As I advance through
the Old Port District, I realize that the fastest route to the Hound
Pits is to go through the Old Dunwall Sewer. I'm getting close. I can
feel it. It's only a matter of time before Emily is safe from those
backstabbers. On my way to the sewers, I see a Bone Charm in a nearby
building and nab it before returning to the main path. Weaving around
a few weepers I encounter on the way, I find myself at the closest
sewage disposal shaft. The valve was a little rusted, but with a bit
of elbow grease I managed to work out the kinks and open the shaft,
sneaking in before the trap door closed above me. When I enter the
sewer, I scavenge a few bullets for the Overseer pistol in my
possession from what looks to have been a guard post of some sort.
Passed it is an old, unlocked gate, so I open it and head through to
my objective.
That's when I find,
to my surprise, a small settlement of what appear to be either plague
victims or refugees from Dunwall's poorer areas. My heart goes out to
these folks. Even in these tough times, they're doing the best they
can. I notice a few River Krusts acting up on my way over to them, so
I dispatch a few using the pistol rounds I gathered earlier. While
exploring the “village” of sorts, I found a Rune among a number
of crates filled with various supplies, including food, water, and
medicine. In their hands, it's bound to elicit feelings of paranoia
and shatter the group dynamic, so I secret it away while no one is
looking. With no other place to go, and no reason to stay, I head to
the other side of this shantytown and continue towards the Hound
Pits.
That's when I see
another batch of River Krusts. The moment I get close, they begin to
pellet me with their spray. Rather the fight them head on, since I no
longer have any ammo to do so, I teleport onto a pipe overhead to
avoid their fire. While a few pellets did end up hitting me here, it
isn't so bad that a drink of Sokolov's plague elixir couldn't dull
the pain and heal my injuries. I notice a Rune Charm in the corner of
my eye, hidden behind the grotesque forms of plant life, but they
would surely do me in before I got to it. It's much safer to proceed
as normal than to take the undue risk. Once I'm in the clear, I see a
literal light at the end of the tunnel. Emerging from the sewers, the
back door to Cecelia's secret apartment is right there in plain view,
completely unlocked. That's the closest thing I'll get to a written
invitation these days, so I enter and find myself in the backyard of
the bar I've been staying at for what seems like months, despite only
being a few days.
Inside, I find
Cecelia pulling a metal barricade down. When she sees me, she jumps.
After observing my mask, she calms down and begins to explain what
went on in my brief absence. When Samuel shipped me off, he left to
avoid what was about to happen next. It was then that Havelock,
Martin, and Pendleton told all of the employees that they would be
given a bonus. Instead, Wallace and Lydia were shot in the back of
the head. Cecelia would've been out there herself if Wallace didn't
tell her that she wasn't getting anything and that her presence would
be a waste of time. I wonder if that was Wallace being a dick, or
doing his best to warn Cecelia before she found herself caught in the
crossfire. Callista was also somehow spared. Apparently, Havelock was
muttering something about owing a debt to Geoff. They went to go kill
Sokolov before Cecelia made a break for this little apartment.
I know at least two
of our compatriots are dead, maybe more. This is complete madness. I
need to finish this quickly. The only way to do that will be to pick
up the trail. Somewhere around here, there has to a clue as to where
they've taken Emily. If I can get to her, everything will finally be
done. The Hound Pits Pub is a small building, so there won't be too
many places to look. Taking a few of Cecelia's spare elixirs, I open
the door and begin to assess the area. That's when I realize that
this job will be a lot more complicated than I thought. Havelock must
have known I would come back here, because the place is swarming with
guards. I'll need to find some way to get passed them if I want to
search with impunity. If Piero's alive, maybe he'll have some ideas.
If he's not, maybe there'll be something among his possessions I can
use to solve this problem. Either way, I hedge my bets and decide
that visiting Piero's workshop is the best course of action.
I'd ordinarily be
too worried about giving myself away to try this, but desperate times
call for desperate measures. Once I'm certain the path is clear, I
use my newest ability, the power to freeze time, and make a series of
teleportations, across the street to the awning and then to the
ventilation shaft surrounding the workshop, to get to it before the
tallboys see me. It was tight, but I managed to get close enough to
it that I could sneak in undetected. Using my powers so extensively
in such a short period of time was mentally taxing, but a few swigs
of Piero's elixir helped sooth my mind, restoring my mental stamina.
Speaking of Piero, when I enter the shop I'm pleased to hear his
voice. But his was not the only voice I was listening to. Indeed,
Sokolov was also alive, and the two seemed to be hitting it off. I
guess even a disgusting creep like Sokolov can't be all bad.
