Plot: Pathologic 2

The following synopsis covers the plot of the Haruspex's Route in Pathologic 2. This page is not spoiler free! This only covers the relevant plot details and should not be considered a direct walkthrough. This may serve as an overview of the story's events through a narrative lens. Due to the act structure and nature of Pathologic 2 events may occur in individual games in an order that differs from this synopsis. For clarity game-play such as sating hunger and exhaustion has been omitted.

Summary
The events of Pathologic 2 take place over the course of twelve days in the remote Town-on-Gorkhon on the Steppe. When an outbreak of a unique strain of Plague grips the town, it is up to the Haruspex - a surgeon born and raised in the Town - to discover the cause of the Plague and deal with it.

Prologue
"You are Artemy Burakh, a surgeon. You're coming back to your hometown, summoned by a disturbing letter from your father."

The Haruspex wakes up in an unfamiliar Theatre, backstage before a show. He heads to the front of the stage and sees a strange man standing there. He is the Theatre's director, Mark Immortell. He berates the Haruspex for being a bad actor as he has failed his performance. Mark then shows the Haruspex his failures, transporting him onto the stage in a new version of the Theatre. It is the 12th Day. He is met with the screams of the dying echoing in his ears. He steps off the stage and speaks to the Bachelor who informs him that he has been forbidden from entering the Cathedral as the Inquisitor and Commander no longer wish to hear what he has to say. The Haruspex then speaks to the Changeling, who offers to heal his headache. He makes his way up the Theatre stairs to speak to the Executors who inform him of the meeting in the Cathedral.

The Haruspex steps out of the Theatre and is met with a Town destroyed by Plague. The Military has failed, the Inquisition has failed and most of all he, and the other doctors, have failed. The Town is dying, held in its final death-throws. The Haruspex makes his way to the Cathedral. On his journey he sees a firing squad of soldiers firing upon people that seem to be civilians. The Haruspex may choose to agree or disagree with the action but the choice ultimately means nothing. He then makes his way across the bridge to the Atrium and meets Aspity. Aspity implores him to speak to the Commander first, no matter how he feels towards the Inquisitor.

The Haruspex makes his way to the Cathedral and inside he find the Inquisitor and Commander at opposite ends of a large table. He speaks to one of them first, and then the other. They say that they are going to make the decision without him as nothing he can say will convince them he has a chance at stopping the plague. Mark Immortell then appears under stage lights. He offers the Haruspex a second chance at his performance. He takes it.

He wakes up on a train car travelling back to his home Town. He moves across the cabin floor until he is stopped by a coffin falling onto the floor and opening, revealing a man who refers to himself only as the Fellow Traveler. The Fellow Traveller steps out of the coffin and asks how the Haruspex got inside of this coffin. The Haruspex is confused and accuses the Fellow Traveller of being a free-rider.

The train car suddenly jolts as the train crashes. The Haruspex turns on his lamps and steps outside to an unfamiliar field. A giant bull - Bos Turokh - is standing on the tracks. They were the cause of the trains crash. The Haruspex makes his way over to an Executor who explains that there is no longer blood running through this artery, and that there is a clot. The Executor asks the Haruspex if he brought any medicine with him. The Haruspex asks the Executor what the black particles ahead of the train are. The Executor is unhelpful and so the Haruspex walks out into the cloud. He is quickly infected and passes out.

The Haruspex wakes up in the train car once more. The Fellow Traveller is still there, but now he has a handful of dice. He asks the Haruspex if he would like to share secrets. The Fellow Traveller reveals that he is afraid he is going to be unwelcome in the Town. The Haruspex either replies that he is worried about his father, worried about his path, or does not reply at all. The Fellow Traveller then invites the Haruspex to play a game of dice. The stakes are his fate.

