Grimnoir ------------- 2018, by ProP ------------- Special thanks to Brian, Brian, Moriah, and Megan. ------------- IMPORTANT NOTE FOR CHROME USERS: Some players using Chrome version 61 or later may be unable to hear the opening theme due to a recent Chrome update blocking all audio autoplay behavior by default until the user interacts with the page. This impacts the opening theme, which plays on the launch screen (but impacts no audio after that point.) If you so choose, you can change this setting to be like previous versions in order to hear the opening theme by doing the following: -Load Chrome's flag settings by entering chrome://flags/#autoplay-policy in your Chrome browser -Select "No user gesture is required" under Autoplay Policy Autoplay blocking can be restored by repeating this process and selecting "Default" instead. ------------- Contents: i. General Gameplay ii. The Haunted Space iii. The Song Garden iv. The Night Teeth v. The Gaping Maw vi. The Sly Grin vii. The Monster Emeritus viii. The Hierophant ix. Clem's Case (bonus case) x. Endings ------------- i. General Gameplay ------------- Grimnoir is a hypertext mystery game. The core mechanics of the game include investigating cases, identifying monsters (listed in the grimoire), and optionally, identifying what drove the people they used to be to become monsters in the first place. Any current cases can be exited at any time that the menu is accessible--just click on the door icon to warp back to Morris's office. You can instantly resume any current case by reviewing its case notes from his office. Active cases can be solved in any order. This guide will follow the order in which they are listed. To solve a case, Morris must at least identify the culprit's name. From there, Morris can either decide to kill the monster or attempt to guess its reason. An incorrect guess will result in Morris having to kill it. Certain decisions (including killing or correctly guessing a monster's reason) and dialogue choices affect Morris's characterization. The weather in Steel City always reflects his current characterization based on your actions; a Morris who is empathic and merciful will find the rain clearing up, while a Morris who is fatalistic, cold, and sliding further into hopelessness will find himself in a worsening storm. While investigating a case, calling Solene (via the cellphone icon in the menu) serves as a context-sensitive hint system for helping you to identify the monsters' names. ------------- ii. The Haunted Space ------------- While you can begin this case by traveling to the client's house, you can also first head to the morgue, where you will meet Wyatt and examine Jeannette's body for clues. You'll find some evidence that the monster fed on her blood. Once you complete this part, you can travel to talk to Grim, where you learn that a vampire is unlikely as the culprit, narrowing the list of suspects to other monsters that feed on blood. After you arrive at the house, you have the opportunity to look around the place, or head back outside and speak to Noah. He'll be reluctant to answer any questions about the night that Jeannette died until Morris has looked at the fridge in the kitchen, during which he will realize that Noah wasn't in the house during that time. In the bedroom, if Morris examines Jeannette's laptop and then asks Noah for the password, he'll find a clue about Jeannette's relationship with her friend, Nico; similarly, there is a framed portrait of the two on the dresser. The monster is lurking in the attic, accessible through the spare bedroom. Its name is sigbin, and its reason is "You were close to Jeanette until she turned on you, and you felt betrayed and abandoned." ------------- iii. The Song Garden ------------- When you arrive at Jayla's home, she'll describe several incidents of objects disappearing from her garden, as well as hearing singing at night. You can talk with her and learn a little more about her relationship with her parents, as well as look around the house. There is a large feather in the backyard, lying in the grass. To confront the monster for this case, you must speak with Jayla and choose "We'll have to lure out the thief." This will lead to Morris and Jayla setting bait for the monster and then following it into the woods. The monster in question is a harpy, and its reason is "You loved Jayla. You wanted to make sure she has all the resources she needs." Afterward, you can return with Jayla to her house, and find an alkonost in the garden. You may choose to kill it or leave it up to Jayla, who will decide to let it remain there. ------------- iv. The Night Teeth ------------- When you arrive to speak with Roberta, she'll tell you about the death of her dog, Charlie, in the backyard. To begin the investigation, head to the backyard and examine Charlie's body. You can then talk with Roberta again, and learn that there have been numerous deaths of pets in the area, and that the killer seems to be becoming more erratic. After Roberta gives you a list of neighbors with pets, you can go out and speak with them. Adrian and Natalia will tell you about the disappearances of their pets. You can speak with Paul and learn a little about him, though he claims to know nothing about the pet cases. Afterward, you can talk to Roberta again and ask her a little more about Paul, or decide to lure out the monster. Once you do, you'll eventually get to a confrontation with the creature in the kitchen of Paul's home. The monster is of course Paul, and he is actually a lycanthrope. His reason is his guilt at the frustration and anger he felt at his sister, and to purify him, "It's okay to feel angry. You don't have to contain it. It doesn't mean you hate Lily." is the correct option. ------------- v. The Gaping Maw ------------- This time, the client is Grim, whom you may have met already during The Haunted Space. Once you follow Grim to the subway entrance, you can speak with him or begin investigating the area. An additional dialogue choice is available when speaking to Grim after you have talked with the men standing outside of the subway entrance. Once you go in, you can speak to a few more homeless men inside, who appear to not know anything about the monster you're hunting, or you can enter the tunnel. Eventually, you'll get to an area of the tunnel that someone once lived in, and you can investigate it for clues about that person. Further in, you'll come to a fork in the tunnel, and Morris and Grim will decide to split up. Past this point is the encounter with the monster. It's a