A Lore Guide on the Events Leading up to Pathologic1/2

This is a pre pathologic guide to explain the storyline and character building up to pathologic 1/2. Basically I will be combining both games lore and storylines as they are both very similar. I also like to look at both games as one overall story, even if some events are different which I will touch on for both respective games.

Introduction

A few things, this is going off information from the pathologic wiki's, games, and speculative lore from myself and other creator/community information. Pathologic series has no definitive dates or world, as far as to my knowledge its a fictional dark fantasy world. Anything else is up for debate and I don't think any debate is going to confirm anything in pathologic would exist in the real world.

The real purpose of this guide is to better explain this games lore, storyline, characters, and events all leading up to the game. I highly suggest beating the first game with all 3 characters as well as beating pathologic 2 before reading this, unless of course you don't care and are just interested in the lore in general.

Pre Pathologic, the events that lead to the game.

The 3 Main Characters

The Bachelor

Daniil Dankovsky was a brilliant thanatologist who created a laboratory in this fictional nation's capital called the Thanatica. The basis of the laboratory is to defeat death itself. In many ways daniil is like the character Frankenstein, he even reanimates dead tissue of a woman. He even becomes fairly well known and a bit of a celebrity. In pathologic 1 he comes to the town because of a letter sent by a Simon Kain, a man who has lived for 150 years and has seemingly defied death. Bachelor hopes that interviewing and examining simon's well being will help keep his laboratory alive and funded.



The ruling government of this nation, or at least certain figures in it, want to shut down his work. The reasoning behind this isn't well fleshed out, but it probably has to do with manipulation of the dead which they may find morbid, or wrong. It also might be because of internal enemies, bachelors own confidence, or just a general displeasure at the audacity of trying to stop the natural way of life and death. Whatever the reason, powerful forces are trying to shut down the thanatica, and bachelor believes that through simon kain he can possibly prevent it. So he leaves to visit the town in question where Simon, his son Georgiy, his grandson Victor, and his great granddaughter Maria as well as his younger great grandson Khan all live. Victors wife Nina was a powerful seer and clairvoyant who could read the future among other supernatural feats. Unfortunetly she died 11 years before the events in pathologic 1/2.

So Daniil sets off to visit simon kain, unaware of the nightmarish events that are about to unfold.

The Haruspex



The 2nd character you play as known as the Haruspex, real name Artemy Burakh, is important to the games backstory. Probably more so than Daniil as his father Isidor is also pivitol to the events that unfold.

Little added information, the title haruspex actually comes from roman times. They were members of the Etruscan religion, who read animal entrails in order to read omens and other predictions.

In pathologic 1, Artemy has no real connection to Lara Ravel, or Stanislav Rubin, that I remember anyway (will make a mental note to confirm this) he probably knew them since he grew up in the town, and rubin was a contemporary of Isidor I think a student, but they still barely acknowledge each other in the first 1. He does however know bad grief (Grigory Filin) in pathologic 1. Whether they are friends are not I don't think was clearly specified. In pathologic2 however all 3 individuals are good friends who grew up together and have an almost sibling like relationship.

Lara Ravel is very different in both games, in pathologic 1 she is closer to Daniil, and I don't think even communicates with Artemy much. Rubin and Grief are also very different in personality in the 2 games. Although essentially the same character type in both. Rubin is a skilled doctor and surgeon, and grief is basically an arms dealing criminal. The difference is in 1 rubin seems to be more of a friendly professional with an awesome theme song. In 2 he is more of a moody young man who blames haruspex for a lot, only to see the light and realize he was wrong to judge him. In 1 grief is basically an unrepentant psychopath and a joker clone. He has no real emotional attachment to anyone, even confirms he's had to kill people, and basically shows contempt for the ruling class all except big Vlad. In 2 however he is a criminal, an illegal trader, and runs a gang, but he doesn't want violence. He thinks it will interfere with his business, which really makes more sense, as why would you willing want to anger the authorities who run the place, and rival badguys at the same time? Grief even has to take a trip to the inquisitor in pathologic 2. And since he can survive until the ending, he must of been very honest. Or they simply spared him cause he was friends of the haruspex (as haruspex is a huge help to the inquisitor, while it lasts). Grief also has a rival called the barber who is pretty unimportant as nothing more than a rival gang member. Haruspex kills the barber in both pathologic1/2.

