[SPOILER] Plot Discussion Thread *Spoiler Alert*

[Paddy™]

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Journal Entries | Massive Spoilers!

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I'm sure this will make the discussion a lot easier for everyone!

These were taken from the english.lang file in the install directory of the game (\redist\config\lang_main\). I arranged them into a BBCode-friendly format for ease of use. The entry titles, as they are written in the english.lang file, are displayed in green, with each level's respective entries divided into subsections with orange headers. They are all listed in the same order in which they appear in the english.lang file.

Notes will be posted in a moment! The text is too large to fit into one post.

Spelling mistakes left intact

Mansion

Spoiler below!

Hint_Mansion1

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A Fever Dream
I wake alone, to a house in silence. That missing sound of children playing is like a dark and fecund sepulchre, beckoning me to begin a descent to the loam where surely only bodies may be found. No matter. - my children call and I shall answer. I will find them.

Hint_Mansion2

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Attics and Nurseries
But they slept in the attic when they were babes-in-arms, and perhaps they have hidden there now? I remember I insisted upon it, midway between my bedroom and my office.

Hint_Mansion3

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The Weeping Rooms
Where once we sat to weep Lily's passing, under weapons that cannot slay the angels to retrieve her from heaven. Look beyond the paintings, Oswald, where once you watched her bathe. The children must have discovered those secret places and taken refuge there.

Mansion Two

Spoiler below!

Hint_MansionTwo1

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Grand Hall
That voice on the telephone, he speaks as if he knows me and indeed I seem to remember him. Like a twin pulled away from the other at birth, I feel we are entwined, though I cannot conceive of how. I am a drowning man grasping for the surface within my own house. Beneath me, I know there are splendid architectures hidden in the dark, if I can only find the entrances.

Hint_MansionTwo2

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On Bears and Bathtubs
And after the party, she took my arm and said "but darling, however did you get from the trophy room to the guest bathroom so quickly? Everyone considers you quite the magician!" My darling Lillibeth, my father's house has many rooms, and as for mine...well, it also has its secret chambers.

Hint_MansionTwo3

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A Curious Discovery
Metal ticking as it cools and contracts. This must be the strange machine my new friend told me of. If my children discovered this place, it is entirely conceivable they strayed downwards, delighted in their discovery. Very well, it seems my route is predestined. The descent begins!

Cellar

Spoiler below!

Hint_Cellar1

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Trapped!
Was it a trick? That voice on the phone, who seems so close to my own, who seems to know me so well, does he lead me for a nefarious purpose of his own secret devising? But do I have a choice? Even though his motives are unknown to me, I must find my boys. I will follow the machinery down to the very core of the earth if it will lead me to Edwin and Enoch

Hint_Cellar2

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The saboteur has been this way
Intriguing. The gates are far too heavy for a man to lift and are instead hoisted aloft by a chain coiled about a tube that appears to be spun by motors connected to these electrical switches. Whilst the fuse is blown, the motor cannot be spun, and the gates will remain an impenetrable barrier to progress.

Hint_Cellar3

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Barrel Contraption
These barrels must be dropped by a mechanism somewhere in the complex. No complex mechanisms here, I think, more a case of finding the winch. That they have been raised to prevent access only fires my curiosity further. What he cannot break, our saboteur apparently seeks to hide.

Hint_Cellar4

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More electrical sabotage
Another confounded fuse box. The fellow is thorough in his sabotage, if somewhat repetitive. The stench from these barrels is quite discomforting. I would certainly hope that whatever chemistry this room is designed to store is not a defining feature of the flood that threatens my children.

Hint_Cellar5

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The path is clear...
It seems this chemical processor is merely one part of a much larger complex. No easy route for me, then. I will follow my fever, the calls of my children wherever they may lead me, as I move further into this strange empire.

Alley

Spoiler below!

Hint_Alley1

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The Factory Offices
All the suggestions of a large workforce, yet no actual signs of life. It is every bit as if someone has attempted to carefully create the illusion of a working factory complex, yet this facade, when examined closely, is clearly just a falsification. But I must put aside my anxieties, quell the unease that pits my stomach and continue on my path.

Hint_Alley2

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Pumping Station
It appears to be some kind of fuelling station. I have seen automobiles demonstrated at Mr Yarham and Mr Simmon's works, but the smell here is all wrong. This is not petroleum, of that I am sure. Everything suggests to me that this machine must be significant in some way.

