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.

Things of interest

Seaman Soloman Syed dying in his hammock.

Although not as dramatic as many other parts in the game, this is a key scene to identify many crew members. It can be used to identify all the Indian seamen, and together with Soldiers of the Sea, part 1, it can be used to identify all the Chinese topmen. It also provides clues to identify several other seamen.

• 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 (#51). He appears to be suffering from an illness similar to Syed, foreshadowing his death in the next chronological scene A Bitter Cold, part 2, which the player has already seen at this point.
• Seaman William Wasim's identity can be deduced because he is out of his hammock (#53) talking to Syed.
• A fourth Indian seaman sits up in a hammock tag with only an X on it (possibly short for X-tra). Despite this, he can be identified as Abraham Akbar from process of elimination, since he is the last member of their quartet.
• The tattoo of a woman is visible on the right arm of topman Timothy Butement as it hangs out from his hammock (#37). This can be used to identify Butement in Murder, part 3.
• The pipe and the bag of seaman Aleksei Toporov are hanging by his hammock (#47) as he plays cards below it. Toporov can be found smoking this pipe and carrying this bag besides him in subsequent scenes, such as The Calling, part 1.
• The other two men playing cards discuss their game in Russian, hinting towards their shared nationality. Their hammocks are also next to each other (tags #45 and #46 are by the wall, unlike Toporov's). It is implied that Volkov was the one under accusation of cheating in their dialogue, as he can be seen holding his cards partially under the table.
• Three Chinese topmen can be identified by linking their visible socks and shoes to their hammock numbers, then observing their footwear in other scenes such as Soldiers of the Sea, part 1.
• Seaman George Shirley's hammock (#59) hangs among the Chinese topmen, hinting at his friendship with them. One of his shoes can also be seen. In The Doom, part 2, he appears to be drinking with the last surviving Chinese topman in this same exact area of the deck, allowing for his identification.
• Multiple other crew members are listed as being present, though many are sleeping in their hammocks without visible numbered tags, and some are obscured by light at the edge of the diorama.

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 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!"