Who is Gabriel Knight?
Gabriel Knight is a fellow from New Orleans (N’awlins) who owns the St. George’s Rare Book Store, and writes. He also has a family legacy to live up to as a defender of mankind from the monsters that live just beyond the veil. He’s assisted by Grace Nakimura, a college student who barely tolerates him (at least as far as I’ve played so far) and does research on various topics that Gabriel needs, and is semi-assisted by his childhood friend Police Detective Franklin “Mostly” Mosely, who also barely tolerates him.
I’ve heard of this game, why is it a big deal?
First and foremost, it’s probably one of the best point-and-clicks that Sierra ever put out. The writing is tight and all the major characters are extremely well-developed. And on that note, the characters…oh man, the characters. All the major characters in the first game are played by pretty big names. Names like Tim Curry, Mark Hamill, Michael Dorn, Jim Cummings, and Leah Remini. Yeah, that’s right, we get Cajun Tim Curry, and it is fucking awesome.
CAST OF CHARACTERS
Gabriel Knight – Played by Tim Curry
As stated before, Gabriel is a writer who owns a bookstore, and is currently working on a book regarding a series of murders in New Orleans that has Voodoo overtones. He’s been plagued by strange nightmares his whole life which have left his sleep so disturbed that he’s a total caffeine addict. He’s a shameless flirt which annoys his assistant to no end.
Grace Nakimura – Played by Leah Remini
Grace (a Japanese-American played by an Italian-American, yeah that’s kinda weird), has taken a break from achieving her doctorate in an Ivy League college, came to N’awlins, and has by her own description, fallen in love with the rich history of the area, and took a job at the St. George’s Rare Book Store out of a sense of adventure. She’s kind of snarky and sarcastic to Gabriel, but cares about him at the same time.
Detective Frank Mosely - Played by Mark Hamill
Frank Mosely and Gabriel have been friends since childhood. Mosely is a good cop in a city full of dirty ones, despite being a bit lazy. Also, he tolerates a lot of shit from Gabriel, fully losing his temper only once with him in the whole game.
Dr. John - Played by Michael Dorn
Owner/Operator of the Voodoo Museum in the French Quarter, Dr. John is a veritable fountain of information on Voodoo both historical and current. He is also a massive person, standing at least a foot taller than Gabriel. Originally from the West Indies, he came to New Orleans for...very vague reasons which probably have to do with his study of Voodoo. And a filthy p’takh to boot.
Malia Gedde - Played by Leilani Jones
One of the hoi polloi of NOLA, Malia is the beautiful and mysterious High Priestess of the Voodoo Cartel.
Uncle Wolfgang - Played by Efrem Zimbalist Jr.
Gabriel's Great-Uncle and last of the Schattenjägers.
Magentia Moonbeam - Played by Nancy Lenehan
Magentia Moonbeam is a local Voodooienne...who moved to New Orleans from Kansas some time ago, then became involved with the religion. She owns a python named Grimwald who she named after one of her spirit guides...an Egyptian priestess. Everything about this woman just raises more questions.
Grandma Knight - Played by Linda Gary
Grandma Knight is a sweet old lady who knits baby sweaters for her church and thinks the world of Gabriel. She's not the most developed character, but she does provide important information regarding Gabriel's family.
Willy Walker - Played by Rocky Carroll
Owner/Operator of the Dixieland Drug Store, a "novelty shop" in the French Quarter that sells Voodoo-related items. From him, Gabriel learns the phrase cabrit sans cor', although not its meaning. A very mysterious character who seems to know more than he lets on.
Professor Hartridge - Played by Monte Markham
A religious professor at Tulane University, Hartridge specializes in African Voudoun. By his own admission, he's 35, heterosexual...wait, why does that matter? Weirdo.
Gerde - Played by Mary Kay Bergman
Uncle Wolfgang's maid or something. I suspect they just fuck like animals.
Crash - Played by Chris Lytton
Local petty criminal who is actually one of the keys to unravelling the mystery of the Voodoo Murders.
Madame Cazanoux - Played by Susan Silo
A regular customer of the Dixieland Drug Store, and member of the Creole Grand Dames. A devout Catholic who isn't afraid to dabble in a little Voodoo in the name of petty revenge.
Stonewall King - Played by Monte Markham
Bartender of Napoleon House. Not much to say really, he tends bar, and looks like Paul F. Tompkins. *shrug*
Toussaint Gervais - Played by Dorian Harewood
Groundskeeper/Watchman of St. Louis Cemetery #1. Not a lot of backstory for him, his only real purpose in the game is a little bit of exposition.
Father Maclaughlin - Played by Gabriel Knight
'tis a foine bit of the auld soil me bucko!
So there’s an introductory scene which is full of weird imagery like a woman turning into a jaguar, which I can only assume is Gabriel’s recurring nightmare considering he wakes up in a cold sweat at the end.
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| "It lives, I see. Do you want to speak with ‘Lolita’?” |
And suddenly this game takes a very weird turn. Man, that was fucking quick. Gabriel shakes his head.
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| “I’m sorry, but Gabriel is a lout! Oh! I mean he’s out. Yeah, if he ever comes back I’ll tell him. You know, you could do better. I know I don’t know you, but…you could do better.” *click* “Good morning! The phone’s been ringing off the hook. Let me know when you want your messages.” |
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| *grunt* |
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| “Gee! You’re lively! Did you have another nightmare last night?” |
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| “Sort of.” |
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| “Mmmhmm. I told you, it’s that Voodoo book you’re researching. That stuff can seriously screw up your karma.” |
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| “I’m sure that’s it. Maybe I should write a horror novel on passive resistance instead.” |
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| “Don’t sleep then, it’s your body.” |
If you can’t tell, Grace is fucking awesome. She tells Gabriel that his new tape recorder arrived today, and comments that she “can’t wait to see what human rights you violate today”.
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| “I can’t wait to violate them. For example, if you would just let me…” |
Gabriel is also fucking awesome. Grace then tells Gabriel that she located 2 local resources on Voodoo in the French Quarter. Now, it is worth noting that as stated at the beginning, Grace is played by Leah Remini, who you might know better as the hot wife on King of Queens and a crazy Scientologist. Now, normally, I would just start ripping into her for the latter fact, however she recently left the Cult of Hubbard which takes a lot of guts, so she gets a pass.
So the top tools include a few different commands: WALK, LOOK, TAKE, OPEN, MOVE, OPERATE, TALK and ASK. TALK and ASK are actually totally different commands for a specific reason: Major characters can have ASK used on them to open an “Interrogation Scene” where you can ask about various topics, while TALK can be used on nearly anyone for general chit-chat and clues.
So from here, we can either explore all the local sights we know about in the French Quarter, or explore the store a bit. On the table below Gabriel, there’s a magnifying glass and a pair of tweezers we can take, and we can check out the local news.
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| “Hmmph. Right.” |
Oh, the game comes with a narrator for when you look at items, however seeing as that the narrator is a much more annoying version of Miss Cleo crossed with the Voodoo witch from Zombie Nightmare, we're going to turn that shit off now.
Oh, the adorable painting of a snake and skull above Grace was apparently painted by Gabriel’s father.
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| “What a wacky, off-beat kinda guy Daddy was.” |
Well, let’s interrogate Grace for a bit, which you can watch here. The important stuff is in his messages: Gabriel’s Grandmother called asking him to come over and go through his father’s things, that a man named Wolfgang Ritter called from Germany asking for Gabriel to call him back ASAP…
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| “Call Germany? Like hell. If it’s really important, he’ll call back.” |
And finally, Detective Mosely called to tell him that he left some photos for Gabriel at the front desk of the police station. It seems that Gabriel has promised him a starring role in his Voodoo book in exchange for the inside dirt on the Voodoo Murders investigation. Despite the fact that the main character is a female orthodontist. There’s no point in asking Grace to research anything because we have nothing for her. Oh, and there’s a coupon for the store in the cash register, so we take that too.
Oh, this is Bruno, an ancillary character. He’s very interested in the painting and apparently comes by often to try to buy it. Naturally, we tell him to kiss off.
So this is the map screen. From here, we can explore the French Quarter or greater New Orleans. Gabriel’s grandmother is in Greater New Orleans, but let’s go to the police station and grab those photos.
And here we are. Just after Gabriel arrives, a cart selling beignets arrives, and the game stops dead for a few moments while the cops place orders. Strangely, this doesn’t bug me, it makes the game feel more alive. In order to get the photos, we need to interrogate the desk sergeant. Over the course of questioning, we find out that there’s been another Voodoo Murder, but he refuses to say where the crime scene is.
The first photo Mosely left for Gabriel is of one of the previous murder victims. Apparently, the MO involves ripping out the victim’s heart Temple of Doom style. Yuck.
And the second photo is a photo of Mosely graduating from the academy. Remember, this guy is Gabriel’s friend. And in that case, I’d hate to see what Gabriel does to people who piss him off. At any rate, to grandmother's house we go!
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| “How you doing Gran?” |
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| “I’m right as rain, dear!” |
Gabriel’s Grandma is probably one of 2 women Gabriel would never, ever take advantage of. She’s a sweet old thing who knits baby sweaters for the church. We’ll learn a little more about her in a bit, but first let’s go upstairs and check out Gabriel’s dad’s stuff.
We need to check out that clock, and the trunk it’s sitting on. Into the trunk first. All that lays inside are a pair of lederhosen, some books in German, and love letters between Gabriel’s dad and mom. There’s also a book on the arm of that chair by the stairs.
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| “I think I’ll take Daddy’s sketchbook with me.” |
Time to play with the clock, one of the earliest tricky puzzles in the game.
Now this is goddamned hard, and there’s no clue I’ve seen to know the answer ahead of time. You need to pick a symbol to be at the top of the clock, select a time, and then turn the key. (For the record, that works out to over 72 possible answers to the puzzle.)Here’s the solution, which causes the clock to open...
revealing a photo and a letter, which we take.
The photo is of Gabriel’s Grandfather standing with 2 other men in front of a castle somewhere. The letter is a little more promising. It’s addressed to a man named Heinz Ritter, sent from a place called Schloss Ritter in Germany, and is from a Wilhelm Ritter. And one of the words strewn throughout is “Schattenjäger”. However, Gabriel doesn’t speak a word of German so he can’t read a word of it. At any rate, let’s interrogate Grandma!
Grandma doesn’t know much about Voodoo or the Voodoo Muders, but she’s able to reveal some info on a few more topics, namely that Gabriel’s Grandad used to mutter the word Schattenjäger in his sleep, and that his name was in fact Heinz Ritter until he emigrated to America from Germany. Also, all the men in Gabriel’s family have suffered from chronic nightmares.
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| “Since you’re so interested in family history these days, why don’t you go by St. Louis Cemetery #1 and visit the family tomb? It would be a sweet gesture.” |
With that, the Cemetery is unlocked on the map screen. Well, I think visiting a cemetery right after we visit an ancient elderly relative is kind of bad taste, so let’s go to the park instead.
Here at the Jackson Square Park, there are 4 different areas to explore. Down here, the only thing of interest is the motorcycle cop. We need to get him away from his bike somehow so we can use the radio to find the crime scene. But how do we do it? Well, we need the natural enemy of Police everywhere…
MIMES!!! The Mime will follow anyone who gets close, be it random NPC or Gabriel. The solution here is to get the mime to follow Gabriel all the way to the bike cop, HOWEVER, if you pass too close to anyone on the way, the Mime decides to follow them instead, and if that happens, you have to start all over again, which can be kind of a pain in the ass. However, if you succeed, the cop chases the Mime, leaving his bike unattended for a few precious moments.
And with that, the latest Crime Scene has been added to the greater New Orleans map. Let’s check it out!
So the fellow in the yellow coat is Gabriel’s friend Detective Mosely, voiced by Mark Hamill. Keep in mind this was before his role on Batman became general knowledge to youngsters, who would shit their pants if they knew that the Joker was Luke Fucking Skywalker. So this was kind of a big deal.
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| “Hey, Mostly.” |
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| "Huh? *sigh* Knight, you wiener, I told you not to call me that! |
Mosely gives us a peek at the corpse, another heart ripped out, so definitely the work of the Voodoo Killers. Gabriel comments that this is kind of a public area, and Mosely agrees, saying that the Killers are ghosts like that. And then, a car pulls up.
Inside is Malia Gedde, one of the New Orleans elite. Mosely reassures her that there’s no problem here, and she drives off.
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| “I’m in love.” |
With that, Mosely tells Gabriel he’ll see him at the police station, and everyone leaves. Now, we can make a sketch of the marks on the ground where the body was found.
And there’s some grass matted over by that tree…
A snake scale! We’ll just pocket some crime scene evidence because why not? Also, we can pick up a lump of clay from the river bed (which will come in handy much later). So let’s go visit Mosely and see what he wants to contribute.
A nice little bit of characterization you see here is whenever Gabriel goes to visit Mosely, he always looks through the window before going in. It’s the little things, you know?
And here’s the man’s office…or massive clutter heap, it amounts to the same thing.
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| “Knight. Had a feeling you’d show up.” |
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| “So, how you holding up?” |
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| “Lousy. I hate crime scenes. People are sick fucks, you know that, Knight?” |
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| “I’m starting to get that impression.” |
Again, keep in mind that this was prior to Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back, so hearing Luke Skywalker drop the only F-Bomb in the game was kind of strange for 1993. Anywho, time to interrogate Mosely!