naga, and its correct reason is "You were bitter about a world that left you to die. You wanted vengeance." After this, Grim will rescue Morris from the tunnel, and he'll come to in a hospital room with Grim and Solene. ------------- vi. The Sly Grin ------------- Morris will arrive to speak with Marcus, who will inform you that his wife, Helena, is missing, and that he believes she is danger, having been seen around the city with a supernatural stranger. He'll send Morris to Riverside Brew to try to intercept them. Once Morris finds them there, the stranger in question uses his power to cause Morris to become infatuated; none of the three dialogue options here have any bearing on Morris's subsequent actions. Morris will attempt to jump into the river as commanded, only to be rescued by Solene. After this point, you will play as Solene for the remainder of this case. You can go to the morgue, where Solene will talk with Wyatt and realize that the body that was found is probably unrelated to this case. You can also go back and talk with Marcus. She can charm Marcus for additional information. Solene can investigate his place or ask him questions about Helena. Down the hallway, in the bedroom, there is a closet. In there, Solene will find a receipt with a phone number. Calling the number results in nothing happening, but you can then go back to Marcus and ask him about the bar the receipt is from. He'll offer to call one of Helena's friends. Solene will go and speak with her, and will then go on to David's apartment building. Inside of his apartment, you'll find David, who is an incubus, and Helena, who will explain that they're in love and planning on leaving the city. Solene can decide to either accept their offer of payment and return to Marcus with the news that Helena is dead but the monster is defeated, or she can force Helena to return to tell Marcus the truth. Either will resolve the case. ------------- vii. The Monster Emeritus ------------- Morris will arrive at the university and speak to a couple of professors who inform you that something is haunting their area of the building. Once they leave, Morris can investigate. Once you open Dr. Singh's office, Morris will look inside and find nothing. When he leaves, you'll be confronted with the monster. This is the only case where misidentifying the monster is nonlethal. Its correct name is cat sidhe. Once identified, you can choose to kill it, or hear what it has to say. The cat sidhe will reveal that it is Dr. Singh, and he will request that Morris allows him to stay. ------------- viii. The Hierophant ------------- This is the final case of the game. Upon completion of the previous three cases, Morris will return to the office and find a cop waiting to speak with him. She'll give him a case, involving a supernatural serial killer known as the Hierophant. Morris can speak to Audrey Hart, and learn a bit about her husband's death. Afterward, he'll be called over to talk to Logan, a current victim of the Hierophant. You can ask Logan some questions about this. Afterward, Morris will go home, and eventually, try to sleep. He'll be woken in the night by a call from Garcia, who will inform him that Logan, despite being under guard, has disappeared. Morris will track him to the parking garage, and will go inside to try to find him before it's too late. Eventually, you'll find Logan's dead body, apparently arranged as a clue from the Hierophant, who is waiting on a floor below. In the dream, Morris will find himself in a previous apartment that he lived in with Roy. Morris will be forced to relive the moment he found Roy's body, mangled by a warg, which will jar him out of the dream. From here, the game progress to one of the three endings. ------------- ix. Clem's Case ------------- This is a special case that can be accessed if the following requirements are met: 1) Morris visited Dermot's Diner during all six cases prior to the Hierophant and 2) Morris visits the diner during the Hierophant case before leaving to speak to Audrey Hart. Once Morris arrives, he'll find the diner closed and Clem in a state of disarray; Clem informs you that her son, Grant, has gone missing. Morris will temporarily put the Hierophant case aside and travel to Grant's university to find him. During this case, Grant's girlfriend, Daisy, will serve as Morris's companion. He won't be able to get into Hemlock Hall until he has spoken to Daisy and has her with him; she will let him inside. Morris will investigate Grant's room. Ultimately, you won't find any major clue from anything in Grant's room. Morris will only conclude that Grant likely left on his own, taking his backpack with him. From there, you can speak to two of Grant's friends, who will inform you that Grant might have been scouting a place for their next ghost hunt. Morris and Daisy, thanks to a hint from Grant's friends, will travel to the basement. They will find a domovoi there, who will suggest they look in the woods, where they can ask a friend of his if Grant has been seen there. The phantom will agree to help only if Morris settles a territory dispute for it. Morris can side with the phantom or the kitsune; ultimately, whichever he sides with will lead him to the graveyard. You can search the graveyard for any sign of Grant. If you inspect the mausoleum, Morris will realize it has been opened recently, and will go inside and find a tunnel leading to an underground chamber. Inside, he'll find Grant, and a woman. The woman's name is churel. Morris won't be able to identify a reason, and so the churel will trap him there and move to feed off of Grant, who will likely die soon. You can choose an option to distract the churel, and then Daisy will arrive and kill it. Morris, Grant, and Daisy will then leave the graveyard and return to campus, and Morris will continue with his investigation of the Hierophant. ------------- x. Endings ------------- There are three possible endings to the game. If you attempted and failed to correctly identify a monster's reason (not the same as choosing to kill it outright) at least 2 times, Morris's carelessness will lead him to die during the fight with the Hierophant after successfully breaking free from the dream. Otherwise, Morris will either give in to hopelessness and resolve to continue to drive himself into the ground, or he will give up investigating, find a new job, and attempt to find a healthier perspective on life. These two endings are based on the characterization of Morris formed from your decisions (mentioned in the General Gameplay section at the top).