelstick worth fifty gold. Keeper Loren's journal admiting he's in deep trouble with Orland for not having the Amulet. He talks a bit about the South Cavern Doors and Orland's opening them at midwinter. Sounds like the Amulet may be some help for us with opening these doors. He talks also of the North Sanctuary Doors. A bed, a desk, a fern, and a lit fireplace. A vase on the mantle worth fifty goods. Two Lucky Coins on an endtable worth twenty gold. Also on the endtable a small statuette worth fifteen goods and the Fire Talisman but it's nailed down or glued to the table. And finally another door. We could see from the stairs there is another level. Here's hoping there's another stairway or ladder behind this door. Yes, a ladder. Upstairs is a catwalk level with an empty unlocked chest, another golden candelstick worth fifty gold and a Pawnshop Key. We tried the Pawnshop Key on the elevator lock beside the warrior statue but it didn't work.

Leaving the Pawnshop straight ahead up a ramp and sharply right back along the roof of the Pawnshop. A couple of thieves standing around a fire, a couple of bedrolls, a barrel, and a golden wine bottle on the ground. One thief has a Speed potion. The golden wine bottle worth fifty goods. We went to a safe distance in full darkness and saved. Then back to see if there wasn't something in the fire itself. We spooked them before getting to the fire and they put the fire out themselves! Reload. While moving on a couple of Hammers come and clobber the two thieves. Wow! Ladder and metal catwalks all over the outside of the buildings. Alas, no way to access them.

We were about to pack it in for the night and thought we'd have a look ahead a bit and see what we'd be dealing with. Just a little further on a wooden door that a Hammer Mage would go into and then come out. Generally he'd go back further away still but once he went past us toward the thieves. There's another Hammer Mage facing more or less toward this door and we've only once been able to get to the door without him noticing us. The door is locked but it probably can be picked. We don't know for sure because we've only been able to jiggle the lockpick a couple of times before getting clobbered. One last attempt we just ran past the bunch of them to see what was ahead. One of them followed. We made it to the bridge and there was Mercedes. She still had her firebolt and wacked the Hammer. Then as we were approaching her she blasted us too. Should have waited for her to settle down a bit. That's enough for today.

Tuesday, April 23rd, 2002, 18:45
A lot has happened tonight but we haven't been keeping notes. We'll try to recap everything. First off we used the box from the Hammer and thief fight at the beginning and another box from the Pawnshop to get up onto the flat roof on the left near the top of the ramp leading out of the Pawnshop. Once there we were able to run and jump onto a ledge around a nearby building. Thence around above the Hammer Mage watching that wooden door. He noticed us and fired a firebolt but we managed to avoid it and carry on further along the ledge. A catwalk over to a ladder. Up the ladder and jump off onto some piping. We followed the piping around a corner and a little further on to a concrete block with a Gas arrow on it. Back nearer to the corner we were able to jump off the piping onto a ledge around the building with the wooden door. Following this ledge around we came out at the spot with the ladders and catwalks we'd mentioned earlier. One of the ladders can be moved up and down. The second ladder lead us up to a window entrance to the tower warehouse the other Hammer Mage was going in and out of through the wooden door. Another Hammer in here with a Warehouse Man Key. This opened a wooden door right behind him that lead out to a circular stairway ending at the bottom with the wooden door being watched and at the top with a door out onto the roof. Above this door some wooden beams with a Moss arrow and some loot. Sorry, for now we can't figure just what loot it was because we never saw it but only heard it. It's right near the Moss arrow. It was a blind attempt to get the Moss arrow that resulted in the loot. Anyhow, when we tried to exit this building back down to the catwalks and ladders we couldn't figure out how. We'd entered onto some beams while crouching and the space between these beams and the ceiling was not large enough to stand. So, we couldn't just Rope arrow up and mantle onto the beam. Not enough room. Reload back outside. We know the stuff is inside but unless some thieves come along and clear the Hammer Mage watching the wooden door we can't figure any way to get out of this building. Well, there is a marble topped pedestal in the room we entered the builing into but we haven't figured a use yet.

Back to the spot with the ladders and catwalks. This just happens to be above a peaked roof. We had noticed this roof before while watching the Hammers and the wooden door. Anyhow we jump down onto this peaked roof just to see if we could negotiate our movement on it or whether we would just slide off. Yes, we could move around without sliding off. So, if we could figure a way to get up onto this roof it would grant us access to the bridge and Mercedes without having to get by the Hammer Mages. The adjustable ladder when down put us close enough to the ground to jump off without injury. This only thirty or forty feet from the bridge. We did some more messing around. We could jump off the wooden doored warehouse onto the roof of one of the buildings that we could look down onto the two thieves by the fire. Although, we don't recall if we were able to do this jump without getting hurt.

To make a long story short we reloaded back just after the thieves with the Speed potion and golden wine bottle and pushed a barrel between the top of the ramp and the thieves over by the peaked roof. Grabbing one of the boxes we tossed it up onto the peaked roof. With the other box in hand we jumped up onto the barrel. Then crouched and looking straight down at the barrle we dropped the box we were holding then jumped. This put us up level with the eave of the peaked roof. We were then able to mantle up onto this peaked roof. QEF!

Mercendes goes down under the bridge by a fire in a steel barrel and tells us if we would just get her into Grindle & Boggs she would make our lives so much easier and pleasant. Is there an echo in here? There's a Hammer sentry over by the gate to Grindle & Boggs. When Mercedes finishes talking she turns and puts the Hammer down and waits for us to get her through the gate. Having a quick look through the gate we figured later all we needed to do at this point was shoot a Broadhead arrow at the lever just through the gate and we were in. However, we went exploring. Back in an area past the Hammer Mages a sentried doorway with a couple of loot hammers. On the opposite side of the bridge a church or chapel with a sentry who's afraid of the dark. Every time we turned the lights off over here he hustled himself over to the switch and turned them back on. He had a prayer scroll on his belt. And the opposite direction but still on the chapel side of the bridge an alley with a thief standing guard at a doorway. We just turned around and headed out. There was another thief behind us now. Reload and back to Grindle & Boggs. Shoot a Broadhead at the lever that opens the gate. Mercedes enters and we followed right on her tail. The gate closes again. Mercedes says she'll see us at the Inn and just stands there. We unlock a steel door that leads down to a flooded basement. There's a wacko down here mumbling away to himself with a key and a loot sword. Also a Water arrow in the water below a hole in the ceiling. Then we headed back over to the thief sentry by the door. Turns out we could just walk past him and he wouldn't bother us and pick the lock of the door. We had to wait for him to settle down before grabbing his Broadheads though. Yes, a couple of Hammers and a couple of thieves seem to spawn back by the bridge when we get down this way.

Taking the stairs down behind the thief sentry we see what is probably the Deepshine Thieves Guild. Several thief types wandering around. Just after a landing with a grate in the centre there's a tripwire for a Gas Mine boobytrap. Although we were never injured by the Gas. We could see and jump over this wire. But we had to work on this jump a bit. Too much noise landing and the thieves came after us. We tried to land on a stair edge to cushion the landing. We still made a thieve's army boot sole slapping sound but this time the thieves didn't bother about it. There is a thief sentry looking through some windows right at this last set of stairs that had to have seen us but he didn't bother about it. He had three Broadheads. So, some of these thieves see us as just another Deepshiner and others know we don't belong. We saw what had to be Gaston come after us once. Red wrist straps and red hair! We want to have a thorough look around in here before we decide whether he needs to be capped or not. That's about it for now. Oh, and we'll have to make another trip through to get some screenshots. At least we'll know what's important or not when we do this. Next time.

Wednesday, April 24th, 2002, 17:30
Deepshine Thieves Guild
Busy place! But before we get started detailing the loot here there's something more important perhaps. We were hunkered down in a corner of the main room working away at collecting all the loot when we thought we'd see about dealing with Gaston. He came right beside us every once in a while and just stood here. So, we took out our blackjack and wacked him one from behind. This didn't work the way we wanted. He didn't go down. Okay, reload. Let's see if the sword is any better. But what's this? We were not in total darkness in this corner with a slight hint in our lightgem. But when we pulled out Kharras Drahg the colour in out lightgem disappeared! So, this sword has other properties in addition to those that enhance fighting. It makes us more stealthy too! Okay, New Rule, when sneaking around keep the sword out. That's a personal joke for me. I recall playing some pickup lacrosse with a guy back in the day who used to holler out "New Rule" while running down the field with the ball. He usually scored with the New Rule. Duh! Wha? But? Cracks me up.

