Part 21: Day 5 Part 2: Move Along

Congratulations, Nigel! It's been an eventful few days, but you've accomplished everything you've set out to do and more. Let's recap:

1- Stolen from work and fled blindly to the countryside but somehow gotten re-hired as a paranormal investigator
3- Nosed into the lives of pleasant townspeople and been pretty rude but somehow almost made friends with some of them
4- Stolen from an antique shop run by a man with mental health issues, and broken into and stolen from a museum but somehow not faced any repurcussions
5- Received threatening letters, found a nightmare room of cat corpses, and a photo-wall of stalking evidence but somehow not been bothered about it
6- Managed to stay in the most haunted house in town and found its walled-up poison water but somehow not upset the landlady
7- Stirred up the evil foursome of dead brothers who are only trying to do their job but somehow trapped them for now via puzzles
8- Bumbled into a lot of supernatural activity, unsolved mysteries, and photo contests but somehow overachieved at all of them
9- Knew nothing about anything about this town, its spirits, and its hidden treasure but somehow learned the specific needed information, helped its innocents, and found the treasure within 4 days
10- Ruined everything

This is one of those games that more or less makes sense and all as you play it, but if you look at it on the whole it starts to look more like Nigel is a pretty blessed individual. Is that a consequence of adventure-game-itis, or is it intentional?



To Nigel's credit, he's realized that his removing Ganwulf's Crown from its puzzletomb was a mistake most bogus and that now his task is to retrieve and return it. It's too late for Professor Hardacre (and the region's wildlife) and the townsfolk refuse to have anything to do with him, so he's on his own.

Detective Reubans seems to believe Nigel is innocent of any actual crime however (shows what he knows), and has encouraged us to do what we can to set things right.

The only clue we have is from the crystal ball. If it was telling the truth, then Hardacre took the crown. He didn't have it on his body or else we'd have heard about that. So where is it? Let's head back to The Pinnacles, the scene of the crime.



I've got to get to the rocks. Can I pass?
Move along, Mr. Danvers.




We still can't actually get too close to the crime scene itself, but if we look at some nearby hotspots we can see Hardacre's hat and boots. Reubans mentioned that the only tracks around were Hardacre's. We can take a photo:



And now we can tromp around most of the rest of The Pinnacles trying to find Hardacre's tracks. What we're actually trying to do is backtrack his trail to see if the crown is somewhere along it.





There are a number of screens we can poke around on, and a few different tracks to find. However, we do eventually come across Hardacre's:



Hardacre was here last night, with the crown!


And as soon as we try to follow it back:



Hardacre's ghost disappears quickly and we have no chance to try taking a photo or anything.

Hardacre, wait! What happened to you? (Pretty sure he got murdered, Sherlock!)


Hardacre's ghost seems to be helping us out. There don't seem to be many other spirits who want to talk to Nigel today, he should take what he can get. Hardacre makes a pretty good ghost actually, maybe he got practice earlier in the game when he wanted to talk to Nigel on the jetty and kept fading out when he walked.

Anyway he's pointing to someplace! Let's investigate.



Well that wasn't so hard! Good thing we practiced for this with the crank-handle puzzle.



We have the crown again! There is actually kind of a problem still with returning it. The policeman further down the beach was blocking access past the Martello Tower, which means we can't go to the Carrion Woods. We'll have to hold onto the crown for now and try to figure something out.

Despite last night's events, the safest place is still Harbour Cottage and the most helpful person we know is Lucy.



The corner isn't rusty any more?

