Lore: Letters from the Craftsman

A compilation of all the letters written to us by The Craftsman, as well as bonus letters from Changing Our Fate and the Endings.

Letters from the Craftsman

Below are the letters written directly to us from The Craftsman, in the order which we discover them:

Prison Cell

You were warned not to look for me, but you would not listen and it has become necessary for me to find you. Welcome to Grey Holm, the seat of my ancestors. Seldom few visitors have walked these halls, fewer still have walked free of them.

In the past I have drawn my subjects from the greatest minds of history. Each played their part, but none outlived it. The Null wraps its bonds around all. All except you.

It was a mistake to try and keep you away. I see now that I have great need of you, if you can prove yourself worthy. Your first task is to find something that will aid you in your trials ahead. Find it or never leave this room, and I will have gone to great effort in vain.

It is quite painful to watch how you blunder to and fro, half blinded by those crude lenses you stumbled upon. Allow me to pry the scales from your eyes.

These are the instruments of a craftsman.

They will allow you to see the universe as it truly is, and reach into the unseen infinity of space that surrounds us.

Central Font Room

The key to the Null will be forged here, I have given you the first piece.

For safety, the remaining four are held separately, retrieve them and bring them to this font.

Only then can you fulfil your destiny.

Chapter 1: The Lighthouse

As you have discovered on your little adventures, contained within the Null is the power to transfer matter across space and time.
I have watched you cross leagues and centuries just as some lesser individual might cross a street, but what of light years? What of aeons? You have barely even begun to tap its potential.

I have charted a world not unlike our own, yet incredibly distant. It is the source of the Null. I have measured it, even seen it, but I cannot reach it. Not without your help. But first I must teach you how, and you must prove capable of learning.

The PYRE has not cast its light in many a year. Ships need no beacon to warn them off this place.

Travellers such as ourselves however, require such things to find our path. A light in the black.

The way ahead is dark, a darkness even the blind can see.

The rocks of this island have always had a taste for blood.

This tenacious aquanaut thought his science would be proof against them.

I hope his curiosity into my affairs is now satisfied.

Chapter 2: The Clock Tower

Interesting. Here you stand, all corporeal and breathing and the rest. Existing is something you appear to have a tremendous knack for.
A useful trait, and one that has been distressingly lacking in my previous apprentices.
Perhaps my search really is at an end.

This library is unique in all the world, though I would counsel you against indulging your curiosity. As is common at Grey Holm, there are things here that are not sympathetic towards inquisitive hands. Do not idle here!

What do you know of time?

This tower was added by my great grandfather, though his time ran out earlier than expected.

Your path will appear when the last bell tolls midnight. A trifle dramatic I know, but our ancestors understood more than they realized.

There truly are moments when the cycle of our world brings it closer to its neighbours.

Chapter 3: The Forge

Another test passed with all colours flying, and now the time truly is at hand. I promised you answers, and answers you shall have.

Every soul is unique, and so must be every trap that snares it. An altar of belief. A tome of answers. A crypt of terrors. For AS, his box full of demons. Knowledge. Power. Sight beyond sight. All lies. All just bait in the trap.

This house was to be yours had you failed, but you walked free of it as you have all the rest. I am certain now that you are the one I have sought. The one who will find the centre of the Labyrinth. The one who will walk free of this very realm.

Here you arrive at the birthplace of my enterprise, and your final lesson.

Here is where I began crafting my masterworks, and where you shall learn to do likewise.

That which you seek is contained in the box on the table here. Accessing it will require the mastery of many tools.

The first set of keys you will have to make yourself, but the final one is held ready for you.

Chapter 4: The Observatory

I knew you would not disappoint me.

You have proven yourself a worthy apprentice, and now you stand on the threshold of mankind's greatest day.

I have not brought you here simply to bear mute witness to my achievements. You have a role to play, one more pivotal than you will ever know.