The first, main room of the Guild has several chests and quite a bit of loot. Also three or four thieves including Gaston walking in and out. On the table: two deer legs; six apples; two cheese wedges; and, four loaves of bread. Also, a large golden vase worth one hundred gold; one jewelled dagger worth twenty-five gold; two golden wine bottles worth fifty goods each; three golden goblets worth twenty-five gold each; a pair of dice worth fifty gold; a sack worth forty goods; two copper coins stacks worth five gold each; two silver coin stacks worth twelve gold each; a single gold coin stack worth twenty-five gold; a statuette worth fifteen goods; and, three pairs of lucky coins worth twenty gold each. Starting from the entrance and working around the room clockwise: a lever by the entrance that works a gate across the entrance; a wooden chest with a silver coin stack worth twelve gold; a jewelled chest with a gold coin stack worth twenty-five gold; a green rug on top of a large box worth one hundred fifty goods; a jewelled crown worth seventy-five gold and fifty gems in a pirate chest; a gem worth one hundred gems in a cedar chest; and, a ring worth one hundred gold in a second jewelled chest. None of the chests were locked. On to the next room through some curtains.

A lock pickable safe with a gold nugget worth two hundred gold. A gate with lock over an armory entrance. We used the Skeleton Key to open the gate. In the armory: two Moss, two Fire, and ten Broadhead arrows; a Holy Water vial; a Mine; two Flash Bombs; and two Water arrows in an unlocked chest. In the barracks area a sentry with three Broadheads; a chest with eight gold coin stacks worth 25 gold each; and, another chest with another three Broadhead arrows. Gaston comes through here and through a doorway returning a little later. Into Gaston's room. A chest that required the Skeleton Key with his diary. The combination to his safe is written in this diary. He also mentions putting a sack of loot behind his bed to distract his men. He comes in periodically and sometimes stops and opens his safe and looks at the jewelled vase worth three hundred gold, eight hundred gems, and two hundred goods mentioned in the diary. He then closes the safe and leaves. A golden candelstick worth fifty gold on the endtable. Behind a grate behind the bed a purse worth two hundred gold. Should we kill him in here or not? Will the other thieves just outside his room react? Let's try the blackjack again. Nope. Okay, it'll have to be kill. It seems once the loot is removed from the safe Gaston just pivots and exits without stopping by the safe. So, when he enters the room raise the sword. But wait until the door is closed before swinging. Gaston will have turned back toward the door by then. Also try to kill him before he has opened the door to leave. If the door is closed his guards don't seem to notice. Of course, if we'd had the energy to backtrack a bit we could have done this in a better sequence. Easier to kill him while he's gazing at the vase in the safe and then grab the vase after he's dead.

One final item for the Thieves Guild. By the armory entrance a hallway leading to a dark room with a ladder going up. We had to pass by the sentry in the barracks looking right at us in full light but he turns out to be one of the thieves that assumes we're Deepshiners. Look around there's a red button on the opposite wall that moves the large statue near the bridge to reveal a hole at the top of the ladder we can exit the guild from. Back to Grindle & Boggs and Mercedes. Wait a minute! Something's not right. The sentry watching the ladder exit won't let us pass now. What did we do? Whatever, there's an oil lamp on the wall. We douse it with a Water arrow.

Wednesday, April 24th, 2002, 22:00
Can't seem to get anywhere here. We've spotted "The Locked Grate" that the wacko downstairs talks about. Was Mercedes supposed to have opened this? We've been up the stairs. We've pushed the red button to move the molten steel over above the hole into the flooded basement we'd seen earlier. We were even able once to sneak by the spiders and found a Water arrow. And the window we had hoped to enter through earlier. And the note about the out of repair freight elevator. And we've pulled the freight elevator lever and watched it drop all the way down and crash. But that's about it. Oh, we may be able to jump and mantle up and by the spiders with a box or something. But we've been up and around there. This sort of block usually sorts itself out if we just take a break and come back to it later. So that's what we're going to do. That's it for today.

Thursday, April 25th, 2002, 18:50
Grindle & Boggs
Okay let's see if we can't figure out how this place works. No good. We did try a bunch of things. Couldn't jump and mantle up to the open window even with three boxes. But we could jump and mantle from two boxes piled on top of the tram beside the locked grate. This gets us past the spiders. A Water arrow. A skull which we couldn't figure a use for. Plus a note saying the freight elevator doesn't work. It just blows up and crash down when we do try it. Otherwise we can't see how to proceed. Had a look up the hole in the ceiling from the flooded basement while the molten metal was there but except for it being brighter and seeing the container sitting there no difference. Had a look around close under the water in the flooded basement not noticing anything interesting. Went back to before the Deepshine Thieves Guild to have another go at that. Found a Misplaced Key on the table in the main room that wasn't there before. We'd already opened the safe and the armory before we looked so either one of those could trigger this key appearing. Yesterday we were able to get one more Gas arrow by triggering the Gas arrow tripwire but it wouldn't appear today. That was after killing Gaston then. Tried a pile of two boxes to see if we could get back up onto the ladder we'd used to bypass the Hammer Mages. Yes.

Something else interesting. At each milestone the Hammers (and Thieves) seems to get moved around. It may be possible during this shuffling around to get at the Hammer Mage watching the wooden door. He's got a loot hammer on his belt too. Also a wooden beam straight over the shed we started the level in. And we could shoot a Rope arrow into it and climb up. Would need to time this with the sentry up there. And if he's there could we get at the Hammer Mage? Enough for today. Will take another crack at it tomorrow.

Friday, April 26th, 2002, 19:23
Lot's to report tonight. I fiddled a bit more with things at Grindle & Boggs but couldn't make it work. And then I worked around seeing whether I could make it back to the Pawnshop. Well, I could get near the Pawnshop but there's a Hammer just outside now and I couldn't figure a way to get in. So, as I often do when I'm not progressing, I started over. Didn't bother to pick the Hammers at the beginning. Oddly enough it worked out the same, two Hammers survive. One of the Hammer Mages put in an appearance at the beginning too. The fighting was all over with by then, though. Probably the one watching the door right above. Anyhow, when the coast was clear I tried to Rope arrow up onto the beam. No luck, not with that poviting Hammer up there.

I hid all the bodies in deep shadow so the patrols wouldn't spook when they came across them. I found another chest in the Pawnshop in a small loft above the top floor with a Lucky Coin worth twenty gold. Did the thieves at the fire. This time the thieves were killed by the Hammer. Went up with the barrel and box and figured two different ways to exit that building I'd thought earlier couldn't be exited from. There's a strip of shadow out from the wooden door plus I could slide off the roof onto a light fixture onto the catwalk by the ladder I'd used to get in. Plus the loot in the beams above the roof door was a Lucky Coin worth twenty gold.

Did the two churches then tried to get Mercedes into Grindle & Boggs. There's a Thief with a jewelled dagger comes running out from between Grindle & Boggs and the church when I went back that way. I figure he was plastered by all the Hammers. But he may have got one or two first. I could hit the lever at Grindle & Goggs with a Broadhead alright but Mercedes wouldn't do her thing. Over to the Deepshine Thieves Guild. Figured a way here to get out without using a Water arrow. The sentry at the last set of stairs didn't spook on me when I walked out. Go figure. He'd just got finished searching for Gaston's killer too. So, maybe the Deepshine archers settle down and accept Garrett after a bit. Three more Broadheads from a second patrolling Thief just outside the Guild. And no Hammers on this side of the bridge this time. I'm thinking there may be a lot of different outcomes to the Hammer versus Thieves fights. Could make for interesting replays.

Okay, back down to Mercedes and Grindle & Boggs. This time everything worked out fine. Mercedes went through the opening gate and, get this, opened the locked grate! No wonder I was stuck before. But the spiders spooked. So I tried a bunch more times. I'm more or less convinced it's the sound of Mercedes opening the locked grate that alerts them. Most times the wacko in the basement alerted too. I tried shooting a bunch of Moss through the gate before I opened it but it didn't seem to make a difference. Anyhow through the locked grate to the Keepers. I had a quick look down there. Reminds me of Equilibrium. Next session I'll start by going into the grate again.

Saturday, April 27th, 2002, 20:45
I'm starting just through the portal to the Keepers' Sanctuary at the top of the stairs and the elevator. Down the stairs. A dark corner at the bottom of the stairs. A keeper patrols by and up the stairs then back down with another jewelled dagger. Then two more. I could only get one of the daggers from the second pair. A child also with a South Grotto Gate Key. They're all chatting away but I can't make out too much of it. The child says "You're not hidden." every time she passes by me. I'm in complete darkness though and she doesn't react in any other way. The candles on the pillars can be put out. Even so there's not much shadow around the pillars. Around the corner into a room with bookshelves, a coffee table, and a lamp on the table. Complete darkness in a corner. The Keepers patrol through here too. The child still says "You're not hidden." here. Shouldn't be too much trouble moving on. The patrols are fairly sparse. I wish I'd kept track. I think that's four daggers I've grabbed and they're still coming by with more. Okay, a fifth one and I haven't seen any more for a while. From here through a dark hallway to a dining room with a couple at the other end of the table. Back out and around to a statue beside a stairway. A book on a table with a goblet talking about Loren and the Amulet. Down the stairs to a tiled floor and a pool. Down another flight of stairs to a library with very, very tall stacks of books. And very, very long ladders to access them. A catwalk up there too. A fireplace. Shite, they got me. Ah, the heck with it, I'm going to bed. Tomorrow.