Later in Artemy's life his father Isidor decides to send him off to learn medicine at some university or college. Artemy comes back to the town because of a letter urging him to from his father, much like daniils letter from simon.

While artemy is away however, an outbreak, a plague happens in the town, in the section known as the Crude Sprawl. His father Isidor orders a quarantine to contain the virus, which kills many and leaves only a few orphans, one a major character known as Murky.



It is also said that the quarantine spawned Aspity. Aspity claims she isn't human. But in my speculation I saw nothing supernatural about her myself, she is even in the good ending of pathologic 2 and seems to be in good health. She is most likely an older orphan than murky and the first plague may of drove her insane. She looks visibly worn for a younger age and has 2 different colored eyes. Its possible she may of recovered from the plague, but that is just my own speculation and is not confirmed. Of course aspity seems to know isidor, possibly even trusting him, as isidor leaves her artemy's inheritance and entrusts her to give it to him. Its possible she may of been rescued or even cured by isidor but again more speculation and not confirmed. But there is some kind of a mutual trust going on between aspity and isidor, why isn't well touched upon. Possibly it could just be because they are both kin (the steppe people).

MAJOR SPOILERS PAST THIS POINT!

It is revealed later on in Pathologic 2 that Isidor, and Simon Kain both agreed that the plague was a natural evolution for the town. Why they decided this I have no idea. So they went out into the steppe and dug a hole, willingly infecting themselves with the plague. A steppe witness of the kin saw this and reveals some information to the haruspex, but the witnesses lack of knowledge on what was going on keeps haruspex in the dark about his fathers actions. On finding this out from the witness Oyun, a huge towering man and major representative of the kin, who is in both pathologic 1 and 2, confronts isidor on this. Isidor, attacks oyun on the accusation, and oyun kills isidor, in his own words as an act of mercy.

Upon arrival to the town, Artemy finds out from 3 villagers that his father was murdered. And they are convinced haruspex is the murderer. So they attempt to kill him, only to be killed in self defense by artemy, which causes his reputation to skyrocket into the negatives.

The 3 Main Characters continued..

The Changeling and the Saburov's.



The 3rd playable character in pathologic 1 and a major character in pathologic 2, the changeling, or simply clara, is only playable after beating haruspex or the bachelor. Her story is more mysterious. She may not fully belong in this guide about pre pathologic lore, because she has no backstory. In pathologic 1 she emerges from an open grave, has no memory of why she is there, and is found by a downtrodden grave yard keeper named grace. A tragic young girl who's family were drunks and even use to give her alcohal at a young age. Greatly impacting her mental state. She often nods off in pathologic 2 almost as if she's about to pass out. And is always looking at the ground. She finds clara and tells her to go see katerina and alexander saburov. For some reason the couple greatly take a liking to clara almost immediately and even call her daughter.


Grace is a very tragic character in pathologic 1/2.

Clara is a bit of a mystery character, and is titled the changeling due to her confusion of identity. Many think she is a monster, a saint, a shape changer, an infected, and many other labels. Given that there is no back story, information, or family other than the saburovs who take her in. No one is connected to clara. Just grace, and since grace is a bit messed up, and connected to the dead herself, it makes claras existence even more suspect and a little creepy.

To go more into clara would be going into the game itself, as she doesn't have any real back story. She appears in a grave, is found by a keeper of the dead, and her real identity is up for debate. In some ways she is a lot like the player, suddenly thrust into a world he or she knows little about and has to adapt from there.


A misunderstood nomad with spiritual powers, or pure evil personified?

Alexander Saburov is the towns authority figure, basically the police. He enforces the numerous town officials who often fight criminals. You can also turn in criminal items you find from them to these figures for trade and reputation. Killing any of these officials greatly lowers your reputation. It could be that alexander took pity on clara because of his role as governor, and the fact that katerina could never have kids. Alexander as an authority figure, probably considers himself a father figure, if not an actual real father. He probably looked at clara as his only real chance to ever be a dad. Katerina also takes a liking to clara, but her reasoning probably has something to do with claras healing ability, and her yearning to make her a mistress as clara is often identified as the 3rd young mistress along with maria, and capella.

