Children Caches

Description
Children's Caches are small, hidden boxes scattered throughout the Town in Pathologic 2. According to local children, they are used by the kids of the Town as part of a game. There are 23 caches spread across the town. Caches reset at 07:30 each day, except for 5 particular caches on Day 3 due to a scripted quest that remains available for all of Act 2 (which ends at 07:30 on Day 4). Consuming Twyrine can reveal some caches' location on the map, however doing so will not change their contents. In terms of their spawned items, each day caches are assigned to one of two categories:


 * Normal caches contain 1-5 "scrap items", which can be summarized as snacks, repair items, and items used in trading. The vast majority of each day's caches will fall into this category. Consuming Twyrine will not reveal normal caches on the map.
 * Rare caches contain 3-9 items, which consist of the aforementioned "scrap items" as well as ammo, Fingernails, and most notably Shmowder. All rare caches contain at least 2 Fingernails. Depending on the day, rare caches account for 0-6 of all total caches (most often 5). Consuming Twyrine will only reveal rare caches on the map (in addition to other relevant plot events). Rare caches' spawn rate follows a scripted schedule that can be viewed below.

In addition to their usual items, both cache categories can sometimes contain kids' notes, however aside from the scripted kids' quest notes, notes' inclusion in caches appears to be inconsistent.

Despite the kids' instruction to leave items and notes behind in caches, quality and quantity of items left behind does not appear to affect future caches' contents (namely Shmowder's spawn rate).

Items
The following items can be found in caches.

Rare Cache Schedule
Rare cache spawning follows a strict schedule, which determines where and when they appear. Their potential loot still appears to vary, in that reloading any given day results in inconsistent Shmowder spawns.

Day 1

 * On Day 1 there is just one rare children's cache.

Day 2

 * Day 2 does not feature any natural rare caches, however this is presumably because of Act 3's five scripted caches, which initially feature average cache loot, but will refresh their loot (often becoming rare caches) once the Haruspex has spoken with their respective children. Should they become rare caches this way, Twyrine will still not recognize them. These five caches are also exceptional in that they do not reset on Day 3.

Day 3

 * In addition to the aforementioned scripted caches, which may be investigated on Day 3 rather than 2, Day 3 features two rare caches.

Days 4-10

 * Days 4-10 feature five rare caches each day.*

Day 11

 * On Day 11 there are six rare children's caches.


 * * The first cache (or any quality) that the Haruspex inspects after 07:30 on Day 7 will include the Mysterious Note. If caches are ignored entirely until the dawn of Day 8, or any days after that, Day 7's cache spawn state will remain present until a cache is investigated (after which caches will resume their intended schedule, resetting on the following day's dawn). However consumed Twyrine will incorrectly mark caches for the present day, even if Day 7's caches are still in place. As an example, if caches have been ignored until after Day 8, and Twyrine is consumed, then Day 8's intended rare caches will be marked, even though their contents are actually those of Day 7, and therefore average.

Murderer Hunt
During Act 2 (Day 2 07:30 - Day 4 07:30), children outside the Cathedral will introduce the Haruspex into their cache game. He is told that if ever he takes items from a cache, he must leave behind a note in addition to items of equal value. (As stated above, despite this instruction, items left do not appear to impact future caches' contents.)

One of the children - Pup - tells the Haruspex that they know he is searching for his father's murderer and believe that they can help him find the killer. The children think the first and only other adult they've invited into their game has killed Isidor Burakh and say that the man has been leaving behind scary and threatening notes.

After accepting their help, Pup will give the Haruspex the location of two caches: one located in the Cape and one south of the Bridge Square next to a broken bridge. Pup also tells the Haruspex that there are other children gathered around the Bridge Square and the Atrium who will also provide him with cache locations. These groups of children can be found by engaging the "Focus" button, or listening for the poems they are reciting.
 * One group of children, Tatochka, is located behind the Crucible. They tell the Haruspex of a cache hidden in the Gut, south of the Lump.
 * Another group of children, Ace, is located near the Cape. They tell the Haruspex of a cache hidden just southwest of the Bridge Square.
 * The final group of children, Goldfinch, is located south of the Cathedral. Goldfinch tells the Haruspex of a cache hidden under a Stairway to Heaven located in the Gut.

Each of the notes found in these caches will inform the Haruspex of children's various affairs, such as the Tidy Note which details the gathering of children at the Train Station in the evenings. The Dusty Note is always found in the cache located by the Stairway to Heaven and directs the Haruspex to a playground in the Marrow called the Tadpole Yard. Note that if these 5 scripted caches have already been looted, upon speaking with the aforementioned children, the caches' inventories will refresh, allowing the player to loot them a second time in the same day.

Hide-&-Seek Game
During Act 2 (Day 2 07:30 - Day 4 07:30), the Haruspex may find the Dusty Note in a children's cache. This will lead him to the Tadpole Yard, where he will find three children gathered by a swingset. These children will tell the Haruspex that they have something special for him, but he has to play a game of hide-&-seek with them first.

Once he has agreed to the game, the three children will hide in various places around the yard. They will be singing a song, which the Haruspex can follow to find them. After tagging a child, the Haruspex will be able to trade with them. These children will have a variety of nuts that they trade away for just (1) trade value, but will accept all nuts for (and Fishing Hooks) for (2) trade value, making it easy to exhaust nearly all their supplies. One of the children will be holding a Shmowder, which they trade away for just (5) trade value (compared to Teensy NPCs' usual [35]).