Sunday, April 28th, 2002, 09:00
Continuing on into the Darkwatch Keeper Sanctuary Library. A large column in the centre of the voluminous room with what looks from down here like a doorway off the catwalk up there into the core of the column. Several desks and tables regularly spaced throughout the room with many books, scrolls, and papyruses (papyri?) on them. Pretty well lit though so I'm wondering how I'm going to be able to sneak around in here with this pair of busy bee Keepers walking about and apparently covering the entire room in their travels. Okay, immediately to my right off the stairway. Still in complete shadow along the right hand wall to the corner. I can see down the back hallway here.

The fireplace, quite large. And a heatolator (sp?) or some other grillwork just above it. I suppose I'll want to see if there's anything inside it. And, what's this? Some white flakes come shooting and falling from just around the corner of the stack to my left. From over toward the fireplace area. Snowflakes? They seem just a bit too much the projectile to be falling snow though. So far it seems the discourse has been mostly custom. "A Keeper keeping things from Keepers." I've really got to try to hear what they're saying. Plus that odd chanting or whatever it is. Some kind of echo script. Each syllable seems echoed and superimposing the next. Yes, Rope arrows stick in the books. That would be a way to get onto this catwalk. Take a ladder up high near the spot where the catwalk runs into the wall and Rope arrow across just above the catwalk and jump down. No, the catwalk does not extend past the other side of the column.

It's completely dark at the other end of the room opposite the stairway entrance. There's a doorway out where the catwalk meets the wall above the stairway. At the ladder on the back wall. An old trick. I get onto the ladder on the wall side and climb around to the front of it and up. I'd used the same technique getting onto the moveable ladder by the sloped roof to bypass the Hammer Mages getting over to the bridge to meet Mercedes. So far, all I seem to be gaining from being on the ladders is perspective views of the room. Nothing special otherwise. Oh, and the snowflakes? Nothing, just a graphics glitch of some sort. Nothing there when I get there.

Dang! The Rope arrow method of working across the stacks isn't going to work afterall. I'd tried it in the first corner and the Rope arrows stuck there. But here along the back wall they just disappear. Reload at the stairway entrance. And just so you know, I've got a slight blip on my lightgem here so I pull out Kharras Drahg and the lightgem fades to black. I've kept it out most of the way around down here so far. Thought I'd douse the fire in the fireplace and have a look there but was unable to. Later. Then I recalled something odd. In that first warehouse, near the sentry with the Warehouseman's Key. I had tried to put the torch above the empty pedestal out and the Water arrow wouldn't shoot. The bow seemed to work okay but when I let it fly it didn't fly but just sat there in midair. What was that all about? A glitch or some kind of magic to protect what wasn't on the pedestal?

Although generally you're safe snuggled up against the outstide walls of the library ,as long as you're in shadow, the patrols can notice you sometimes if they're passing close. But not always. In fact, I've observed them passing even closer sometimes but not alerting. One time one of them got caught between me and the circular column. He didn't notice me but continied walking in place until I inched away from the column enough for him to fit through and continue on his way. Anyhow, thought I'd try jumping up onto the sills of the windowed stacks in the square columns just to see if I could. That would put me just that little bit further away when they walked by. I don't know if that contributes to sneaking around in here but it is one more tool at my disposal. Yes, I can jump up onto the windowsills but not secure enough to crouch.

A golden wine bottle and a goblet on an endtable in the area in front of the fireplace. I couldn't read the tome or the parchment. I tried again to put the fire out in the fireplace. This time from just a couple of feet away. No luck. Is there an invisible barrier in front of the fire? I'll try again. Sometimes it's difficult to get the Water arrow past the various items nearby. And it's not that clear just where the Water arrow is landing.

Oh, great! These guys can walk through the furniture a bit. That's not fair! Okay, I'm going to wack these guys so I can find what's worth sneaking to get in here. If they can be wacked. They seem able to notice me from odd angles and distances away. Plus their trolpoint selection seems random or I just can't recognize the route patterns they're following. It would take forever with saves and reloads to investigate properly with them walking about. I plan on coming back to this point afterward with them walking about again.

You know, I could see this tall stack of books on one of the tables and I said to myself "I bet they all can be read." Well, not all of them but most. Plus I tried dousing the fire in the fireplace again. This time from directly in front of it. Nope. In fact there is an invisible barrier out in front of it that I can't even get past. Only the titles of the books in the pile. This has got to be the most obscure collection. I'm convinced now there are way too many doctorates being awarded. Shouldn't a thesis require at least a hint of utility? A note or report about the Thieves and Hammers in the Industrial District. A journal entry about the death of a local and very wealthy entrepreneur and the secrecy and safety of the Sanctuary. Should they relocate? Nothing else of consequence down on the floor level. Nothing for it now but sniffing and licking up and down the ladders looking for anything.

Ah, there's a sentry with another one of those jewelled daggers in the doorway out from the catwalk. He's facing away from the room. And there's a ledge along the stacks to the catwalk. I wonder if the gap in the catwalk railing where the ledge meets it is wide enough for me to fit through. Probably doesn't matter. I could just slide off the railing onto the catwalk just as quietly. Rope arrows seem to work in this eastern wall, the wall with the stairway entrance and the catwalk doorway. The doorway at the other end of the catwalk is raised up above the catwalk level and may not be accessible. Can't see anything interesting in there anyway. Let's see if we can Rope arrow onto the catwalk along the east wall somehow. The shots will all have to be taken from the floor level though. Quit a distance. Will require some accuracy. The ceiling swallows Rope arrows too. The problem is the ledge extends the full length of the east wall. I can put ropes below and above the ledge. Above the ledge does me no good. The ropes don't extend down past the ledge.

Ah, the north wall also accepts Rope arrows. It's too far up for one but a series of Rope arrows should work with jumping from one to another. And overlaping them will permit retrieval. But will arrows shot from the floor be acute enough from the walls to permit jumping from one rope to another? Or will I be too close to the wall? Yes, I made this work. Placing the ropes close to each other then two or three is enough to get above the ledge and jump out onto it. Then I wacked the sentry and proceeded out and along some short corridors to an overlook of the pool area. So, the catwalk is at the same level as the bottom of the elevator and stairs I'd used to enter the Sanctuary.

Another large room a little further along with a sentry just inside stairing at the door. Lt. Mosley? Sure sounds like her. Back and up onto the catwalk railing and jump and mantle up into the opening at the top of the large circular column in the centre of the library. Two carved, grey chests. Both locked. I can pick them though. The right hand one has another one of those South Grotto Gate Keys. The left hand one -- The Night Jewel! I saved and tried it out right here. I wonder. Maybe it works like an Invisibility potion. Except I couldn't touch the chests while it was working. Takes two hands, remember? Dunno about the invisibility aspect either. Will have to try it out on Mosley and see. Plus there's another room above the catwalk exit doorway with three balconies. Except I can't see a way to it. I can place Ropes further up on the north wall but the closest entrance to this room is still too far away. And there are no books above on the east wall high enough to get above the balcony railings to jump in. The ceiling? Nope.

On to the room with Lt. Mosley. Looks like the bearded chap in the painting on the circular column in the library. And is that Calendra beside him. And a Garrett wannabe too. And, of course, more and more and more books. Ugh! Just for a laugh I tried to Gas arrow the bunch over by the fire. The bearded one collapsed but Calendra went almost invisible (except for her firebolt bracelet, duh), the wannabe and Mosley went looking. And I foolishly started moving around into and out of light. I had to kill Mosley near the catwalk. She had a jewelled sword. On my way back I could see Calendra come down from her search and stand down and walk awy toward the room. Or at least her firey bracelet did. The wannabe spotted me returning so I had to kill him too. Another jewelled dagger. Footsteps. The child, now almost invisible too. But, like Calendra, the firebolt bracelet giving her away. She returns to her patrols. Except she hasn't returned to full visibility yet. I ate all the apples and cheese and bread and deer legs to regain some health. Odd my health had returned to full after fighting Mosley but the wannabe hurt me. Still not full but I'm not going to waste a Healing potion just yet.

