The Black Frog, Mission 4

-The Black Frog, Mission 4: The Lady and the Thief

            Mission #4 of “The Black Frog” is one of the greatest examples of Thief design. Every element I’ve covered in this project so far is present here, and all done brilliantly. There’s even a bit of horror in one segment. “The Lady and the Thief” is an excellent case-study, ripe with examples, and I’ll do my best to concisely summarize it all here.

            The two main components of this mission are a grand security system that had been set up by Sir Belmont, and a beast that the island natives call the “Charaka.” Garrett’s goal is to deactivate the security system, so that he can then access Emilie Victor’s estate, and, by proxy, the Black Frog.

            Most of the mission’s story is set up through readables. The Charaka monster is especially well implemented. The player had gotten a hint of it from the prior mission, but near the beginning of Mission #4, the player may read a letter written by one of Sir Belmont’s men. Sir Belmont has come to the island in search of the Black Frog as well. The man’s letter describes an expedition, in the island’s ‘abandoned fishery’, wherein he and his men were attacked by a great beast. This creature killed his men, one by one. Upon discovering the bodies, it was found they had no heads. In a nearby journal of Sir Belmont’s, he notes this guard’s report, but dismisses talk of a great beast as childish, and does not believe in the monster.

 

 

            The player will, at some point, enter the abandoned fishery. This is a brilliantly creepy segment: the player sees headless body after headless body, and hears strange growling noises from all around. When in an underground cellar area of the fishery, and looking out through a grate, the player witnesses one of the greatest scripted sequences in any Thief mission. One of Sir Belmont’s men walks up, whistling; then, a growling noise comes from nearby. The man, crying out, runs to attack something, out of view. After some fighting noises, and a final blow to the man, the player sees something plop in front of the grating—the guard’s little head! So, is the Charaka real…or not? The player has not seen it…yet. This is all brilliant suspense on Gaetane’s part.

 

 

            The other major component of this mission, the security system, is also referenced in readables. Sir Belmont’s journal reveals that he and his men discovered one of the mechanisms that controls the security system, and deactivated it. The security system is a large tower, with energy rays powering its heavy, solid gates. Each energy ray corresponds to a small power machine, and each of these is setup in each area of the island. As noted, Sir Belmont’s men discovered and turned off one—Garrett’s going to go after the rest.

            Gameplay-wise, seeking the power mechanisms gives the player an excuse to explore each area of the island. There’s the afore-noted abandoned fishery, which contained one of the mechanisms; then there’s the village, which has the one that Sir Belmont already deactivated; there’s the territory of the ‘Children of the Black Frog’; there’s the shrine of the Black Frog; and, lastly, the ‘Old Black Frog Temple’.

            From a letter written by one of Belmont’s men, the player learns that his men have captured “Lize”, daughter of the village chief. From a note written by Lize, the player learns that she left a map of the island with her brother, and that she locked him in an old shack, so that he would not be discovered by Belmont’s men. So, the player can sneak through the village to where Lize is locked up, get the shack key from her cell, and use this to then get the map of the island, locked in the shack. This map shows the location of each security mechanism; a big one-up for Garrett over Sir Belmont.

 

 

            The territory of the ‘Children of the Black Frog’ is, like the abandoned fishery, creepy. The player will likely have read some notes left behind, whose writers describe a group of natives who walk oddly, and can turn into “demons” when threatened. These native’s territory itself is gated off with a warning sign and a couple skulls. Garrett, of course, goes into the territory, to turn off another mechanism. It doesn’t seem bad—only one of these ‘Children of the Black Frog’ is walking around. He is walking oddly, and if he catches sight of the player, he will turn into a ghostly demon. But, he’s the only one! There are some large, closed, stone doors, though…hmm.

            On the way back out of the territory, after shutting off the mechanism, these large stone doors are open, and now dozens of the ‘Children of the Black Frog’ are walking around. This makes sneaking out a bit tougher, but it also gives Garrett access to a small temple area, where there’s some loot and a special treasure item.

 

 

            The ‘Old Black Frog Temple’ is a great temple-puzzle experience, like something out of ‘Bonehoard’ (or ‘Indiana Jones’, if you’d prefer a movie reference). The shrine of the Black Frog is just a simple temple area, with some of Emilie Victor’s hound-beasts patrolling it. There is a statue of the Charaka here, though (oh yeah, that thing!).

            Once all the security mechanisms have been deactivated, Garrett goes into the tower, opens the gates, and heads down the path toward Emilie Victor’s estate. Gaetane has one last ace up her sleeve for this mission—another of the greatest moments from any Thief mission.

While walking down the path, the player hears some of the distant growling noises that had been heard in the fishery; suddenly one of Thief’s ‘horror’ chord audio sounds plays, and, hearing something from behind, the player turns around. The player then reels in horror to see the Charaka running after them! It’s like the climax from The Hound of the Baskervilles, and is the culmination of one of this mission’s most suspenseful story arcs. (But it’s not the last of the Charaka!).

 

 

            So there’s a lot going on in this mission: the security device, the Charaka, the Children of the Black Frog, and more that I didn’t cover here. Gaetane integrates it all by effectively using Thief’s design principles: introducing themes through readables, and gradually revealing more about them to the player as the mission unfolds. Mission #4, “The Lady and the Thief”, is an excellent example of open-world gameplay, narrative structure, and is one of the finest Thief fan-missions made.