The Council: Episode One, The Mad Ones

Goal: go down to the red drawing room on the ground floor

Leave your room. Louis remarks that he could look into the other guests’ rooms for a moment.

Getting into Napoleon Bonaparte’s room needs Subterfuge, difficulty 2.

Napoleon Bonaparte’s room

• GOLDEN ELIXIR on the chest of drawers in the bedroom.
• A note from Lord Mortimer, on the trunk in the corner.
• AMBER on the mantelpiece.
• COLLECTIBLE COINS on the chest of drawers in the corner to the right of the door, and on the floor in the corner of the room.

The first-floor corridor

• KEY WITH A HALF-RING on one of the sofas.
• ENCYCLOPAEDIA PAGE
• TRIBULUS

Elizabeth Adams’s room

Louis stops at her door, and inside is struck by the disorder.

• A note from Elizabeth’s father, John Adams, on the trunks in the corner to the right of the entrance.
• CARMELITE WATER on the floor, by the wall on the right.
• COLLECTIBLE COIN on the floor beside the water.
• The book Elizabeth, in the bath beside the desk in the far right corner.
• Two notes from Elizabeth’s sister Abigail, on the desk, and a third on the floor behind it.
• MEAD on the chest of drawers in front of the mirror.
• TRIBULUS on the writing desk, to the left of the chest with the mirror.

An active point on the chest of drawers in front of the mirror: Louis looks at a small box filled with white crystals.

• ”Taste the crystals”, no skill needed
• ”Examine the crystals”, needing Science, difficulty 1

Louis identifies them as magnesium crystals, which help settle anxiety.

An active point on the floor, in the near left corner from the entrance: Louis bends over a locked casket with a semicircle on it.

• ”Open with a key”
• ”Break in”, needing Agility, difficulty 1

Inside are AMBER SHARDS and a GOLDEN ELIXIR.

Louis looks at a note from the casket, written in an unsteady hand.

• ”Study the notes”, needing Occultism, difficulty 1
• ”Study the notes”, needing Science, difficulty 1
• ”Take the notes”

With either of the first two options Louis reads the text, which resembles the description of a rite of exorcism.

You get the item MYSTERIOUS NOTES.

Having looked her room over, head for the stairs and down to the hall.

Elizabeth on the stairs

Mrs. Adams calls out to Louis on the staircase.

• ”Remind her that she was taken ill in the drawing room”
• ”Ask about her eye”
• ”Say nothing”

If you stepped in earlier and protected Elizabeth, she demands her talisman back, and you choose whether to return it.

Elizabeth asks what Louis is doing here.

• ”Ask why she is interested”
• ”Admit that your mother has disappeared”
• ”Change the subject”

Elizabeth says she knows Louis’s mother well.

• ”Say that you know” (greyed out)
• ”Press her”

Mrs. Adams describes Sarah’s behaviour, and Louis notices the woman getting more and more worked up.

Opportunity, needing Questioning: click quickly on the scar on Elizabeth’s head.

Louis does not want to believe what she says about his mother, and notes that he is finding it harder and harder to argue with her. He stops her as she tries to leave, to find out what Sarah did to her.

Confrontation. Goal: convince Adams to trust you

Stage 1. “Why rub salt in the wound?” — “Get at the truth”, no skill needed.

Stage 2. “Somebody must love you, surely?” — “Mention her sister”.

Elizabeth admits Abigail is dear to her, and is willing to say how she came to meet Sarah de Richet.

Louis hears her out. The poor woman came in the hope of help from Lord Mortimer’s specialist in the occult, and learned to her horror that Sarah de Richet had also been invited. Saying she knows her days are numbered, Mrs. Adams leaves.

The manuscript

Go to the servant standing on the left and talk to him about everything, to get information about Lord Mortimer’s estate. Choosing the line “I want to read the manuscript”, persuade him to hand the book over, using “I quite forgot, that is my own book”, which needs Manipulation, difficulty 3.

You get The Sorrows of Young Werther. Head for the red drawing room.

The dining room

Louis takes his place at the table after the other guests, between George Washington and Duchess Hillsborrow. Everyone listens to Gregory Holm introducing the company to one another. The man with the grey moustache is Johann Christoph von Wöllner, minister for religious affairs to Friedrich Wilhelm II of Prussia. Louis has met the rest. Lord Mortimer is again absent.

Louis wonders what Mortimer is up to: he invited Louis to the island and sent nobody to meet him.

Opportunity, needing Etiquette: click quickly on the active point on Jacques Peru’s face. Louis notices how ill at ease he is in Napoleon Bonaparte’s presence.

