Anarchic Fox on 16/7/2021 at 06:16
Mission Nine: The Indubious Agent Glass
A month has passed. The Circle's grounds have been seized by an opportunistic Raputo, who is loitering there, gloating in his inadvertent triumph. Despite that, the remaining agents try to continue Nightfall's most important work on their own. Canonically, no agents died in BtC: Byron is a necromancer and respects both life and death. However, it will be a few missions yet before Steel and Stone show up again. Each agent contributes as their abilities allow; however, Dante was grievously injured by Byron, and has lain abed until now. He is consumed by feelings of inadequacy, even in Sheam's company. Eventually, he decides he should go back to what got this all started: petty theft. It's not much, but he can provide funds for the other agents to use. The sole objective of this mission is simple, "Steal valuables worth 200 gold," and the play area is the neighborhood surrounding Sheam and Dante's apartment. However, Dante is still badly hurt, and his abilities suffer as a result -- no running or crouching, and he's too weak to use a blackjack. So, even 200 gold is a minor challenge. Nonetheless, after getting 200 gold, a new main objective pops up: "200 gold isn't much. Make it 300." And if the player meets that one, another appears, and so on in a sequence of six or so main objectives. The typical player will try to push through as many of these objectives as possible, not knowing that at any time after 200 they can return to the apartment and finish the mission. The player playing normally is Dante succumbing to his kleptomania. Sheam is away when Dante starts his spree. If he returns after completing every loot objective, he finds her already in bed at the apartment, asleep.
Anarchic Fox on 16/7/2021 at 06:17
Cutscene
Byron's goal was to kill Nightfall, but if that wasn't enough he had backup plans. Indeed, although Nightfall is dead, the spirits still speak fearfully of a Rivata incursion, and signs of the Rivata have appeared in the shadows. In WFfF Byron learned three key locations: The Museum, The Circle, and The Temple. The Temple is now an excavation investigating the Precursors and Rivata, the same excavation where Nightfall first entered this world. Barring all else, Byron knows that he can go the excavation and perform a powerful sealing ritual that calls on all five Realms of the Dead. However, he arrived at the excavation and discovered it is a decoy. Nightfall put effort into obfuscating the Museum and Circle, but he spent every effort to hide the excavation, knowing its importance and danger. Thus, Byron does not know where the real excavation is. After two months of searching he still has no clue, and Nightfall isn't around to ask. Byron concludes he must find an agent and coerce him into revealing that knowledge, but thus far every lead has led to either a dead end or a trap, the agents being much better at hiding than Byron is at detective work.
Anarchic Fox on 16/7/2021 at 06:17
Mission Ten: The Road to Hightowne
Byron is down to one remaining lead. The mission, an urban one, begins here; Byron follows up on his last lead using both mundane and magical means. This lead involves breaking into various locations in this mission's neighborhood. Every promising location ends in a trap, as the agents now know of Byron's search and consider it their best chance of killing him. However, in the course of springing these traps Byron reads about, and hears rumors of, a rash of thefts nearby. Indeed, a small part of the mission overlaps with the previous mission, including Dante's apartment. Late in the mission Byron may find Dante there asleep, still wounded from their previous encounter. Pity and recognition stay Byron from his previous idea of magical coercion; acting on intuition, Byron decides to ask Dante for help.
Anarchic Fox on 16/7/2021 at 06:18
Mission Eleven
A Dante mission. Over a few days Byron explains the Rivata and the sealing ritual, while Dante confers with the other agents via communication mask. Byron explains that the ritual requires five objects of power, one for each Realm of the Dead. He already has three: the fire wand from Gathering at the Inn (stolen from The Museum), the book of history stolen in The Nine Year Sleep, and another item stolen from The Museum, preferably something from Correspondence of Thieves. The Ivory Rose from FLoA can serve as the fourth necessary item, leaving only one. In the course of writing these descriptions I said "fuck it, fuck Thief DS" and decided to make item number five the Eye, which after all has necromantic significance. Dante agrees to help steal the Eye. I don't remember the details of where the Eye ends up between Thief games (and I toss out three and four's canon entirely), so I'm just gonna say it ends up in Raputo's hands. This mission takes place in The Museum, which, like The Circle, has been seized by Raputo. Byron is required to wear a communication mask for the theft, and they are working as a team of three: Sheam as coordinator, Dante as lead agent, Byron as support agent. However, once Byron reaches the Eye Dante and Sheam plan to call in Steel and Stone to subdue Byron. Containing and transporting the Eye safely requires its own necromantic ritual, and they believe Byron will be weakened enough by the ritual for the agents to capture and interrogate him. Things go awry. The proximity of a powerful necromancer to a powerful necromantic artifact is enough for the Rivata to make a partial incursion into the City. Having snuck into the center of a heavily guarded Museum, the player must find their way out of a now Rivata-infested one. Convinced of Byron's honesty, Dante and the agents agree to help Byron with the sealing ritual, but the vanguard of the Rivata are already entering the City.