Hint_Alley3

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Holy Orders
This church is connected to the plant - how odd. However, it does suggest another route into the main part of the facility, given the locked doors around the fuelling station. The truck blocks my way however, almost as if the saboteur knew that I might consider this alternative entrance.

Hint_Alley4

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A Strange Container
This canister looks as if it may fit the fuel pump I saw earlier. It certainly carries the same fetid, unholy reek. I will not think of that which I saw pass me in its cage, I will not gaze again into that dark machine room. A more immediate task presents itself, and the opportunity perhaps to gain access to St Dunstan's.

Hint_Alley5

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A Fast Getaway!
Dear sweet Lord of all that is good and holy! I must make my escape, grasp this container and its putrid contents and flee this place before that creature, that nearly-man returns. I will head for the church, surely such an abomination could not follow onto hallowed ground!

Church

Spoiler below!

Hint_Church1

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Inside St Dunstan's
We sat here, I remember, we sat in our black and we mourned and we prayed and we bowed our heads. How I hated God then, how I spurned Him. If this is our Lord, this pig who robs me of my wife, then I refute his embrace. I will carve a new God for us all. Such madness, such a fool I was. If such blasphemous ravings had remained within me, I would be doomed. But even here, I feel the machine throb beneath the flags and I know my path awaits me...

Hint_Church2

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A Cryptic Clue
Some kind of mechanism. A secret and infernal one no doubt. The missing candlestick is clearly the answer. But why, this I cannot fathom. Why hide secret machines in a place of prayer? And where are the faithful? Why are there drag marks about the altar, as if someone was pulled away?

Hint_Church3

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Infernal Machinery
The engine fires, the flames are stoked. I hear steam in the walls, vibrations upon the very air. My heart falters at the prospect of throwing the lever and exposing the workings of this dark contraption. But my children beckon me on and I cannot fail them!

Hint_Church4

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A Hellish Portal
It appears I have no choice. Thus I descend and may God have mercy upon my soul. If this is my Bedlam, and I am to be cast as Matthews, then I will wear that mantle for the sake of my boys, and face whatever horrors lie beneath the altar.

Factory

Spoiler below!

Hint_Factory1

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The Mandus Processing Company
My soul shudders at what I have seen, but at last I have reached the main part of the factory. Now onwards, downwards, to find those floodwaters and drain them away. Like Moses, I will cleave the waters and lift my little darlings clear of its vile cradle.

Hint_Factory2

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Lily's Arms are Made of Steel, Lily's Arms are Silent
The pistons are silent, the plant is at rest. I must poke the hornet's nest to open my way, I fear. The scale of these engines suggests a far greater works than is visible from the surface, so my friend must be correct and the larger part of this plant is underground. We are close to the Thames, no wonder flooding is such a risk.

Hint_Factory3

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Fire and Steel
The fires are stoked. Assuming the same architect is responsible here as with the chemical plant, I surmise that a centralised control system regulates and operates the pistons. It should be a simple matter of finding it, and hoping the saboteur relented after simply extinguishing the fires.

Hint_Factory4

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The Descent Continues!
What did that dark voice instruct me to do? Under the pistons, into the tunnels and on to the bilge pumps. And if the doors should be locked, I will have to find another means of descent. I cannot trust him, but my path is set. I shall ignore those noises... that snuffling, those shuffling steps below me, I will brave whatever lurks beneath and I will save them!

Tunnels

Spoiler below!

Hint_Tunnels1

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Sabotage!
Bruised and battered, but alive. I have survived the saboteur's best efforts. He and I are now locked in an epic struggle. But I am driven to find my family, and I will prevail. Ignore the madness about me, do not consider what cruel and unspeakable acts have been committed here. Find the way to the bilge, drain the flood, free your children.

Hint_Tunnels2

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Maintenance Access
There is clearly another passage beyond the locked gates. It seems I have a choice of approach. The padlock is old but firm, and after that fall, I cannot summon the strength to break it open. Perhaps I can find another way...

Hint_Tunnels3

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The Centrifuge
It's some form of bizarre mixing device for chemical compounds, and it positively reeks of the foul fluids I have seen too often before. It is clearly a compound, some volatile bastard of two composite ingredients. I should wager I would find them close by.

