Gravedigger

The Gravedigger is a quiet figure in Katib who says his job is to guide souls with obsession back to their resting place and to bury them properly, or they become hard to control. He gives the player a special trophy, the Melos Bottle, and acts as a one-man service counter for upgrading it and for respeccing a character. The data uses the Terror Obsession model for him; the English text in the dialog calls him a Gravedigger.

Meeting him#

On the first talk the Courier asks who he is and why he is in the Dark Mist. He senses an obsession in the Courier too, though not yet strong, and expects they may meet again someday. The Courier answers that he knows where he will end up, but not here. The Gravedigger laughs, calls him interesting and hands over a bottle to be filled with strong obsession, hinting that it might show something different. This gift is the Pitch-black Melos Bottle (trophy 60068, quest 55048).

If you return, he comments with philosophical one-liners and offers the services below.

Services#

Melos Bottle ladder#

The bottle is a trophy that cannot be enhanced or reforged and keeps the wearer in the Abnormal state at the risk of becoming Lunatic (item text, see Sanity and Lunatic state). Each upgrade needs the previous bottle, 1 Condensation Honey and these Anthozoan Bones:

The cost rises by 30 each step, so the full climb from the first bottle to the last takes 9 Condensation Honey and 1,350 Anthozoan Bones. The pairs come straight from the quest actions 55056 to 55087 (each pair removes the old bottle and materials, then gives the new bottle). The achievement Heavy Armed needs the Dazzling Melos Bottle ("Acquire the Dazzling Melos Bottle"), which is step 7. The Fulgurant bottle (step 5, trophy 60073, quest 55065) is also the key to the Refuse option of the ending: see Endings#How to unlock Refuse: the Melos Bottle chain.

The later bottles' tooltip says they are filled with Condensation Honey and "the truth within the darkness is finally revealed", but the numerical effects are listed in the trophy tables; see Trophy effects.

What he says when you fill the bottle#

After each fill he may comment on an obsession you recently beat. The comments are tied to seven quest flags (91101 to 91107), which are set when you kill the matching Strong Obsession (the Strong Obsession enemy rows list these flags as completion quests). Each comment plays once: its own hide flag (55049 to 55055) is set after he says it. When no unseen comment is left, he answers with a silent line "...". Because the next line is picked randomly among those whose flags allow it, the order of the comments is not fixed.

At the higher steps there is also a short line telling you that your obsession seems stronger and that he will be waiting on the day you are ready to step into the Graveyard (the Colossal Grave).

A second line#

A separate dialog (flag 4991005, shown only after a particular encounter) has him say that you and he are immersed in your own stories and will take the same path. After you meet "it", he says that this regret and obsession was the price he paid to break the shackles of fate, and that he cannot free the other one, who floats in a bottomless abyss.

Hidden mechanics#

• The attribute reset is a quest action (action type 34, "reset attributes") that follows the removal of the wine and an animation (quest actions 55046 and 55047). Checking for the wine is a separate quest (52601) that just tests whether you hold 1 Starry Honey Wine.
• The upgrade check works the same way: quests 52602 and later check for 1 Condensation Honey plus the Anthozoan Bones, so there is no way to underpay.
• In Arcade mode the Gravedigger is copied (monster 10050126).

Sources#

• Table StoryMonster: story 5 monster 5126 (hero 20045); Arcade copy 10050126.
• Table StoryDialog: story 5 dialogs 51313-51322, 51323-51327, 51332-51338, 51339-51440, 51442-51443, 52310-53428.
• Table StoryQuest: 55048 (item 60068), 55056/55057 and following pairs (remove old bottle, Condensation Honey and Anthozoan Bones; give new bottle), 52601 (needs item 20029), 52602 (needs 10048 and 40011 x30), 55045 (action type 34), 55046 (removes item 20029), 55047 (timeline 12).
• Table TrophyData 60068-60075, 60079, 60080; table ItemData 10048, 20029, 40011; table Achievement 12005 "Heavy Armed".