Thief II Fan-Mission: "The Seventh Crystal", by "Saturnine"

~ The Seventh Crystal, by “Saturnine”

-Released November 7^th, 2001

            One of the most beautiful fan missions made for Thief II is Saturnine’s "The Seventh Crystal". Its beauty is in its architecture—the structure of Lord Saturnine’s immense estate (the nobleman being named after the mission's author, of course)—and in its story. It takes quite a few plot twists near the end, and the brilliance is in how the backstory is woven in. On the surface, Garrett is taking a job from a woman named Seraphina, to steal Lord Saturnine’s prized crystal, on display in his personal museum. But as soon as players step into Lord Saturnine’s estate, they know that there is more to this job than just nabbing a crystal. There’s a grander story involving Lord Saturnine, his wife, and his little daughter, and the tragedy that befell his family—and its revelation starts with a ghostly girl’s voice asking “Who are you?” when Garrett first sneaks inside the estate.

            Exploring the Saturnine Estate can be an eerie experience. For as many segments that are well-lit and well-guarded, there are also dark, still, quiet areas of the house. This would surely be the case for any large castle or mansion—places lit only by the sunlight rays coming in through the windows, dust settling in the air, total silence. On my first time playing this mission, I certainly got the feeling that something loomed over the Saturnine household—there was more to it behind the surface.

            The story and the suspense that comes from it are key to the experience of “Seventh Crystal”. To that end, Saturnine divided the mission into “acts”. The first and fourth act are just story segments, where the players watches NPCs act and dialog. The second and third acts are the gameplay segments. The videos I include here are all of the second and third acts. The second act takes places in the Saturnine estate.

            The unfolding of the story could only have been accomplished in a Thief mission. The only explicit story is, again, that Garrett is stealing a sapphire piece for a client named Seraphina. Everything comes from readables (journals). There’s Lord and Lady Saturnine, the servant Bradey, the despicable Captain Lorcan of the household guard, and Alexandria, Bradey’s love interest. Two back stories open up: one to do with Lord and Lady Saturnine drifting apart, their departed daughter, and the Lord descending into depression and introversion; and the other to do with a Hammerite crypt that Lord Saturnine and Bradey discovered beneath the manor. All the while that these stories are uncovered, there’s a lot of suspense. I remember being especially hooked to the story as I played this mission.

            There’s also much to admire in the estate’s architecture, as noted. Saturnine—the TTLG user, not the Lord—did a brilliant job here. The Saturnine estate is also heavy with atmosphere. It really is a beautiful experience, and like “The Inverted Manse”, was an early fan mission that demonstrated how fan-made creations can be just as good, if not better, than the original, official missions.

            As a side note, there was supposed to be a follow to “The Seventh Crystal”. Unfortunately, it never came. Saturnine did, however, make another mission, “Rose Cottage”, an amazing haunted house mission that will be covered later on in the blog.
           (Note, in the following video, a bit of incongruous humor; an unexpected 'jump' moment when Garrett goes to pick up the tome. It's something you'd only find in a fan-mission.)