The Council – Walkthrough (Episode #1)

Other The Council Guides:

Prologue

Please note: all credit goes to Leveilleur!

After a cutscene, you find yourself presented with a choice. Acting will result in Borchert getting killed, trusting your mother will keep him alive. This choice is a warm-up for the rest of the game, and has no real consequences on the main storyline.

You get an achievement for each choice.

Trusting your mother rewards you with the Trusting trait, granting +1 in psychology.

Episode One

Off the Coast of England

You’ll be thrown into a dialogue immediately at the start of the game, with Piaggi and Emily. Catch up with Emily after the cutscene so you can choose your starting profession. Once Emily is gone, go talk to the nearby servant and ask about your mother. Servants are vulnerable to most skills, and have no immunities, so get back your mother’s handkerchief and go explore the docks for more clues.

There are many consummables to be picked up on the docks, so feel free to explore every nook and cranny. Here’s a list of clues and quest items to be found in the area:

  • You will need a metal bar, unless you are a detective.
  • There is a clue in the mailbox.
  • Your mother’s handbag is hidden under a loose plank next to the iron door.
  • The iron door can be opened either by the key in the handbag, or by an occultist.

Once you’re done, proceed to the manor.

You are immediately thrown into your first confrontation with Piaggi. Navigating the conversation shouldn’t be too hard. Answer yes to the first question, then tell Piaggi your work is confidential, and eventually you will get to exploit either his weakness to manipulation or Questioning.

Obtaining Piaggi’s letter rewards you with the Reliable trait and +1 in Manipulation.

After a brief opportunity to explore the hall, another conversation will take place in front of the fireplace, and you will be presented with your first storyline choice.

Stay with Washington

Staying with Washington will give you more insight into the Golden Order and its members here on the island. Useful skills: psychology.

Follow Holm

Following Holm will give you the opportunity to meet Elizabeth Adams. Useful skills: Politics, Science, Occult, Vigilance.

Helping Elizabeth will reward you with the Obliging trait and +1 in Science.

Afterwards, you join the others for a conversation with a few Psychology and Erudition opportunities. You regain control of your character upstairs and are free to explore the area for items, manuscripts and collectible before going to your room.

There, you are given a choice between opening Piaggi’s letter, leaving it closed, or opening it without breaking the seal is you are an occultist. The letter contains no relevant information and Piaggi will ask to check the seal later on in the story.

Night Stroll

The quest starts with Washington asking you to distract Elizabeth Adams while he searches her room. You can choose to help him, or spy on the men you saw in your vision. Both choices reward you with an achievement.

Help Washington

Washington will ask you to go downstairs to the small salon, where you will find Piaggi evesdropping on what sounds to be a fight. Once you head inside, you can choose to help Adams escape Péru, or wait before you intervene. Helping Adams will earn her gratitude and lead to a confrontation with Péru, who will immediately dislike you.

Investigate about your vision

Washington will dislike you.

  • Péru’s room is left open and can be searched for information regardless of your skills. 
  • If you are a diplomat (possibly also works as a detective), finding the service key will give you access to Emily’s room.
  • If you are an occultist, you can pick the lock on Emily’s door. 
  • The balcony can be accessed either from Emily’s room, or from Péru’s room by a detective. 
  • If you decide to search Emily’s room, make sure not to pick up the origami bird. It would be a shame if she were to find it on your person later on.

After evesdropping on Bonaparte and Mortimer, you are then thrown back in Emily’s room for a confrontation. By now you should have gathered that she is immune to Logic. Winning the confrontation rewards you with the Sincere trait and +1 in Diversion.

Regardless of your choice to help Washington or not, Piaggi will be waiting near your room afterwards to ask for his letter back. If the seal isn’t opened, you earn the Faithful trait and +1 in Etiquette.

Wines and Cannons

This new quest starts with your first (and easiest) puzzle. Note that there are generally multiple ways to find the solution to a puzzle depending on your skillset, so don’t waste your effort points pursuing a lead outside of your skillset.