Louis notices that Wöllner and Piaggi get on well.

Opportunity, needing Occultism: click quickly on the active point on Wöllner’s face. Louis is surprised that Wöllner has banned religious rites in Prussia, and notes how Piaggi fawns on the minister.

Duchess Hillsborrow and Minister Wöllner talk about the French Revolution.

Opportunity, needing Politics: click quickly on one of the two active points on screen.

The duchess turns to Holm and talks about wine. Gregory speaks about the orphanage in Bloomsbury, and Emily thanks him for looking after the girls kept there.

Opportunity, needing Psychology: click quickly on the active point on the duchess’s face. Louis is surprised how moved she looks at the mention of the orphanage.

Wöllner asks Emily whether all is well with her, and she thanks him.

• ”Ask Washington what he thinks of Wöllner”
• ”Ask Emily what she thinks of Wöllner”
• ”Introduce yourself to Wöllner”

Washington says Wöllner is considered the king of Prussia and advises Louis to beware his iron grip. Emily says Wöllner is highly dangerous, because she used to work with him.

Introducing yourself, Wöllner asks about your nobility:

• ”Not a noble, but not a commoner either”
• ”Despite the name, I am a plain commoner”, needing Etiquette, difficulty 1
• ”And you?”, needing Diversion, difficulty 1

Washington asks Louis about Napoleon:

• ”Let Emily answer”
• ”Say that he decides nothing”
• ”Offer a guess”, needing Logic, difficulty 1

Napoleon Bonaparte comes over and asks for a couple of minutes, and the two of them go out onto the balcony. Napoleon says Mortimer advised him to discuss the supply question with Louis rather than his mother, to which Louis replies that he has not yet met the lord and is not ready to help.

Confrontation. Goal: prove your competence to Napoleon

Stage 1. “Under the agreement I am to be lent 50,000 louis d’or…” — “You are deceiving me”, no skill needed.

Stage 2. “What must France do to recover her strength?”

• “We must restore the monarchy”, no skill needed
• “France needs a leader”, needing Manipulation, difficulty 3

Napoleon gives Louis a book, and you get Reflections on the Revolution in France.

Louis and Napoleon go back to the table, where George Washington is making a speech. Louis watches the president closely.

Opportunity, needing Etiquette: click quickly on one of the two active points on screen. Louis notes what a gifted speaker Washington is.

Everyone leaves the dining room, and the third part is summed up.

What is coming in part four

The closing part has branches of its own. You have to decide which character to go on with, following Elizabeth or going to Emily. Choosing the first brings a dilemma over Elizabeth’s offer of a drink, and one of the game’s endings can be reached at that moment. Accepting leads to a further branch, and each of its arms gives a different ending.

Part four: the gorgon

Louis decides to look for the place his mother’s note points to.

Goal: find the place your mother described

The dining room

Talk to the cardinal, who has stayed behind in the room. Piaggi remarks that Louis is starting to worry about not having seen Lord Mortimer yet.

• ”No, not particularly”
• ”Perhaps”

Louis decides to put a question to him:

• ”Where can everyone measure me with their eyes?”
• ”I am looking for Medusa”
• ”Until next time”

With the first option the cardinal suggests the gallery and, at Louis’s request, explains how to get there. With the second he can be no help at all.

Items:

• Discourse on the Method, on the stool in front of the fireplace.
• CARMELITE WATER on one of the tables, nearer the fire.
• TRIBULUS on the table by the painting Circe.
• A casket with three circles, on the table by Circe. Open it with a key or break in, needing Subterfuge, difficulty 1. It holds MEAD (four).
• Another CASKET on the table by the wall on the right, the one with flowers in a vase, in the passage to the library. Needs Subterfuge, difficulty 1, and holds AMBER SHARDS.
• KEY WITH THE OCCULT SYMBOL “EARTH”, on the table by the wall on the left, almost opposite the table with the second casket.

Go out through the door.

The library

Follow the round platform to the right, along the shelves of books.

• GOLDEN ELIXIR at the entrance, on the floor on the right.
• MEAD on one of the shelves.
• ENCYCLOPAEDIA PAGES on one of the shelves.
• COLLECTIBLE COIN on the floor, not far from the case you took the page from.

Go through the door at the other end of the platform.

The gallery

Louis realises he has come to the right place and only has to find Medusa.

