E1M8: Mausoleum

Mausoleum is the eighth and last mission in HROT Episode 1 — Kiss Me Gustav. It recreates the National Monument at Vítkov as a wonderful arena battle ground, introduces another new weapon, and serves up the toughest boss in the game so far.

# Walkthrough

The Player enters the map having cleared the ancient stairs at the end of Underground Stream, into a dark rocky tunnel. Proceed around a couple of turns until you arrive at a cracked wall. Be prepared, since it will blow open when you approach it and send two Sewer Rats in your direction.

Before you enter the duct from which they emerged, turn to the right, where you will find a shield lying on the ground that says **Hear the Truth — Speak the Truth — Defend the Truth** (**Slyš pravdu — Mluv pravdu — Braň pravdu**). Next to the shield is a Hussite Crossbow, a powerful weapon that can one-hit-kill many of the HROT enemies.

Enter the duct and follow it around to the right, where there is another Sewer Rat that is deliberately hiding to prevent you from killing all the enemies on the map. Return to where you entered the duct and follow the left side to where it ends at a ventilation duct. Break it open to enter the plaza of the National Monument at Vítkov, where you will find three cans of Tasty Canned Chicken and a Medkit against the back wall.

At the top of the Monument steps are bronze that require both the Rusted Key and the Aluminum key to open them. Proceed to the left side of the Monument, where you will find some clips and a doorway with some steps leading down. Follow them past a bag of Semi-Skimmed Milk to a small mechanical room with a Land Mine, an Electric Cabinet, and the Aluminum Key. Take the Aluminum Key, and a a wall panel will open to reveal two Kejdovecs, who stand near the entrance to the first secret.

Return to the plaza, where there are three valves at different locations that must be turned before you will gain access to the Rusted Key, which lies beneath a plaque on the ground that says **Glory to the Heros who Fell for their Homeland** (**Sláva Hrdinům padlým za vlast**).

At the top of the steps to the Monument you will find a Grenade, a Land Mine, and a Hussite Hand Cannon, and the first valve behind the statue of Žižka. Turn it and two Helicopters will immediately appear, eager to challenge you to play .50 caliber tag with them, along with some Smaskous and Hazmat Suits.

On the left side of the Monument you will find shells and a Submachine Gun along with the second valve, which is situated near the entrance to the second secret. Turn the valve and Šemík the Hors will appear to come and trample you, along with some Hazmat Suits and Skapucí.

The third valve lies at the base of a pedestal that supports a burning brazier, which lies directly ahead from the second valve. Turn it to face the last wave of enemies in this arena, including a Miner, some Smaskous and Skapucí, and several Konfidents. With the third valve turned, the plaque in front of the Monument opens to reveal a recessed area beneath containing the Rusted Key.

Proceed up the stairs to open the main doors, where there is a Kejdovec, who suggests you reconsider. Follow the steps down into the Monument, past three bags of Semi-Skimmed Milk and beneath the Czechoslovakian flag to a room facing the Common Key door, which also has three Smaskous, a Hazmat Suit, and four sarcophagi.

There is an open doorway to the right which enters into a room with square pillars. Here is another sarcophagus flanked by candles, nearby to the entrance to the third secret. There is also a switch against the wall to the left. Flip it and two panels behind the sarcophagus will open to liberate two Konfidents and a Sewer Rat. The chamber on the right also has a bag of Semi-Skimmed Milk.

The switch also opened a hole in the floor against the far wall. Drop into it to find yourself in a crypt with a number of sarcophagi and stacks of boxes at the right, where a Kejdovec is hanging out, enjoying his time amongst the dead. There are also four Sewer Rats, and around the corner to the right, some Grenades which are near the entrance to the fourth secret.

Swing around to the other side of the crypt where you see a double grate with a red button behind it. Go to the last sarcophagus on the right, which is missing its lid, and hop over it to the other side. Swing around to the left where the button awaits, and a panel will open directly in front of you with a vomiting Smaskou behind it.

