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Spinning bee spinning bee Also I went with investigating the Prior in my own playthrough, so I hope that the LP goes on a different tack, though I'm not inclined to any in particular.
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Mar 18, 2023 12:05
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Go bother the widow
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Mar 18, 2023 13:26
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Lucky and the widow are my suggestion. I do also think it would be good to visit the Doctor and be as much of a pedantic smart-rear end as we can (and it's not listed but maybe visit the mill and do the same).
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Mar 18, 2023 13:27
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Lucky and the Widow. Not too sure about em though, think Martin might be a better lead if we can find em later. Not the best timing on their part, but they could have seen something during their (presumed) theft attempt. Attempt as, thinking on it, I don't know for certain they actually stole anything, or just had very, very bad timing.
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Mar 18, 2023 14:42
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Surnames in Europe Since someone brought it up, and we’ve met almost all of the characters in this part of the game, I thought I’d take a moment to talk about European surnames. Note that I’m specifically talking about the working and middle classes; surnames among aristocracy had their own development shaped by different factors. There was a gradual process of increased record keeping in Europe throughout the Middle Ages, with a lot of regional variations depending particularly on how taxes were levied. But in most cases, records of individuals tended to be kept at a local level. In a very rough nonspecific example, a king would tax counts, a count would tax barons and lesser lords, and lords would tax all of their local subjects, so only the local lord would need to know exactly how many peasants they had working on their land, and how much they owed in taxes. People mostly kept to their local communities, and names only needed to distinguish one person from another in local common usage. So a lot of people could get by without any kind of surname, or if they shared a given name with someone else, the obvious choice was to tack on their profession, some notable physical trait, or literally anything else that could differentiate them from others. Even in a city, local communities still tended to consist of a manageable number of people, and if you needed to distinguish further between the John Smith on your street and the John Smith from a few streets away, you could easily just extend them to “John Smith of <neighborhood name>.” For quite a long time in many places, this meant that surnames weren’t usually inherited by children. If your father was a carpenter but you become a stonemason, it doesn’t make sense for people to call you Carpenter all your life. And if your father was called Hertz for his kind heart, but you grow up to be a dickhead, you’ll probably get a different surname for that too. One common exception was that in many places (including Germany), particular plots of farmland acquired traditional names, and whoever worked on that land would take the land’s name as their surname, and once a family had established themselves as the generational stewards of the land, their children would inherit the surname at birth, even if they didn’t inherit the land itself. Other surnames became heritable in different places at different times as more centralized recordkeeping increased, from about the 1200s to the 1800s. German name translations So how about the characters in Pentiment? Maler: painter Gertner: gardener/farmer Schmidt: smith - this was used to refer to many different crafts, not just blacksmithing, which is why Smith is more common than other occupational names Bauer: farmer Drucker: printer Müller: miller - we’ll meet them next time Stolz: proud - the doctor might have an inherited surname, or people might just call him Stolz because of his personality. You’ll see. Pfeiffer: whistler, flute-player Steinauer: stonemason Zimmermann: carpenter Alban: from Alba (there have been several places with this name so we don’t know exactly where the Albans are originally from) Kemper: farmer/serf Kreutzer: lives near a cross (such as one put up on a roadside to mark the town boundary) Köhler: coal burner Häberle: oats - oat farmer, merchant, general oat guy Sprecher: public speaker - poet, lawyer, neighbor who likes to speak up at town meetings Bonus Rothvogel: red bird - maybe from a coat of arms, or local folklore from his estate, or any number of other origins Mausfänger: mouse catcher Schlau (the cat in town): clever If anyone wants to fill in more details about how surnames, taxes, or general feudal relationships developed in specific locations, or if anyone wants me to go out of my way to do that research and post again, please speak up.
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Mar 19, 2023 04:28
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Just one thing: in the game, you'll see the women being adressed with the same surname as their husband, but with an "-yn" at the end. This is just the general German suffix marking female gender (although it's "-in" nowadays") and is used e.g. in professions, e.g. der Pilot (male) - die Pilotin (female). It used to be very common to adress married women with the surname of their husband and an "-in". In some dialects like my native Bavarian this is actually still a thing, albeit not as a direct form of adress but more when you're talking about somebody, so when you've got a Herr Singer you could talk about his wife as "die Singerin". House names are also something that's not quite gone extinct yet - I remember a case of somebody who grew up in the same village as my father did and who only ever got addressed by his house name. I only learned his legal surname after his death in fact! But for the most part these are something that only the elderly still know and use, and only in rural areas to boot.
