jtr7 on 23/8/2006 at 22:04
This may enlighten or confuse, but I'll post anyway.
1.a. “Basso” is Italian for “low.” He doesn’t seem have a deep voice. It may be that the developers wanted to suggest that he’s a lowlife, a lower class person, a criminal, and/or of low morals. I can’t find a connection between fire-lighting and his name.
1.b. “Boxman” probably means “safe-cracker,” a person who specializes in breaking into safes. Getting past locks is his specialty, too. That’s why he does it for you in “Running Interference.” If fire-lighting includes blowing up a safe to break into it, then there’s a connection, but I doubt it.
2. Popular opinion says “Fancy” is synonymous with caprice.
3. “Fair” here refers to both a market and a festival. It’s a place where there is shopping and entertainment. It may be that the “cash pits” are the main draw, and there is a market for people who don’t necessarily wish to gamble. Like a mini Las Vegas, it may have been built with gambling money and for the purpose of gambling, but it offers more than that.
4. It’s a “cleft” in the “crags.” A hollow place or split within the steep, rugged rocks that define that mountain range. The briefing shows exactly that as we zoom in to see the topmost part of the Hammer-built structure cupped within a hollow of the rocky range.
5. “Cutty” is Scottish or N. English, and literally means “short,” but is used in reference to a pipe or spoon. HOWEVER, it is very interesting to note that “cutty stool” is a Scottish term for “a seat in a church, in which offenders sat and were publicly rebuked by the minister.”
As an aside, “Cutty Sark” is a brand of whisky, and if the name is Scottish, it means “short shirt” or “short chemise.” Sexy brew!
6. “Dreck” is Yiddish slang for “trash,” or “rubbish,” and comes from a German word for “dirt.” Sounds like a dumpsite, or a landfill. “Boun” is Middle English for “ready,” and is a root word for “bound”—as in, “ready to go,” or “headed for.” I would say “Dreckboun” means “Headed for the Landfill,” or “Going to the Dump,” a fitting name. “Hellbound” is a vague possibility.
7. The first “hammers saws” would be written, “Hammers’ saws.” The second instance would be written, “did unto the Hammers as they had done to the trees.” An attempt to translate this quote into plain, expository English:
“The foolish humans built walls of rock. Then, in order to make a roof to place atop the walls, the Hammerites used saws to cut down trees and strip the bark off. They made mockery of the Lord of the Forest as they did so. When the Lord of the Forest learned of this, he sent Bugbeasts to confront the foolish humans. And the judgment of the Lord of the Forest was that the humans be cut down and stripped of their skin in a way similar to what the humans did to the trees. The Lord of the Forest used the Hammerites’ rotting skins to make a house.”So, it’s about revenge. An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, and more specifically, skins for skins. This is one of two Pagan quotes that speak of the skinning of humans. In TDS, the Hag’s doing all the skinning.
And why “Bugbeasts?” Because they are expressly female, and “beastesses” refers to some specie of female Maw beast. Earlier concepts for the game had another type of specifically female beasts that were never implemented. Since the canon gender of the Bugbeasts is female, these are the likely reference within the quote.
8. The Trickster may have made decorations. He made at least one house of skins, so he may have decorated it with sculptures of birds made from men’s bones. Also, “feathers” is meant to rhyme with “fetters.” It sounds like he entraps his victims in a way similar to what Viktoria did to Garrett: Using plants to hold the victims down, where they die and feed the plants, and then he comes back later to collect their bones. A lesson learned from the Venus Flytrap.
Feathers, in the archaic sense, refer to plumage, or attire, and dress. The phrase, “a feather in one’s cap,” refers to a distinctive accomplishment, or an achievement worthy of pride.
9. “Stringsie foolsie man” means the man is as a marionette, a puppet, being manipulated, and he doesn’t know it, which makes him a fool.