Major highlights of the conversation include the revelation that there’s at least twenty people involved in each killing, that Mosely firmly believes that all the Voodoo stuff involved is actually faked based on some research he’s done, leopard fur of all things was found at one scene, and all the victims were out of towners. There’s also this little bit of dialogue:
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| “Remember how we used to play Monkey-in-the-Middle? Hah! We used to piss off our Senior year teacher, what was her name, Ms. McKelly? You’d act like you were gonna toss her an eraser or somethin’, and then throw it to me over her head. And we used to do it at your Gran’s, too, like with the remote when she wanted to watch her soaps?” |
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| “Yup. And it was a great way to pick up women in the Library.” (How???)”Ah, those were the days!” |
Believe it or not, that’s a bit of foreshadowing. I’m not kidding, this is actually a major plot point. Mosely also tells Gabriel that they’ve found similar markings to the ones we sketched at each of the other 6 murder scenes, and invites Gabriel to have a look at them.
So we talk to one of the cops outside, Officer Franks, who lets us look at them, on condition that we don’t leave with them or make any photocopies. Damn. Well, after glancing at them, we return the file to her desk. Buuuut, if you watched the video, you may have noticed that I didn’t select all the available options. Why? Watch and learn!
Basically, we persuade Mosely to take a photo with Gabriel “for the book”, so he calls in Franks who doubles as the department photographer. After the first shot, we need to tell Mosely that Gabriel wants to check his hair, leave his office and photocopy the file while he and Franks are in there…despite the fact that Desk Sergeant Frick is out there. He gives zero fucks while we do this.
Gabriel Knight: Magnificent Bastard. Well, that’s all we need from here for now, so where to next? Well, I suppose that Gabriel should actually do some research on Voodoo, so let’s go check out the Voodoo Museum.
So here we are, and it’s small, but pretty cool I’d say. That thing by the column in the middle is listed as a “Wishing Stump – Rub it and Make a Wish!”
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| “Funny, I say the same thing to women.” |
And yes, using the Operate command will make Gabriel make a wish.
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| “I wish Malia Gedde was permanently grafted to my thighs.” |
Just in case you forgot exactly how rapey Tim Curry can sound. Trying to talk to the woman behind the counter results in nothing, but she does tell Gabriel that the owner, Dr. John, will be back the next day. Well, one more place to visit I suppose, the “Dixieland Drug Store”.
Yeah, this isn’t the place to go when you need your migraine medication refilled. The sign on the counter advertises “Special St. John’s Eve lagniappe. Free bottle of ‘Lover Come Back to Me Oil’ or ‘Master Gamblin’ Oil’ with every purchase over $50.00”
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| “Lagniappe. My French is lousy, but everyone in New Orleans knows what that means. ‘A little something extra.” |
History time! Lagniappe (LAN-yap), while being a word that is mostly used in the New Orleans area and Louisiana, and sounding kind of French in pronunciation, is actually adapted from a South American Spanish phrase “la yapa”, which refers to a free extra item. Mark Twain himself loved the word and called it “a word worth traveling to New Orleans to get”. So don’t say you don’t ever learn anything in a Let’s Play!
Anyway, the owner introduces himself as Willy Walker, and he’s kind of an enigma in the game as we’ll find out. He seems to know things, but as far as I have been able to tell, he’s not actually involved in the murders themselves. Although, over the course of an interrogation sequence, when questioned about the Voodoo Murders, he lets slip an odd phrase: “cabrit sans cor’”, and then pretends he never mentioned it. Very mysterious, and yes, we will find out later what that means. Don’t look it up, otherwise it’ll ruin the mystery. At any rate, time to return to the book store.
Asking Grace about Schattenjäger, St. John’s Eve and cabrit sans cor’ gives us nothing, and that’s the only new topics we have for Grace, and she has no messages for us. However, we can request some research from her.
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| “Could you see what you can find out about a woman named Malia Gedde?” |
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| “Hmmm. The name Gedde sounds familiar. What’s your interest in her?” |
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| “Oh, just, you know, stuff about the Voodoo Murders. If you can get an address…” |
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| “Mmmmm-Hmmmm. The murders. Right. I’ll see what I can find out.” |
And with that, Gabriel’s day comes to a close, and he has the same nightmare again.
So Gabriel stumbles out of bed yet again.
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| “Good morning. Don’t you look swell today…actually, swollen.” |
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| “*grumble*” |
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| “Seriously, you look like hell. Your hair is sticking straight up like a… Oh. It always does that. Never mind.” |
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| “Ha. Ha.” |
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| “Did you dream about the fire and the hanged guy and that lion thing last night?” |
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| “Leopard, not lion. Did you get anything on Malia Gedde?” |
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| “Well, I did get her address, but you’re a little out of your league here, big fella. The Geddes own three local hospitals, just to name a few of their assets. They run in VERY high circles.” |
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| “Did you get an address?” |
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| “I got the address. I suppose this has nothing to do with the fact that Malia Gedde is incredibly gorgeous. I should have known you wouldn’t go for a rich, UGLY socialite.” |
So first we’ll do what we’re supposed to do every day…check the newspaper.
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| “I feel a dark star rising all right! Grrrowl!” |
As silly as this dialogue is, I can’t help but love it because, well, CAJUN TIM CURRY. Anyway, something I guess I should have done earlier is look at the books on the shelf against the wall. There’s a section “Secrets of Unsolved Ancient UFO Mysteries” (Wonder if there’s a section on surviving a nuclear blast in a fridge?), and a set of German books that belonged to Gabriel’s grandfather, which feature this poem:
Drei Drachen.
Drei Drachen kriechen in meinen Schlaf,
die Seele woll’n sie lebendig zum Frass.
Feurigen Atems, gespaltener Zunge
geniessen sie jedes Mahl.
Or in English:
Three Dragons.
Three Dragons creep into my sleep,
The spirit wanting life in its repast.
Fiery breath, forked tongue
They enjoy each meal.
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| “That’s nice. Kind of creepy, though. Who’s the author?” |
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| “Let’s see…Heinz Ritter. Heinz Ritter! No wonder it gives me chills.” |
There’s also a book on snakes which Gabriel flicks through, mostly concerning how constrictor snakes sense vibrations.
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| “Hmmm. Did you know that medieval legends about dragons and giant worms are actually based on snakes? You know, dragons, devils, sea monsters-they’ve always been associated with snakes.” |
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| “Grace, get a life.” |
Anyway we’re off for another day of exploring scenic New Orleans! And seeing as he wasn’t there yesterday, let’s go meet Dr. John, owner of the Voodoo Museum.
So there’s the man himself, and as you can see, he’s a damn big guy. Well, he should be, because he’s Michael Dorn!! So we have Cajun Tim Curry and Haitian Worf. This game is amazing.
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| “I am the proprietor, Dr. John. If you have any questions, I will be happy to assist.” |
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| “Great. My name is Knight, and I’ll probably take you up on that. Quite a place you have here.” |
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| “Thank you, Mr. Knight. I have dedicated myself to the preservation of this unique culture. It is gratifying to see others reap the fruits I have sown.” |
Enough small talk, let’s interrogate! And this gives us a big history lesson on Voodoo, so I really recommend you watch the video because it’s interesting as hell. Dr. John denies knowing anything about cabrit sans cor’, but over the course of the info dump, we learn that the most powerful Voodoo Queen was Marie Laveau, and she is added to our list of topics to question people about. He also refers us to a local Voodooienne (Voodoo Priestess) named…Magentia Moonbeam. Yeeaaaah. And she’s about what you expect with a name like that, but we’ll meet her later. First, let’s visit the last location we didn’t get a chance to on day 1, the cemetery.
On the way out of the museum, Gabriel gives the wishing stump a rub.
And here we are. The tomb in front of us is actually supposed to be Marie Laveau’s tomb. We can take a closer look at the markings.
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| “I want a copy of these strange marks.” |
So we copy them into Gabriel’s sketchbook. Now we need to go track down the groundskeeper who wanders around randomly through the cemetery.
Oh good, he didn’t go far.
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| “I’m sorry to bother you…” |
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| “Yeah? What can I do for you?” |
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| “You must enjoy the company of dead folks.” |
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| “Unlike the living, they ain’t never given me any reason to dislike them none.” |
Interrogation time! The groudsman, Toussaint Gervais, doesn’t have a lot of new info for us beyond telling us that the Laveau tomb always has weird markings and offerings left around it, as does another tomb, one of the “great family tombs” as he puts it, and lets drop that once he even found a severed penis there. Yuck. Also, Dr. John is at the cemetery almost daily. Interesting. We’ll check out the rest of the cemetery then.
Gee, I wonder WHICH tomb that might have been that Gervais was talking about?? Well, next we’ll go visit Magentia…and it will be the doofiest part of the game, I assure you.
And thank god she’s not a vital character, because this is where things get a little silly.
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| “Welcome, Seeker. You must be the one Dr. John called me about.” |
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| “I guess so. My name is….” |
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| “Wait! Gabriel Knight.” |
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| “You’re too quick for me.” |
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| “Actually, Dr. John told me. You have come to the right place, Mr. Knight. Tell me how I can help.” |
Also, she’s very hippy-dippy. Interrogation has her drop a few pieces of information regarding animal masks that used to be worn in older times, but not really anymore because of “bad karma”. She’ll also talk at length about her snake, Grimwald, who she named after one of her spirit guides…an Egyptian priestess.
Seeing a shed snake skin in Grimwald’s cage, Gabriel asks for one of her scales (ostensibly to compare to the one we found at the lake), but Magentia declines out of a fear that Gabriel could use it for gris gris against her. She talks about a couple of different kinds of gris-gris when asked, and they’re kind of fascinating in a weird way, but we need that scale. So we ask Magentia how she handles Grimwald. In response, she offers to dance with her.
Yeah, that just happened. However, while she’s distracted, Gabriel can sneak over to the cage and steal the snakeskin there. Huzzah!...except that Grimwald’s scales are brown, so they don’t match the one from the lake. Our work here complete, I think there’s a mask somewhere we should try to get.
Yep, the Dixieland Drug Store. However, just after Gabriel arrives, another customer does as well.
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| “Bonjour, Monsieur Walker.” |
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| “Bienvenu, Madame Cazanoux. Comment ca va? How you be feeling today?” |
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| “Well, I’ll tell you, Mr. Walker, I’m certain someone’s buried a Sleep Not Bag somewhere near my steps. I haven’t slept a wink in weeks.” |
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| “Ah, don’t that beat all? Gonna need some Easy Night Candles then?” |
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| “Do you think that would help? I do hope you’re right. I said three rosaries this morning for Our Lady’s intervention.” |
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| “Rosaries are good, sure enough, but you burn those candles, too, and you’re gonna whip any old no sleep gris-gris, I tell you for sure.” |
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| “Very well, Mr. Walker. Put them on my account, and send them around to my house. Oh, and there’s another thing! I didn’t catch her at it, but I know Mrs. LeFevre put Stomach Ache Powder in my tea at the last meeting of the Creole Grande Dames. I’ve been in misery!” |
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| “You put nine pin heads up in a little box, add a pinch of graveyard dust, and put it under her front porch step. That’ll turn the trick back on Mrs. LeFevre, and she’ll be the one with the bellyache. I have the pins and the dust right here if you want them.” |
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| “If the Blessed Virgin will grant me her protection, I’ll be safe from these practitioners of evil!” |
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| “Oui, Madame, though it don’t hurt to be proactive none, neither, does it?” |
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| “Naturellement, Monsieur. Merci beaucoup.” |
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| “Mais non, Madame. It is nothing. Au revoir.” |
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| “Au revoir, Monsieur Walker.” |
I really love this scene just as a reminder that all kinds of people buy into this kind of thing. And also, the old lady is now a conversation topic if we re-interrogate Willy, but he refuses to talk about his customers. He offers us the crocodile mask near the door….for $100. Unfortunately, Willy won’t accept gift certificates from St. George’s, so we’re outta luck there.
Well, I think it’s about time to visit Malia Gedde and see what she has to say.
Nice house. Unfortunately, her butler won’t let Gabriel see her without good cause. Hrm. (Fun fact, her butler is also played by Tim Curry, but he actually gets to use his actual accent there.) Well, the next place I happen to know we need to go is back to Jackson Square Park…and one of the most ball-breakingly frustrating puzzles in the game.
The artist in the corner there is the key. We have to repeatedly talk to him, and eventually ask to watch him sketch the nearby cathedral.
Eventually, his drawing is torn loose by the wind and flies away…
And he can’t reach it inside the fence.
So we have to move down to the SW corner of the park. First we need to get a hot dog from the vendor...and pay for it using the gift certificate. Hell, he won’t even offer to serve Gabriel until we offer him the certificate.
I don’t think Gabriel understands the value of money. Anyway, the next step is to give our hot dog to the dancing kid next to the vendor.
In exchange for our $20 hot dog, Gabriel persuades the kid to retrieve the Cathedral drawing, which we return to the artist.
So what was all this for? Well, this artist is quite good. Good enough to reconstruct an image from a fragmented whole. So we give him all the drawings we have from the crime scenes, and he tells Gabriel that he’ll have it reconstructed for us tomorrow. And if you though the hot dog puzzle was BULLSHIT, you ain’t seen nothing yet!!
So, first, we need to hit the police station, and you can see that the thermostat is apparently being worked on.
Gabriel, being Gabriel, decides to fuck with it because why not? The cops, being lazy, do nothing to stop us.
Yeah, let’s crank that mother! Ok, next step is to chat with Mosely.
Notice that because of the heat, he’s taken off his coat now. Now we need to ask him for a cup of joe.
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| “Coffee? You want coffee?” |
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| “Should that surprise you?” |
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| ”Nah, you’ve always been a caffeine addict. It’s just that the stuff we got here hardly qualifies.” |
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| ”So, I’m desperate.” |
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| “It’s your stomach. I’ll get you some when we’re done talkin’.” |
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| “That long?” |
|
| “All right! I’ll go now!" |
Aaand off he goes. So, being Mosely’s friend we do the logical thing and steal his fucking badge.
