The walkthrough of this mission is co-authored by
Michele L. Worley and
myself.
Michele wrote the first draft and I did the subsequent processing.
She always gets all the loot with minimal violence, minimal evidence.
This Ghosting way to play the game is usually much more difficult than my brute force knock-them-all.
A drawback of this approach is that there are often places you won’t be able to visit with guards roaming around.
So I need to point out ways to get rid of AIs, so that you can have a good look at the place.
I should also like to thank Dafydd ab Hugh, a science-fiction writer, who helped in the preparation and checking of this walkthrough.
Dafydd play-tested the walkthrough and added information on how to knockout people (unlike Michele, he loves to use the Blackjack to KO people) and for excursions.
You don’t know Dafydd ab Hugh?
Have a look at two of his biographies at
Dragon*Con and
Fantasic Fiction.
Look up the books he wrote, in particular “Knee-Deep in the Dead”, which is based on the classic game Doom.
This walkthrough is written with the assistance of material prepared by Odyseeos.
Odyseeos conducted experiments with ways to handle various AIs
at different Difficulty Levels and Game Versions.
He is a Cleaner like me.
Whenever it is possible,
we KO every human and kill other types of AIs.
Moreover, Odyseeos is determined to avoid using consumables in tackling problems.
He and I also explored many interesting ideas,
and pieced together the subplots and stories behind the mission.
This mission uses a version number (starting with 1.0) independent of the
main document.
At several places, additional information is available as tool tips.
Move the mouse on the
words looking like theseInformation will appear as tips like this to see them.
Please refer to
T2 walkthrough User Interface on how to interact with this walkthrough.
A few places are worth visiting, but are not needed to achieve your objectives.
They do not even get you any powerups, so it is up to you whether to follow them.
I describe the main route like other walkthroughs.
Then I mark certain points as excursion routes.
At these points, if you want to have a look (and you should), save your game and follow the route.
Click the
Details of the excursion are shown when you click the excursion heading.
After the excursion, just reload the game you saved at the Excursion starting point to continue the main route (note that excursions may not bring you back to the starting point).
For those who don’t bother to go (I do not understand why anybody should want to skip the excursions), just ignore the milestone and continue straight on.
The walkthrough uses advanced features of IE5 (Dynamic HTML Behaviors, XML) in addition to the regular features (CSS, dHTML, js) you have seen in my earlier walkthroughs.
Follow
this link to see exactly what features are used.
There are a large number of differences between the patched and unpatched game.
The patch added lots of stuff: several interesting conversations, and many powerups not previously available.
I’ll write about the differences when you meet them.
Some general differences.
In v1.18, there are several NoKOs, which were just regular guards in v1.07.
In v1.07, there is no NoKOs, no Flash Bombs, no Scouting Orbs, Slow-fall
Potions and no Speed
Potions in this mission.
The most significant difference is that lots of guards have become female in version 1.18.
In v1.07, there is only one female character, namely the girl sleeping near your apartment.
In the walkthrough, I’ll say female when the guard is a female in v1.18,
and you should remember that when playing v1.07 they are actually male guards.
After you have successfully framed Lt. Hagen, you ran into an ambush when you try to contact Sammy.
Now, time for getting disappeared like a shadow.
Why could this happen to a low profile Garrett?
Actually not because of your recent job in the Shoalsgate Station,
but because of your gallant liberation of Jenivere, the maid of Lady Rumford.
When you orchestrated the elopement of Jenivere and Basso,
you probably didn’t realize that Lady Rumford was a personal friend of Sheriff Truart.
Sheriff Truart decided that something must be done.
Using the recent trick introduced by Morgan,
they pay informants to acquire your news.
You are coming back to the city again in Trace the Courier.
If you memorize the streets now, you will feel better then.
Sings we a dances of wolfs, who smells fear and slays the coward.
Sings we a dances of mans, who smells gold and slays his brother.
— pagan saying
Seems like the consequences of my occupation have finally caught up with me.
I went to the Crippled Burrick Pub to meet with Sammy about unloading some merchandise.
The smell of ale and smoke from the place wasn’t enough to cover up the stench of an ambush.
A couple of Watch officers were there waiting for me.
Judging by the look on Sammy’s face, I’d say he sold me out.
They didn’t seem interested in bringing me in, either.
The bluecoats were looking for swift justice.
Fortunately, I always have an ace up my sleeve.
I’d better get back to my place fast and try to figure out what to do next.
I just have to get past these guys, and the rest of the city’s finest out on patrol.
- Escape the ambush and return to your home in the Northwest.
- Don’t kill anyone. (Diff E only)
Although this happened many times back in Thief Dark Project,
this is the first mission where non-secret Objectives will appear middle in the game.
Going home is not the end of the mission.
You will meet your first NoKO (Diff N, v1.18 only).
You have met NoKOs in
Framed, if you played that mission in version 1.18 and Hard or Expert Difficulties.
It hardly mattered in
Framed, because of the special requirements of the Mission Objectives.
In this mission, they become a real annoyance.
The noKOs wear KO-proof helmets; try to recognize them.
It has, in particular, a shiny portion covering the upper part of the nose.
Give him the Blackjack and you hear a noisy clanging sound,
and a grinning face turned to hunt you down.
In Normal Difficulty of v1.07, you have to wait till
Blackmail to meet the NoKOs.
You will also meet your first Female Bow Guard (v1.18 only).
In v1.07, you have to wait till
Blackmail to meet Female Bow Guards and Female Sword Guards.
The Female Bow Guards have one very interesting feature.
The regular Bow Guards always shoots at “High” accuracy;
but the Female Bow Guards have a mixture of 50% “Moderate” and 50% “High” accuracies.
Therefore, you may be more lucky with their arrows.
Is it a sexual discrimination?
Besides your standard equipment of
Blackjack,
Sword, Compass and Lockpicks, you also have
-
10 Broadhead Arrows
-
5 Rope Arrows
-
3 Noisemaker Arrows (Diff N/H, v1.18 only)
-
10 Water Arrows
-
One (Diff E, v1.18) or Two (Diff N/H, v1.18) Scouting Orbs (v1.18 only)
-
A Flash Bomb (Diff N/H, v1.18 only)
Nil.
This is one of the few missions that you do not have an opportunity to go shopping, for the circumstances caught you unprepared.
You have no loadout when you start this mission, and thus always start with what you have when you finished
Framed.
Garrett has already fenced the loot he got in
Framed, so you’ll find a
Purse with the gold equivalent of that loot in the secret cupboard of his apartment.
Consequently, the maximum possible loot you’ll see as you play this mission will depend on how much loot you found in
Framed.
If you got full loot (
1378) from
Framed, the
Purse here in
Ambush! will worth
1378.
If you got less, then the
Purse will worth less.
Besides the
Purse, this mission has a total of
592, giving a maximum total of
1970.
Answer to the “How much loot did you get” question above
and the loot values in the walkthrough will be adjusted accordingly.
Despite what the statistics page says, you can only get one less than the maximum value.
I cannot even propose a hypothesis how the game could have mistaken about where the last one might have been.
If you have an idea, please let me know.
Regardless of the story — escaping from an ambush — this mission can be a leisurely stroll, if you don’t mind blackjacking guards.
You can rack up quite a count of KO (more than 40 knockouts!) without taking much risk yourself.
However, notice that several guards cannot be knocked out.
Hit them with your Blackjack and it makes a metal clanging sound, which does nothing other than arousing the guard.
There is one in this mission.
It is a passive egg (you do not need to do anything, just to go to the right place)
that makes an external reference (refers to a movie unrelated to Thief).
Notice that Michele makes up names for the guards.
The names are chosen in the alphabetic sequence, just to simply the task of referring to the guards.
These names have no real significance in the game.
Now we move to the West side to visit the city South of Home and West of Whipple Street.
You are now on the South half of Helena Way (the other half is further on the North, with a large bend to the West).
South Helena Way appears very wide on the map, because it includes the canal running down the center.
The map is pretty accurate: the dark green area is canal, light green dry land.
It clearly shows you whether there is road on which side of the canals.
At the N end, the Fat Guy patrols through the covered stone bridge and around the West corner to the next bridge
(a small bridge a little to the NW — let’s call it Mid Helena Bridge) that crosses the canal (the Mid Helena Way).
Norton, a Sword Guard, patrols the same route as the Fat Guy, up to the small bridge and back,
while Martin, his counterpart on the N side, patrols down to the same small bridge from the N.
In front of you is the
Easter Egg of this mission.
Notice that on the wall of the building at the N end of the canal (ie right in front of you), a big “W” set with flaming torches decorates the wall over the canal.
This is a reference to an old movie (1963) called
It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World, starring Spencer Tracy and a
large supporting cast.
The premise of the movie is that an elderly thief, just released from prison, is killed at the beginning of the film in a car accident.
All anyone finds out before he dies is that he was heading to Santa Rosita, where he hid the loot from his last job “under a big W”.
Sure enough, in the water below the “big W”, you’ll find a
.
This is the largest single item of loot in this mission, not counting whatever Garrett stashed in his closet after
Framed.
After grabbing the
Purse, keep heading West.
Stay out of the light as much as possible until the area around the big W is clear, then mantle up onto the street under the street lamp.
This is the only place in this section of the canal where you can get out of the water without doubling back to
Devoted L’s Apartment.