The War, The General, and the Inquisitor

Pre pathologic lore, the war.

Another important event predates the 2 games, a war. This war involves Lara Ravels father Captain Ravel, who lost his life in the war, there are different takes on how. Its rumored he was executed, possibly due to moral objection or who knows. In pathologic 2 lara ravel tries to kill Alexander Block in retaliation for her father, but haruspex talks her out of it. In pathologic 1 a similar plot happens involving lara and yulia. But that is also defused with no bloodshed.

The war in question is probably based on several in russian history. Possibly the russian civil war, or the great patriotic war (ww2). I'm leaning towards the russian civil war as no other nations were mentioned in pathologic 1 or 2. Or it could just be the games own war within its own fictional/fantasy realm.

The Inquisitor and the General



These two characters are introduced far later in the game. The inquisitors are not like our real life example of inquisitors. They are not religious, instead they are basically like private investigators with extreme authority who stop at nothing to get their goals done. They are held to extreme standards by the powers that be, and failure can often lead them to a prompt execution. Executing people for perceived crimes even the slightest can also lead to torture or execution from the inquisitors. The lead inquisitor in the game Aglaya Lilich, is featured in both games, and is a very intimidating figure to the towns folk.



The general Alexander Block is a military hero, although his moral objections and integrity have gained him several enemies among his peers. Later in the game a faction even rebels against him, and wants him dead. Our hero's can deal with this issue however, and block survives to the final outcome. He is much more friendly towards clara as the game progresses and believes in her miracles and see's her as a positive force for his whole nation. Its one outcome I think possibly solidifies clara as an actual good person, but that's up for interpretation. It could be that something was messing with clara, and taking her form to make her doubt her abilities. Or it could be clara really is sinister and evil, and see's block as a way to spread death and mayhem elsewhere.

In the ending of pathologic 1, one ending shows clara and block together ruling over the town and installing order. Children play and look happy as block and clara look on. But old men, drop to their knees at their feet humbly. What this is symbolizing is anyone's guess, but it could either mean crushing authority under a dictatorship. One that safeguards the innocent children, but heavily persecutes them when they come of age. Or it could just mean peace and punishing the wicked. Whatever interpretation of this is up to you. It could be clara really was a miracle worker jumping from town to town, an orphan. Perhaps she rested in the grave simply cause it was soft. Perhaps she has no memory or backstory cause she was just a simple vagabond with nothing to tell, looking for purpose and the sand plague could sense her purifying powers. Manipulating her and taking her form simply to mess with her mind and make her doubt herself. It is hard to pin down clara with an explanation honestly. By the end of the game claras meaning is disregarded in a sense for the powers that be, the plague and the polyhedron, and she instead goes to block. A man saturated in death but oddly a more positive figure, it seems clara is drawn to men with power, badges and authority for some reason.

Or maybe clara is just a shabanakir and is manipulating everyone. Although this is hard to prove to me, as clara actually does have healing powers and according to the lore reportedly heals hundreds of people miraculously. People are mistrusting of her, but many others basically worship her now and want to touch her just because they think it will fight off the sand pest. Why they believe this is obvious, in the game you really can heal people, with no medicine or panacea required. She can also, as far as I can tell use telekinesis to crush a person from the inside which she does to any criminal who crosses her path. She is incredibly powerful, and can heal the sand pest. So I don't see how she could be evil, when the actual gameplay in pathologic 1 is showing you how she blatantly heals right in front of you. So my theory is that she is a wondering vagabond with supernatural abilities just like nina and victoria. And that the sand pest is the real changeling. Claras powers as far as gameplay goes, show no evidence of shape change, but only healing, telekinesis, and other abilities (she's a force to be reckoned with).

The Stamatin's and Anna Angel

The Stamatin's

Andrey and Peter Stamatin are important characters to the backstory. While andrey is little more than a thug and owner of a specific bar/tavern, Peter is something else. Peter Stamatin is the creator and architect of the odd ruins you see around the game. The stairs leading up to nowhere. The Polyhedron is also his creation. The strange beehive looking structure that towers over the village. The polyhedron is basically a testament to impossibility. It stays up suspended by an extremely thin base, this should crack and normally be impossible for any structure to stay up. But it does, to the confusion of many in the town. Including the bachelor who is entranced by the polyhedron as he believes it could be a link to his obsession with defeating death.
After all if a structure can do the impossible, other things must be possible as well right?

