Dishonored Pre-mission: High Overseer Campbell (Part 1)

DEAR READERS, THE FOLLOWING TEXT CONTAINS SPOILERS, AND SPOILERS CAN RUIN A GAME. IF YOU DO NOT WISH TO GET SPOILED ON THE PLOT DETAILS OF THIS GAME, IT IS HIGHLY RECOMMENDED THAT YOU READ SOMETHING ELSE.

Hey people. Before we begin this post, I first need to say, i owe all you faithful readers out there an apology. It's already been a few months ever since I've updated my Dishonored blog, and I'm very soory about that. There's just been so much work I had to catch up on, and hopefully you can forgive me for that. I'm going to try to do my best to stay updated from now on.

Now, where were we when we left off? Oh yeah, Good ol' Samuel the Boatman just picked me up following my spectacular breakout from Coldridge Prison. Now I'm about to meet my saviors and find out why they helped me escape that hellhole in the first place. So without futher ado, why don't we just see what happens?

The Hound Pits Pub
As you may have known, I've just escaped Coldridge and now sitting on a boat with my savior Samuel the Boatman. In the distance, I see a group of large buildings that the boat is heading towards. A few seconds later Samuel enlightens me about the place. "This is the Hound Pits pub. Closed for business, with half the district marked off dead from the plague. We're right under the Lord Regent's nose and he don't know a thing," Ah, yes. Have I mentioned that Hiram Burrows (AKA the ex-Royal Spymaster) is now officially the Lord Regent of Dunwall (that's basically the equivalent of a country's supreme ruler)? Following the death of Empress Jessamine Kaldwin, Hiram Burrows has ascended from Royal Spymaster to the almighty Lord Regent. Anyway, on with Samuel's dialogue.

"Of course, if anyone finds out what we're up to, the Watch (the City Watch, that is) will break in with swords drawn," Samuel continued. As we pulled up alongside a small "harbor", he enlightened me more about the cause that saved me."I'll take you to meet the Admiral," he said. "The Admiral's a man to be reckoned with. If there's someone who can find that missing girl, Emily, and clear your name, he can." he explained. Shortly after I got off my boat, I strolled up to a pub, where I would find my two friends (I later found out that they were the leaders of this whole cause that saved me) who would brief me on some important stuff.Anyway, i should really introduce you to this place:

The Hound Pits

A picture of the Hound Pits Pub (or at least part of it)

Batman's Batcave, Superman's Fortress of Solitude, SHIELD's Helicarrier (what's with all the superhero references?). What do all these places have in common (never mind, I'm not going to wait for your answer)? That's right; they're all headquarters for these Earth-saviors to reside, to plan their next move and all those heroic stuff. Now that's what the Hound Pits are to Corvo; his place to rest in, upgrade his awesome weapons and gadgets and such. Between every mission, Corvo stops by here to plan his next move, to take a rest from all the $#!+ he encountered during his previous mission, upgrade his gear and all that stuff.

It's also a place where he can hang around and chat with his fellow Loyalists, rob them of their food and money (often found in the form of scavengable items), read their diaries and listen to their audiographs about the happenings in the Hound Pits, and even until the point of throwing glasses and bottles at them, jumping on their heads, sliding into them and generally pissing them off (there's a limit, however. Killing them, incapacitating them and using "offensive" supernatural abilities such as Possession and Devouring Swarm will all trigger you to reload at your last save file).

Somebody's about to get trolled...

The Leaders
As I entered the pub, I heard my two "friends" that I talked about earlier talking about their finally awaited beginning of their cause (I forgot the dialogue at that part). As I walked towards them, they stopped their conversation and turned their attention towards me. "We can continue this later (regarding the conversation they had earlier), Lord Pendleton. The man of the hour is here," the man who was (supposedly) Admiral Havelock said. Just in case you were wondering how he looked, here's a portrait of the guy:

Anyway, back to the conversation. "Corvo, I'm Admiral Havelock, a true servant to the Empire, like you. Until the Lord Regent purged those of us who wouldn't recognize his claim on the throne," Havelock continued. "And I'm Lord Treavor Pendleton. I represent the nobility in our little group, but we all act as equals here at the Hound Pits Pub." the man beside Havelock said. Here's HIS portrait so you can get a better look at him:

"This is a momentous occasion, Corvo," Havelock explained. "We've been building a coalition of "loyalists", aimed at ending the Lord Regent's tyranny and restoring the throne,"
"At risk of execution, we're commited to finding young Lady Emily and seeing her crowned as Empress,"
"We've got big plans, but we can't do any of it without you. We need your skills, your ability in a fight. And in helping us, we're going to help you destroy the men who murdered the Empress,"
"Sorry. You must be exhausted. We can discuss this further after you've recovered. But before you retire, you should introduce yourself to Piero. He's challenging at times, but his industrious mind buys him that right." Pendleton then walked away, leaving me to my business. Havelock however, stayed to give me a few more words of advice.