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Mar 19, 2023 11:18
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s__herzog posted:Surnames in Europe For the longest time, I thought the name Rothschild was like Peterson, e.g. Child of Roth, until it was pointed out the Roth meant Red, and so it means 'Red-shield'. Felt like a total fool when that came to me.
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Mar 19, 2023 11:50
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I vote for Lucky and Ottilia, simply for the reason that they were who I didn't hang with in my own playthrough.
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Mar 19, 2023 12:08
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Samovar posted:For the longest time, I thought the name Rothschild was like Peterson, e.g. Child of Roth, until it was pointed out the Roth meant Red, and so it means 'Red-shield'. Felt like a total fool when that came to me.
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Mar 19, 2023 16:37
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Can we visit both the nuns and the spinning bee? Mother Cecilia seemed to be the smartest person in the room when the Abbot was trying to dump the Baron's corpse, and I suspect she'd have some good insight into the greater picture. The peasant ladies probably hear a lot too and I'd be curious to hear what's up. As someone who's never played the game, I'm wondering if Lorenz either made an inappropriate pass at a nun or was actually sleeping with one.
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Mar 20, 2023 02:33
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Part 9: Autopsy During investigation periods, it’s a good idea to run around and see who’s available for extra conversations and incidental scenes. Because of the gloomy weather, most people still aren’t out and about, so we only have two brief stops for now. First up is Frantz Bauer, at the easternmost farm.   Still not a snitch. Also, Frantz is a first-class rear end in a top hat:   If you see him, will you tell his mother? She’s driving me crazy about it.  Good. Until later, Maler. Until then.We’ll leave this pleasant fellow and stop in at the Gertners’.    Time goes quickly when you’re working hard, praise God, though I wouldn’t mind a few more hours in the day. If it’s not the washing, it’s the cooking, the mending, the tidying. The work never ends! And that’s before we get to the wool. Ah, goodness, all that wool… Wool?Metal Gear?  We shirred the ewes last week to prepare for the lambing - you remember the bleating, I’m sure. How could you forget? My ears are still ringing. Now the wool’s all washed, and we’ve got a pile of spinning to get through before the lambs are born. Ah, where will we find the time? Oh yes, sometimes more than we need! Many of the women in Tassing lend a hand, so it goes quickly. Many hands make light work, eh? I’ve never had much of a hand for spinning, so I enjoy the company more than the work. It’s rare so many of the women in town are in the same room together. We share recipes, stories, hardships… friendship, you know? And maybe a little bit of gossip, too. We know some, it’s true. But Johan Bauer is there to watch over us, so things can’t get too rowdy. Oh, Andreas, you should come by! Everyone will be glad to see you, I’m sure. We meet at Johan Bauer’s house. Please come by in the morning or afternoon and speak to Johan. I should get back to my labors, but it was lovely to see you, Andreas. Take care. We now have an invitation to the spinning bee, so we can show up there later in our investigation to listen in on the gossip if we have time. With that out of the way, it’s time to get back to the abbey to observe Brother Florian’s autopsy. We have to do this now; if we spend the afternoon on anything else, Florian will leave a note in Andreas’s bed saying that he couldn’t wait any longer and had to proceed on his own, and we won’t get any useful information about the state of the body.  We’re officially not allowed back into the abbey until tomorrow, so we have to get Florian’s attention to sneak us in.    Now, even though I gave instructions that I was not to be disturbed, we must work quickly. Seeing a corpse up close can be unsettling for some. I hope you’re up to it. Yeah, dude, you’re such a badass.  Now then, you should probably take notes as we go. They might be useful later. Ah. Of course. No visible wounds. No blemishes. Teeth in good condition. Nothing unusual. Neck, shoulders, and chest are ordinary. I need to clean some blood away to examine the torso. Yes, there it is, a puncture wound between the sixth and seventh ribs.    What? Nuremberg inches are longer. I’ll write down Nuremberg inch. It wasn’t. It’s likely incidental, received while falling on his own knife. He must have some other wound that issued forth all the blood we found him in. It means it’s incredibly unlikely that Brother Piero stabbed the baron, but it doesn’t explain what actually killed the man. Brother PIero never should have picked up that knife. I’m sure the appearance of guilt never even crossed his mind. Now then, let’s move on. Lightning flashed when I took this screenshot. I may go back and take a better one later. Syphilis was known as the French disease in many places, the Neapolitan disease in France, the Spanish disease in the Netherlands, and the Christian disease in Turkey. I’m not familiar with it. It was first discovered twenty years ago by French soldiers visiting brothels in Naples. Anyway, it seems the baron was not the most faithful husband. Not uncommon among the nobility. I spent many years as a mercenary. Sex and death are common companions in that world. Besides, sex isn’t all that rare even in an abbey. Andreas really isn’t as worldly as he’d like to think. It’s not relevant to our examination, Andreas. Let’s continue. Other than a few blisters on his feet from what I assume are new shoes, there’s nothing wrong with his legs. Andreas, can you help me turn him over?  