The deck of the Obra Dinn off the coast of Falmouth in 1807.
The Obra Dinn was an East Indiaman (a type of trade ship) owned by the Honorable East India Company in service from 1796 to 1802. She provides the main location of the game.
Contents
Story and fate
The Obra Dinn was built as a three-masted, full-rigged ship in 1796 in London. Her weight was 800 tons with a draught of 18 feet. She had three decks and could carry 16 guns (eight per broadside) on her gun deck. Her standard crew complement was of 51 hands (86 in the poster used for the alpha), and she was placed under the command of Captain Robert Witterel.
In 1802, she departed from London for her final voyage to the Orient with a full crew and nine passengers. The ship added cargo in Falmouth.[1] After leaving England, she failed to reach her first rendezvous at the Cape of Good Hope and was declared lost. Five years later, she drifted into the harbor of Falmouth, almost intact, but there were no survivors.[2] Shortly after The Honourable East India Company chief inspector had completed their investigation on the ship, she sank in a storm off Falmouth.[3] No cargo could be salvaged.
Crew
Full crew list during her last voyage
Layout
The Obra Dinn has four levels: the main deck, the gun deck, the orlop deck, and the cargo hold.
Main deck
The main deck is the uppermost deck, containing the Captain's Quarters, the passenger cabins and housing the helm of the ship.
Remnants of the Obra Dinn's last voyage include:
- William Hoscut's remains outside the door to the Captain's Quarters
- Henry Brennan's remains in the Captain's Quarters
- Lewis Walker's remains in the Captain's Quarters
- Robert Witterel's remains in Abigail's cabin
- Abigail Hoscut Witterel's remains in the bed in her cabin
- Missing rigging, which was torn down by the kraken and crushed Hoscut Witterel in The Doom, part 8
Gun deck
The gun deck is directly below the main deck, containing cabins for the mates, the bosun, the bosunmate, the stewards and the midshipmen. There are nine cannons on port side, including one in the bosunmate's cabin, and seven cannons on starboard side. Hammocks for the topmen and other crew lie above the cannons and there are tables between the cannons. There's a communal area at the back of the gun deck with a toilet. The rope connected to the helm extends through the gun deck and into the orlop deck where the steering tiller is located.
Remnants of the Obra Dinn's last voyage include:
- Edward Spratt's remains at the bow
- Roderick Andersen's remains underneath a cannon near the front of the gun deck
- Thomas Lanke's remains in the midshipmen cabin
- Timothy Butement's leg hanging from rope outside William Hoscut's cabin
- The wall next to the bosunmate's cabin, which was shredded by a cannonball in The Doom, part 4
Orlop deck
The orlop deck is directly below the gun deck. It is mostly used for keeping animals and for storage, as there are crates, chests, and barrels everywhere. Pigs[4] and goats[5] were kept in cages while chickens[4] roamed free, and a cow was kept in a pen[4]. The purser runs an items store for the crew from the Purser's Office. Sick people are taken to the surgery and treated. There are beds for passengers and any remaining crew. The Gunner's Store contains swords, guns, and bags of gunpowder[6]. The Carpenter's Shop has a workbench, tools, and wood. It can be accessed from the starboard walk, opposite which is the port walk. The steering tiller is at the back of the orlop deck.
Remnants of the Obra Dinn's last voyage include:
- A cow's head, mounted on the wall in the pen after being slaughtered for its meat in A Bitter Cold, part 3
- Zungi Sathi's remains in the port walk and blood leading to him
- A broken part of the fence of the pen, from when Thomas Lanke fell on it in Soldiers of the Sea, part 4
Cargo hold
The cargo hold is the bottom-most deck, and it is purely used for storage. Barrels, crates, and cloth are abundant but the captain's and passengers' cargo is also stored here. The lazarette can be used to store aquatic creatures.[7]
Remnants of the Obra Dinn's last voyage include:
- A giant crab in the Bosun's Store that one of the crab-riders in Soldiers of the Sea was riding
- John Naples' right leg, which was cut off with a sword by Fillip Dahl, between the lazarette and stairs
- A barrel containing the corpse of an unknown stowaway in the Bosun's store
- The unseen remains of Martin Perrott and Fillip Dahl, and Henry Evans' monkey in the lazarette
The lazarette can be accessed using the games (normally hidden) debug menu. In the version of the ship explored by the Chief Inspector, the lazarette contains the Formossan chest, empty of its unknown liquid contents, and a handful of mermaid spikes embedded in the wall. Though the events of Bargain would imply that their bodies must remain locked within the lazarette, the corpses of neither Martin Perrott nor Fillip Dahl can be seen.
An image of the lazarette in the "present day" version of the ship, obtained using debug and noclip.
Trivia
- Due to the pocketwatch's ability of reproducing the death scene, some firmly closed doors are opened and dead lamps are re-lit.
- It is unknown how the doors of the Captain's Quarters were firmly locked, as the doors remained open when the last person on the ship died.
References
- ↑ Stated by Lucas Pope (the developer) on Steam forums
- ↑ Stated in a letter when starting a new game.
- ↑ The final insurance assessment book mentions that the ship sank in Falmouth.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 A Bitter Cold, part 3
- ↑ Murder, part 2
- ↑ In The Doom, part 5, Peter Milroy can be seen with a bag from the Gunner's Store. In The Doom, part 6, Thomas Lanke tells Peter to throw the powder.
- ↑ Shown in chapter 8, Bargain, when mermaids are kept there.
