Vicious Verses of A Violent Vigil

**Vicious Verses of A Violent Vigil**is one of many playable mysteries that can be carried out in order to defeat the Old God of a playthrough.

## Introduction

*"You've received an official-looking letter. What does a law firm from Tokyo want from you?...*

'*We regret to inform you of the passing of our client and your grand-uncle. His funeral will be preceded by an overnight vigil as per the client's request.'*

*There's an address and a list of people expected to arrive. You don't recognize any of the names... Intrigued, you decide to check it out, what's the worst thing that could happen?"*

## Mystery Progression

Depending on the actions which the player takes, there will be 8 encounters - 6 of which are guaranteed to be random Mansion encounters and the other 2 will either be Mansion encounters or mystery-specific combat encounters. There is no side quest.

**If the player wishes to achieve Endings A or B, it is important to clear out their item inventory as it is impossible to access item storage during the mystery and because the Vigil Pamphlet is required.**

### First Investigation, The Arrival at the Mansion

*"Following the directions from the letter, you slowly fight your way through the overgrown forest path.*
*The old mansion looks like it was torn down and rebuilt many times, but... where is everybody?"*

The only available action is 'Explore Mansion', which will start a random Mansion encounter and progress the mystery.

### Second Investigation, 9pm

*"It takes you some time, but finally, you manage to find someone. Is that another guest? You should ask them what's going on in here."*

The player will be sent to the **Dilapidated Corridor**, showing the first guest. This guest can only be one of three people: **Akane, Young Heiress**, **Hawado, Weird Fiction Writer** or **Sotomura, Scarred Thug**. Talking to this guest will make them remark that the player should pay their respects to the old man.

Once again, the player must 'EXPLORE MANSION' to progress the mystery.

### Third Investigation, 10pm

*"Pressing a handkerchief to your nose, you enter the dark room...*
*There's no way they allowed your grand-uncle to just lie here!*
*What was the correct bow and clap order? Maybe the other guests will know?"*

The player will be sent to the **Master Bedroom**, where they will find the old man's body resting. To know the correct bow and clap order, the player is required to head back to the **Dilapidated Corridor** and talk to a guest.

*"As you return to the corridor, you notice another family member has arrived.*
*You notice all the guests are studying small cards, you should ask them about it."*

As the event text says, a second guest will arrive at the **Dilapidated Corridor**. This will be one of the remaining two people from earlier that have not been picked as the first guest. Talking to either of the guests will give the player the Vigil Pamphlet *(open page for more information).*

**In order to achieve Endings A and B, the instruction at 2am must be followed.** Failing the instruction at 10pm will start a fight with a warped version of the first guest at 1am, while failing the instruction at 2am will start a fight with a warped version of the second guest at 3am.

The instructions at 12am and at 3am are impossible to be followed (see later), so they can be disregarded. The instruction at 11pm need not be followed, so it also can be safely disregarded.

Returning to the **Master Bedroom** once the Vigil Pamphlet has been obtained will add a new option to 'Inspect the Man's Foot'. Clicking this option will make the player copy down the symbol on his toe.

If the ritual is not performed correctly, the following message is sent in the log: *"Did you get the order right?"* If the ritual is performed correctly, the following message is sent instead: *"You think you got the order right..."*

**In order to achieve Endings A or B, the symbol must be copied down.** Currently, the ritual need not be completed successfully, due to a game bug that causes the first guest, even when killed, to remain alive later.

The player must return to the **Dilapidated Corridor** in order to 'EXPLORE MANSION' and progress the mystery.

### Fourth Investigation, 11pm

The event text will say either *"All family members are gathered near the fireplace. You can tell everyone is waiting for the dawn."* or *"All family members are cautiously eyes the smelly dishes placed on a table in the corner of the room."*, depending on what the Vigil Pamphlet lists.

*"The guests seem strangely uninterested in this vigil. You should explore more and learn what you can."*

There will be the option to **light the fireplace** or **check out the supper**, while in the **Dilapidated Corridor**.

* Light up the fireplace (perception check)
	+ (success) - *"You spot some dry firewood and add it to the fireplace."* (+1 REASON)
	+ (failure) - *"You couldn't find any firewood to add to the fireplace."* (-1 STAMINA)

* Check out the supper (strength check)
	+ (success) - *"The smell is nauseating but you put some meat on your plate."* (+ Long Pig Steak)
	+ (failure) - *"The smell is nauseating it almost makes you sick!"* (-1 STAMINA)

A new location will be added, the **Storage Room**. Visiting this location will bring to a screen showing the following message:

*"You shudder instantly recognizing the room from a newspaper photo.*
*Three years ago, a man hanged himself here...*
*Why is a vigil held in a place like this?"*

In the **Storage Room**, there is an option to **Check the Wardrobe**, which awards the player the Meat Cleaver.

