07 - Haunting Memories

Quest 7 - Haunting Memories

Rewards:

1,000 experience points

500 gold

Epherus Maldais Lesson

In order to begin the next quest, we need to speak with Epherus Maldais in his home in Ordolus. His house is located in the north-west part of town. After speaking with him, we find out he hasn’t left his house in a while and is fixated on someone called Nicolai and his “friends”. Epherus seems to think he is still dreaming in the Mindscape. Depending on if you’ve met Eventide yet, John will remember or suggest going to see her at her store to ask about Maldais’ condition.

New Character!

Epherus Maldais

Neurosis:

Job:

Hobby:

Creator Commentary:

Shut-in

Fashion Designer

Spending too much time in the basement

Epherus Maldais is based off of actor Idris Elba, best known for his role as Stringer Bell on the TV series, The Wire.

1. Ask Eventide about Epherus’ mental state.

Go to Ordolessian Trends next and talk with Eventide about Epherus. She tells a dramatic story about the last time she visited Epherus’ basement.

2. Ask an expert about paranormal phenomena.

If you already have Cynthia in your party, then she will talk about Oneiros - a type of mythological creature in the Mindscape - and suggest investigating the haunted house.

If you don’t have Cynthia in the party, then the objective can be completed by recruiting her from her room in the Seaside Inn and Suites.

Creator Commentary: In Greek mythology, the Oneiroi were personified dreams.

The next step is to check in on Epherus.

3. Check in on Epherus.

Epherus doesn’t appear to be in his house. Checking the basement and examining the picture of the boy hanging on the wall leads Ardus to conclude that searching the Mindscape might offer clues as to where Epherus has disappeared to.

Also, John reiterates his fear of basements.

4. Enter the Mindscape through Epherus’ house.

Examine Epherus’ bed to enter the Mindscape.

5. Find the source of the haunting.

In the Mindscape, we have two directions we can go. First, let’s explore the Mindscape version of the basement. It looks mostly the same, except for the ominous altar near the picture of the boy on the wall. Examining the picture will reveal this cryptic message:

“Four aspects now unite to unfold the pathway inward;

the record of loss and death unknown shall be revered.

Perceive the deep blackness of kindness forever, steward,

for the time of sinking sorrow and regret is finally near.”

Four opened treasure chests appear near the picture. Each one asks to be fed a certain “truth” when examined. Our quest objectives have also updated.

6. Solve the mystery of the basement.

The other exit we can take from Epherus’ house is the front door. This leads to a very long staircase that leads down into darkness. At the end of the stairs is a hole. The only way forward is down the hole. This represents a point of no return for the quest because you will not be able to return to the waking world until the entire riddle of Epherus’ disappearance is solved. If you are ready to go, jump down the hole. Ardus will wake up alone in an area called the Aspect of Blood. The title that shows up in the upper-left of the screen says, “The Comfortable Routine”.

Creator Commentary: The long stairway into the darkness and the hole you have to jump in to progress are both from the Konami PS2 horror game, Silent Hill 2. Silent Hill 2 is my all-time favorite horror game and the entire rest of this quest is inspired by the Silent Hill series as well as other horror games and movies I am fond of.

The Aspect of Blood

There’s a lot going on in the darkened area Ardus is stuck inside, so let’s take a look at a map of the entire location:

Start by examining the book at point A. This will tell us the 3 rules that govern the floor: Don’t run, don’t step on candles; and knock twice before entering a door. These rules are literal and, if broken, will transport Ardus to the “”timeout room”. The timeout room is located at Exit 4. After 5 seconds pass in the timeout room, Ardus will be returned to point A. If you try to open the door in the timeout room, it will be flooded with red water.

So, to avoid the timeout room, we’ll need to walk and avoid stepping on candles. Point C and Exit 2 are not needed to solve this part of the puzzle, so we will ignore them for now. They are used for a different quest later.

Head down to point B and examine the journal on the desk to get some more information about the rules of the area as well as a list of the rules you’ve broken and how many times they’ve been broken. The journal says that in order to escape, you need to knock three times on the door with yellow curtains when the number of rules you’ve broken is 0.

Easter Egg: By examining Exit 1, you can get more insight into Nicolai’s thoughts and even sleep on his bed and see his dream. Nicolai’s dream only lasts a certain amount of time, but will fully restore Ardus’ WP an EP.

In order to reset the number of times you’ve broken a rule, you have to be forgiven. To be forgiven, break each rule at least once, then try to exit the timeout room at Exit 4. If each rule has been broken at least once, then Ardus will be taken to the Red Water Room. At the east end of the room is a picture. Examining the picture will forgive all of your mistakes and return you to point A. Then, it is only a matter of walking to Exit 3 and knocking 3 times to be transported to Exit 5 which leads out. On the way out, Ardus picks up a red gem, the Aspect of Blood.

