LB ADVENT CALENDAR 2018 - THE PROPHET'S TRAIL

Level by Talos

Walkthrough by PedroTheGamer and revised by Phil Lambeth,

All with the assistance of Doggett D. McDog's video walk

After some explanatory opening dialog, which you can both read and listen to in English if you select the appropriate audio folder, your quest begins in a courtyard near an Egyptian structure. The seemingly menacing dude with the drawn sword does not attack. Pick up the nearby normal and explosive arrows before heading E past the camels to a fixed camera. Turn left into the alley and pick up the ABANDONED GATE KEY hidden in the shrubbery.

Go back the way you came and use the key to open a door up the hill to your right. Enter the structure, turn right and pull up into an opening obscured by the hanging vines. Hop down E into the next room and pull back the skeleton to reveal the BOW. When you pick it up you can hear the sound of a trap door opening. Get back W to the previous room, shoot the small container to reveal a small panacea (medipack) and climb down through the opened trap door to a lower passage.

Follow to a pool, jump in and pull out on the other side. Shoot the container for another small panacea and jump back into the water.  Pull the SW ceiling switch to open the N gate. As you swim inside you hear warning music that signals a timed exercise, so return to fill your lungs with air and save your game before proceeding.  Follow around the corner to another ceiling switch and return to find that the first gate is closed and the E gate to your left is open. Pull down another ceiling switch at the end, flip turn and swim straight across W to another ceiling switch. This opens the NE gate, so turn left once past it and swim straight N through the vines and up to an air hole. 

Don't pull out yet. Go back into the W side passage and pull out for the VARANGIAN GUARD'S AXE. Return to the N air hole and pull out into the E passage.  Face E near the end and pull down the ceiling trap door, then climb the ladder into an upper room where use of your weaponry is prohibited (although, in "keep off the grass" fashion, I tried the crossbow here and it worked).  Turn around and hop into the S alcove to activate the timed jumpswitch high up on the W wall that opens a nearby door. Hit the look key to restore camera control, and when you activate the jumpswitch a second time you won't have to deal with the cut scene.

Roll when you land, side flip left, turn left and run through the beaded curtain into the next room, turn left again and run W past the timed door.  The container near the far wall contains explosive arrows. The container against the N wall contains a TORCH that doesn't appear in your inventory. Pull the E wall switch down and back up again to open the timed door, pick up the torch and go back through the beaded curtain.  Light the torch there and return to the room where you found it. Light the S wall sconce to open the nearby door.  Leave your torch here.

Enter and time your way past two spike traps. Hop over the gap so the suspended boulder doesn't drop down on your head. In the next room open the coffin from the left side and grab the PRAYER WHEEL. Go back past the spike traps, retrieve your torch and exit E. Light the wall sconces at the far NE and SE corners to open the E door.  Don't go through just yet.  Instead, go to the N wall and find that the red curtain is like the beaded curtain. Go on through into an outdoor area and approach the lady who has a green crystal bobbing over her head.  She'll give you valuable information in addition to the PERISTYLE KEY.

Go on back through the red curtain and into the E doorway (you don't need to bring the torch).  A flyby is triggered in the chapel ahead. Loop around right to find a receptacle fitted for the Peristyle Key. The gate behind you opens, allowing access to a floor lever. Push it to open the N gate in the chapel. Go there and take the DUNGEONS KEY from the candlestick on the short block. Place the Prayer Wheel in the N receptacle to move aside the mausoleum in the chapel. Go there, hop down into the hole and pick up the GOLD.

Exit the chapel W and go through the room with many columns.  In the next room use the Dungeons Key in the N receptacle to open the door to your left. Go down the steps to a lower room.  You can see a number of jumpswitches, but most of them are fire trapped.  Turn left and activate the SW one, then turn right, run across the room and activate the NW one. Pick up the explosive arrows at your feet. The SW door has opened, so enter the next room as the door closes behind you.

You're in a pushpiece puzzle room, with a pole leading to a similar room above. Your objective is behind a closed gate in the N alcove.  Move the pushpiece onto the floor tile with the X symbol (cut scene of the alcove).  Climb the pole and back flip into the upper room. Move the pushpiece there onto the floor tile with the X symbol to open the gate below. Go down and take the EMPEROR JUSTINIAN ICON from the plinth. The NE exit door opened as you entered the alcove, so return to the previous room.  If you wish, you can place the Icon in the N receptacle between the closed doors (there's also a S receptacle), but nothing will happen yet.