Look, we need to talk.
There's nothing to say.
There's something wrong with the crown!
Well, you wanted it.
I know, I know. But... now I have it... I just want to put it back.
What's stopping you?
The guardians, they won't let it rest.
What guardians?
The figures. Nothing but shadows. They won't let me go back. (I guess we have to take his word for it, considering the game warped us here after we found the crown.) Please, will you stop that and talk to me?
There's nothing to say.
This can end, all of it.
How? Are things not bad enough?
Tonight. It ends tonight. We can stop this.
Stop what? There's a killer in this town!
I think it was the guardians. Maybe even the ghosts of the Agers themselves. BUT. One way or another, we are breaking this curse. Tonight.
What can we do?
A séance. A séance to end them all. I'm going to contact the owner of the crown!
What? He must have died... I don't know....
A thousand years ago. Almost to the date. Perfect!
You're serious?
Deathly. Meet me tonight. Midnight. At the cottage.
Yes, I'll help you. We have to try.


Well, we've got Lucy's help now. We should put the crown someplace safe until then. This time, the game agrees that the only sensible place to store a treasured relic is inside the Cottage's actual safe and not in some cruddy old chest.





Still pretty unpleasant in here.



Eight.



Mission accomplished!



As soon as the safe is closed, a spirit manifests and blocks the stairs. The accompanying music and sound cues are those associated with innocents, like Emily Travers. Unusually, Nigel can't interact with this spirit- no photos, no nothing. However, you might have noticed the scrap of paper floating near the dock arch in the lower-left:





Hmm. It looks like we aren't quite finished with Harbour Cottage. That spirit is probably Christina (was it Edward we helped earlier, then?), and she fades once we've read her well-preserved letter.



As soon as we head back upstairs, Nigel is back in the same time-distorted place he visited a few nights ago, right before the wall knocked itself open of its own accord. This time however, the Cottage is filled with whispers and the echoing sounds of a woman crying.



Christina's letter gave us a clue about what to do. You've probably noticed those windmill-motif blocks in pictures of the Cottage interior. This puzzle is solved by visiting them and pressing them in the correct order. Doing so results in a previously un-interactable pantry door opening in the timewarp kitchen.



This was Molina's actual secret smuggler hiding place, and it's a pretty lame one! Although he has a windmill-themed safe in the basement, with a photo of his wife, a diary, a revolver, and some boxes on the inside (and his ghost knew the number code to open it)- Molina didn't know about that place until right before he killed himself. Maybe the safe used to be in this pantry, and someone moved it there when they renovated the building? I don't know.



Inside the old pantry we see some old-fashioned utensils, and another book marked CM. It's Christina's diary.





A number of interesting things in this journal! I'm not sure why she she "hid" it in a place Edward would surely find it. She must have wanted him to read it, but it's not clear whether he did- we are in some kind of time slip so this diary could still exist or it couldn't. At any rate... it seems Christina wasn't as excited about Saxton as Edward was, and even feared she was being poisoned by him (something hinted at in one of Edward's entries).

As soon as we're done reading the last book in the game, the screen fades to white and the background crying gets louder. Nigel begins speaking:



... he caused you no harm... your husband was innocent... you must move on... you can leave together...

We hear the "exorcism" noise and the screen fades to show Nigel standing back in the dirty old kitchen he knows and loves.



Oddly, as Nigel says that, we hear faint modem noises. Those fade quickly, although I get the slight sense that they aren't quite gone, just more subtly blended with the background sounds. Normally the house is pretty quiet, but the noise level is a little active right now. It's made up of a number of things that are hard to identify. There's some ambient musical tones in low notes, but I think also some of the mine/tomb wind bass. There's definitely some whispers and what sound like some echoey, distorted snippets of previous dialogue that I can't quite make out most of the time, but seem like they belong to some of the townspeople. The whole effect is slightly unsettling. Things aren't normal right now. These sounds persist all through this section.

If you'd like to watch the end of the game as a video, I've made one!
Restoring the Lost Crown (11.5 minutes). Sorry about the 30 seconds or so I wait in the basement, I think I was trying to figure out if it was backwards-talking or Old English and I couldn't gracefully edit it out.

Then we hear someone knocking on the front door. It's uh.... it's midnight now. That was some time warp.



I didn't know whether I could. Or should.
Do you want to see the crown?
No. I never want to see it.
I believe we can put things right...


