Children Caches



Children's Caches are small, hidden boxes scattered throughout the Town in Pathologic 2. They are used by the children of the Town as part of a game.

Caches reset every day at 07:30, except for the duration of Act 2 due to the children's cache quest.

Cache Game Rules
The rules of the cache game are simple. When one finds a cache and takes something from it, they must leave behind items of equal value as well as a note.

Since each child values every item differently, it is up to the player to decide how much they want to take and leave in the caches. It is currently unknown how the game determines the value of the items taken and left by the player.

Whether the player leaves behind items that are worth too much, too little, or just enough will not affect cache-related quests and story events. However, the odds of finding multiple, more useful items decreases if the player is deemed to have left too few items in the caches.

After Day 9, all the children of the Town are taken away by the Army. A Farewell Note left behind in the caches by the children say they have left the game to the jerboas. It is currently unknown how differently cache item values are calculated after this point, if there is a difference at all.

Items
The following items can be found in caches.

Murderer Hunt
The Haruspex is invited to the children's cache game during Act 2. A messenger tells him that a group of children are waiting for him near the Cathedral. One of the children - Pup - tells him that they know he is searching for his father's murderer and believe that they can help him find the killer. The children believe 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.




 * 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 their gathering by the Train Station in the evenings and the importance of the Nutshell. The note found in the cache located by the Stairway to Heaven will direct the Haruspex to a playground in the Maw.

Hide and Seek Game
Within the playground in the Maw, the Haruspex will find three children gathered in the centre, with two of them sitting on the swings. These children will tell the Haruspex that they have something special for him, but he has to play a game of hide and 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 and will basically give them away, as they value the Haruspex's nuts at 2, but their own nuts at 1. One of the children will be holding a Shmowder, which is only worth 5 points compared to the usual 35.

Meeting the Murderer
During Act 4, the Haruspex will find a note in a children's cache saying that they've found the murderer, but that it will take time for them to be certain and lead the Haruspex to him. After some time passes, the Haruspex's mind-map will update, showing him the location of the murderer. When the Haruspex goes to this location, he will be ambushed by an Ouzel. Killing the man will not cause any changes to reputation.

When looting the man who attacked him, the Haruspex will find a note that the man had taken from a children's cache telling him to meet a thief in the same location. 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 they have been kicked out of the game 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 or not 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, the Haruspex will be approached by a townsman. The man asks if the Haruspex is the one the children call 'Cub' and hands him a note left for the Haruspex by the man's daughter. The 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 left Shmowders in their caches and that the Haruspex should try to find them quickly, in case the jerboas try to eat them.

Regardless of how the player has been playing the children's cache game, they will always be able to receive this 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 Farewell Notes.

Poems
These poems are said by the children gathered in groups during the cache game in Act 2. These will play randomly when the player approaches 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 will soon confess. Whose mess is this inside my house? A swing, a miss, a running mouse.