Head N into the shadows.
The two guards and the Fat Guy are sitting ducks for your Blackjack.
It’s completely dark on the small Mid Helena Bridge.
Wait for the Northern Sword Guard (Martin) to wander along
when the Fat Guy and the other Sword Guard (Norton) are absent.
Martin will turn around at the East side of the bridge and return North.
Walk behind him and thump him.
You don’t even need to move the body; there’s plenty of darkness.
Just turn around and wait for the other two coming up from the South.
Since the Fat Guy walks faster, it’s probably better to thump him first,
then hide the body back where you knocked out Martin.
But if you’re impatient, hit Norton first.
If the Fat Guy stumbles across you while you’re still standing over Norton’s prostrate body admiring your handiwork, it’s no problem:
the Fat Guy will cower back and beg “don’t hurt me!”.
Send him quickly to dreamland anyway.
Hm… I wonder if this qualifies as bringing the battlefield right to his door?
Even if you do not join me in this
Just look into the alley on the West of Mid Helena Bridge and you can see the two crates.
Walk into it, and you see a few steps leading to a small house.
Using a crate, you can mantle up to the roof of the small house, but I was furious that no secret or treasure was up there!
Turn right and walk towards the edge.
The street on the other side of the canal is Sparrow Street, the place we are going next.
If you move to the very edge and climb on the left, you can barely see the two guards on the opposite shore (on the far NW).
They are standing in front of the Toolbox House.
You can drop into the canal and swim there, but we are going to enter Toolbox House via its front entrance.
Therefore, retrace back to the small bridge to continue our journey.
remember that there are 2 crates inside, which you may someday want to use.
If you haven’t brought down Martin, be very careful when you join in the
The Mid Helena Way comes to a T-fork at the N end.
Stay on the East side of the Mid Helena Bridge and walk North.
Turn around the corner.
The East fork soon turns North and become the North Helena Way.
North Helena Way goes under a stone arch which is part of .
Further to the East, forms the West side of the Whipple Street Gate.
Notice that on the left/West bank of North Helena Way
(right across the water from where you are) is a small patch of pavement leading up to a wooden door in the .
We’ll revisit it on our way back from Garrett’s Building
(yes, the game is not ending there — that’s why we are only visiting the S and W side of the City on our way home).
Note also that beyond the stone arch, there is a small bridge (the North Helena Bridge) over the canal.
On the bridge is a stationary female Sword Guard.
It is much easier to knock her from inside the so we are not trying to get her from here.
From the West side of the
Mid Helena Bridge, head N.
Note that a
Dripping Pipe sticks out over the canal — this landmark may help you from getting disoriented.
Turn left and continue until the street goes NW across the water to the N end of
Sparrow Street.
S of your position, you’ll see two Sword Guards on the front steps of a building (the Toolbox House), in front of a metal door.
The street isn’t very well lit, so they will not notice you unless you make a lot of noise.
Ignore the corner to the N (we’ll be passing through there later) and let’s consider the Toolbox House first.
No, the house doesn’t look like a toolbox, only that there are two toolboxes upstairs (v1.18 only).
You can either enter the house via the front door or via the sewers.
There is a water tunnel right beneath the front door.
If you use the water tunnel, you must crawl very slowly, or the guards directly above will certainly hear you.
Even after getting inside the building, it is very difficult to knock out these guards.
Therefore, we had better use the front door.
Save game first.
Sneak slowly toward the Sword Guards at the street entrance of the building.
To Ghost inside, lean left to open the door behind them from as far a distance as possible
(you can see the door handle from farther away by leaning left then leaning forward).
The guards always become alerted, no matter how quiet you are.
Crawl backward.
When your back hits the wall corner behind you, you are still under the light.
Move a little to the left and continue crawling back until you are in full shadows.
Wait till they calm down.
Save game and sneak through the door behind them.
Do not close the door behind you, or you would arouse them a second time.
Stay very quiet while inside the house.
Knocking them out is much easier.
Note that the Northern guard (the one closer to you) looks at the Southern one,
but the Southern looks straight East across the canal.
Sneak up, lean over, and thump the first guard (the Northern one).
The other guard will hear a noise and be suspicious;
but if you crouch and pick up the guard you knocked out, the other guard will decide it was nothing.
Carry the first guard back North to the dark shadow, then return.
The second guard is harder, but you can sneak behind him if you edge a little toward the canal,
just enough so you can walk over the Northern edge of the stairs up into the Toolbox House.
This still leaves you slightly behind the remaining guard, whose peripheral vision is as bad as the rest of them
(he complains but doesn’t turn unless you jump on the cobblestones).
Edge behind and thump him.
Or you can try to knock both guards out quickly: hit one, run to the second one and bash him before he can react.
This usually works well for pairs of guards standing close together like them.
A third way is even less likely to fail.
Crawl carefully behind the two guards, as if you want to enter the door.
From behind them, knock them in quick succession.
This way, the first guard will not be blocking your way when you proceed to knock the second one.
There is nothing on the first floor.
Ignore the wooden door ahead — we’ll use it when we leave.
Head upstairs.
In version 1.18, there are 2 toolboxes on the second floor, giving name to the house.
Save game before opening them — nothing dangerous, but you may want to open them again (see below).
The L toolbox contains 10 Broadhead Arrows, 5 Water Arrows, 3 Moss Arrows, and a Healing
Potion| (v1.18 only).
The R toolbox contains 3 Fire Arrows, a Speed
Potion and a strange arrow (v1.18 only).
These are the only two boxes I know of that contain more than one type of item.
When you open the box, all the items go into your inventory.
Only one of them will appear on your lower right hand corner.
If you check your inventory level before and after opening the box, you find that the above is the list of items you got,
but if you just look at your lower right, you would only notice 3 Moss Arrows (L toolbox) and the strange arrow (R toolbox).
The strange arrow was meant to be a Rope Arrow, but the mission data have an error.
As a result, it is not identified in your inventory.
You can shoot it at wood like a Broadhead Arrow, but no rope appears.
It has however the distinctive black color of a Rope Arrow instead of the brown Broadhead Arrow.
It won’t break even if you shoot it at the metal door (just bounce off and drop to the floor).
You can retrieve it and it goes back to your inventory as an unidentified arrow.
Notice that it does not mix with other arrows (that is, you didn’t get an increased item count in any other arrow types).
Last of all, it is not attached to any key, and does not participate in the inventory up/down cycling sequence.
In other words, once you swap to any other weapon, you will never ever be able to switch back to this strange arrow again.
In the unpatched game, all the stuff is placed on a table for you:
4 Water Crystals,
2 Moss Crystals,
a
bundle of 10 Broadhead Arrows, and
3 Fire Crystals.
Have a quick look at the rest of the second floor, and head back downstairs.
The wooden door on the West opens onto a ladder leading down into the canal.
Climb down to the water.
First, go to the East.
After two turns, you arrive at the canal outside the front door.
Turn left (N) and wade a little forward.
You’ll see on your right an underwater cell behind two sets of metal grills (separated by a stone column).
You cannot enter the area, but 2 Water Crystals (v1.18 only) are waiting for you at the foot of the grills (one Water Crystal each).
After you get the Water Crystals (v1.18 only), swim and climb back into the tunnel.
Head back to the ladder, and continue forward into another canal, on the rear (W) side of the house.
You cannot access the West shore, so swim North to the nearby shallow ledge on your right (East) and pull yourself out.
Actually if you were to continue swimming North, you would find an underwater tunnel connecting to the canal next to Garrett’s Building.
Going via canal, you would miss Hill Street.
So we go on foot instead, and only use the tunnel on our return trip.
Head N up the ramp, at the top of which is a tiny square.
On your right is a lamp mounted on the wall.
To your NE is a stone house, the Hill Street Grocery, the front (West) wall of which forms the East boundary of this tiny square.
Further North beyond the Grocery is a gas street lamp (which is mounted on the ground, and has a glowing bulb of gas above it).
Find the wooden door of the Hill Street Grocery.
If you cannot locate the door (because it is dark and recessed into the wall), do this.
Walk from the wall-mounted street lamp to the North, along the front (West) wall of the Grocery.
Just before you reach the gas lamp, turn right (East) and grapple around for it in the darkness.
It’s there somewhere.
In a later mission, you’ll spend a lot of time hanging around in front of this grocery, so be grateful that you’re not forced to do the same just now.
On the shelves behind the counter, you’ll find 2 loaves of bread, 3 apples, 2 cucumbers, 2 carrots, and 3 cheeses.
On the left (E) end of the counter, the shopkeeper has left some money:
, and .
Go through the wooden door in the E wall, and climb the stairs to have a look.
Look out of the window, recognize where you are?
We’ll take a look from the outside shortly.
Move back downstairs and out the door by which you entered.
Turn left, going to the wall with a lamp mounted.
We came from the ramp on the right (SW).
On your left (East) is a shadowy alley going East between the Grocery and the brick wall.
Enter the alley.
Look up and you see a room with a torch and two opened windows.
This is the second floor of the Grocery, where you looked out from the window a moment ago.
Fortunately we do not need to climb through the windows.
At the end of the alley, look to your right.
This is where you started before visiting the Toolbox House (North end of Sparrow Street).
Move back to the front door of the Grocery.