The phone rings.

Are you going to answer that?
It's impossible! There's no connection!
Well, someone wants to say hello. Just answer it.




Nigel... I'd like to speak to Miss Reubans, if you please. The connection is very old-sounding, but the modem noises get much louder.




I don't know you, sir, but you obviously... Yes, he is. We were about to begin the séance, but... Very well.
Lucy, what's he saying? What does Hadden want?
Yes.... Yes.... Yes.... Yes.... Yes....
Hang up, Lucy. Hang up the phone.


Someone hangs up the phone- the loud modem noises stop immediately though the ongoing background noises remain.

What's going on? What did Hadden want?
It was strange. He said...
He said what, Lucy?
He said "to pull you back when the time was ready."
What does that mean?
I don't know! I don't know. My head... it hurts.
Lucy?
Let's get on, shall we? I'll man the cameras. You start at the scene of the crime.
Why there?
Why not? It was where Hardacre first saw the crown.
It's worth a shot.




There's a mild source, but it's very weak. Yes, there's definitely something. Wait, it's getting stronger.


At this point the cabinet, a frequent source of paranoral activity in this room, starts rattling its doors and drawers.







This thing is going mad! Quick, come and see!




There's something, or someone... what is that?!
It's Hardacre! He's heading for the crown! (Hardacre! ) Wait here, I'll get the crown.




When Nigel gets down there, the safe is wide open and billowing white light.



We can't hear the noises from upstairs in here. This is very much the deeper, more peaceful sounds of Ganwulf's tomb, with some "innocent spirit" music tones, and some Old English whispering.

Nigel...?




Please, if you can hear me...

Nigel, come back... please, step away...
I never meant any harm! It's my fault. It is me that you want. I wish I'd never found you!
Nigel...?




Oh no, Nigel, breathe! BREATHE! Nigel!




The music had been getting louder but now fades away and is replaced by the innocent-spirit music, and Ganwulf starts speaking more clearly than ever (but still in Old English). He says a few sentences and then the screen fades to:





They're all completely still. You can look at all of the assembled uh... people? Spirits? Representations? and Nigel will identify them as Nancy Brewer, The Vicar, etc. The only one he won't is the little boy next to Bob Tawny. I believe it's meant to be the photograph-taking boy, not Cole.

Welp, since we're here:





For the last time, the screen is washed in light and we can't see anything. However, we can hear the sound of waves washing up onto shore. The screen fades slowly back in:



Hello you.
Ahhh, here you are.
I'm sorry?
I know. Is it done?
Yes. Ganwulf has his crown.
Where did you go?
I don't know... neither here nor there. Just somewhere.
I thought I'd lost you. Was it... the past?
No, I don't think so. It felt... eternal.
That's what Mr. Hadden said.




Yes. He said... it felt eternal. Forever.
All stories have an end. But I've been wondering...
Should I join you?
Yes, how did you know?
That's the thing, Mr. Hadden has already asked.
So we are both his pawns now.
Well, I've nothing better to do.
To the future?




Yes... to the future...






(And then the rest of the credits.)

There you have it! I'm not sure how much that ending cleared up, but hopefully you've got some ideas about what might be going on under the surface. It's not super important, but if you're curious it's worth reviewing the LP- this is one of those games that someone might play again to try and pick up clues the second time round. Even in the intro video there are some interesting things, and as I've said I've tried to include most of the rest somehow.

I'd like to give any current readers a chance to float their ideas and discuss anything they want! What I'll do now is wait about a week or so? And then I'll make an effort post about some of the ideas that I've had myself or have seen, if no one has brought them up yet.

Otherwise, thank you for reading! I hope you've enjoyed the game and my presentation of it. As I've said in the OP, the game itself is a $5 digital purchase from the developers so if you feel like the LP was worth the entertainment or you want to try the game for yourself, you should head over there. They are currently working on the next game in the series too, and it sounds relatively close to completion!