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darkestprompts · 7 months

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DD2 Shrine Rewrites Part 5: The Occultist's New Clothes

It's been a while. Enough to cross a desert, feels like. Which apparently Alhazred never had to do, because he's into astral travel.

The Occultist shrines are in an odd place. They aren't particularly offensive to his character considering how lacking in detail his original comic was. But it manages to kill off a lot of the mystique of that simple story and feels underwhelming as a result. It's also our best example so far of something that will become much more of a problem with characters like Jester and Vestal: the complete reframing of the narrative.

One thing at a time, though.

Alhazred as we knew him

The Occultist is an intriguing hero with an unique weapon: the very evil you seek to purge. His in-game descriptions emphasize the danger and unreliability of his power: it is a profane thing that requires extraordinary will to master. The Occultist, however, remains undaunted. He knows his skills come at a heavy cost and even shows some degree of nihilism (the Abandon Hope skill). This man knows there are no kind gods looking down upon him.

Unlike his Lovecraftian namesake, Alhazred is no madman. His barks portray a confident, proud scholar; civility mixed with arrogance; overconfident affability. All the good and bad traits of the enlightened. He scoffs at the savagery of his "uncultured" allies and enemies. Reason, knowledge, power, that's all that matters. Even so, we are often faced with another entity spouting blasphemies and curses through him, breaking his veneer of control. Whatever it is, it's not fond of humans and appears to use Alhazred's body to access our reality. We learn during afflictions that he fears it and can't be rid of it.

The comic and CC set paint a clearer picture. The Occultist sought out a mysterious pyramid, where we find piles upon piles of skulls with candles, exactly as the one his in-game model possesses. The inscription highlights the candle slowly melting away... An hourglass counting down, perhaps? Our Occultist isn't dissuaded and proceeds with the operation. The candle comes to life. There's no turning back.

What I find most intriguing about this sequence is that we don't know what exactly Alhazred expected. He doesn't seem entirely satisfied with his present condition, but supposedly he knew the cost to pay. Or did he? Did he hope to outsmart the old gods? Where did such unbridled ambition even come from? There's just enough information for the player to explore at leisure and I appreciate that.

Abandon hope

The DD2 shrines start off with the odd decision to transfer the Occultist's pyramid journey into the astral plane. Alhazred sits at the table with some "devotees" (students?) that act as supporting mediums in this excursion to the void. Honestly, I'm not fond of this decision, and I will explain in depth why further ahead. But on the most surface level we have this new-age-y addition that undercuts the gravity of Alhazred actually having to make his way alone to a tomb he discovered heaven knows how. It's less "medieval scholar scours the Earth in search of secrets of the ancient world" and more... ouija boards and moving tables.

Moving along, it turns out Alhazred needs to give away a part of him to acquire the power he desires. He fights and effectively kills the most human parts of himself to make away for the fire of the stars. This is a pretty great moment that adds dimension and horror to the event. Which is followed by... A shambler? Coming out of the void to attack him? The shrines aren't played one after the other, but I can't help but find jarring that we went from this highly psychological moment to "beat the big octopus to steal its magics".

So yeah, apparently Alhazred can beat an entire shambler by himself, he has only been holding out on us. Maybe things are different in the void or something. Apparently eldritch entities abide by Pokémon rules over there, because defeating it means you get its power at your disposal. Still not sure how this is a pact in any meaningful sense.

And then, the kicker. We learn why Alhazred needed company in this venture: so they could tragically die in the last shrine! As the Occultist broods sadly over the corpses, we are told that he became a beacon for the creatures beyond.

Mesmer would be proud

The sole reason for the séance, it seems, is to provide convenient deaths for Alhazred to feel bad about. It's heavy-handed and awkward, but at the first glance, not a big change. Let's look closer, though. I want to argue that imposing the seance as a framing device over the events of the comic significantly alters and weakens the narrative.

First thing off, the implied cultural background is different now. H. P. Lovecraft's Alhazred lived in the period of the Ummayad Caliphate. While it would be a stretch to call the Occultist's design historically accurate, one can accept that it's trying to portray a character of the medieval Islamicate world. DD2 eschews that in favor of a westernized suit. Note that I say "westernized", not western. There was an attempt to keep the Arabic influence in another style of dress. We see this a lot in modern fashion. But here's the catch: this blending of indigenous and western/European styles is a direct consequence of colonialism. It's a way to preserve culture in face of an imposed model of "modernity". Alhazred, on the other hand, was previously situated in a context where European dominance over MENA countries wasn't a given.

Maybe you will say now "well, but Darkest Dungeon isn't real life". Fine. But it's inspired by real life, which is why we can easily understand concepts like crusades and plague doctors, even though they are highly specific. If I take Medieval Arab-inspired Alhazred, I'm led to assume he comes from a bustling centre of science and political power, not a colonized backwater.

