Frosty Welcome

**Frosty Welcome** is the first main case in *The Sinking City*.

## Prologue - Charon Ship

We are greeted with a cutscene showing Charles Reed in a boat. He seems to be prone to some sort of nightmare. He sees a deformed version of his USS Navy crew picture - on which his companions are dead, his boat is underwater and surrounded by giant squids, and there is a city at the bottom of the ocean. He throws himself out of the boat, falling into the jaws of a giant monster.

He wakes up right after, and finds himself in the boat again but this time for real. You explore the room and find several things.

* An Oakmont Monolith Natural Park poster, that Reed comments "*Never trust a tourist advertisement.*".
* A folding camera, that you can use. You can take a photo of the squid trophy on the wall.
* **A Letter from J. van der Berg** inviting you to Oakmont, as he believes it is the source of Charles' haunting visions : *a city drowning, the presence of something great, yet unknown.* This triggers the Frosty Welcome case.
* A .38 pistol.
* Some crafting materials.

Reed leaves the boat and is greeted by Johannes.

## Frosty Welcome

### Part 1 - Speaking with Johannes

> *Welcome to the city of Oakmont ! Alas, now is not its finest hour, though it is its most important.*
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When Charles asks about why it is difficult to reach the city, Johannes tells that its unique position and the recent Flood makes it almost impossible to reach. He directs Reed to Robert Throgmorton, who has apparently been dedicating a lot of time and effort to learn more about the Flood.

> *Don't worry, you can't miss him. Throgmorton tends to... stand out from the crowd. A remarkable creature. Scion of a robust bloodline. A philanthropist, a scholar, and the patron of the famous Oakmont University. A man of greater ambitions and even greater ego. Do not make him wait.*
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When Reed asks about where he can stay, van der Berg says he's already booked a room at the Devil's Reef Hotel for him.

### Part 2 - Finding Albert Throgmorton

When Reed meets Throgmorton, he's not disposed to answer his questions, as his son Albert got missing. Charles offers his P.I. services and learns that Albert was part of a deep sea expedition Robert commissioned. He was later found washed ashore in a lifeboat. He was supposedly delirious and even aggressive, trying to bite the person helping him, but Robert doesn't believe it. He then says that Albert's disappearance is the work of Innsmouthers, as he has a grudge against them and believes all of them to be criminals.

Asking about more information, Robert says the fisherman who found Albert said he had brought him to his house, but when Robert arrived, he was nowhere to be seen. He says something suspicious clearly happens, and tells Reed to investigate.

Before going into the house, it is advised to go the way Throgmorton is facing. Not far away, there is a boat stranded behind a building, the Titania Lifeboat. Inside, there is a helmet which gives Reed the chills, as well as Albert Throgmorton's will.

It is now time to investigate the house. Upstairs, Charles finds a policeman as well as another man who doesn't seem well. The latter says he's already told the police everything. Reed introduces himself and asks about what happened. The man, Will Hammond, and two others, Paul and Lewis, were in the house while a man called Barry was outside on his business. Barry then came back carrying Albert, unconscious and barely breathing. Barry left to call Robert, and the others put Albert in a room. He then started making horrible sounds, and the men felt like their heads would burst. Will has no memory from after he woke up.

> "*Just... dreams. Drowned streets. A sleeping giant? A voice that called me...ugh."*
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Will says they're all fishermen and that Lewis Flynn is an Innsmouther who moved in after the Flood. He says Paul is the man lying on the floor right next to them, that Barry is outside with Throgmorton, but that he has no idea where Albert and Lewis are.

When ending the conversation, Will expresses his worry that it might be him who killed Paul, as he doesn't recall anything. Charles says he doesn't know, and that Will should rest as the police will not let him out.

It is now time to look for clues, after combining clues in the Mind Palace.

* At the top of stairs, there is a wardrobe laying on the side, with bloody handprints on it.
* Paul is lying right next to Will, his face beaten to a pulp.
* A locket on a bed. Using Mind's Eye, it reveals Albert floating above the bed and a rasp voice saying "*Cragh'n hrii grah'n geb hai nglui nafhtagn*".
* In the same room, there is a picture of Lewis' family.
* On the desk, there is a crate of alcohol and a knife with an eye pattern on it.