Once again, the player must return to the **Dilapidated Corridor** in order to **Explore Mansion** and progress the mystery.

### Fifth Investigation, 12am

*"It's midnight. You should go and pray.*
*The guests seem strangely uninterested in this vigil. You should explore more and learn what you can."*

Unlike at other times in the mystery, it is impossible to explore the mansion until the **Master Bedroom** has been visited.

Added to the list of available actions is visiting the **Overgrown Study**. Visiting this location will bring a screen showing the following message:

*"It seems, that someone has already removed all the furniture from this room. The overgrown plant is casting an unsettling shadow..."*

Though the Vigil Pamphlet instructs the player to perform a second ritual over the body, when the player visits the **Master bedroom**, there will be a shocking revelation:

*"The body...*
*It's missing."*

When the player goes back to the **Dilapidated Corridor**, all the guests will be missing. The corridor is also much darker than before.

*W-where is everybody?...*

Once again, the player must return to the **Dilapidated Corridor** in order to **Explore Mansion** and progress the mystery.

### Sixth Investigation, 1am

If the ritual at 10pm was completed successfully, the player will end up in the **Dilapidated Corridor**. Other actions will remain unchanged from before.

*"You manage to find one of the guests. They are shaken, but otherwise safe. You both decide to get the hell out of this place but... the door is gone."*

Once again, the player must return to the **Dilapidated Corridor** in order to **Explore Mansion** and progress the mystery.

However, if the ritual was 10pm was not completed successfully, the player will instead run into a combat encounter with a warped version of the first guest (which is a fight with either Akane, Hawado and Miyako or Sotomura accordingly.) Defeating them will proceed the mystery. This is *supposed* to cause the first guest to die and stop showing up at later times, but currently due to a game bug the guest will continue to show up.

### Seventh Investigation, 2am

*"Corridors twist and turn, trapping you in this mansion.*
*You think you can hear the other guest somewhere but should you risk getting lost yourself?"*

In the **Study Room**, if the Vigil Pamphlet instruction is to feed the plant, there are two options:

* feed the plant - *"You cut your hand and pour some blood on the soil. Hopefully that's enough..."* (-1 STAMINA)
* cut the plant down - *"You cut down the blood-thirsty plant! It was a good decision... right?"* (-3% DOOM) (at 3am, the player will fight a warped version of the second guest.)
	+ Cutting the plant down will also increase your EXP by 10. This increase is not noted in the log.

In the **Study Room**, if the Vigil Pamphlet instruction is to burn the envelope, there are two options:

* burn the envelope - *"It takes you some time, but you finally find an envelope. Following the instruction, you burn it without opening. You feel weird following obscure orders..."* (-1 REASON)
* open the envelope - *"You open the envelope. Your mind gets flooded with knowledge! It was a good decision... right?"* (+SPELL) (at 3am, the player will fight a warped version of the second guest.)
	+ Opening the envelope will also increase your EXP by 10. This increase is not noted in the log.

In the **Storage Room**, there's now a giant face outside the window. The room description says "kill them" with flickering caps.

Once again, the player must return to the **Dilapidated Corridor** in order to **Explore Mansion** and progress the mystery.

### Eighth Investigation, 3am

If the Vigil Pamphlet instruction from 2am was followed, the following is seen:
*"The other guest is now safe with you. The whole building cracks and moves.*
*You're scared of what will come next..."*

The Vigil Pamphlet instructs to cover the mirror in the storage room, but there is currently no known way to do that.

Once again, the player must return to the **Dilapidated Corridor** in order to **Explore Mansion** and progress the mystery.

If the plant was cut down, or the envelope was opened at 2am, a fight with a warped version of the second guest will occur at 3am instead, which will be against Akane, Hawado and Miyako or Sotomura accordingly. Defeating them will progress the mystery.

## Final Investigation, Dawn

*"As the vigil is nearing its end, the whole mansion shakes more and more until the walls starts to collapse, revealing the shocking truth about your whereabouts...*

*Walls of the corridor collapse revealing an alien landscape. You can taste blood in your mouth as the slimy appendages slowly get closer.*
*A voice in your head tells you what to do..."*

If both guests are alive at Dawn, and the symbol on the man's foot was copied down, there will be 3 options: 2 of them to sacrifice the respective guest and 1 to 'Carve the Cursed Symbol'.

**Sacrificing 1 guest on this screen will remove the option to carve the cursed symbol, preventing the player from getting either Endings A or B.** The player has no choice, after this, other than to sacrifice the other guest and conclude the ritual. This will bring the player to the **Death Cheated** event, and subsequently, **Ending C**.