I don’t think it has anything to do with how he died, though. How could that have happened? I have no idea. Whatever the reason, it didn’t contribute to his death. Here it is. A rather dramatic head wound. In my experience, I’ve never seen someone walk away from a head wound of this severity. Too many and not enough. As grim as it sounds, there is always more to learn. Italian doctors try to examine as many corpses as they can to fully understand the mysteries of the body. The battlefields of Poland and Lithuania aren’t as ideal a learning environment as the University of Bologna, but they did provide an education, of sorts.  I appreciate your confidence. The wound looks like it was caused by a single powerful blow from a blunt object, probably no more than four or five inches across. The skull is cracked in a single spot and there’s a clear impression in the skin around it. It would take extraordinary precision to hit the same spot twice unless the baron were already dead. It’s likely he didn’t die immediately. How long he could [sic] have survived for? I’ve seen similar injuries in battle. The victims don’t last more than a few minutes, but it’s an agonizing death. Even so, he couldn’t have wandered far from where the blow was first struck. So he may not have been attacked in the chapter house?  Yes, that’s possible. The cloister connects directly to the chapter house but there’s a high risk of being seen. Anyway, whatever killed the baron was a blunt instrument of considerable heft. The part that impacted him was likely a little smaller than a fist. Unfortunately, I have to agree with you. I suppose that he was struck, drew his knife to defend himself, and fell on it before Brother Piero discovered him. So, I believe we’ve discovered two important things. Yes, exactly. If you can find what caused the blow, it may lead you to the killer. We also know that Piero didn’t stab the baron. We know that, and I suspect even the abbot knows that, but you may need more evidence to convince the archdeacon. Oh! There is one other item of interest. I found it in the baron’s jacket, but didn’t want to open it without you. I trust you to open it more carefully than I would. “The girl. The girl who died and the innocent with her. Matins. Chapter.” The girl? What girl? And what innocent? That could be anyone, and I’m not as familiar with the families as you are. Can you tell who wrote it? We don’t know anyone French or Flemish other than Guy (who would not write in bastard script working in a Bavarian monastery), so the second option is profoundly unhelpful in this case. If anything, whoever wrote this has more talent than either of them. What? Really? If not them… who? I wish you good luck finding the answer. Now, I’m sorry to rush you, but I must ask you to leave. Every minute you stay here is additional ri-There is a knock at the door.    Time to meet the doctor! Yes, uh, I’m in the middle of something. Could you return after supper? All right. Just give me a moment. (whispering) Andreas, I need you to hide yourself. You’re not supposed to be in the abbey until tomorrow, remember? Get behind the cupboard!  Andreas hides and puts on his best petulant child face. Florian goes to open the door, then returns with the doctor.  Now, what did you need? The abbot wanted me to examine the baron’s body before his wife arrives. It seems unnecessary at this point as I’ve just completed my own examination. Well, then what’s the harm in letting me take a look? Doctor Stolz, with all respect, I’ve finished. The cause of death is clear. If you had arrived an hour ago, I would have had no problem with your assistance. My dude is a little touchy about his status.  Andreas is not about to let himself be upstaged in any display of immature behavior.   Came from Nuremberg, boarding with peasants?You can just hear how he pronounces “peasants.” Some funny story about a failed attempt at university, I recall. Wait, what is he doing here? Wh- what?! Why? You’re delusional if you think threats are going to get me to apologize. It’s ridiculous. STRIKE FIRST  STRIKE HARD  NO MERCY  He quickly turns and runs off.   It will be all right. I’ll see you tomorrow, Andreas. Until then.  “The girl who died and the innocent with her.” What could it mean? And who wrote it?All good questions! Next time: investigating Lucky Steinauer
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Mar 21, 2023 20:51
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Hell yeah, show that doctor who's boss! He probably wouldn't have been able to know that much about the head wound as Florian, with his cushy university education.
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Mar 21, 2023 21:20
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You get an achievement for headbutting the doctor and it's the rarest one in the game, at least on Steam. Only 0.8% of players have it and I'm one of them. I love the rapscallion background!