The Equipment Supplier
"Yes, Piero's as much an artist as a technician. He's going to be crafting the gear you'll need. Go talk to him and then get some sleep. We can talk more when you're rested." Havelock finished. So basically, Piero is the "weapons shop" of this game, as it seems. Something tells me that he's going to be a very good friend of mine during the length of this game... So anyway, I was then tasked with visiting Piero. But before I did, I decided to waltz around the Pub and see if there was anything worth scavenging for some extra coins for my much-needed upgraded gear later on. And boy, I found a ton of stuff lying around the map, from the typical coin (which has a value of, surprise, surprise, one coin) until valuable map of the "Cape of Teeth" (I'm guessing it's some sort of area in the ocean, but whatever. It's still worth a whopping 75 coins, and that's all I care about). After sticking around collecting plenty of money (or at least stuff that can be converted into money), I finally decided to focus on the task at hand; pay our good friend Piero a visit.

Just in case you were wondering how much loot I collect over the course of these posts, here is a small guide to how valuable an item I collect in Dishonored can be. And before you advance any further in this post, here's a portrait of Piero just to show you how the dude looks like:

I found Piero in a building near the pub (that was apparently altered by him to look like some kind of workshop) constructing something with a drill powered with whale oil (technology was pretty advanced for the era this game takes place in). "I'll be crafting your weapons and gear. All custom work. For you, I will create the tools of a master assassin," he explained. So I was right! This guy was kind of like the blacksmith in most of those RPG games and the weapon shop in games like Grand Theft Auto. This was the go-to guy if you wanted guns, bombs, and generally crazy new weapons of total kickassness. Oh wait, something's wrong with Piero's drill...

"No! This cannot happen now! The tank of whale oil has run out," Piero exclaimed, hitting the malfunctioning drill with his hand. "Will you get a new tank from upstairs, please, while I hold this (the drill, that is) in place? Be careful, the oil is unstable. When it explodes there is a terrible mess," he ordered me. Okay dude, it's not like I have any other choice. Before I went up and picked up the tank of oil, I searched the workshop for some items that were worth some coins (let's just call these things "scavengable stuff/items"). To make a long scavenging trip short, I found quite a lot (ranging from the tiny bundle of 10-coin Kingsparrow (apparently some kind of bird) feathers to yet ANOTHER expensive 75-coin map, this time star chart) of scavengeable items.

I also managed to procure many excerpts from the many books I found in the workshop. One book was full of Havelock's complaints about the insane items we can sell for coins ("Powdered Crystal? Kingsparrow Feathers? If you want feathers go sacrifice your own pillow.") and that if we were to sell such common items, Havelock would rather prefer us to scavenge for those materials by taking them from those areas out there in Dunwall and not by robbing the Hound Pits of these items (of course, this hasn't stopped me from turning the Pub upside down to get these stuff).

Then I found another book about Piero's own anti-plague remedy that he created. In the book he says that his remedy (also known as Piero's Spiritual Remedy, which I will enlighten you about in a short while), unlike Sokolov's Health Elixir (remember that elixir I introduced to you at the prologue? Yes, that was the exact same elixir I'm talking about right now), which only heals the physical body of injuries, Piero's Remedy instead focuses on the mind of its user, since instead of healing the body of its pain, it cures the mind, calms the spirit and heals all those bodily functions relating to the mind and spirit. This way (at least according to Piero), his remedy is more effective than Sokolov's elixir. Here's a fact file I made to fill you in with the details about this interesting potion...

Piero's Spiritual Remedy

Piero's Spiritual Remedy is one of the two bestselling (considering those two are the only ones I know) anti-plague potions available in Dunwall. As stated in the paragraph above, this remedy heals bodily functions more focused on the mind and the spirit rather than the condition of the raw body. To get an idea of what bodily functions they heal, take a look at this advertisement poster about the Remedy:

According to the poster (at least from my assumption), the Remedy cures chest colds and torpid liver, which are apparently "spiritual" sicknesses. It also cures the emotional energy of women, which is obviously a "spiritual" thing. Sokolov's elixir cures injuries done to the body, but if the drinker of the elixir was stressed out, for example, the elixir will only cure his injuries and pain, but the drinker will probably remain stressed out. If the victim consumes the Remedy, his stressful state will degrade, making him more calm, which is probably essential given the mental condition of elixir drinkers in this dreadful times of the plague. Honestly, I don't know which one is better; the elixir or the remedy. Both have their own strengths and weaknesses.

I saw a few more books in the workshop. One was about the responsibilities of the City Watch in the disposal of dead bodies (which are in high amount due to the plague), another about the impact of using whale oil as a power source in Dunwall (the usage of whale oil is also the reason behind all those futuristic devices), one which explains about Piero's failed experiments he had attempted in the past and his opinion about his inventions (compared to Sokolov's). I found many books in the workshop full of the interesting lore of Dishonored, and not to mention an audiograph about Piero's speculation on the spirit. Anyway, moving on to the main quest.

