The Village Trilogy

The Village Trilogy (Mura no san busaku 村の三部作) or simply the Village is a Garry's Mod horror trilogy created by the mod creator Zana. The series entails a demonic outbreak that one day terrorizes a Russian village and its neighboring towns, and the two young protagonists that must brave the outbreaks respectively, deciding their own fates based on their actions throughout their journeys. 
Garnering a following due to its unique puzzles, UI and paced gameplay, the Village was released on 2018 to much critical acclaim before outright concluding the series on a cliffhanger, with the first two chapters following a boy during the initial demonic outbreak and the third chapter revolving around another boy in a neighboring village narrowly escaping with the help of a priest. 
== Gameplay ==
Adapting the sound ques and environments of the similarly constructed horror series of Emnu known as Nyctophobia and Frozen Winter, the Village centers around solving various puzzles through information gathering and making decisions on how to approach many environments, notably the investigation into Bootmans house and the hypothermia featured during the heavy rain post Church escape. The player can approach any of these situations as they would like, however much of the game does whittle down to waking up and going back to bed.
Despite the atmospheric elements used to ground the series, environments are open and somewhat empty with little to no G-man esc Easter eggs to be seen throughout the chapters, aside from numerous collectibles scattered throughout the series to unlock doors placed at the end of respective chapters, akin to the collectibles used in Emnus maps. This can include the "Holy Relic Cactus" and Pages.
== Series History ==
=== The Village: Chapter I ===
One late night, the Protagonist had gone for a stroll through the village before retreating from an unnerving presence stalking them. Hiding in a bail of hay and falling asleep, they later awaken in their family barn and take the chance to finally return home and go back to bed. Using an old hole in the wall hidden behind an old bush, the Protagonist returns to their home and shortly rests before entering the kitchen to fix themselves something to eat.
Returning to bed and being once again unable to sleep due to the unnerving darkness outside their window and their previous feeling of being stalked, the Protagonist makes a dash for the restroom on the upper floor only to have second thoughts upon hearing footsteps. Once again falling asleep, the Protagonist finds themselves in a dream, encountering a desktop malfunction attempting to contact a friend of the strange and unnerving presence in town and being assaulted shortly after by a strange creature upon reaching the front door.
Awakening in a panicked state, the Protagonist finally grows the courage to approach the upper floor, finding their parents room littered with blood and debris with no bodies to be found. Obtaining a flashlight from the basement and hearing a news report of various incidents around the general area from a radio on the balcony, the Protagonist leaves their home in order to hide in a nearby abandoned mine shack, using the closet to evade a mysterious creature lurking about. Unfortunately, upon leaving the building they are caught by the creature and dragged off to the local church.
=== The Village: Chapter II ===
Not long after their capture, the Protagonist is bound in a cage in the catacombs of a Church located in Eurasia. Upon gaining consciousness, a strange creature akin to the one that had attacked their village appears and breaks them free, even protecting them further into the crypt by attacking the other creatures roaming about. Venturing out of the crypt, the Protagonist is able to take refuge in the church above as a horrible thunder storm begins to rage outside.
Finding a misplaced bible on the ground and placing it back on a podium, the violent storm bursts open the doors to the tool shed, allowing the Protagonist to access the basement and decipher a puzzle on the balcony. Once completed, a secret slab reveals a hidden room in the basement allowing the Protagonist to hold a rite or leave. Regardless of their choice, upon finishing they are forced out of the church and into the violent and freezing storm, finding the various houses to take refuge in from the rain.
As they pass through the valley and various houses, the Protagonist finds nothing but the decaying corpses of the former villagers and takes note that they are still being followed by the creatures and protected by the one that appeared in the Crypt. Eventually making their way back home, the Protagonist is forced to hide in a crate as the creatures surround the house alongside the creature that had been protecting them, arriving just in time to rescue them once again. Upon being rescued, one of two endings will play out depending on the Protagonists actions in the church.
GOOD ENDING: The protagonist does not perform the rite and is dragged away from the wreckage of their village, rescued by the friendly creature and informing them to find the other villagers that had survived before bidding them farewell.
BAD ENDING: The protagonist performs the rite and gains a power over the creatures by giving up their humanity, being unaffected by the cold and hard rain and also gaining a new body, but however becoming tainted by demonic energy in the process. The friendly creature drags the Protagonist away from the wreckage of their village and is forced to kill them in order to keep the infestation around the village from growing further.
=== The Village Chapter III ===
In a distant neighboring village, a new Protagonist arrives home as the sun begins to set. Upon making dinner and settling down with a gaming session on their computer, they turn in for the night and awaken to a smoke like creature looming over their bedroom window. Appearing outside their home and breaking into their kitchen, the Protagonist is sent flying and knocked out, forced into a nightmare of a foggy metallic and flesh covered labyrinth accompanied by a strange distant song.