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Mar 21, 2023 21:49
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Jokymi posted:You get an achievement for headbutting the doctor and it's the rarest one in the game, at least on Steam. Only 0.8% of players have it and I'm one of them. I love the rapscallion background! So that's how you get that achievement! Every single run I stayed hidden because I thought confronting the doctor would get Florian in trouble. Also for a later on meal opportunity we should visit Frantz to cement how much he is a "first-class rear end in a top hat".
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Mar 21, 2023 22:23
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Andreas knows who his brothers are, and will defend them come hell and high water. ... ... poo poo, we've already had High Water.
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Mar 21, 2023 23:42
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I find it hilarious that you get a "this will be remembered" popup for headbutting the doctor, as though the player needs to be told. Makes me imagine Andreas shouting "remember this, fuckface!" before taking the shot. 
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Mar 22, 2023 01:35
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Thanks to the comments about Werner in the thread before this update, I was pretty sure he was a freshly graduated pedantic lout, and Andreas' comments about doctors during the autopsy all but finalized it. I didn't expect to be proven right so quickly or forcefully. I cackled. It was glorious.
I brought my Drake fucked around with this message at 02:58 on Mar 22, 2023 |
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Mar 22, 2023 02:55
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I thought Andreas came from Nuremberg, not Glasgow!
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Mar 22, 2023 08:17
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RENEGADE INTERRUPT
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Mar 22, 2023 09:17
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Funnily enough, I wonder if that actually helped; the doctor seems like enough of a ponce to go "yep, sure was stabbed, that definitely killed him". "The girl who died and the innocent with her" sounds like it refers to pregnant girl.
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Mar 22, 2023 15:35
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ZCKaiser posted:
That's how I'm interpreting that as well. I'd also assume that the Baron probably had a role in impregnating the girl/woman to begin with.
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Mar 22, 2023 23:17
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IthilionTheBrave posted:That's how I'm interpreting that as well. I'd also assume that the Baron probably had a role in impregnating the girl/woman to begin with. Florian also pointed out that the baron had an STI and adultery was just something that nobles did. I have some guesses but I don't want to say them out loud yet.
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Mar 23, 2023 04:40
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IthilionTheBrave posted:That's how I'm interpreting that as well. I'd also assume that the Baron probably had a role in impregnating the girl/woman to begin with. ...that would also explain why the Prioress would be so keen on keeping the nuns away from him, if she had knowledge of this.
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Mar 23, 2023 10:21
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I like how everyone will blame STD on "those barbarians from that other country we don't like".
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Mar 23, 2023 10:57
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Alternate Scenes Part 1: Hedonist Theologian In this timeline, Andreas read one book by Saint Augustine and decided to base his entire personality on it. The point here is just to show off diversions in major choices and some special dialogue options from a different set of backgrounds. Don’t expect a ton of consistency or thoroughness, just some scattered highlights. Do expect Andreas to be the abbot’s best friend, because that’s the biggest difference from our canonical route so far.  What did you spend your time in Italy doing, anyway?  Why not? Priests tell us to emulate the lives of the saints. I revere Saint Augustine, who said, “Lord, make me chaste - but not yet!”Augustine Augustine of Hippo was an early Christian philosopher, theologian, and bishop of Hippo Regius. He is recognized as a doctor of the church and is most known for his works The City of God and his autobiographic Confessions as well as his development of the doctrine of original sin. Skipping ahead to our walk with Baron Rothvogel…   Not odd at all. It’s a good field of study if you want a position in the church. My late uncle was the abbot of Fulda. I spent many hours reading the manuscripts in their library with his permission.Fulda Town built around an old Benedictine abbey near the center of the empire. Fulda’s abbots are imperial princes and wield great power. He was a pious enough man, I suppose, but he wielded great power from that abbey.And the next choice…  Oh? Esoteric how? Mystical texts. Books on alchemy, invoking spirits, divination… purely academic, of course. He knows exactly what we’re talking about. I started with Ficino’s Corpus Hermeticum and my interest only deepened from there.Corpus Hermeticum A compilation of seventeen religious and philosophical treatises encompassing the soteriology of Hermes Trismegistus or “Thrice-Great Hermes.” The centuries-old texts reflect Egyptian, Greek, and Jewish traditions and ideas and were translated into Latin in the late 15th century by Marsilio Ficino and Lodovico Lazzarelli. Quite interesting, Andreas. I’ll make some time to speak with you more on this topic during my stay. We’re an adventure game protagonist, we’re not worrying about discretion. Our final background choice is Orator which basically gives you a bunch of free bonuses to persuasion checks all over the place. Nothing particularly interesting in the dialogue with Rothvogel there. We skip ahead to the first scriptorium scene.  