Our hero, ladies and gentlemen! However, with the badge in hand, we can now persuade Tim Curry the butler to let us in to speak to Malia.
And here’s where things get sexy. Because what woman doesn't want a little Curry in her? At any rate, most of the interrogation scene goes nowhere, Malia dodging or avoiding every question until you hit the last option….”FLIRT WITH HER”:
|
| “Excuse me, but…your eyes are really distracting. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a color quite like that brownish-gold. It’s so deep and rich. Man, if I could bottle that, I’d make a fortune.” |
(Smoooooth.)
 |
| “Thank you, Detective. That’s an…interesting observation, though probably not relevant to your case.” |
|
| “A good detective never knows what might be relevant, Ms. Gedde.” |
|
| “Then you must be truly exceptional at your job. But I think this has gone on long enough. You’re not really a detective, are you?” |
|
| “Who, me? Well I am on this case, Ms. Gedde.” |
|
| “I saw you at the lake yesterday. I thought you must be with the police since you were there, but you don’t act like a police officer. Besides, I’m rather certain that the other man said his name was Mosely.” |
(Bus-ted!)
|
| “All right, you caught me. I’m not with the police. My name is Gabriel Knight. I’m a writer working with Detective Mosely on a book.” |
|
| “Well, Mr. Knight, now that we’ve established who you are, perhaps you can tell me the real reason you’re here?” |
|
| “Well, I *am* researching the book and thought you might have seen or heard something at the lake…” |
|
| “I don’t like liars, Mr. Knight.” |
And with that she has Tim Curry throw Gabriel’s ass out. And with that, I realize that I forgot to do something important back at Magentia Moonbeam’s house. Namely, that I should’ve shown her the copy we made of the Voodoo code we found on the side of Marie Laveau’s tomb. Yeah, that’s on me.
|
| “Do these symbols mean anything to you?” |
|
| “Ah! The Voodoo code! It is very secret, yes? I studied it with my mentor, the great Queen Tabitha.” |
|
| “Really? Great! Can you tell me what it says?” |
|
| “Hmm. Let me see. Well, some of it is nonsense, I’m afraid. Whoever wrote this wasn’t very good.” |
|
| “That’s all right. Just tell me what it says.” |
|
| “It starts with a ‘D’ and ‘J’. Then…okay, this part makes sense. It says ‘conclave tonight bring’…then there’s more nonsense. ‘F’, ‘W’, ‘E’, ’T’, ’K’, ’A’, ’S’, ’H’.” |
Magentia thinks whoever wrote it meant to say “fresh cash”, but that’s because she suuuuucks at this. So to conclude our day, we return to St. Georges. Grace has no messages, and Gabriel asks her to research Mme. Cazanoux. Why? Well I guess he had a hunch, but it’s one that will pay off later, never fear.
|
| “Madame Cazanoux? Is she ‘related to the murders’ the same way your ‘friend’, Malia Gedde, was?” |
|
| “Grace! Cazanoux’s at least seventy!” |
|
| “As if that makes a difference to you. Okay, I’ll see what I can find.” |
And with that, Grace and Gabriel close out the day.
So Day 3 of Gabriel’s increasingly weird week begins with Grace telling Gabe that she’s got a few listings for the name Cazanoux, and then expresses disbelief that Gabriel is intent on continuing his pursuit of Malia Gedde.
|
| “You underestimate the Knight family’s ‘Tragic Poet-Samurai’ appeal.” |
I don’t think that’s an actual thing, Gabriel. Also, your family is German, so shouldn’t Grace’s family have “Tragic Poet-Samurai Appeal”? Anyway, Grace also has messages! First one’s from Mosely, who wants Gabriel to join him in interrogating a suspect. Next…
|
| “That man from Germany called again. Wolfgang Ritter? Now he’s claiming to be a relative of yours. I took down his number. If you change your mind and want to give him a call back, just ask me for it.” |
Naturally, we get the number: 4-909-324-3333. How the hell do people in Europe remember all these goddamned numbers? And finally we’ll check today’s paper because there’s always something interesting to find.
Um, spoke too soon?
Actually, this part is very interesting, and we’ll need to check out that lecture later.
|
| “Lighten up!” |
Ok, seriously Gabriel, this horoscope writer is better than the possessed fortune machine in PHANTASMAGORRRIA!, you may want to take their advice a little more seriously. Anyway, on to Gabriel’s personal workspace:
And as you might expect, it’s kind of a shithole. So first, I think we better knuckle under and pay some international calling charges and find out who this Wolfgang fellow is.
So I ended up recording the conversation for you all because, well, it’s too hard to transcribe the whole damn thing. Basically, Wolfgang introduces himself as Gabriel’s great-uncle, and says that Gabriel must leave New Orleans immediately because he is “in great danger”, and should come to his ancestral home of Schloss Ritter, in Rittersburg West Germany (The game is set before the Wall fell I guess). Gabriel tells him even if he wanted to go to Europe, he doesn’t have the money, but Wolfgang at least secures a promise from Gabriel that he’ll read a journal that Wolfgang is sending, then call him back.
That being done, our next task in here is to track down the correct Cazanoux!
So we’ve got 4 different entries. Well, no way around it, gotta check ‘em all! Luckily, we hit paydirt on the 3rd entry, as a little dog starts yapping in the background, and the Mme Cazanoux we met earlier was carrying a dog. However, this phonebook sucks because if you didn’t notice there are no fucking addresses. So what are we to do? Well, the hint is actually right there in the phone book, let’s look at that page again:
Yep, it’s big as life right there, the solution is to call the vet on the old dame. And the lady there is thick as a fucking brick too. Seriously, watch that video and try not to facepalm. Well, that done, we have a drawing to pick up. To the park!
Oh, here’s an updated map of the French Quarter. And yes, the puppy face is the Cazanoux home.
So the artist is creeped out by the completed drawing, it can’t be that bad, can it?
On the other hand, it could look like something out of the Simon Necronomicon. Just checking out the rest of the park…
And things get weird, because then that lady starts dancing like a loon. After she sits down, in a matter of seconds she shouts out “Come on boys, Hoopla!” and start dancing again. Riiight. Well, I guess we should see Mosely first.
|
| “YOU! Give me back my badge. NOW, Knight!!” |
|
| “Sure, thanks for letting me ‘borrow’ it.” |
Gabriel Knight, Class Act. Anyway, Mosely is interrogating an informant who goes by the name Crash. Crash might know something, but he’s too busy trying not to pee himself out of terror to reveal it. Eventually, Mosely just sends him back to the lockup out of frustration and comments that they’ll have to let him go in 24 hours.
So, we need to talk to the old bat. I suppose we could just go to her house, right?
Oh yeah, any of those options would work, wouldn’t they?? Well, might as well take the direct route and admit that Gabriel’s writing about Voodoo…
And there’s our hint as to how to get in, and we’re very lucky that Cazanoux is nearly blind. Because now we have to go to Church.
Welcome to beautiful St. Louis Cathedral, or more specifically, The Cathedral-Basilica of Saint Louis, King of France, a very real landmark in NOLA, and is in fact the oldest Catholic cathedral in regular use in the USA. And, the designers did a fucking fantastic job in rendering it too:
Well, for shits and giggles, first let’s visit the confessionals. Just because.
Oh yeah, we gotta hear this.
|
| “I’ve had a lot of women, Father.” |
 |
| “A lot? More than ten?” |
|
| “Yes, Father.” |
|
| “Yes, Father.” |
|
| “Yes, Father.” |
|
| “…More than…forty??” |
|
| “Yes, Father.” |
|
| “…Son, I don’t think this is a matter for a priest. I think you need a good therapist.” |
Ok, that was pretty awesome. Ok, on to the main event.
That door on the far right? That’s our target. Why, you ask?
Oh, it just happens to be where they keep all the clerical garb. Yeah. We’re stealing a priest’s clothes.
|
| “I can’t resist black.” |
OUR HERO!!! Big hand of applause ladies and gentlemen!! Oh, and we can check out the mirror for one other hint:
|
| “I love my hair.” |
Indicating that we need to go back to St. Georges and get a jar of hair gel from Gabriel’s bathroom. Back to Casa des Cazanoux!
So once there, we put on the priest outfit…
|
| “All right, but this is private.” |
And that being done, we now slick back Gabriel’s hair…
|
| “The things I do for my art…” |
And Voila! But there’s still something missing, although it’s not in our control. Do you want to guess what it is? Take a minute to think about it.....
IRISH-CAJUN TIM CURRY!!!!
Oh yes, Gabriel adopts an Irish accent that would make the Lucky Charms Leprechaun blush in shame. The Leprechaun from Leprechaun In The Hood thinks he should tone it down. But enough of that, let’s Interrogate the old bat!
And she is a loony one. Over the course of the interrogation, we learn that evil people can send snakes to attack people in their dreams…so she doesn’t sleep anymore. There are one or two interesting tidbits though…
 |
| “What can you tell me about St. John’s Eve?” |
|
| “St. John’s Eve! Mais oui! I used to love the St. John’s Eve mass at St. Louis Cathedral! Of course, it is also a night of great wickedness…worse than All Hallow’s Eve! They will corrupt anything, Father!” |
She also intimates that she knows something about cabrit sans cor’ but refuses to say anything about it unless we know what it means. Also, she seems to more about Marie Laveau, but won't tell us, presumably not until we can tell her what cabrit sans cor' means. Cockteasing bitch.
So at this point, we kind of really need to know what the fuck cabrit sans cor’ means; Not only because we’re not getting anywhere with Cazanoux without it, and also in my original playthrough it was driving me fucking batty. So if she won’t tell us, Dr. John won’t tell us, and Willy at the Voodoo store won’t tell us….I guess that means it’s lecture time!
So here we are at the University, and I’m not going to transcribe the entire thing, but I do HIGHLY recommend that you watch the video because it’s really quite fascinating.
To sum up: Voodoo/Voudoun involves the worship of spirits called Loa who can be damn near anything from ancestors to the Virgin Mary. Some of them include Papa Nebo or Gede “the lord of death” (Gee I wonder if there’s any connection???), and Ogoun Badagris “The lord of destruction”. Voudoun temples are called hounfours, with a matriarchal priestess called the mamaloa. The hounfour has a ritual circle called aveve (glares at WendyO), which differs from tribe to tribe, as each veve indicates the tribes’ Loa.
Did I mention that Magentia fucking sucks at her “job”??
At any rate, Gabriel falls asleep during the lecture and has a dream about the sekey madoule, and is woken up by the end of the lecture. That being done, we better talk to this egghead Arcade Gannon Professor Hartridge.
 |
| “Are you a student?” |
|
| “No. My name is Knight. Gabriel Knight.” |
(It actually just occurred to me that he always introduces himself in James Bond fashion. Come to think of it, why the fuck hasn’t Tim Curry been a Bond villain yet???)
|
| “Well, you have walked into my private office, Mr. Knight. I hope you have something worthwhile to do here. If you figure it out, let me know.” |
|
| “Your lecture was terrific.” |
|
| “Oh, you think so? You were snoring so loud, I didn’t think you’d heard it.” |
Burned. But yeah, that one’s on you, Gabriel. Anyway, interrogating Hartridge finally answers the question that’s been haunting us for awhile now:
|
| “Do you have any idea what cabrit sans cor’ means?” |
|
| “Cabrit sans cor’? Yes, I do. It’s a Haitian term, I believe. It’s French, and literally translates as ‘goat without horns’.” |
|
| “As in a female goat?” |
|
| “No. As in a human sacrifice. Sacrifices in Voudoun are usually of the animal variety…chickens, bulls, goats…but if the gods demand a ‘goat without horns’, it means a human being.” |
Okay, we’re officially into creepy fucking territory now, and I’d kind of like to know how the old bat is aware of human fucking sacrifice. Also, now accepting bets that the Loa involved in the Voodoo Murders is Kali, meaning that the killers have betrayed Shiva. But wait, there’s more! We can show Hartridge the completed pattern…
|
| “Can you tell me anything about this pattern?” |
|
| “Wow. Interesting…VERY interesting! Mind if I copy this?” |
|
| “Be my guest.” |
|
| “Here you go. You know, this is a fascinating veve! You must tell me all about its origin!” |
|
| “Uh, actually, I was hoping YOU’D tell me. Can you figure out anything about it from the symbols?” |
|
| “Well, some. That’s why I wanted a copy: I want to research the design myself. Each of the symbols in the veve represent something…a Loa, a place…Where did you get this?” |
|
| “Have you heard of the Voodoo Murders?” |
|
| “No! You’re kidding! Really?! Then the Voodoo IS authentic! The newspapers are wrong…boy, are they wrong!” |
|
| “You think this…veve…is authentic then?” |
|
| “Authentic? Mr. Knight, that’s like asking if the Mona Lisa is a painting! Tell you what…I’ll look into these symbols myself and see what I can learn about the sect that made this. I’ll give you a call when I have more information.” |
And with that, we have two mysteries solved. Back to Cazanoux! Now she tells us more about what she knows, specifically that Marie Laveau was apparently the fall gal for the real Voodoo Queen of New Orleans…who is apparently still in power, and has been for over 200 years now. Could be that she’s still just talking crazy, but you never know….
