Mansion

1. Summary

• Location: Von Veylor-Schloss Family Estate, Patagonia, Argentina

It is an exceptionally wealthy, secluded Victorian estate in Patagonia, inhabited by two siblings, their longtime butler, and a discreet domestic staff. The household staff are described with the family. See: Factions › Von Veylor-Schloss Family

2. History

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2.1 Origins of the Estate

The mansion is an authentic Victorian-style residence originally owned by a noble family whose fortune was established by an industrialist patriarch during the Victorian era.

The protagonists' father purchased the existing estate many years later.

He largely preserved its architecture, furnishing, and historical identity. His changes were primarily personal additions, interior adaptations, and the construction of a secret underground laboratory.

2.2 Friedrich's Purchase

Their father purchased an existing, luxurious mansion in a remote region of Patagonia, and around 2007 he moved the children there.

The relocation was deliberate.

The mansion was therefore more than a comfortable residence. It was a carefully selected environment designed to preserve their lives and limit their exposure to the outside world.

See: Characters › Friedrich

See: Timeline › Master Timeline

3. Function and Contents

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3.1 Grounds and Amenities

The estate is located in Patagonia, surrounded by secluded natural grounds. Its exterior includes landscaped gardens, woodland, a large natural lake with a yacht, a helipad, and recreational facilities.

The mansion contains numerous amenities, including a private cinema, recreational spaces, a swimming pool, a library, and comfortable living quarters.

3.2 Rooms Named in the Chapters

• Edmund's bedroom, from which he observes the garden through the curtains. Daylight enters through its windows, and it holds his bed and his wardrobe. See: Campaign › 1. Dimension
• Friedrich's former study, his private study. See: Campaign › 1. Dimension
• The library. See: Campaign › 1. Dimension
• The servants' quarters. See: Campaign › 1. Dimension
• Hamish's office, which is not his private bedroom. A large desk contains organized legal documents, folders, correspondence, and financial records. During Chapter Two the office becomes the temporary strategic headquarters; it is no longer available as an operational headquarters during the principal Schwarzwald expedition. See: Campaign › 2. Now I Am Finally A Man
• The butler's bedroom. See: Places › Butler Bedroom

3.3 Maintenance, Occupancy, and Everyday Life

Frequently occupied areas are maintained to an exceptionally high standard.

There should be no widespread dirt, mold, trash, water damage, or visible deterioration in regularly used environments.

At the same time, the mansion is not a sterile museum.

Books may be left open. Chairs may be pulled away from tables. A glass may remain on a counter. Personal objects may reveal the recent presence of a resident.

Domestic employees may be seen folding linens, cleaning, organizing rooms, or tending to the estate. Robots also support household maintenance.

Staff interactions are generally brief and familiar, reinforcing the sense of an established domestic routine rather than a busy social environment.

The mansion also contains unused or seldom-visited wings. Some rooms remain closed for long periods, with limited lighting and subtle signs of disuse.

A nearly empty, darkened room may still contain an extremely valuable painting or piece of antique furniture.

These spaces should feel forgotten by routine, not destroyed or abandoned through poverty.

3.4 Art, Philosophy, and Intellectual Collections

The father was a wealthy scientist with sophisticated tastes, an extensive private library, a strong interest in computers, and a growing intellectual obsession with philosophical pessimism, epistemology, and ancient civilizations.

His presence must be communicated through objects rather than excessive exposition.

The mansion contains:

• A vast library and numerous books distributed across different rooms.
• Philosophical works associated with Arthur Schopenhauer, Friedrich Nietzsche, Philipp Mainländer, and related thinkers.
• Busts of intellectual figures, including Schopenhauer, Nietzsche, and Isaac Newton.
• Valuable historical paintings, antique objects, and carefully collected artwork.
• Mayan cultural artifacts and archaeological objects, some acquired through legitimate markets and others through illicit channels.
• Computers and scientific or intellectual materials integrated into the historical interiors.
• Fine wines, decorative pieces, and personal possessions reflecting a cultivated private lifestyle.

The rights check required before real historical paintings are selected is a production question. See: Canon › Open Questions.

These collections should reveal the father's changing intellectual interests, including the gradual movement from scientific inquiry toward philosophical pessimism and disturbing questions about the nature of knowledge.

3.5 The Family and the Meaning of Home

The protagonists are twin siblings whose mother died from complications of childbirth shortly after their birth.

Their father loved them, but his involvement in a secret scientific project prevented him from being consistently present during their childhood.

The butler was a trusted personal friend of their father and became a loving paternal figure to both children.

The siblings have a profoundly affectionate, harmonious relationship.

Their isolation was intentional, arranged by their father for protective reasons that are not initially known to the protagonist.

The protagonist should not behave as though he has just arrived in an unfamiliar building.

The twins' memories of their father, their upbringing and what the mansion means to them are described on the characters' pages.

See: Characters › Edmund

See: Characters › Friedrich

3.6 Thematic Purpose of the Mansion

The mansion serves as a representation of protected innocence.

To the twins, it is their childhood home, filled with familiar objects, shared experiences, affection, and security.

