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Forbidden Rites - A Fan Mission for Thief 2
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Author: Pete Willhite (Krush)
Date of release: Sometime in October 2005.


Description: This is my first completed FM, it takes place in a Hammerite fortress. The story takes place a year after Thief 2.


Briefing: 

	I'm about out of cash again. Sheriff Mosley made sure I got some decent reward money for getting rid of Karras. After she explained to the nobles that they would have all been turned into piles of rust without me, several of them were more than happy to contribute to the Garrett Retirement Fund.  

	Unfortunately, some bad bets on frogbeast races wiped out most of my savings. I could have gone back to stealing from petty merchants without trouble, but I did something stupid. I got drunk and tried to break into the Baron's palace.

Long story short, I ended up in a cell. Since the City owed me a debt of thanks, I didn't get a hand chopped off. This time. Mosley made it very clear to me that she's done looking the other way when it comes to my nighttime activities. I think I'd better get out of the City for a while. I'll go see how my old friend Roderick's doing over in Stonewarden. He's settled down with a girl and quit thieving. I'll see if they'll rent me a room for a month or two...

January 14th - Stonewarden is a small town in the mountains west of the City. It's named for the old Hammerite fortress that overlooks the town from the mountain pass. What a boring little place this is. At least there's a good tavern. Roderick's girl Brenna seems suspicious of me, but hey, I don't plan on stealing their silverware - it's not good quality.

February 2nd - Well, the rustic charm of this place has just about worn off. I've been down at the tavern drinking with Roderick the last few nights. He used to like an ale or two now and then, but he's really started putting the stuff away! It must be that sharp-tongued woman of his. She's starting to make noises about me moving out. Well, no problem, I was thinking about heading back to the City anyway.

February 9th - Oh great, a gang of Hammerites arrived last night and started working on fixing up the abandoned fortress. I'd better not use my real name.

February 25th - Good news - the Hammers have started hiring some local tradesmen to help out up at the castle, and Roderick got a job up there. Maybe Brenna will get off his back for a while. Now if he can just stay sober...

March 19th - I guess some big boss Hammerite by the name of Father Gregor showed up and started cracking the whip around there. Maybe even literally. Roderick's been complaining about how hard this guy makes everyone work.

March 30th - Roderick came down to the tavern tonight with a big purple mark on his face. I guess the boss Hammer didn't like Roderick's bricklaying skills. I told him to quit but I guess the money's too good.

April 8th - Something strange is going on up there. Roderick and another worker didn't return last night, and then after dark I saw a messenger on horseback riding down the mountain pass like the Trickster was on his tail.

April 10th - All right, now I'm worried. A couple of the townsfolk tried to go up to the castle to ask about the workers, but the Hammers told them to shove off. I've got to get inside and find out what's going on. Even Hammerites need food, so I'll try to sneak in with one of the supply wagons.

April 14th - Well, the easy part is over with. I've made it into Stonewarden castle. A merchant by the name of Simon Lannister helped me get in. Simon brings a shipment of food up here every week, and a large bribe persuaded him to bring me along as his 'assistant.' We made it in just before dark, so we're expected to unload our stock in the morning and get the hell out.

Now comes the hard part. The Hammers have put us up in a guesthouse just inside the outer walls. There's a guard downstairs - nice enough fellow, but he's here to keep an eye on us. I doubt he'd be so friendly if I tried to go wander around in the middle of the night, so I'll have to get out without him seeing me. There's also an archer on the wall across the courtyard watching the guesthouse, and other guards walking around the grounds. Whatever they're doing, they sure don't want us to see it. 

I'm glad I didn't try to bring a sword or bow with me - we got extensively searched at the front gates. I feel pretty naked with only a blackjack, so I'll have to find some weapons inside - and if I have time to pick up some gold too, that's just gravy. My main concern is finding Roderick. 

No point in writing about it anymore...time for action!

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* Play Information * 

Game: Thief 2
Mission Title: Forbidden Rites
File name: miss20.mis
Difficulty Settings: no
Equipment store: 
Map / Automap: no
New graphics: yes
New sounds: no
Multi language support: no

Briefing : no


* Construction * 

Build Time: About a year

Giving credit where credit is due:

To Sluggs for his glass dome, Targa for his Hammerite pews and magic staff, Nameless Voice for his reskinned ropes, David Gurrea and UnDule for new textures, Dark Arrow for a new Hammerite crossbowman model, Sledge for his haunt skin, Eshaktaar for his new hanging lamp model, Schwaa for his bronze spotlight model, and to Frobber for his new Hammerite novice skins.

A special thanks to Vigil since I robbed more objects from him than anyone else!  His wonderful Thief-enhancing work can be found at: www.washboardabs.net/thief/

To all of the above, to all of the other FM authors who inspired me, and to the people at the TTLG forums for all their support and DromEd troubleshooting help, let me just give a BIG thank you!

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* Level information * 

This level is Darkloader ready.

I am 99% sure that it's possible to ghost this level, but there is more than enough equipment available to support any play style.

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* Copyright * 

Distribution of this level is allowed as long as it is free and the package is kept intact.

This level was not made and is not supported by Looking Glass Studios or Eidos Interactive.