Do not forget, Brother Guy, the fate of the youths who jeered the aged prophet Elisha outside of Bethel.  Bible studies pay off in pedantry just as much as Latin studies, but obscure religious references go over a lot better with this crowd. Then there’s Sister Zdena:   In the conversation with Sister Illuminata, education in theology is a major asset.   Yes, always, but they still must choose redemption. Should we go on sinning so grace will increase? Of course not. Fantasy leads to temptation. Temptation has led to the downfall of many men. And women. That is exactly when his words are most needed.For the heretical French book:   More sound than a condemnation from three bishops of Paris? Behold the power of academic name dropping! Albertus Magnus Renowned 13th century Dominican theologian, philosopher, astrologer, and bishop of Regensburg. A prolific writer, he was known primarily for his work on Aristotle and his knowledge of natural science. What is your argument, Doctor Maler? Both Albertus Magnus and Aquinas recognized the role of the intellect in allowing humans to exercise free will. Aquinas believed that it is ignorance, not knowledge, that leads to sins of the intellect. Even knowledge of heresy that corrupts the teachings of the holy church? Are we to believe that any falsehood, no matter how alluring and comforting, can withstand the light of truth? Destroying this book will not destroy the idea of heresy. Destroying it will not place our sinners’ souls closer to grace, just as reading it will not perch us on the precipice of damnation. Defeated by facts and logic!  I’m trusting you in this Andreas, against my better judgment. Don’t make me regret this.At dinner (lunch) time with Otto and Endris, if you start the conversation by complaining about Andreas’s sore neck, you get this:  Choosing the second option results in spending the entire meal in silence. Pentiment gives Andreas plenty of opportunities to be mean or dismissive to the working people of Tassing or just to take their landlord’s side against them. I appreciate that these dialogue options are in the game, so you can feel free to express a variety of opinions and experience the characters’ reasonable reactions to them. But I don’t plan on showing many examples like this because they’re unpleasant and not fun to participate in. Also, gently caress landlords.   On a related note, the Hedonist background is mostly just silly fun, but it lets you really go hard on interfering with Otto and Eva’s clearly established relationship, and it’s extremely icky. Let’s move on to some lighter content. If we’re not trying our hardest to suck up to the baron, we can really bother him by breaking decorum, but he’s too composed to react the way the abbot does to minor slights.    I neglected to show the mural in the chapter house before the murder.   Dance of Death An artistic allegory on the constancy of death. Illustrations often feature people from every station of society to communicate that death inevitably claims everyone, from the peasant to the emperor. During the big supper scene, there is one critical choice. The Orator option and the silent option have the same outcome here, but (and I haven’t tested to confirm) Orator may allow you to still earn the baron’s pin if you did everything else right up to this point.   Keeping quiet at supper makes a big difference to the abbot, and since he’s the one who survives the following day, his opinion probably has a bigger impact on the rest of the game.  Afterward, you’re likely to have an unpleasant encounter with Martin. It’s extremely difficult to pass this check if you’re not a Rapscallion.   Same to you, little buddy. At the murder scene, I forgot to include one screenshot:  It’s not of any real consequence to our investigation given our choices in the main playthrough, and we’ve already seen the autopsy scene. I’m gonna openly guess that the cause of death was just getting his head slammed against the wall, with no weapon involved. Speculation on the blood splatter on the wall makes the investigation slightly more interesting in this alt playthrough. If you know you know, and if you don’t know, you’ll see soon enough. We’ll wrap up today’s alternate story with a scene at the Gertner residence. Clara just told us about the spinning be.  Andreas Maler.  I’m not sure, but this may be the only way to see Clara’s angry face. I don’t even want to make a portrait for it.   It’s nothing against you, you’re a fine young man, but… Well, I’m glad you understand.And I’ll leave you on that profoundly uncomfortable note. This secondary run will resume after the main run finishes Act 1, so we can come back for some of the alternate investigation options and especially the alternate meal scenes.
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Mar 24, 2023 03:20
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[Be really uptight and grumpy about this.]
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Mar 24, 2023 04:23
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Man, I’m glad our Andreas is a relatively benign rapscallion. Some of these alternate dialogues are just cruel.
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Mar 24, 2023 08:20
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BassMug posted:Man, I’m glad our Andreas is a relatively benign rapscallion. Some of these alternate dialogues are just cruel. Yeah, it's like Disco Elysium. You can choose to be really mean if you want. ...I also find it interesting that Illuminata calls Andreas Doctor at one point.