I can't see Calendra. Shouldn't she have returned to her spot by now? The bearded one is Keeper Loren. And he had a Loren's Statue Key. Various diverse pieces of loot. A copy of one of the theses from the tall stack in the library. More cheese and bread which I ate right up. A switch to put the lights out in here. And the fire in the fireplace can be doused but I'm going to leave it for now. It may be required to Ghost through here. And a couple more vases up high flanking another painting of Keeper Loren. Or do all these guys look alike. A couple of suits of armour. And beyond the fireplace and up a flight of stairs, an elevator. I bet a nickle this is the elevator in the Pawnshop. Loren's pawnshop I'll recon. And Loren's Statue would be the warrior statue I'd seen in the Pawnshop blocking access to the elevator. Yes, yes, and yes again!

Continuing on clockwise around the pool, another large room with desks and tables. Loot and a couple of bits of reading material. And Purah's shameless plug for his writing. Sounds good. One interesting item, a work order describing the Interpreter's Tower. I think this is the large circular column I found the Night Jewel in. And a room with the Pawnshop profits. This sounds like the room above the catwalk doorway. It mentions the railings of the catwalk. Maybe I should have another, closer look at these railings. Or was it the railings of the profits room it was referring to? Yes, that's it. This room has a light switch also. I was too noisy getting into and out of the pool and a couple more wannabe types came to investigate and I was killed. They had jewelled daggers. And did they have unique faces? I recall this from one other FM a long while ago. Everyone had his or her own face. Very impressive. I'll have to pay more attention here.

Anyhow reload back to the Pawnshop elevator. Speaking of reloading, I've still got to reload back to just before I'd wacked the two wandering around in the library. I've killed and been injured since and I want to carry on without all that. But I'd still like to know where I'm going from there before I restart. In the room with Loren, I notice a ledge below the painting of Loren. The ledge with the pair of vases. There's a bookshelf on the south wall that accepts a Rope arrow that gets me high enough to jump down to the ledge. And a secret book switch in the bookshelf that slides a painting beside Loren's aside to reveal a passage behind. That leads to the room with the Pawnshop profits -- one thousand gold. Three more cedar chests with an Invisibility potion, a vial of Black Lotus Nectar, and a Gas arrow. And a Fire arrow on the floor behind a couch.

There is a baseboard or wainscotting style protrusion around the outside walls of the pool area but I can't get up onto it. Would be handy to get around since the flooring is tile. Another opening, beside the painting of Loren, a balcony. I can stand on the light fixture off the ledge below the painting and mantle up onto this balcony railing. A stairway going down, a glassed in, arched bookcase window across with three elemental talismans on the wall just above. Actually that would be all four elemental talismans now. One in the Pawnshop, the other three here. And what room would be complete without wall to wall, floor to ceiling books. And ladders. Snakes and Ladders. With a little jog at the pool level this stairway goes all the way down to the library.

Reload back to the back or west wall of the library. Grab the loot on the endtable by the fireplace. Back to the stairway. I'm going to use the Rope arrow to get up to the catwalk while I'm here. I suppose I could get there from above but that has it's own problems. Good. On to the parlor. Can I sneak past Mosley? Doesn't look like it. She faces away but I light up pretty well going through the doorway. Plus I tried a Water arrow on the fireplace from the doorway and put it out okay but Mosley spooked. I don't think she saw me but reacted to the fire going out. I'll try that again. Well, several items of interest here. I was able to get past Mosley. When she's facing away I crept over by the ladder parallel with her. When she turned back toward the door I crept around and past the ladder, back to the wall beside the ladder and toward the wall with the light switch. I was going too slowly and Mosley spotted me when she turned back around. The next few times I tried this Calendra spotted me going around the ladder and started looking around.

So, I went back to the doorway and tried putting the fire out a few more times. Usually everyone except the wannabe took off. Not searching mind you. Just walked away. Calendra and Loren went near-invisible and walked out of the room, down the stairs to the pool level and beyond. I couldn't see where they went. Mosley also went down those stairs. Only the wannabe remained. I went in and Rope arrowed up to the ledge and went out to the Pawnshop profits room and back but when I tried the ledge over further the wannabe spotted me. So, I reloaded and tried the Water arrow at the fire bit a couple of more times and then, suddenly, noone reacted. So, I saved this. Also, I'd tried Moss arrows at the light switch a few times and thought I'd found a way until Calendra, ever afraid of the dark, went over and turned the lights back on.

So, we'll see how far I can get with just the fire out. I can still switch the lights off but only for short periods of time. And, what am I so keen on doing in here anyway? A bit of Loot. Some Bread and Cheese? Loren's key? What, for the elevator exit in the Pawnshop? Big deal! Just what am I going to do in the Pawnshop that's so important anyway? Has something changed up there? Hmmm ... "Am I gonna hafta play 'Wack the Acolyte?'" ROTFLMAO Anyhow I got around almost to the light switch with the fire out.

Then I guess I got too close to Loren. Figured I'd be okay coming in between Calendra and Loren like this. He seems to have eyes in the back of his head. Was able to get Loren's Statue Key and to safety before Calendra switched the lights back on. And around the grandfather clock again before she switched them back on again. Around the back of the fireplace and the golden wine bottle and the bread from the other side. I couldn't seem to get anywhere near the large golden urn though.

I figured I may as well go up the elevator and see if I could get around the sentry just outside the Pawnshop now. I noticed a cashbox under the counter in the Pawnshop with a stack of gold coins worth twenty-five gold. But it doesn't look like that guy can be Ghosted. When I got to the end of the door and before getting around it he alerted. Maybe with the door closed. I had gotten around behind him with only a comment but he spooked when a patrol came down the ramp. But I suspected he'd spook anyway since the patrol seemed to start things, so I tried staying inside in full shadow until the patrol passed and the sentry went charging up the ramp anyway. I ran out after him and up the ramp.

Looks like he's spooking on the dead Hammer up by the barrels. Further looks like the Thief from behind Grindle & Boggs may have killed this Hammer before being killed. Anyhow this Pawnshop sentry goes into some kind of alert loop. Just stands there jerking back reacting to spotting a murdered comrade. I had to sneak along the wall in shadow and remove the Hammer body and then he settled down and went on his way. I went over the sloped roof and tried to see if I could get at the Hammer Mage watching the wooden door but the Hammer at the church wouldn't let me pass. I wonder if the AI store up reactions until their efficiency setting let's them go. Stops the clock for them too, maybe. I'm thinking the sentry alerted because the patrol had just come from the Hammer corpse up by the barrels and transmitted that fact to the sentry. Works for me.

I reloaded back inside and went back down to the Keeper parlor. Now to see if I can get out of here without being spotted and up to the Pawnshop profit room and the vases on the ledge and the Talisman room. Probably have to access the Talisman room via the stairway from the library since the wannabe in the parlor wouldn't let me go this way before and there's four of them here now. Taking a break. Been at it for six or seven hours now. Next time.

Sunday, April 28th, 2002, 19:30
Finished the parlor. When coming back from the elevator, the light switch can be seen and reached from the other side of and behind the grandfather clock. While the light is out around the clock and just past the first set of books. Then turn the lights off again and before they're back on go up behind Loren and get the goblet on the other endtable and back to the southwest corner. The rest must be done with the lights on. And it would probably be better to do this stuff coming into the room. Each trip Calendra makes to the light switch she anticipates having to go again and stops a little closer to the switch further and further from her original position. By the time I finished with the ladder she'd stationed herself beside the endtable some three or four feet south of her original position. I had to go up and down the ladder as slowly as I could or she would spot me.

I worked my way out of the room the way I'd come in, by waiting along the south wall right near Mosley until she turned away from the door then I went out. Not done yet, though. Over to the other side of the doorway and place a Rope arrow as high up and as far to the left on the south wall books. Then back in and over to the ladder. Slowly up again. From near the top jump over onto the Rope arrow. Actully onto the arrow itself. I had to aim just a little left of the Rope or my wide shoulders would bounce me off the books. From there touch the secret book switch, wait for the painting to slide out of the way, and, finally, jump over onto the ledge. This is a bit tricky. You've got to make a quiet landing so you'll need to gauge the jump so you start far enough down the Rope to land properly. You can reach back and retrieve the Rope arrow. Except for me, and twice too, the arrow got back into my inventory but the Rope stayed there. And just for a laugh I tested the Rope and it still worked! Coming back from the Pawnshop profit room I got the near vase on the ledge below the Loren painting but I couldn't get the other one. Out from the ladder the same way I'd exited from the elevator earlier. One little detail. To get off the ladder quietly, look straight down and get on the side of the ladder. That way there's no footstep on the tiles getting off since you're not pointing in any direction you can move anyway.