MAJOR REVELATIONS TOWARDS THE STORYLINE, SPOILERS AHEAD

During the course of both games it is explained that, the Polyhedron has actually at its base punctured the earth much like a piercing arrow through the heart. It is what released the blood that flows from the earth, artemy uses to create his panacea. Its also maybe what released the sand pest/plague. Although Isidor and Simon infected themselves, the real cause of the first plague in the crude sprawl was the creation of the polyhedron. Because the first plague is revealed to of happened directly at the time of the poly's construction. The poly becomes a main focus point towards the end of the game.

Anna Angel and the Ace of Diamonds Caravan


Anna in Pathologic 2

Anna Angel is a rather self contained character in pathologic with her own backstory. While not directly tied to the plague or the events in the main story, she is like everyone else impacted by it. Her behavior and actions during the game, add a different psychological layer to the games main story and branch off in a few quests largely unrelated to the main story. The reason she is being brought up pre pathologic is because her story actually goes farther back to a traveling carnival called the ace of diamonds.


Anna in Pathologic 1

She was a child who was abducted into this traveling show at a young age and taught to do gymnastics and tricks to entertain people for money. This traveling show also abducted other children and forced them into their act. Also trafficking them, and selling them into slavery (nasty business). The leader of this group was a hunchback called Var. The group was eventually shutdown by the powers that be and many performers such as Mark Immortell were persecuted and had to flea their hometowns. How anna and var got away with this is unclear. There is however no link to this in pathologic 2, to my knowledge and var seems to be a different character entirely. A simple organ seller which is pretty shady but not quite as bad as child trafficking. How anna and var escaped execution in pathologic 1 is strange as many were executed for their part in the ace of diamonds. It could be because of vars money, and anna being so young (just speculation). There is of course more sinister information on the diamonds but since its more of a side story and really unimportant to the overreaching theme of the plague and the 3 characters I'll leave that digging up to you.

In pathologic 2 she isn't focused on as much as pathologic 1. In 2 she is there to worry and insist haruspex help her avoid the disease in a very panicked way. She also attempts to save babies from infected homes, which haruspex takes over and does a better job of... Although it is revealed that she is actually turning the babies over to people turning them into medicine. Obviously killing them although that isn't directly told (but how else do you use babies to make medicine?). She also comes into possession of a heart after she is cursed by a steppe haruspex (oddly not the haruspex we all know in the game Artemy but a different one, possibly one of the dopplegangers we see at end game but that's not important atm) she cannot get rid of unless traded to haruspex for an item. Which he can treat as any organ he finds, turn it into medicine, sell it to the organ vender etc.

In pathologic 1 however her side story is far more reaching and includes many quests that paint anna as quite a sinister character. Her very first quest that bachelor recieves is wanting to get rid of a dead body in her home she claims she has no idea how it got there.
She also inherited the home from a previous owner named Vera Verbah who strangely came up missing. No real explanation on that is given. She also claims she didn't kill the person the bachelor has to get rid of, and she has no idea how he even got there.

In pathologic 2 not much is really said about the diamonds. It could of been retconned from the mythos. But possibly not, Var has no actual link to them either as far as I know. In pathologic 2 var is a medicine man and organ trader. He makes medicines and you can sell him organs. As far as being sinister or a killer, not much can really be pinned on Var. Although the person anna claims are good people she is delivering babies to for medicine, could be var himself.

Willow



There is another character who was kidnapped in pathologic 1 and taken into the diamonds known as Willow Mellow/Verba. She is the adopted daughter of Var. Her real father attempted to rescue her from the carrivan but Var killed him. She works at Andrey Stamatins bar possibly for protection (he's a thug but he's not really a terrible guy, unlike everyone in the diamonds). Anna has a strong disliking for willow and regularly blackmales var for money or she will tell everyone willow is his daughter and reveal his links to the diamonds. Var actually cares for willow quite a bit possibly due to guilt.

