Ian's list was a short letter given to the Nameless Hero by Ian, the chief of the Old Mine. The document contained the list of items required by the miners at the time of the Hero's arrival to the Mine.
The list of items was relatively short - the supplies listed would not have lasted very long in a busy complex like the Old Mine. Therefore, it is likely that convoys of delivieries from the Old Camp were realitvely frequent - arguably, a smart decision by the Ore Barons, as frequent, smaller deliveries would not be as tempting to the New Camp rogues as larger ones, recuding the chance of potential attacks on the convoys. This might also mean that bringing the list back to the Old Camp was a typical 'test of faith' for the newcomers of the Camp.
Overview
Diego sent the Hero to collect the list from Ian as part of his test of faith. Before the hero left for the Old Mine, he asked Diego why Ian would give such an important document to a complete stranger. The answer was simple: "Because Diego said so.".
After retrieving the document, the Hero was faced with a choice: one possibility was to follow Diego's orders and deliver the list straight back to him. However, he also realized that Ian's list was an item important enough to grant him an audience with Lares, the leader of the rogues of the New Camp.
Eeven though Diego had spoken of the importance of the list several times, the Hero decided to go behind his back and give the list to Lares. The rogue leader added a number of items to the list and sent the Hero back to the Old Camp to deliver the list to Diego as if the document was original. Even though Diego did seem to notice that the list was forged[1], he accepted the document and forwarded it to the Ore Barons. All this turned out to be a part of Lares' plan to attack the Old Camp convoy and steal the supplies being delivered.
By providing the means for such a worthwhile operation, the Hero got into the good books of Lares and the rest of the Rogues. And, since the attack was never traced back to the editted list or the Hero himself, his process of joining the Old Camp was not hampered at all.
After the robbery took place, Lares told the Hero not to worry about Diego's reaction, as the Shadow was not all too loyal to the Old Camp and most likely met the news of the attack with laughter. In response to Hero's request of his share of loot, Lares sent him to Gorn, a mercenary working under Lee, who admitted to taking part in the attack.
Contents of the list
Original text, written by Ian himself, was as follows:
List of requirements
- 20 loafs of bread - not the moldy sort this time!
- 25 - 30 apples
- 10 lumps of cheese
- 1 soup ladle
- 1 brush
- 5 pickaxes + 3 hammers
- And a liberal amount of swampweed - you know, first consignment of the month!
- We're expecting the delivery for the day after tomorrow.
After the Hero brought the list to Lares, the rogue added some more items to the list:
List of requirements
- IAN
- 20 loafs of bread - not the moldy sort this time!
- 25 - 30 apples
- 10 lumps of cheese
- 1 soup ladle
- 1 brush
- 5 pickaxes + 3 hammers
- And a liberal amount of swampweed - you know, first consignment of the month!
- We're expecting the delivery for the day after tomorrow.
- IAN
- I just remembered:
- 30 bottles of beer
- 5 bottles of wine
- 25 grilled scavenger drumsticks
- half a dozen replacement weapons
The attack on the Old Camp convoy
Even though the edditing of the list to include more items was an important part of the plan by Lares to attack and plunder the convoy from the Old Camp, the Hero is not able to participate in the attack, and the fighting itself is not actually shown in the game. However, a possible description of the attack can be created using the available information.
The attack on the convoy must have taken place somewhere in the forest south of the Old Camp, on the road to the Old Mine. Although no sings of fighting can be found after the attack takes place, a possible location of this small-scale battle is the underground passage near the edge of the forest. The convoy might have been heading through the passage, while rogues jumped the Old Camp guards by surprise, using the narrow, closed space of the passage to their advantage.
It is also worth noting that the passage has a hole in its ceiling, wide enough for a grown man to fit through. Altough it's not very plausible to believe several soldiers jumped through it, a single, strong warrior may have caused a lot of damage during the confusion of the attack. A likely candidate for such straightforward approach is Gorn, who might have even been the one to come up with an idea like that.
The lack of signs of fighting is not explained in the game, even though the Hero is told that the minced bodies of the Old Camp guards were left to rot in the open.
Role in the game
If the player decides to listen to Diego and bring the list to him, the Hero completes his test of faith without much problem and gets a little closer to joining the Old Camp. However, if the player decides to go behind Diego's back and bring the list the Lares, the quest continues for a while longer. Since there are no drawbacks in siding with the New Camp, giving the list to Lares is widely considered the "correct" way to solve this quest.
Notes
In the game, Ian's list is simply named "List". After Lares adds several more items to the list, the item description (supposedly, a comment by the Nameless Hero himself) notes that Lares copied Ian's handwriting almost perfectly.
Related Articles
- Old Mine
References
- ↑ Gothic 1, Journal entry for the Test of Faith quest.