Cazanoux also shows Gabriel a bracelet handed down through her family that is supposed to mark the wearer as permitted entrance to the Voodoo Queen’s secret hounfour, and asks him to bless it for her. Which leads to….this:
|
| “Bless this bracelet of a snake, even though its vibes aren’t great. Let it do nobody harm, when they wear it on their arm. Voodoo spirits go away, don’t come back another day. And now, let us pray.” |
I’d like to believe Tim Curry came up with that on his own. Now that we have the bracelet in our hot little hands, we can’t steal it…but remember way back when at Lake Pontchartrain, when we got some clay from the riverbank? Gabriel quickly makes an impression of the bracelet in the clay and continues with his….blessing:
|
| “Bless, oh, bless, this circlet of silver! Take the curse, oh, take it…Wilbur!” |
|
| “*sniff* A lovely blessing, mon pere!” |
What.
|
| “Yes, I think it made a lasting impression. Here you go!” |
So what to do, what to do….well, maybe we should check in with Grace. Maybe Great Uncle Wolfgang overnight FedEx’d the package he was sending? Nope, but we can ask her a couple of new things:
|
| “Do you know anything about a secret Voodoo Hounfour?” |
|
| “In New Orleans?” |
|
| “I think so.” |
|
| “No, I don’t, but it sounds dangerous. You’re not going to try to find this Voodoo group yourself, are you?” |
|
| “Would I do that?” |
Question answers itself? We can also ask Grace to do research on the veve.
|
| “How interesting. What is it?” |
|
| “It’s a reconstruction of the tracings they’ve found around the murder victims – The ones done in flour and blood.” |
|
| “Yuck! You shouldn’t carry this kind of thing around. Who knows WHAT these symbols mean!” |
|
| “Well, wear your ‘evil banishing’ gloves if you want, but check it out for me, would you?” |
That done, I think it’s time to check out the one location we haven’t seen yet: Napoleon House.
HISTORY TIME!
Yet another actual landmark of NOLA, the Napoleon House (currently the Napoleon House Bar & Cafe), was supposedly, according to local legend, intended to be a residence for Napoleon after his exile. There was a plot afoot to bring him to Louisiana which fell apart when he kinda died. It’s a National Historical Landmark, and is known for serving a quality Pimm’s Cup. No word if you can get your Pimm’s Cup in a Pimp's Cup though.
Unfortunately my Google-fu is weak tonight, so I can’t find a circa 1993 photo to compare the render to. All the pictures I could find, however, indicate a lot more browns in the color scheme than we see here.
The bartender, Stonewall King, kind of reminds me of Paul F. Tompkins in design. Over the course of interrogation, he’ll tell us a bit about some of his regulars:
 |
| “See those old guys at the chess table? That’s Sam and Markus. They’ve played there every day for twenty years. Sam…the one with the purple jacket? He’s lost every one of those games. It’s not that he’s a bad player! I’ve seen him beat guys twice as good as Markus, but Markus has Sam so psyched out, he loses his nerve every time. By the way, Sam, the chess player? He’s into that Voodoo stuff. He’s always talking about spells and gris gris and stuff.” |
Also, Gabriel suddenly realizes that there are a fucking ton of drummers in New Orleans. Did you?
Ok, that third one is kind of obvious, but overall, this is another hidden plot point. There is a reason there are guys drumming all over the city, and it ain’t loose change. Anyway, trying to talk to Sam gets us nowhere as he’s too busy getting his ass kicked at his game of chess. He’s also the only black man I’ve ever seen with a stereotypically Jewish sounding voice.
So, back to St Georges because I’m waiting for an event to trigger….
Remember him from way way back at the beginning of the game? Well, Gabriel needs some cold hard cash to move forward, so I suppose we should hear him out.
|
| “How much would you give me for it, Bruno?” |
|
| “Gabriel, don’t you DARE sell your father’s painting!” |
|
| “Stay out of this, Grace.” |
Bruno then offers Gabriel $100 bucks.
|
| “Gabriel! A hundred dollars for your father’s painting?!” |
|
| “Grace, let me deal with this.” |
And because we need the money, we take it.
|
| “GABRIEL!!! I don’t believe you!” |
|
| “It..it’s just a painting, Grace. There are things I have to do.” |
And I gotta admit, I’m a little confused by Grace’s outrage here. Did she know Gabriel’s dad or something? Anyway, now off to the Dixieland Drug Store to pick up our croc mask, not to mention our lagniappe, which happens to be the ‘Master Gamblin’ Oil’…which is actually the thing we really need at this point. Oh, and while we’re here…
|
| “I found out what cabrit sans cor’ means. How do YOU know about human sacrifice?” |
|
| “I never said those words, M’sieu’. You must have heard them from someone else.” |
Yeah, fuck you too, buddy. Thank god we never have to come back to your lousy fuckin’ shop. Okay, now back to Napoleon House. So why did I come back here in such a hurry you ask? Because we need to give Sam the Master Gamblin’ Oil. And with that…
Yep, we helped an old guy win at chess. Go us! But why?? What the fuck was the point of all that? Well, Sam is a jeweler, and we just happen to have a mold of a bracelet, and he did say he owed us one…
So where do we go next? Why, the cemetery of course! Because why?
Because this game is about to get sexy.
|
| “Malia!” |
|
| “Mr. Knight! What are you doing here?” |
|
| “Uh, my family’s tomb is here.” |
|
| “Mine too.” |
|
| “I noticed. Subtle.” |
|
| “Well, Mr. Knight, if there’s nothing else…” |
(Little handsy, aren’t we there, Gabe?)
|
| “Whatever for?” |
|
| “I can’t stop thinking about you. I’ve been in your thoughts, too. I can see it in your eyes.” |
|
| “Mr. Knight, you don’t know anything about me. I’m not in a position to get involved…” |
|
| “I’ve said that a million times myself, but this is different. I think we both know we can’t fight it. <groan> I can’t believe I’m saying this!” |
|
| “I have so many obligations. My family is very traditional. You wouldn’t understand.” |
|
| “Hey, I love tradition! I’ve seen Fiddler on the Roof a hundred times!” |
(Smooooth, Gabriel; You’ve gone from sounding like a stalker to a complete cornball.)
|
| “This isn’t a musical, Mr. Knight. We live in different worlds!” |
|
| “Look, I know you’ve got more money than God. Do you think I care? Do you think that’s why I’m saying this?” |
|
| “No. I don’t.” |
|
| “Why don’t you come SEE my world? I have a little book shop, St. George’s on Bourbon…” |
|
| “I know.” |
(Ok, now you're just getting rapey.)
|
| “I’m sorry, but there’s no place for someone like you in my life…Not now, not ever!” |
With that, Malia runs off.
|
| “DAMN it!” |
Ok, Gabriel, I hate to break it to you, but, you have exactly zero game with the ladies. I think you had a better chance with Madame Cazanoux than you ever had of making it with-
Or I officially know fuck-all about women.
Yep, Gabriel gets lucky, and in the morning Grace does her best to ignore Gabriel….
Um. The fuck? Am I hallucinating or do you all see that too?
|
| “You’re not speaking to me this morning?” |
|
| “Don’t be silly. I just have nothing to say.” |
|
| “Did you find out anything about that pattern I gave you?” |
|
| “Yeah. I did find something. I checked the micro-fiche at the public library. I found an article about a murder in 1810. The newspaper published part of a pattern found around the body. It looks damn close.” |
|
| “You’re incredible. All that work…” |
|
| “Forget it.” |
|
| “Have it your way.” |
…And that guy hasn’t moved at all. Um. Okay.
|
| “Have you noticed this guy outside the shop?” |
|
| “Yeah, he gives me the creeps. I wish he’d go away.” |
I’m right there with you, Grace. So, uh, what’s in the paper today?
|
| “I don’t believe this! They’ve closed the case!” |
|
| “What case?” |
Oh, Lord. Gee, Grace, I don’t know, maybe the case that’s been absolutely DOMINATING EVERY FACET OF YOUR BOSS’S LIFE FOR THE PAST MONTH OR SO, THAT CASE?! To sum up the rest of their conversation, apparently the cops are saying that the murders were part of an underworld cartel war. Gabriel thinks it’s bullshit, and Grace advises him to talk to Mosely about it.
|
| “Peachy!” |
Gabriel, some days you can be extremely thick. Anyway, Grace has no messages for Gabriel today, so on to Mosely I guess. But first, I think Sam has something for us. (Naturally, Gabriel does nothing about the creepy guy.)
Oh, and if you were wondering why Markus was so pissed off at Sam beating him at chess…
Yyyyeah, I can see being a little pissed about the situation. On to Mosely! Bottom line is that the department is convinced that the local gang was involved in a turfwar with the Chicago mob and used the Voodoo angle to cover it up, with unofficial department policy being “Let the Slime Kill Each Other”. Tee-riffic. Gabriel asks Mosely to get the case reopened, and Mosely responds with the following objectives:
|
| “Prove that there’s a legitimate Voodoo cult in New Orleans, prove that they’re a threat, and get me a lead on the cult.” |
Okay, so next I think we better check on Arcade Hartridge and see if he’s got anything for me yet.
|
| “Mr. Knight. You’re back. Oh goody.” |
Jesus, did Gabriel just fuck everyone’s mom in a past life?
|
| “Have you had any luck yet with that veve?” |
|
| “I’m still working on it, Mr. Knight. When I’m finished, you’ll be the first to know.” |
Okay, well that was marginally more polite. Now comes the big stumper moment….what the fuck are we supposed to do now? Because to the best of my knowledge, the game gives you precisely zero hints as to what we’re supposed to do next. So what do we do, you ask?
Well, we’re supposed to go here, the Jackson Square Overlook.
Here we find a variety of those old pay binocular things that were everywhere for awhile, and we need to use the one on the furthest left to see the northeast corner of the park.
Who is that?
|
| “That’s Crash. What the hell is he up to with that drummer?” |
Yeah, Crash, remember him? We met him briefly the other day when Mosely was convinced that he was involved in the Voodoo Murders. He wanders up to the north of the screen, which leads directly to the St. Louis Cathedral, so we head there next.
Yep, there he is…and he don’t look too good. He also won’t talk to Gabriel at first, continuing to deny everything unless we show him the snake bracelet. At that point, he shows Gabriel that he has the same snake tattooed on his chest, and agrees to answer some questions, however he evades or refuses a straight answer…except when he’s asked about the drummer he was talking to, Crash begins to panic.
 |
| “Promise you won’t say nothin’ to no one! It’ll get back to ‘em, everything does! Promise me you won’t tell ANYONE you saw me!” |
|
| “O-kay, but you have to tell me everything I want to know.” |
|
| “Okay, Okay. I was sending a message, man. They have these Rada drummers posted around the Quarter. They see everything, and they report.” |
|
| “Report? How?” |
|
| “The drums, man! It’s some kinda code.” |
Now, if you think about it, this is kind of ingenious. Hell, bucket drummers across New York could be secretly communicating right this very second. Anyway, Crash begins giving straight answers on all the subjects he knows about. He confirms that the cult is real, the murders are genuine Voodoo, and he is scared to fucking death of them. But the big info shows up when he’s asked about the Voodoo Hounfour at this point:
|
| “All right! There’s this underground cartel in New Orleans…a Voodoo cartel. They control everything that happens on the street…I mean EVERYTHING that’s bought or sold. They have their fingers in the legit world too…banks, foreign stuff, you name it. There’s supposed to be this temple…what you said, a hounfour. That’s their headquarters. I heard people say it’s underground, somewhere in the French Quarter…I don’t know where.” |
|
| “Have you ever been there?” |
|
| “No, no, I’ve never been in it. I’m nobody. A runner. But I saw them once…out at the lake. They became animals, man…beasts! I remember the eyes!<choke> The eyes!” |
|
| “…Hey, are you okay?” |
|
| “The eyes…the eyes…of the snake!” |
|
| “I think I should go get a doctor! Someone! I need help!” |
|
| “The eyes of the snake! Damballah!” |
|
| “What snake? Crash?” |
And with that, Crash just drops dead instantly.
|
| “Oh, God! Poor bastard!” |
So we’re alone with a fresh corpse in a church. Better rifle through his stuff I suppose.
 |
| Ew. Actually, we, uh, need to lift his shirt. |
Oh yeah, this, uh, isn’t weird at all. In a church. Anywho, using Gabriel’s artistic talents, we copy down the tattoo. And after that, we just leave Crash’s corpse sitting in a pew, in a church, with his shirt hiked up around his armpits. Classy.
Well, after witnessing a mysterious death and molesting a corpse in a house of God, Gabriel wisely decides to call this a fucking day, and heads back to St. George’s Books for the night. And then he gets on the phone.
|
| “Hello?” |
|
| “It’s me. I can’t sleep.” |
|
| “Me neither.” |
|
| “Can I….?” |
|
| “Yes. Come.” |
Oh, I’m sure he will, Ms. Gedde.
So Gabriel arrives back after Grace opens the shop. And for the record, the creepy fucking dude is still there.
|
| “Are you OK, Gabriel?” |
|
| “<yawn> Sure. Great. Why?” |
|
| “I’m worried about you.” |
|
| “If I were any better, Grace, I’d be dead. Now what’s up?” |
|
| “You got another package this morning. Fed Ex, from Germany.” |
|
| “I was expecting that. Where is it?” |
|
| “Well…it kind of came open, but I salvaged the contents. There was a letter from your great uncle Wolfgang, and a journal.” |
|
| “The package just ‘came open’, huh? How’d you like the journal?” |
|
| "Someone has to look after you. You’re in trouble in case you don’t know it.” |
|
| “Yeah, you’ve been reading my horoscope again, haven’t you, Grace?” |
|
| “Just read the journal carefully, Gabriel. PLEASE.” |
At that point, the store phone rings, with Hartridge on the line.
|
| “You did. Wait, slow down…The Agris? Really? You think that’s them? The wheel-within-a-wheel? Ogoun Badagris, huh? Well, that does sound like it.Damballah, the snake? That’s the wavy pattern at the bottom. Okay. The 1791 slave revolt in Santo Domingo? Well why would the veve show up there? Uh-huh. Okay. Okay. Okay. Look, I’ll come over as soon as I can. Okay. Relax, Professor! I’m excited too, but you’re going to give yourself a heart attack! Okay. Thanks. See ya.” |
|
| “I wish you’d tell me what’s going on. I swear, you’re going to step into a hole you may never get out of.” |
|
| “Don’t look so worried. No one knows what I’m doing.” |
 |
| I think this guy begs to differ, Gabriel. |
|
| “I’m perfectly safe, and I’m getting some GREAT stuff for the book. Besides, there’s something about all this. My dreams…” |
|
| “What ABOUT your dreams?” |
|
| “…Nothing. I’ll be careful. I promise.” |
Well, time to check the paper.
|
| “Wonderful.” |
Okay, first thing’s first, let’s read the letter Uncle Wolfgang sent:
“Dear Gabriel: Please read the enclosed journal carefully. It might help you understand your family’s special obligations and our current predicament. God be with you, Uncle Wolfgang.”