Note: I'm inserting this here while I'm checking for grammar and spelling. I've finished the mission and am now planning my final write-up. I continue to have thoughts of the parlor or sitting room. Can it be ghosted without turning the lights off? Or maybe even without dousing the fire in the fireplace? Let's see. Surely Loren would spot me going around the grandfather clock. Should probably see if maybe this is true. He has spotted me between the clock and the fireplace even with the lights out though. I guess I haven't really tried with the fire still burning. Although I thought I once got to the wall with the light switch with it burning. From the Talisman room balcony maybe? Unlikely since Loren spooked on me standing on the balcony once. If I could only get Loren's Statue Key I could leave the Sanctuary the way I entered and over to the Pawnshop and down behind the fireplace that way. Seems a lot of work but would be worth it to avoid the possible Ghost bust when Calendra turns the lights back on. I don't think it's a Ghost bust but she does change her behaviour long enough to do it. Plus she does that hand over the eyes looking bit too. I don't think so but I'll take some time to check it out a bit further when I come to it.

I went on around to the study with the globe and got the loot and the work order note. Then on to the Talisman room and the balcony over the parlor. Spooked everyone when I tried to reach in and grab the other vase. With everyone alerted I still tried to reach over the balcony railing and couldn't reach it so I doubt this will work. I would probably have to switch the lights off from here with a Water or Moss arrow. And it's not worth that.

On to the dining room and kitchen. Some golden plates over the fireplace. I'd used the ladder to get onto the Rope arrow in the Parlor and was stewing about not being able to jump directly onto it from the tile floor. I thought I'd come up with a solution but didn't try it in the Parlor. I did try it in the Dining Room. What I did was stand directly under a wall candle I wanted to put out. Crouch and look straight down. Drop a Speed potion vial and jump right away. Three of them stacked like this with me on top was enough to jump and put the candles out. This feels a little cheap but it worked and doesn't break any rules I'm aware of. Or does it constitute using a Speed potion even though I retrieved them all? I was able to put all the candles in the dining room out except two three candle fixtures up high in the centre of the room. There's a wooden beem structure that I Rope arrowed into and was able to get around the room easily without being noticed by the Keeper and the woman at the fireplace. The two left hand golden plates I got from just behind the wannabe. I Rope arrowed back up and over to the woman's side and was able to get the right hand plate from there. This side was a little trickier. The Keeper was angled this way a bit and I had to reach from a spot where the fire wasn't lighting me.

While checking the room out I noticed one of the large windows would open. Outside in the snow I jumped a couple of window ledges to a balcony and ladder and then to another ledge. There was a paper here. It was Baron De Zabrus' will I'd read about earlier. I get it all! Including his estate at Gilravage Hall. Also here a Water arrow in a frozen well. And a door that I picked the lock of led through to hallways around and above the study. A couple of wannabes in the halls with jewelled daggers. I had to douse the torch just inside to get by the first one. Turns out this may not have been necessary. The jewelled dagger of the second one may have been accessible from the other direction if the secret panel was opened that was on a landing of the stairs that went up to the Talisman room. There were a couple of Water arrows in the kitchen sinks and a bunch of food items on the counter.

Just about finished. Continuing clockwise from the study around the pool down some stairs to the lower section of the first large circular room I'd enter into. Several candles on pillars that were out of reach but I was able to douse them with the Speed potion vial trick again. A door out of this room west with a sentry with another dagger. Then the South Grotto Gate for which I had two keys. Through a catwalk over an excavation with a skeleton and a couple of silver nuggets. Then what must be the South Cavern Doors. I tried the Amulet and they opened. Inside a bunch of Fire arrows, a couple of gems for eyes on a face in a wall, a tome, a book, a Holy Water vial, a golden candlestick, and finally a to do list to finish the pentagram and summon forth Bathsheeba, the succubus. There she was in all her glory standing in the middle of the pentagram. A couple of jewelled chests. And finally a little further on some runes on a large tablet set in the wall. Reading this gave me my Keeper prophecy, the final objective.

Statistics
Ghost: Success
Time: 3:35:49
Loot: 6,060 of 6,658
Pockets: 22 of 35
Locks: 4
Backstabs: 1
Damage Deal: 30
Others Killed: 1
Bodies Discovered by Enemies: 2
Shop Supplies: one Water arrow for the fire in the fireplace in the Keeper parlor or sitting room; another Water arrow for the secret hallway torch to get past a sentry (this one may be avoidable if the secret door is opened somehow)

Notes
The kill and damage dealt was Gaston the Red of the Deepshine Thieves Guild and was an objective so is accepted by the Ghost rules. I guess a couple of his guildmates must have noticed his body even though I had hidden it in shadow before I reopened the door to his room to leave. Or perhaps the bodies discovered statistic was either Thieves or Hammers noticing their fallen comrades. I left a large golden urn and a large purple and gold vase in the study. And now I recall that Hammer Mage watching the wooden door. He had a golden hammer on his belt. Even so, 6000 of 6600 is pretty good for a first run through. Sneak said he'd entered Grindle & Boggs another way so I'll have to see about that. This mission can play a whole bunch of different ways depending on the outcomes of the Hammers versus Thieves fights. Not that it needs it but a great reason to play it again and again.

Monday, April 29th, 2002, 17:30
Starting over again for final write-up. Checked TTLG FM forum and found out a few things to add to this attempt. There's a switch in the Pawnshop while climbing the ladder to the attic that moves the bed aside revealing more loot. There's a switch stick in some bushes near the Deepshine Thieves Guild that moves the large statue revealing the secret entrance. There is access to another warehouse. There's a wooden beam or some other protrusion over the Grindle & Boggs gate and/or window that you can Rope arrow and get in through the window. It's very high up so the Rope arrow cannot be retrieved and the Rope doesn't hang all the way to the ground so the ledge above is needed to get onto the Rope. There are some masks up high either in the dark room just before the South Grotto Gate or between this gate and the South Cavern Doors in the Keepers' Darkwatch Sanctuary. If you're taking a shot at most pockets then you'll want to get the two Healing potions off the Hammers right at the beginning. They use them during the fighting if you don't. I still haven't figured a way to get the Thieves' purses and Broadheads before the fight. The best I've done is the two Healing potions and the Broadheads.

I'm taking a crack at the masks Nightwalker mentions on the TTLG FM forum. I've spotted two masks. One on top of the roof of the South Cavern. That's the room with Bathsheeba. The screenshots illustrate the potion stacking technique I used to scale the scaffold and then from the scaffold up onto the roof. The Drilling Machine plus three Speed potions is enough to mantle up onto the scaffold. Then two Healing potions, the Lotus Nector potion, an Invisibility potion, and the Night Jewel are enough to mantle up onto the roof. Let me detail the steps to stack the potions with Garrett on top of the stack. First crouch and get close but not quite touching the scaffolding. Then look straight down. Then drop the Drilling Machine. Then jump. Garrett should now be on top of the Drilling Machine. To check this just retrieve the Drilling Machine. Garrett should drop down. You'll learn how to tell whether the drop-jump worked. If it doesn't just retrieve the item and drop-jump it again. I have better luck if I'm not quite touching the wall I'm trying to scale. Just repeat for the next few items. There's probably no limit to the heights Garrett can get to this way. It works with boxes too. Notice the bottom Speed potion is well below the top of the Drilling Machine. And the space between the Speed potions. Quite frequently the visual and physical characteristics of items in the Thief games don't match all that well. The second mask is on the other side of the catwalk almost directly above the dark hole you come out of from the excavation area with the skeleton and the nuggets. I haven't quite got to this one yet. An altogether nifty trick of the Thief engine is probably required to get to it. At least that's what it's looking like to me. There are some V-shaped spots running up the rock faces. You wouldn't think so from looking at them but Garrett can run up these. Just give it a try and you'll see what I mean. In these V-shaped features Garrett can scale vertically at an angle impossible on a flat surface. Furthermore, there's a little flat spot just when you come out of the dark hole that Garrett can walk up onto. You'd think it was a sharp edge but you can see the width of the rock. A sure tip-off to me. The level creator had to go out of his way to make it like this. I've managed to get to the top of the v-shaped rock wall above the excavation and near the second mask showing in the next screenshots both taken from the same position. But from this perspective the angle of the rock wall looks too steep even for the v-trick. Unless that v-shaped area just on the other side of the mask. I could stack stuff to get up to it but the surface I'd be working from isn't flat and the potions slide away. Something to make a flat surface maybe?

