The Monstrum Crimescene

The Monstrum Crimescene
The Angel of Darkness
Section		Prague Section
Level No		7
Location		Czech Republic, Prague
Level Chronology:
Von Croy's Apartment	The Monstrum Crimescene		The Strahov Fortress

The Monstrum Crimescene is the first level of the Prague Section in The Angel of Darkness. The winter setting suggests that The Angel of Darkness might take place in winter.

Story

Main article: Tomb Raider: The Angel of Darkness Story

Lara has arrived in one of the more expensive neighbourhoods of Prague, with large apartment buildings surrounding a courtyard. She meets Luddick, a Czech newspaper reporter who can help her gain access to the Strahov.

Cutscenes

Lara arrives to the snowy city of Prague. The camera shows the surroundings a bit.

• Lara: Another cold, dark city. Great!
  

• Lara: What do you know about that building over there?
• Luddick: Eh... what?
• Lara: That one. Big thing with snow on it.
• Luddick: Beat it. I'm busy.
• Lara: On an important case are we?
• Luddick: Yes. I'm a reporter.
• Lara: So what happened in there?
• Luddick: Another Monstrum killing. You're not from around here.
• Lara: No. I need information - which I'd be willing to pay for.
• Luddick: It'll cost you.
• Lara: Just tell me what you have on the art dealer. / I gather Vasiley was some kind of an art dealer.
• Luddick: More than that. He was involved with the Mafia.
• Lara: Mafia? What makes you think so?
• Luddick: Lady, I know so. I've been investigating Vasiley's activities for some time.
• Lara: Tell me why he was murdered then.
• Luddick: Vasiley found something they wanted and got smudged because he tried to hang on to it. They set the Monstrum on him.
• Lara: You say he found something. Do you know what it was? A painting perhaps?
• Luddick: I don't know about that. But he was definitely silenced. The Mafia tidied away all the evidence. Took it to the Strahov.
• Lara: Now you're going to to tell me what the Strahov is, aren't you.
• Luddick: No. Your credit just ran out.
• Lara: You unsavoury little runt. / Keep talking till the money runs out.
• Luddick: It's not that. This is dangerous stuff I'm telling you. I shouldn't be shooting off my mouth.
• Lara: You're a big boy. You can handle it. Tell me your name.
• Luddick: Luddick. My name's Luddick.
• Lara: OK Luddick, what else?
• Luddick: The Strahov is the Mafia centre of operations in Prague. There's been a lot of activity there recently.
• Lara: You're well informed.
• Luddick: I'm a professional!! It's my business! I've got dossiers on all of the main players. It'll cost you.
• Lara: OK, I'm in.

Luddick shows Lara some photographs with Louis Bouchard and some Cabal members.

• Lara: You call these dossiers! Yeuch! Do you know who that is?
• Luddick: No. He arrived yesterday.
• Lara: That's Bouchard. He's a Parisian gang boss. I ran into him over a personal matter.
• Luddick Really! Is he the Paris Mafia then?
• Lara: No idea. Who's that?
• Luddick: That's Eckhardt. He's the Mafia top guy from what I can find out but I know less about him than the others. They're all gathered in the Strahov at the moment.
• Lara: Is that all you've got? / All of them?
• Luddick: All six major players. Eckhardt and the other five.
• Lara: Luddick, I have to get in there. Today. How would you manage it?
• Luddick: It's not easy. The place is heavily guarded. Security gates, cameras, ident scanners.
• Lara: But...
• Luddick: But I could get an access code. I have contacts. It'll take me half an hour.
• Lara: OK, while you're on your errand I'm going to start with Vasiley's.
• Luddick: Be careful in there. And don't keep me waiting. It's not healthy to hang about on the streets. Especially in weather like this.
• Lara: Stay warm.
  

Lara has found Louis Bouchard in Vasiley's apartment.