Move N past the gas street lamp mounted on the ground.
You arrive at a T-junction: the East fork is a dead end, so follow the N fork towards Hill Street.
Notice the Water Stairs on your left leading down to the canal (a good hiding place).
On our return trip, we shall climb from water up these stairs.
A Sword Guard, Quentin, followed by a Female Bow Guard, Fontana, have a patrol route in Hill Street ahead.
We shall later pickpocket Fontana.
Notice that Fontana always follows behind Quentin.
This is the first example we have encountered in the game of a new type of AI programming in Thief 2.
Before, AIs patrolling together just share the patrol path.
Since each AI has a different speed (Bow Guards walks faster than Sword Guard), they tend to part from each other as time goes.
Using this new technique, the various guards patrols in Ambush! are staying grouped together.
It provides a way of assigning bodyguards to an AI who cannot be separated from that AI just by waiting around for their patrol routes to get messed up over time.
Actually, Jay and Kay also display the same behavior,
but since both of them are Sword Guards, they walk at the same speed and the effect is not as noticeable as Quentin and Fontana.
Stay in the shadows, and move N until you reach the intersection where Hill Street actually crosses this street (ie the end of shadows).
In front of you is an opening to a square on the North side of Hill Street.
You may try to get inside for a look.
It is empty, and is not dark enough even with the torch extinguished, even if you go to the far end down the short flight of stairs.
At least it was so when I wrote the above sentence.
Now everytime I checked, the square is pitch dark, and you can hardly locate where the stairs are.
If you know what is happening, do tell me.
On your right, the street goes down hill and ends in a bridge, the Hill Street Bridge.
It is a small bridge, and under the bridge is a water gate, which cuts off the two halves of the canal.
In other words, you cannot swim along the canal from the South side of the gate to the North side, or vice versa.
Quentin and Fontana patrol E-W along Hill Street.
Stay in deep shadow, and get
a
bundle of 3 Broadhead Arrows from Fontana’s quiver as she passes by.
When Quentin and Fontana head East toward the bridge,
get to the Water Stairs on the West and go one step down them.
You are now in shadow.
Wait till they’ve come back, gone North, and are now heading East again from your position.
When they pass your position (remember that Fontana looks left and right a lot, so make sure she has walked past you to your East), walk behind them and Blackjack Fontana the Bow Guard.
Make sure you first hit Fontana (if you had hit Quentin the Sword Guard first, Fontana would have noticed).
When Fontana drops, don’t stop to fool with hiding her body.
Just keep walking and take care of Quentin.
Now you have all the time in the world to hide both bodies.
Toss them onto the Water Stairs, but be sure they don’t actually fall into the water and get drowned!
Wait until they are heading W.
Move E down Hill Street.
Descend down the slope and just before crossing the Hill Street Bridge, turn left and move along the canal to the North.
Finally we are arriving at Home.
We’ll study the area and get into Garrett’s Bedroom.
As you move North, watch out for the Sword Guard Teague on the far right side.
He is standing by the canal.
He sometimes faces West, sometimes South.
Anyway, he is far away and shouldn’t notice you.
Although you can hardly see it, you are approaching a T-junction.
When you cannot move further North, Teague is on your far right.
From this position, you can either go East towards him, or West into a very dark alley.
Go West, and follow the alley to turn North.
Be very quiet.
Garrett’s Building is straight ahead.
There are two buildings on the South side of Garrett’s Building: the Home West Building on your right and the Home East Building on your left.
The alley is darker on the right hand side.
Keep yourself in the shadows and move forward quietly.
Two (Diff N) or
Three (Diff H/E) guards are standing in the street ahead, right in front of you building.
New objectives:
-
Several members of the City Watch are waiting for you in your apartment.
You need to find shelter elsewhere and there’s no better place than Shalebridge.
The only snag — you have to sneak into your home and get the gate key you keep hidden in the secret compartment in your bedroom closet.
-
After you get the gate key, proceed to Shalebridge.
Between the Sheriff’s patrols and the Guard Post at the main gate,
it’s not going to be as easy as it sounds.
Inching forward along the shadows, you can see a Female Sword Guard on the right.
On the left is a Bow Guard standing in front of the wooden door of your building.
They will start a conversation (v1.18 only)
Female Sword Guard: Remember men, his name is Garrett.
Consider him armed, and dangerous.
The Sheriff wants him brough in, dead or alive.
Male Bow Guard: What’s the Sheriff want with a common thief?
Why all the extra manpower?
Female Sword Guard: Truart says this man is very dangerous
and clever. Just follow your orders.
Male Bow Guard: But why…
Female Sword Guard: I don’t want to hear it!
You have your orders.
Male Bow Guard: Yes sir!
.
Note in particular his gestures, how he salutes with his left hand while holding the bow,
and calling the Female Sword Guard “sir”
(she was still a he back in v1.07, when the conversation was taped).
So, we had better not enter your building directly.
The
Home East Building has 2 entrances:
-
A set of wooden double doors are on the E side, some way N along the street where Teague is standing.
-
A metal door towards the W, on the SW corner of the building is on the right (E) side of your alley.
You have probably walked past the metal door when moving forward to listen to the guards.
Walk backwards until the alley turns, that is about where the door is.
Enter by the metal door in your alley and move up the few steps immediately in front of you.
Turn North and through the wooden door into the workshop (this is the first floor, a little higher than the street).
Walk past the workbench and turn East to the double doors.
Out the double doors and look South, and there’s
Teague with his back turned towards you, just begging for it.
He turns to look South and West but never North, where you are.
Hide Teague’s body over by the metal door on the West.
Before re-entering
Home East Building, let’s take a
Go West and then South back to .
Watch out for Quentin and Fontana.
Move to the West end of Hill Street and go South.
The triangular area there has nothing worth looking though.
Move back to Hill Street and turn North into the side street.
We are currently on the West side of the Home West Building.
Move forward.
There is another useless city gate on your left, which provides shadows in case you need them.
Unlike the other dummy city gates (which is nothing more than a painting on the city wall),
this city gate looks real.
If you try the “use” the gate, it makes the noise as if there were a lock to pick, but there isn’t.
You may try to collect crates to climb over it.
Behind the gate is a short dark street and nothing else.
In v1.18, there is a
rat on your North.
Play with it in a
Do a quick save and shoot the rat (v1.18 only).
Piece of cake, right?
Bring it back to life.
Crawl carefully along the left (West) wall,
so that you arrive on its side (you on West, the rat on East).
Now save game and try to shoot at it again.
What?
You missed a sitting rat dead in front of you?
Try harder!
When you give up, click
here to find out what is happening.
Surprised to see the Broadhead Arrow fly through the rat and hit the street?
I’ll explain it in one simple sentenece.
There is no spoon, Neo.
In case you did not recognize the quote, it is from Matrix.
[A skinny boy holds a spoon which sways like a blade of grass
as he bends it with his mind.
Neo crosses to him, sits.
The boy smiles as Neo picks up a spoon and tries to imitate him.
Despite his best efforts, Neo cannot make it bend.]
Spoon Boy:
Your spoon does not bend because it is just that, a spoon.
Mine bends because there is no spoon, just my mind.
[Neo watches as it curls into a knot.]
Spoon Boy:
Link yourself to the spoon.
Become the spoon and bend yourself.
[Neo nods, again holding up his spoon.]
Neo:
There is no spoon. Right.
[He concentrates. The spoon begins to bend…]
Your Broadhead Arrow flies through what you believe to be the body of the rat, just like the Twins (in Matrix Reloaded) move through doors and walls.
What you see is only an image projected by the Dark Engine.
It does not truely reflect where the rat thinks itself is.
No, you cannot do miracles like The One.
Yet, you must not be confused by the illusions.
Viewed from the front, the true rat has roughly the same cross section as the rat you see;
viewed from the side, it is very different.
Since the rat does not think that it touches your arrow, it refuses to bleed or die.
Where then is the rat?
Aim the rear part, the part of the body connecting to the tail.
Being shot at that position, the rat will believe it is killed.
In your street there is a zigzag, look for a metal door on the East side (the door is not visible unless you highlight it).
Enter.
The Home West Building has 2 entrances.
Besides the door you used, the other one is on the North, facing the front door of Garrett’s Building.
You have seen the guards in front of your building, so we had better not open this door.
Go upstairs.
On the top of the stairs is a small area with a small window overlooking the street in front of Garrett’s Building
From the small window, you can see Garrett’s Living Room,
with a Sword Guard (Diff H/E only) waiting for you.
The wooden door on 2/F leads to a snorting blonde servant.
Silence her with the Blackjack.
When hitting her, it is better to first ready the Blackjack, then crouch and hit.
Otherwise, you may accidentaly knock on the bed and make a loud noise.
Exit back to the W alley.
Retrace your path via Hill Street to Home East Building
(or simply restore your game before the excursion if you do not mind the knock out statistics).
Re-enter the Home East Building and head for the main staircase.
Save game and climb the stairs to the room above.
The window here is bigger than in the Home West Building.
It faces the shutters of Garrett’s Bedroom window.
If you want to, you can walk out of the window (there is a long ledge outside) to have a better look of the guards in the streets.
Just remember that you are also giving them a better look of yourself.
We will take out the guards in front of
Garrett’s Building when we are inside the building.