Tuesday, April 30th, 2002, 16:00
Okay, I got the two masks. Turns out to be a variation of straff-jumping. Let's call it straff-running. Even flat and nearly vertical walls can be scaled by both running and straffing. Angle your prespective depending on whether you're left or right straffing and find the most unlikely wall to scale and give it a shot.

Tueday, April 30th, 2002, 18:15
Working on the large golden urn and the large purple vase in the parlor or sitting room. I was shooting some Moss over by the urn to ease my way over there and something different happened. I must have hit the urn. It went flying. I had noticed before while trying to slide off the ledge with the purple vase that this urn smashed to bits when I landed on it. Anyhow, this urn is different. That may be useful for getting it somehow. I don't know, knock it to a spot that it can be picked up out of sight. I suppose I should see if the vase is similar. The problem now is I can't work this room the way it was orginally set up since Calendra has moved nearer to the light switch and I can no longer sneak over there without her spotting me. The large golden urn is worth one hundred gold. The purple vase is worth one hundred goods. And, yes, I was able to knock the vase off the shelf with a Moss arrow from the Talisman room balcony and it ended up over by the main entrance where I could pick it up from full shadow. That's something else I suppose I should check out. The vase didn't make any noise when it landed on the floor and slid over by the door. Not surprising really since I had Mossed this tile to get at the urn. But I also remember when I had earlier knocked the urn off the endtable the folks in here didn't hear anything and that piece of flooring was not Mossed.

Awesome! I got 'em both. Here's how. Standing in the dark spot on the left side of the door I leaned left and shot a Water arrow at the right side of the urn. This knocked it off the endtable onto the floor and all the way to the far wall. This is ticklish. I've done this five times now. Two of those times Calendra alerted. Also, I'd checked out how far I could get down this wall earlier when I was getting the wine bottle and the bread and it looked like I could probably get the urn from behind the fireplace without being spotted. Then I waited for Mosley to look away and crept over to the Rope still hanging from the secret book area. I had intended to drop-jump a Speed potion to see if this would get me up onto the Rope. Between the time I looked down and pressed the drop key the Speed potion disappeared from the screen on time-out. I usually press the jump key as soon as possible after the drop key. I jumped up and immediately onto the Rope. No sounds, no alerts. Just luck this. I had intended to jump from atop the Speed potion vial onto the Rope. Whatever, up the Rope, jump over onto the ledge. This Rope arrow was angled badly and I couldn't get above the shelving between the books but just the right height to jump up onto the shelf it turns out. Despite Calendra's position closer to me I was still able to do these moves without her notice. From the ledge a Water arrow at the right side of the vase hopefully sending it also down onto the floor and over against the far wall near the urn. Actually it hit the urn and continued on all the way behind the fireplace out of sight. The urn wasn't moved much and I figured I could still get it without notice.

Now to get back down and over behind the fireplace. From the ledge, still, a Water arrow at the light switch. Then quick jump over onto the ladder, down to the floor remembering to look straight down to get off the ladder soundlessly, and crept over to the far corner of the wall with the light switch. I hadn't made it all the way back there by the time Calendra had turned the lights back on but far enough that she didn't see me when she stood still again. Pretty simple from here. Creep over, turn the lights out, around the grandfather clock and behind the fireplace. Then grab the vase and creep out and lean to reach the urn. QEF.

On and up the stairs to the Pawnshop elevator to see what Nightwalker's secret stash under the bed in the Pawnshop is. I hope I'm able to work a way out of the Pawnshop past that new sentry between the two buildings. I'm not looking forward to getting back out of the parlor from this direction with Calendra where she is. Plus the hammer on the belt of the Hammer Mage watching the warehouse door still needed to be grabbed.

The switch to move the bed is on top of the doorframe of the closet door. The closet with the ladder to the attic. The switch is on the closet side of the door. You can see the switch by jumping or going a little ways up the ladder and looking back. In the secret compartment are: a Scouting Orb; a purse with sixty-six gold; a Healing potion vial, an Invisibility potion vial, and two Gas arrows. The sentry was stationed up top by the barrels this time so I had no real difficulty getting out of the Pawnshop. I crossed back over the peaked roof and around to the alley between the warehouse and the church. From there I was able to get over by the Hammer Mage and then with timing nip out and grap his fifteen gold hammer. I bothered to check out the Rope arrow access to the open window at Grindle & Boggs. The spider was in the room with the skull so I couldn't get out. No matter, I knew already what I wanted to know. But can Mercedes open the grate without spooking the spiders? We'll see. And will the spiders spawn in their correct positions? On back into Darkwatch and finish the game. That's 6,441 of 6,658 loot only 217 short.

Friday, May 10th, 2002, 07:00
This is the for-real Supreme Ghost run. That means no purchases at the loadout. It also means no first alerts so plenty of quicksaves before every encounter. Further I'm going to try to maximize pockets and loot. This without picking up any non-loot items. Literally the no purchases rule applies only to weapons, ammunition and potions but I clicked right through it. That means no Skeleton Key and no Garrett's Tip. I'm also using only the quicksave option and no save slots. That's makes it a little bit more difficult. Only one backup.

Poor start. By rote I grabbed the Broadheads and a Healing potion vial off the combatants at the beginning. So, restart. Too bad since the Hammers won with four survivors and I wondered how much more difficult this might make it with them all patrolling. Anyhow, I restrained myself the second time and only picked the purses from the Thieves. This time four Thieves survived. They then went to the ramp across from the Pawnshop and killed another Hammer. This is the simple scenario. The Thieves all return eventually back to their starting positions and are out of my way from then on. I did move the dead Thief out of the light so the survivors would settle into their original spots and stay there.

The Pawnshop was fairly straightforward. The mission begins with five Rope arrows. A pair of Rope arrows to get the Pawnshop key from outside the attic window. I retrieved both of them. A variation from my earlier solution. I retrieved both Rope arrows while up beside the Pawnshop. Then I worked around the second floor ledge on the building next door and slide off that building's entrance roof onto the ground without injury. I grabbed only the loot inside, remembering to close the door behind me when leaving. I couldn't relock it since the Pawnshop Key disappeared when I unlocked it to enter. I even closed the door while I was inside. Not a bad habit to get into in case the guards patrolling by get edgy if they spot an open door that should be closed. Closed the cashbox, the chest in the attic loft, the closet door, and returned the bed to it's original position after looting the secret stash under the bed. I also replaced Orland's note to Loren after reading it.

I triggered the patrolling Hammer from the warehouse by getting a view of the Thieves around the campfire and then proceeding toward the warehouse area. This time the Hammer killed both the Thieves. It was a trivial matter to fetch the golden wine bottle on the ground by the campfire after this. I did try to get that bottle before triggering the Hammer but got a level one alert comment from one of the Thieves so reloaded. It still may be doable. I only tried once.

Friday, May 10th, 2002, 19:00
A Rope arrow into the low peaked roof between the first warehouse and the Thieves' campfire. Up onto the catwalks and in through the broken window. Loot the chest. Close the chest. A Hammer sentry with the Warehouseman Key. I pick his key and unlock and open the door. This door is the only exit from the room. Can't leave the way I came in. The key disappears. I can't close the door. If I do, he alerts with "Did someone make a noise?" So, do I just leave the door open, or restart and avoid this room? I'll take the most severe interpretation. Restart. Seems a little harsh.

This time all five Thieves survived the ambush. And they didn't kill the Hammer from the ledge above. Some of them took off for a while but never all of them at the same time. They all settled back in their original positions. It took a couple of tries but with all four Thieves able to watch me I was finally able to creep away along the wall by the box to the next corner and on to the Pawnshop. There was one slight lightgem blip but they didn't spot me. I suppose I could have scooted out of there while the fight was still waging but that seems cheap. The Pawnshop was uneventful. The Thieves campfire played out the same with the Hammer killing them both. Now I can't go into that warehouse room. Or can I? The patrolling Hammer Mage goes in there for a short while on his rounds. Could I sneak out when he opens and closes the door? I'll have to give this a try. I tried a couple of times to enter through the wooden ground floor doorway so I could get the pair of Lucky Coins on the rafters over the stairway. But I couldn't get out again. The Hammer Mage sentry that takes up watch over the door was not there yet when I went in but he was there when I exited and with the extra light from his firebolt I couldn't sneak by. Not even on full stealth with Kharras Drahg out and creeping. So that means I can't get out even if I could get out of the room with the broken window.