In the first game it is revealed that Willow is a carrier of sand plague and that you are given some choices. You can fail the quest, kill her for her organs, or find some other infected. Of course finding some other infected like a plague victim who died already or a criminal are preferable. But odds are willow dies anyway from the sand pest.

In pathologic 2 willow does not exist, although many other herb brides do, including one who insists she knows haruspex and stalks him throughout the game. This is in many ways the replacement for willow although under entirely different circumstances.

They constructed a pretty in depth and reaching backstory involving anna, var, willow and the diamonds. A disturbing one at that, that mirrors our own modern world. Extortion, trafficking, exploitation, and industries devoted to selling morbid violence. Although it seems all of this was retconned in pathologic 2. Anna in pathologic 2 is more of a confused and manipulated person, and a possible baby killer. But even as a baby killer, her actions in pathologic 1 are even more evil, including the torture of entire famalies and enslavement of their children, followed by who knows what. Although, in 1 she was also initially a victim just like every other child dragged into the diamonds.

The Town Children and the Kin

The Town Children.

The kids are a huge theme in both games, and they have an extensive and fleshed out back story that is constantly referenced. The best way to explain this, is to divide the children into 2 groups. Notkin's group The Soul and a Halves, and Khan, the leader of the dogheads. Both of these groups act as kind of rivals to each other. The dogheads however became obsessed with the polyhedron and now dwell there, while the soul and a halves are distrusting of the structure.

In both pathologic1/2 the children after the first plague began experimenting with chemistry and mixtures. They began making crude medicines called Shmowders, that can heal the sand pest and eliminate it much like panacea. However the shmowders are dangerous and can cause great bodily harm. In both games using one on yourself can cause health damage, in pathologic 1 the executors warn you that using one on an infected can hurt them for life. Although none of that is really fleshed out and using one makes the character act normally.

Why notkin and khan are at odds isn't well explained but it had to do with notkin being grounded in reality. He disliked the polyhedron and khan's wild and fanciful ideas. In some ways he probably had the right idea as the poly is really the cause of all the towns suffering along with isidor.

The Kin.

The kin are ancient tribal people from the steppe. Some more closely resemble straight up cavemen, and some are worm like grey beings. Further solidifying this games anchor to fantasy and no known relation to anything in reality other than myths and russian wording. The kin are mostly worked like cattle by the meat packing company. They use the abbaitor as a slaughtering ground for cattle, and pack and butcher the cattle in the termitary. The abbaitor is a large stone cave, the inside is full of alters and sacrificial spots for the execution of bulls. The termitary is a large industrial building attached to the abbaitor, possibly by tunnels where the bull meat is distributed. The meat is also carried throughout the town on lines in big sacks, much like hanging clotheslines. The owner of this industry is the Olgimsky's. Vlad the older and his son vlad the younger (vlad jr). His daughter cappela, and their mother who is deceased named victoria. Also a seer much like nina was. Big Vlad appointed 2 leaders for the kin, Tycheek and Oyun, who rule over the kin and enforce vlads wishes.

On the outbreak of the plague, the termitary was quarantined on orders of the younger vlad. What ensued inside was a panicked blood bath that killed thousands of the kin. It even greatly shocks the powers that be when they find out about it (inquisitor Aglaya).

The Mistresses and The Powers that Be

The 3 Mistresses.

The 3 mistresses of the town known as nina, victoria and katerina were seers that used predictions, mysticism, astrology, and other supernatural means to help the town. The only one currently left is katerina, although capella and maria the daughters of the previous 2 mistresses are practicing in their footsteps. The backstory on these women is a little vague according to the narration, and the cause of their deaths isn't really fleshed out at all. They are simply known to of died, how 2 women in their middle age died is a mystery to me.. It would of been nice to of had some kind of clarification in the game as to why they died. They have been dead for some time, nina has actually been dead for over a decade according to the games lore. Nina was also feared by the towns folk. Not for being sadistic or a tyrant, but for her supernatural powers which many claimed to be real.


Wall art in the theater probably Nina, they were heavily celebrated and influential figures in the town.

Victoria also had these powers, but was far kinder and didn't use her powers so blatantly and powerfully as nina did.


Wall art also in the theater probably Victoria.