However, you actually can take them out
before entering, but it’s tough.
It’s much, much easier to take them out when leaving.
But if you really want to test your skill, try
Exit Home East Building by the metal door on its West side.
Crouch in the shadows (around the door or perhaps even a little South of it), and shoot a Water Arrow at the torch on the front porch of Garrett’s Building.
The guards will get suspicious and might even start searching, but it doesn’t matter:
turn South immediately and head back to the Water Stairs of Hill Street.
Go West one block, then turn North and head up along the West side of Home West Building.
By now, the guards should have calmed down, but if not, wait.
When all is quiet again, crouch and pass North through the rat-infested alley across the street into the alley that touches the West side of Garrett’s Building (Garrett West Alley);
turn around to face South again and creep to the corner and save your game.
Wait until the grumbling ceases, then crouch and edge around the corner leftward (East) until you’re behind the Male Sword Guard (Diff H/E, v1.18 only) on the West.
Here comes the tricky part:
you will have to knock him out and get rid of the body immediately.
It takes skill and a little bit of luck, and you may have to restore and try it a couple of times.
Stand, raise your Blackjack, crouch and lean forward to knock him.
Wait for the body to “light up” for your grabbing.
Take the body as soon as possible.
Step back quietly to the wall, crouch (still carrying the body), and just wait;
if you were seen, you’re dead… restore and try again.
If you failed to grab the body,
you should try to run North to the back of the building to get to the East side.
This way, they often fail to find you.
When all is quiet, sneak back west around the corner back to Garrett West Alley, and dump the body in the shadow.
To get to East side Female Sword Guard, walk around the back of Garrett’s Building.
She looks harder to tackle because there is more light.
Yet you can do it exactly the same way (actually the remaining guard seldom notices the body, even if you fail to grab it).
If you can step back outside the view of the Bow Guard on the porch before he realizes what he saw, you’re home free.
When you have her body and the remaining guard has settled down,
turn West, carry her around the corner to the North, and dump her body in a convenient shadow.
The last guard is either a Bow Guard (v1.18) or a Sword Guard (v1.07).
To get rid of him,
create some noise from the East,
then run via the back to Garrett West Alley.
When the guard is searching,
sneak to the front door and stay crouched under the extinguished torch.
Just wait for the guard to finish his search and come back for your knocking.
Move back around the rear of Garrett’s Building.
Go South down the rat-infested Garrett West Alley,
down Hill Street to the bridge and back North to Home East Building.
Go upstairs and continue.
On all difficulty levels, a Female Sword Guard patrols the staircase of Garrett’s Building.
A Sword Guard (Diff H/E only) also patrols Garrett’s Living Room.
Other than the front door, there are 2 more ways to get into Garrett’s Building —
the fire escape at the back (we shall use it to leave), and the way we’re about to take.
Save your game, stand up, then take a running jump through the window to the ledge opposite, where the shutters are.
When jumping, use your visibility gem to aim at the window (no need to aim higher).
If you cannot make it across, try this: Toe-Watch Jumping.
After landing, crouch and be quiet.
Open the shutters, and enter Garrett’s Bedroom.
As long as you hit the ledge and don’t fall into the street in front of them, the guards below shouldn’t notice anything.
Often, they are completely unaware and remain calm; they should never actually wake up and start searching.
Check your map if you need to; this room has only 2 doors, Garrett’s closet door and the door to
Garrett’s Living Room.
Open the closet, and twist the coat hook to open the secret compartment
(it isn’t count as a secret, since it belongs to Garrett).
Start robbing yourself (the crystals look huge, but other than the size they are just normal):
the Shalebridge Key,
a
bundle of 10 Broadhead Arrows,
a
bundle of 5 Noisemaker Arrows,
5 Moss Crystals (v1.18) or
a
crystal of 5 Moss Arrows (v1.07),
5 Water Crystals (v1.18) or
a
crystal of 5 Water Arrows (v1.07),
3 Fire Crystals (v1.18) or
a
crystal of 3 Fire Arrows (v1.07),
an Invisibility
Potion (Diff N, v1.18 only),
a Slow-fall
Potion (v1.18 only),
2 Healing
Potions,
a Speed
Potion (v1.18 only), and
a
conglomerate of 3 Scouting Orbs (v1.18 only).
You can also find
a
conglomerate of 2 Flash Bombs (Diff N/H, v1.18 only).
If you got any loot in
Framed, you’ll also find a
, containing an amount equivalent to the loot of the previous mission.
After you’ve stripped the closet of its contents, close up the secret panel behind you and close the closet door.
Open the Living Room door.
Skip to the .
You can’t escape by the way you got into the bedroom (jumping out from Garrett’s Bedroom).
For one thing, the bed prevents you from getting up enough momentum to clear the street if you try to jump back across.
Take out the Sword Guard (Diff H/E only) in Garrett’s Living Room.
Open the metal door while standing in shadow and take down the Female Sword Guard patrolling the stairs.
Walk downstairs, crouch in shadow, and open the front door.
Pick
a
bundle of 3 Broadhead Arrows (v1.18, Cleaners only) from the Bow Guard.
Grab the Blackjack again, club him and drag his body inside the building.
It’s now fairly easy to skulk right (West) and take out the Male Sword Guard (Diff H/E only), grab his body, and dump it in Garrett West Alley.
Head around the back of Garrett’s Building to approach the porch from the East.
Sneak up and thump the Female Sword Guard and hide her body in the dark alley (assuming you didn’t take out these outer guards before entering).
Now everything is quiet.
Go up to 3rd floor to give it a brief look, and leave via the fire escape (the windows on 2nd and 3rd floor) if you want to:
drop from 3rd floor to 2nd floor using a Rope Arrow (this is only possible when your “attach ladders” option is set to “touch”),
crouch,
carefully drop from 2nd floor to ground.
Notice that there are crates in the back alley.
You could have used them to climb into the building, or you can use them later for other purposes.
Move back to the street outside the front door, and go East to the canal.
Skip the next section and continue the .
Garrett’s Living Room is lit only by the fireplace, so the Sword Guard (Diff H/E only) cannot see well enough to notice you unless you’re careless.
Open the metal door leading to the staircase outside.
Remember that a Female Sword Guard is patrolling the staircase, from the 2nd floor to the 1st (you are on the 2nd floor).
Don’t mess around with the torch beside Garrett’s front door; leave it lit.
Pick a moment when the Sword Guard inside the apartment can’t see the door, and the Female Sword Guard patrolling the stairs isn’t looking your way.
Scurry across to the stairs leading up to the 3rd floor.
Take time out to examine the 3rd floor and look at the 3rd floor fire escape.
When the woman heads away from the front door of Garrett’s Living Room, follow her closely, but hang back on the first flight of stairs.
When she heads toward the front door of Garrett’s Building,
quickly drop over the side of the stairs and hide behind them.
Use
a Water Arrow to quench the torch behind the stairs if it makes you feel more comfortable, or if the stair guard has been stirred up.
As the woman heads upstairs, quickly move to the front door, open it, and
pickpocket
a
bundle of 3 Broadhead Arrows (v1.18, Ghosters only) from the quiver of the Bow Guard in the doorway.
Close the door and return to the shadowy area behind the stairs.
Wait for the woman to return, then follow her up to the 2nd floor.
As she heads toward the front door of Garrett’s Living Room,
head upstairs to the 3rd floor if you like, or out the window.
Get out onto the fire escape, which is outside both the 3rd and 2nd floor windows of Garrett’s Building.
Note it is dangerous to mantle onto the window.
When you mantle a small height like this, you usually make loud noises.
Just walk and press yourself against the window, then run forward a step or two to land on the platform outside.
If you get onto the 3rd floor platform, climb down to the 2nd floor platform using a Rope Arrow (this is only possible when your “attach ladders” option is set to “touch”).
When the female on the stairs is out of earshot, drop to the ground.
Notice the crates nearby.
You can actually use them to enter the building, or for freelance exploration later.
From the back alley, go East and turn South.
At the junction, you have two or three guards on your right.
Sneak left (W) along the brightly lit area to the canal.
Drop off into the water and swim South.
Soon, the water gate under Hill Street Bridge stops you from going any further.
Mantle into the tunnel on your right and emerge on the other side.
You have arrived at the Water Stairs of Hill Street.
Now that we are leaving Home, we’ll visit North Helena Way and the Market Place on our way East.
If you are brave, you can actually climb the Water Stairs and go directly to North Helena Way.
However, a Sword Guard and a Female Sword Guard
are patrolling the street joining Hill Street and North Helena Way.
Using the direct path, you can easily bump into them.
The direct run will be even more perilous if Quentin and Fontana are still walking around.
My preferred path is longer, but safer.
Having emerged from the tunnel, continue swimming South.
You will arrive at the back of the Toolbox Building.
We need to go to the canal in front of Toolbox House.
There are two ways.
The direct method is to go through the tunnel under the building, emerge in front of it, and swim North.
The other method is to get ashore behind Toolbox House (like you did last time, after visiting the building),
and walk around the corner (near ) and drop into the canal on your right (East).
Either way, you will arrive at the North end of Sparrow Street.
Swim East under the road and you can see the on your right.
The shore opposite the pipe sticks is very low.
Climb back to dry land there.
Before moving on, head up.
One of the two windows doesn’t have a frame.