• Lara: I want some answers Bouchard. Why did you want me dead in Paris?
• Bouchard: You were just a side issue. A loose end that needed tidying up.
• Lara: Who ordered it?
• Bouchard: A madman called Eckhardt. He was putting pressure on all my operations, threatening my family, killing my men. You saw one of them at the church.
• Lara: So, you sold out. / A psycho huh!
• Bouchard: The worst. Eckhardt is the Monstrum.
• Lara: Is that right! What exactly were you doing for him?
• Bouchard: I had to take delivery of a Painting that was in the Louvre and bring it to the Strahov here in Prague.
• Lara: My painting! That wasn't easy to get out of the Louvre Bouchard.
• Bouchard: Seems everyone's a loser.
• Lara: So why Prague?
• Bouchard: Eckhardt is protected by a group based in Prague called the Cabal. They're almost as dangerous as Eckhardt and at least as insane.
• Lara: I was told the Mafia ran Prague. / The Cabal? Not the Mafia?
• Bouchard: The Cabal uses the Mafia front to distract attention from their real activities. But they're far more dangerous and powerful.
• Lara: Dangerous enough to use the Mafia as a front?
• Bouchard: Anyone too inquisitive about Cabal business simply disappears.
• Lara: Like my friend Von Croy. What was his involvement in all this?
• Bouchard: He was hired to locate one of the five Obscura Paintings that was in the Louvre. But he found out too much. He contacted Vasiley here in Prague and they exchanged information.
• Lara: So, they were working together. / I found Vasiley's faxes. And four Obscura Engravings he sent to Von Croy.
• Bouchard: Vasiley originally had five Engravings but kept one back.
• Lara: Why are the engravings important?
• Bouchard: Each Engraving contains an encoded map of a particular Painting's location.
• Lara: So one of those Engravings told Von Croy where the Louvre Painting was.
• Bouchard: Yes but your friend got careless. The faxes were intercepted by the Cabal. And then Eckhardt didn't need Von Croy. He was another loose end, to be tidied up like Vasiley.
• Lara: Killed like Vasiley you mean! Why does Eckhard do that to the bodies Bouchard? And what does he want the Paintings for? / Killed, not tidied up! Why does Eckhardt desecrate the bodies like that Bouchard?
• Bouchard: I don't know the details but it's something to do with reviving The Cubiculum Nephili.
• Lara: The Cubilicum Nephili - The Sleeper, last of the extinct Nephilim race.
• Bouchard: You've heard of the Sleeper! Eckhardt is insane. He thinks he can use the Sleeper to breed the extinct Nephilim back into existence.
• Lara: There's no faulting his ambition, is there. So this 5th Engraving that Vasiley kept back is the key to the last Obscura Painting. I'm going to take a look around.
• Bouchard: It'll be well hidden. Vasiley was very cautious.
• Lara: Not cautious enough.
• Bouchard: The map in the last Engraving shows a location called the Vault of Trophies. The Vault was one of the last Lux Veritatis secret strongholds and Eckhardt's been desperate to get into it.
• Lara: How do you know all this stuff Bouchard? / A Lux Veritatis Vault!
• Bouchard: Information is survival. I survive.
• Lara: So do you know where the Vault is located?
• Bouchard: Only that it's beneath the Strahov somewhere.
• Lara: And the Painting is definitely there?
• Bouchard: Eckhardt thinks so. It's one of the reasons the Cabal built their stronghold there.
• Lara: I'm going to take a look around.
• Bouchard: Are you going to leave me like this?
• Lara: Yes. Take a break. You've been running round a lot. I'll be back with the fifth Engraving.
  

Lara returns to Bouchard, only to find him falling from inside a closet - dead.

• Lara: What the hell's going on around here?

End Cutscene

Lara goes back to Luddick to see whether he's got what she needs.

• Lara: Did you get me the Strahov code?
• Luddick: I told you. I'm a professional. But I want the exclusive story, events in Paris and whatever happens here.
• Lara: Done.
• Luddick: This pass code will get you into the warehouse area. It's only a low level pass but at least you'll be inside the complex.
• Lara: I can take it from there. Have you tried this code yourself?
• Luddick: Me! No! The place gives me the creeps. Workers have gone missing and all kinds of spooky stuff.
• Lara: What goes on in there?
• Luddick: God knows! I'd give my innards to find out. But it's way too gothic for me. If you uncover anything give me first shot at it eh!
• Lara: Sure thing.
• Luddick: I also got this. It could come in handy. The Strahov is one weird place.
• Lara: A handy machine pistol! Gas punch reloader.
• Luddick: No invasion force should be without one.
• Lara: How much?
• Luddick: Have you seen what these can do..?
• Lara: How much?!
• Luddick: 800 Euros.
• Lara: OK. Let's talk in the car.
• Luddick: The Strahov isn't far.

Objectives

• Find and enter Vasiley's apartment.
• Find the next Obscura Engraving.
• Exit Vasiley's building.

Finds

Artefacts & Keys

• Last Obscura Engraving
• Vasiley Full Fax (contains the code to the safe, 31597)
• Cellar Key

Tools

• Claw Hammer

Supplies

Weapons

• Scorpion X (can be bought from Luddick for 800 Euros)

Goodies

First Aid

• Small Medipack

Enemies

• Parisian Policemen
• Pitbulls

Traps & Obstacles

Traps

There are not any specific traps in this level, but falling off from high ledges can be lethal.

Obstacles, Triggers & Puzzles

• Pullrope

Walkthrough

Main article: The Monstrum Crimescene Walkthrough

Lara must access Mathias Vasiley's apartment through the sewers that run underneath the courtyard. Vasiley's building consists of several corridors of backrooms that leads onto a grand entrance hall decorated in Art Nouveau style. Lara must access his office that is hidden beneath the floor, retrieve the last Obscura Engraving and get some more information on the Nephilim, the Periapt Shards and the Sanglyph.