"Compendium of Reproach" - your theory....

DreadLord on 16/2/2007 at 15:32

Greetings,

Though it may be a topic which has been discussed many times before, I´d like to know your opinion in short about this:

For myself, I have three versions about the booK:

1. It´s a glyph book, which contains the clearest of all prophecies about the DarkAge, so that it would be very likely for the Keepers to identify Gamall as the Betrayer...

("Reproach">>>because the One who has written it found out the Keeper themselves are the "Source of Evil"...)

Thats why she hid the book on a forgotten island decades ago - the Abysmal Gale found it and the Crew turned into undead because glyphs contains energies which turn "common men" into undead.....(even Caduca and all the Keepers themselves get harmed by its energies as it can be seen in some cutscenes....)

So it wasnt a part of Gamalls plan that the Book leaves the island...

2. Not the book turned the Crew into undead but Gamall herself used her powers to turn the crew into undead, so that no one would ever dare to enter the ship.....

Gamall planned that the book should be hidden in the ship....

3. The book not only contains useful information, but also some special necromantic powers like the "Book of Ash". So not glyphs in general turns common people into undead just "special" glyphs.....

What do you think?

Snakeskin on 16/2/2007 at 16:59

Like the third one best. I dont feel like magic in general is necromantic, and many glyphs are a "neutral" form of magic as used by keepers.

Swiss Mercenary on 18/2/2007 at 20:54

Not a fan of #2. If she could get to it, makes no sense to leave it there, when she's got her own sanctuary to hide it in.

DSept on 19/2/2007 at 01:07

My memory of the precise story for Thief III is a bit foggy but #3 sounds the most likely; I can't imagine her leaving the book on the ship or the island on purpose, not when she could hide it in her own sanctuary or even chuck to the bottom of the ocean.

Dark Arrow on 19/2/2007 at 16:45

I recall that what happened to the ship is not revieled in the plot, but from what I gathered, the ship was struck by disease and the sailors died to that. I doubt it had anything to with the book or with Gamall. Fate lead the book back to the City.

However I do remember reading some logs that were cut from the game, about Gamall being somehow behind the death of the sailors. My memory could be wrong though. Still, those logs if they exist, where cut from the game.

Garretttds on 19/2/2007 at 22:06

I have to agree with the first one. Not sure why..
~Garretttds~

Elentari on 20/2/2007 at 23:57

I may be remembering this wrong. . .but the book was already OFF the ship at the time of the accident. IE, it had been brought back by the captain. He obviously had time to hide it. They go off again on a voyage, and come back and are . . . zombified.

Anyway, if I am recalling this correctly, it makes more sense to me that they found the book, come back, the captain hides it, they go off again, Gamall gets wind that they found the book and goes looking for it. She doesn't find it on the ship, turns them all into zombies (or kills them all, and whatever happens to make them undead happens, etc) and leaves again. Or maybe they didn't even get out of port after the captain hid it. Maybe he just got back after hiding it or something and she visited and was mad because she couldn't find it.

I'm fairly sure there is something in the readables somewhere that indicates Gamall was behind the crew being dead. Otherwise what is the point of having the crew killed like that? It would be just as easy for Garrett to get on the ship with a live crew, find the book had been moved and leave again as it would be to have a ship causing an undead plague on the city. :P

DJ Riff on 21/2/2007 at 17:24

There's a text DOC3mateslog.sch. It doesn't appear in the game, maybe because the Abysmal Gale was planned more huge than we see it. Anyway, here it is:

The captain's got us hauling out the cargo searching for something. Whatever it is, can't it wait ‘til we're back in port? We'll be out of food in a few days, and water's short. We don't have time for this. And I told him so. Didn't even answer. Not like Moira. Not like him at all.