If only 1 guest is alive at Dawn (caused by killing the second guest at 3am) only one option will be present, to sacrifice the remaining guest. This will once again bring the player to the **Death Cheated** event, and subsequently, **Ending C**.

If the symbol on the man's foot was not copied down, the only option at Dawn is to sacrifice the guest(s) and conclude the ritual, once again bringing the player to the **Death Cheated** event, and subsequently, **Ending C**.

#### Carved the Cursed Symbol

This action will immediately start a fight with Horrible Old Man. This combat encounter is normal except for a new context action: "SACRIFICE A GUEST". This will kill off a guest but will deal 15 damage to the Horrible Old Man. However, sacrificing both guests during the combat encounter will, once again, bring the player to the **Death Cheated** event, and subsequently, **Ending C**.

To achieve **Ending A**, kill Horrible Old Man without sacrificing any guests. This will bring the player to the **New Dawn I** event, and subsequently, **Ending A**.

To achieve **Ending B**, kill Horrible Old Man after having sacrificed 1 guest during his fight. This will bring the player to the **New Dawn II** event, and subsequently, **Ending B**.

#### New Dawn I

*" 'tHe coNtrAct... iS voId...'*
*a voice booms in your head as everything gets dark... When you wake up, you find yourself lying on the wet grass, the old mansion nowhere to be seen. Next to you are the other guests, as confused as you. Everything feels like a bad dream, was the man claiming to be your grand-uncle really trying to cheat death itself?"*

After clicking CONTINUE, the player will be shown **Ending A**.

#### New Dawn II

*" 'tHe coNtrAct... iS voId...'*
*a voice booms in your head as everything gets dark... When you wake up, you find yourself lying on the wet grass, the old mansion nowhere to be seen. Next to you are the bodies of killed guests. Your head spins. Everything feels like a bad dream, was the man claiming to be your grand-uncle really trying to cheat death itself?*
*You've somehow stopped the ritual but with your clothes covered in blood, you'll have a lot of explaining to do..."*

After clicking CONTINUE, the player will be shown **Ending B**.

#### Death Cheated

'*tHe pRicE... iS pAid...'*
*"a voice booms in your head as everything gets dark... When you wake up, you find yourself lying on the wet grass, the old mansion nowhere to be seen. Standing next to you is a naked, bloated old man.*
*You recognize a tattoo on the old man's toe. It's your deceased grand-uncle!*

*With a coarse voice, he explains the ritual. You try to keep up with him but you're weak and your head spins.*
 *'...the death toll must re'**main the same... two die and two survive...'***
*You feel like vomiting as the old man who has cheated death disappears behind the trees. Everything gets dark..."*

After clicking CONTINUE twice, the player will be shown **Ending C**.

## Endings

### Ending A: New Dawn

This ending is achieved after copying the man's tattoo at 10pm, following the Vigil Pamphlet instruction at 2am, carving the cursed symbol at Dawn, then finally defeating Horrible Old Man without sacrificing any guests during his fight.

*"You and the other family members finally exit the forest and leave the nightmare of it behind.*
*One thing is certain, though. You will never open letters from law firms from Tokyo."*

### Ending B: Soaked in Blood

This ending is achieved after copying the man's tattoo at 10pm, following the Vigil Pamphlet instruction at 2am, carving the cursed symbol at Dawn, then finally defeating Horrible Old Man after having sacrificed a guest during his fight.

*"As you walk through the forest, you are trying your best to clean yourself from the blood and forget the nightmares you left behind.*
*One thing is certain, though. You will never open letters from law firms from Tokyo."*

### Ending C: Death, Cheated

This ending can be achieved in many ways, all of which culminate in the sacrificing of both guests.

*"The man who you thought was your uncle has cheated death, making you an accessory to murders.*
*You know police officers won't believe you when you tell them the truth and do your best to forget the nightmares you left behind."*

## Bugs

* Currently, the first guest will remain alive even if 'killed' at 1am.
* There is a text overflow error present in the Storage Room area.

## Trivia

* Hawado, Weird Fiction Writer, is a reference to Howard Philips Lovecraft, a major inspiration for *World of Horror*, in his appearance, his title as "Weird Fiction Writer", and by his name (Hawado is a Japanese romanization of Howard). His in-game wife, Miyako, is heavily implied to be a Deep One (from Lovecraft's story The Shadow Over Innsmouth), from her unnatural bulgy eyes and the gills present on her neck. This also likely explains why both Hawado and Miyako are only counted as one sacrifice for the ritual.