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Mar 24, 2023 11:56
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s__herzog posted:During the big supper scene, there is one critical choice. The Orator option and the silent option have the same outcome here, but (and I haven’t tested to confirm) Orator may allow you to still earn the baron’s pin if you did everything else right up to this point. Can confirm - during my playthrough I chose the Orator option and easily earned the pin (the Orator option only loses you one or two points, and I had the Occultist background which I think gives you some extra opportunities to impress the baron)
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Mar 24, 2023 12:22
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Samovar posted:...I also find it interesting that Illuminata calls Andreas Doctor at one point. It wasn't in the transcription, but I'd be surprised if that's not highlighted in blue or green to show basically sarcasm? Interesting to see the alternate playthroughs, those really are different than any playthrough I've done.
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Mar 24, 2023 13:27
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If Martin doesn't tell you to eat poo poo, are you even living your life right?
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Mar 24, 2023 16:17
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Why is the Nuremburg/Innsbruck inches bit so drat funny?
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Mar 25, 2023 05:23
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MillennialVulcan posted:Why is the Nuremburg/Innsbruck inches bit so drat funny? Well, it's funny because there absolutely are people like that in real life, and they are every bit as annoying as the characters in these games find them. Plenty of games allow you to be as murderous as possible, but fewer games allow you to be annoying like this.
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Mar 26, 2023 14:07
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Part 10: The Cat in the Cradle After the autopsy, we’re set free again to choose who to eat with. The in-game map gives a handy list of meal invitations.    We definitely won’t be able to eat with everyone before the plot moves on and leaves a lot of missed dinners behind, so we have to be thoughtful about our meal choices. Right now, the thread’s choice to investigate Lucky first requires us to eat with Lucky and Agnes, because the rest of the town respects them too much to share details about their family history. If we want to get to the bottom of Lucky’s story, we need to hear it from him and Agnes directly, and that starts with breaking bread with them to earn their goodwill.    It would be my pleasure. Are you hungry now? Let’s eat, then.  Amen. Ah, I don’t mind it. She needs the support, and I’m happy to give it. Someone has to look after the women of this town, and Werner hardly cares to. I like how even these little portraits have blink cycles. He’s terrible. Haven’t you met him?As a matter of fact… but there’s no flag in this meal to allow us to comment on our personal interactions with Doctor Stolz.  A stuck-up rear end who thinks he knows everything just because he went to a fancy university! No offense meant to you of course, Andreas. You’ve never lorded your education over me. Pah. Else deserves better than his clammy attentions.   I try to do right by the women here, aso I hope they would do right by me. It’s the Christian thing to do. Even if the woman in question is Else Mülleryn. Is Else the miller’s wife?Duh, my dude, her surname is “miller’s wife.” Married to Lenhardt Müller, yes. I’m surprised you haven’t met her yet.The game hasn’t let me meet her yet! It’s not my fault!  There’s Lenhardt Müller, the richest man in town. He basically gets to set grain prices unilaterally because he’s the only miller in the area and he can afford to turn away anyone who he doesn’t feel like buying from. You get one guess about what kind of person he is. We will meet him at least a few times to confirm your assumptions. Did something happen to her? She lost a child a few weeks back. She was overjoyed when she finally quickened, but her bleeding returned soon after. It has been difficult for her. But she has been through it before. She will make it through again. We usually think of pasta as an Italian thing, but mixing eggs and flour to make noodles or various other dough shapes is not exactly a unique regional secret. The modern word for this dish is Maultaschen, or “mouth pockets” in English. There is a story that monks at a particular monastery in Swabia created this dish to put ground meat inside dough pockets during fasting periods (like Lent) so God couldn’t see that they were secretly eating meat.  