"HUSH...HUSH, SWEET HARLOT"  a hint-style walkthrough (progressively spoilerish)


"Hush...Hush, Sweet Harlot" is a fan mission for Thief: the Dark Project.  This was a team effort, as follows:
	Ithel-		story, design, architecture, texts, dialogue text, male voice-acting in conversations
	KGoodsell-	conversations, objectives programming, AI tweaking, audio clean-up
	Jonquil-	female voice-acting in conversations, harlots' voices
	Kyloe-		story, design critique, texts, German translations
	Thweepwood and
	BiKi-		harlot skins
	Pre-Beta testers: Trickster, Mokkis, and Tels
	Beta testers: Trickster, Mokkis, Kfgecko, Jonquil, and Apache


OPENING MOVES:

1.  Getting in the Stew District:  Yes, the chapel is the way to go,
like your map indicates.  The beam is so high that the rope arrow cannot
be reached from the ground.  Can you get higher?  Do you see any ledge
you might jump from?  How about from atop the gate into the Stews?
There are at least two means of getting on top that gate.  A. stack
crates (Kevin tells me this is possible...I haven't tried it since I
hate stacking crates.) And B. jumping across the street from the upper
balcony of the Corinth-Austley house.  I'd go with B. since there are
other goodies to be had in that house.

2.  Entering the Corinth-Austley house:  Only one way into this
place...through the gate.  You can reach the key from the guard's belt.
Here's how:  sneak into the dark shadow to the right of his window.
Crouch and edge closer to the window.  Lean left and a little away from
the window (he might see you if you only lean left, especially if he saw
you previously).  This guard won't attack you right away, btw, unless
you hang around after he's warned you to leave.  Okay, when you're in
the position described above, watch the guard.  Wait for him to turn to
his right.  When he does, lean in and snag the key from his belt.  Use
the key on the portcullis.  Careful!  There are other patrols nearby.
Try to time your entry to the courtyard so that neither the guard behind
the window nor the patrols see you.  You should be able to time this
simply by listening and/or peering through the guard's window.

3.  Negotiating the Corinth-Austley house:  Patience is everything.
Plenty of shadows to be found (or created, if necessary...though it
isn't necessary).  Be sure to check for extra hardware, as the night is
shaping up to be a little more troublesome than a simple stroll across
town. :-)  The goal here is to get upstairs to the outside balcony
across the street from the Stew District gate.  If desired, the house
can be completely robbed and negotiated without alerting anyone to your
presence.  There are two ways to the upper level.  A. via stairs  or B.
via chimney (tricky at the top, though).

4.  The Chapel Again:  Once on the balcony, run and jump across the
street to the top of the Stew District gate.  You may want to place a
moss arrow on the gate before jumping to cut down on noise.  Before you
jump over to your rope, check out the apartment by climbing through the
window.  Then climb up your rope (or shoot a rope arrow into the gallows
beam far above if you haven't already) and enter the upper part of the
chapel.  Keep your ears open.  Your next challenge is slipping by a
small spider without being seen...or killing it if that is your
preferred style.


MID-GAME STRATEGIES:

5.  Getting to the streets:  Once you've dealt with the spider, take the elevator down, get to the hallway and watch for a while from the shadows.  You have three hammerites to deal with here.  Patience is everything.  The patrols are of differing lengths, so wait for a good opportunity to move.  You can find deep, convenient shadows to the right and extinguishing possibilities to the left.  The sanctuary is to the left, as are the only exits from the building, but head to the right for a few goodies and a chance to even the odds a bit.  Once in the sanctuary, you'll notice two exits: a set of double doors at the head of the building and a single door across from the confessionals.  The front doors are not locked, but they open onto a well-lighted and potentially busy street.  The rear door can be picked and opens into a dark side alley.

6.  Finding the brothel:  Look at your map.  Try to figure out your location.  Remember the streets are being patrolled because of the curfew and infection.  Make your way toward the vicinity of the brothel marked on the map.  The main streets here run in a large loop with numerous side streets and alleys.  Although patrols are everywhere, you should be able to negotiate your way from shadow to shadow with patience, good timing, and a bit of luck.  Look for places where you can thin out the street patrol if desired.  Don't forget to explore.
	SPOILERS:  To reach the brothel from the rear exit of the chapel, proceed south to the front of the chapel.  Go south into odd shaped area in front of a brick porch.  Go east down the back alley.  The sign on the wall indicates this is a brothel, but the door is locked.  Is this the right brothel?  Look in the upper window from the top fire escape.  You can see room #36 on the door....yes, this is Chance's apartment all right.  But how to get in?  Don't forget to explore the entire alley...up and down...before you move on.  You might find interesting things.

