A Bitter Cold, part 1

A Bitter Cold, part 1
Reveals the fate of	Seaman Soloman Syed
Location	On the gun deck
Earlier	Loose Cargo, part 2
Next	A Bitter Cold, part 2
All parts
Loose Cargo 1, 2 A Bitter Cold 1, 2, 3 Murder 1, 2, 3 The Calling 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 Unholy Captives 1, 2, 3, 4 Soldiers of the Sea 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 The Doom 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 Bargain Escape 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 The End 1, 2, 3, 4

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 Soldiers of the Sea, part 1, it can be used to identify Chinese topmen. It also provides clues to identify several other seamen.

Things of interest

Seaman Soloman Syed dying in his hammock.

• 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 A Bitter Cold, part 2, 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 Murder, part 3.
• 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 Calling, part 1.
• 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 Soldiers of the Sea, part 1.
• Seaman George Shirley's hammock is among the Chinese crew members. In The Doom, part 2, 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.

• Abraham Akbar
• Alexander Booth
• Nicholas Botterill
• Henry Brennan
• Timothy Butement
• Hamadou Diom
• Omid Gul
• Li Hong
• Wei Lee
• Huang Li
• Lars Linde
• Maba
• Alarcus Nikishin
• Patrick O'Hagan
• Nathan Peters
• Renfred Rajub
• George Shirley
• Aleksei Toporov
• Leonid Volkov
• Lewis Walker
• William Wasim
• 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 Media:Bitter_pt1.ogg

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.

• [? Toporov] "Эй, мухлевать то завязывай! | Stop your cheating!"

• [? Volkov] "На себя погляди, дубина. | Worry about yourself."

• [Wasim] "सय्यद | Syed! सय्यद, उठो। | Syed, get up! कुछ पी लो | Drink something!"