She does dote on him, though Lenhardt hardly deserves it. Why’s that? The miller is not a kind man - not to the peasants and not to his wife. Spreading rumors is not Christian behavior, Agnes.It’s hardly a secret. The man has power in this town, and he makes certain we all know it. Take it as a caution, Andreas. Don’t get on the miller’s bad side. Andreas is not going to learn nuance at this stage of his life, we just need to live with this. I hope you will consider the power he has over the Gertners before you go looking for fun. They have fed and sheltered you during your time here. In your position, I would not make trouble for them. He’s trying, ok? The best thing we can do for Else is care for her as neighbors, like Christ tells us to. She isn’t the only one in Tassing who struggles in her marriage. Even my Brigita has her troubles. Logician finally being useful to probe for information rather than just annoying people. Our only living child, yes. God rest their souls. We should never have agreed to their marriage. She deserves better than Martin Bauer. She loves him, Lucky, and she had to marry sometime. What could we do? Found a man who isn’t such a useless poo poo. At least we got Wolff out of it. I’ll make sure he grows up solid. He’ll become a great stonemason. Just like his grandpa. Now, why don’t you tell Andreas about your work at the abbey? You said you found something strange in the building? Strange how? Ah, that. I was repairing a cracked wall down in the crypt. The abbey used to be a Roman fort, right, so it’s no spring hen. I bumped into a relief of the Virgin and a door slid open! Was the damnedest thing. That old abbey’s full of secrets, make no mistake. Anyway, stuck my head up through the trapdoor and one of the nuns screamed. You didn’t tell me that part!I felt bad for scaring them.  Ah, I probably should’ve knocked first. Never know what you’ll find behind a closed door. Speaking of work, I should get back to it. Still lots to fix after that storm.  See you around the abbey, I expect.  We will not be sneaking into the library tonight, because it would use up tomorrow’s first investigation period. We have other things to do with our morning. Tonight, we’re going to put the crimes on hold and just go to sleep. We head to the Gertner house and click on the bed to turn in.    There’s a toddler in the house. Sleeping all night is always a gamble. (I’m going to delete this line later, but first readers: someone please speak up if these screenshots are unreasonably dark for the facial expressions, and I will lighten them. If you think they look ok, cool, I will take your silence on the issue as tacit acceptance of the screenshot quality.)  Oh, it’s not morning. It’s the middle of the night, Ursula.   I see. Ha ha. Would you like me to tell you a story? Would that help you sleep? Mm.  Far up north, in Flanders, where Lenhardt’s mill came from, there’s a town by the sea. A hundred years ago, there was a great flood there on the feast of Saint Elizabeth.Saint Elizabeth The mother of John the Baptist. She became pregnant in old age after it was foretold by the archangel Gabriel. You know how mad your dad gets when the water comes through your farm? Well it was like that but much worse. If your dad saw Saint Elizabeth’s flood, he’d probably lose all his hair on the spot. The waters rose so high that everyone had to leave the town. Many families lost their homes. When the floodwaters went down, the townsfolk went to look for survivors. Would you believe that they saw a baby’s cradle floating in the water? I know. It strains credulity, but it’s about to get even stranger. There was a cat on the cradle. It was jumping back and forth to keep the waves from getting in. The townsfolk couldn’t believe it, so they slowly rowed their way out to the cradle.  Ursula abruptly turns around and walks back downstairs.   Makes more sense if you know Dutch.  The next day dawns. Now that the storm has passed, a lot more people are out in about, so we have a few things to do before committing to the next step in the investigation. Our first destination is the doctor’s house, in the north part of town. Werner is standing outside with a broken nose, a black eye, and a very sad face.   I warned the abbot of your activities. He was not pleased, to say the least.Joke’s on you, we were already on the abbot’s poo poo list, there is no possible way for us to piss him off any further.  I am 100% willing to believe that there was slang translating to “climb up his own rear end” in 16th century Germany, and I hope some scholar of historical profanity can confirm. You speak of a man of God, Maler, be respectful. Hm. If you say so. Before I go, could you answer a question for me? Do you know how the elements relate to the astrological signs? Are you serious?  It’s very simple. Even someone with a bachelor’s degree should be able to understand. Each astrological sign is ruled by one of the four elements. Aries, Leo, and Sagittarius are fire signs. Cancer, Scorpio, and Pisces are water. Air rules over Gemini, Libra, and Aquarius. And now let’s see the power of your trivium education. What signs can you infer are ruled by earth. Good, now leave and never return.Haha, you wish. We’ll see you again someday. Here ends the lesson, Master Maler.That was absolutely delightful. Our next stop is the mill. Today is the first time in the game when the Müller family is outside and available to visit.  It is extremely obvious that these are the wealthiest people in town.   Forgive me, I’ve forgotten your name. Andreas Maler, master artist.Excuse me?  Oh, a master at such a young age? It’s… impressive. That’s better, don’t get ahead of yourself. What is… that like? Ah, to live a dream…The characterization is not very subtle here.   The mill… Yes, that’s me. I heard Clara and Eva had an artist boarding with them. That must be very exciting. Perhaps Eva more than Clara, hm?We’ve only shared a handful of words with Eva so far, and Clara has been a perfectly gracious host, so I don’t know what you might be getting at. Oh. I only meant… living on a farm, among the townspeople. Isn’t it very lively? Ursula brings some joy to the household, though.    Have you finished with your gabble? There’s work that needs doing! Oh no… I’m sorry, I have to get to my labors. Of course. I apologize if I’ve bothered you. Until later, Mistress Mülleryn. (whispers) Until then.The next member of the Müller household is Staub (English: “dust”).  