Black Sect: Won! (Or Is It a Tie?)

By Ilmari

That knight armour will be important later

Last time I had managed to infiltrate the lair of the Black Sect and started to collect ingredients for a secret recipe (I had already a larva and some digitalis, but was lacking some belladonna and a chicken leg). I continued by checking the final room I hadn’t been to. There my journey was stopped by a door and another cultist guarding it. When I showed the medallion I had found, the cultist let me in. I also noticed that the stairs were broken and that I could pick up a piece of it. Behind that piece I found yet another key (seriously, management of all these various keys is a pain, especially with the strict inventory limit).

The corridor behind the door led to some bars blocking the way north, but I could also turn west.

What a cosy bedroom for the master of the cult! A bit less cosier after I had ripped the pillow on the bed in front, because that’s what I did in the original. Within I found two bottles. One I drank, and it increased my strength. The other I used to read an empty piece of paper I had found – the letters C L I N E. And that’s not all! I picked up a sword from the wall and placed a shield to an empty, shield-shaped spot on the wall. The latter action opened up a secret compartment under the other bed, containing a chicken leg (I hope it hadn’t been there long). And note the tiny dots on the side of the other bed – each of them was a precious jewel.

I knew at once what the letters in the paper meant: the order I should press the buttons on the table in the food cellar. A drawer opened, and within it I discovered a jar with some powder – the belladonna I had been looking for.

 Is that a crow he’s preparing for food?

The next step was somewhat tedious. I had to go to a kitchen, show the cook my black ring, thus proving I am an ally, and then give him the plate, the recipe, the belladonna, the larva, the chicken leg and the digitalis. That’s over the five item inventory limit, and everytime I visited the kitchen, I had to give the guard one of my four jewels. After a lot of going back and forth, the cook had finally prepared some spiced up dish for me.

So, where to next? The only place where I hadn’t visited yet was the room behind the bars in the otherwise empty corridor. I still had that sword with me, and by attaching it to the armour I mentioned at the beginning, I managed to lift the bars. The corridor led to a sacrificial chamber, but it was at first empty. I had to still wait for the meeting of the cult to begin. Then the way to the chamber was guarded by a familiar looking cultist, but he let me in, when I showed him the food I was carrying.

The leader of the cult was dressed in white. I gave him the plate of food, and he told me to leave, because only the cult elders were allowed to see his face. I went outside and then immediately back in. The cultists were all sleeping. I had already noticed earlier that the wall of the sacrificial chamber had an indentation. I suspected the head cultist might have something that would fit the indentation (that’s what happened in the original). He didn’t. Instead, I found a bottle of acid in his possession. I left the cultists sleeping and went to check if I could open a locked chest in the library with its help. I could and within it I discovered an amulet, which fit the indentation perfectly. Onwards through a secret door!

Spot the two differences

I had found the spellbook that had protected the village. Reading it, I noticed a list of guardians of the book. The latest one was the tavern keeper.

I had no idea the game was set in modern times. I mean, how many washerwomen do you meet these days?

Well, I just opened the door and stepped out…

Yeah, I should have seen the gaping hole in front of the door. Checking the room now more carefully, I noticed a small hook under the table that had held the book. I attached a pitcher full of grain to it, and the mechanism closed the hole. I was free to go!

So sad that no one has moved the corpse anywhere

I went to the tavern and gave the tavern keeper the book. He thanked me for returning it and told me a secret.

He was also a cultist!

In fact, everyone I had seen in the village was working for the cult, and their leader was the seemingly harmless beggar. The cultists had one by one killed all the regular citizens and taken over the village. They had followed me from the start and used me to find the traitor amongst them (the cook). Since I had managed to steal the spellbook, they decided the village wasn’t anymore a safe base of operations for them. Their leader was still willing to leave me alive, because he liked my moral fibre, but he took the spellbook and warned me not to meddle with the affairs of the cult a second time.

I am not really sure if I should call this a win. It’s clearly the intended end, but all I’ve managed to accomplish is to make the cult move away from the village (which they would have done anyway, even if I just had waited for three days) and to get an innocent person killed. At best, I might call it a tie.