Ok, better check out that journal then.
|
| “Poor bastard!” |
|
| “Ballsy son-of-a-bitch, wasn’t he?” |
Yeah, Gabe, the, uh, apple didn’t exactly fall far from the family tree I think.
I think I speak for the entire viewership here Gabe when I say: QUIT FUCKING THE OBVIOUS VILLAIN. I mean, Christ, just before you started sleeping with her, you attended a lecture where you found out her last name is the name of a Voodoo death god you jackass. Ah well, moving on, I suppose we should call Uncle Wolfgang who I’m sure is going to tell you the same fucking thing. Except…the game won’t let me.
|
| “No, I can’t afford to call Germany again until I figure more of this out!” |
Hookay, I’ll ride your damn plot railroad I guess. To Hartridge, so we can get the inside skinny on that veve!
|
| “Hey, Hartridge, what’s the good word…? Hartridge?” |
|
| “Oh, God, not again!” |
Yep, the cult got ‘im. Another protip, Gabe: STOP DISCUSSING STUFF IN FRONT OF A VERY OBVIOUS SPY. Anyway, there’s nothing on his corpse that we can do, so we’re spared more corpse molestation. But we do snag his notes on the veve from his desk:
Clear as mud. And of course, we abandon the crime scene before the cops haul Gabriel’s ass in for questioning.
However, Gabriel is good enough to do at least that. And we still can’t call Wolfgang. However, what we can do is ask Grace to research Rada drums for us…and considering they’re being used to send coded messages, this is a good plan. Ok, next plan of attack, maybe Dr. John can tell us more about Damballah, Ogoun Badagris, and the rest?
BAD IDEA!!! Luckily, we hit the air conditioning switch, and the shock of the cold air makes the snake take off….and then Dr. John enters.
|
| “Good day, Mr. Knight.” |
|
| “That thing just tried to KILL me!” |
|
| “He did? I am sorry. The museum is closed today, you see, and we were not expecting visitors. But, if you will excuse me, Mr. Knight, I must go look for him. He is incredibly valuable.” |
|
| “You don’t need to ask twice. I’m outta here! By the way, you might want to lock your door next time you’re ‘closed’.” |
|
| “Not a bad idea. Good-bye, Mr. Knight.” |
Returning back yet again to St. Georges, Grace immediately notices something wrong with Gabe, saying he looks a little pale green around the gills.
|
| “Pale green, you say? Charming.” |
|
| “What’s that on your face?” |
|
| “I’m sure you’ll tell me.” |
|
| “Looks like a sparkly or something. Got it.” |
|
| “I love it when you pick stuff off my face, Grace.” |
|
| “Hmph. Well, excuuuuse me.” |
Grace puts the whatever it is in an ashtray on the desk, which begins the hardest task yet: trying to pick it up. Every time, it’s taken me at least 5 minutes to hit the hotspot with the tweezers.
|
| “Looks like the python left me a souvenir. Verrrrrry interesting.” |
Yep, another scale.
So, yeah, if you didn’t realize it before: Where would the cops go for information on a series of Voodoo-related murders? Why to a local museum where the proprietor is an expert on the subject. An “expert” who sent a researcher to a local nutjob, and told the cops that the Voodoo was completely faked. Dr. John’s a very, very bad Klingon, and a filthy p’takh to boot.
Anyway, seeing as Dr. John just tried to kill us with the cult snake, we better go file a complaint with the cops and…
Oh, that’s not good. Anyway, I guess we better show Mosely some evidence. Let’s start with the completed veve.
|
| “You know those marks you found around the murder victims? This is a reconstruction of the whole pattern.” |
|
| “What makes you think this is an accurate reconstruction?” |
|
| “Well…I ‘borrowed’ the partial patterns from your police file, and did my own tracing of the pattern at Lake Pontchartrain. An architectural artist reconstructed it for me from the partials.” |
|
| “Really? So this is the pattern, huh? That’s pretty good work, Knight. But that doesn’t prove that this pattern is really connected to Voodoo.” |
Hah, shows what you know, Mosely. Next, Hartridge’s notes:
|
| “Take a look at these notes. They’re from Professor Hartridge at Tulane University.” |
|
| “Yeah? What about them?” |
|
| “They confirm that the pattern from the murders is of African origin.” |
|
| “Really? That’s incredible, isn’t it? Somethin’ like that showin’ up here?” |
|
| “It’s been ‘here’ for quite some time, so it seems.” |
|
| “I’m impressed. Okay, you’ve convinced me. The murders were done by a legitimate Voodoo cult.” |
Okay, Mosely, what do you think of my scales?
|
| “I have these two snake scales. One’s from the crime scene at Lake Pontchartrain. The other’s from a snake in the Voodoo Museum on Ursulines and Chartres.” |
|
| “Is this common? Do they all look alike?” |
|
| “Not at all. They’re bother constrictor scales, and the coloring is the same. A python’s coloring is quite individualistic.” |
|
| “A PYTHON?!” |
|
| “That’s right. Hardly an indigenous snake to Louisiana. Somehow, some way, the Museum’s python was at the scene of the Lake Pontchartrain murder.” |
And Mosely accepts that as a lead. Nice. Okay, now to prove that they’re a threat. Hey, Mosely, what if I told you that the cult’s been active since the last century?
|
| “This is a newspaper clipping about a murder committed in 1810. That murder is an exact match of the Voodoo Murders-right down to the marks around the bodies.” |
|
| “Hmmm. This does sound like the same M.O. 1810?” |
|
| “1810. They killed then, they’re killing now. Isn’t that proof that they’re likely to kill again…that they ARE a threat?” |
|
| “Okay, they’re a threat. Okay, I’ll reopen the case. I hate to admit it, but you’ve done some pretty good detective work here, Knight.” |
|
| “Well, you know what they say. Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.” |
|
| “Well, <ahem>, point taken. Glad I could inspire you. I’ll check around the department, but I have a feeling I’m on my own. In fact, I’d better lock up this office just in case I step on a few toes. Come on.” |
And thus did Gabriel Knight achieve a subquest successfully! Huzzah!
So after leaving the department, Gabriel calls it a day, and attempts another booty call, but this one ends in a busy signal. So Gabe hits the hay, and has an expanded version of his recurring nightmare.
So Grace opens up and…
The worst part? It’s still alive. Also, when Gabriel has those nightmares, he must be out because this is what happens next:
|
| “What is it? What’s wrong?” |
|
| “Gabriel?” |
|
| “I see it, Grace. Hold on. There’s no one in the shop, and I know there’s no one in back. It’s okay.” |
|
| “Okay? Gabriel, that thing is still barely alive! How could someone DO this?” |
|
| “With a knife, maybe?” |
|
| “God, don’t even start. We should call the police.” |
|
| “No. I’ll take care of it.” |
|
| “But Gabriel…” |
|
| “I said I’ll take care of it. Why don’t you go get some coffee. I’ll have it all cleaned up before you get back.” |
|
| “They know where you live now.” |
Grace, I’m pretty sure they already did.
|
| “Shhhh. It’s going to be fine. Now go on.” |
LATER…
|
| “Are you sure you don’t want to go home? I could close the shop today.” |
|
| “No! I’d rather keep busy! I’ll be fine. At least that creepy guy is gone. <shiver> Not that they aren’t still watching. Anyway, speaking of keeping busy…We got that book you ordered in this morning, the one on Rada drums.” |
|
| “Really? Great!” |
And apparently the Rada code is fairly well known for there to be a translation guide available. And at that point, someone shoves a note through the letter slot. Surprisingly, it’s not a threat or subpoena, it’s a brass key and a letter from Mosely:
|
“Gabe, I have to go underground with this thing. It runs wide and deep throughout the department and the city board…I’m already being watched. It was ‘suggested’ that I take vacation time, so I am…at least, as far as they know. Try to keep out of this…it’s too hot for a rookie. Just in case, I’m sending you my office key. You might find someuseful things there.
P.S. I think this note will look great in the book, don’t you? Make sure you save it. |
Good man, that Mosely. Dumb as a sack of hammers sometimes though. Okay, today’s news:
|
| “Sure. Why not? It IS St. John’s Eve. They’ll be out tonight, for sure. But where?” |
An excellent question, Gabe. Maybe NOW you’d like to call your Uncle??? No? WHY THE FUCK NOT, HE OBVIOUSLY KNOWS MORE ABOUT THIS THAN YOU DO YOU FUCKING HALFWIT!!!!!
*ahem*
Sorry about that. Anyway, let’s go get Mosely’s shit. Except when we try to just go on back like we have every other time…
Uh, what? Interrogating Frick just has him deny that there ever was a Mosely at this precinct, or even on the NOPD. That…that’s not good. Now, I’ll spare you all a bit of wandering, trying to figure out what the fuck we’re supposed to do now, and just say that we’re headed back to Jackson Square. There’s a couple things we can do there now.
See that vendor? He just happens to be selling beignets. In fact, he’s the same guy who was selling them right outside the precinct waaaaaay back at the beginning of the game. Over the course of dialogue, you need to persuade him to return to that area. That done…
I think it’s about time to find out what the cult’s been saying. And let me tell you, interpreting the drum code is a utter pain in the ass. The drummer likes to pop in random beats that don’t mean anything in order to obfuscate the message, but that’s not going to stop you from flipping through the onscreen translation in order to find code beats that aren’t there. It’s immensely frustrating. But here’s the solution:
So we know the cult is meeting in the swamps tonight. Now, back to the precinct.
Okay. Now we play the waiting game. What waiting game? We need Frick to fall asleep from overdosing on beignets. And with current processor speeds, the window to get in there isfucking narrow. One you get into the office though, you feel like a total boss.
So now that we’re here, we need to rifle Mosely’s desk and we are rewarded with a tracking bug and receiver. But what next? Let’s stop by the cemetery again.
The message is different now. However, thanks to that daffy Magentia, we can translate some of the message. So we copy down the new message. Luckily we don’t need Magentia to translate this one.
And I think we can easily guess who the “DJ” and “GK” are in the message, as well as what the missing letters are. And I think it’s time we played some games with “DJ and the Cultists”. Using the brick next to the Laveau tomb allows Gabriel to erase the message that was there and to put up our own message. But what? Well, we need something to put a tracking bug in, because although we know the cult is headed for the swamp, the swamps in Louisiana are goddamned huge. You might as well say “We’re meeting in a wheat field in Saskatchewan”. So how about a “little coffin” that we learned about from Hartridge? So we leave the message “DJ BRING SEKEY MADOULE”. On that note, let’s go visit DJ.
Just after we plant the bug…
|
| “I hate to rush you, Mr. Knight, but I am afraid I must close the museum early this evening. This IS St. John’s Eve, and it is getting on towards dusk. I have things I must do.” |
|
| “I see. No problem. I’ll just…” |
|
| “Leave. Good-bye, Mr. Knight. May the spirits guard you well tonight.” |
Ok, now that Doctor John is unwittingly delivering our tracker, it’s time to return to St. George’s. Once there, we need to make an…unusual…request to Grace by showing her the drawing Gabriel made of Crash’s tattoo.
|
| “Will you do me a favor?” |
|
| “What?” |
|
| “Use your paints to copy this snake tattoo onto my chest.” |
|
| “Now, why on Earth would you want me to do that?” |
|
| “…I’m going to a party tonight. Costume, you know.” |
|
| “You don’t say? I guess you’re going with Malia.” |
|
| “Uh…yeah. That’s right.” |
|
| “And why should I help you when I don’t even like Malia?” |
|
| “We-e-l-l, if you’re jealous about my feelings for her…” |
|
| “You KNOW that’s not it. I just think, as your friend, that she’s trouble.” |
|
| “It’s perfectly understandable. I know that you have certain feelings for me, quite naturally.” |
|
| “ME? I would rather be hung by my hair over a bed of scorpions.” |
|
| “I know it must be hard having it in your face like this. No chance to avoid hearing about it, seeing it day by day…” |
|
| “FINE! I’ll DO it! Just SHUT UP! Can we at least go in the back?” |
|
| “Sure, but…could you say that one more time…and pout your lips more?” |
|
| “UGGH!” |
These two might just be my favorite non-romantically involved pairing of all time. If the future games fuck this up, I will be very upset. Anyway, Grace paints the snake on.
|
| “Hold still!” |
|
| “Maybe you’d like to tie me up?” |
|
| “One more remark, and I’m leaving.” |
|
| “Okay, okay.” |
|
| “Done. It’s just stunning.” |
|
| “Sorry I couldn’t make it last longer.” |
|
| “Well, it was about what I expected from you.” |
*snort* Okay, so that being done, it’s time to hit the Bayou St. John.
It’s about what you’d expect. So we break out the tracking equipment.
Pretty basic, you walk in the general direction of the blip on the tracker. Easy.
Er. Kinda.
But eventually, success! Before we can approach the party already in progress, Gabriel has to get changed. We put on our croc mask we bought earlier.