In reality, it is also an environment intentionally constructed around a secret connected to their continued existence.

The contrast between these two meanings is fundamental.

At the beginning of the game, the mansion symbolizes safety, family, and childhood.

At the end, after the events of the Amazon expedition, the protagonists return to the same location under radically different circumstances.

The butler is dead, the father remains in stasis awaiting Edmund's decision, and the twins understand the truth behind their upbringing and mission.

The mansion has not necessarily changed physically, but its emotional significance has been transformed.

The final sequence returns the narrative to the place where it began.

3.7 The Opening Day

The game opens with the male protagonist waking up in his bed on October 16, 2021, the day before the twins' eighteenth birthday, while he is still seventeen. The butler refers to the approaching birthday as an important event. They have already been told by the butler that something important will be revealed when they turn eighteen, but they do not know what it is.

Beside the protagonist's bed lies H. P. Lovecraft's The Call of Cthulhu. Interacting with it introduces the theme of dangerous knowledge, alluding to the opening passage about humanity's inability to correlate everything it knows. The licensing check its quotation needs is a production question. See: Canon › Open Questions.

The mansion is a playable introductory area for locomotion, camera and viewpoint controls, crouching, interaction, object pickup, inventory management, reading, exploratory puzzles, and contextual discovery. The player encounters photographs, family history, texts and conversations with the sister and the butler. The setting is affluent and comfortable (including leisure facilities), but socially secluded. The early chapters establish the family's affection and the contradiction of a luxurious, restricted childhood.

On the twins' eighteenth birthday, the butler reveals a previously unknown technological section beneath the house, opening the concealed entrance in the wall of his bedroom. The player may notice clues to it beforehand, but only the butler opens it. There the father is found in a stasis apparatus. The butler explains the concealed history. The father has left an urgent message/letter with warnings and a mission regarding the Amazon complex. Why he could not disclose the complete secret is described on his page. See: Characters › Friedrich

See: Places › Butler Bedroom

See: Places › Laboratory

Level-design boundary: The mansion is primarily a prologue and ending location, not a recurring central hub during the Amazon exploration.

3.8 The Birthday Revelation

The game begins on October 16, 2021, the day before the twins' eighteenth birthday.

The male protagonist awakens in his bedroom inside the Patagonian mansion.

Beside his bed lies a copy of H. P. Lovecraft's The Call of Cthulhu, establishing an early thematic connection to forbidden knowledge and cosmic horror.

The protagonist already knows that the butler has promised to reveal something important once the twins reach adulthood.

The opening section introduces the player's movement, crouching, observation, object interaction, inventory management, and basic exploration mechanics.

The mansion also provides environmental storytelling through photographs, personal belongings, books, family memories, and conversations.

On the twins' eighteenth birthday, the butler opens the concealed entrance in the wall of his bedroom, revealing a previously inaccessible section of the mansion containing the secret underground laboratory.

There, the twins discover that their father is not dead but preserved inside a technologically advanced stasis chamber.

The butler explains the circumstances surrounding their father's condition and delivers the instructions that initiate the central mission.

3.9 Opening Sequence and Exploration

The game begins one day before the protagonist's eighteenth birthday, while he is still seventeen.

He has known since the age of twelve that something important will happen when he turns eighteen, but he does not understand its true significance.

The butler may refer to the approaching birthday as an important event, creating anticipation without revealing the underlying mystery.

During this opening section, the player is encouraged to explore the mansion freely.

Activities may include examining paintings and objects, reading letters, inspecting photographs, visiting childhood locations, and speaking with the protagonist's sister and the butler.

The protagonist does not initially know about the secret laboratory inside the estate.

The opening should communicate three things simultaneously:

1. The extraordinary beauty, comfort, and wealth of the mansion.
2. The authentic affection and familiarity shared by its inhabitants.
3. The unusual circumstances of the siblings' upbringing and the approaching eighteenth birthday.

The suspense should arise primarily through discovery and unanswered questions, not through making the ordinary living spaces appear threatening.

See: Campaign › 1. Dimension

3.10 Environmental Memories

Certain locations may trigger brief auditory memories from the protagonist's childhood.

For example, entering the swimming pool area may evoke the distant sound of two children laughing — a recollection of the protagonist playing there with his sister.

These moments should feel personal, delicate, and nostalgic.

They are not necessarily paranormal events or indicators of immediate danger. Their primary purpose is to connect the environment with the protagonist's memories.

Photographs, letters, childhood possessions, and familiar domestic sounds can reinforce this relationship.

The mansion should feel saturated with lived history, even when individual rooms are silent.

3.11 Subtle Narrative Foreshadowing

Although the estate is a sanctuary, there are clues that the siblings' upbringing involved undisclosed preparations.

A shooting range is located on the property, and the butler ensured that the protagonist learned to use firearms.

One such clue is the letter he wrote at about thirteen. See: In-World Documents › Edmund's Letter At Thirteen

The estate also contains a helipad.

The protagonist remembers mysterious helicopter arrivals and formally dressed visitors speaking privately with the butler, without ever learning the purpose of those visits.