7.  Finding another entrance:  Look at the map.  Do any other streets or alleys go near this brothel?  The east side of the main loop passes near the brothel.  Get to the east side.  The most direct route is to return to the chapel and take the street east down a long slope near the Rossetti Utility building (go ahead and explore it now or wait until later).  You'll come to a large open area with a viaduct along the east edge.  Listen.  This part of the street is fairly heavily guarded.  Sprinting across this area will probably get you into more trouble than you want.  A few torches here can be doused, but even this measure probably won't create as much shadow as you would like.  You can try sneaking over to the shrubs, but perhaps it would be better to go back up the slope and hike the long way around the loop until you can see the canal again.  Don't forget to explore!

8.  Getting around the loop:  There are at least two potentially difficult places to pass on the street.  One is a brick guard post down the street from Slow Joe's place.  (If you're playing on Expert, try fulfilling the "secret stash" objective while you're near here.)  Don't forget to frob ("use") the signs.  Duck into the entryway of the house nearby and watch the patrols.  Do you see any means of passing this guard post?  Perhaps you could climb over it, but how?  Or, instead of continuing around the street loop, look down over the ledge near here.  The building you can see from here has the same textures as the brothel...perhaps this another entrance?  You can try leaping down, but you're sure to get hurt.  Falling on the roof would help break the fall, but perhaps you should continue around the street instead. ;-)  So how will you get past this brick guard post?  Try jumping on the barrel and then jumping and mantleing up the brick wall.  Get a good look down the rest of the street and plan your next sprinting session.
      The other potentially difficult place to pass is the guard tower at the South end of the loop, just past the keeper building and between two bars.  You need to find a place where you can watch the guard patrol the top of the tower...but remain out of danger from the street patrol.  There are few shadows here to crouch in, but they are strategically placed.  One good place is on the shadow side of a buttress on the keeper building.  One of those buttresses puts you in complete darkness.  Wait for the street patrol to pass and watch for the tower guard to turn his back.  Then run over to the shadows at the base of the tower.  Go east, then turn north near the Riverside Gate.  There are two or three places of (financial) interest near here to explore...but be careful!  After exploring (or if you'd rather just continue on to the brothel), go down the slope and you should be near the canal and a gate with a sign for the brothel.

9.  Getting inside the brothel:  The large gate is locked.  You'll have to find a way past it.  Look around.  Do you see any alternative?  Can you climb over it somehow?  Aha, the roof of the building next to the gate looks promising.  But how do you get on the roof?  There are at least two methods.  The Canal or the ledge of the building at the north end of Canal Street.  Both methods involve climbing ladders and creeping along ledges.  Watch out for the street patrols nearby.
	SPOILERS:  Climb up the canal ladder at the south end of the street.  Walk along the edge of the canal and leap over to the brick ledge across the street.  Follow the ledge around to the grey roof.  Climb over the roof and drop down onto the grass in the brothel's courtyard.

INSIDE THE BROTHEL:

10.  Finding Chance's apartment:  Her apartment number was 36.  If you remember, it was also high up in the building, so you'll have to get upstairs.  As you explore the building, keep in mind that the harlots, customers, and guards are on edge right now because of the quarentine.  Don't let them see you...the place is packed.  You'll find lots of tile here, but plenty of carpet, too.  Just be careful where you put your feet.  You'll also find plenty of loot in here, but most of it will be tough to get without being noticed.  Probably you'd be wiser to explore each floor thoroughly before continuing upstairs.  Listen closely to the conversations you hear.  At least one of them provides a clue on an alternative way up to the next floor.  Near the room with two merchants and Molly the harlot, you'll find a locked door.  This is Morose's main office.  Steal the extra key off the patrolling guard's belt.  This key opens both the office door and the rear entrance to the brothel (opens into the back alley near the chapel).  Read the books in his office.  He's lost a key.  Hopefully that won't matter to your exploits here tonight.  Find your way upstairs to the third floor apartments.  The patrols are tricky and the corridors are narrow, but you should be able to sneak up without being seen.  Don't forget that Morose likes to peep down on Molly from a secret room. ;-)  When you reach apartment 36, unfortunately, the door is locked and either Chance is ignoring your knocks or can't hear them because you're trying not to alert anybody else.  You'll have to find the key Morose has lost.  The book you read in his office should help you decide where to go.  One of his minions has lost the key while running an errand.  Remember where?  Did you see that place as you ran around the streets of the Stew District?  It was near Slow Joe's place.  Yes, the apothecary shop.

