Part 85: Castle Borgov

Chapter 17: Castle Borgov


I have had many dreams about you, but last night, I dreamed of a child. Her back was turned from me at first, but she was calling softly for her mama. Then she turned around, and her eyes glowed like fire. She spoke again and called your name. That was all I saw and heard.
What did Piotyr say? A child in the castle, plus the domovoi was going on about that too. I guess I should probably get in there now. I don’t know when I’ll see Katrina again, and Pa probably won’t just let me in, so I think I’ll try my luck at night.


Much like the brigand fortress from the first game, there are two ways into the castle. This is the direct approach.


With enough strength, you can force the gate open and fight the two necrotaurs guarding it, with no chance for escape.


Be aware that you can only pull this off once, though, since subsequent nights will have even more necrotaurs guarding the gate, and you will be overwhelmed by an instant death.


Getting past all that, you are quite able to simply barge into the castle through the front door. However, the castle itself is geared more towards the thief, so once again, let us go to the measured, sane approach.




The Borgov crypt is, quite naturally, locked. This poses no trouble to our heroic lock picker, and Igor will give you the key for the lock without much prompting after you save his life. In fact, it is entirely possible for the curious player to stumble upon the secret passage without realizing it.


You are in a dark, dank crypt filled with bas relief figures of long-departed knights and statues of the Grim Reaper. Stairs lead back up to the entrance. A brightly-colored copy of the Borgov family crest adorns part of the floor.

Crap, looks like the door closed behind me. How the hell do I get back out of here?

It’s a figure of the Grim Reaper, harbinger of death. At the base of the statue are the words, “Greet the Reaper!”

Greet the Reaper? What, should I shake hands with him or something?


*Grind*

Looks like that opened up the way out. Don’t know why you’d greet the Reaper to leave a crypt, but it’s good to know I’m not trapped in here. Let’s see, the Chief told me to find some colors, and the only thing colorful around here is the Borgov crest.


Hey, I can press the color bars. There must be some combination…hmm, red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple…or would it be violet? Wait a second. That can’t be it.


Blue, orange, red, green, orange, violet. I guess it beats hiding the key under a mat. Now I just need to find a keyhole.


The coffin cover is decorated with a bas relief sculpture of a knight. Searching carefully, you see a small hole that looks like a keyhole in the sculpture.

Awesome. I don’t think I even needed the key to open this lock.

Using your thieves’ toolkit, you manage to spring the lock on the coffin lid. It opens to reveal a dark, narrow passage leading deep into the heart of the mountain.



The Castle

After following the dark passage for several minutes, you come out into a castle chamber. The bookcase closes behind you, and there is no obvious way to open it again.

There has to be a way back. The passage is probably for emergency escapes after all. Now what looks off?

The chandelier provides scant light to the gloomy room. One of the candles has gone out, and is dangling from the chandelier at an odd angle.

Is it really this simple?

You reach up to “put the candle back.” It’s a fake candle! When you move it, a secret passage opens up behind the bookshelf.

Good. Now I can go exploring.



_{Uh oh.}

I believe this is the one and only time that every class needs oil. In order to listen in on this conversation, the hero cracks the door slightly, and if the hinges aren’t lubricated, he dies horribly. But let’s hear the discussion before I show you what happens when you interrupt it.




No! He is already attracted to me. I want him to act from his own free will, and not be some puppet whose string I hold. After all, if I only wanted a puppet, I could have used you.
There will come the day, Katrina, when I will be the Dark Master, and you will only be a memory.

Raise your hands if you saw this coming.

You would love to destroy me, wouldn’t you? You hated me from the moment we met, but you thought you could use me, didn’t you?
I will have my revenge!
On whom? Nike, or myself?
Both of you!
It’s so easy to make you lose your temper. That’s why you will never be the Dark Master—you let your overwhelming pride override your thinking!

_{Katrina is the Dark Master? I figured it was something like that, the way she was talking about needing things last night. She probably wants the Dark One Rituals for god knows what. Still, I’m not sure what I’d do next time I saw her. Sure she’s evil, but she’s still kind of sweet underneath that.}

Entering through the front door takes you to an empty Great Hall, but you can still hear this conversation by heading through the right door down to the secret passage room and back up again. It only occurs at night, however. And now, your scheduled painful deaths. They come in two flavors: barging into the room:


Uhhhhh, hi.



and not oiling the hinges:





After listening in, you can safely enter the Great Hall, but the other door from the first room leads here. Oh, and to some badders, which is why I’m poisoned.

Dead end. Or is it? Hell, I wouldn’t put it past this castle to have secret passages behind every single bookshelf. So what’s around here that I can use?

The boyar’s crest looks slightly crooked.

Thanks, I’ll try that.