Anarchic Fox on 16/7/2021 at 06:19
Mission Twelve: In Defiance of Omniscience
A Byron mission. Agent Feather (yay) knows the true location of the excavation, and the protagonists have all five objects of power; however, the Rivata have begun their invasion. Byron rushes to the site. Dante, still wounded, hangs back and acts as coordinator, while Steel and Stone assist Byron. Half the mission is the city streets above the site (within Nightfall's territory, but away from the Circle), and half is the excavation below, based on the old level fragments from early CoSaS. The Rivata have infected some of the people living in the city area, reflected in distorted audio and slightly elevated speed/reactions, gradually worsening as the player descends. The Rivata know of the excavation and its importance, and have started guiding the most infected down there. Byron, assisted at various junctures by Steel/Stone and guided by Dante, must fight his way to the bottom of the excavation to where Nightfall entered the world of The City, place the objects in five key (and challenging to reach, natch) locations, and perform the ritual. By all indications, this is the final mission; but no, there's one more to come. When Byron finishes the ritual, the Rivata speak as a collective whisper, saying, "Beautiful necromancer, we do not feast on the living." Byron's magic meter, representing sworn souls, vanishes entirely, and the mission ends. The Rivata's invasion plan, used to conquer many other worlds, has two halves. One half, Nightfall's half, is intended to create a portal. The other half, however, creates a civilization terrified of the Rivata and well-versed in necromancy; in our case, it is formed from the Chancellor's visions. When the Rivata invade a world, this civilization sends its best necromancers to fight it... only to feed the hungry Rivata using the souls they have gathered.
Anarchic Fox on 16/7/2021 at 06:19
Cutscene
A cutscene in the classic LGS style. This one is clear in my mind. An aged hand opens a drawer: inside are scrolls, writing implements and an ornate key. The hand pulls the key from the drawer and shuts it. Three robed figures gather, nod to each other; each pulls a key from their robes to show the others, including the one seen in the drawer. The iconography makes it clear that these are Keepers. In the next scene, a Hammerite looks up from his work and sneers at the three robed figures approaching. He is tending the fire beneath a small smelting vat. The Keepers slowly approach the vat and drop their keys in; as the keys drop, the camera angles and raises, showing that the cauldron contains hundreds of similarly ornate keys. The Hammerite stokes the fire, and the keys begin to melt. Another Hammerite wheels in a massive blank; by the time it is positioned beneath the cauldron, the keys have all melted. The blank is in the shape of the archetypal Keeper keyhole, but when they begin pouring the metal, it is revealed that the inner portion is the blank, not the outer portion. The Keepers and Hammerites are not creating a keyhole: they are filling one in. This is a monumental magical act, only performed once before. The scene fades out, and a map of The City fades in, centered on The Old Quarter. The map pans to show Nightfall's previous territory, containing The Circle, Three Gates' Bridge, The Ivory Rose, the excavation, and much else. There are enough labels for a player to recognize the area. Suddenly a large inkblot appears, as if a jar of ink had overturned, spreading to cover the region. The inkblot looks natural at first, but then fills a distinct polygonal shape. It dries and disperses, revealing an altered map. There are now walls surrounding the territory, and all labels but one have been blotted out. The remaining label says, "The Silent Quarter."
Anarchic Fox on 16/7/2021 at 06:21
Circles Part One: Greed (Dante)
This mission is an exact copy of Gathering at the Inn, except a few of the AI have been subtly infected by the Rivata. However, when the player goes to finish the mission they will be guided through a doorway, back onto the snowy streets, where the mission will restart seamlessly. The only way to break this loop is to resist Dante's (and the player's) kleptomania, stealing only the fire wand. When the player does so, upon passing through the doorway they will emerge into a small temple, where the above quote is inscribed. Dante faces the choice of leaving the Silent Quarter, or returning to it in an attempt to help his loved ones.
Anarchic Fox on 16/7/2021 at 06:22
Circles Part Two: Sloth (Stone)
This mission takes place in the Ivory Rose, during its third phase of construction/renovation. Rickety scaffolding is everywhere, yielding a very vertical level, and the building exterior is accessible. There is a moderate Rivata infection, affecting about half the guards present. A younger Agent Stone, working for a newly formed Circle, is heading to the vault the same way she did in MX, through the elevator shaft. This loop ends when Stone sets off an explosion to draw attention away from the vault. In her carelessness, Stone kills several innocent bystanders in the resultant collapsed scaffolding. While she later learned of these deaths, she never accepted responsibility for them. Dante's role is to avert this explosion, alerting Stone to the fact that the time loop can be changed. The rest is up to her.
Anarchic Fox on 16/7/2021 at 06:23
Circles Part Three: Envy (Steel)
This mission is a recreation of FloA, but this time the player is in Steel's half of the mission. Steel seethes with envy because Agent Glass (Dante) has been allowed to lead a team before him, unaware that this is not a true Circle mission. He is trapped in a loop, bossed around by a random soul pretending to be Glass, until he apprehends his envy. Unlike Stone, who stabilized within her loop, Steel has been gradually degenerating. Now, the Rivata see him as a viable target, and are trying to fully infect him. Unlike the previous two missions, which can go on indefinitely, this one ends in three iterations of the loop; the player must find a way to rescue Steel from the Rivata before then. This is the last mission in which the Rivata are seen, for their defeat at the hands of the Keepers is total.
Anarchic Fox on 16/7/2021 at 06:27
Circles Part Four: Apostasy (Trimfect)
Due to his regenerative ability (see the 9YS design document), Trimfect survived Byron's attack, as Byron knew he would; the assassination was only intended to keep the ancient scholar from helping Nightfall. By the time of IdoO, Trimfect had regenerated, and was assisting the team from the shadows; thus, he too was caught in the Silent Quarter. This mission takes place in Trimfect's Labs, but an expanded and less paranoid version thereof. Trimfect has found happiness, because the time loop cancels out his own cyclic regeneration, granting him the immortality he had sought. It also gives him time and resources to do research he has dreamed of doing for centuries. Trimfect is willing to talk with Dante (over intercom, of course), show off his equipment designs, and generally dump lore, but he is not willing to leave the Silent Quarter, no matter what the player does. To complete this mission, the player must accept Trimfect's decision and leave the mission area.
