THE CIRCLE OF STONE AND SHADOW MISSION 1 - GATHERING AT THE INN A
very good start to the CoSaS campaign. Though
fairly small in size, ‘Gathering at the Inn’ is filled with a stellar
storyline, engrossing atmosphere and fun gameplay. Based on Trimfect’s ‘Gathering at the Bar’, it provides enough new
areas and enhanced graphics not to be repetitive. Finally a good mission pack
with a protagonist other than Garrett. I haven’t tried that since T2X. I look
forward to ‘Mission X’ already. As
the intro briefing fittingly put it, I had a “laundry list” of objectives to
complete. First of all, I needed to steal all six scepters from the society
vacating the inn. In addition, I was to steal Lord LeBlanc’s diamond map,
make Lord Pearsall sick, and ruin Lady Verrilli’s business. Optional tasks
included finding 700 worth of loot and grabbing a present for Sheam. Of course, optional objectives given up front are
required for Supreme. Lastly, I was to ring the doorbell outside the inn and
meet Sheam in the streets. Made
sure to be careful of the civilian in the streets at start. He alerted like
normal. The policemen didn’t alert but gave settling remarks. I avoided them
altogether. I stole the ring from the sewers (left image below), and the loot
from the storage barn and apartment first. The cops came hunting if they saw
me break in. They never attacked though. Climbed the gutter in the north to
access the chimney passages (right image below). They were excellent ways to
gain access to certain rooms without having to utilize the hallways. One of
the items needed early was Verrilli’s icepick from her bedroom. More
importantly, I could now steal the front/back door key from the guard in the
restaurant (left image below). That was necessary because it accessed the
small shed west of the starting location in the streets (right image below).
It had loot and the only other way to get it was by breaking the window, an
obvious Ghost violation. Luckily, none of the keys were returnable in this
mission, due to the keychain. A great addition to the inventory. Even better
than keys that disappear upon use. I reentered the inn through the toilet
chute, but I realized I could have just as easily used my updated keychain on
the kitchen door. Even still, I was inside and ready to wreak havoc. Grabbed
the hanky and smelled it up on the baby burrick.
Found Leonard sleeping, though in my practice run I’d always seen him
patrolling around his bedroom. Made for an easier time I guess. The
toughest piece of loot in the bar area was a goblet by the booth in the southeast.
Two guards pivoted fairly regularly in every direction but south. Two
swordsmen also strolled through here, plus Pomok
(the guy with the head bandage) was stationed closer to the bar, always
facing south. In other words, a lot of activity. The patrollers were just a
matter of timing. The pivoters could be handled by
sneaking along the south wall coming from the fireplace, given their facing
angles were beneficial. A fair bit of luck was required. The only way to
circumvent Pomok was by flipping one of the
generator switches in the cellar. The right one turned off a bunch of lights
upstairs, so that was not allowed due to Supreme rule #6: “Turning off electric lights, snuffing
candles, or removing any light source including mushrooms is […] not allowed.”
The left one, however, only turned on
the cellar light. That does not go against any rule and could thus safely be
employed. Pomok did give a “Holy crap!” as a
response to either switch, but that is a scripted event and not a traditional
alert. I double-checked the entire inn to make sure no other light source had
been turned off unknowingly. Always good to be sure. Having
flipped that switch, I entered the furnace and quickly made my way back to
the restaurant fireplace (where I stole the front door key earlier). As long
as neither guard faced west, I was good to enter the bar. The booth
outcropping to the east blocked the second guard’s view once I reached the
south wall. Then I only had to worry about the fireplace guard. I quicksaved here and crept along the wall, up to the end
of the outcropping. Leaning around the corner, the second guard fortunately
faced the window. I snagged the goblet (left image below) and hurried back
westward. Grabbed the other goblet on the mantelpiece and escaped up the
fireplace ladder. Supreme still intact! The
firemage’s bedroom was a little tricky. Supreme got
busted when he commented on the door opening. Those are probably the most
annoying busts, but there’s little you can do about them. Part of his doorway
was safe from all passing patrollers (right image above). I reached all of
the coin stacks by crouch-leaning from the east end of that doorway. I could
even reach the firewand from here, but had to enter
for the scepter. The mage faced three ways. With the direction he’s facing in
the capture, I could enter along the open door and grab my objective. Getting
upstairs took good timing. I didn’t want to take the back route into Stellmach’s fireplace, as leaving the bedroom involved
grabbing his key, which in my mind constitutes an unnecessary pickup. And
since it couldn’t be replaced I wanted to avoid it, if at all possible. Two
patrollers covered the upstairs hallways, while a third alternated between
here and the bar downstairs. I reached the southeast hall without too much
trouble and could finally sweep the attic. Getting
the single spice bag in the northwestern closet posed difficult. It was quite
an ordeal getting to that part of the floor without any first alerts. I had
to hide up a rope in the south to monitor the patrols (left image above).
Whenever I saw an opportunity I descended and snuck after the patrollers
towards the north. After many tries I found the proper speed and timing to
slip into the bathroom ahead undetected. Anything faster than crouch-walking
would spawn a comment, and I had to be real careful as the patroller turned
on a dime to return southwards. I eventually learned the spot for where to
gently slide past along the wall. The other patroller then walked the hall to
the east long enough for me to grab the loot and return to the toilet. From
here, I then waited for the right moment to hop over the railing onto the
stairs below (right image above). Altogether, this piece of loot was the
trickiest one in the entire mission for Supreme. Reentered
the furnace in the cellar (remembering to close it on my way in) and replaced
Verrilli’s icepick by the fake. Took Stellmach’s
secret passage to Pearsall and knocked him out with the smelly hanky. He
could alert through the door in his wall without actually seeing me. I was
careful while listening for comments. The guard in the hall alerted to
Pearsall’s door opening, but it was the only way to go. LeBlanc also alerted
to the door, and I even had to switch off the lights to enter his room. A
couple of Supreme busts there, but that was all inevitable. Switched his map
with the one of the plantation. Triggered a bonus objective from that, and an
additional one when taking the coins on the windowsill, acquiring the maximum
possible loot count. Excellent! Closed
all the doors on my way back and left through the chimney. Met Sheam in the streets after ringing the doorbell and
called it a night. A solid mission. Statistics: Time:
39:53 Loot:
1048 out of 1048 Pickpockets:
2 out of 3 Secrets:
3 out of 3 Locks
Picked: None Damage
Dealt: 0 Damage Taken: 0 Bodies
Discovered by Enemies: 1 Consumables:
None Ghost:
Success! Perfect
Thief: Success! Supreme
Ghost: Failed! Perfect
Supreme Ghost: Failed! Notes: -
Took a first
alert comment from the firemage when opening his
bedroom door. Necessary to steal his scepter. Supreme bust. -
The stationary
guard outside Pearsall’s bedroom commented on his door opening. Supreme bust. -
Got another
comment from LeBlanc when opening his door. Another Supreme bust taken when
switching off the lights to enter his room. -
No idea what
the discovered body is about. The only body around was Pearsall after
knocking him out with the hanky, but nobody came close to seeing him. Perhaps
a guard saw a sleeping guest and counted it as a body, I’m not sure. |
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