The Black Frog, Mission 1

(The Black Frog was originally uploaded on March 12, 2012, and as such is the most recent fan-mission covered in this project.)

-"The Black Frog":
            Designed by TTLG user Gaetane, "The Black Frog" is a five-mission long campaign. It is an excellent collection of missions, each one of them, especially the last two, attesting strongly to Thief's design potentials. Gaetane also made other great fan-missions before this one, such as "Emilie Victor".

-The Black Frog, Mission 1: Songs and Laughter

            Gaetane’s grand epic begins with a simple, small, and, mostly, cheery mission. There is no need to sneak—the whole coastal town is celebrating! It’s the eleventh annual “Sea Songs” festival, and Garrett is in town on a job.

Gaetane’s little touches of detail, which appear in her first four missions as well, are all here, and delightful. Lovers chase each other through the streets. An old man hobbles on a walking-stick (and, if you pay attention to a readable, you know to follow him to where he keeps a treasure hidden). Townspeople dance and make music. The sun is even shining—this is a rare Thief mission that takes place during the day.

            But a dark story is brewing, and the player gets a glimpse of this when going to meet a contact. Garrett is meeting a contact, someone named Irvin, who is working for a Sir Belmont, and is going to give Garrett information on the job Belmont is hiring him for. This job is to steal a painting from a Sir Garivaldi, whose estate is near this town.  

As soon as the contact starts talking, he’s struck by an arrow through the open window. A rush to the window is too late—the assassin is nowhere to be seen. But the mission must go on. The player now must look for information elsewhere

            Returning to his apartment, Garrett discovers a note from the Keepers, specifically, Keeper Gerald. They’re warning Garrett about going after this Portrait. But this is a lucrative opportunity that Garrett is not going to pass up.