That's twenty-five loot I can't get. Man, the loot objective only leaves me one hundred fifty-eight to play with. And seventy-five of that is unavailable behind a window in the "Site 0" warehouse. That's only Eighty-three I can pass on or I'll come up short. I'm already twenty-five short and I haven't hardly started. I'm pretty sure there's a bunch of loot in the Keeper Darkwatch Sanctuary Parlor that I won't be able to get. Not looking good. That leaves only fifty-eight to spare now. And with the other Hammer behind the Mage sentry I'm not sure I'll be able to get the Mage's loot hammer. Ugh! It's probably even worse than that. I still haven't found forty loot in this mission. That means I can only pass on eighteen loot that I know about. Well, I'd decided before I'd started this that I'd continue on to completion regardless just to see what's not Supreme Ghostable so I'm going on. And I guess I'd better tote the basketball along at least to the spiders. But I won't be able to return it to the Pawnshop shelf if I take it into the sanctuary. Not being able to switch the Parlor lights off I won't be able to get into the Pawnshop that way and the Grindle & Boggs entrance gets blocked after I use it.

My quicksave was before the warehouse so I reloaded back outside and skipped it. Over the low peaked roof and scoop the Thief lurking between Grindle & Boggs and the Keeper Seminary. Then around to the other side of the seminary doorway and behind the sentry for the pair of hammers. Incidently I had to crouch run past him. If I stood and ran he commented. Too noisy that way I guess. I noticed the outcome of the Thief running off from the seminary. He ended up over between the warehouses and the campfire and got into it with the patrolling Hammer. And the Hammer from behind the Mage sentry too. This may be useful if it could be timed to get the patrolling Hammer Mage involved too. Also some of the Thieves from the ambush came up to help out and then returned back down. This too may be useful if timed. Now there was no Hammer behind the sentry Mage. I went down to the shed but the archer Thief was blocking my access to the wooden beam above. No matter, I was able to place a Rope arrow in snow on the third floor ledge of the "Site 0" warehouse from the ledge by the low peaked roof. Once on this third floor ledge I was able to get around behind the sentry Mage. I placed another Rope arrow in the ledge and jumped onto it and climbed down and snagged his hammer. Back up, retrieve the Rope arrow, and around by the "Site 0" window. Another Rope arrow in this ledge which I was able to retrieve while hanging from it falling to the second floor ledge uninjured. Then I slid down to the ground. I went ahead and got Mercedes started. I wonder what happens when the paganesque fellow passes by the lurking Thief? I should check this out too. I used a Rope arrow into the ledge above the Grindle & Boggs gate rather than running and jumping over the railing past the Builder's Chapel. And what about that unnerving prayer on the chapel sentry's belt. I'll have to reread that and see if there isn't a clue to it being useful for something. I'm still looking for the North Sanctuary Doors that Loren talked about in his journal.

Saturday, May 11th, 2002, 03:00
Sneaking by the spiders unnoticed was uneventful. I decided to return the basketball to the Pawnshop now since I didn't hold out much hope of getting there from inside the sanctuary. On my way back in I tried something a little different. I used a Rope arrow into the ledge above the Grindle & Boggs gate to get up onto the ledge. But then I followed the ledge around toward the Builder's Chapel. Not so far the sentry at the chapel could see me though. This placed me directly across from the broken window into Grindle & Boggs that I'd tossed the basketball through. I had tried before with a Rope arrow into the pile of snow on the windowledge and had been unable to enter. I thought maybe if I could get the Rope arrow to stick out with a higher angle it may work. And it did. So, getting in through this window doesn't require a Rope arrow into the wooden beam over the gate even. I retrieved the Rope arrow I'd put into this beam and re-entered the factory. Now that the powderkeg was moved it was simple to sneak by the spiders a second time.

Mindful of the wacko in the basement spooking I went ahead right away and opened the gate and let Mercedes in to unlock and open the grate. Then I tried a couple of times to precede the vat of molten metal through the gate and down into the flooded basement. Without the Skeleton Key this was the only way in. And I was able to slide off the edge of the hole and land in the basement without injuring myself. But, both times, the wacko alerted to the sound of the vat moving or the gate opening and was searching around in the basement so I abandoned this. That's another couple of loot units I would have to pass on.

Okay, over to the Deepshine Thieves Guild. I'd purposely done the Mercedes and the grate bit before so I could see if I could orchestrate the outcome of the Thieves and Hammers spawning over by the guild. And, yes, I was able to. The Hammers were patrolling back and forth between the chapel and the main guild entrance area. So, I crept just into the shadow at the end of the walkway up to the main guild entrance and peeked around the corner back toward the statue and waited until the Hammers returned. Then I scooted over a few feet and looked at the main door Thief sentry. This triggered the Thieves spawning right in front of the Hammers. Plus I got a really good outcome. Only one of the Hammers survived the encounter and the main door sentry was able to dispatch him. So there would be no patrol by the statue entrance.

Down into the guild. Of course I couldn't get into the armory but the safe was okay. Then on over behind the stairway sentry and so on. Except I left the boxes right where they were. I would have to try simply jumping over the Gas arrow trap to exit. I had wanted to try something else. Gaston had never stopped to view his rreasure in the safe while in his room the other times I'd done this. I wondered whether doing a quicksave and reload while he was in his room might trigger this behaviour. Yes, it does. Good. Now I don't really need the Misplaced Key from the table. I can kill him while he's viewing his treasure with the safe door open. So I just placed the key on top of the crate. Or should I put it back on the table? That would be more Supreme Ghostlike I guess. And I had taken note of the setting on the combination lock on the safe when it was closed so I reset this after grabbing the vase. The Deepshiners seemed to settle down rather quickly after I killed him. I'm not sure this is meaningful. Another odd thing happened on my way out. I tried jumping over the trip wire on the left side of the stairway. I had forgotten about the gate button there and bumped into it and didn't actually get off the ground. But then I was on the other side of the wire and it didn't trip. Not believing my luck I carried on rather than check into this any further. Alas the main door sentry was a killer. I couldn't seem to get by him. He'd go after me. So I decided to wait a full ten minutes with no saves or reloads, standing right behind him. Try it sometime. You won't believe how long ten minutes is just listening to him chatter away. You'll know his dialogue by heart. Didn't work. He was in some kind of glitch. I'm positive I was able to get out past him before. One other thing about the guild. I'm still not sure but the "Hmmm" comment they all make could be either a level one alert comment or a level zero comment. Or it could be both. One may be a little louder than the other. Don't make a save and reload after one of them makes this comment. If you hear them say "Musta been nothing" a short while after then it was a level one alert. I had made a save so I was stuck after a level one alert and would have to restart the entire mission because I was only using the quicksave slot. I'll try one more time but the main door sentry not allowing me to pass is bothersome. Maybe my being able to get past him before was the glitch. Or maybe he needs to be stroked a bit by meeting him face to face before entering the guild. Something to try anyway.

Start again. This time three Thieves survive the ambush and they all head off up the ramp. From the outcome I'm thinking now they're trying to get back all the way to the guild. All three were killed by the wooden door. Then, I've been replaying the subsequent sequences over and over trying to orchestrate the outcomes by triggering events in different sequences and even at different times. Plus hiding bodies so patrols won't alert when they come across them. I immediately went over the peaked roof without stopping at the Pawnshop or the campfire. I then waited for the patrolling Hammer Mage to head for the bridge area. Then I triggered Mercedes and she killed him. So, I don't have to worry about him any more. Then I rushed over behind the Thief between Grindle & Boggs and the Keeper Seminary before the paganesque fellow disturbed that scene. I know that lurking Thief will continue on over between the warehouses and the campfire. But he wouldn't this time. I was able to hide two of the ambush Thieves bodies but the third I couldn't get to and the lurker always stopped when he spotted it. He was no match for the Hammer Mage sentry. The campfire melee happened some time during my absence. Alas, I was injured sliding off the peaked roof so I'll have to start over. But this "living theatre" style of play is entertaining. I wonder about instigating and breaking the Ghost rules?

Sunday, May 12th, 2002, 08:00
I've repeated the last sequence injury free this time. Including a Rope arrow up to the "Site 0" third floor ledge and around behind the sentry Mage to get his hammer. The seminary sentry took off after the lurking Thief so I grabbed the two hammers at the seminary door while he was busy chasing the lurking Thief. Then the golden wine bottle at the campfire and down to the Pawnshop. Rope arrows to scale the Pawnshop for the key and loot the Pawnshop bringing the basketball with me. I remembered to close the attic window, the chest on the attic loft, the closet door, the main entrance door, and the cashbox under the counter. Further I returned the bed to it's original postion after looting the compartment hidden under it. Bring the basketball with me and place the Rope arrow so I can return it to the Pawnshop I'm heading on over to the bridge and Mercedes.