Know that the breakthrough we now make together I could never have made without your vital contribution.

Now you shall see what this whole adventure has been in pursuit of. Have you ever experienced a moment so tantalising?

This is our prize, yours and mine. Your resistance to the Null is remarkable. None but me could craft this key, and none but you could turn it;
I am sure of that now.

Everything is in readiness. The last few calculations will pose you little difficulty, and once you open the gateway I will join you.
Let us stride through together and become the greatest explorers in a dozen generations.

Change Your Fate bonus letters

Below are the bonus letters we discover in the process of the Change Your Fate puzzles. I have ordered them by the date on each page.

July 23rd (Desk)

The house is turning in on itself, warped by the Null. I find myself forever travelling in circles, down corridors that turn back on themselves.

I use the doorway machines to bypass the maze, but the crystals run low on energy.

I must find a new power source soon or be forever trapped.

July 27th (Basement)

That interfering friend of AS continues to ask questions, and I should like to ask a few of my own.

How did they overcome the Null? How much energy resides in that brilliant soul of theirs?

It would take the last dregs of the energy I have stored to bring them here, but they might also be the key.

I have no choice but to take the risk.

July 30th (Desk)

Maggy Cox was a charlatan, and there is no such thing as a spirit medium. Everything she believed was a lie, I know this for a fact.

I concocted the lies!

How is it then that she alone can resist me?

If she will not rest in the prison I have built her, I shall build one deeper still.

August 3rd (Phonograph)

A breakthrough!

The portal remained stable, but only to look through. Touching the thing causes the image to fade. I need more power if I am to pass physically to the other side.

The landscape is beyond extraordinary.

August 7th (Phonograph)

My fate rests in a terrible paradox.

I have need to trap a soul of great brilliance, but for them to exhibit the brilliance I seek, they must surely also see the trap?

The outcome is balanced on a razor's edge.

They yearn for the source of the Null, just as I have. I can feel their longing.

It must blind them to their fate.

August 11th (Safe)

I woke up on the floor of the workshop again.

A new box was on the table, and I recall nothing of making it. Did I create any of them or only dream these creations?

What is beyond doubt is that there is something guiding my hand.

Who pulls the strings of the puppetmaster?

Ending Letters

Below are the notes from the main ending (Imprisoned) and two of the Change Your Fate endings. The "Lost" ending has no note.

Ending: Imprisoned

Congratulations, you have found the centre of my Labyrinth. That may feel like a victory, but it leaves you farther from freedom than you have ever been.

If it is any consolation, you were not the first, and you will be far from the last. Know that every single turn led you to this point.

As you like puzzles so much, I have one final riddle for you, to occupy your eternity:

"What is the difference between a maze
and a Labyrinth?"

But how can I expect you to answer when you cannot tell a ROOM from a PRISON?

Ending: Escape

I must have pored over a thousand maps. Grey Holm isn't just gone, it never existed. I sometimes doubt my sanity, and others are starting to agree with me!
This quest can only land me in an asylum.

No matter. I find curiosity has lessened its grip on me, and life's other interests are returning.

Whatever it was that drew me is gone. I can sense it no longer, and I finally feel free. Was there ever a source of the Null? Or was it always just bait in the trap?

I know now that I will never know, and that knowledge is a sweet, sweet joy.

Ending: Release

I don't know if this letter will reach you, I only know the warder will take my bribe. You must come at once!

When we opened the gateway, something was waiting. It had always been waiting... now it is here. Soon we are doomed.

I know you have no reason to trust me, but you must. You are the only one who can help. You are the only one who knows. You are the only one who will believe me!

I am in Bethlehem.

Find me.

[LiquidBread11]

Nice work. I never would have thought to do this. Thanks for the effort!

[Sahara]

@Hayde - that's a great idea! I'll have to go back and replay it to get some screenshots of those

[Hayde]

Thank you for this! May I suggest adding the protagonist's journal pages from the train?