Go S up the steps to the hub room, turn left and loop around left into the NE passage. Go through another beaded curtain and follow to trigger a brief flyby of the cathedral ahead. Go NE to the column on the right and find a ladder on the E side. Climb up and shift left around the corner to drop down onto a raised platform. Stand at the SE corner facing SE and stand jump through the hanging banner to grab the ceiling. Monkey swing clockwise around the room and drop down onto another raised platform. Pick up the EMPRESS THEODORA ICON and turn right. Stoop, crawl backwards, grab the edge of the platform and safety drop to the floor (you won't grab if you merely hop back).

You know where this icon goes, so return to the room with all the jumpswitches and place it (along with the other one if you didn't do so earlier). One of the N doors opens, so use the ladder to climb down to a lower passage.  Follow to a room where you're greeted by a knight and a leopard. An explosive arrow takes care of the big cat, but they don't seem to affect the knight.  But be patient. There are more normal and explosive arrows in the SW corner.  It took nearly all my supply of both types before the knight finally succumbed, but when he did he left behind the TEMPLAR KEY.

Climb back up the ladder and loop around left to activate the NE jumpswitch. The nearby E door opens, so enter the alcove and use the Templar Key to open the other door to your right and reveal a cage. Pull the cage out of the alcove and move it N toward the open doorway. Push it down into the lower passage.  Don't try to drop down onto it, or you'll get caught in its collision. Stand jump over it into the passage below. Turn around and pull the cage into the area where you met the knight and the leopard.  Move it onto the marked tile to open the other N door back in the jumpswitch room.

Return there, enter the new room and turn left into the W side room past the central pedestal to trigger a misleading cut scene. He's more than the Prophet of Bethlehem, He's the Savior of the World.  The LOST COPTIC SCRIPT appears in your inventory. Go through the N opening into a small room with a decorative pool. Jump into the freezing water and quickly open the N gate.  Climb out to warm up, then swim into the N passage through the circular blade traps. Surface in the next room and pull out as a snake approaches in the water.  If you don't have sufficient ammo to deal with it, simply evade it. 

Search the coffin for a PRAYER WHEEL, then swim back past the circular blade traps to the previous room. Pull out and return to the jumpswitch room. Exit S up the steps to the hub room, turn left and enter the room with many columns. Go to the small crate with the candlestick in the S wall and place the Lost Coptic Script in the stained glass window to the left of it. A door opens to your left, so enter and use the Varangian Guard's Axe as a crowbar to open the door.

Face a room with a central block surrounded by spikes. Don't rush in, as the green floor is deadly.  Line up a running jump SE to the nearest safe tile with a star design. Jump clockwise along the star tiles until you reach the W wall. Line up carefully and jump E to grab the middle of the central block (if you grab part of an area occupied by a corner post you'll be stuck). Pull up, climb the pole and back flip into an upper room.

Enter the S passage and trigger some spike traps. Time your way past them and you'll then trigger a squishy block ahead. Jump past it into a room with a central coffin shielded by a gazebo. Open the coffin from the back side for another PRAYER WHEEL. Make your way N past the traps, climb down the pole and jump the star tiles in the opposite direction until you can exit with a NW running jump. Back in the room with many columns, turn left and go to the hub room. Turn right into the N passage and run past the beaded curtain into the cathedral you visited earlier. Run down the steps and place a Prayer Wheel in the NE receptacle. A ghostly figure comes to life on the steps behind you but has disappeared by the time camera control is restored.

Run back up the steps and loop around right to where the W coffin has moved aside. Hop down into the hole and pick up the vial of MYRRH.  Go around to the E coffin to see that it has moved aside as well. Hop into the hole near the column and pick up the MAGI'S TOMB KEY. The keyhole is on the other side of this coffin, so jump there and open the door to the next room.

Place your remaining Prayer Wheel in the N receptacle to move the coffin behind you. Hop down into the revealed hole and pick up the vial of INCENSE. Exit this room, exit the cathedral and turn left in the hub room. Run into the room with many columns and turn right to pass the beaded curtain in the SW corner. Turn left and follow the S passage to an alcove on your right. Place the Gold on the plinth to open the door at the end of the passage.

Enter to find a similar plinth. Place the Myrrh on it, reverse roll and find a third plinth in the NE corner. Face E and place the Incense on it to open the S door. Enter and take the HOLY SCRIPTURE from the plinth to end the level.