The Haruspex is then transported to a strange house. In the side rooms there are a number of the Bound; Maria Kaina, Capella, Katerina Saburova, Oyun, Peter Stamatin, and Anna Angel. As soon as the characters notice the Haruspex looking at them they unmask, becoming Tragedians. The Haruspex finds a sickly woman in the back room who begs for water. The Haruspex makes his way outside to the water barrel by the door. He may be distracted by the Doghead's and the Fellow Traveller by the nearby train. After he collects the water he returns to the house where all the Tragedians have now become coffins. On the way to the woman the Haruspex opens the door to the Bachelor and the Changeling, who appear to be arguing. As soon as they notice the Haruspex they also unmask, becoming Tragedians. The Haruspex rounds the corner to the sickly woman to see an Executor standing over her. He wakes up.

The Fellow Traveller is shaking the Haruspex awake, waking him from his nightmare. He is soon once again thrust into another dream. He is in a fighting circle, surrounded by the Kin who speak a language the Haruspex can no longer understand. A man is standing before him who tells him that his heart is rotten but promises that a fight will show his true nature. The pair fight and the Haruspex wins. The man then offers him his good heart in exchange for the Haruspex's rotten one. The Haruspex awakens once again.

The train car is open. They have arrived, but the place is strange. The train has stopped outside of Isidor Burakh's House.

""…My dear son, Artemy, I write to you after so many years apart in the hopes that you may find a way to return to us. Something worries me. I fear a difficult trial approaches. I hope that your studies have proven fruitful, and that you have achieved great skill as a surgeon. Such skill might be of use here. I remain the only physician in this town. But you know that I am growing old. I need an assistant…""

The Haruspex returns to his childhood home with the voice of his father in his ears. He is able to take items from the cabinets, but he will hear laughter as he does so. He makes his way up to his father's room, hearing someone strange in the back room. He opens the door and falls into nothingness.

Day 1
The Play finally begins in earnest. The Haruspex steps off the train to a sudden attack. Three men armed with knives ambush him and he fights them off. He survives - but only barely. He is bleeding, and he is already hungry and already tired. A nearby Doghead named Lika mocks him, bragging that he saw the whole thing. He teases the Haruspex for having issues with his anger, knowing that the Haruspex is now already responsible for three murders. The Doghead gives the Haruspex a Tourniquet to help still his bleeding.

The Haruspex walks towards the Town to see two Executors standing before him named Talon and Beak. They explain that the Haruspex will need to watch his health, exhaustion, hunger and, specifically, the passing of time in order to survive in the Town. A Tragedian sits behind one of the Executors, claiming that the birds have just lied to the Haruspex. He warns the Haruspex not to go home under any circumstances.

The Haruspex continues into the Town. He may do one of four things upon his arrival. He may speak to Bad Grief in Bad Grief's Nest, speak to Lara Ravel in the Shelter, speak to the Bachelor in Stanislav Rubin's Apartment, or return to his home and speak to the crowd outside. As soon as he speaks to one of the four options he will discover that his father Isidor Burakh is dead and he has missed him by mere hours. Worse, the Town believes that his death - specifically his murder - was caused by the Haruspex. The Haruspex soon becomes hated in the Town. People close their doors in his face and hide their children from him. He is an outside to the Town he once called home.

Throughout the Town the hunt for Isidor's murder becomes bloody. Many believe the killer to be a Shabnak-adyr, a creature made of clay with bone legs. It is a local legend, brought up by a grieving Town as an explanation for the atrocities that had occurred the night before. Many Herb Brides die during the hunt as the Townsfolk believe that there is a possibility that they may be the clay creature of Steppe legend. One of them is burned at the stake in the Bone Stake Lot.

The Bachelor, sitting in Rubin's Apartment, will inform the Haruspex that not only does the entire Town think he killed his father, his old childhood friend Stanislav Rubin believes it too. The Bachelor claims that he has heroically prevented Rubin for resorting to violence and in return he attempts to ask the Haruspex to become his aide. The Haruspex refuses in no short terms. As the Haruspex steps out of the apartment he is confronted by two children who ask him to hurry to the Soul-and-a-Half Fortress in the Warehouses as their friends Alma, Duke and Wolfling have been poisoned.