You said it, Gabe. So, what does an evil Voodoo cult’s ritual celebration look like? Let’s just say,
It’s about what you’d expect. Once there, Gabriel is confronted by Dr. John (inexplicably clad in a purple thong. Now imagine Worf wearing it. Enjoy that mental image.)
|
| “Welcome Brother Crocodile. Please join the other celebrants.” |
|
| “Yes, Dr. Joh-er, Brother Eagle.” |
|
| “But first…Name the great serpent who crushes all in his coils.” |
|
| “Damballah!” |
|
| “You are correct, Brother Crocodile. Who is the destroyer of men?” |
|
| “Ogoun Badagris.” |
|
| “You are correct, Brother Crocodile. Enjoy yourself WELL tonight (*evil chuckle*).” |
This entire segment has been recorded for your viewing pleasure, but to sum up: The celebrants begin dancing, as a woman in a leopard mask with a snake wrapped around her breasts enters the circle. The crowd begins chanting “TETELO!”, and Dr. John blows some powder into Gabriel’s face through the mouth of the mask. Unable to stop himself, Gabriel takes off the mask and approaches the leopard woman…
And yeah, you all knew this was coming, it’s Malia underneath. In a very different voice, she shouts:
|
| “I know you now! I can smell his blood in your veins!” |
Before attempting to stab Gabriel. He manages to get away, but falls and hits his head. A mysterious hand reaches out to him, and then…
|
| “Gabriel! Gabriel, wake up!” |
|
| “Oww! My head!” |
|
| “It’s about time! I’ve been trying to wake you up for hours! There’s no time to lose!” |
|
| “I had another dream.” |
|
| “It wasn’t a dream, believe me. Now come on, get dressed.” |
|
| “Waitaminute! I’m starting to remember…something about Malia…” |
|
| “She’s the head priestess of the Voodoo cartel. They’re responsible for the murders, they’ve been doing it for years.” |
|
| “Malia? Last night…she was the leopard! Like in my dreams, Grace!” |
|
| “I know, those dreams were a warning. Now come on, get dressed.” |
|
| “But last night, Malia changed. She became…someone, something else. And then I blacked out, I think….how did I get home?” |
|
| “I followed you last night. I had my doubts about the Geddes. Did you know that they arrived in New Orleans in 1800? Just in time for the Voodoo influx. I knew you were going to try to sneak into a ceremony last night, so I followed you. Lucky for you that I did. If you’d been left at that circle last night, I don’t know WHAT she would have done to you.” |
|
| “You’re wrong. Malia wouldn’t hurt me.” |
|
| “What about Tetelo?” |
|
| “Tetelo! They were chanting that last night. That’s the name from Gunter’s journal…the woman who took his talisman!” |
|
| “Yes. Gabriel, it’s your destiny that you’re facing. You can’t just blunder your way through this, or you’ll end up dead. Tetelo will be after you now. You HAVE to call your Great Uncle in Germany.” |
|
| “Uncle Wolfgang?” |
|
| “Yes. He knows more about this than we do.” |
|
| “Okay, I’ll call him. But Malia isn’t responsible for those things, Grace. It’s that spirit…that..Loa. It’s Tetelo.” |
|
| “Yeah, possession is convenient that way. Call Wolfgang, Gabriel. I’ll be in the shop.” |
All right, it’s time for a plot dump! Let’s ring that crazy old uncle and see what’s what!
 |
| “Gabriel! It is so good to hear your voice! I had such a dream last night!” |
|
| “There’s a good reason for that, Uncle Wolfgang. We need to talk!” |
Gabriel then fills in Wolfgang on everything off-camera.
|
| “Ach! It is even worse than I thought!” |
|
| “You bet it is! We have to talk about what I’m supposed to do!” |
And so we begin interrogating our elderly Great-Uncle over the phone. Nothing really new comes up until we get to here:
|
| “What can you tell me about Schattenjägers?” |
|
| “Yes! Of course! I sometimes forget how little you know of the family, Gabriel. I never understood how Heinz could allow his sons to remain ignorant…!” |
They really should have inserted some German cursing here. There really is no better language to swear in. Maybe Klingon.
|
| “But now is not the time for that discussion. Schattenjäger is really two words in English, Gabriel; Schatten means ‘shadow’ and Jäger means ‘hunter’.” |
|
| “Shadow Hunter?” |
|
| “Yes, Shadow Hunter. We Ritters have been Schattenjägers for many centuries. No one is sure when it began, or how, but we have records of ancestors as early as the 13th century fulfilling this role. Some believe that the role was given to us when…Ah, but such fantasies cannot be of use to you at the moment, Gabriel.” |
Uncle Wolfgang also fills us in a little on Tetelo and the Talisman she stole. He confirms that Tetelo controls the cult by possessing her female descendants and ordering the killings, and she’s become an insanely powerful Loa thanks to the theft of the Talisman.
|
| “It was in the family for centuries before Tetelo took it. It is believed to be as old as the role of Schattenjäger itself. The Talisman has genuine power, I don’t know how or why, but it is so. The Schattenjägers swore to use the power for good, never for evil – for defense, not offense.” |
Soooo, the Schattenjägers are using the Light Side of the Force?? Anyway, Wolfgang tells Gabriel that the Talisman must be buried with Tetelo’s remains, but he has no idea where those remains are. He figures they’re either in NOLA or in her ancestral homeland. Gabriel fills him in on what Hartridge found out regarding that: The Republic of Benin. Wolfgang tells Gabriel to carefully investigate where the remains *might* be in N’awlins, but not to approach any of the cult’s sanctum locations without him.
So there we have it. Gabriel’s family secret is that he is descended from a line of witch hunting, undead busting, badasses. And yes, Uncle Wolfgang is pretty badass himself, although we won’t find out just how badass for awhile yet. (Although you might recognize his voice actor as Alfred from Batman TAS among many, many other roles.) Going out into the main office of St. George’s Books, it’s time to check the news!
|
| “God help me, I’m actually starting to listen to this guy!” |
YOU SHOULD HAVE BEEN LISTENING TO HIM FOR OVER A WEEK NOW. Well, I can only think of one place that might have some bodies related to the Gedde family stacked up like cordwood, and it happens to be labelled. To the Cemetery!
Um. Kay. That wasn’t there before. Unfortunately, Gabriel’s the kind of guy who sees a big red button, he’s just gotta push it. All it does is open the tomb however. But it’s pitch black inside, and we can’t see shit because the doors close automatically behind Gabriel. Turns out that Gabriel has a flashlight in his room I missed picking up. Whoops.
So upon returning to the Gedde Tomb, this is all we can see at a time with our flashlight. There’s nine drawers, and some broken glass on the ground.
Most of the drawers just have the same thing…in fact, eight of them do. Until we check the middle one.
NOOOOOOOOO! THAT’S NOT TRUE! THAT’S IMPOSSIBLE!!!!
Yes friends, Detective Mosely has been unceremoniously crammed into the Gedde Tomb. And apparently, someone realized that was kind of a stupid idea because Gabriel is knocked out from behind, and when he comes to, checking the drawer again…
Being a good friend, we hold onto Mosely’s wallet for safe keeping. Nothing else to do here, we return to St. George’s.
|
| “Where have you been? I was worried about you!” |
|
| “For good reason, apparently.” |
|
| “What happened? Do you need a doctor?” |
|
| “Nothing you want to know about, and no, just some aspirin.” |
|
| “Gabriel, this is nuts; you HAVE to get out of New Orleans.” |
|
| “No kidding.” |
|
| “Well, listen. Wolfgang called while you were out. He said, and I quote, ‘Tell Gabriel that I found what I was looking for. It’s time for me to do my duty. Schloss Ritter is his now.' Now, call me crazy, but I DON’T think that’s good news.” |
|
| “Not for Uncle Wolfy, no.” |
|
| “What are you going to do?” |
|
| “If I figure it out, I’ll let you know.” |
Calling Uncle Wolfgang results in his maid or whoever telling Gabriel that he’s unavailable. So, what to do, what to do…well, the answer is actually already in our inventory. The phone book page.
We’re goin’ to Germany.
But how to pay? Well….remember how we found Mosely’s wallet in the tomb? It just so happens that, well, his credit card is in there, and he’s kinda dead now, so…
|
| “Charge it to my Americans Repressed. The name is Mosely.” |
Ok, I hate the pun name of the card, but I can’t help at chuckle at Gabriel just nonchalantly using his dead friend’s credit card to book himself an international flight. He’s such a wonderful bastard.
|
| “Guess what, I’m going to Germany!” |
|
| “Really? That’s great, but how on Earth can you afford…” |
|
| “A man’s gotta do what a man’s gotta do.” |
|
| “Oh, my God. I wouldn’t like the sound of that even if you WERE a man.” |
|
| “I’ll miss you too, Grace.” |
Don’t worry though, we’ll be back sooner than you think! But anyway, TO RITTERSBURG!
Shiiiit, Uncle Wolfy’s doing pretty fucking okay for himself seeing as he owns his own castle!
|
| “Hello. My name is Knight. Gabriel Knight.” |
 |
| “Herr Knight! Oh! Kommen sie bitte herein…I mean…come in, please, Herr Knight. I was not expecting you! Has Wolfgang sent you here?” |
|
| “Uncle Wolfgang? No, I came to see him. Isn’t he here?” |
|
| “No, he is gone! I’m sorry! You came all this way!” |
|
| “Oh great! That’s all I need!” |
|
| “Herr Knight, Wolfgang told me all about you and gave me instructions for you to feel welcome here. Please, this is your home. You are a Ritter, no? I am just doing some work. I will continue, and you may make yourself comfortable. If there is anything you need, please ask me. You may use Wolfgang’s bedroom. It is at the top of the stairs.” |
|
| “Thank you, Miss…” |
|
| “You may call me Gerde, Herr Knight.” |
Yep, personal maid, swanky castle, I think I’d like being a Schattenjäger personally. Well, what’s Wolfgang’s room like?
Damn. The door on the other side of the room is locked, so I guess Wolfgang didn’t want Gabriel to use his private crapper or something. On the other side of Gerde, we find…
Okay, so I highly doubt that Gabriel’s store is Saint George’s by pure coincidence. The tapestries on the wall depict hands being washed, hair being cut, a goblet, blood dripping into the goblet, a knight kneeling, and a scroll. Kaaaay. Well, let’s talk to Gerde.
She doesn’t have a lot of new information unfortunately, at least not until we get to asking her about Schattenjägers.
|
| “As Wolfgang may have told you, Schattenjager means ‘Shadow Hunter’. The Ritter family have always been Schattenjägers. It is a kind of priesthood though not *blush* as restrictive as most. Each Schattenjäger passes on his knowledge to a younger man in the Ritter line when the time is right. I am sure Wolfgang meant for you to take his place someday as Schattenjäger.” |
Asked about the tapestries, Gerde says they depict the Schattenjäger initiation ceremony.
|
| “Each young man of the Ritter line must go through the ceremony when he dedicates himself to be a Schattenjäger. “ |
|
| “But what does the ceremony DO?” |
|
| “I do not know, Herr Knight. The only people present are the old Schattenjäger and the new…but I think it must be similar to a priest’s ordination or a wedding; a ceremony of intent and oath.” |
|
| “Yeeeuw!” |
|
| “Is there a problem, Herr Knight?” |
|
| “You said ‘wedding’. I’m okay now.” |
Well, it’s time to become a Schattenjäger now. There’s two things we need from the area around Gerde…a dagger on the wall, and a container of salt next to her. Now back to Wolfgang’s bedroom.
First we open the windows. Next we use the snow on the ledge to wash Gabriel’s hands. Following that, Wolfgang left a small toiletries kit on the shelf including a pair of scissors. So we take those and chop of a lock of his hair.
|
| “I HATE this. There…that’s PLENTY.” |
Next, there’s a framed scroll. We need that. And finally we take the basin on the shelf as well. Back to the chapel.
We put the basin on the altar and put some salt in it. Now, we need Gabriel to put some of his blood in the basin, so we use the dagger on him while we blare some early Linkin Park.
|
| “Whoops! Nearly hit an artery.” |
Now we kneel at the altar, and use the scroll. What follows is a magnificent bait and switch, after which Gabriel goes to bed…and has a dream about a dragon. The dragon berates him for his impure life, mocking his decision to be a Schattenjäger, and the sets him on fire to “purify” him. After which, Gabriel stabs the dragon, which turns into him, and then withers away revealing a key.
And now that Gabriel’s awake, the key is in his room, so we take it.
So last time Gabriel officially joined the ranks of the Schattenjagers and obtained a large brass key. Well, there’s only one locked room in the castle...
Welcome to Wolfgang’s library. And boy oh boy is this section a pain in the ass. Pretty much each shelf contains a different topic, and we have to follow a chain in order to track down where Wolfgang went. So first we have to look through the shelves until we find this:
Ok, so we take the book and read:
The People’s Republic of Benin is an area of rich and diverse cultures and a proud heritage. Before slaving devastated many tribes, this area was populated by some of the oddest, fiercest, and most powerful tribes in tribal Africa: the Fons, the Dahomeys, and the terrible Agris. The book ‘The Primal Ones’ by John Roots provides insight into these fascinating cultures.
Needless to say, our next target is that book, so back to looking through the shelves for it.
…In contrast with the peaceful, nomadic tribes of Northern Africa, certain tribes of the Southwest were vicious and xenophobic. This part of Africa is called the Red Basin area because of the vast amount of bloodshed that’s occurred there over the centuries. In this one area of Africa existed, in a perpetual state of war and raiding, some of the most powerful and efficient fighters the world has ever seen. Why did this region inspire such violent behavior? To understand, one must look further back. See ‘Ancient Roots of Africa’ by Earl E. Days.