Easter Egg: There’s another door in the hallway before reaching Exit 3. If you knock twice, the door will open revealing nothing but darkness. The description of the darkness is from Edgar Allan Poe’s short story, The Raven.

The Aspect of Confusion

The next character we see is Cynthia. She has found her way into the Aspect of Confusion. As the name implies, this is a very large and confusing maze of rooms.

If you would like hints about how to solve the Aspect of Confusion, go to the Puzzle Hints section of the walkthrough. The complete solution will be shown in the next few paragraphs.

Let’s look at the entire map for the Aspect of Confusion:

Cynthia starts in Room 1. There are 6 rooms in total, but walking off the edge of the map in any direction will have Cynthia loop around to the other side of the map. In this way, going north from room 1 would lead to room 4. Likewise, going west from room 1 would lead to room 3. Every room has slightly different things in it, but each room has beds where point H and point I are located. Point H will reset your position to room 1 if you ever get lost.

To solve the maze, start by examining the journal at point A. This note shows us the code we need to decipher in order to escape the area:

There is a bell icon followed by six symbols. Each of these symbols represents one of the six rooms. The room symbols are found on the purple and yellow carpets in the center of each room. Using the map, we can conclude that the bell code corresponds to room 1, 4, 6, 5, 2 and 3 in that order.

The next question is what do we have to do in each of the room? The answer to that is found in the points of interest in each room. Each room has a sparkling note in it that features some of Nicolai’s thoughts and his observation on something in the current room that makes a bell sound when examined.

So, we start by examining the floating debris at point B in room 1. This causes a bell to toll. Only five more to go!

The next room is number 4. The note at the rightmost point E points oout the odd double refrigerators at the leftmost point E. Examine the second refrigerator to hear a bell chime. Four more to go.

Head west to loop around to room 6. The note at the northernmost point G says to examine the leftmost candle at the other point G. Do so to hear another bell chime. Three more to go.

Head west to reach room 5. This time there is a note at the lower point F that says to check the end of the hallway at the upper point F. Examine the wet end of the hall to hear a bell chime. Two more to go.

Head north or south to loop around to room 2. The note at the lower point C indicates that there is a potted plant without a shadow at the other point C. Examine the plant to hear the bell toll. One more bell remains.

Head east to reach room 3. A note in the bedroom next to the lower point D explains there is something in the mirror at the other point D. Examine the mirror to solve the Aspect of Confusion. A series of impassable graves funnel Cynthia towards an object shining on the ground, a blue gemstone known as the Aspect of Confusion. Cynthia is tossed around for a few seconds before the doorway out appears. Walk through to leave the Aspect of Confusion behind for good.

Creator Commentary: The Aspect of Confusion is inspired the Jorge Luis Borges short story, The Library of Babel, and the Canadian horror movie, Cube, both of which are great.

The Aspect of Imprisonment

Finally, we catch up with John who is talking to himself inside the Aspect of Imprisonment.

There is no complicated puzzle to solve for John’s scenario. Simply walk to the far right of the room and examine the note at the end of the hall. The ground will shake after you read the note. Now, walk back to the west end of the room to find a new note. Repeat this process until the room shrinks to an inescapable cell no wider than John.

As the final walls close in, another cryptic message is shown:

“So what if healing takes forever?

So what if time is meant for others?

What is left is shattered,

and what is broken can't be whole.”

The smallest version of the Aspect of Imprisonment has the title “Hours Passed in Exile” in the upper-left corner. Finally, a doorway opens up and you can enter a shadow-filled hallway.

Creator Commentary: The words of the cryptic message are lyrics from the Dark Tranquillity song, “Hours Passed In Exile”. As far as musical references go, this one is pretty blatant in that it uses the actual lyrics and title of the song. I’m a fan of Dark Tranquillity, though, and the lyrics here are very accurate to the mental state of Nicolai.

Now that we can move around a bit with John, examine point A to find a note about the shadows that fill the area. The note says that standing still will allow the shadows to pass through you. If you run into one, it will send you back to the beginning at point A.

The patrol patterns of the 5 shadows are shown on the map.

Fortunately, if you run into a particular shadow, it disappears. At the very worst, you’ll accidentally run into 5 shadows and then the way will be completely clear to get to Exit 1. Before leaving the area, make sure to get the treasure chest at point B which contains 3 Bulwarks of the Mind.

