E2M7: The Granny's Valley

**The Granny's Valley** is the seventh map of Episode 2 The Degustation which takes place on the grounds surrounding Ratibořice Castle, a large map that features two new enemies, a new hazard, and a chance to collect several Original Plates.

# Walkthrough

The Player exits the plaza in front of **Dobrošov Fortress** to find himself mounted on a motorcycle, riding along a largely featureless road, dodging moving vehicles that ride around in circles. The Player is encouraged to remember that Vehicles in HROT are hazards, just like in real life, and you can end up deader than Reinhard Heydrich.

Follow the road, taking the turn towards Ratibořice, until the Player reaches a small settlement, **Babiččino údolí**, dedicated to the eponymous Granny. Outside the gate you will find 5 Koruna and some shotgun shells. Enter the gate to be immediately confronted by four Headsmen and a Kejdovec, who wish to inform you that the park is now closed.

The park itself is a sprawling complex. To the immediate left there is a fence that borders it on two sides, and three buildings. At far left is the **Old Bleaching Ground**, a timber-frame cottage with an attached one-story building containing a laundry and a pressing room. To the right is the **Mill**, overlooking the stream. Opposite the **Mill** is a utility building at the edge of the **Mill Pond**.

In front of the **Old Bleaching Ground**, next to the fence you will find three hives swarming with bees. The Player is advised to be careful and not destroy the hives, because it will make the bees very angry and they will sting you to death absent running away to save your life. Unless of course the Player is trying to gain an Achievement. In front of the **Mill** you will find a tribute to a real-world monument, the statue of Granny.

Enter the left building of the **Old Bleaching Ground**, where you will find a Submachine Gun and a Cuckoo clock ticking away. The Player should be careful to observe the time, if you wish to earn another Achievement.

Through the door at the right is a darkened room with a Headsman who was about to eat his Kifli. The room has a ladder to a loft where you will find the Horse Key, near the location of the first secret.

Exit the building and head towards the **Mill Pond**, where you will be confronted by a gang of Headsmen and their leader, a new enemy, Biker. He is a cocky chlap, mounted on a motorcycle, on which he attacks the Player with Grenades and wheelies.

Proceed to the **Mill Pond** dock and enter the door way at the far end, where you will find a valve just below a loft. Turn the valve and a Headsman will jump down from the loft to tell you he had the gate closed for a reason.

Jump into the **Mill Pond** and swim around to the left where you will see a box. Break it open to find one of the Original Plates, then swim to the opposite end through the now open gate, nearby the trigger to the second secret.

Climb the ladder out of the pond to the loft, where you will find a bottle of Wine, a Hussite Hand Cannon, and the Horse Key lock. Open the lock and a wall panel will open to reveal the Common Key, near the location of the second secret.

Proceed from the **Mill Pond** to the **Mill** and open the Common Key door. Descend the stairs and see a boarded up hole leading to the lower level, and a doorway leading to a yard outside. There a Kejdovec and an Infested Rider are having a smoke next to the outhouse, which has the Rusted Key lock.

Break open the boards and proceed into the lower level of the **Mill**, where in the first room you will see two doorways: one an open doorway at the right, and one blocked by a bollard at left.

Proceed through the open doorway to find a room with a locked door and a valve, near the location of the trigger for the third secret and the location of a *de facto* secret.

Return to the previous room and enter the room previously blocked by the bollard. Here the Player will find a locked door and a switch, along with some useful [[clips. Flip the switch to open the door and you will quickly be joined by three Headsmen who insist this room must be kept shut at all times, since it is where the Aluminum Key is kept.

Exit the **Mill Wheel Room** where two Kedjovecs and a Headsman who report that in order to have the Aluminum Key your name must be on a list, and your name is not on it. Ascend the ladder back to the upper level of the **Mill** and proceed back to the **Old Bleaching Ground**, past the statue of **Granny**, where this time you will enter the building on the right.

Here you will find two things of interest: the Aluminum Key door at right and book lying on the floor. The book is titled **Babika**, and it opens to a passage that says **Our grandmother is no more; for many a year she has slept beneath the cold sod** (**Není více dobré stařenky Dávno již odpočívá v chladné zemi**).

The room past the Aluminum Key contains a cabinet where you will find another Original Plate and a Brno Super Shotgun. However, when you emerge it quickly becomes apparent that Granny is not very happy with you.