I've thought and thought about all this 'orchestration' of events through sequencing and timing and reloading. In the end it seems to me the (Supreme) Ghosting experience is a personal one. That is, it's up to the player to decide if he's done the job properly. This means there are multiple, different, but all correct ways to play the modes. The solution I come up with here may yet be compromised by something I'm not aware of yet even though I feel I've made an heroic effort to inform myself of all possibilities and outcomes. Some would go ahead and Ghost the spiders even though they've alerted and moved only because the player isn't aware that they've moved. There's nothing unGhostlike about that playthrough either.

I'm about to trigger Mercedes and I've decided that since she's an ally it's okay to time it so she kills the patrolling Mage even though this is avoidable. I'm going to exclude alerts caused by teammates from the forced melee definition. To me the fact that she's on my team excludes the resulting alerts from the rules. This is most consistent with reality in my opinion. Of course I would call up my reserves to assist me. Or am I breaking the 'protect Mercedes' objective by placing her in harm's way like this. Perhaps. If the objective gets crossed off as incomplete because she's injured or killed I can just reload and redo it until she survives uninjured. This is not an isolated case. Brother Adrius in Calendra's Cistern is exactly the same thing. Actually, while rereading this paragraph I'm waffling on this. How is an alert caused by an ally any different than an alert caused by Garrett? But the mission author clearly intended this to be part of the experience. I'll have to grind some more on this one. Leave it with me.

You see, even saves and reloads play a part in this 'orchestration.' At any point I can reload and replay a sequence simply because I don't like the way it turns out. This until I get an outcome I do like or is acceptable by the rules. I could avoid the lurking Thief alert when he comes across his dead comrade in front of the sentry Mage by starting the mission over until none of the ambush Thieves lays fallen in the lurking Thief's path. I may be required to do so by the mode's avoidability criteria. Neither is my inability to hide this Thief corpse an excuse for not doing so. I've considered this. I would like to see the results if I could get the lurking Thief all the way through to the campfire with the Hammers in tow. The author may have purposely given him a route right by all the Hammers for just this reason. Who knows, the surviving ambush Thieves down below could be alerted by the resulting clamor and come up and all the Hammers could then be outnumbered and eliminated. This may even be the author's intended outcome. In fact I may be required to reload and replay under some scenarios under some interpretations of the rules. The fact that I couldn't move that fallen Thief without alerting the sentry Mage is no excuse for not hiding him. The resulting lurking Thief alert is just as avoidable.

Then if I write it up for forum review I can just itemize the breaks from the rules. Or the causes of failure if that sounds better. I've always admired fett's solution to the Interferance mission. Tossing boxes around to distract the guards so Basso can get in and out and in such a way that Garrett is not seen is very clever in my opinion. Elegance is not a criteria for acceptance, however, especially since it smacks of pretense and snobbery.

The lurking Thief alerts cannot be avoided. In the end he'll take off toward the campfire when either the paganesque chap or Garrett approaches. What I can avoid by doing it this way is alerting the spiders. And this is a rationalization too. I've always wanted to experience the missions the way the authors set them up. Getting by the spiders was set up by the author with the spiders in their spawn positions. That's the way I want to play it. I recall freeing up the patrolling archer hung up on a barrel between Building A and Building B in S&R so I could Ghost that space with all of the author's complications in play. And I was disappointed that the forum let this pass unremarked. Taking advantage of hung up AI is in the same category as taking advantage of any game glitch be it nudging or transmigration in my opinion. The only difference is commission versus omission. Acting versus passivity. I'll leave Ironman mode for future iterations of this mission with the spiders relocated.

Back to the game. I've decided to avoid the Mercedes versus Hammer Mage confrontation. Only because I haven't decided whether it's right or not. Is there no end to all this! I'm leaving the Pawnshop with the basketball. I drop the ball so I can close the door. And I start thinking about this. I'm supposed to leave this door locked if I can. Well, I can. I could wait until I enter the Pawnshop through Darkwatch and when I finished the door would still be locked. This just goes on and on. Whatever, I'm carrying on.

I've reduced getting into the Grindle & Boggs window down to a single step of placing a Rope arrow in the pile of snow on the windowledge while standing on the gate level across from the window. I put one into the snow on the ledge above the gate. But it was poorly placed and I had trouble mantling up onto the ledge. Anyhow, once when I fell back down to the ground I heard the wacko saying "Here kitty, kitty, kitty." I new from earlier investigation of the wacko that he was in search mode when he was saying this. It was a level two alert comment. So I reloaded and tried a couple of more times and every time I shot the Rope arrow into the snow on the ledge above the gate the wacko spooked. So, I eliminated that step and tried directly into the snow on the broken windowledge.

That brings up another similar situation. I had noticed on numerous occasions while moving from the powderkeg spider position on down to the gate level inside that the wacko issued forth his "Are you here, Garrett?" comments. This could be either a level zero or level one alert comment. I can't determine which. I've tried to listen from outside the gate but I can't say as I've ever heard this comment from there. I did listen from the far end of the powderkeg corridor just after entering through the window and he said it then too. To me, this is akin to the sanctuary Interpreter's comment "You are not hidden." I've only ever heard that one when the Interpreter had a line-of-sight to me even though I was in complete darkness. Are these level zero or one comments? I can't determine which. Dang, I'm going to have to stop playing and have a snoop around in the game files to see if I can sort this out. But I really don't want to do that. I've always tried to avoid the "loss of innocence" that could result from getting into DromEd and poking around in the game files. Maybe I should just note this as a possible breach of the rules and carry on. Yes, that's what I'm going to do.

On further thought I've decided these are level zero comments by both the Grindle & Boggs wacko and the sanctuary Interpreter. Here's my reasoning. Level one alert comments are normally paired. That is there's usually an alert beginning and an alert ending comment for level one alerts. Guards will comment about hearing a noise or seeing something and a short while later say something like "It must have been rats." The second half of the pair I call an "All clear!" and signals to me the level one alert is over and the AI has returned to level zero alert status. The wacko's and the Interpreter's comments are unpaired. Therefore they're level zero comments. Rightly or wrongly that's my story and I'm sticking to it. Even the spiders' shrill chirp and raspberry are a level one alert pair. Don't know about the level one watcher though. If memory serves this is an unpaired behaviour.

On to the Deepshine Thieves Guild and Gaston the Red. The two Hammers have spawned on that side of the bridge when I pulled the Grindle & Boggs gate lever. I'll see this time whether the two Thieves spawn while I'm in the guild. I'll avoid spawning them by not approaching the guild main door area as this seems to cause them to spawn. But they may still spawn while I'm downstairs. Anyhow I'll have to leave via the main entrance and that will probably spawn them. That reminds me, the last time I did this the front door outside sentry wouldn't let me pass. He has let me pass before. If he won't then this is the Supreme Ghost deal breaker. Interesting. I'm behind the stairway sentry down in the guild and I can hear footsteps in the snow above me and Hammer humming so the Thieves have not spawned up there yet. Well, there's something. I could avoid having to figure a way out of the guild by leaving the guild until the very end so the mission ends when I kill Gaston. He. Except that would require that I exit the sanctuary by the Pawnshop elevator and I don't think I can do that in Supreme Ghost mode. I scooped the jewelled vase out of the open safe while Gaston was looking at it. Right out from under his nose. Garrett may be more of a no frills type of thief but I can show a flair can't I. I also left the guild without killing Gaston just to see if the Thieves had spawned above. Nope. Hammers still patrolling freely. Do I reload back in Gaston's room and kill him and continue or leave him be until I solve the North Sanctuary Doors riddle in hopes that will allow me to return to the guild? I really don't think I can satisfy the loot objective anyway and I'm still curious about that odd looking wooden beam structure in the secret corridor around the sanctuary study so I'm going to leave Gaston here for now. If I can't figure it out I won't be able to finish the mission. There it is. I wonder if anyone noticed that the candle burning in Gaston's room is also loot. If they take this loot the candle is extinguished. This is not allowed in Supreme Ghost mode. I took the loot.

If I leave the candlestick there, where am I as far as Supreme Ghosting this mission? There's 6,658 total loot. 75 is unavailable behind a glass window in the "Site 0" warehouse. An additional 50 is unavailable as a lit candle in Gaston's room in the guild. Another 50 is unavailable as a plate in the sanctuary Dining Room that requires at least one candle to be snuffed to get at it. That's 175 unavailable. That leaves only 6,483 available. That drops me down below the 5,500 loot objective. Therefore, Supreme Ghosting this mission is undoable. Or could I use the loot objective to validate taking some of this loot? If so, am I free to choose which loot? If I grab the lit candle in Gaston's room I've done nothing else against the rules except maybe snuffing the candle in it. Same as alerting the Deepshiners by killing Gaston. Both rules breaches are coincident with completing an objective.

Navigate: Home, Thief, Act I, A meeting with Basso, Act II, Midnight in Murkbell, Act III, A Winter's Eve.
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