A Bitter Cold, part 1

A Bitter Cold, part 1 is the first part of chapter II in the plot of Return of the Obra Dinn. It reveals the fate of seaman Soloman Syed.

The ship is off the coast of Portugal, heading south. While the Russian crewmen play cards, Syed is lying in his hammock, coughing violently and struggling to breathe. William Wasim, a fellow Indian seaman, tells him to get up and drink something, but Syed ultimately dies.

Although not as dramatic as many other parts in the game, this is one of the key parts for identifying crew members. It can be used to identify all Indian seamen, and together with, it can be used to identify Chinese topmen. It also provides clues to identify several other seamen.

Things of interest

 * Seaman Soloman Syed's identity can be deduced as he is mentioned by his last name and he is in the hammock #54, which matches his number in the crew manifest.
 * Seaman Renfred Rajub can be identified based on his hammock tag and since he dies in, which the player has already seen at this point.
 * Seaman William Wasim's identity can be deduced since his hammock among other Indian seamen is empty since he is talking to Syed.
 * The remaining Indian seaman is Abraham Akbar even though his hammock tag only has an X on it.
 * The tattoo of topman Timothy Butement is visible on his arm. This can be used the identify him in.
 * The pipe and the bag of seaman Aleksei Toporov are hanging by his hammock (#47). He has the pipe in his mouth in a lifeboat in.
 * The other two men playing cards can be assumed to be Russians as they discuss in Russian. Their hammocks are also next to each other (tags #45 and #46 are by the wall, unlike Toporov's).
 * Three Chinese topmen can be identified by comparing their shoes in this part and.
 * Seaman George Shirley's hammock is among the Chinese crew members. In, he is also seen mingling with one of them. One of his shoes can also be seen, making it possible to identify him.
 * Several men are listed as being present, though their numbered tags are not visible and are instead obscured by light.

Present
22 others were present.


 * seaman Abraham Akbar
 * seaman Alexander Booth
 * topman Nicholas Botterill
 * seaman Henry Brennan
 * topman Timothy Butement
 * seaman Hamadou Diom
 * topman Omid Gul
 * topman Li Hong
 * topman Wei Lee
 * topman Huang Li
 * seaman Lars Linde
 * topman Maba
 * seaman Alarcus Nikishin
 * seaman Patrick O'Hagan
 * seaman Nathan Peters
 * seaman Renfred Rajub
 * seaman George Shirley
 * seaman Aleksei Toporov
 * topman Leonid Volkov
 * topman Lewis Walker
 * seaman William Wasim
 * topman Jie Zhang

Where
This memory is accessed via a body in a winding sheet on the floor next to the aft staircase on the orlop deck.

Areas
Only the front portion of the gun deck is accessible. The exit is by the midshipmen's cabin.

Transcript
While the transcript says that second line in Russian is "На себя погляди, дубина" ('look at yourself, you dolt'), in the audio, the character says, "За собой следи, дубина" ('watch over yourself...'). The audio is closer to the meaning of the English translation.