Goal: find Medusa

Items:

• COLLECTIBLE COIN on the armchair beside the sofa you can sit on, in the centre.
• CARMELITE WATER on the table under The Last Supper.
• AMBER SHARDS (two), on the tables under The Holy Family and under The Night Watch.
• GOLDEN ELIXIR on that same table.
• MEAD (two), on the upper shelf in the gallery’s small room, needing Agility, difficulty 1.
• TRIBULUS, in a casket on the table to the right of the bust of Medusa, which has to be picked, needing Subterfuge, difficulty 1.

Click the active point on the bust of Medusa. Louis turns the bust and wonders what his mother was trying to tell him.

Louis looks the small room over and sees three statues:

• a hero armed with a sword
• a hero with a lamp
• a hero with a shield in his hand

He realises they form a scene: “the heroes will meet the monster face to face.”

Goal: solve Medusa’s riddle

Find the book The Origin of Myths on one of the shelves and read it.

• ”Read the page in French”
• ”Read the page in Latin”, needing Linguistics, difficulty 3

Without the skill, Louis sees that the French text differs a good deal, describing how men have always belittled women in society. It does not stop him finding the passage he needs in the description of Medusa: “…the hero with the sword prepares to strike the medusa.”

Turn the statues like this:

• Turn Medusa to face the hero with the shield.
• Turn the hero with the shield to face the hero with the sword.
• Turn the hero with the lamp to face the hero with the shield.
• Turn the hero with the sword to face Medusa.

A mechanism starts and the platform with the fireplace turns.

The hidden room

Louis finds himself in a concealed room, and is startled to turn and see Duchess Hillsborrow in front of him. She asks what he is doing here.

• ”Answer honestly”
• ”Laugh it off”
• ”Answer a question with a question”

Honestly: Emily does not answer the same question back, and Louis tries to guess.

• ”You are looking for somebody too”
• ”Does it matter?”
• ”You are spying on Mortimer”

The first option hits the mark and Emily suggests he do something useful.

Laugh it off: Louis answers with a joke, and Emily suggests he do something useful.

Question for a question: Emily is thrown, and to cover it asks again what Louis is doing here. A fourth option, “Suggest not wasting time”, is added to the first three. Emily ends by suggesting he do something useful.

Goal: search the room with Emily

Items in the hidden room:

• COLLECTIBLE COINS on one of the tables.
• Reflections on Art, on one of the shelves.
• LORD MORTIMER’S HANDWRITTEN NOTES, on one of the shelves on the wall opposite the shelf with the book.
• AMBER SHARDS on the table with the sheets of paper.

Go up to Emily. The duchess is surprised that on paper the entire property belongs to Mortimer.

• ”Suggest he stole them”
• ”Suggest he forged them”
• ”Suggest there are several Mortimers”
• ”Suggest Mortimer is immortal”
• ”Study the document”, needing Subterfuge, difficulty 1

Choose the second, that he forged them.

Emily and Louis wonder why Sarah de Richet left the papers here if she was interested in them. Louis decides to ask his mother when they find her.

• ”What do you make of the collection?”
• ”Why does he hide it all here?”
• ”How did he manage to get hold of it all?”

Emily suggests carrying on with the search.

Click the active point on the table behind Emily. She asks with interest what Louis has found, and he points to a cameo pendant. Emily’s face changes and she backs away from the table. Louis is at a loss.

A red circle appears in the left corner, showing his agitation. Remember to take a GOLDEN ELIXIR.

Emily admits she likes Louis, but still does not intend to open up to him. Louis asks her to trust him.

Confrontation. Goal: convince Emily to reveal her secret

A green marker appears in the left corner.

Stage 1. “And why should I open up to you, Louis?” — “You already have”, no skill needed, or “But I trust you.”

Stage 2. “And you spotted my vulnerability?” — “Psychology”, no skill needed.

Stage 3. “Do you understand?” — “You already have an accomplice”, no skill needed.

Stage 4. “You do like a gamble… Very well… Your accomplice…” — “A woman, and that is…” then “Your sister.”

Emily admits she is looking for her sister. You gain the title Psychologist, the character Emma Hillsborrow is opened, and the trait Reliable is unlocked.

Emily talks about her twin sister Emma and their decision to play the part of women with two faces. Emma was supposed to return from Mortimer’s a week ago, but when the ship reached Plymouth her sister was not on it. Holm sent word to Emily through a sailor that her sister had disappeared. Louis realises his mother disappeared at the same time. The two of them leave the room, and the trait Attentive is unlocked.

The first-floor corridor

As Louis and Emily walk down the corridor, Elizabeth Adams comes out of her room. Emily supposes she is drunk again. Mrs. Adams presses Louis that she needs to speak to him. Emily whispers in his ear that she will be waiting in her room.