Press the button and return to the crypt room, passing by a newly opened area containing a Medkit. A panel near the stacks of boxes has now opened to reveal a duct and releasing a Konfident. This duct has been secured with a turret as a defense-in-depth control, and leads to an area overlooking a room behind a grate, which contains two Konfidents.

Around to the right is an operations room with a glorious tape reel computer, a security monitor, and a grate, behind which sits an exploding barrel and the Common Key. There is a closed door to the right of the security monitor, which is opened by the operations machine with the red button, and a thermostat that reads **Temperature 15°C Humidity 80%** (**Teplota 15°C Vlhkost 80%**), which sounds a little cold and damp.

Out from behind the closed door come two Smaskous and two Kejdovecs. Enter the maintenance corridor behind it around to the Common Key. Once taken, a sliding wall panel will open to reveal two Smaskous who are guarding the valve that opens the exit. Once turned, a Miner and Hazmat Suit will approach the corridor to entice you to stay.

Return to the operations room, where there is now an open doorway and steps back to the first room inside the Monument, where you will now be joined by a Konfident and two Smaskous. Now comes the moment of truth. Open the Common Key door, and watch the embalmed corpse of Klement Gottwald rise into view.

To the left and right above Gottwald are two electrical panels. Shoot them and Gottwald will again descend beneath the floor which leads to a small room that leads to a door that says **Refrigerator** (**Lednice**). Enter the refrigerator and pass through the door on the other side to a medical room containing a bed, flasks, an examination lamp, and a chart of the human skeleton.

Proceed through a store room with shelves and medical supplies, until you reach a mechanical room with some dead Electric Cabinets. Continue around to the right to find blood spattered on the floor, and a sign written in blood that says **Don't Go Into the Tower** (**Nechoď do věže**).

In the room beyond this is a flight of stairs leading up, in front of which is a set Land Mine. To the right are two exploding barrels on the right and a stack of boxes on the left near the fifth secret. There is also a small locker room on the right, where you will find one Koruna, shells, a clip, and a bag of Semi-Skimmed Milk.

Now that you are fortified, it is time for your showdown. Climb the steps to his lair in the tower, and then jump down into a large dark room with grates and open doorways near the ceiling. Grab the bullets on the floor, wait for the ominous sound to play and then look up to meet your final enemy of the level: Gottwald.

When you first see him he is minding his own business, hanging from the ceiling like a bat, and like Kong, will not attack until you shoot him. Gottwald is half-human from the waist up, a pipe clenched between his teeth, and from the waist down he walks on tentacle-like legs, with which he is able to jump around. He will fling circular sawblades at you with cheerful abandon until you stop him once and for all.

Once Gottwald is dispatched, the floor will rise until you are able to exit through the doorways at the back. Enter onto an open plaza with a fountain and the A3-5 button waiting for you. Take a moment to watch the sky light up with fireworks in celebration of your glorious victory. Pressing A3-5 to end the level will earn you an achievement, but before you do, you may want to consider retracing your steps to find another one.

**Previous:** E1M7: Underground Stream

**Next:** The Degustation

# Secrets

### Secret 1

You will find the first secret in the small mechanical room beneath the National Monument. When you claim the Aluminum Key, a wall panel will open to reveal a recess. At the back of the recess is an interactive wall panel on the right that will give you a Ball Lightning Launcher. If you have sufficient health, you may want to consider adding an extra jolt by interacting with the Electric Cabinet, because you will need all the power you can get for the arena fights approaching.

### Secret 2

The second secret can be found directly across from the the valve on the right hand-side of the Monument. Stand back against the wall in the corner and look up to see a hidden electrical panel some distance above you. Shoot it and a panel will open behind you to reveal a JAWA motorcycle.

### Secret 3

Inside the Monument there is a small room with pillars and candles, off to the side of the room where you entered. To the right there is a bas-relief panel set into the wall. Interact with it to find one Koruna.