Oh god…the puns….it’s like being trapped in a world run by Carmen Sandiego….
The ferocity of the tribes in the Red Basin region is traceable to their predecessors. In Egyptian time, 4000-2000 BC, this region was ruled by powerful sun worshippers. We know a little about this mysterious cult by the remnants of ruins far older and of a culture far more advanced than any that exists in Africa today. See ‘Sun Worshippers’ by A. Curate.
Um?
...nahhhh
One of the earliest religious practices was that of sun worship. The most powerful cults of sun worshippers lived on the continent of Africa. The African sun god was violent and terrible, and so became his worshippers. They practiced a particularly bloody form of ritual sacrifice. The homeland of this ancient cult is still considered a sacred site of power. See ‘Ancient Digs of Africa’ by Professor Seymore Shards.
Ok, the puns are starting to physically hurt now. And pray tell, which African sun god would you be referring to? Awondo? Nyambi? Atenn? Ra?
Stop that.
The most fascinating archaeological site in Africa is the Great Snake Mound in the People’s Republic of Benin, located 50 miles south of the capital, in the Red Basin.
Oh yeah, the Pyramids, the Valley of the Kings, the Sphinx, those are all yesterday’s news. Idiot.
Like the snake mounds of North America, the origin and meaning of these great mounds remains a mystery, though clearly, they were the result of profound and urgent spiritual belief. Unlike other snake mounds, the African example is a double snake mound; a small snake ring within a larger snake ring. The mound is thought to have housed an ancient temple. Although archaeologists explored the mound site, the interior remains largely unchanged from ancient times. This is partially due to stringent Government regulations, and partially to local superstition. The local people regard the mound with fear, and won’t go near it.
|
| “A double snake ring???” |
So Gabriel flips through the book and sees…
If you forgot, a “wheel-within-a-wheel” is one of the images present in his recurring nightmare. I don’t really see the snake aspect, myself though. Anywho, Gabriel pockets the book, and we can also look at a book about the Ritters.
|
| “I’m not sure I’m really interested in knowing about some of my ancestors.” |
And we can also look at the occult section…
Spoiler: Next game’s about werewolves.
Now that we’ve amused ourselves, time to talk to Gerde again.
|
| “Gut’ Morgen, Herr Knight! I am cooking your Fruhstuck – a good German breakfast! Please, feel at home.” |
I thought your job was cooking Wolfgang’s Fruhstuck? We show her the book.
|
| “I found this book in the library. I think it might tell us where Wolfgang went.” |
|
| “Africa? You think Wolfgang went to Africa?” |
|
| “I know he did.” |
|
| “Then I shall make you a plane trip right now, Ja?” |
|
| “Well, I guess so.” |
|
| “Good! Good! My poor Wolfgang! You have money for the plane, Ja?” |
|
| “…I know! We can use this credit card!” |
…We thank you for flying Air Mosely.
So, here we are in Africa. I expected more. Needless to say, we need to enter the mound.
Kaaaay. Apparently there are just mummified corpses all over the place as well. Nice. So let’s take a look at that thing on the wall.
Prepare yourselves for what may be the most frustrating goddamned puzzle in the whole game. No joke, this took me FOREVER to figure out. There are 12 rooms we can enter, and each one either has a tile on the wall like the one above, or there’s a space to put one. Two of them cannot be removed at all. We need to put all the tiles in the correct order. The two that can’t be removed are tiles 7 and 12. If you want to watch me stumble around, feel free but oh my fucking God I hate this puzzle. Your best bet to solve it is to just grab all the tiles to start and circle until you reach room #7:
Once there, work your way back around until you get back to room #8 or #6.
Oh, and make sure to grab that snake-shaped rod in room #9. We’re gonna need that. Once all the tiles are in place, go to room #3.
Then, SAVE YOUR GAME because this is where the shit really hits the fucking fan. Because I’m not gonna lie: You’re going to get a game over here. Repeatedly. Why? Because when you’re in room #3, you push the snake rod into the hole in the center of the tile and….
FUCKING ZOMBIES!!! Yeah, ALL the dead bodies come back from the dead and are focused on one thing:
Ripping Gabriel’s heart from his chest for a snack. Yuck.
Our first official game over screen! The only way through this is to run north until you reach room #6 which has several zombies. At which point Gabriel needs to grab some hanging vines and swing into room #7.
And finally, we meet the man himself as he fucking ninja dives from the ceiling to grab that torch and swing it at the zombies.
|
| “Uncle Wolfgang?” |
|
| “In person! Now go to it, boy! I can’t hold these creatures for very long, and there are more on the way!” |
In the now opened portal, there’s another opening we can shove our snake rod into (Christ that sounds dirty), and once that’s done...
our octogenarian great uncle ninja dives through the door as it closes behind us.
Uncle Wolfgang is 
fucking metal.
Once on the other side, the zombies all collapse, and we can now interrogate our elderly relative…but he isn’t looking so hot. And he doesn’t really have anything new to add at this time, so we move onto the next screen to the right.
And here we are.
|
| “What’s that trough for?” |
|
| “I saw that. This is undoubtedly a sacrificial table. That trough is for a human heart.” |
|
| “That’s sick!” |
Too true. But that table is also holding the Talisman, and we need in it. Trying to just open it does nothing, so we need to use those iron bars on the wall and thread them through the lid.
 |
| That done, Gabriel and Wolfgang try to open it again, to no avail. |
|
| “Damn it! I know it’s in there!” |
|
| “Yes. It IS in there. I have not felt this powerful since…well, ever.” |
|
| “Why won’t the damn lid come off?” |
|
| “It is a sacrificial table. It can probably only be triggered by the proper use of that trough there…with a heart.” |
|
| “Oh, great! Where are WE going to get a heart?” |
|
| “Gabriel. You must take the talisman and be Schattenjager. You performed the ritual and dreamt of the dragon, no?” |
|
| “Yes, I did! But, you’re the current Schattenjager, I only did that because…” |
|
| “Because you were driven to it. I have done nothing with the title for many years. Even in my prime, I had few cases…*sigh* No, if my life had a purpose, it was to bring YOU to this point.” |
|
| “But I have NO idea what I’m doing!!” |
|
| “It is not a science, Gabriel! It is instinct, and you have it in your blood. Trust it. The castle is yours now. It has many documents and records which will help you in the future.” |
|
| “Well, thanks for the confidence, but what about this table?” |
|
| “I want you to go into the next room and get the heart from that dead creature on the floor.” |
|
| “Will that work? Doesn’t it need to be…fresh?” |
|
| “Let us try. Perhaps there’s some of the old Ritter magic left. Go on.” |
I just want to note that this is a really well acted scene. So we go back to the other room here…
|
| “Great! My first job as Schattenjager…cutting up dead monsters.” |
We use the Schattenjager dagger on the zombie, but…
|
| “WOLFGANG!! NO!!” |
So, knowing that only a real, living heart will work, Wolfgang uses his newfound vigor from proximity to the Talisman....and rips his own heart from his chest, dropping it on the sacrificial table.
|
| “But why did he go to Africa, Gerde? No, it’s okay. I’m just a little…anxious. No, they haven’t. I just need to talk to Gabriel.” |
|
| “AHHH!” |
And so did Gabriel ship his Great Uncle Wolfgang’s corpse back to Germany (I would’ve loved to be at the autopsy. ‘Well, he, uh, ripped his own heart out in order to defeat a Voodoo spirit that’s been leading a series of murders in New Orleans.’) And of course, we still have no fucking clue where the Hounfour is.
Well, first thing’s first, back to St. George’s.
|
| “Grace, I’m home! Grace? Oh, no! Grace!” |
So the only obvious clue to what happened is a note on the desk so let’s read that…it’s from Malia.
|
| “Gabriel: I hope you survive long enough to get this. Tetelo knows you have the Talisman. Your life is worth nothing, my love. I fight to save you, but she controls things far more than I! She has taken Grace. Return the talisman, and leave New Orleans forever. If you don’t, I can’t help you. PLEASE. I can’t bear to see you die. Please believe me…I love you. Malia.” |
Aww, ain’t that sweet. But if Gabriel left town, what guarantee would he have that Tetelo would spare Grace, huh? HUH?! Anyway, a noise from his office startles Gabriel.
|
| “Who..who’s there? I have the Talisman!” |
|
| “Yeah? Good for you, I’ve got a headache.” |
MOSELY!!!
|
| “You! Don’t come near me! You’re dead!” |
ZOMBIE MOSELY!!!
|
| “Huh? Oh! Hah! That was you at the tomb? You shoulda said something!” |
|
| “…You mean you weren’t dead, you son-of-a-bitch??” |
|
| “Do I look dead? No, don’t answer that. I was searching the tomb, and when I heard someone coming, I broke the light and got in the drawer. Sorry I brained you, but I thought you were one of them.” |
|
| “Christ! You about killed me!” |
|
| “I said I was sorry. Besides, I owed you one for stealing my badge. If it makes you feel any better, I lost my wallet that day.” |
|
| ”Your wallet. Ohhh. Iguessyou’reright. We are even.” |
|
| “Like I said. Anyway, we shouldn’t stand out here and gab; someone on the street might see us. Let’s go in back and talk.” |
Once back in Gabriel’s office, Mosely lets Gabe know that his investigation has pretty much confirmed that the Cult is the Southern Illuminati: People are either scared shitless of it, or don’t know it exists. He also confirms Malia’s note, that the cult has Grace.
|
| “Let’s make a plan. What do you think we should do?” |
|
| “We need to find the headquarters of the Gedde cartel, rescue Grace, and dig up some concrete evidence so that I can take this straight to the FBI.” |
|
| “Sounds easy.” |
|
| “Uh-huh. Do you have any idea where their headquarters might be?” |
|
| “Perhaps.” |
|
| “Well, you do seem to have a knack for sniffin’ out this Voodoo stuff. Why don’t you see if you can locate it for sure? Meanwhile, I’ve got some things I’ve got to do. I’ll meet you there later.” |
Gabe and Mosely agree to use the remaining tracking device to send a signal to Mosely when the Hounfour is located. Well, that being done, let’s check the news.
|
| “There’s a schoolteacher somewhere who’s damned confused.” |
Yeah, no kidding. So, where to go, where to go…And I just noticed that Gabriel’s dad’s painting is back. Looking at it, Gabriel comments that Grace must’ve bought it back herself. What a gal. Anyway, where is the Hounfour? Big hint: there's another circle-within-a-circle involved. And you actually do get a look at it before Gabriel arrives at the bookstore for the final day. Also, we've been there a bunch.
Yeah, I don’t think this game went over well in certain N’awlins circles. Anyway, we need to enter the farthest confessional.
See that thing on the upper right of the wall? It’s a hole. So, naturally, Gabriel jams that snake staff into it. And it turns out that the confessional is an elevator. So we put the tracker under the little bench, and actually we better leave the staff for Mosely too, I mean, I doubt he’s got one of his own.
And here we are: The Endgame. So let’s leave this stinking elevator and enter the horrors of the Hounfour.
And it’s kinda futuristic?
Ok, I don’t know what I was expecting, but it probably wasn’t this. At any rate there are 12 rooms in a circle around the central area, each one marked by a number of snakes above the door. (Yeah, I know they don’t look like snakes here. Just roll with it.) The elevator room is Room 6, so let’s go clockwise and explore a little. Room 7:
This is where the cult keeps all their robes and masks and shit. Gabriel wisely decides to grab some robes as well as a wolf mask for himself and a boar mask for Mosely (if he shows up). Room 8 is locked, on to Room 9.
Room 9 is pretty uninteresting. Room 10!
This is where the Cult keeps all their potential sacrifices….and a huge fucking snake. This one leaves Gabriel alone, but if you use the OPERATE command on it…
|
| “No, YOU operate the python!” |
*Snicker* Okay, that was pretty good. Room 11 is also locked…starting to feel a bit unwelcome here…Room 12 it is then!
Just another boring bedroom. On to Room 1. Locked as well. Fuck. Room 2.
Holy fuck, Haitian Worf is fucking nuts. That’s human goddamn skin he’s using as wallpaper, and I might be mistaken, but those look like skinned human faces hanging from the bull skull. We’re gonna leave the room now, because he’s too into his prayer ritual to notice Gabriel at the moment. But if we moved further into the room, he’ll notice Gabe fast. Moving on.
Malia’s Room. She moves behind the screen and briefly summons Tetelo, appealing to her to spare Gabriel. Tetelo refuses, insisting that Gabriel is just like his ancestor and will betray her at the first opportunity. Malia is understandably upset at this, and…locks herself in the bathroom. Uh, Malia, I’m sure that worked on your parents, but I don’t really think locked doors are gonna do dick against a fucking ghost.
Room 4…Um, kay. After the horror show that was Dr. John’s place and Malia’s opulent suite, I really wasn’t expecting to walk into Initech. Although there should be a big banner "IS THIS GOOD FOR DAMBALLAH?" There’s a ledger on the desk, so we grab it.
|
| “This record book might be the kind of thing Mosely wanted for the FBI.” |
Inside we find Rada drum codes for various members of the cult, with “Brother Eagle” being right near the top. Brother Eagle just happens to be Dr. John, so we file that away for future use. Room 5 is another office space. So what do we do next? Well, if you can bring yourself to look back at Dr John’s room, he has a keycard hanging from the far wall, so we need to get the crazy bastard out of there. There’s only one place we can explore now, the center of the Hounfour.
Oh great, another sacrificial table. Terrific. But there are also some Rada drums, and we need those, so operating them we send a very basic message: SUMMON-BROTHER EAGLE. At which point Gabriel has to fucking book to Dr John’s room, grab the keycard, and get the fuck out of there as fast as possible. Just for good measure, we go into Room 1 now to hide.
FUCKING JACKPOT! And you know what?
