#hammerites

After getting back into the original Thief games in a big way, I wanted to do a big project updating the look of some of the main characters in the game.  This was a really fun project to work on.  I tried to keep most of the characters as close to the feeling of their originals as I could, while trying to make them a little more visually interesting.

I’ll also be posting individual pics on my instagram over at instagram.com/shadyrogue/

I’m afraid I overlooked this message. 

You can download it here, Anon:

I love sound of the original Thief games. I fell in love with it in just few seconds. The House of Widow Moira is my favourite, so sad and mourning. Eric Brosius is genius, honestly. And when I was searching music like that out from curiosity, I found Avgrundsælet II by Semilanceata. I thought that it fits for the City perfectly and decided to make Thief fanmix “Sounds of the City”. 

And here it is. Big thanks to levittra, who made these wonderful covers. 

“Hammer, anvil, forge and fire, chase away The Hoof'ed Liar. Roof and doorway, block and beam, chase The Trickster from our dreams. --- Vigilance is our shield, that protects us from our squalid past. Knowledge is our weapon, with which we carve a path to an enlightened future.” — Hammerite chants

Years since the first Dishonored came out, after numerous Word of God tweets and the lore revealed in later games, it’s pretty clear there’s more to the Outsider than just his role as the Agent of Chaos. Nonetheless, that is what he will always be to me first and foremost.

There are literary influences in Dishonored, as we now know, but long before the philosophical came into play, many of us saw the enormous influence of another piece of media in the Dishonored series - the Thief series.

Thief is the original fantasy stealth game, the spiritual and mechanical parent of Dishonored, that the newer series often references and copies almost to the letter while adding new twists and turns along the way. If you played the Thief series, you know what I’m talking about, but for those unfamiliar, here’s a refresher.

Thief is about Garrett, a master thief. In the City, where Garrett lives, there are two warring factions: the Hammerites (Industry and Order) and the Pagans (Nature and Chaos). For the average City-dwelling commoner, the Hammerites, despite being religious zealots, are clearly the good guys: they help build and improve the City, they patrol it, they hunt thieves and bandits, and as long as you’re a lawful citizen you’ve nothing to fear from them. The Pagans, on the other hand, want to destroy the City and live in harmony with nature, which goes against what most townsfolk would want. They also align themselves with all sorts of freaky creatures like giant mantis people *shudder* and worship a deity known as the Trickster.

Both factions hunt and help Garrett under various circumstances. Both factions hate each other with a passion. Unlike Master Builder that the Hammerites worship, the Trickster takes active part in the events of the games, he even talks to Garrett, takes interest in him and at one point does something to his body. The Trickster resides in a realm beyond this world, known as the Maw of Chaos:

Looks and sounds familiar, eh?

Dishonored is packed with references to Thief. There are direct quotes even.

The Hammerites are obviously the inspiration for the industrious and zealous Abbey with their music boxes and proverbs. The love for plants and raising zombies that the Pagans were known for are reflected in Delilah’s witches with their out of control gardens and undead hounds.

When one comes into Dishonored after playing Thief, the Outsider performs a very familiar function. He talks to the protagonist, he contributes to the chaos in the world, he lives in another realm, his worshippers are the shady reprobates, his opposition participates in law enforcement and tries to enforce order.

All of this pins the Outsider as the local Trickster.

But then there is the fact he is actually called The Outsider, while the other god is called The Trickster. Seems like Arkane wanted to clearly differentiate the two. Same goes for the Outsider’s opposition being the Abbey of the Everyman. And yet, that wasn’t heavy-handed enough - when I played the game the name “The Outsider” instantly translated into “that guy outside the world, hanging in the Void”, and I never thought about it twice. He was the local Trickster with an emo fringe, and that was it.

I place Garrett down in defense mode! xD

Two brethren, a true believer and a false believer, once went to mass. And verily, the true believer beheld a cogwheel that had been left to lie lost on the ground and he stooped to pick it up. But the false believer stopped him, saying: "Do not stoop to pick this up. For hath not Mother taught us not to pick up a trinket that doth lie on the floor?"

They walked on and soon the true believer spotted a screw that had been dropped to the ground by careless hands and once again he stooped down to pick up the tool of the Builder and return it to its rightful place, so that it might be of use to His great work. But again the false believer accosted him, speaking thus: "Do not stoop to pick up this screw. Thou knowest that Mother would ever frown upon it if we did lift things from off the floor!"