Hint_Tunnels4

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A Heady Brew
I have the compound. It hisses and steams in its container like some living thing, a witches jelly to burn and corrode. The container is made from glass - a strange choice unless there is some particular reason why the metal that pervades everywhere else cannot be brought into contact with this so-called Compound X. I should investigate further for clues.

Sewers

Spoiler below!

Hint_Sewers1

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The Flooded Tunnels
My mysterious friend is correct, the sewers are indeed flooded. To descend further I will have to find the local sluice pumps to drop the water levels. The smell is almost unbearable, it makes me gag. Why should the saboteur have flooded the tunnels though? What did he hope to achieve?

Hint_Sewers2

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Mandus, postdiluvian
That's done it! Now I can enter the strange decontamination chamber once again and move onwards! The waters are pushed back, making the way to the bilge clear, where I can divert the remainder of this filthy torrent back into the Thames where it belongs and clear the path to the centre of the machine.

Hint_Sewers3

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A Nest of Wretches
Dear God, a whole nest of these foul creatures... no mind, my instincts have drawn me thus far and I am sure somewhere in this dank complex is a means of further descent. I will not see their faces as they go about their dark business. And yet... and yet, I watch them sleep and eat and play and they are so very human, so very childlike. And I will not think of what I have seen, of the chairs and the cages, and I will not think of how such monsters may be scuplted.

Bilge

Spoiler below!

Hint_Bilge1

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The Pump Rooms
These must be the bilge pumps. I am at the heart of the saboteur's efforts. In order to keep his flood in place, he must have disabled these vast pumps. But he was clearly rushed, thus far he has left most of his work incomplete, his clumsy efforts reduced to simply switching off all he could find. If I can locate the controls, the remedy will be simple.

Hint_Bilge2

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Valves and Pipes
Another pump. It seems once again I must engage it. I cannot help but feel I am trapped in some great game, forced to undertake endless herculean labors for the promised reward of my darling children!

Hint_Bilge3

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The saboteur strikes once more!
Well, well. My nemesis, my shadowy predecessor has exceeded my expectations. A vital cog is missing and I cannot start the pump without it. It will be nearby, of that I am certain. But I hear noises about me and I know I am not alone. One of the lurkers of the dark, I can smell it's hot breath in this funereal air. I must tread carefully as I locate the missing part.

Hint_Bilge4

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Finding the Children
The flood is drained. I have prevailed. The saboteur is beaten. My heart pounds with excitement, even as my head spins and shudders in feverous anticipation. How this machine now throbs about me, sensing its rebirth is imminent. The final descent beckons me to enter, as Lily once lay on our wedding bed and summoned me into manhood.

Reactor

Spoiler below!

Hint_Reactor1

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The Heart of the Machine
And when they first said "Daddy" my heart was molten, as if blood frozen upon the ground were held to the sun to thaw and slop. And they were inseperable, always together, one soul in two bodies, and my love was all consuming. I would die for you, I whispered to their sleeping faces, I would kill. I would set this world to ruin to protect you. I have fought through dark tunnels, great engines, the foulest of beasts. I have set my covenant and drained this flood, and I am come for you now, my darling boys.

Hint_Reactor2

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A Final Act of Sabotage
The bastard has been here too! This is the epicentre of his meddlings - this is where it began, and this is where it will end. I will seek the source of this obstruction and then I will render this sabotage impotent once and for all!

Hint_Reactor3

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Ignition Control
Now to find the ignition controls and start the machine once more! Elated, I stride forth upon these catwalks. I am coming my darlings, I have almost saved you!

Engine

Spoiler below!

Hint_Engine1

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Betrayed!
So it is done. The saboteur was me, and the voice on the telephone was him. But what of us? How do we connect? Surely I cannot be responsible for all I see about me? I cannot remember, I cannot remember! All I can grasp is a moment when the world split into two pieces and the innards of humanity fell from an orifice torn agape into my open, bifurcated heart.

Hint_Engine2

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Steam Vents
All about me, the thunder of machinery, the blasts of boiling steam. I cannot pass without fear of scalding. I am a lobster, cracked, my circulation stagnated, my vital motions impeded. The steam will boil my whole unless I can find a way to shut it off.

Hint_Engine3

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Escape through the pipes
If in the throes of my evil, I sent children into the pipes to clean them, then it seems likely there is another entrance I can use to escape this noxious maelstrom of engines. I will ignore the burning in my nostrils from the fumes of that godless Compound X that fuels these machines, and I will become the saboteur - I will destroy the pressure system, enabling me to enter the pipes without fear!

