Little Helpers (Wirecutter, Needles, and Scissors)

During battle, tossing any kind of animal product to one of Taxidermy’s little helpers will cause them to snatch it up in delight, immediately ending combat. This includes obvious things like hamburger or raw pork but also extends to anything made out of leather or wool.

It seems hard at work performing taxidermy on your gift, working its viciously sharp parts in a blur of determined motion. If it notices your continued presence, it gives no indication.

Giving all of them an offering and then returning on day 14 will show the results of their work: a vaguely humanoid taxidermy figure made entirely out of the cobbled together bits you gave them.

Crow

Using pretty much any healing food in Crow’s room will cause the birds to be whipped up into a frenzy once you start the battle.

“Ah for da love a- look whatcha did! With your gotdamn snacks! Ya got em all woiked up… ahhh fuggetaboutit. Dey don’t fight woith a crap when dey’re like dis.”

You can either continue to fight Crow, who will have a heavy accuracy debuff for the rest of the battle or flee from the fight with a guaranteed success rate. At which point, Crow will not re-engage and can be spoken to.

“Dis handsome mug o’ mine? It’s all thanks to da boss! He’s great. On da one hand, he did murderize me, and I gotta say dat dat wasn’t fun. But on da otha hand, he patched me up afterwoids. Even gave me all dese boids for free. Dat’s da boss for ya… all considerate-like!”

Crow will then peacefully wander the room and is willing to trade you a Bundle of Feathers in exchange for food items to appease his birds (can only be done once per day).

Bundle of Feathers: a clump of molted bird parts. The wings still flap and the beaks still open and close. Can be used in battle to draw an enemy's attack but is too flimsy to stand up to more than one instance of damage. Inflicts disease on the enemy that breaks it.

Crocodile

If you begin the battle with Joel in your party, Crocodile will exclaim:

“Hey, little guy, the one with the teeth! Can I borrow some? Just a few molars.”

Using any of Joel's offensive teeth skills at this this point immediately ends the combat. Croc wanders about the room aimlessly and can be spoken to.

“Thanks pal. You’re a lifesaver, my reptile side loses teeth faster than I can grow them back. I’ll have my roomie stitch these onto me later. He's not a bad guy, really. Just devoted to his craft, you know?”

He then gives you an IOU note. It serves no purpose.

Limbs

If you’re missing either arm when you fight Limbs, the combat music quickly dies down and goes silent before either party can attack.

“…Oh! My mistake, it looks like dad already took the parts he wanted from you, so... ah... I guess we're cool? I’m, uhhh, not really used to having guests… want some gum? I’ve got gum.”

If you respond with ‘yes’, they will give you one stick of gum for each member of your party, causing combat to end.

“Don’t tell the others, it’d make me feel so weird if they knew, but… I don’t think I was ever a person. I’m just the spare parts dad had laying around, you know? Ah, that’s better. I had to tell somebody, just to get it off chest…s.”

Tiger

It seems the tiger is the one in control. Literally just a confused and scared animal that will not pursue you so long as you don’t get within two tile’s worth of distance and don't smell too badly.

Taxidermy

If you equip a single character with EVERY piece of the ‘leather’ set, instead of roaming hostilely, Taxidermy will be stationary and blocking the exit when you attempt to leave.

“Could it be…? Could you be another connoisseur of the leather arts? You recognize quality craftsmanship. You wear it well.”

At this point, they will allow you to ask a few questions.

> Who did you used to be?

"An amateur. A blind pedant. An insect, unaware of even my own ignorance."

> What did you do to all these people?

"Yes! Yes!! That is exactly the question I want my work to evoke in an observer! Oh, that is very validating to hear. Thank you."

> Can I help you or them in any way?

"An artist wants for naught but two things: recognition, and... materials."

> ...Are you going to make me into 'art' too?

"Excited by the possibility, eh? I must admit, I'm thinking about it."

Once you attempt to say goodbye, Taxidermy cuts you off. There’s only one way to really tell whether you're a fan or just a thief: a quiz, of course! About their various creations.

Each question has one correct answer accompanied by two wrong answers, as well as one blatantly incorrect and very rude answer. The exception is the final question, which has no wrong answer (aside from 'Your mother.').

“What did you use to unlock my private display? I hope you appreciated the detail work; it took hours stitching actual hairs into the scalp, and even longer to find a brain that fit inside…”

> A jar.

> A taxidermy dog.

> A beautiful recreation of a human head.

> A cheap Halloween decoration.

“Which creation lacks a brain? I was as surprised as they were when they came to life.”

> Limbs

> Crocodile

> Crow

> You

“How many eyes does Crocodile have? Surely you counted each masterfully preserved eyeball.”

> One

> Three

> None

> Those were supposed to be eyes?

“How many beautiful animals decorate my foyer? Minus, of course, the ones you took.”

> Seven

> Two

> (Correct answer, varies)

> Just one, and that's only if you count me.

“…Which of my creations is your favorite?”

> Crow

> Crocodile

> Limbs

> Tiger

> Your mother.

Answering incorrectly twice chases Taxidermy to fight you as normal. But choosing the purposely rude option even once causes them to immediately attack you out of fury. They’re crying, enraged, and blinded for the first three turns of combat. Additionally, they're backed up by two random creations.

Answering correctly at least three times causes Taxidermy to relent.

“As certain as I am that you would make a superb pair of jeans, it would not be right to turn my biggest fan into art.”

They will then move aside, freeing up the exit and offering to create an 'even better' version of any non-leather piece of leather gear... but only one, and it takes an entire day to complete. The resulting equipment has +5 defense, +5 ballistic defense, and +5% bonus to max HP on top of its original stats.

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And that concludes the residents of apartment 30! I wanted to get to the frozen folks in apartment 34 in this post as well, but things just went too long, both lengthwise and timewise! They'll be the next one, and they're even mostly finished (I swear)!

Part 1

Part 2

Part 4