Katerina also has such abilities but seems to be the weakest of the mistresses and the most criticized. Her husband alexander wielded more physical authority over the population. Although in pathologic 1 when bachelor scoffs at the idea of katerina having such powers, alexander quickly assures him it is real and he shouldn't doubt it.


Katerina in Pathologic 1


Picture of a spider in Katerinas home, probably because she is a self confessed huge recluse who prefers to stay in doors.

The Powers that Be

The powers that be, are actually a combination of things. Some look at them as the ruling government. Some look at them as god, or the spiritual forces of the world. Some look at them as 2 children playing with toys in a sandbox. To understand that last bit, you will need to complete the whole series and see the end of the changeling game. But basically one of the great big revalations of the pathologic series is that, none of this is actually real. There is tangible lore and history according to the fiction, a capital, a war, a caravan of freaks, etc etc, but by the end of the game, the theme of puppets, plays, a stage, kids playing with toys, becomes very apparent.


Measly and Thrush or Tot and Teensy in Pathologic 1.

The 2 kids in general, a girl and a boy, are constantly featured in the game. They are considered to be the powers that be, the gods, the beings orchestrating everything. Mark immortell is not in control, according to the mythos he is just an entertainer, who can be punished by the government at any time. But he is in a sense aware of the powers that be, or is possibly just a 3rd wall plant of the game developers to inform people of whats going on. But the 2 children are completely different. In pathologic 1 they both dwell at the bottom of the polyhedron, if that makes any sense considering the poly tapers into a tiny funnel at the base. But in many ways the poly is defying all laws of logic and space in the first place. In fact in pathologic 1 when the haruspex meets these children they tower over him and are both about 10 feet tall. Haruspex is angry about all that is going on, but when you take a hostile dialogue with the children they basically say bring it. Haruspex is naturally intimidated and backs down from the challenge by default. Not a good idea to try and piss off 10 feet tall omni children.


As you can see Haruspex wants no piece of these kids.

But of course this is all interpretation the children could be something different entirely, who knows. Or it could just all be an abstract 3rd wall what the hell. If you prefer to look at pathologic as a grounded mythos you could always pretend like the powers that be don't exist. Or that the 2 children are really just an illusion and interpretation for something else. In pathologic 2 bachelor says he envisions angels to be a blinding light that towers up to the heavens. Which in some ways may describe these towering 10 feet tall children. Or not...

The Executors and other Oddballs

The Executors


Executors on their coffee break.

The executors are the strange bird like men in costumes, they are one of the first characters you meet outside eva yahn (the woman who opens her home to the bachelor for the time) and the tragedians. The executors fill a number of roles. The real purpose in a tangible physical sense of the executors are suppose to be plague workers, their suits are suppose to give them some defense from the plague. In pathologic 1 bachelor can even get an executor suit. These are not just illusions trying to mess with you, but very real men, you realize this as in pathologic 1, one of the executors is actually executed by being forced to walk off a tall height. The other role of the executors is an illusion of death or the plague. The plague takes many visible shapes in the game, if you count clara's other changeling persona or the odd stranger in the coffin at the start of pathologic 2. Also if you count the plague as the strange giant rat you see throughout the series. But the 3 obvious forms, are the black stuff, the floating skulls in pathologic1, or the odd dressed figure that comes for you. The executor is the form however that the plague picks when he wants to talk to you, or it, and usually makes itself obviously known. It takes a strong interest in messing with haruspex in pathologic 2. Why it picks an executor is possibly to make fun of the way they are desperatly trying to control it.

The one other form the executors take is one of narration, the developers themselves. Especially post game and pre game in pathologic 1. Often filling the role of a tutorial or easter eggs.

Tragedians

The tragedians, the strange skinny mime like being you see all over the series, represent several things. Unlike the executors they serve no real tangible purpose in the game. They may not even exist to anyone but the player, or they may just be part of marks theater antics. Although I like to think nobody knows about them or can see them, as they really don't look human. They are all the exact same skinny weird body type. In pathologic 1 they serve as narration basically guiding the player along. Unlike the executors they almost seem friendly, often giving the player items or tips. Apart from this role, in pathologic 2 they can serve as shadows of the main characters often revealing themselves at different times and revealing honest information about the characters they would normally prefer to keep hidden.