• An important choice: “Follow Elizabeth” or “Go to Emily”.

Branch III, choice 1: go to Emily. Ending 1

Louis’s room

Emily greets Louis with a question about Elizabeth, lying on the bed in his room.

• ”Nothing in particular”
• ”To talk about my mother, probably”
• ”What is she doing here?”

Emily says she followed the Paris scandal around von Borchert, and knows Louis and his mother stole something from him.

• ”A book”
• ”Possibly”, needing Diversion, difficulty 2
• ”What is all this about?”, needing Questioning, difficulty 2

Emily says that she and her sister are interested in one particular book, and wonders why Sarah came here.

• ”She was looking for von Borchert’s employer”
• ”Who knows”, needing Psychology, difficulty 2
• ”You are trying to draw me out”, difficulty 2

Asked what she will do with the book, Emily says plainly that she will give it to her sponsor, because Sir Gregory always has something up his sleeve. She suggests they stop talking and get on with it.

• ”Keep her company”
• ”Refuse”

Keeping her company unlocks the trait Dissolute. Refusing unlocks Ascetic. Either way, Louis wakes to loud knocking at the bedroom door. Outside he finds a servant, who steps aside in silence. Louis goes through into the room, where Lord Mortimer greets him.

Ending 1.

Branch III, choice 2: follow Elizabeth. Endings 2, 3 and 4

Excusing himself to Emily, Louis follows Elizabeth, who takes him to her room. Sitting down on the sofa, she says at once that her days are numbered. Louis suggests she need not worry about his mother, if that is what she means.

Elizabeth Adams’s room

Elizabeth says she saw Sarah last night. Louis doubts it, and she keeps insisting.

Opportunity, needing Questioning: click quickly on the active point on Elizabeth’s arm. Louis notes that she is certain of what she is saying.

Elizabeth nervously pours wine into glasses.

• “Drink a glass of wine”
• “Refuse”

Refusing: ending 2

Elizabeth presses Louis to drink, threatening not to tell him something important, and the question comes again, drink or refuse. Refusing a second time unlocks the trait Level-headed.

Louis returns to his room and goes to sleep. In the morning he is woken by loud knocking. Jacques Peru kicks the bedroom door in, and Gregory Holm and the servants follow him inside. They arrest Louis de Richet for the murder of Elizabeth Adams.

Ending 2.

Drinking

After one mouthful Louis realises he is getting drunk at once. Elizabeth fills the glasses again and proposes a toast: “the last glass for a doomed woman.”

• ”Drink”
• ”Stop”

Stopping repeats ending 2, above.

Drinking, Louis agrees to a little more and notes that the second went down no better.

Elizabeth asks whether Louis would like to know why his mother did those foul things to her.

• ”Drink”
• ”Refuse”

Drinking again, Louis feels the stupor taking hold. Take a GOLDEN ELIXIR to feel better.

Elizabeth says Sarah de Richet was trying to silence the voices in her head.

• ”Are you possessed?”
• ”Have you lost your mind?”

Louis cannot see why his mother would torment the poor woman. Elizabeth insists the voices go on talking to her despite everything she suffered at Sarah’s hands, and asks Louis to say he believes her.

• ”Yes, I believe you”
• ”No, that is nonsense”

Mrs. Adams fills the glasses and Louis drinks without protest.

• An important choice: “Advise her to flee the island” or “Advise her to stay”.

Branch IV, choice 1: advise her to flee. Ending 3

Louis advises Mrs. Adams to get off the island. She agrees and says she needs a boat. Louis realises his head is spinning more and more, and Elizabeth admits she has been adding tincture of opium to the wine. Losing consciousness, Louis just manages to see Elizabeth take a knife and drive it into herself.

Ending 3. A mark appears in the Failures column: “I drank with Elizabeth.”

Branch IV, choice 2: advise her to stay. Ending 4

Louis suggests Elizabeth not rush, since he is here with her, and urges her to fight her voices. Elizabeth admits she has been adding tincture of opium to the wine. Losing consciousness, Louis sees her take a knife and drive it into herself. The trait Desperate is unlocked.

Louis slowly comes round. He hears somebody breaking the door down, and sees Elizabeth Adams’s body beside him. The knocking grows louder, the door opens, and Gregory Holm comes in. He looks in horror at the body, then turns his eyes on Louis.

Ending 4. A mark appears in the Failures column: “I drank with Elizabeth.”

That completes the first episode of The Council.