This is the Westmost part of the , a big building spanning from here to the Whipple Street.
We’ll be looking out from that window when we get inside.
Save game and move forward towards Hill Street.
When you can see Hill Street Bridge and the lamp post ahead, slow down.
At the T-junction ahead, the branch going East leads to North Helena Way.
As I said, two guards are patrolling that branch.
They move all the way up to Hill Street Bridge and turn around going back.
It would be bad if you were rushing down Hill Street when they emerge from in front of you.
When they come and go, follow them into the East branch, which soon offers a very good shadow.
Move to the East end so that you can look down North Helena Way.
You can see a third guard standing on North Helena Bridge (whom you have seen from the South earlier in ).
The two patrolling guards start from the West shore of North Helena Bridge all the way to Hill Street Bridge.
They walk as a pair like Quentin and Fontana of Hill Street.
The female guard walks in the front and the Sword Guard follows her all the way.
When the pair moves by, grab the Healing
Potion from the trailing male guard.
Wait till next time to knock the male guard.
Hide him and knock the female guard on her next visit.
It is too dangerous to move directly towards the North Helena Bridge.
However, walk South a few steps and turn into the dark steps on your right.
After a left turn, the stairs come to a quick end, where
a
bundle of 5 Broadhead Arrows is waiting for you.
Before you leave this area, you may visit the North parts of the North Helena Way (that is, the portion after the canal bends towards the East).
The guard on the North Helena Bridge won’t be able to see you.
Head back to where you climbed ashore (opposite the ).
You can either swim South in North Helena Way (pass under the North Helena Bridge and turn West), or just retrace the path back there by land.
From there, do a running jump to the South bank (near where the are).
Work your way S to the , then cross to the E bank.
Head N/E and you can see a small patch of pavement leading up to a wooden door in the .
Jump across and enter the wooden door.
The
Whipple Building has 2 ground-floor entrances near
North Helena Bridge;
namely, the wooden door to the S you just used, and the opposite door to the N just in front of you.
The North door opens just behind the
Female Sword Guard on
North Helena Bridge.
The bridge guard is another easy knockout: crouch and open the North door
(you don’t even need to put out the torch; it’s dark enough).
When she turns her back and looks East, stand up, walk forward boldly, and Blackjack (Cleaners only) her.
Haul her body back inside the building and shut the north door again.
With her out of the way, accompany me in the
Cross the North Helena Bridge and go East along the only street.
Near the junction, slow down and move carefully.
On your right is the Whipple Street Gate.
Three guards are standing on the other (South) side of the gate, usually facing away from you (one of them may be turning regularly towards and away from you).
They can’t cross the gate, but if your noise should arouse them, other guards nearby will get you.
So turn North quietly; they may complain, but will settle down.
Walk carefully along the curved street going North then Northeast.
On the East end is a normal Sword Guard,
accompanied (Diff H/E only) either by another Sword Guard (Diff H/E, v1.07)
or a NoKO Sword Guard (Diff H/E, v1.18).
Refer to your map: the Graveyard West Gate is just to their north, beyond the gate is the Graveyard District.
However, you can hardly do anything from here, not even see the gate.
Dousing the torch behind them will only get yourself killed.
Return to the Whipple Building.
Climb the stairs to the second floor.
There are 2 doors at the top of the stairs, one leading W, the other E.
The W door opens onto a small stone-floored corridor.
This is the Westmost part of the building.
A window overlooks the area of the canal near the .
We just looked up from below a little while ago.
You could jump from the window to the canal safely, if you wished to.
Return to the top of the stairs, and exit through the E door.
This opens onto a long corridor leading E, eventually leading over the Whipple Street Gate.
Pause at the first door on the right (S).
This opens onto a spiral staircase, leading down to a door opening to the S side of the Whipple Street Gate.
We are moving downstairs to listen to a conversation (v1.18 only).
Playing the unpatched game, skip to the .
Like other conversations of this mission, this one is only available in the patched game.
Two (Diff N) or
Three (Diff H/E) guards are posted outside the door below:
a
Male Sword Guard (Diff H/E only) in the middle,
a
Male Bow Guard on the West (nearer the door),
and a
Female Sword Guard on the East.
Descend the stairs and lean against the closed door.
The Male Bow Guard and the Female Sword Guard will start talking.
You can stop leaning as soon as you begin to hear the conversation; it will continue audibly.
The conversation (v1.18 only)
MBG: Y’ hear about the raid at the Overlord’s Fancy?
Truart led the bust himself.
FSG: Donal must be pretty p-d.
MBG: (laughing) You can say that!
FSG: Truart keeps up this pace, well all be out of a job.
There won’t be anyone left to arrest.
MBG: (laughing) Well, I guess we’ll just have to arrest the
Sheriff at that point.
FSG: Yeah, the Baron’ll be surprised to find out that Truart is
working for everyone but him.
MBG: Does anyone know who the people the Sheriff is working for are?
I’m surprised that no one talks about it.
FSG: You won’t be talkin’ ’bout it neither,
if you know what’s good for you.
is best appreciated if you visited
Overlord’s Fancy back in
Mission 15: Thieves’ Guild of
Thief Gold.
Note that
- Sheriff Gorman Truart is taking harsh measures to fight crime; and
- Truart is fighting crime not because the Baron asked for it, but for his own reasons.
Note that “to arrest the sheriff” is just a joke and shouldn’t be taken seriously.
Same for Truart is working for “everyone but [the Baron]”.
What Truart is working for is open to speculation, but he definitely is not just performing the duty as a sheriff.
For me, I believe that Truart is working for his own idea of justice and law enforcement.
Unlike the Hammerites, he is very intolerant of unacceptable behavior.
After listening to the conversation, go again up the stairs.
On the upper level of Whipple Building, continue to the East along the second floor corridor.
It leads you to the top of the Whipple Street Gate itself.
This gate is at the NW corner of the Market Place.
You can take the opportunity to have a look at the guards below.
At the platform at the E end of the gate, someone has been sitting on the stool and having a snack.
You’ll find a loaf of bread, and .
Behind the stool is a ladder going down.
To knock out the guards at the gate, do not use the ladder, and continue with the next section.
Otherwise, climb down the ladder carefully.
Save game.
Follow the alley to the East, turn right at the first junction and continue with the .
There are three (Diff H/E) or two (Diff N) gate guards… and believe it or not, they’re among the easiest to cosh in this mission!
First you need to douse the torches below from the railing.
Walk past the East end of the top of the gate and turn right (south).
Notice that the railing continues and is right in front of you.
If you run a step or so toward it, you pop right on top;
you can’t overshoot because you’re right against a wall.
Turn right and walk West atop the railing, back towards the gate, until you’re a little in the light.
If you stand and lean left, you should see the West torch down by the gate (on ground level, not the one on your level).
The method that follows consumes a
Water Arrow but does not really alert the guards.
Click
here for an alternative that alerts them without using consumables.
From where you stand, jump on the top of the gate to attract them.
They will come up to get you.
Climb back on the railing as before.
This time, move to the East where it is darker.
When they arrive, knock them out.
To avoid alerting guards, use a Water Arrow while leaning, and out the (lower) torch goes.
The guards will get upset a bit.
Crouch and sidestep right back to the North edge of the top of the gate;
they can’t see you.
After a while, they should calm down.
When they do, run back onto the railing as before,
but this time walk carefully to the West end and turn around, staying on the railing.
Lean right, and you should see the other torch down below you.
Take care of it, then sidestep left off the railing back to the North edge of the top of the gate while the guards simmer down.
Now go back to the spiral staircase, descend, and (optionally, for extra safty) put out the torch at the bottom of the stair.
You have now created darkness so impenetrable, you may even have trouble seeing!
Crouch and open the door; there are your friends.
The two outer guards are completely stationary, but the middle guard turns back and forth, so you want to line up on him
(unless you stay due West of him, he will soon see you and carve you like a Christmas turkey).
Creep forward, still crouching, until you’re fairly close to the Bow Guard near you (stay far enough away that a normal swing would miss).
He is the MBG in the conversation.
Stand, lean, and swing that Blackjack.
Don’t worry about the body; it’s so dark, the other guards can’t see.
They may grumble about rats or a lack of excitement, but they won’t investigate.
Crouch and creep forward toward the middle guard (Diff H/E only), stand, lean, and slug.
Finally, crouch and creep up to the last (female) guard (the FSG of the conversation) and treat her the same.
If you want to tidy up, you can lug them all inside the stairwell and close the door.
Take the left (East) side of the canal and walk South to Market Place.
You have just arrived at the Market Place from the NW.
The Market Place is divided in two parts by the canal that leads from the S face of the Whipple Street Gate to a pool near the center of the Market Place.
At the center of the pool is an “island” with a fountain.
The banks of the canal here are steep.
In case you drop into water, the nearest way out is to swim W and N to the Whipple Street Gate.
As you turn right (from West to North), the East bank is low and dark enough for mantling.
A Sword Guard,
Benny the Big Fella, is standing on the bridge.
When you first enter the area, a Prostitute (v1.18 only) is trying to pick up Benny.
Yet he’s too dimwitted to understand what she’s talking about (v1.18 only)
Prostitute:
What’s a big fellow like you doing out here at night?
Prostitute:
Don’t you want a woman to keep you warm?