I see their purpose as more of a concept and not actual characters themselves. In pathologic 2 if you beat the first day to fast, they can be seen playing dice, waiting on the clock before they make their next move. This sets them up to me as an interpretation of the developers or builders. They are not the same as the powers that be as they serve no purpose to the events they are merely setting it up, them playing dice obviously hints at them killing time and waiting on direct orders. They could represent the actual programmers of games, waiting on storyboards and the actual writers to give them something to work with. Real tragedians.

The Coffin Man

This character is unique to pathologic 2 and was not in the first game. He is one of the first characters you interact with and is a bit of a mystery. He is as anyone can tell just a hobo who hitches rides on train carts and goes from town to town selling junk. Who he really is, is up for interpretation. There's quite a few discussions and insights into this, but going into to much detail can get confusing and goes into so many different aspects. From a groundhog day like deja vu loop to satan himself, or the grim reaper.

The Rat
A big man rat being, he haunts katerina relentlessly, and also seems to appear during points of epic death. He can also be found in pathologic 1 during a quest that leads haruspex deep underground. I'am not sure if the rat represents the sand pest, or is a manifestation of plague itself. Like one of the 4 horsemen. Any interpretation on the rat in the comments would be appreciated as I'm stumped by it.

Mark Immortell
Mark is in some ways a kind of light comic relief, and a bit of dark humor. He in some ways does not seem as threatening as the plague, sand pest, or other threats. He is more of a messenger there to inform you of the game rules and when you screw up. Its hard to tell if he is the game creators and developers actually trying to communicate with you, a harsh critic, or an actual man in this world who just wants a good show.

The Town and the Marbles Nest

The Town

The actual town is constructed according to the story by the architects. These architects are the kains, the stamatins, and yulia. Yulia Lyuricheva is a mathematician and use to work for the capital much like Daniil. She is a bit of a minor character in the game, a realist and possible atheist although how she manages to stay skeptical in this world I have no idea.
The town is actually shaped to resemble a bull, and each section of the town to resemble parts of a bull. The marble nest for example is suppose to be the head, where the marbles are... This is also where the kains reside. The flank and mid section are where the olgimskys and saburovs stay. Haruspex comments to yulia on why the town was made so confusing. Which is actually probably a gameplay mechanic to make the game challenging.

The Marbles Nest Expansion

The marbles nest expansion dlc, was actually an early demo for pathologic 2. It was released as an add on you can pay money for. The game however has nothing to do with the actual outcome of pathologic 1 or 2. It is a doomed scenario near the post game of the events, maybe the 7th or 8th day. In it bachelor is in a nightmare loop, where he must die. I've been through it a few times, and I'm not sure there is a way to prevent bachelors death. No matter what he will die, you can do a few quests and interactions along the way. But ultimately the expansion is really just a tech demo for pathologic 2. It offers some creepy insights and outlooks... But for the most part, most everyone in the marbles nest is already dead. Haruspex, notkin, the stamatins, very few people in the marbles nest are actually alive besides sticky, aspity and a few kids, and georgiy if that makes any sense. Death basically stalks bachelor through the whole expansion and constantly taunts him that death is near. The expansion also focuses on a brother and sister that have the plague that bachelor is desperately trying to cure. Whether you can actually save them or not I'm not sure about, if anyone has more knowledge on the marble nest feel free to inform me.

Closing thoughts and Timeline

Closing and my final thoughts on the main 3 characters

Well that's about it for everything I can think of building up to both games. I'am probably missing several important gaps to the storyline so feel free to give insight into the comments or information on this backstory and world you would like to see added. This is basically a work in progress, and the main reason I wrote all this is to give further light to the events building up to the main game. For anyone who has played all scenarios or maybe a few and didn't quite get the whole picture. Hell I don't get the whole picture myself and I've been through each game and its characters several times. 4 or 5 times for the haruspex alone in both games.

On a side note, regarding the haruspex, in my opinion he is the real hero of this game. I still like clara's playthrough most, because to me its the most interesting and supernatural. But haruspex really is the heart and soul of the game, and the actual hero who can accomplish good things in both games. Your choices in the game however can make haruspex a more suspect character, but that's on you, generally speaking going a specific route only paints the haruspex as someone who generally wants to help the whole town, even if he has to make a sacrifice or two along the way.