Approaching a closed door and listening to the music, the Protagonist finds themselves in the kitchen. Shaking off the nightmare and returning to bed, the Protagonist once again awakens to find that the creature has begun to haunt their home, knocking at their front door and manifesting around the house to attack. Taking refuge in their parents room after the creature had hid in their own bedroom, the Protagonist once again dozes off. Met with yet another nightmare of an abandoned foggy factory.
Upon crawling their way out of the factory, the Protagonist seemingly wakes in the outhouse of their backyard, approaching the front door only to be jumped by a creature and reawaken to their stoves alarm. Confiding in themselves to venture out, the Protagonist prepares one last meal and heads into the village in order to investigate the strange phenomenon. With not a soul to be found aside from the village Priest, the Protagonist enters the canals and takes shelter in the Priests home, being informed that the strange creature had already gotten to the rest of the villagers and that not even firearms are enough to stop it.
Knowing full well of the creatures arrival, the Priest takes the Protagonist to hide in the bedroom before attempting to take it on himself to honor those that had been slain. Hearing the scuffle and inevitable silence from the battle, the Protagonist leaves the bedroom to see the gruesome death of the Priest and the battle that ensued, escaping before the creature returns. Making a run for a car and the highway, the Protagonist is able to escape the village and the ensuing disaster.
== Collectibles ==
=== Holy Relic Cactus ===
The "Holy Relic Cactus" is an item and cactus prop that can be found in the first and third chapters of the series, usually hiding inconspicuously within the house of the playable characters. While not offering anything particularly substantial, the cactuses unlock secret rooms post-game or simply appear for players to mess around with. 
* The Village Chapter I: The Holy Relic Cactus located in the first chapter can be found in the basement, hidden within the left side of a locker nearby a floodlight aimed at the stairs.
* The Village Chapter III: The Holy Relic Cactus located in the third chapter can be found on the windowsill of the Protagonists bedroom, directly beside their gaming computer. Unlike the previous Village chapter including a Relic Cactus, this cactus must be brought to the Priests home and placed on a desk. Post-game, the cactus will reappear as an entity capable of teleporting around similarly to a resonance displacement loop, located on a table in the main hub.
=== Pages ===
The "Pages" are items scattered throughout the village in the third chapter of the series, it can be speculated that the pages are newspaper articles inferring the demonic infestation in the village. Collecting all 16 pages unlocks a secret music room post-game.
* Page 1: Can be found directly in front of the player character upon their initial arrival back home, on the gravel pathway.
* Page 2: Can be found directly around the corner upon entering the foyer, to the left of the closet.
* Page 3: Can be found in the pantry to the right of the microwave.
* Page 4: Can be found in the cabinet directly to the left of the stove.
* Page 5: Can be found in the cabinet slightly to the right directly above the stove.
* Page 6: Can be found in the fridge in the laundry room, on the central shelf.
* Page 7: Can be found in the Protagonists room, directly next to the radio in front of the bed.
* Page 8: Can be found in the second level of a cubby hole in the left hand side of the Protagonists bedroom, close to the window and table.
* Page 9: Can be found on top of a shelf near the door in the Protagonists bedroom, accessible by climbing the bunk bed and peeking up.
* Page 10: Can be found in the foyer on a black table, to the left of the entrance and the right of the living room.
* Page 11: Can be found in the parents closet, on the second shelf.
* Page 12: Can be found on the right hand side of the red couch in the living room.
* Page 13: Can be found in a dressers middle shelf directly to the left of the living room and right of the parents bedroom.
* Page 14: Can be found directly after leaving the canal, on a ledge in front of a floodlight.
* Page 15: Can be found on the second level shelf on the right side of the Priests storage room.
* Page 16: Can be found in the kitchen of the Priest, directly between the storage freezer and grill.
== Trivia ==
* Despite many of the series questions being concluded in the cliffhanger of the final chapter, there are still many inconclusive leads of the series that have not been addressed, the creator has of yet to explain two aspects of the Village world building:
** The character of Bootman was presumed to be of great importance as many inquired about them being a major character, however due to what little context the creator has given the series, it is unknown if Bootman is an unseen character or if they are the friendly demon.
** The appearance of the smoke creature from the third chapter is in stark contrast to the demonic beings infesting the village, which can even be heard at the end of the chapter. This creature can presumably be a side effect of the demonic infestation.
* The Steam avatar of the original creator Zana can be seen on the blocks in the living room of the Village: Chapter I, and are also used on the design of the blanket for the Protagonist in the Village: Chapter III.
* To date, no players have been able to unlock the door to the secret room in the Village: Chapter I.
* The ghosts encountered in The Village: Chapter III are similar in design to the Bauermeisters appearance from Nyctophobia and Frozen Winter, a black smoke like body with red eyes that hunts down the family members of the player characters until only they remain.