Now you ask, "wait! Why are you discussing his clothes, what does it have to do with the séance?" I'm getting to that. I bring up the design because it's another sign of the shift in cultural focus. Let me ask you back: why do you think séance is a term of French origin? Why don't you see terms like "medium" in relation to DD1 Occultist?

Séances became a big thing with the Spiritualist Movement in the XIX century. It's a strongly European and North American phenomenon that has roots in XVIII century mesmerism and would influence New Thought, Theosophy and, later, New Age thinking. When the game places our Occultist in a seance, wearing that outfit, it's shedding the premise of the Medieval scholar seeking out the wisdom of Antiquity, who travels and values original sources. It mindless pushes the setting in an eurocentric direction for no visible gain.

Second, the pacing isn't great. By now we expect every DD academic to be overtaken by the consequences of their hubris, it's a theme, it's fine. But we could do better than introducing a whole ham-fisted framing device just so Alhazred has companions that conveniently die off as the big neon sign that he fucked up. Other backstories try to pull off the "shocking twist" at the end (looking at you, Vestal, Jester) and none of them work particularly well. A twist still requires build up to not feel gratuitous and when every other story is about making the character as sad and sympathetic as possible, it looses a lot of impact. It's a technique that gets less effective the more you force it on the audience.

Third, the relevance of the dead acolytes evaporates once they conveniently die for dramatic purposes. I'm not saying he needs to bring them up every other bark, but consider how other characters carry their losses with them. Reynauld and his wife, Barristan and his soldiers, Dismas and the woman and child he killed, plus his "sweetheart". These are all haunting presences that let us know how much past events affected our heroes. The Occultist extras, however, are never mentioned again, even though Alhazred supposedly knew and worked with these people, these devotees who trusted his wisdom and guidance. It really highlights how they are merely a plot device.

Alhazred's problem, as far as we can tell from his barks, is not guilt. It's that no matter how hard he fights, he will lose himself someday. So why not emphasize this tragedy instead?

That's not to say there aren't good elements to the DD2 shrines. The supression of parts of Alhazred's soul is a great segment that lets us visualize what goes on in one of his dreadful rituals... although I'd suggest not make his soul have that piss-colored glow (don't color-theory me, it looks weird). Anyway, to make the Occultist's real opponent his own conscience is a great touch of characterization.

The shambler fight is less exciting in comparison. I know some people already considered that the eldritch creature within the Occultist was a shambler, but as often happens, what you can't see and can't fight is much more horrific than a random encounter, even with a wandering boss. It also raises a couple of questions. Why is it fighting if DD established that they struck a pact? If it's a shambler after all, why does the Occultist Come Into Your Maker bark refers to the Heart of Darkness as "the face of (his) tormentor"? Exposing the black-beast goes nothing for the story. It adds inconsistencies and reduces the unknowable entity of the pyramid to a regular monster we beat many times before.

Unquenchable fire

So let's try to fix all of this, shall we? First off, no séances. We'll keep the comic version, which implies a real, physical place lost to time and ruin. Instead of a suit, we will give Alhazred cool desert travel clothes. He has been searching for this pyramid for years, through moth-eaten texts, broken monuments and torn maps. It is the last stop before the object of his ambition.

He enters. The many skulls are a warning the Occultist gladly ignores. With him it shall be a different story. He's no fool, he's prepared. The ritual begins. This second shrine should use the "combat" sequence between Alhazred and his conscience.

He succeeds. Instead of a shamblet fight, we will opt for some good old evocative descriptions. You have Wayne June, you literally can't fail at this. Finally, Alhazred is faced with power beyond his understanding, dreadful, fascinating, mind-shattering. He's lost to the infinite possibilities unravelling before his mind. Then, the Beast is here. It asks a questions to which the answer is obvious. The pact is struck.

The Occultist returns to his scrolls and books. He experiments, takes notes, asks his new "companion" for advice. But something is amiss. There are gaps in his memory, strange inconsistencies. His hands tremble. He interrogates the beast, but It is silent. For the first time he feels the gap in his soul, a wound across dimensions, and he knows that it will swallow him whole someday.

He must try to stop whatever is happening, find a way to regain control. He seeks help, he searches for sources, living and dead. Can the pact be changed, broken? He blinks, unaware of his surroundings... And then there's fire and his hands are wet. Victims of flesh and parchment expire around him. If there is a way out, the black-beast won't let him find it. The voice in his head breaks the silence; It laughs and mocks him for believing he was ever in control.

I hope it's clear where getting at with these rewrites. Often, less is more. If a story works, it works. And you don't need to hit your players over the head with tragedy for them to care.

Ah, but things aren't going to get any better going forward.

#darkest dungeon #dd occultist #dd alhazred #dd2 shrine rewrites

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