Bad Grief, one of the Haruspex's childhood friends who is sitting inside of his Nest, will ask the Haruspex for his medical help. One of his gang members has been stabbed and is bleeding out in a house in the Tanners. The Haruspex makes his way to the house and finds two men inside, one severely injured. The Haruspex discovers that Piecework - the man with a lockpick in his stomach - was responsible for burning the woman in the Bone Stake Lot. The Haruspex may be angered by this and choose to kill the pair, or he may uphold his promise to Grief and save the dying criminal. No matter what choice the Haruspex takes the house will be free to loot as the Haruspex is easily able to blame theft on the two of Grief's men. The Haruspex may then report the bloody lockpick back to Grief. Grief expresses concern for the state of the criminal underworld he resides over, but - if Piecework was saved - appreciates the Haruspex's work.

When attempting to leave Bad Grief's Nest the Haruspex is stopped by Var, who explains that he is willing to pay good money for organs. He has come to Bad Grief to ask for his add in his enterprise, but Grief has refused. The Haruspex, as a Menkhu, has the ability and right to cut open bodies. This interests Var and he shows the Haruspex where he lives in the The Bridge Square so that they can discuss it further.

Lara Ravel, standing inside of her home the Shelter, is less than pleased to see the Haruspex. She, too, was part of the Haruspex's childhood friend circle. She is grieving her father, Captain Ravel's death as he died earlier in the year. She is sympathetic to the Haruspex's grief over losing his father and offers him a place to sleep. The Haruspex may sleep on Lara's couch for a moment before being woken to her frantically claiming she hears noises upstairs. The Haruspex makes his way upstairs to find the Changeling rummaging through Lara's things, looking for bread. She tells the Haruspex that she sees that he will "spill rivers of blood" in his future. The Haruspex is sceptical, and tells her to shoo. He reports back to Lara who insists that it may be better to let her stay. She tells the Haruspex that she has spoken to some of the women in the northern parts of Town to clear his name. He will no longer be attacked on sight in the Flank, the Backbone, or the Chine.

While dreaming the Haruspex sees strange things. First, he sees the bodies of the men who attacked him at the train station laid out in a row. A Tragedian stands over each of their bodies and speaks for the dead men. They express their regrets to the Haruspex. From this the Haruspex discovers that not only was Isidor killed the night before he arrived, so was Simon Kain - a well-respected and beloved man in the Town. He relives the attack and an Executor mocks him for thinking he can struggle against his fate. He warns that men who struggle against their fates may find themselves repeating the same events but with a limp. In a second dream the Haruspex sees a dream of the Rat Prophet who warns him not to sleep his life away for there are people in the waking world who require his help. Once the conversation is complete the Rat Prophet explodes into a flock of birds and the Haruspex wakes up.

The Haruspex makes his way to the Soul-and-a-Half Fortress where the children claim three patients are in need of help. Upon arriving he will discover that not only are the patients already dead, they were also dogs, not people as he first thought. The leader of the Soul-and-a-Halves, Notkin, puts the Haruspex on trial. He asks the Haruspex if murder is ever justified. Notkin is planning to kill, or, at least punish, the Doghead Lika for poisoning the dogs. If the Haruspex had said that yes, in some cases killing is meaningful, he is able to suggest to Notkin that he can handle their issue with Lika. Notkin agrees and gives the Haruspex a leash to give to Lika by the Gumstone. The Haruspex can give the leash to Lika and return him to the Soul-and-a-Halves or he may keep the leash and tell Lika to get lost. Should Lika be let free he promises to meet the Haruspex at the Town Hall to vouch for his innocence.

Though warned by Bad Grief and well meaning Townsfolk not to approach the Town Hall the Haruspex is able to. If the Haruspex steps inside he is confronted by Alexander Saburov, the Town's Mayor. He believes, like the rest of the Town, that the Haruspex is the killer of Isidor Burakh. The Haruspex is swiftly thrown into a cell below the Town Hall. The Town Hall plans to keep his imprisoned until Isidor's real killer can be found but on the word of Big Vlad the Haruspex is released from prison. With Big Vlad's word the Haruspex's name is cleared and he can walk the streets freely.