Considering our current predicament, the two of them working together
might be exactly what I need right now. While they converse about
their plague elixir formulas, I find and take a Rune off Piero's
desk. Once it's clear the discussion is meeting it's end, I head down
to make my presence known to them.
Once they realize
it's me and not some watchman, they come out of their hiding places
and immediately get to the point. Since they can't fight as well as I
can, they decided to try to get themselves out of this situation by
building an super-Arc Pylon capable of either incapacitating all
watchman in the area or reducing them to ash. Thanks to their clever
engineering, the pylon will not target any friendlies in the area,
only guards. Sadly, the design still needs one last final touch. A
blueprint which Havelock was inspecting contains all the information
Piero needs. I knew coming here was a good idea. If they can knock
out everyone in a single burst, then it will be easy to find the
clues I need.
Tiptoeing out via
the balcony on the second floor of the workshop, I head for the
window outside my room to quickly break into the pub itself.
Considering the number of times I've gone through his things, I
should have no difficulty getting to Havelock's room. Once I get
there a see a few guards just outside the doorway. I watch as one of
them skulks into the servant's quarters while the other enters
Havelock's room himself. With the area clear, I halt the flow of time
once more, snatching the blueprint and hauling ass to the upper
floors before time resumes. Heading back the way I came in, I make my
way back to the two inventor-philosophers. Handing Piero his
blueprint, he asks whether I want the guards knocked out or
incinerated. Considering these fools are probably just doing what
they think is right, I tell Piero to put them all to sleep.
Only one thing
remains before the Pylon can be activated. The device needs one more
tank of whale oil to power it. Just like when I first met Piero, I
use his devices to fill an oil tank. This time, I head for the
workshop's roof and affix the container to the only one of three
sockets that isn't already filled. The Pylon sparks to life with a
flash so bright that I'm nearly blinded. Once the flash subsides, all
the guards in the area get knocked on their asses and into a deep
slumber. When we're all sure that the place is secure, we part ways.
I head into my room, where I'm greeted by a picture, no doubt drawn
by Emily, of me. I look a little worn and scruffy, but mostly intact.
When this is all said and done, I think the first thing I'm doing to
do is shower and shave. A Royal Protector needs to look the part, and
I appear to have let myself go during my six month incarceration.
Next to the picture, on my desk, I see a letter in Emily's
handwriting. It appears to have been written while I was out
committing Regicide. She says that while she hopes that I see this
picture, everyone's been acting strange. Callista and Samuel were
talking about a flare launcher in the lighthouse and Havelock
mentioned Kingsparrow Island. I know that place. Before I was jailed,
the former Lord Regent spoke of building a fortress there. If he
finished, it would the ideal place to set up camp.
At least now I have
my goal. I need to travel to Kingsparrow Island to defeat the
conspiracy and restore Emily to the throne. Thanks to Emily's intel,
I also know how I'll get there. Samuel and Callista probably meant to
use the launcher to send a signal flare for when the coast was clear.
It will be sure to attract the boatman's attention. When I tell him
my destination, I'm sure he'll give me a ride. There's no point in
wasting any more time here. I need to get this done quickly before
something bad happens to Emily. I don't think they'll physically
injure her, but who knows what those three will do to get her to do
their bidding. With great haste, I run to the lighthouse to launch
the flare. I try the door but it's locked and I can't get in. That's
when I realize there would be only one reason to lock this door, and
I shout for Callista on the other side, telling her that's it's only
me.
When she opens up,
I can tell that she's worried sick. Frantically, she goes over the
details of what happened. None of it is new to me at this point, but
I think she just needs to get it off her chest, so I sit down on
Emily's bed and let her talk for a bit. I'm glad they gave her the
task of being Emily's caretaker here. She genuinely cares about the
girl for more reason than just that she's the heir to the throne. I
hope that she considers continuing to keep Emily on the straight and
narrow even after this is all said and done. The world needs more
people like her. After she finishes, she explains that Samuel set up
the flare gun to signal my return. He promised her that he would come
quickly once the flare went off. Her sendoff seems to be more
confident than the rest of her speech. Since I've taken care of the
guards, Callista will get out of here just fine. However, even she
knows that she can no longer help Emily right now. It's up to me to
finish this once and for all. All she can do is give me her blessing.
Now that all is said and done, I send out the signal and teleport to
the beach area out front. Samuel pulls up only a few seconds after
me, and he appears relieved. We both know there's no point in
talking, so I give him Emily's location and we embark on one final
boat ride. Security on Kingsparrow is bound to be tight, and I miss
my equipment more than I thought I would. This will be a true test of
skill, greater than any I've has thus far...
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