Benny:
What for? This uniform is plenty warm enough,
and it’s not even cold out tonight.
!
When their conversation is finished, she will take up her position standing in the cafe on the N side of the Market Place, facing E.
If you have qualms about knocking them out, skip to the .
Crouch and creep around the corner towards the prostitute.
She’ll notice something amiss and make some smart comment,
but ignore it and keep creeping toward her, sliding against the wall on your left.
When you’re near enough, stand and smack her down.
It is even easier to knock her if you have done it earlier.
Immediately after her conversation, just follow her to the cafe.
Knock her out before she turns around to face South.
Benny is now yours; he always looks South.
Just walk up, pick his , and thump him.
Carry the bodies into the shadows back towards the Whipple Street Gate if you don’t like to leave a mess.
Take a running jump across the canal onto the “island” to collect
a
crystal of 5 Water Arrows from the fountain.
Skip to the .
The Prostitute (v1.18 only)’s location, combined with the electric lighting in this area,
means that you can’t just walk along the N bank of the canal to the NE corner of the Market Place.
She herself can’t hurt you, but if she becomes alarmed, she will alert Benny.
Keep the game saved before they chat.
While they are talking, crouch and run to the East end of the Market Place, keeping North so that you stay as far away from them as possible.
After the conversation, the prostitute will go to the North.
Sneak up to Benny (crouching, passing between the lamp and the bridge) and take his .
Step back and move East.
Near the East end, drop quietly into the river.
Swim West, under the bridge Benny is on,
further West through either side of the octogonal column,
further West under the arch.
When the river turns right (North), climb ashore on your right.
You have come back to the South of the .
Move East and enter the Market Place a second time.
Without the Prostitute, Ghosting the Market Place is simple.
Just sneak up to Benny and take his .
Save game and take a running jump across the canal onto the “island”.
Take the
a
crystal of 5 Water Arrows from the fountain.
Save your game once all is still, then take another running jump across the canal onto the S bank.
Now coming near the final part of our journey.
We go to the very East and leave for Shalebridge.
You arrive at the Market Place South bank.
Briefly look around and then pass through the arch at the SE corner of the Market Place.
Turn East to leave.
Just before your turn right (S), look left.
You’ll find a wall opening into a building containing only a staircase.
Go (East) up the staircase.
At the top is the door on your left that cannot be opened.
On the floor in front of the door is a for you
(don’t give up; keep looking, it’s there).
Back to the streets and go South.
Hide in the shadow near the T-junction ahead.
We are finally back to the South; try to recognize where you are.
The alley in front of you goes E-W, and runs parallel to the N Alley of Crippled Burrick Square.
On your right is the gate guarded by Harvey and Ian;
on your left is the gate guarded by Fred and George,
and the alley itself is patrolled by Jay and Kay.
If you look up, you’ll see the Roof Garden Apartment Balcony.
At the E end of the alley, you’ll see a wooden door.
That is the entrance to the .
Go there and enter the door:
this is rather dangerous since you haven’t KOed Jay and Kay.
They typically reappear from the far corner when you are moving towards the door,
catching you midway without any place to hide.
You need to walk halfway to attract them to come,
back off to wait for them to leave.
Follow them when they are going back to the East.
Inside, a corridor on the right leads to a pickable metal door.
The downward steps lead to a door that opens right in front of the gate guards.
The upward steps lead to the control room.
Go up.
In the control room, you’ll find a big red lever, which operates the gate the guards are protecting.
In v.1.07, use the lever to open the gate below.
In v1.18, do not raise it yet:
although the guards won’t be alerted,
we need it closed to keep the guards isolated — for the present.
On the wooden table, you’ll find a Silver Key and .
Next to the table is
a
bundle of 3 Noisemaker Arrows resting against the wall.
Head back downstairs to the wooden door where you entered the building.
Wait for Jay and Kay to return from the West and head N.
Follow them to
go North.
When the street comes to have a fork to the West, ignore it.
Jay and Kay will enter the West fork.
We shall visit the West fork near the end.
Continue N until you reach a sewer grate in front of The East Double Doors, a pair of plain wooden (unpickable) doors.
Use the Silver Key to open both of them.
Remember the terrain, and if you want to, douse the torch.
The darkness is not necessary, and is double edged:
it is easier to hide from the guards,
but it is also easier to get lost yourself.
Behind the double doors is the patrol area of a single Sword Guard, Mel.
Another Sword Guard (v1.07 only) follows Mel.
Remember Raleigh, the nobleman at South Central Square?
If still upright, he would walk here after having had his conversation with the Fat Guy.
He is then usually stuck at the corner lamp post on your right (SE).
The rest of this section is an excursion to the Pub Gatehouse at the South end of the Shalebridge Road.
Ghosters should skip over it and continue with the .
Wait for Mel and his companion (v1.07 only) to come along.
When he toddles off South again, and when the coast is clear to the North, slug him/them.
Then take care of Raleigh while you’re at it; his constant footsteps are nervewracking.
Hide the bodies back North in the heavy shadow.
Before we go North, we first go South, all the way to the North side of the .
From the , go South.
After turning left at the lamp post, you can see another sewer cover.
Continue forward first.
The dark street turns South and then West.
Look at all those guards:
one (Diff N, v1.07)
or
two
(Diff H/E
in v1.07 or
Diff N
in v1.18)
or
three (Diff H/E, v1.18)
guard, all facing the wrong way (well, the right way for you).
In v1.07, you have already opened the gate from the .
Just crawl forward carefully to knock out the guards one by one.
Move back to the sewer cover near the lamp post.
Open and climb down.
Go to the other end of the sewer and climb back up to find out where you are.
Using this sewer, you could have accessed South Shalebridge Road without opening with the Silver Key.
The next section only applies to the patched game.
Skip over it and continue with the .
Right in front of you are two (Diff N)
or three (Diff H/E)
guard.
All facing away from you,
but look at that fancy, Truart-patented, anti-blackjack helmet on the one on your side of the gate.
Aaargh! A noKO!
What a miserable change!
Review the way to Neutralize noKOs.
First, shoot a Noisemaker Arrow at the wall on the West of the noKO.
This alerts all the guards at the gate.
Then shoot 2 Broadhead Arrows at the noKO.
Run back to the (that you unlocked with the Silver Key).
Hide in the shadows on the NW.
The guards will run through the and up the street to the wooden double doors.
Let them search around, and when they are leaving, knock them out and keep them with the stack of bodies.
If you fail to knock both out, just go to where the noKO was, make more noises to attract the remaining guard.
When both guards are down, you may complete the neutralisation by knocking the noKO twice.
Actually, it may be a bad idea to neutralise him at this moment,
because doing so may encourage him to run away, blocking places you have not yet been to.
I would rather pardon him till just before the end of the mission.
You now can open the gate from the , although you do not really need it.
Remember to go back to the noKO to collect your Noisemaker Arrow.
Move back to the sewer cover near the lamp post.
Open and climb down.
Go to the other end of the sewer and climb back up to find out where you are.
Using this sewer, you could have accessed South Shalebridge Road without opening with the Silver Key.
Stay in the dark area North of .
You’ll see a trio of guards (2 Sword Guards, one Female Bow Guard) on patrol.
The Shalebridge Road forks here into a West branch and an East branch (like the big U shape of a Tuning Fork).
To the N, you’ll find a locked, pickable wooden door.
You can either wait at the N end of the dark archway while waiting for a chance to pick the lock or clear the guards to pick it in peace.
Blackjack or no Blackjack, your first target is to pick the Bow Guard’s quiver:
if you try to do it while you’re thumping them, you're history…
when you pick the arrow, it will replace your Blackjack with the Broadhead Arrows
(unless you have auto-equip off in your options, which is a bad idea),
and you won’t have enough time to switch back before you’re in full view of the guards ahead.
The three guards walk in a linked chain:
a Sword Guard who never deviates from the straight line,
a very fidgety Bow Guard in the middle,
and a third Sword Guard who swerves around a little bit.
If you stick behind them like a caboose on a train
A car used on freight or construction trains for brakemen,
workmen, etc.; a tool car.
, none of them would see you.
You have to pick the Bow Guard when the guards are on a Westward jaunt;
when coming back on their Eastward jaunt they’re on the far side of the street and are out of range.
Lean forward and grab the bundle of 3 Broadhead Arrows from your hiding place and choose their fate.
Skip this paragraph and continue with the .
Note that it takes quite some time to pick the lock, and they spend very little time away.
It is possible to pick the lock in a single trip,
but it is pretty trying.
Blood-pressure medicine is expensive.
Alternatively, you can run back to your hiding place after a little picking,
and rush back to continue only when it is safe.
Once opened, get inside the close the door behind you.
Skip the next section and continue with the .
It’s the toughest clubwork in the entire mission.
Here is the situation: you are standing in deep shadow facing North,
where there is a T-intersection with branches going E and W forming a U-shape like a Tuning Fork.
Each prong of the fork bends north, and there are stationary guards to the North along each prong…
so your only “safe” zone for knocking is the well-lit area right in front of you.
After you have picked the Broadhead Arrows, wait for the guards to pass you going East;
you’re going to attack them the next time they come by going West.
You have more space when they’re heading West (left).
Move to the Southeast corner of the archway, where you’re in total darkness, and get ready.
You have to move FAST.
