Tagged as Daud

Contributors: Hiaen, Blue, Lunar

Hiaen: still wondering how common knowledge is Daud's face, because it's a running joke that many NPCs recognize him on sight, but on the other hand his face isn't on his wanted posters and I think neither the Dead Eels nor the Hatters recognize him? Also Lizzy asks who he is in Coldridge, even if (correct me if i'm wrong) you're not using the Overseer disguise.

Blue: YEAH i agree like, a lot of the npcs also guess its daud??? they don't know for certain

but its probably Known that daud is a mean looking man w a massive scar on his face so when they see a dude like that w a big fuckin sword they r like daud

also, similar veins but its also probably likely daud often didn’t meet w clients directly??? eg used whalers as couriers and so on, drop off points for the money and stuff

Hiaen: It's also interesting that getting rid of Daud was never part of the Loyalists' plan (you end up finding him by "chance"), even though he's a threat if Hiram decides to re-hire him. Which means that either:

• Corvo didn't describe Daud & co to the Loyalists

• Corvo described Daud & co to the Loyalists but they didn't recognize him from that description

• the Loyalists did recognize Daud from Corvo's description but didn't share that info with Corvo

• the Loyalists did share the info with Corvo but didn't know enough about him to plan a mission

Blue: YES THAT TOO!!! i think the loyalists say something like "we'll try find the man who killed the empress" aka even in that single reference they don't call him daud, implying they don't know his identity

i feel like daud has almost an urban legend status in dunwall

ALSO (bc this is actually something i was thinking about as i was replaying the dlcs lately), like. just that ppl dont Really recognise daud?? jerome the black market guy isn't like HEY UR DAUD! hes like uh ?? uh? daud? -> some unfamiliarity so idk, i got more the impression there is a description of him circling (and probably, like i said, the Scar bc that is very distinguishing) and most ppl if they see him guess who he is, and don't say anything bc they know they will get Killed if they do.

also i don't think the royal dressmaker dude recognised daud at all (initially thinks daud is with delilah), so i think, to add to that, it may be that daud’s appearance is only vaguely known amongst ppl who move in criminal circles OR probably by nobles who hire him - both groups knowing better than to mention his description to the authorities

also probably worth noting that the whalers uniform IS known so if u see a dude w a big scar in that outfit there’s like a 100% chance it's daud

Hiaen: So what we can assume is that there's a vague description of Daud going around his customer pool and criminal circles, something like "wide guy, facial scar, whaler clothes, can teleport". But nothing more precise, and the authorities don't even have that vague description?

Also we've mentioned it when we talked about Corvo's lack of intel on Daud, but also Hiram might have covered him on occasion, if only to protect himself/a useful asset

Lunar: The weird thing is that there IS a painting of Daud... from Sokolov

Hiaen: The Sokolov painting is the odd one out, like why is there a fucking Sokolov painting of him but the cops don't have a portrait for their poster? Though maybe Sokolov might have kept that particular painting under wraps to avoid having the Abbey and Watch knock at his door like "hey dude how do you know the Knife of Dunwall well enough to paint him"

Lunar: I have this hc that Daud is actually pretty well known with nobles? The thing is no one wants to rat him out bc they’d all lose an important asset

Hiaen: Also, both in DH1 and DH2, the painting is found in its owner's bedroom. So part of a private hoard, not meant to be shown to guests. Maybe that painting is one of those art pieces that you aren't even supposed to know exist, and that you can only acquire for a tremendous amount of money at a secret dealing you have like 20% chances of surviving?

Lunar: Ooooooh truuuue. Its so interesting to me that Daud is kind of seen as like a mythos in Dunwall

Hiaen: On Daud's status as a legend, I mentioned the other day that one conversation between 2 Bottle street thugs, and how one straight-up knows that he's hiding in the Flooded District. Back then I joked about how everyone knows where Daud lives, but it should also be mentioned that the other thug in the conversation didn't even know Daud was a heretic, and just thought he was a gang leader same as Slackjaw?

God the rumor mill must be going wild about him

Blue: Maybe theres also lots of conflicting rumours and shit as well, that just adds 2 the mystery?? its very cool that the other thug didn't even know daud lore Level One