Bachelor, his obsession with the polyhedron imo solidifies him as the obvious playable villain, his obsession with ending death, only prolonged mass death. And there is a lesson there, arrogance and refusal to admit nature needs a cycle, can lead to even worse megadeath. Haruspex didn't want anyone to die, bachelor turned down kids who were sick at the start of pathologic 2 because he was to busy. In pathologic 1 he kicks and screams at the idea of blowing up the poly to help the town. Bachelor is not a good guy, he is a selfish arrogant man. And to me that is what makes him so cool, you understand him, death sucks no one wants to die... But his actions are only ignoring whats happening to so many, only cause he strives to give a gift to a few.

Clara is also a visibly good character according to the games gameplay, but she is less good than haruspex because she is naive and can be manipulated. She insists that she is a good person so much, that she will believe other people are good as well. She ignores all the blood on blocks hands, because she wants to believe people can be good regardless. These negative traits to me push haruspex above them, is he comfortable with guts and gore, does he remove organs and stuff them in a bloody bag? Will he kill a woman in order to save hundreds? Sure, does this make him evil? Does he want to do these things? Are surgeons who save lives cutting people open evil? Definitely not it makes them hero's with nerves of steel. While I don't agree with the actions haruspex does in the abbaitor in pathologic 2, I don't believe its his fault, the woman he kills, willingly orders it to be done to her. It makes no sense but in many ways, it is a morbid and horrifying fictional outlook, of 2 people who were willing to do anything to save hundred, thousands even. In many ways it makes both haruspex and the herb bride huge hero's. Just my thoughts on the 3 characters.

Makeshift timeline

Since I don't know of any real dating or timeline in this game I'am simply going to wing this based on assumed ages. We'll start way back at the birth of Simon. If anyone knows the proper timeline or has a better grasp on it then me I would appreciate the information.

Thousands of years before P1/2 - The abbaitor and bullheads were erected.

150- Before P1/2 - Simon is born

20-30 - Estimated time for the war and tensions

10-20 - The Terror of the Diamonds

11 - Death of Nina

5-7 - The first outbreak of the plague, the construction of the Poly

2 - The Construction of the Thanatica and Bachelor Daniil's breakthroughs

30 days before P1/2 - Bachelor and Haruspex both receive letters.

1 day before P1/2 - A vagabond wanderer finds a comfy open grave.Hours before the events in P1/2 - Isidor Burakh is killed as an act of mercy by Oyun, Simon dies some time later from the plague. His death kept secret as not to spread panic, he is instead proclaimed murdered.

This guide is under construction I will be adding more to this as I find out more, correcting old information, etc... I also suggest the pathologic wiki page if you're interested in more lore. But the pathologic wiki pages are over 5k. I made this guide in an attempt to simplify it and boil it down to the important events. Feel free to post corrections or point out any flaws in the information and I will update it, I would also appreciate the help in delving deeper into this games amazingly complex backstory, world and previous events leading up to the game.

[Unseen]

I also think you have the choice of leaning clara to be the shabanak in your own mind with her more sinister word responses however. Just like you have the choice of making haruspex a psycho or not.

[Unseen]

Block I mean always get his name messed up

[Unseen]

Its all up for interpretation, I'm just going off what I can but I still think claras a good guy, I think the shabnak was a different character cause in claras playthrough we see both her and the shabanak talking. Or claras double, claras double exists as a separate character, and I think that points at her being a real person with holy powers. Because the shabanak considers her that big a threat to mess with and try and manipulate. Its just don't make sense to me that she'd be evil and part of the plague. If she didn't have her healing powers they'd just burn her at the stake. But her healing abilities are what give the townspeople her trust. Even just in a gameplay aspect, if you heal people your rep skyrockets which makes imo claras playthrough much easier than the other 2. Also her relationship with brock which seems disconnected from anything spiritual and looks more like a play at political power. I don't a shabanak would care about brock but then again maybe not.

[Bush Slayer]

I like this a lot, but I disagree with the interpretation of what Clara is. Without saying too much, it is implied that she is an actual shabnak, and that the rumours going around are mistaken. Clara was *literally* formed from the earth itself in the grave. Though, i have only played her route once, so i might have missed something...

[izzy]

you're a real one