E2M3: Velhartice

Face off against the legions of the living dead at a haunted 14th century cemetery in the Klatovy District in the Plzeň Region. Velhartice is the third mission in HROT Episode Two — The Degustation, and introduces two new enemies. The fact that it has 66 enemies and 6 secrets is probably a coincidence.

# Walkthrough

The Player enters Velhartice from the ventilation duct at the end of Uranium Mine into a walled yard, behind which is the Church of Saint Mary Magdalene. The gate is locked, but it is flanked by a Hussite Hand Cannon to the right, and a wheel chair to the left, an omen of what lies ahead.

To the far left is a cracked wall with two exploding barrels. Use them for target practice, then proceed through the gaping hole in the wall to the church grounds proper, an area lit with lots of candles. Immediately before you is a Medkit and a well, which has a Submachine Gun at the bottom.

To the left there is a chapel with the Rusted Key door and some shells, facing a line graves against the wall near the location of the first secret. Here you will find a sign that says **Waste Area** (**Odpadový Prostor**), along with a rotten pumpkin.

Wandering around the church yard, you will find a Soviet Shotgun and some shells. You will also observe mushrooms growing in various locations. You will need to pick five of these to open the door to the church.

Around the right side of the church, there is a shed with the Common Key door, across from which is an open grave with some Tasty Canned Chicken and some shells. There are two doors to the church proper, both of which are closed.

To the right you will observe Next to the main door is an board which contains announcement that say **Withered flowers should be put in the designated area** (**Zvadlé květinu odkládejte na místo označení**), **Bring watering cans back to the well!** (**Konve vracejte ke studni!**), and **Theft in the cemetery is punishable by law!** (**Krádeže na hřbitove se trestají podle zákona!**).

Once the Player has picked the fifth mushroom, the side church door will open. Inside the nave are two Medkits, two lightable candles, and a playable organ. At the back of the church is a boarded up doorway. Break it open and proceed down the stairs. Once you do, a bollard will drop behind you, sealing you inside. You will need the Aluminum Key to escape.

Descend the stairs, deeper into the crypt beneath the church, where you will see many skulls and skeletons, along with shells. Continue your way down past a bronze gate into another room with a skeleton and witness the brief flash of a ghost.

Keep descending the stairs, past the second secret, are more shells and another ghostly flash. Turn into a corridor to the right, and you will see the Rusted Key at the end of it. Walk toward it and the ghost will flash again, this time passing through you!

Take the Rusted Key, and the walls of the corridor will drop to place you in a large open room with five Headsmen who are looking to hack you to pieces. Take care of them quickly because there are more of them descending the corridor from where you came. To assist you there are some more shells in the corner, and a Brno Super Shotgun behind a bronze gate.

Suddenly it is a long way back to the surface, and you will fight a long line of Headsmen who are filling the rooms and stairs from where you came. By the time you have cleared your ninth Headsmen you will be a small room with some clips, near the third secret.

Continue up the stairs to another small room, encountering more Headsmen along the way, where you will see the Aluminum key in an archway above you. Farther up the stairs is a landing, where you can see the Aluminum Key lock to your left, and a now open doorway to your right.

Pass through the doorway, encountering more Headsmen, to a landing with some steps down and three jars. Break open the jar on the left to find one Koruna. Down the steps you will find a Medkit and the Aluminum Key, near the location of the fourth secret.

Return to the Aluminum Key lock and open the bollard to reenter the church nave. Run outside, and you will discover the first new enemy that has suddenly infested the churchyard: Walking Corpses. These walking dead are tanky, like Kejdovec, and fling their rotting flesh at you, which burns and can quickly kill you. Run quickly around to the other side of the church yard where you found the Calvaria of Čáslav, and use it to tidy up.

Open the Rusted Key door at the chapel and proceed inside to find a skeleton on a bench and the Common Key. Taking the Common Key transports you instantly to a deep pool of water. Swim to the surface to reach a water course. To the left of the water course is a bronze gate and a passage to a room that is blocked by two bollards. To the right, you will find some clips on a rocky ledge.

Proceed past the ledge to a room with a Medkit and a valve. Turning the valve will open the bollards, and also flush some Skull Spiders from their hiding places. The bronze gate to the right is hiding some shells and a bag of Milk. Continue past this to the room past the bollards where there is another switch, along with three Walking Corpses are having a nice splash.

