Discovering horrible basement secrets in Dishonored 2: Death of the Outsider

NOW PLAYING

In Now Playing articles PC Gamer writers talk about the game currently dominating their spare time. Today Andy finds a grim story in one of Dishonored 2's basements.

While exploring Karnaca’s Upper Cyria district, I find a taxidermy shop hidden down a side street. The owner is pleasant enough, but because Dishonored games turn me into a raging kleptomaniac, I investigate the locked door in the back. I wait for her to turn away, snatch the key from her belt and descend into a dingy basement. Then, suddenly, I’m on fire, having just triggered a tripwire. Why does a taxidermist need an elaborate security system? Something is going on here, and I intend to find out what it is.

At the bottom of the stairs it becomes clear why she was so keen to keep people out of her basement. On a table I see the ravaged corpse of a Bloodfly victim. And in a nearby cell, there’s a nest of the vile insects and a terrified man begging to be set free. A nearby crank handle, which operates the gate, reveals the grim truth: this woman has been kidnapping people, subjecting them to Bloodfly attacks, then harvesting the amber, which can be sold for a pretty price. A twisted business, and a dangerous one too. If those Bloodflies escape, Karnaca could get infested. Didn’t she play Dishonored 2?

I spring her would-be victim from his cell and he thanks me, sharing the location of the key to a room where the woman keeps her ill-gotten blood amber. I’ll be taking that for myself. But first thing’s first: dealing with the shopkeeper. I go upstairs and find her cowering in the corner, clearly aware that the jig is up. She begs me to forget about it and let her go, and offers to stuff any animal I want for free. But Billie Lurk is not so easily swayed, at least not by the offer of a free stuffed animal. I choke the woman out, sling her over my shoulder and head underground.

A feast for flies

I tote the woman over to the cell and sling her in. She snoozes in a crumpled heap, oblivious to the fact that I’m turning the squeaking crank handle, lifting the metal gate. The Bloodflies are whipped up into a frenzy as they sense a meal, and when the gate slides away they swarm into the cell, feasting on the hapless taxidermist. Now, by doing this I’m probably just increasing the chances of infestation, but it’s worth it for a moment of deliciously ironic justice. I go back upstairs and find the key the guy told me about, unlocking a treasure trove of blood amber. I swipe it, but before I leave, I decide to finish the Bloodflies off.

A well-placed incendiary bolt is all it takes to engulf everything in cleansing flame. I feel like I’ve done the city a favour, and the detective investigating the remains of what just happened will have a nice puzzle to solve. I also throw the corpse on the table in a furnace. Better safe than sorry. I leave the shop and slink back out into the streets of Upper Cyria to continue my mission. And this is why I love Dishonored: these little stories you can stumble into as you explore the world, and the opportunities you get to tell your own.

If it’s set in space, Andy will probably write about it. He loves sci-fi, adventure games, taking screenshots, Twin Peaks, weird sims, Alien: Isolation, and anything with a good story.