After I turned Piero's workshop upside-down for scavengeable items and books about Dishonored lore, I finally decided to unplug the full whale oil tank that has been practically BEGGING to be unplugged from its receptacle minutes ago. After I took the tank and placed it in the power socket of Piero's drill (the socket was magnetized, so I didn't have to manually insert the whale oil tank into it). "Thank you, Corvo," Piero said. He then proceeded constructing whatever he was for a few seconds. After he completed building this "something", I found out that this "thing" was actually a mask.

"Here. See? The assassin's mask," Piero enlightened me about the thing he was building. "You're a wanted man, so everyone in the city knows your face, but this mask will mean terror to them," Piero then lifted the mask, MY mask, for me to see. Apparently Piero didn't design the mask to be flawless, with a perfect, smooth metal surface and all those designs that make a mask look like your typical "neat and tidy" mask. To give you an idea of what mask is in mind, this is a mask I call "neat" (it's basically just the simple mask, really).

Get what I mean? Neat, no bumps whatsoever that would spoil its neatness. Now MY mask, however, had some intentional design flaws. It was designed to look like the face of evil itself, full of corruption, terror, and all those representations of evil. I loved it (I may not be very good at dramatizing the features of something, but I hope that the previous sentences sufficed in giving you a mental image of the picture below). Here's what it looked like:

Get the idea of how I pictured it?

Piero then decided to make some finishing touches to the mask by fitting it on my face and seeing if there was anything to improve. "(Piero moves toward me, mask in hand) If you'll just hold still, the fit must be precise (puts mask on my face). Can you see normally? (notices something wrong with the optic lens on the mask) Mmm... center lens out of alignment. (uses a screwdriver to adjust the lens' magnification) There. Better now?" (sees that my vision isn't clear enough yet and continues to adjust the lens with his screwdriver)

As Piero adjusted my lens magnification, he told me about how the "money system" went in the game. "I could create more (items) for you," he explained. "Upgrades for your gear, weapons, munitions. But our situation here is desperate. Scavenge the city for valuables and I will resell them on the black market. That should give us the money to craft the things you need (finally finishes adjusting my lens)," After hearing this, I finally saw why there was a book I found in Piero's workshop about him selling Powdered Crystal and Kingsparrow Feathers.

Piero wasn't like those blacksmiths/shopkeepers/equipment sellers like that you find in other games. All those people have one thing in common: They all demand money for the equipment you buy. Piero was different. He would've gladly given us state-of-the-art gadgets and weapons, but he didn't have the sufficient amount of money to buy the resources he required to build the gear in the first place, being the kind of guy who stayed inside the Hound Pits day and night working on some newfangled invention (plus, the game would've been way too easy to finish if we had all the badass weapons from the beginning of the game).

Instead, he uses the scavengeable items we gather not for his own needs, but to sell them on the black market and purchase the resources he required to build MY gear, MY weapon upgrades and awesome gadgets and not for HIS own, personal needs (note: my beliefs about Piero and his "money system" may not be 100%, as other sources may say otherwise, but that's just how I think it goes). What a morally upstanding guy! "Tell me what I can make for you," Piero asked. Shortly after he said this, up popped a shop menu of what gadgets I could construct, and boy, there was a LOT.

Now I won't waste a what's probably a few more pages worth of typing on all those sick weapon upgrades I saw in Piero's workshop, so I'll be doing a separate post on that subject. And I promise you, it's definitely (actually, come to think of it, it I can't really promise you how good it will be, but I sure will try my best) going to kick ass. For now, let's focus on the story.

Bedtime!
After buying what I needed from Piero, he apparently saw the exhaustion in my face (mind you, I obviously couldn't see Corvo's face at all, since I'm looking through his very eyes. Remember, Dishonored is played in the "first-person" point of view). "You must be exhausted," he said. "I advise that you get some sleep. Your life will get even more difficult soon (yeah, no $#!+. I'll be sneaking through the city, through patrols of the City Watch and other enemies... Yep. You're right. My life will definitely get much difficult. Like, at least 5 times more than it already is), you should rest while you can," I said that I'd rather stay up a bit. "Very well. You know best." Piero replied.

I decided that I should roam around the Hound Pits for a little bit longer in search of scavengeable items, any books, notes or audiographs about Dishonored lore, and opportunities to mingle (and not to mention harass) with the residents of the Hound Pits. After turning the Hound Pits upside-down (like I did to Piero's workshop) for lore and scavengeable items, I finally decided to go to bed before I start my very first "real" mission.

This is quite a cheap bed for a dude who used to be the Royal Protector, don't you think?

And that was the end of my introduction to the Hound Pits Pub, the group of Loyalists I was saved by. Tomorrow I will continue being enlightened about this whole cause and its purpose. I'll be back with more Dishonored posts, don't worry. But for now, that's the end of this long post. See you until the next one!