Flipping the switch makes the floor you are standing on sink until it forms a 10 meter pool, where the fifth secret awaits discovery. This opens a tunnel that leads to the well and the exit to the surface, guarded by a Konfident.

Swim quickly up and out of the well to return to the church yard, where three Konfidents and a couple of Walking Corpses have been looking everywhere for you. Once they have been taken care of head over to the shed with the Common Key door and open it.

Out of the shed comes Loader, who remembers you well from back at Sewage Treatment Plant, and has some things to discuss with you. He comes with two S.U.P.s as wingmen to help take you down. As before, when taken down, Loader will drop one Koruna.

Inside the shed are some clips. Around the corner are some shelves with a bag of Semi-Skimmed Milk and some bullets near a sign with a red star that says **Socialist Labor Brigade** (**Brigáda Socialisticki Práce**), just past the entrance to the sixth secret.

Directly across from the shelves are some stairs down into a storage area, where you will find a switch on a post. Flip it and prepare to meet the second new enemy, the Infested Rider. This character is a legless monstrosity wearing a gas mask, who rides around in a wheel chair. He is a tough enemy who spits toxic spray that can quickly kill you.

Around the corner from where the first Infested Rider appeared is a ladder and a second switch. Flip it to open a corridor where a second Infested Rider is eager to slime you. Enter the corridor, past some Tasty Canned Chicken, and smash the AZ-5 button to exit the map.

**Previous:** E2M2: Uranium Mine

**Next:** E2M4: Factory Farm

# Secrets

### Secret 1

When entering the church grounds, proceed to the left to the line of graves against the wall, and dig up the second one from the left. Use your sickle to break open the coffin and skeleton until the the grave shaft is empty, then interact with the back wall. It will slide open to reveal a hidden crypt with a Sewer Rat and a Calvaria of Čáslav, which you are advised to save until later.

### Secret 2

In the room where you first see the ghost, there is a barrel in the corner. Push it towards the stairs and down two steps, to where there an arched recess with skeleton laying in it. Hop up on the barrel and into the recess to find two Koruna.

### Secret 3

When climbing out of the crypt, the first room you come to now has an open nook with a lighted torch and some clips, along with a cracked wall. Blow it open to find a Hussite Crossbow.

### Secret 4

In the room with the Aluminum Key there is a stone switch next to the stairs. Press it then return to the landing and swing jump into the open archway, where you will find a Headsmen guarding a Ball Lightning Launcher.

### Secret 5

Once you turn the valve to lower the floor to connect to the well, there is a cracked wall opposite the well entrance. Blow it open to find another Pistol.

### Secret 6

In the mortuary shed there is an alcove where two empty coffins sit, next to the sign that says **Socialist Labor Brigade**. Hop onto the coffins and interact with the wall in the right corner to find two cans of Tasty Canned Chicken.

# Lore

* The cemetery church of St. Mary Magdalene in Velhartice in the Klatovy region dates back to the 14th century. Construction of the church began in 1373. In the 16th century, the church was rebuilt in late Gothic style, and the cemetery gate and portals date from the same period. A north-eastern vestibule with a diamond vault was added to the church at that time. The church was significantly modified in the 19th century, for example, the presbytery received a new vault. There is a sign above the main gate that says **1807 AEDIFICATUM** (**Built 1807**), but it is unclear what this date refers to, since the church was 434 years old at that point. From 1772 to 1902 the church was home to the Velhartice Ark. Dating from 1490 to 1500, it was originally commissioned for the parish church of the Nativity of the Virgin Mary in Velhartice, it is almost the only completely preserved late Gothic altar of its kind in the Czech lands. It was purchased in 1902 for the collections of the Museum of Decorative Arts in Prague. The church is considered to be the place that inspired Karel Jaromír Erben to write the ballad Wedding Shirt, which describes a young woman who blasphemes the Virgin Mary due to the painful absence of her lover, and is punished for her sin. During the communist regime, the church fell into disrepair. In the years 1968–1969, thanks to the inhabitants of Velhartice, external steel windows were installed on the west side of the church and the masonry was repaired. Between 1996 and 1997, the slate roof was repaired for more than 1 million crowns. However, due to unprofessional work and poor quality material, a new roof repair was started in 2009 thanks to the Civic Association for the Rescue of the Church of St. Mary Magdalene in Velhartice.

Jitka Erbenová (cheva)Velhartice ArkGate Sign

* Socialist Labor Brigade.

# Gallery

Waste Pile & Stinky PumpkinBronze GateVentilation ShaftChurch Organ