Granny, though it pains her greatly, has some strong words to say about taking plates that do not belong to you. This comes in the form of a scorched earth attack that she can send over quite a distance, and which can quickly burn the player to death.

Once the spirit of Granny has been returned to the cold sod, the Player receives the Rusted Key. Proceed to the yard at the **Mill** and unlock the Rusted Key lock. Take care of business if you need to, then break open the toilet seat and drop into the cavern below. Where you will find yourself near the fourth and fifth secrets.

Wind your way through the cavern until you reach a large open room containing wooden posts and platforms. To the left is a doorway sealed by a bollard. Off to the right is an opening to another room where the Player will find a Backpack and bottle of Wine. You should take them since they do not appear to be doing the corpse found beside them any good.

To the left of this cache is a closed door. Break out your sickle or one of your shotguns, because once you open it you will be greeted by a few of your new favorite nuisance enemies, Vampire Bat.

Proceed through the open door and wind your way around until you reach a set of steps that lead you to a button that will lower the covering over a ladder in the platform room, as well as the bollard blocking you. Return to the platform room where there is now a Headsman hanging from a post above.

Ascend the ladder to clamber onto the platforms above the cavern floor, near the location of the sixth secret. You will be immediately attacked by a Headsman on the ledge where the Player is standing, and a group of three Headsmen on a platform opposite.

Continue platforming your way above the cavern floor, past a Kejdovec and a Snake pit, near the entrance to the seventh secret. Eventually you will reach a set of stairs leading to a room with a Kejdovec and two Headsmen, and a room beyond that where two more Headsmen will emerge from behind closed doors.

Watch your step, because once you dispatch the two Headsmen the floor will fall away and the Player will be dropped into a pond with four Kapr near the location of the eighth secret and ninth secrets. Swim to the other side of the pond until you can clear the surface.

Emerge from the pond to the lawn in front of **Ratibořice Castle** near a sign that says **Bathing of Dogs and Horses Prohibited** (**Zákaz Koupání Psů A Koní**) to find a Biker bearing down on you with evil intent.

The castle is surrounded by a large stone wall that blocks access to the other side of the building. Enter the door facing you to find a switch against the far wall. Take a moment to fortify yourself with several sips from your Wine bottle, because you will need the extra health once you throw the switch.

Exit the castle to the grounds where the Player will face three waves of enemies, including Gimps, Headsmen, S.U.P.s, Miners, and a Kejdovec. Each wave will begin with a section of the stone wall opening to reveal the enemies, gradually opening a path to the other side of the house, where you will pass the trigger for the ninth secrets.

Once the field is cleared the Player can make his way to the other side of the house, where there is a sign that says **Today: The Degustation** (**Dnes: Degustace**). Enter the building and climb the stairs to find the AZ-5 button and the last Original Plate.

**Previous:** E2M6: Dobrosov Fortress

**Next:** E2M8: The Degustation

# Secrets

### Secret 1

The Player will find the Horse Key in the third building at the left, on a floor at the top of a ladder. Behind the Horse Key is a small panel. Interact with it and discover one of Granny's Original Plates, the first of eight.

### Secret 2

Once the Player has opened the water access to the utility building overlooking the pond, swim inside and look to the left near the surface. There will be a small opening, behind which is an electrical panel, almost out of sight. Shoot it and ascend the ladder to the Horse Key lock. Inside the wall panel where you will find the Common Key is a second recess that has been opened, where you will discover another Original Plate, the second of eight.

### Secret 3

In the mill building, there is a stone switch near the floor on the same side of the room where you will find the valve that opens the bollards at the top of the stairs. Flick it and the locked door at the back of the room will open. Kill the Headsman guarding the room, then walk around the corner to find another Original Plate, the third of eight.

In the same secret room where you found the third Original Plate you will see a switch on one wall just above a barrel. Move the barrel to reveal a second stone switch. When pressed, it will open a panel on the wall opposite where the Player will find another Original Plate, the fourth of eight. However, despite how it is discovered it is not a secret and does not count towards the secrets in the level.

### Secret 4

Once the Player destroys the outhouse toilet seat and enters the hole, hold to the right and press forward. Before reaching the bottom you will land on a ledge just above the floor. Proceed to the end of the ledge and turn left to discover a Pioneer of Socialism token.

### Secret 5

Drop to the ground in the room where you found the fifth secret and look to your left to find a cracked wall. Blow it open to discover a Lightning Gun.