Following his release the Haruspex is directed to Big Vlad by one of his young messengers. Big Vlad is in the Lump. When meeting the owner of the Bull Enterprise Big Vlad remarks on how similar the Haruspex is to his Father. He explains that he is interested in finding Isidor's real killer and urges the Haruspex not to interfere with the Town outside as it would only bring trouble. Big Vlad tells the Haruspex that it is likely that Isidor will be buried the following morning as the Kin's rites insist upon a speedy burial. The Haruspex thanks Big Vlad for his help and, upon Big Vlad's suggestion, makes his way to the Broken Heart.

In the Broken Heart the Haruspex meets the two Stamatin brothers Andrey Stamatin and Peter Stamatin. They introduce themselves as the architects that built the Polyhedron standing in the Bridge Square. Peter Stamatin shares some of his Twyrine with the Haruspex and explains that drinking the liquid will dull the other senses and allow him to hear the Town speaking to him. He urges the Haruspex to do just that. The Haruspex cheers to his Father's memory and drinks some of the alcohol. He then hears the Town whispering to him behind the Theatre. Following the twyrine's trail the Haruspex finds a cache behind the Theatre. It is filled with a number of childish knickknacks as well as a note.

At Midnight the Haruspex is called to the Theatre to see a Pantomime. On the stage the Haruspex sees himself. He is speaking to the director Mark Immortell who is sitting in the audience. Immortell introduces the actor Artemy Burakh and explains that the most important thing in his journey is to avoid dying as it would irreversibly wound the world if he did. He tells the Haruspex that there will be a happy ending to this performance - one that makes him think that he has won. The Haruspex asks where the other two healers - the Bachelor and the Changeling - are. Immortell tells him that the other two are waiting for him to exist the stage so that they may learn of their fates as well. The stage lights then go dark and the Haruspex (the Player) is able to speak to Immortell off-stage. Immortell explains that he is staging a performance to which the actor is the only audience member. He hopes this will bring about a more authentic theatrical experience.

Once the Haruspex leaves the Theatre he is able to find the Fellow Traveler in the Town. He explains that he will trade dead items such as ampules and bloody bandages for useful items.

Day 2
On the morning of the second day Isidor Burakh's funeral is occurring in the Cemetery. The Haruspex arrives and quickly discovers that all is not well. A number of the Kin are gathered around the Graveyard to pay their respects, but Isidor is not buried. Both the Changeling and Grace, the Cemetery caretaker, explain that Isidor Burakh's corpse was buried - but the Earth pushed him back out. The Haruspex is shocked that something so terrible could happen to his father. He asks those gathered why his father is not buried. They tell him that Isidor cannot be buried because the Earth senses that he has a debt unfulfilled. A debt that the Haruspex is to take on.

Before burying his father he is able to examine his body and will remark upon too oddities - dirt under his fingernails (when he was quite a clean man) and unusually dry skin despite Isidor's age. After examining the body the Haruspex is able to take his father's inheritance and allow his father to be peacefully buried. Or, instead, the Haruspex is able to refuse his inheritance and have Isidor's body cremated.

Following Isidor Burakh's funeral Aspity will ask the Haruspex to return to her Hospice with her to discuss his father. There the Haruspex will learn of his fathers List; a piece of paper with eight names written on it. The eight names are Victoria Olgimskaya (known more commonly as Capella, Khan, Sticky, Murky, Notkin, Grace and a mysterious Steppe symbol known only as The Eighth. The symbol, the Haruspex discovers, is the symbol for an "Udurgh". As some of those names on the List are familiar to the Haruspex goes to speak with either Notkin or Grace about their involvement in the list. Neither of them can explain it beyond that they used to see Isidor Burakh a lot and tell the Haruspex to go to Capella, their leader.

The Haruspex makes his way to the Lump and enters the back of the mansion to find Capella in her room. Capella is the daughter a Mistress, and almost a Mistress herself. She has the gift of clairvoyance and as such already knew the Haruspex would arrive and that they would one day be friends. She tells the Haruspex that she dreamed of him and that she can see trails of blood under his feet. This is eerily similar to the prophecy the Changeling gave him the day before. When the Haruspex inquires about the List she explains that she believes that Isidor was training the children on there to be the next leaders of the Town. They were the group Isidor Burakh trusted the future to. It falls then to the Haruspex to protect the children on his list - as well as The Eighth.

