More Beefs With Fictional Employers

It's been a year and a half since the last one, but I felt it was time for another Cathartic Video Game Level post! 

I've found the trick in coming up for subjects for this is that "cool" is not necessarily "cathartic". I love the Shalebridge Cradle level of Thief: Deadly Shadows, but it's because I find it so nerve wracking and ominous. The cathartic part is when I've maneuvered Garrett through successfully. Which doesn't mean there isn't a perfectly good level to discuss in the game. In fact, it's the level that more or less proceeds the jaunt to Shalebridge Cradle. 

Up to this point in the game, you've stolen several important mystical items for the Keepers, self-appointed shadowy protectorate of the city you live in. Acquiring the Jacknall's Paw and Builder's Chalice have put you on the hit list of the two major religious groups on the city. Snagging the Glyph Key pitted you against 8-foot tall, sword-wielding fishmen, and the path to the Compendium of Reproach went through the undead, as well as a house full of conniving mourners. Yes, Garrett walked with decent hauls from each trip, but he's still the only one risking his neck, and the Keepers aren't good at showing gratitude. 

That last bit becomes abundantly clear when Head Keeper Orland pins the death of the Chief Interpreter squarely on Garrett. How Garrett inflicted the damage is ignored. As a thief, Garrett easily escapes prior to his execution, but he's on his own. The few Keepers who know he's innocent won't stand against Orland, which means the only option is to sneak back into Keeper headquarters and investigate, so perhaps the true murderer can be uncovered and Garrett's name cleared. 

This may sound bad, going into the lion's den, but it's a great opportunity. Ever since Garrett started working with the Keepers, the game instructs me to do nothing to antagonize them. I can still steal, but I have to do so without so much as rendering a single Keeper unconscious. Now the Keepers are already after my head, having dispatched their telepathic assassins after me, so whacking a few of them (OK, at least a dozen) on the head with a blackjack can't make things any worse. I can rob the stuffed shirts, beat them up (or kill them if I feel like it, but that makes more noise than I prefer), and track down the real killer. 

This level is even the one which presents Garrett with his true enemy, the old hag who animates stone statues, and orders them to seek out Garrett and 'cut him until bleeding stops, crush him until breathing stops'. Yikes. The one downer is that on the night I raid the compound, Orland decided to venture into the city and attempt to catch me on his own. By the next time our paths cross, he's realized his error (though he's still a Henry Peter Gyrich-level jackass about it), and we're teamed up again. Which means I can't shoot him with a fire arrow. Dang. At least he gets his.