To do so, you should crouch-run to catch up with them.
First, ready your Blackjack, then crouch.
When the guards stroll past, move right in line behind them and thump them, one-two-three.
Don’t stop for the bodies, don’t pause to admire your handiwork; just work!
Now, if you’re not unduly slow, you will hit the last guard while he’s still
basically out of view of the guards ahead and to your right.
They may get suspicious at the noises, but they shouldn’t come to investigate.
But just in case, quickly crouch and grab the body of the third (front) guard you smacked.
Walk him back to the dark doorway where you started.
Then go get the other bodies and stash them.
Congratulations, you just passed your final exam in Upper-Division Taffing!
You can pick the door and enter at your leisure.
Go upstairs.
The windows open over a set of 3 beams over the street,
and immediately below is a Female Sword Guard, facing South.
The street is also the patrol area of two pairs of guards (N end)
and the trio you saw earlier (S end).
You should have plenty of Water Arrows left, so just this once indulge (even though it’s not necessary) —
Water Arrow both torches up here, once the patrols are out of earshot.
When the road below is clear, drop to the beams, move to the one on the North, then to the street just N of the female Sword Guard (crouch and edge forward to drop silently).
Hurry into the small dark doorway on the East wall.
Hiding in the small dark doorway, take a gander at the scene to the North.
There is a short, East-West alleyway, with an arch at either end,
and another two arches on its Southern wall, facing you.
Now, there are two pairs of Guards here.
One pair is Sword Guard Wesley followed by Bow Guard Wally.
They march from NNW and through the Southern arches in the corridor’s wall
all the way to (almost!) your hiding place.
The other pair is Sword Guard Eaton followed by Female Bow Guard Eliza,
turning back just before the turn into the eastern arch of the alleyway (Diff H/E only).
Looking beyond the two Southern arches of the corridor, there is a metal door, also facing South.
It opens into the Mosley House.
We’ll be there soon.
And while we’re at it, let’s have a look at the map, which is misleading in this area.
Locate the “Shalebridge Rd” on the right side.
The on your South is about where the letter “G” is.
You currently are on the right (East) of the letters “RD”.
While the maps only shows a single road going North to the “Old Gate”, guards can actually pass from the Guard Post to your area
(the path starts at the center of the Guard Post and goes due East through several arches).
Continue with the .
To Ghost, head North to the metal door under the arches.
Crouch at the metal door and the patrol will walk just past your nose without looking.
Pick the door and hide inside.
Skip the next section and jump to .
When both patrols are away, knock out the Female Sword Guard standing next to you.
Pick her body up immediately and start trucking South
(run while carrying the body, which makes you move about normal walking speed)
back to the dark doorway from which you wrecked havoc on the Hooper Triplets.
Return to the right side of the , waiting out of sight until you hear the patrol come and go.
Pass under the 3 beams, back into the dark doorway to your right (East) and save your game.
This next part is tricky, since the second patrol (the NNE pair, Eliza and Eaton) can see into the lit area just North of your doorway,
and that’s just where you’re going to knock out the first patrol (the NNW pair, Wesley and Wally)!
Not to worry: wait until Wesley and Wally come near you, turn around, and start back.
Come out of your doorway and thump them quickly, one right after the other
(or you may even thump them from inside the doorway when they walk past you).
While it is OK to leave them at Mosley’s door,
you may take them to the South, just for fun.
From the angle of Female Bow Guard Eliza and Eaton,
the only body they’re likely to see is the first guard you smacked, the Bow Guard Wally…
so turn around immediately, leaving the second guard (Sword Guard Wesley) where he lies.
Pick up the body of the first guard and tote him South, hugging the Eastern wall.
As soon as you get South of your doorway, the second patrol can’t see you.
You might as well take him all the way back to that dark doorway from which you waylaid the trio.
Move back when it’s safe and take the body of the second guard you just smacked back to that same doorway —
which is now getting ridiculously crowded with bodies.
That’s all right; you won’t be dumping any more bodies there: you’re already tripping over them!
Now head to the metal door inside the arches.
Crouch in the deep shadow (the NNW patrol is still moving on your East, and yet another pair of stationary guards standing on your West) and pick it open.
This is the Mosley House.
If you crouch right at her door, it is very dark — the NNW pair you just knocked out can also be ambushed here:
just knock the second guard, throw him inside, close the door and wait for the first.
You won’t meet Lt. Mosley today, but in another mission (Trace the Courier).
I believe she lives here, for she alone has the key to the door (in the later mission).
At the end of the corridor, you’ll find a nice little kitchen.
Take all the food (2 cheeses, 3 loaves of bread, 2 cucumbers, and 3 apples).
The plates, bottles, and so on are worthless as loot, so leave them alone.
The shutters overlook an alley between you and the Old Shalebridge Gate around the corner.
The rest of the section is for Ghosters.
Skip it and continue with the to visit all the places.
To Ghost, continue reading.
Save game.
Wait till Eaton and Eliza
outside the window are moving SE, to your right (Diff H/E only).
Croach on top of the table, run outward and drop to the ground.
Note that once you do this, you’ll have a difficult time getting back into other parts of the city.
So don’t enter this area until you’re ready to end the mission.
Once out of the window, walk quickly forward (N) to the shadows on the ramp.
If you decide that Garrett needs to lose some weight before he can squeeze out of the window, go back to the door of the Mosley House.
Wait until the first patrol pair (those from the West) are away (gone to the West or South),
and move along the South wall of the Mosley House towards the East.
At the corner, you will be under the last arch, and in a good shadow.
By leaning around the corner, you can look North into the alley and see
Eaton and Eliza.
When they are moving away from you along the alley,
sneak North into the area lit up by a torch in a NE corner
and hide so that the stonework arches conceal you from sight.
When they are back South, pop out and move speedily Northward to the shadows on the ramp.
Move North all the way to the ramp.
Either way, crouch on the ramp and wait for them to come back.
When they turn around, grab
a
bundle of 3 Broadhead Arrows from the Eliza.
Turn around.
Move N to the end of the alley.
You’ll see a small gate to the West.
Use the Shalebridge Gate key you got from Garrett’s Bedroom to unlock the gate and run through to end the mission.
In this section, we are visiting the rest of the city (and guards).
The whole section is a big excursion for sight seeing, and you’ll see that you would have missed a large part of the City if you had avoided KOs .
To make our journey safe, we start by getting rid of the guards at the Old Shalebridge Gate.
From the little kitchen,
return to the metal door of Mosley’s House.
The Guard Post is the building at the right (W) end of the street with a flat piece of wood blocking the front doors.
Before moving there, we need to handle the second patrol of this area,
Eaton and Eliza. (Diff H/E only)
When they are away (back to the North), move along the South wall of the Mosley House towards the East.
At the corner, you will be under the last arch, and in a good shadow.
By leaning around the corner, you can look North into the alley and see them coming.
When they turn back, pick
a
bundle of 3 Broadhead Arrows from Eliza.
Grab the Blackjack again and wait patiently until they return.
When they head off North again, walk behind them and smack them down: first the Bow Guard, then the Sword Guard.
You can just leave the bodies where they are, since no one can come from the North…
that’s where the Old Shalebridge Gate is, your final destination.
Before really going to the gate, let’s visit some other places.
From the door of Mosley House, you can see the Guard Post directly on the West.
However, it is not safe to go from this direction.
Instead, go South, pass under the 3 beams.
Travel South along the East prong of the ,
pass the T-intersection and continue with the other (West) prong.
Pass the rounded turret and follow the street as it bends North.
Crouch and stick close to the wall on your right.
Stop in shadow and look ahead.
The Guard Post is a building you cannot enter.
In front of a vertical hunk of wood (which is supposed to be the door or gate of the Guard Post)
you can find one (Diff N) or two (Diff H/E)
Sword Guards standing.
The nearer (South) one keeps his back turned, but the farther one (Diff H/E only) flips back and forth to face North and South.
On your front left is a patrolling Sword Guard who walks East and West along the street in between you and the stationary guards.
When the patroller is headed West away from the other guards, follow behind him (still crouching)
and head for a concave corner on the right (North) side of the small street he patrols.
You have total darkness here, but it’s tiny, so be sure you’re really wedged in.
Turn around, crouch, and wait.
When he comes from West again, stand up, move East after him, and thump him.
You can toss him into the corner you were hiding in, if you like, but it really doesn’t matter.
Do not go further West!
You’ll be seen by the guards at the gate to the West, and they will run around the South side to get you.
Turn around East, crouch and cross to the South side of the street, and move slowly East until you are in the shadowed corner South of the stationary guards.
Watch the far guard, and whenever he turns his back, move forward crouching until eventually you can move right into another deep-shadow corner to your right.
Creep slowly up to the nearer guard; when the farther guard turns his back, thump the nearer guard and walk smartly forward to thump his buddy.
Again, just leave them lying.
Move forward crouching until eventually you can move right into another deep-shadow corner to your right.
Creep slowly up to the nearer guard to thump him.
Again just leave him lying.
Go to the North end of the road for a look.
North of the guards is just a blocked gate, and nobody is going to find their bodies.
Look outside the gate: you can see another smaller gate on the right hand side, if it is not too dark for your eyes.
If you cannot see it, just believe me: it is next to the street lamp.
We will have a closer look in the .