A possible expository translation:
“We danced for joy in our victory. The Lord of the Forest caused the foolish human to dance with us against his will. Storms rose and added their loud, happy noise to the celebration. The darkness grew, adding scary shadows. Hungry fires grew and consumed happily. As we took our celebration elsewhere, we left the foolish human to be consumed by the storms, the darkness, and the fires as an offering of gratitude.”10. Garrett’s been wayward and become increasingly caught up in things he doesn’t understand. He does things his own way, and for his own reasons. The Keepers, aware of the prophecies, want Garrett to do things their way, so the prophecies will come true and the Balance will shift where they wish it to. Garrett is being told his next goal has to serve a greater purpose. His selfish motives are secondary. The Balance must be kept. His own choices have almost led him beyond the point of no return. He cannot simply go home. He cannot let the Trickster have his way.
11. “I’m through with heroics” means “I’m through performing heroic actions.” He doesn’t consider himself a hero. He takes pride in being selfish. Doing good deeds goes against his cynical nature—at the time he said this, anyway.
12. “Keystone tree,” in the real world, refers to a species of tree that is vital to the ecosystem. A keystone species is a species whose very presence contributes to a diversity of life and whose extinction or removal would consequently lead to the extinction of other forms of life. In-game, this tree must add something to or subtract something from the environment, allowing the rest of the flora to grow well. I haven’t yet looked at that mission to see how it’s laid out, so I don’t know if “keystone” refers to the “top” of an arch-shaped arrangement of the trees.
13. “Winter tunnels” suggests they were originally meant for use during inclement weather, especially during the winter when conditions outside were too intense or dangerous for people to move about in. They could move about the compound and stay safe and dry, and see where they were going. It probably serves as a place to store food and other supplies to help the people get through the winter.
14. My first guess is Gerwitz is the one employed to do a job (and not necessarily murder), but I don’t have Thief Gold. As far as I could find, his is the only name associated with the word "contract" that isn't a known construction company worker/owner.
15. I’d like to know more about the Arches myself. The word is usually used to describe an entrance or support structure of that shape, but may simply mean any structure of that shape. Without more in-game knowledge,
I’d say you are correct.
16. Is it this safe in
Fig. 22 on this page?(
http://www.thief-thecircle.com/guides/keeperchapel/Guild/) http://www.thief-thecircle.com/guides/keeperchapel/Guild/
17. The name “Ryen” can be of either gender. The name “Lisalle” tends to be feminine. Maybe they were a couple. It is interesting that Ryen and Lisalle are not found in Cragscleft, but Tarquis is.
18. “Dealer” is the person who deals the cards, yes, but is also the one at the table that collects the money lost by the player and gives it to the people in charge of the establishment.
19. “Flux” is Middle English for “flow.” In this case, it means an excessive discharge of a bodily fluid or liquid matter from the body, especially from the bowels. He may have died from dysentery, for example.
20. No direct information. Based on the context, I’d say he/she was in charge of watching for hostile creatures, like zombies, and warning the workers who were building the barricades around that section of the Old Quarter. There was likely more than one, to cover different shifts, and one died in the line of duty. It would make sense that superstitious people would leave money at the Watchman’s Grave, to pay the Watchman’s spirit to watch over them, and increase their chances of staying alive.
21. I don't know. (“Below” also refers to the black abyss you must jump, but I digress.) Hmm. A riddle. “Directly before their eyes” seems too specific and near the face to refer to the Craymen, or other creatures. Not one’s self, either. Nevermind.
22. “Dayport” suggests a port that is mostly used during daylight hours. It may be safer for the ships to come and go during the day. The ocean may be too shallow and the ocean floor may be too rocky to risk navigating through when visibility is poor.
23. “Master” just means he’s in charge, the boss, the one whom the others serve, the ruler, the authority. It is an appropriate term, Ramirez’ ego aside. It’s a respectful title, but in the games it’s tainted by the megalomania of the crime lords and nobility, or the derision of their hirelings.
24.
I’ll do it, but I have to ask…: Is the quote-list from Thief Gold exactly the same as the one from Dark Project? I have Dark Project’s quote-list. And what about the other two quote-lists from Metal Age and Deadly Shadows?