Charles can now use his power of retrocognition to determine what happened.

1. Albert is floating on the floor, with Paul, Will and Lewis next to him.
2. A fight ensues. Lewis points a gun to Albert.
3. Lewis follows Albert as he goes to the wardrobe and pushes it, before leaving by the hole in the wall.

It is now known that Albert woke up, attacked the fishermen and spread his hysteria to them before leaving when he got wounded. Mind's Eye leads the way by showing where Albert fled : Reed has to follow the trace. On the way, he finds a shell casing, indicating Lewis had followed and shot again. A possibility is that Lewis wanted to kill Albert because he is a Throgmorton, whose family hates Innsmouthers, and not just to defend himself.

The path ends at a warehouse. In there, Charles finds a torn pocket containing a Blood-stained note from Peter to Lewis, asking for one more week to pay his debt, next to a fresh pool of blood on top of the staircase leading to the basement. In this basement, there is a room locked with a padlock, only required a shot to open. Inside is the body of Albert hanging from two hooks, as well as the very first wylebeast Reed encounters. After killing it, he sees that Albert has been murdered by getting shot through the head. Another dead wylebeast lays in the back room.

Since Peter is the owner of the nearby bar, *Under the Keel*, Reed assumes that Lewis might be hiding there. He can either tell Throgmorton that's he sure he's the killer, or confront him first. Either way, Lewis is found by asking Peter at the bar. Charles can threaten by telling him he's harboring a criminal, or telling him that he can help him getting rid of him.

### Part 3 - Finding the culprit

Lewis is hidden in the room upstairs. Reed lets him explain himself. Lewis says that his last memory before the events is of Albert waking up and starting to scream. He then got his spirits back when he was at the warehouse and covered in blood. He talks about how the Throgmortons treated the Innsmouthers badly when they took shelter in Oakmont after the Flood, but that he doesn't remember killing Albert. Lewis thus begs Charles for mercy, even offering some bullets in exchange for his silence. Reed now has to decide whether Lewis should pay for his crime.

#### Option 1 - Lewis was under mental influence

This option leads to Reed telling Throgmorton that Lewis was torn apart by the wylebeasts, attracted by the blood on him. Charles gives the torn piece of jacket as proof. Robert is disappointed, saying he should have been the one to avenge his son.

#### Option 2 - Lewis deliberately murdered Albert

If Reed decides that Lewis is responsible for his actions, the motive being the feud between Innsmouthers and the Throgmortons. He tells Robert that Lewis is hiding at the bar, who promises to make him an example of what happens when you cross the Throgmortons.

### Part 4 - Conclusion

After reporting to Robert, Charles can finally start asking questions about the origins of his visions. Throgmorton confirms that he's not alone, that many Oakmonters were also experiencing similar nightmares. An inexplicable hysteria has spread to Oakmont after the Flood, which led him to conduct an expedition to explore geological activity which may be responsible. The leader of this expedition, Harriet Dough, was subjected to the visions.

> *"Waterlogged ruins with unnatural architecture, a sleeping giant, drowned streets... and a voice calling from the depths." "Her words exactly !"*
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There is reason to believe that the Flood and the madness have the same source, thus the geological aspect of the expedition. Robert hypotheses that Albert may have been killed because of something the team recovered. Robert asks Charles to investigate what happened of the expedition, launching the next case, Lost at Sea.

## Consequences

Should Reed choose to inform Throgmorton about the whereabouts of Lewis a newspaper clipping entitled Raids on Innsmouthers will appear on the bulletin board in his Room. This details a series of raids by the police on Innsmouther families, several being killed.

Should Reed choose not to inform Throgmorton regarding the whereabouts of Lewis, A crumpled letter from Lewis will appear on the bulletin board in his room. In this letter Lewis thanks Reed and offers the advice to find a way to leave Oakmont.

## Trivia

**This section contains spoilers.**

* In Greek mythology, Charon is the ferryman of Hades, carrying souls of the newly deceased across the rivers Styx and Acheron to the world of the dead. It is a one-way trip, with few exceptions.
* *Ve'ra* means fine in the Oakmont dialect.
* The Monolith Natural Park is a reference to a later part of the game, where you have to find Monoliths to find the way to Cthygonnaar.