### Secret 6

Once the Player reveals the ladder in the room with the hanged Headsman there is a Cave symbol painted on the wall at the top of the ladder. Interact with it to open a wall panel and discover a Medal.

### Secret 7

Hopping over the platforms in the cavern, the Player will come to a pit with a Snake. Once he has been disposed of, jump down into the pit and interact with the wall at left to find a bottle of Wine.

### Secret 8

There is a nook in the back of the pond with the four Kapr. Depending on where you were standing when dropped into the water, it may be behind you on the lefthand side. Swim into it and up to find a precious Calvaria of Čáslav.

### Secret 9

Once you reach the lawn of Ratibořice chateau, there is a wall on the right side of the building, just above which is an electrical box. Shoot the box, then return to the pond and swim down to where you saw the underwater bollard. It is now open and you will find the fast-firing 2X powerup.

## Lore

* **The Grandmother** (**Babička**) is a novella written by Czech writer Božena Němcová in 1855. It is her most popular work and is regarded as a classic piece of Czech literature. The book describes, in an idealized form, the childhood of Němcová. The plot weaves together a remembrance of the agrarian calendar and customs of the neighborhood with the love stories of several women, which reveal more of the history and customs of that area. The main action of the novel seems to take place during the first one or two years after the Grandmother has come to live at the Old Bleachery with her daughter's family, to help manage the household. The father is frequently absent due to his job as equerry to the local noblewoman, which takes him away to Vienna during the winter. The principal action of the story is to tell the intertwining tales of Viktorka, Kristla, and the Countess. The author is identified with Barunka, the eldest daughter of the Prošek family; however, the novel is not told from her point of view.

* **Granny's Valley** (**Babiččino údolí**) was part of the reconstruction undertaken by Duchess of Sagan, designed and realized in the then fashionable English style. Originally she had a whole number of foreign, mainly North American trees planted in it. The so-called “pineapple house”, was built by the lower edge of the park. It stands on the site of the original Old Bleaching Ground where in reality Božena Němcová (Panklová) spent her early childhood. The fenced-in park surrounding the château passed into a more openly designed landscape park which comprised the whole of the present valley Babičičino udolí. Due to its historical significance the place has been named a National Natural Monument.

Old Bleaching Ground (Karpac)Mill (Karpac)Granny statue (Toomix)Mill (Toomix)

* *Grandmother and Her Grandchildren* is a monument at **Babiččino údolí**. Its foundation stone was laid in July 1920 on the occasion of the hundredth anniversary of the birth of the writer Božena Němcová. The group of statues was realized in sandstone by the sculptor Otto Gutfreund after his own design in whose case he cooperated with the architect Pavel Janák.

* **Ratibořice Château** is a chateau in Ratibořice village in the Hradec Králové Region of the Czech Republic. It stands on an elevated plain below which valley in the bend of the Úpa river widens. Together with Babiččino údolí (Grandmother's valley) it offers the Baroque architecture and beautiful landscape, ranking among the most-frequented tourist destinations in East Bohemia. In the years 1702 to 1708 the then owner of the estate Lorenzo Piccolomini had a Baroque summer palace built at Ratibořice which he intended to use for summer sojourns. The château was built in the style of Italian country villas. In 1792 the estate was purchased by Duke Peter von Biron. After the duke's death in 1800 the Náchod estate was inherited by Peter's daughter Katharina Friederike Wilhelmine, Duchess of Sagan, known from Božena Němcová's novel's The Grandmother. It was she who initiated reconstruction of the site in the years 1825-1826.

Zámek Ratibořice (Ondřej Žváček)Ratibořice lateral view (Karpac)Ratiborice mangle (Karpac)Ratiborice (Toomix)

## Trivia

* This level was inspired by the developer's disillusionment from his school trip to Grandma's Valley. Spytihněv mentioned on a podcast, that he was horrified by the "mean looking" monstrosity that is the Granny statue. The sculpture did not match his idea of a kind grandmother figure that he had in his mind after reading the book.
* The book *The Grandmother* can be found in one of the houses on the level.
* The beehives in front of the houses can be destroyed, spawning bees that attack the player until the player either dies or jumps underwater. There is an achievement tied to this.
* This is the level where a Headsman variant known as 'The Biker' makes its debut.

# Gallery

Aluminum Key DoorCabinet with Original PlateToday: The DegustationBathing of Dogs and Horses ProhibitedEntrance to Babiččino údolíCesspitThe MillBabicka Text