That is the Old Shalebridge Gate you will eventually go to.
Go to the Guard Post and go West on the street South of it (the one the lone patroller was using).
At the T-junction, crawl West carefully to have a look at the gate, and the one (Diff N) or two (Diff H/E) Sword Guards behind the gate.
Move South.
For the time being, ignore the Square Platform on your right where you can see wooden stairs and a big platform.
This is a quiet street, formerly patrolled by Jay and Kay.
Remember that when approaching , there was a West Fork we did not explore?
We are now there.
Go to the South end to see how the streets are connected.
This street offers a third way of getting past (other two ways are by Silver Key and the sewer).
Move back half way to the North to where the Square Platform is.
Climb the stairs and look around.
On the map, this area is shown as a light colored square on the right side of the Market Place.
Walk onto the North rim of the platform.
Crouch and move to the Northwest corner, where you can look at the Market Place.
Be careful about your right side, for one (Diff N) or two (Diff H/E) Sword Guards are behind the lamp post at the top of the sloped alley.
They are the ones you saw at the beginning of this section.
Look at the North rim of the NW corner.
A ladder goes down (you could have used it to climb from Market Place to here, bypassing Jay and Kay).
Save game and climb down carefully.
If you have difficulty climbing down, you may also walk the long way back to the NE side of the Market Place.
A sloped alley goes North from the bottom of the ladder to the guard(s) at the Market Place NE Gate.
Same game, stick to the right (East) side and crawl up the ramp.
You will be exposed under the light when getting past the lamp post and finally the corner next to them.
Both are somewhat safe.
When you successfully get between the guards and the gate, save game again, and knock them in quick succession.
Hope you make it.
Have you wondered why a large part of the city is still unexplored?
The North side of the Market Place is the Graveyard District, several city blocks surrounding the Cemetery.
It is rare for any mission to have such a large area unused.
Why build the area if we don’t need to go there?
The answer is, you’ll be back in the city again in Trace the Courier, and by then you’ll need to visit the Cemetery in the Graveyard District.
It definitely pays to take this opportunity to familiarise yourself with all streets of the city.
However, it is not easy to get inside the Graveyard District in this mission.
From Market Place NE Gate, walk West.
The gate on your right is the Graveyard East Gate.
The gate won’t open in this mission.
To get inside, you need to collect 5 crates to climb over it.
Two crates are available near the Mid Helene Bridge and two behind Garrett’s Building.
The fifth crate is at the Crippled Burrick Square,
but it is not easy to collect if you have not neutralized the NoKO at the Pub Gatehouse.
If you like, you may also use the barrels on the South bank of Market Place.
It is perhaps easier to go via the Graveyard West Gate.
Go to the West to have a look at the other entrance.
Soon the street forks.
The left branch goes to a ladder climbing up to the top of Whipple Street Gate.
Creep along the right branch.
Around the corner, you can see guards behind the big arch.
A Sword Guard is on the left (nearer you).
He is accompanied by another Sword Guard (Diff H/E only).
In the patched game, his companion is safe from the Blackjack.
There are two ways to handle them.
After the regular method presented below,
the next section will face them again in a different, interesting method.
Save game, and give it a try.
It is easy to end up dead, for they are both alarmed when you douse the torch.
It is better to Blackjack the left guard directly and carry him away.
To climb the Graveyard West Gate in Hard or Expert Difficulty, you must get rid of the remaining guard as well.
Before the patch, just dash forward and hit him head on.
After the patch, you need to deal with the NoKO.
Refer to the mini guide to revisit the process.
Then you need to build a stack of 4 crates to climb over the Graveyard West Gate.
Refer to the stairs building method,
and apply it with an awful lots of patience.
Here we describe another method to handle the two Sword Guards, one of which is a NoKO.
It is applicable to Hard and Expert Difficulty of the patched game, where the NoKO is present.
Go South, cross the Market Place and on to North Helena Bridge.
Approach those two Guards at the Graveyard West Gate from the alley on their West,
as we did in .
Move slowly, huddling against the wall to your right.
That alley bends gradually to the right, toward the two Guards.
When you reach the point with a doorway on your left (directly opposite the alley), stop and prepare.
You can see one of the guards if you lean left.
Look directly forward.
The tall, greenish stone wall of the Graveyard District is facing you at some distance.
High up on that wall, there is a horizontal division into a top part more reddish than green.
Turn to face NNW, with an angle a little less than that parallel to the wall on your left.
Shoot a Noisemaker Arrow by aiming at that horizontal dividing line high on the wall and witness an amusing scene.
The guards walk to face the section of the wall below where the arrow makes contact.
With their back towards you, shoot 2 Broadhead Arrows at the NoKO.
Crawl quietly towards them, but don’t get any closer than you need to.
Raise your Blackjack and knock out the normal guard,
followed by two knocks at the NoKO.
Count carefully, and leave a second between the two NoKO knocks.
He should now be neutralized, and you can work in peace.
Build a stack of 4 crates to climb over the Graveyard West Gate.
Refer to the stairs building method, and apply it with an awful lot of patience.
Even with the crates, you must be a good climber to be able to get across.
Save your game before you drop into the Graveyard District (better yet, before you start climbing).
When you land inside, it is impossible to get back out.
When you landed inside the gate, save your game under a different slot; I don’t think you want to do the climb a second time.
I am of the opinion that the developers intended us to visit the Graveyard District.
As we have witnessed in Thief Gold, even when two missions share the same location, the place can have lots of small differences.
In particular, many places in the second mission simply don’t exist in the first one.
Following the same practice, they could have built the city without the Cemetery.
Nobody is inside this area: no guards, no ghosts.
First, go to the left to look at the Graveyard West Gate from the inside.
You can see the pair of guards outside the entrance.
Wander around the dark streets, and go to the Cemetery entrance on the North.
Near the Cemetery are two places you can enter.
The first one is a small brick room opposite the entrance, the other is a house on the left (West) side of the Cemetery entrance.
In Trace the Courier, you can enter the Graveyard District, but you can’t at all easily enter these two houses!
You cannot use the door of the house on the West.
Instead, find the balcony on its 2/F (wall facing South).
Use a Rope Arrow to get inside (unfortunately, you do not have any Rope Arrows next time you are here).
Find the light switches, there is one of them in each room.
In case you get completely lost in the dark room upstairs, you can use a Fire Arrow to light up your surroundings, for about half a second.
Notice the other window on the North.
You can use it to safely drop into the grass of the Cemetery.
Enter the Cemetery and move around.
Familiarity with how to get around will be useful;
next time, some gates are closed, and you won’t be able to afford any noisy messing around them.
Also, it is much easier to locate the secret entrance to the Cemetery in this mission than in the sequel.
When you have had enough, restore the saved game created before you entered the Graveyard District.
That’s all for the city.
Let’s head back to Mosley House on Shalebridge Road.
Walk to the East side of
Mosley House, turn North to follow the alley.
When alley turns left (W), you can see the shutters of the kitchen on your left.
Turn right to go up the ramp.
At the end of the alley, you’ll see a small gate to the west.
Time for a
Save game, you cannot come back.
Drop the Shalebridge Gate key on the ground, you must not be holding it.
Turn around to face East, look up.
The building on your left (North) has a flat roof,
the one in front of you has a sloped roof (like the shape of “AAA”).
Look carefully at the eaves of the building in front of you.
There is a flat part on the left (North), and a wavy (“AAA”) part on the right (South).
For both parts, the bottom surface is made of wood.
Ready your Rope Arrow and shoot at the leftmost of the eaves.
You must shoot at the bottom surface, not the vertical surface.
You have 5 of them, and it is about the last chance you can use them in this mission (and probably the first time as well).
If you need practising, try shooting with your Broadhead Arrow first (but it is difficult to tell whether your boardhead arrow hit or missed).
Climb up and jump on the flat roof on your left.
What a view!
Do a quick save.
To the West, you can drop to outside the Old Shalebridge Gate.
That will hurt a bit.
More prudent is to first drop on top of the Old Shalebridge Gate or the street lamp outside, then to the ground.
So you demonstrated that you do not need the Shalebridge Gate key to leave the city…
And by not possessing the key (didn’t you drop it?), you can walk around the dark streets outside the gate, though there is not much to see.
Restore the game on the flat roof.
Look East, it is more queer there.
You can see the factories on the far East, and…
the “nothing” in between.
You can also go North.
Mantle up to a wall higher than the roof you are on, and your vision gets more and more affected by the nothingness.
Turn around and see your city displayed in a chaos.
Slowly step back to the North.
All of a sudden, you will fall off the far side of the higher roof, and Experts probably won’t survive it without a Slow-fall
Potion.
Restore the game on the flat roof.
Crouch and crawl to the East.
This time, you will survive the drop, taking about 6 units of health even without any potion.
Walk around the outside of the city.
Walk towards the distant factories and see what happens.
When you are through, restore the game to before shooting of the Rope Arrow,
or you may also restore the game on the flat roof, and climb back down the rope.
If you are careful enough to drop the key near the gate,
you can descend to the dark streets outside the gate, and pick up the key through the gate to finish the mission.
Use the Shalebridge Gate key you got from Garrett’s Bedroom to unlock the Old Shalebridge Gate.
Run past the gate to end the mission.
Click stats and check the number of knockouts you got!