Day 45-
Moira's search went on through the night. He's tossing our cargo overboard after he's made sure it ain't what he's after. The men are tired and confused. Don't want to question his orders in front of the crew, but that's our profits going in the water! Cook says he ain't been eating, so I sent him topside with a tray of the captain's favorite. I ain't never seen anyone look so deranged. Poor ol' Cook, he'll be missed.

Day 46-
The captain is out of his mind! Once everything was over the side and he still didn't have what he was lookin for, he started screaming! - Where is it? Do you have it?! - None of us have a clue what he's on about. My duty now is to get the remaining men home. I never thought I'd be one for mutiny, but there's no other way. We got the knives ready. It's now or never.

And Here's my thoughts:

1. Captain Moira found The Compendium in some cave, where he tried to hide his treasures.
2. Before arriving to the City, he left it in his mansion's hideout, no one else knew that.
3. Gamall heard about the Abysmal Gale, and guessed about Terrible Storm prophecy.
4. She got on a ship while it was in the ocean somehow, killed the captain and obtained his form.
5. She searched all of the ship for the Compendium, but the crew didn't know anything about it.
6. Most of the cargo was thrown away during the search, the crew rose a rebellion, and they all were killed by gamall. Maybe their life forces were drained to feed her Stone Warriors.

Palantir on 22/2/2007 at 03:10

Those log can be found in the Abysmal Gale...
Well, at least the first two

Quote Posted by DJ Riff

1. Captain Moira found The Compendium in some cave, where he tried to hide his treasures.
2. Before arriving to the City, he left it in his mansion's hideout, no one else knew that.
3. Gamall heard about the Abysmal Gale, and guessed about Terrible Storm prophecy.
4. She got on a ship while it was in the ocean somehow, killed the captain and obtained his form.
5. She searched all of the ship for the Compendium, but the crew didn't know anything about it.
6. Most of the cargo was thrown away during the search, the crew rose a rebellion, and they all were killed by gamall. Maybe their life forces were drained to feed her Stone Warriors.

Hmmm, this makes sense. But what about the Zombies part?
Was there any clues that raising a Stone Warrior requires life forces?

DJ Riff on 22/2/2007 at 05:18

Palantir

Quote:

Those log can be found in the Abysmal Gale...
Well, at least the first two

Can't be "first two", 'cause it's one text file — either it appears in the game, or not.
Where did you find it? Maybe you mixed it up with the captain's log:
Day 42-
Cook outdid himself tonight. A fine meal. At least at the officer's table. And why not? We've done well on this trip, and tomorrow morning I'll announce to the men that we'll be steering for home. I'm looking forward to seeing my Edwina. I guess a scarf of hers is just as good a lucky piece as that telescope of mine.

Day 43-
Weather's been fine. We got a full hold and are headin' for home. Should be there in less th

Seen in subtitles:
[a ghost, writing in his log] Let's see now…Captain's Log, Day 43…weather's been fine…we got a full hold and are headin' for home. Should be there in…[turns to look behind him] now what? Who's that? I'm not to be disturbed when I'm…stay back! What are you- ! Ah! [Screams as he dies…dissipates…]

I think we could see this scene in captain's chamber, if devs had more time… :(

ADD
Here's the soundfile:
(http://djriff.newmail.ru/thief/Sound/m13v03a.mp3)

And some conversation:

— You got an opinion about the quarantine, Blind Billy?
— What's the point. If something bad's gonna happen, it happens in Docks, am I right?
— Guess so.
— Anyway, you can't trust the City Watch, specially the ones here in the Docks. They's cut from a different cloth, they are. Bad as they come.
— You're just mad about the quarantine.
— It's more than that. Something fishy happens, and they don't do nothing. But for hard working folk like myself…I gotta pay 'em dues just so they won't close the place up.
— Whadya mean "fishy"?
— Like the time that old lady came in here…asking about the Abysmall Gale…how it got its name…where it is out at sea. Then a few days later…the ship comes back…all hands lost.
— You told the Watch about the old lady?
— Course I did. But they won't do nothing about it. Never do. That's what I'm talking about.