While walking along the streets of the Town the Haruspex once again finds the Changeling. She asks for his help, claiming that Grace in the Cemetery is attempting to contact his father from beyond the grave. Unfortunately the strain of such an act is hurting Grace and, Clara suspects, killing her. The Haruspex then hurries to the Cemetery to meet with the caretaker. Grace is indeed contacting Isidor Burakh's spirit and it is causing her great distress. The Haruspex is able to ask her to contact Isidor again at the risk of her life or tell her to rest as he does not want to risk her health for the sake of speaking to someone already dead. If Isidor's spirit is spoken to he speaks, but he does not speak to the Haruspex. He appears to be talking to someone else, detailing the events that occurred the night before he was murdered.

Outside of Grace's Lodge Murky is waiting. Murky has had a falling out with Grace as she believes that Grace's methods are dangerous and not worth the risk. She believes that her method of contacting the dead is far superior - and far safer. She takes the Haruspex out into the Steppe to collect herbs, claiming that with the right combination he will be able to speak to Isidor. Once the Haruspex collects the needed herbs he asks Murky to teach him her method. She says that her method is thinking really hard about who you want to speak to and they will appear. The Haruspex becomes frustrated, realising that Murky's method was nothing but daydreaming. He leaves in a huff.

While wandering the streets the Haruspex speaks to one of the men along the way. He tells the Haruspex that the Governor Alexander Saburov is beginning a neighbourhood watch in response to Isidor's death and most willing and able men are going to the Town Hall to join. The Haruspex makes his way to the Town Hall but is stopped outside by the crowd who become angry that he is pushing ahead of them. A clerk asks if the Haruspex is here about his Father's house. The Haruspex replies that he was not, but with this new information he supposes that's what his visit is for now. Inside of the Town Hall Saburov concedes that he has no legal rights to hold the key for Isidor's house now that his son is available. He gives the Haruspex the key and then he is free to leave.

The Haruspex makes his way back to his father's house and finds it now empty, a stark contrast to the crowds gathered the day before. The Haruspex enters his childhood home and is immediately beset with the feeling that this house is not as it should be. With the whispers of the Townsfolk in his ears the Haruspex makes his way through the house towards the back room. On the second floor he opens a room and finds a cloud of black flecks floating in his father's workshop. As the Haruspex approaches the cloud retreats, disappearing. The Haruspex then continues through to the backroom and finds a bloody handprint on his fathers bed. On the table there is a chest and from it he pulls a note. It contains a key to a factory building and is labelled with V.O.

Quickly deciding that he wants nothing to do with this house where his father's blood was spilled the Haruspex retreats to the front door. In a side-room he finds the Changeling. He asks her why she is here and she asks if he plans to live in this house. The Haruspex says that he doesn't want to and exits the home. Outside is the Bachelor has come with a sanitation order for the home. He demands to inspect the house and the Haruspex, with some resistance, allows him to. The Bachelor asks the Haruspex what the mould on the walls is. Confused, the Haruspex turns to find the walls that were once just brick covered in reddened sores - as if it were alive, and sick. As the Haruspex leaves the houses front yard he sees a number of bystanders gathered around nearby buildings. They, too, are covered in sores. They wonder if it is due to the soot blowout from the nearby factory. The Haruspex warns them not to touch it and then leaves.

Around noon the Haruspex will become convinced that Rubin couldn't possibly think that he actually killed his father. He makes his way to Rubin's apartment and, unlike the day before, actually finds Rubin home. He is with Lara, and he is furious. Lara has attempted to calm him down but is seems to have done very little. Rubin snaps at the Haruspex, claiming that he really does believe that the Haruspex is his fathers killer. He is enraged that the Haruspex would take his fathers legacy - his work - when it was Rubin, and not him, who had been beside Isidor in his final days. The Haruspex concludes that Rubin is acting a fool and leaves.