### Secret 4

In the crypt beneath the monument with the Sewer Rats and Kejdovec there is an area where you will find Grenades. Use your Hussite Hand Cannon to shoot the lid of the last sarcophagus on the right, then shoot the area again to open the wall behind it. Hop over the sarcophagus to find a Pistol.

### Secret 5

The last secret of Episode One can be found in the storage room before the steps that lead you to the tower. Move one of the exploding barrels over to the boxes on the other side of the room, and jump up onto them. Cross over to another box hidden in the corner where you will find a Lightning Gun.

# Speedrunning

Main article: Speedrunning
Because of its large hitbox the Horse can be used to push the player through doors, skipping either the entrance to the mausoleum or the door to Gottwald's tomb. It is optimal to skip Gottwald's door, as doing so skips the entire inside of the mausoleum. This requires that the player spend some time collecting the Rusted Key and the Aluminium Key at the beginning of the level.

# Lore

* The Hussite pavise found in the tunnel at the start of the map is decorated with a chalice and bears words from a phrase by Jan Hus, "Seek the truth, hear the truth, learn the truth, love the truth, speak the truth, hold the truth and defend the truth until death." Hus was a Czech theologian and philosopher who became a Church reformer and the inspiration of Hussitism, a key predecessor to Protestantism, and a seminal figure in the Bohemian Reformation. Hus is considered by some to be the first Church reformer, and his teachings had a strong influence, most immediately in the approval of a reformed Bohemian religious denomination and, over a century later, on Martin Luther. Hus opposed many aspects of the Catholic Church in Bohemia, such as their views on ecclesiology, simony, the Eucharist, and other theological topics, for which he was excommunicated by Pope Alexander V. He refused to recant his views at the Council of Constance, and was subsequently imprisoned and was burned at the stake for heresy on 6 July 1415. The followers of his teachings became known as Hussites, who refused to rebelled against the Catholic king Sigismund and defeated five consecutive papal crusades between 1420 and 1431 in what became known as the Hussite Wars.

* During the Hussite Wars, the crossbow was the main ranged weapon of both Hussite and Catholic troops. The crossbow did not require special training, it was effective enough against lighter armor, it could be stretched for a long time and ready for immediate firing. A small space was enough for its service, which was advantageous especially in the defense of fortifications, whether permanent or mobile.

* Another area inspired by a real-world location in Prague, the National Monument was built between 1928–1938 in honor of the World War I Czechoslovak legionaries. It includes the third largest bronze rider statue in the world, of the Hussite military leader Jan Žižka, who defeated Catholic forces led by King Sigismund on this very spot in 1420 in the Battle of Vítkov Hill. The Monument also includes the Ceremonial Hall, an exhibition entitled Crossroads of Czech and Czechoslovak Statehood, the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and other exhibition halls. After 1948, the Communist party repurposed the building to promote the Communist regime. Between 1954-1962 it housed the mausoleum of Klement Gottwald. In 2000, the monument was acquired by the National Museum, which conducted a major restoration work. After over two years of reconstruction, the Memorial was opened to the public on 29 October 2009.

AktronContributed by frostchraeContributed by frostchrae

* Klement Gottwald was a Czech politician, who was the leader of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia from 1929 until his death in 1953–titled as General Secretary until 1945 and as Chairman from 1945 to 1953. He was the 14th prime minister of Czechoslovakia from July 1946 until June 1948, the first Communist to hold the post. In June 1948, he was elected as Czechoslovakia's first Communist president, four months after the 1948 coup d'état in which his party seized power with the backing of the Soviet Union. He held the post until his death. Gottwald's embalmed body was initially displayed in a mausoleum at the site of the Vítkov National Monument in the district of Žižkov, Prague. In 1962, after the Party's criticism of the cult of personality it was no longer deemed appropriate to show Gottwald's body. Despite the widely believed myth that the body was decomposing due to a botched embalming, it was actually in a good shape, and was removed from display purely for political reasons. The body was cremated, the ashes returned to the National Monument and placed in a sarcophagus.