Hint_Engine4

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Mandus is the Saboteur!
It seems that the pressure system is indeed the Achilles Heel of this facility, something I clearly did not realise in my first clumsy attempt at sabotage. If I re-route the steam, I can wreak havoc!

Hint_Engine5

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The Pressure Regulator
Some form of steam regulator - I'll wager if I disable it, the damage caused by the rushing steam pressure could be catastrophic - certainly enough to force a temporary stalling of this entire engine. That should cause the steam pressure to drop. Mandus, you clever old goat, I can feel this horror, this grief, this betrayal boil into fury. I will not stand, I will not be undertrodden. If this machine is my air loom, I am the overman.

Hint_Engine6

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Into the Pipes and out of the Engines
Now quickly, through the pipes before the pressure returns and they fill with boiling corrosive steam - I sense the machine snarl itself about me, its unholy, inhuman mind coil and slick and send its dark tendrils through its conduits to repair the damage. I will return to the streets, I will fetch help, and I shall lead the people upon the factory, burn it to the ground, and seal this evil place underground forever!

Streets

Spoiler below!

Hint_Streets1

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London's Burning, London's Burning
God forgive me, what I have unleashed! I stand and smell the burning city. I see ash upon the wind. I hear the roars of the sickening beasts and the screams as they fall upon the city and drag its people below for the slaughter. Now I begin to understand what the other composite ingredient of Compound X must be. And I also understand this: it is my responsibility now. I must find a way back to the heart of the machine and complete what I started!

Hint_Streets2

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Streets and Alleys
There are too many of these damnations, these beasts loose on the street to all have come from the engine rooms! As I emerged, I counted three of the damnable pneumatic lifts, which suggests the machine has been planning this for some time, smuggling routes to the surface all about this neighbourhood. If my bearings are correct, beyond the alley I should stand directly over the ignition rooms - and I will wager that if I find a pneumatic there, it will carry me back to the machine's heart.

Pigline

Spoiler below!

Hint_Pigline1

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Counter-Attack!
I have returned, an angel of vengeance, a saboteur once more! I will find a way to stop this vast enterprise of slaughter! Enough destruction opened the heart before, confused the machine enough to spring its locks and secret doorways. I must cause it great shock, stab its eyes, poke hot wire into its ears, hammer to its teeth and push glass into every orifice. Then it will gasp and in that gasp, I will scuttle into its throat and stab its heart from inside!

Hint_Pigline2

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Compound X and the Coolant Tanks
This vile concoction, this Compound X, it is the arterial blood of this horror. Boiled, it creates the steam to drive pistons, but here, it is freezing, and flows about the components to keep them cool. Why should it be that the deeper I go, the cooler it becomes? What great process generates such heat that the machine must quench it with a cocktail of blood and effluent?

Hint_Pigline3

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Coolant Pumps
I sense an opportunity, my first strike. Impeding these cogs with a large enough object should jam the flow of coolant, causing a pressure build up that will split the pipes and rupture the tanks.

Hint_Pigline4

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At the Spark Plug
This electrification must be lethal to the touch - now to confound the machine and flood the system, this time not with sewage but boiling, sparking liquid death!

Hint_Pigline5

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The Path to the Tripery
It is critically injured now, I am sure of that. It jeers no more. I feel it shudder around me, a wounded animal pressed flat to the ground. I feel it is afraid of me, and I hate it all the more, as I hate myself for unleashing it. My head pounds with blood, my teeth vibrate, I retch and burn with fever. I am an angel of death, descending to smother the firstborn for the death of the two that came after.

Tesla One

Spoiler below!

Hint_TeslaOne1

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In My Dreams I walk with my Children
I walk tunnels where no human has trod before, I am sure of that. It is just me and him now. Frost forms on my coat sleeves, the deathly still and the freezing air tell me I am close.

Hint_TeslaOne2

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Nikolai's Golem
I am the architect. I am the saboteur. I am the man who murdered his children. I am the man who stood in the duck pond with his dead wife in his arms, wishing the water would bring her back to him. I am the voice on the telephone, I am the butcher who skinned the Professor and beat God to death against the air loom. Only one question remains now. Am I also The Machine?

Tesla Two

Spoiler below!

Hint_TeslaTwo1

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Mandus is Alone
I search for instruction, for advice, for help in my goals, but in return the system mocks me. Simpleton, it says, you must find your own answers now.