So Mandus really is related to SPOILER

[centuryon]

I wasn't sure the first time through. But in the second run I took time to piece together some of the notes and from what others have found as well it definitely appears that the person Mandus keeps referring to his great Uncle is likely to be Alexander of Brennenburg. Consider these excerpts from his notes:

"Of the few books to survive after those degenerate peasants fired my Great Uncle's castle were his travel diaries. He talks of archaeological digs in Siam, Arabia, which yielded treasures of quite extraordinary worth. And, most interestingly, he hints at those yet to be found, in the Americas where civilisations were consumed by the jungles. Of course, it all makes sense - those conquistadors were only driven so far by their faith - El Dorado did the rest. And yet, there is more. "Find the Temple of the Stone Moon", he writes, "and the world will never more be hungry, and neither shall you."

Would seem that Brennenburg Castle was burnt to the ground after the first game then. But it also seems that Mandus eventually found more than just writing:

"The crate arrived this morning, and I had it delivered directly to the workshop. The body is remarkably preserved, although there is a subtle yet nauseating stench of damp and rot. It is humanoid in shape, but has suffered severe skeletal deformity. Remnants of leather straps encase the torso, which is deformed, with evidence of substantial muscle mass and displacement. It is difficult to ascertain whether this unfortunate is the recipient of some barbarous surgery, or was born deformed and an attempt to force his gnarled body into some semblance of humanity was made. What he is I cannot tell, but I smell the Orb upon him, and suspect my great uncle's presence in his curious condition.So it can be done. We can reshape the body into a tool, accelerate the processes of Mr Darwin's evolution. But here my great uncle and I part company. He chose men as the subjects of his experiments, but men are difficult to control and rotten with sentimentality. No, we require a new creature for our chattels: loyal, clever, strong, easily sated."

And the mysterious "Compound X" that is utilized in the game for a variety of purposes seems to also have clear origins that can be traced back to Alexander:

"In order to facilitate assimilation of tissue groups, a compound is required, or the cells will not bond. Disposal of non-bonded subjects must be immediate and using incineration or we risk continuous animation without form. This is... unpleasant. A simple compound of one part Brennenburg Infusion Vitae to one part Orgone Monad Disperal fluid is sufficient. This can then be administered intravenously to subjects following re-assembly to maintain bonding. The compound is unstable and highly light reactive - once in the body, the Schumann Lamp can be used to activate the compound, but outside the body is highly corrosive. It can even destroy small quantities of metal."

One could perhaps argue that Alexander in some ways is responsible for leading Mandus down this path, since it seems that his journals and writings "inspired" Mandus to take that trip to Mexico and seek out the promised "riches" to fix his seemingly bleak financial situation after spending so much money on machines.

"My mind is made up. Damn the creditors. I shall leave my work unfinished and I shall take to the Americas, and I will return with my soul richer and my pockets bulging.[/i]"

[ScruffyGit]

Way to put a ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ spoiler in the thread title ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥

[centuryon]

my bad, should have caught that.

[Lone Wolf]

It seems so, that's what i thought at first. But i coudln't understand because i always thought alexander was never 'human'. Maybe he was.

[DoomSplitter]

Originally posted by Lone Wolf:

It seems so, that's what i thought at first. But i coudln't understand because i always thought alexander was never 'human'. Maybe he was.

Maybe he's using Uncle in the sense that he was a close friend of his family, rather than them literally being related by blood?

[Theater Thug]

I agree, and Mandus being Alexander's descendant is quite badass. I wonder though if Alexander is literally his great uncle or if he was just a close friend of the Mandus family, that seems more likely as Alexander was hellbent on getting back to his loved one from his home world. He also didn't have any relatives in Brennenburg with him so yeah

[MrMuffinz]

He could have boned some girl before the events of The Dark Desent to be honest.

[imfromfuture]

Originally posted by McLovinz ʕಠᴥಠʔ:

He could have boned some girl before the events of The Dark Desent to be honest.

You realize it doesn't matter if he "boned some girl" as being an uncle requires you to have a brother, which he obviously didn't have since he was banished from another world. Oswald must be a descendant of Daniel, as he can "sense his great uncles presence". As for the castle, he must of mixed something up.

[bunni:>♡]

Just stumbled across this.
Awesome explanation :)