Now it’s really crooked. Worked, though.


The stones close in after you exit the passage, and I believe it is only one way. By the way, have I mentioned the doors in this place?


Most of the options are unnecessary, though they can come in handy for your first run through. Oh, and as a special courtesy to the thief, all the doors are locked (and lock again after you pass through them) on his run through only.


Leaving the Pink Room takes you here. There are cabinets scattered throughout the castle, but most are only full of dust. The left door leads to our goal, so we’ll get to that later.


For some reason, the painting in this room hides six crowns, but only for the thief. Go figure.


I bet you know what this means.

There is something strange about the volumes of “Tobin’s Spirit Encyclopedia” (subtitled “To Pass Beyond the Veil”) on these shelves.


What’s particularly strange about this puzzle is that the solution is visible in the same window, although you probably won’t figure it out until you think about what you want to do by taking the secret passage.


It leads back to the second bookshelf, by the way, which makes it a great way to make a beeline to the secret passage out of the castle. If you take the other door, however:


You hear voices at the bottom of the stairs.

Boring. Dis is definitely boring.
Hey, dungeons is always guarded, and we’s de guards.
But why guard a dungeon when dere’s no one in dere?
We gots ta guard somting, don’t we? Else we don’t gots a job.
Well, dis is still boring.

For some reason, the game still assumes that the hero is no match for a pair of heavily-armed goons. We’ll be getting into the dungeons later, but right now there is no way past the goons. At least the game gives you two chances to turn back before killing you:



De Master is really somting, ain’t she?
Yeah.
I even likes de kid. Shame dey keep her all de way on the odder side of de castle.
Yeah.
It’s de Adda Bees guy I can’t stand. He looks at us like we was food or somting.
You gots it. Dat guy gives me da creeps.


Along another passage that leads back to the Great Hall, you can find this giant, gaudy safe. Naturally it’s trapped (by explosives), but any class can open it with the regular techniques. There are also six loose kopeks in one of the cabinets.

You take 15 crowns from a pouch in the safe. The safe also contains several papers and some old clothes, but they have deteriorated with age and are worthless, so you leave them.


The second route drops you off at the higher door. You can also leave through the front door at the bottom of the screen (but only if you fought your way in) and to the left on the ground floor.


At the end of that passage is the Blue Room, which features a locked and trapped chest complete with wraith.

In the chest you find a small flask labeled “healing” and 25 crowns. Pretty nice for a few minutes’ work!

Now, back to the door I ignored before. Past the door is yet another staircase, and at the top…