We can take some.
|
| “I know it’s dirty money, but it’s for a good cause. Me.” |
So yeah, Gabriel just casually helps himself to a million dollars in large unmarked currency. Damn. Well, we’ll go counter-clockwise to open all the locked rooms as we look for Grace
Room 11 is...fucked up as well. Unlike the gory horror of Dr. John’s place, this has a certain antiseptic horror if you know what I mean. Undoubtedly, this is where he gets his wallpaper. But Room 8 is where the action begins.
|
| “Grace! I found her!” |
Mosely arrives just then.
|
| “Mostly! You made it!” |
|
| “Thank God! I thought I saw you ducking in here! Those goddamn drums started as soon as I got off that elevator thing and I heard voices from above. I have a feeling the mass Voodooees are about to invade.” |
|
| “I found Grace.” |
|
| “I see that. Check her out, then you and I need to find a way to blend into the woodwork, bud.” |
Talking to Grace does nothing, it’s like she’s under a spell or something…hey, didn’t we just come into possession of a mystical artifact of some sort? Let’s give it to Grace and see what happens!
|
| “What…what’s going on..? Gabriel! Mosely! Where are we? What’s going on?” |
|
| “We’re in the Gedde cartel Hounfour, Grace. A ritual is about to begin, and I’m afraid you’re the main course.” |
Your metaphor sucks, Gabriel. Eventually, they decide that Grace will play unconscious, while Gabriel and Mosely try to prevent Dr. John from summoning Tetelo. If necessary, Grace will wrestle Malia away. Gabriel hands Mosely his cloak and mask so they can blend in. Just in time too.
|
| “What are you doing here?” |
|
| “Thought this room was empty.” |
|
| “Go to the circle! Now!” |
Malia arrives not long after Gabriel and Mosely come in, and there’s a problem.
|
| “Damn it! She’s already being ridden by Tetelo!” |
|
| “What?? But you said…” |
|
| “Sshhh! Yeah, yeah, I know!” |
Out of options, as Malia/Tetelo raises the sacrificial knife, we whip out the Talisman.
|
| “Tetelo, STOP! I won’t let you kill her!” |
Tetelo calls him a bastard of a bastard (which is a curse that I’m going to work into my vocabulary), and swings the knife. However, Grace quickly rolls off the table. Tetelo commands Dr. John to finish her off….and Mosely to the fucking rescue!!
 |
| Damn. |
Dr. John’s blood activates this table revealing an Idol inside that Tetelo’s drawing power from. Mosely tries to shoot it, too, but Tetelo gestures and Mosely’s gun explodes…strangely not blowing off his hand in the process. She then demands that Gabriel give her back the Talisman or she’ll kill Mosely and Grace.
Now....waaaaaay back, I alluded to a plot point that would pay off later. Do you remember it?
“Remember how we used to play Monkey-in-the-Middle? Hah! We used to piss off our Senior year teacher, what was her name, Ms. McKelly? You’d act like you were gonna toss her an eraser or somethin’, and then throw it to me over her head. And we used to do it at your Gran’s, too, like with the remote when she wanted to watch her soaps?”
Time for the payoff.
Oh yeah, that just happened. Gabe tells Mosely to take Grace and the Talisman and run, which he does. Defenseless, Gabriel is at Tetelo’s mercy. She grabs him and tries to slit his throat, but Malia’s will delays her long enough for us to grab that Idol thing and smash it against the floor.
|
| “Oh, SHIT!” |
Because now the Earth opens up. Yeah.
Malia/Tetelo clutches to the edge of the newly formed crevasse. Tetelo mocks Gabriel, saying he’ll betray her, while Malia begs for help. Being a big softie, Gabriel listens to Malian and grabs her hand. But Malia realizes something…the circle won’t end if she lives.
So she throws herself down into the lake of fire that’s under New Orleans for some reason.
And so we reach our Dénouement. Grace and Gabriel look at the ruins of the park, and Grace decides to put off her Ph.D so she can help him in his task as Schattenjager.
OR DOES SHE?!Nah, she does. Because if the alternate ending were canon,
Gabriel Knight 2: The Beast Within wouldn't exist, would it?!
FINAL THOUGHTS
I fucking love this game. Some things are a little hokey, sure, and the writers take a ton of liberties with Voodoo, but a)That's pretty much the Dan Brown formula for success anyway, and b)Unless you think to check any of that out online or in a library, you're not really going to notice it.
And I really can't stress the acting abilities of all involved. Tim Curry and Leah Remini just knock it out of the fucking park as Gabriel and Grace, Mark Hamill is so lovably pathetic as Mosely, and Michael Dorn is far more intimidating as Dr. John than he ever was as a Klingon. Man, I can't wait to see how well Tim Curry does in the next game-
...Who the fuck are you?
We need to check out that clock, and the trunk it’s sitting on. Into the trunk first. All that lays inside are a pair of lederhosen, some books in German, and love letters between Gabriel’s dad and mom. There’s also a book on the arm of that chair by the stairs.
Now this is goddamned hard, and there’s no clue I’ve seen to know the answer ahead of time. You need to pick a symbol to be at the top of the clock, select a time, and then turn the key. (For the record, that works out to over 72 possible answers to the puzzle.)Here’s the solution, which causes the clock to open...
revealing a photo and a letter, which we take.
The photo is of Gabriel’s Grandfather standing with 2 other men in front of a castle somewhere. The letter is a little more promising. It’s addressed to a man named Heinz Ritter, sent from a place called Schloss Ritter in Germany, and is from a Wilhelm Ritter. And one of the words strewn throughout is “Schattenjäger”. However, Gabriel doesn’t speak a word of German so he can’t read a word of it. At any rate, let’s interrogate Grandma!
Here at the Jackson Square Park, there are 4 different areas to explore. Down here, the only thing of interest is the motorcycle cop. We need to get him away from his bike somehow so we can use the radio to find the crime scene. But how do we do it? Well, we need the natural enemy of Police everywhere…
MIMES!!! The Mime will follow anyone who gets close, be it random NPC or Gabriel. The solution here is to get the mime to follow Gabriel all the way to the bike cop, HOWEVER, if you pass too close to anyone on the way, the Mime decides to follow them instead, and if that happens, you have to start all over again, which can be kind of a pain in the ass. However, if you succeed, the cop chases the Mime, leaving his bike unattended for a few precious moments.
And with that, the latest Crime Scene has been added to the greater New Orleans map. Let’s check it out!
So the fellow in the yellow coat is Gabriel’s friend Detective Mosely, voiced by Mark Hamill. Keep in mind this was before his role on Batman became general knowledge to youngsters, who would shit their pants if they knew that the Joker was Luke Fucking Skywalker. So this was kind of a big deal. 
Inside is Malia Gedde, one of the New Orleans elite. Mosely reassures her that there’s no problem here, and she drives off. 
And there’s some grass matted over by that tree…
A snake scale! We’ll just pocket some crime scene evidence because why not? Also, we can pick up a lump of clay from the river bed (which will come in handy much later). So let’s go visit Mosely and see what he wants to contribute. 
A nice little bit of characterization you see here is whenever Gabriel goes to visit Mosely, he always looks through the window before going in. It’s the little things, you know?
So we talk to one of the cops outside, Officer Franks, who lets us look at them, on condition that we don’t leave with them or make any photocopies. Damn. Well, after glancing at them, we return the file to her desk. Buuuut, if you watched the video, you may have noticed that I didn’t select all the available options. Why? Watch and learn!
So here we are, and it’s small, but pretty cool I’d say. That thing by the column in the middle is listed as a “Wishing Stump – Rub it and Make a Wish!”
Yeah, this isn’t the place to go when you need your migraine medication refilled. The sign on the counter advertises “Special St. John’s Eve lagniappe. Free bottle of ‘Lover Come Back to Me Oil’ or ‘Master Gamblin’ Oil’ with every purchase over $50.00”
So Gabriel stumbles out of bed yet again.
So there’s the man himself, and as you can see, he’s a damn big guy. Well, he should be, because he’s Michael Dorn!! So we have Cajun Tim Curry and Haitian Worf. This game is amazing.
On the way out of the museum, Gabriel gives the wishing stump a rub.
And here we are. The tomb in front of us is actually supposed to be Marie Laveau’s tomb. We can take a closer look at the markings.
Oh good, he didn’t go far.
Gee, I wonder WHICH tomb that might have been that Gervais was talking about?? Well, next we’ll go visit Magentia…and it will be the doofiest part of the game, I assure you.
And thank god she’s not a vital character, because this is where things get a little silly.
Yeah, that just happened. However, while she’s distracted, Gabriel can sneak over to the cage and steal the snakeskin there. Huzzah!...except that Grimwald’s scales are brown, so they don’t match the one from the lake. Our work here complete, I think there’s a mask somewhere we should try to get. 
Yep, the Dixieland Drug Store. However, just after Gabriel arrives, another customer does as well.
Nice house. Unfortunately, her butler won’t let Gabriel see her without good cause. Hrm. (Fun fact, her butler is also played by Tim Curry, but he actually gets to use his actual accent there.) Well, the next place I happen to know we need to go is back to Jackson Square Park…and one of the most ball-breakingly frustrating puzzles in the game.
The artist in the corner there is the key. We have to repeatedly talk to him, and eventually ask to watch him sketch the nearby cathedral.
Eventually, his drawing is torn loose by the wind and flies away…
And he can’t reach it inside the fence.
So we have to move down to the SW corner of the park. First we need to get a hot dog from the vendor...and pay for it using the gift certificate. Hell, he won’t even offer to serve Gabriel until we offer him the certificate. 
I don’t think Gabriel understands the value of money. Anyway, the next step is to give our hot dog to the dancing kid next to the vendor.
In exchange for our $20 hot dog, Gabriel persuades the kid to retrieve the Cathedral drawing, which we return to the artist. 
So what was all this for? Well, this artist is quite good. Good enough to reconstruct an image from a fragmented whole. So we give him all the drawings we have from the crime scenes, and he tells Gabriel that he’ll have it reconstructed for us tomorrow. And if you though the hot dog puzzle was BULLSHIT, you ain’t seen nothing yet!!
So, first, we need to hit the police station, and you can see that the thermostat is apparently being worked on. 
Gabriel, being Gabriel, decides to fuck with it because why not? The cops, being lazy, do nothing to stop us.
Yeah, let’s crank that mother! Ok, next step is to chat with Mosely. 
Notice that because of the heat, he’s taken off his coat now. Now we need to ask him for a cup of joe.
Our hero, ladies and gentlemen! However, with the badge in hand, we can now persuade Tim Curry the butler to let us in to speak to Malia. 
And here’s where things get sexy. Because what woman doesn't want a little Curry in her? At any rate, most of the interrogation scene goes nowhere, Malia dodging or avoiding every question until you hit the last option….”FLIRT WITH HER”:
So Day 3 of Gabriel’s increasingly weird week begins with Grace telling Gabe that she’s got a few listings for the name Cazanoux, and then expresses disbelief that Gabriel is intent on continuing his pursuit of Malia Gedde.
Um, spoke too soon?
Actually, this part is very interesting, and we’ll need to check out that lecture later.
And as you might expect, it’s kind of a shithole. So first, I think we better knuckle under and pay some international calling charges and find out who this Wolfgang fellow is. 
So I ended up recording the conversation for you all because, well, it’s too hard to transcribe the whole damn thing. Basically, Wolfgang introduces himself as Gabriel’s great-uncle, and says that Gabriel must leave New Orleans immediately because he is “in great danger”, and should come to his ancestral home of Schloss Ritter, in Rittersburg West Germany (The game is set before the Wall fell I guess). Gabriel tells him even if he wanted to go to Europe, he doesn’t have the money, but Wolfgang at least secures a promise from Gabriel that he’ll read a journal that Wolfgang is sending, then call him back. 
So we’ve got 4 different entries. Well, no way around it, gotta check ‘em all! Luckily, we hit paydirt on the 3rd entry, as a little dog starts yapping in the background, and the Mme Cazanoux we met earlier was carrying a dog. However, this phonebook sucks because if you didn’t notice there are no fucking addresses. So what are we to do? Well, the hint is actually right there in the phone book, let’s look at that page again:
Oh, here’s an updated map of the French Quarter. And yes, the puppy face is the Cazanoux home.
So the artist is creeped out by the completed drawing, it can’t be that bad, can it?
On the other hand, it could look like something out of the Simon Necronomicon. Just checking out the rest of the park…
And things get weird, because then that lady starts dancing like a loon. After she sits down, in a matter of seconds she shouts out “Come on boys, Hoopla!” and start dancing again. Riiight. Well, I guess we should see Mosely first.
Oh yeah, any of those options would work, wouldn’t they?? Well, might as well take the direct route and admit that Gabriel’s writing about Voodoo…
And there’s our hint as to how to get in, and we’re very lucky that Cazanoux is nearly blind. Because now we have to go to Church.
Welcome to beautiful St. Louis Cathedral, or more specifically, The Cathedral-Basilica of Saint Louis, King of France, a very real landmark in NOLA, and is in fact the oldest Catholic cathedral in regular use in the USA. And, the designers did a fucking fantastic job in rendering it too:
Well, for shits and giggles, first let’s visit the confessionals. Just because.
Oh yeah, we gotta hear this.
That door on the far right? That’s our target. Why, you ask?
Oh, it just happens to be where they keep all the clerical garb. Yeah. We’re stealing a priest’s clothes.
And that being done, we now slick back Gabriel’s hair…
And Voila! But there’s still something missing, although it’s not in our control. Do you want to guess what it is? Take a minute to think about it.....
So here we are at the University, and I’m not going to transcribe the entire thing, but I do HIGHLY recommend that you watch the video because it’s really quite fascinating. 
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