Stuland Patriarch

**The Stuland Patriarch** is the first of the six bosses in Marrow.

## Description

The Stuland Patriarch is the boss of Stuland Manor. He waits in the last room behind a green barrier that must be destroyed first in order to enter without taking damage.

The Stuland Patriarch has three attacks. He can summon blades from the walls, ceilings and floors, he can rage and cause rocks to fall, and he can shoot out a bouncing ball of energy. The Stuland Patriarch possesses two phases, each with 50 health.

The Patriarch's first phase

## Strategy

His third eye is the only weak point and can be damaged only when it's open. As he will continually summon blades around the room, it is best to keep moving from side to side. When he starts shaking up and down, he is about the start dropping rocks and the player should stand at the bottom of the screen in order to have enough time to dodge them. The flying orb he summons can be destroyed with one attack, but due to its predictable path, is sometimes best ignored. For this boss fight, mastering the jump attack is key. It is imperative that you are able to jump off a platform, attack, and strafe back onto the platform without falling off.

His second phase is almost identical to his first, except that blades are more frequent and he will shoot out two projectiles instead of one. Before fighting him, it is advised that the player get the Medallion upgrade at the top of the Stuland Manor, as well as the Rapier and Earring to make it easier.

Second phase

## Lore

*"Accursed, detestable Frederic! Fierce, brilliant Frederic. What would they say of me now? Mournful Frederic? Poor Frederic? Dead Frederic. Tucked motionless and alone inside this chamber, the walls adorned with the faceless cousins and brothers and sisters whose names I can't be bothered to recall. I can feel my life slipping, I can see my body; broken, crusty, disfigured. This death feels like a birth, the fading memories give way to wondrous truths, horrible truths. Even in death the search for the great truths eludes me. Truth is all we have, the pursuit of it, the most noble of deeds. I sought truth, lifted the rocks others were fearful to, and revealed the scope of our ignorance. I plunged the dagger into the very earth and fed on its blood. Let the Stuland name be forgotten, let all my kin be buried here with me, their Patriarch, and let this foul truth remain elusive to all the poor souls above. Curse the truth!" (c) official lore*

"The Stuland Patriarch is the very first boss in the game. A man who sold both his life and sanity to study and experiment with the substance flowing beneath his Manor, Marrow, as he and his kin would come to call it.

The Patriarch is a spectral entity, a spirit. His actual body can be found inside the Master bedroom of the Manor, a long room at the far side of the house which contains a group of invisible monsters as well as one of the fireplaces. The Patriarch can be heard speaking to the player in other rooms inside the Manor and even attempts to attack you after you have claimed the rapier using his spike-like limbs which stab out from the floor and ceiling, assuming the boss is still alive.

The Boss himself has various attacks, and like a few of the bosses in the game he has a 2nd tier. The most noticeable change is that he transmogrifies into an even more misshapen, less human version of his previous form." (c) official lore

## Trivia

* The boss's subtitle is "Abominable Conspirator".

* The Stuland Patriarch is a Stuland, one of the denizens of the Stuland Manor.
* His dead body can be found lying on a bed in the upper left side of the manor.
* Frederic Stuland was the main figure behind the experiments with the marrow. Seems like, he's used the people of Windheim as workers in the excavations beneath the manor. In the end, all of these experiments led his family to their demise.
* The Stuland Patriarch's theme is *The Sins of the Father*: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wVeOKXRH1e0