This event can be found without having come accross the aforementioned Dusty Note.

Meeting the Murderer
After 07:30 on Day 7, the first children's cache that the Haruspex finds will contain the Mysterious Note. The children say they have found the murderer who will be at Friday's Yard, but the Haruspex has to wait for "when pigs fly". After finding the note, the Haruspex's mind map will update automatically at 18:00 on Day 8 to reveal the location of the murderer in the Skinners district. When the Haruspex goes to this location, he will be ambushed by an Ouzel. Killing the man will not cause any changes to reputation.


 * Note: The man will still be there after 18:00 on Day 8, even if the player does not find or read the Mysterious Note. The man will still attack.

When looting the man who attacked him, the Haruspex will find a Suspicious Note. It is similar to one of the notes found in the children's caches, telling the man to meet a thief in the Friday's Yard. Realizing that he has been tricked, the Haruspex becomes angry and goes to talk to the kids at the Soul-and-a-Half Fortress. When he arrives, he talks to Yawn. Yawn asks him if he found the murderer and he asks why the children tricked him. They tell him that it was because he had been playing the game incorrectly.

Regardless of how the player has been playing the children's cache game up until this point, Yawn will always tell them they have been kicked out of the game. Yawn will mention that one of the reasons the player has been kicked out is because they have not been leaving behind notes in the caches, something that is impossible for the player to do.

This has no bearing on whether the player can continue to find and use the children's caches.

The Jerboas' Game
After the children have all been taken away by the Army on Day 9, the Haruspex will be approached by a townsman. The man asks if the Haruspex is the one the children call 'Cub' and hands him the Farewell Note left for the Haruspex by the man's daughter. The Farewell Note says that since the children have all been forced to leave the Town, all the caches and the cache game have been left to the jerboas. Her note will also mention that two of the children - Nyuta and Sleepy Head - left Shmowders in their caches and that the Haruspex should try to find them quickly, lest the jerboas eat them.

Regardless of how the player has been playing the children's cache game, they will always be able to receive the Farewell Note. This interaction is largely flavour text, as receiving this note does not guarantee that the player will be able to find two caches with Shmowders in them.

All of the notes found in the children's caches after Day 9 will be the Kids' Farewell Notes.

Poems
These poems are said by the children gathered in groups during the cache game in Act 2. Different clips will play randomly when the player is near a group of children.

Poem 1


Cuckoo counting: Broken eggs, broken eggs! Lark a-counting: Chosen stones, chosen stones! Raven counting: Frozen legs, frozen legs! Owl a-counting: Stolen bones, stolen bones!

Eat our feast: Eggs are stolen! Leave our home: Stones are broken! Ride our mount: Legs are chosen! Close our eyes: Bones are frozen!

Poem 2


No food, no sleep, I seek a treat: of grundly sneeds and bander-meat. Devour it all and feel so strange, as all my limbs begin to change.

I spurn in cruel pantagony and feel my legs turn hexady with wings that bear my teeth a-vise, and mouths aglow with sneeching eyes.

I jomp and jurl, harromph and wail, as bones unfurl into a tail it snicker-snacks, all fulguraire, as I dewhorl pearlescent hair.

Poem 3


We all watch as the bear gets his paw in a snare as he tries to untangle his tangled affair. He can try as he might, gripe and growl in his grove, but he still can't untangle the tangle we wove.

We all drag our own nets, we all catch our own fish, we all tug our own strings, we all watch what we wish. We all keep all our blood trapped tightly within all the veins you instructed we hide beneath skin.

Poem 4


Mess with the bull, you get the horns, my only rose is naught but thorns. I wrap myself in claws and teeth! You better hope you're fleet of feet!

A muddy foot has made a mess; the guilty party'll soon confess. Whose mess is this inside my house? A swing, a miss, a running mouse.

Poem Variations
Poem 1=

Tadpole Yard Song
This is the song the children are singing during the Hide and Seek game in the Tadpole Yard. It is only in Russian and was not dubbed for English. It is likely that the song is Что Приходит Ниоткуда и Уходит в Никуда (What Comes From Nowhere and Goes Nowhere) by 4 Позиции Бруно.

У котёнка мокрый нос, И гладенькая шерсть, У него забавный хвост, И быстрых лапок шесть, Две задних, две средних, И двее передних лапы, Такая многоножка получилася у Папы,

Ученый Папа мой, зверушек изучает, Гуляет по помойкам, ловит крыс и чаек, Две крысы белокрылые, И чайки две унылые, Покрытые пупырчитаю кожей лягушат, Без перышек тоскуют, и ускакать спешат

А ещее, есть муравей, Большой размером с гуся, Он пугает всех зверей, и я его боюся, Когда он ковыляет на лапках на своих, И в двери ударяет, и начинает стих: Я муравей, Воды налей, Не меньше ведра, Напиться мне пора…

In English the song reads: A kitten with a wet nose and silky fur, He has a funny tail, And six fast feet, Two hind legs, two middle legs, And two front legs, That's the millipede papa has come up with.

My father is a scientist, he studies animals He walks by the dumps, catching rats and seagulls Two rats with white feathers, And two dull seagulls, Covered with pimply frog skin, They yearn without feathers and want to run away

Also there is an ant, So large it's the size of a goose, It frightens all the animals, and I am afraid of it, When it hobbles on its feet, Then knocks on the door, and reads the poem: I am ant, pour me some water! No less than a bucket, it's time for me to drink.