Exit 1 leads out to the beach we saw in Nicolai’s dream with Ardus. The sign posted near the beach reads: East - Pebble Beach

Creator Commentary: Pebble Beach is a reference to the excellent sci-fi noir movie, Dark City. The hope to find the ocean and the crushing disappointment when it becomes impossible is a theme shared by the movie and Nicolai’s situation.

Examine the last hopeless note on the boardwalk to be taken back to the prison cell where a green gem can be found on the ground, the Aspect of Imprisonment. Walk through the doorway to leave behind the prison and reunite with Ardus and Cynthia.

The Aspect of Family

Now that everyone has been reunited, the party can explore north to find the grave of Nicolai Michaelson, who died when he was 10 years old according to the grave marker. Ardus, John and Cynthia grieve for the child they hardly knew. Once you try to leave, however, the way out is blocked by a floating apparition that Cynthia identifies as a Wraith. This is Nicolai’s Regret and the boss for the area.

Creator Commentary: Cynthia’s line asking John if anything happened to him when they were separated in that long hallway, is lifted straight from one of Maria’s lines in Silent Hill 2. Furthermore, many of the lines of dialog during Nicolai’s eulogy (for example: We had to suffer one last time, to grieve for him and say goodbye) are from Dream Theater’s “Through Her Eyes” off their magnum opus, Scenes from a Memory. Nicolai’s name, in fact, is based off of Nicholas, the protagonist from that concept album.

New Boss!

Nicolai’s Regret

Willpower (WP):

Persuasion:

Elocution:

Experience:

AP:

6,666

280

150

Erudition (EP):

Confidence:

Resistance:

Gold:

Level:

256

Drop Rates:

AI Behaviors:

Creator Commentary:

Nicolai’s Regret uses unique skills with the Abyssal element such as Abyssal Argument and Dark Hand.

If the party is over level 9, it is also immune to pathos, logos and ethos damage.

If the party is over level 15, it will use Cult of Personality every other turn as a bonus attack.

The swathed figure of Nicolai’s Regret is based off of Dracula from Castlevania 2: Simon’s Quest which was terrifying as a kid.

Nicolai’s Regret is not particularly difficult unless you are fighting it at or near level 1, which is possible, just difficult. If the party’s level is greater than 9, then it gets the Elemental Armor property wherein pathos, logos and ethos damage are completely ignored. In this case, verbal attacks are the way to win. Finally, if the party is over level 15, it will also use Cult of Personality every 2 turns as a bonus attack. This encourages higher level party’s to make the best use of their healing abilities like Cynthia’s Optimistic Projections.

Creator Commentary: One of the Regret’s attacks is Dark Hand, which is a reference to the humanity stealing attacks of the Dark Wraiths in the From Software game, Dark Souls. It should also be noted that this creature is not categorized as a straw man in the Research journal but an Abyssal creature.

Easter Egg: If you are defeated by Nicolai’s Regret, you are not ejected from the Mindscape like you normally would. Instead, you are returned to the Aspect of Family area again. Ardus makes another of many references to a Dream Theater song - this time the song Strange Deja Vu - and then you can actually meet Nicolai’s ghost. He completely restores the party’s WP and EP and gives you a collection of healing items including smelling salts, memory roots and the rare but useful Black Coffee.

After successfully defeating Nicolai’s Regret, the party is ejected from the abyss below Epherus’ house with one last black gem, the Aspect of Family.

Return to the basement and insert the four Aspects into the four chests. Doing so will open up a path to a hidden room in the Mindscape version of Epherus’ basement where Epherus himself can be found. Talk to him and he will finally wake up. Cynthia deduces that there must be a hidden room in the basement in the waking world as well. Use the bed inside the hidden room to wake up.

7. Return to Epherus.

There is now a path open in Epherus’ basement in the waking world where he can be found. Talk to him to find out the sad story of how he became obsessed with taking care of Nicolai’s ghost like he was his own son.

Epherus draws inspiration from Nicolai and decides to honor his favorite colors in his spring line of clothes. The harrowing quest finally complete, the party can now learn lessons from Epherus Maldais! You can also talk to him in order to purchase suits from his spring line that he fashioned with Nicolai’s favorite colors.

In Epherus’ basement is a conspicuous shining object. Examine it to get the Magnetic Tape Recorder. The Tape recorder will be used in a future quest.

If you return to Eventide at Ordolessian Trends, she will ask about Epherus. Ardus explains Epherus was taking care of the ghost of a child that died long ago. Eventide draws parallels to something in her life before stopping herself. She says she should talk with Emily about forgiveness the next time she visits their mother all but confirming that Eventide is Epherus’ sister-in-law.

The previous part of the walkthrough was Edited for Content, the next part is The Soldier's Heirloom

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