Tanya and Toby

Oh, um, hel—



*SLAM*


*Creak*



It’s not polite to slam the door in strangers’ faces, is it, Toby?
Rroohhh.
Then ask the stranger what he wants!
Ruhh aouuu raaahhnn, draaahheerrr?
I just wanted to say hello.
Hello. Do you live in the castle now too?
Uh, no, just visiting. Actually, the reason I came here is because—
Ruoohnn oooohh daaaahhrrr!
Toby, it’s not polite to interrupt. How many times do I have to tell you that?
Oohhrrrii.
So, um, you’re Toby?
Reeeessshhh. Eeii sshheeerrrruuh aahhnn rrroo’eegg eehh iiissshh’rreeesshh.
Toby says he’s here to protect me and make sure no one will hurt me. Toby’s my best friend. We play games and tell stories. I never had a real friend before.
Aaasshh aaarrr oooohh, iiissshh’rreeesshh.
Toby says I’m his best friend, too.
You wouldn’t happen to be Tanya, would you?
Yep! Are you from the village? What’s your name?
I have two names, actually. My adventuring name is Nike von Slartibartfast, and my village name is Ilya Stovich.
Stovich? Like the ones from next door?
Yeah, my mommy is Olga from the store. Did your parents ever say anything about me?
I think Mommy talked about you a couple times, but she always seemed sad when she said your name.
That’s because I did some things I…regret before you were born. That’s why I had to leave before we could meet.
Oh. I did something bad too, and my mommy and daddy don’t like me anymore. They don’t want to see me ever again. Sometimes I miss Mommy and Daddy.
Oooohh Aaauuuaaaiisshh aaavvvv uuussshhh, iiissshh’rreeesshh.
I know, Toby, you and Aunt Trina take good care of me. I wouldn’t want to leave you ever. But I still miss my mommy.
Why do you think your parents hate you?
It’s ‘cause Toby used to visit me at the inn. Mommy and Daddy wouldn’t like it if they saw Toby. They wouldn’t let me play with him. So I didn’t tell them about him. One day Toby brought me a beautiful doll. I never had a real doll before. I named her Vana. When Mommy saw Vana, she got real mad. She tried to make me tell about Toby. My mommy and daddy yelled at me. They scared me. They took Vana away and wouldn’t let me see her ever again. I didn’t want them to do that to Toby. So I ran away with him. Aunt Trina says Mommy and Daddy won’t like me now. They will be scared of me, like they were scared of Vana. I don’t want Mommy and Daddy scared of me. I’ll never go back again.
Eeee rrroooovv oooohh, iiissshh’rreeesshh.
I know, Toby.
I’m from the village and I’m not scared, Tanya. I’d love to know more about you and Aunt Trina.
I left the inn a long time ago. Now I get to live here. I don’t have to be afraid of the Bad Things all the time.
Eeee rraaaann rrroo’eegg oooohh.
Now I have Toby to protect me! I have this whole room to myself and Toby. Sometimes I get to go to the hall with Aunt Trina and play with Cuddles.
Cuddles?
Cuddles is Aunt Trina’s pet hound. He’s my friend, too.
Aunt Trina really looks after you, huh?
Aunt Trina says she will be my friend and take care of me. I like her. She gives me nice things. She sent Toby to me. She says I’ll be her little girl forever and ever. Sometimes I dance for Aunt Trina in the big hall. It’s fun, except when the Dark Man is there. I don’t like him.
Dark Man? Is he sort of hunched over and wears a funny red hat?
You’ve seen him too? I don’t like the Dark Man. I wish Aunt Trina never brought him here. He’s mean. I stick out my tongue at him all the time.
Eeeehhh iiisshh uuuurrrr ooovvv deee’eeeiiit.
Toby doesn’t like the Dark Man either. Toby says the Dark Man can’t be trusted. You should stay away from him.
Oh, I don’t like the Dark Man either. I could just see him shaking his fist at you for sticking your tongue out, too. Are you good at dancing?
Aunt Trina says I dance very well. I like to dance. ‘Specially up in the air. That’s really fun.
…“Up in the air?”
Sometimes Aunt Trina and I dance all over the room. We dance on top of the statues and everything. It’s like flying around and around.
…So how much do you know about vampires?
Eeeee rreeeiiooo’, aaannnn rrreeeaaavvv rooouuu!
Toby says you ask too many questions and you need to go away now. Toby, you’re being mean. Vampires are scary things. That’s how come we always used to have garlic all around at the inn. Mommy and me used to braid the garlic and put it up all over the place to keep out the Bad Things. I don’t like the smell of garlic. I had to wear garlic around my neck all the time. Now I have a really pretty necklace instead. See? Isn’t it pretty?

The necklace is on a choker chain, completely covering the little girl’s throat.

It’s very pretty, Tanya. I should probably go before Toby there gets impatient, but I’ve got something for you before I do.
What’s that you got?
Ooohhnnn’ ‘rrruuuusshh iiiinn, iiissshh’rreeesshh.
Toby, he has our dolly!


Oh, Vana, I thought I lost you! Look, Toby! It’s Vana. Thank you for bringing her to me. I thought she was lost. Where did you find her?
Your mommy hid it behind the plates in the cabinet in the tavern room. I thought you’d like to have her back. I should go now, though.
Goodbye. You should come back and talk some time. I’ll tell Aunt Trina that I want to see you again.
About that…would you mind keeping my little visit a secret? I…er…want to surprise her.
Good. I love surprises. Toby, you have to keep this secret, too.
Aaaaarrrroooouuuurrriii noo’!
No. A secret’s a secret. Promise?
Rrraaahh. Aaasshh oooohh iiiissshhh, iiissshh’rreeesshh.
Bye-bye for now!


I remember it now. I was walking home. Something started to chase me. I tried to run. Something knocked me over, and everything went black. I’m dead, aren’t I? I really can’t go home again. I’m just a ghost.
Yeah. So who are you?
My name is…was Anna. I can remember things now, but everything is like a faded dream.
An…Anna?! I never expected…do you remember me? Do you remember Ilya?
Ilya? Are you the poor boy who tried to break into Dmitri’s office?
Ah. Yes, that was me.
I can remember my house now. I live…lived beside the tall oak tree near the center of town. I’ve been gone so long. My poor Nikolai…
Yeah, poor Nikolai. Goodbye, Anna. I wish I could have told you what you meant to me, but I guess I’m just far, far too late.


_{Here, Nick. I think Anna wants you to have this more than me.}

There aren’t any puzzle points involved, but you can actively return the locket to the chest you found it in for some Honor. It’s not like you can do anything else with it.


You are walking dark halls, and you are dying. You know you are trying to find something, but you cannot remember where or what it is. It’s cold here, and all your warmth is draining away. You see light ahead of you, a faint ember of what it once was, but you know that this is what you seek. You reach for it, but stumble, and the light goes out. The Darkness awakens.