There are clues on the writing table, in the bookcase, and on the balcony. Once you examined all those elements, and if you liked to play spy as a child, you probably now how to reveal Sarah’s hidden message. Pocket the (still lit) candlestick in your room and proceed to solve the puzzle.

You can also examine the ash in the chimney for a Science skill check, but actually using it will only damage part of the hidden message.

Finding your mother’s message rewards you with the Member of the Order trait and 1+ in Occultism.

Once outside of your room, your character suggests taking a little tour to the other guests’ rooms, so let’s do just that.

  • Washington’s room is open, but he’s busy and won’t let you in. 
  • Elizabeth’s room is open. Look for a chest with a note in it, white crystals, letters, and a book. 
  • Bonaparte’s room is locked but can be accessed with Subterfuge. Look for a book and a sword.

If you’ve observed the paintings in the other guests’ rooms, you might be starting to notice the care with which Mortimer decorates the rooms for his guests.

Head down the stairs for a brief conversation with Elizabeth Adams, followed by a confrontation. Remember that you can access your journal at all times to check her immunities and vulnerabilities, which you should have gathered from her room. Avoid Psychology and Manipulation, then mention her sister.

Once in the dining hall, navigate the dialogues with the help of the information you’ve gathered so far about the guests. Furthermore, you can exploit and discover Wöllner’s Diversion vulnerability and Occultism immunity, as well as discover Emily’s Psychology vulnerability.

The next confrontation, with Bonaparte, can be easily navigated regardless of whether or not you’ve been to his room. Avoid using Politics or Conviction, then conclude by suggesting a counter-revolution.

Gorgon

Your next order of business is finding the place mentioned by Sarah in her message. You can ask Piaggi about it, and explore the ground floor for items and collectibles. Once you are ready to proceed, go to the portrait gallery to the east of the dining room. As always, feel free to explore the place before solving the Medusa puzzle.

Once you find the Medusa, Louis notices three other sculptures in the room: one with a sword, one with a lantern, and one with a shield. In order to solve the puzzle, all four sculptures must be facing the correct direction.

Remember Sarah’s message, and interact with all sculptures for skillcheck hints. Rotate the sword towards Medusa, Medusa towards the shield, the shield towards the sword, the lantern towards the shield.

Solving the puzzle leads you to another room and to an encounter with Emily. Take your time to search everything before you interact with the desk close to Emily or the paper she’s looking at.

There is an achievement here for opening Pandora’s box, but it might have future consequences. Feel free to interact with the rest of the items in the room as you please, and don’t be shy around Emily. There is some fun dialogue to be found here.

Once you catch up with Emily, it doesn’t really matter what you tell her, until the confrontation. If you used her balcony to evesdrop on Bonaparte earlier, you will start the confrontation with a debuff. You should know her immunities and vulnerabilities by now. She is vulnerable to Psychology, which is available almost every step of the confrontation, depending on your storyline choices. Toward the end, answer with “you already have a partner”, “it’s a woman”, and “her sister”.

On the way back to your room with Emily, Adams asks you to join her instead.

Adams

Elizabeth Adams will reveal more information about your mother, provided you agree to drink with her. If you refuse to drink at any point in the conversation, you will go back to your room and Elizabeth will die. If you drink with her and tell her to stay on the island, you will be found asleep next to her corpse and accused of murder.

If you drink with her and tell her to escape, you will be found asleep in her room and blamed for her disappearance.

Emily

This path is more straightforward. You’ll have a conversation with Emily and the opportunity to sleep with her. You’ll then wake up in your bed to find Mortimer in your room.

Volodymyr Azimoff
About Volodymyr Azimoff 15056 Articles
I love games and I live games. Video games are my passion, my hobby and my job. My experience with games started back in 1994 with the Metal Mutant game on ZX Spectrum computer. And since then, I’ve been playing on anything from consoles, to mobile devices.

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