And then there’s Paul.  Paul, right? I don’t think we’ve talked before. I’m Andreas. I’m staying with the Gertners. Oh. But you’re not a farmer. Why are you living with the farmers? They’re letting me board with them while I work in the abbey’s scriptorium. You’re a monk? I’m an artist. Oh! Like you do drawings? Drawing, painting, calligraphy. If it goes in a book, I can put it there. Oh. Is that… how do you get money? I don’t understand how you need a university education in logic to explain to a child that you get paid to be an artist (an established profession with guilds and everything), but there you go. Art is a job, just like being a miller is a job. But it’s also a calling. I didn’t- my dad says-  Not where he can hear! Do you like to draw, Paul?  He gets mad.  Can I tell you a secret? Sure. Sometimes I draw on the ruins. In the meadow, where dad can’t see. Cats. Mom. I don’t know, stuff. … I probably shouldn’t be talking to you. Dad won’t like it. You’re probably right. I’ll go. Until later, Paul. And hey, keep drawing, all right? I will. Bye.There’s one more person to meet today.   How could you tell? You don’t smell like sheep. Quite unlike the Gertners.Also not subtle.  For peasants, maybe. Not a curious one among them, excepting Eva. How is she, by the way? I’m only curious. She used to bring their barley to me, but Peter insists on delivering it now. A shame. She’d shown some curiosity about the mill. I’d hoped to foster that.Please proceed with the speculation about Lenhardt and Eva. I’ll return to this topic later.  I’m not really interested in buttering this guy up, but Andreas can’t resist nerding out about whatever he likes. There are many in the farmlands along the Leie, particularly west of Ghent. Ah, the Lys. A lovely, uh, range of hills.  She’s the only windmill in Bavaria, did you know? Constructed in exacting detail from Dutch specifications. The gem of the Alps. And none of the incurious dolts here can appreciate it. Except you.  I should be going. Until later. Until later, Maler.Finally, we take a stroll to the base of the aqueduct.  Next time: Investigating Lucky Steinauer, for real
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Mar 27, 2023 04:45
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Andreas trying to tell a bedtime story is just 
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Mar 27, 2023 06:02
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The kids in this game are just too drat adorable. I just want to pinch their cheeks... ...until I remember that when I was a kid and that was done to me, I didn't like it in the slightest, neither did any of my peers. So then I stop wanting to do that. Samovar fucked around with this message at 07:16 on Mar 27, 2023 |
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Mar 27, 2023 07:13
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Ahh, I enjoyed the dissonance in doing the meal with Lucky a bit later (more specifically after the "actual" investigation into him, particularly if you fail horribly at it), nearly as awkward as one of the other meal opportunities. I also didn't even realise there was a scene with Ursula at this point because I inevitably snuck into the library the first chance I got, turns out you can miss it.
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Mar 27, 2023 07:48
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Red Mike posted:Ahh, I enjoyed the dissonance in doing the meal with Lucky a bit later (more specifically after the "actual" investigation into him, particularly if you fail horribly at it), nearly as awkward as one of the other meal opportunities. I also didn't even realise there was a scene with Ursula at this point because I inevitably snuck into the library the first chance I got, turns out you can miss it. Yeah I also missed the adorable storytime scene. As for the meal with Lucky I screwed up following him so badly that later when I asked about a meal I was straight up told to gently caress off
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Mar 27, 2023 09:48
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Mainwaring posted:Yeah I also missed the adorable storytime scene. As for the meal with Lucky I screwed up following him so badly that later when I asked about a meal I was straight up told to gently caress off Don't want to turn this into a redacted document reading but yeah, same; you can still have the meal I think by talking to Agnes unless you've been an rear end in a top hat I think. That's what makes the entire scene extremely awkward. I don't know why but I assumed there was a set of choices where you can also get decked in the face as part of this. Also when it came to this point I have to say internally my thought process was "wow you really just walked into their house and basically invited yourself to their food?", although at the time I was still kind of assuming internally that everyone in Tassing but the abbot/monks/doctor/miller were all basically struggling to have enough to eat at that point. It still comes across incredibly rude to me even besides that though!
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Mar 27, 2023 09:53
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I think the "can I eat with you right now" thing is largely a gameplay necessity so you don't have to worry about planning in advance. Everyone has enough to go around right now, so one extra guest at one meal is no trouble, and I'm sure welcoming visitors to your table is a nice break from routine.
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Mar 27, 2023 13:56
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