11.  Retrieving the key:  Go find the apothecary shop.  Because you now have the brothel key, you can use the back entrance that opens into the alley near the chapel.  The shop is near Slow Joe's.  If you don't like all the lights in the street, perhaps you can find a way to turn them off?  The shop door is locked, but you can pick it.  The place is pretty small, but with the alchemist in the room, finding the lost key could be challenging.  Can you reduce the lighting?  He seems to keep his things on a shelf that runs along the edge of the room.  Perhaps the key is on that shelf?  Or maybe near the vases?  When you find the key (a blue key), head back to Chance's apartment and find out why she took your other lockpick.

MAJOR SPOILER ALERT!!!!!!  DO NOT READ FURTHER UNTIL YOU HAVE ACTUALLY ENTERED CHANCE'S APARTMENT!!!!!
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ARE YOU SURE YOU WANT TO BE SPOILED?
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12.  Back at Chance's place:  So someone has trashed the place and Chance is missing.  The blood near the fireplace does not bode well.  Search the place thoroughly to find a clue about what happened to her.  Perhaps your other lockpick is here somewhere.  Aha, there it is, near the bed.  Read the note she left.  So the merchant who pays her keep is a jealous man and he's kidnapped her.  Even if she did steal your lockpick, you hate to just leave her in the hands of this creep.  But you don't even know the merchant's name, much less where he lives or where he has taken her.  Does her note give you a hint?  Or his occupation?  Okay, so he's a merchant.  Some merchants trade goods.  Her note says he threw a sailor off the dock down by the river.  Perhaps he has his own vessels?  Perhaps you might find a clue about his identity and his location at the Riverside Docks?

END-GAME MOVES

13.  Getting to the Riverside:  The gates to the Riverside district are locked, but perhaps you can find another way in?  A different water source?  The canal?  Get back to the canal.  Now that you have both lockpicks, you can pick the door to Canal Lock No. 5.  Find your way to the streets of the Riverside district.  Don't forget to explore.  Eventually you'll come to the docks, but a portcullis blocks the way.  Do you see any nearby switches?  No?  Okay, well do you remember reading anything pertaining to this portcullis?  Perhaps you're carrying a note with you that could help.  If you found the message to "pork" from one of Felix's old thieving partners, you'll recall it said something about the Riverside portcullis.  It also said something about the Rosetti sewers. Go back to the Rosetti Utility building near the chapel.  If you don't feel like facing all those street patrols again, cut through the brothel just as you did the first time.

14.  Rosetti Utility building:  The place is condemned, so you'll have to pick the lock on the door.  Careful!  It might be a bit rundown inside...and might be infested with creatures like spiders.  The floor is mostly metal grating, so move slooowly and keep as quiet as possible.  A brick walkway runs down the center of the building, but a spider patrols there.  You might try sneaking along behind some of the machinery instead.  The large spider is probably impossible to pass without alerting, so plan accordingly.  Explore the place....find any useful goodies?  Find anything related to pork's note?  Find the entrance to the sewer?  Careful, the ladder is slippery.  Crouch beside the manhole and walk to the ladder.  Explore the sewers but be cautious.  Who knows what's down here.  Eventually you'll climb out of the sewer in another small building with a window overlooking the portculli near the Riverside.  See the switch?  Near the sewer entrance?  Pull it.  Maybe you should run over to the window to verify that it worked.  What do you see?  Yes, the portcullis is now up....but another portcullis has fallen, blocking the way again.  Better try the switch again.  The portculli are both controlled by the same switch, but when one is up, the other is down.  How can you get past this?  Can you block one of them?  What could you block it with?  Crates might work.  In fact, there are some crates in the street between the portculli.  Put the portculli back in their original positions (the Northern one is up, the Southern one is down) and go stack some crates under the Northern portcullis.  (Yes, this means running back through the sewers and back around the streets of the Stew District to the Canal Lock.  Who said being heroic was easy?)  Then go back through the sewers, flip the switch, and see what happens.  Did it work?  If you stacked at least two crates atop one another, then you'll be able to pass under the closed portcullis if you crouch.

15.  Riverside Docks:  The procedure here is to move from boat to boat, looking for evidence about this merchant.  The patrols are heavy, but with patience and planning, you should be able to do what you need to do without being detected.  Don't forget to pick up some extra loot.  Eventually you'll find a note from him that will give you the information you need.  But I'm not going to spoil you on this part. :-)  You may want to hold off on this objective until after you've finished exploring the Stew District...or even the South Ward (in which you started the mission), as some of the locks can only be picked with the lockpick you retrieved from Chance's apartment.  There are many, many secret areas/extras in this mission.  Don't forget to look up...don't forget to mantle.  A good thief does his business where he has no business. ;-)

Enjoy!



-Ithel

April 2000