Such details should create curiosity without undermining the fundamentally safe and loving atmosphere of the home.

3.12 The Safe

A safe is present within the Argentine mansion from the beginning of the game.

It is not initially treated as a major narrative object.

The player may notice it without understanding its importance.

The letter it holds: See: In-World Documents › Friedrich's Final Letter.

4. Architecture and Style

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4.1 Core Artistic Vision

The mansion must feel like a genuine, deeply loved family home.

The mansion is not abandoned, haunted-looking, ruined, or neglected. It is a place of extraordinary comfort, security, beauty, and familiarity.

Its wealth is immense but understated in intention. This is not a residence designed to impress visitors or display fashionable luxury. It is a private sanctuary where two children were raised in almost complete isolation from the outside world.

The player should initially admire the mansion and understand why its inhabitants love living there. The mansion should initially feel genuinely comfortable, inhabited, and emotionally meaningful rather than presenting itself as an obviously haunted or abandoned location.

The narrative's darker mysteries exist beneath this welcoming surface. They must not overwhelm the mansion's primary identity as a home.

4.2 Architectural Identity

The mansion must appear architecturally coherent and historically established, not like a newly built luxury hotel or modern billionaire's residence.

Architectural characteristics:

• Classical Victorian architecture, with elaborate woodwork, carved furniture, decorative ceilings, traditional fireplaces, and richly detailed interiors.
• Extensive use of premium natural materials, including fine hardwoods, stone, marble, metals, and luxurious textiles.
• Grand halls, staircases, corridors, and numerous rooms, including sections rarely visited by the family.
• A sense of historical continuity: older furnishings and architectural details coexist with more recent possessions and technology.

4.3 Interior Lighting and Color

The mansion's interiors are predominantly dark, even during daylight.

Windows are generally discreet, and many rooms receive limited direct sunlight. Heavy curtains, including deep red curtains, reinforce the enclosed atmosphere.

The player should sometimes have difficulty determining whether it is daytime or nighttime outside without approaching a window.

However, darkness must never imply poor maintenance or make ordinary navigation unreasonably difficult.

Lighting comes primarily from carefully arranged artificial sources: chandeliers, decorative lamps, wall sconces, fireplaces, and other appropriate fixtures. Candlesticks also contribute to the historical aesthetic.

The overall visual language favors dark polished wood, burgundy and deep red textiles, warm metallic accents, richly textured upholstery, and restrained pools of interior light.

Some specialized environments, particularly the indoor swimming pool, may use larger windows or different lighting conditions.

The intended atmosphere is dark, intimate, warm, enclosed, and reassuring — not oppressive by default.

4.4 Wealth and Material Quality

The family's wealth is described on the family's page. See: Factions › Von Veylor-Schloss Family

Approximately USD 400,000 per month is spent maintaining the estate, without this expenditure representing a meaningful financial burden to the family.

This wealth must be visible through the consistency and extraordinary quality of everyday materials and possessions.

Even ordinary furniture, curtains, lamps, tableware, and small decorative objects may be exceptionally expensive.

Luxury is not concentrated exclusively in grand reception rooms. It extends throughout much of the residence, including private living spaces.

Nevertheless, not every room must contain famous artwork or elaborate displays. The mansion should feel naturally inhabited by a family accustomed to immense wealth.

Avoid conspicuous contemporary luxury branding, flashy automotive displays, and decorative choices made primarily to impress guests.

4.5 Emotional Priorities

The mansion should evoke:

First: comfort, security, refinement, domestic warmth, and admiration.

Second: nostalgia, familiarity, intimate family memories, and a sense of sheltered childhood.

Third: curiosity, quiet mystery, intellectual unease, and subtle anticipation.

The mansion's size and occasionally unused spaces may create solitude, but not constant dread.

Its darkest secrets belong to the story's deeper layers and should emerge gradually through investigation.

4.6 Non-Negotiable Artistic Principles

• Do not design the mansion as an abandoned horror house.
• Do not use dirt, decay, mold, or damage as generic horror decoration in maintained areas.
• Do not substitute flashy modern luxury for historically grounded, intimate wealth.
• Do not treat the residents as strangers to their own home.
• Do not make every room a museum, a showcase, or a narrative puzzle.
• Do not fill the home with overt horror imagery merely because the game belongs to the horror genre.
• Maintain a convincing distinction between occupied rooms and rarely used wings.
• Preserve the Victorian architectural identity while allowing carefully integrated modern technology.
• Ensure the environment reflects an exceptionally wealthy but small, emotionally close household.
• Use architectural details, personal possessions, subtle sound design, and environmental storytelling to convey the family's history.

Final creative objective:

The mansion should be a place the player wishes to remain in. Its beauty, silence, intimacy, and extraordinary comfort should create attachment before the player understands the circumstances that made such an isolated life necessary.

5. Security and Access

The concealed entrance to the underground laboratory is in the wall of the butler's bedroom, and only the butler opens it.

See: Places › Butler Bedroom

6. Connections

• The secret underground laboratory lies beneath the butler's private quarters and is reached through his bedroom. See: Places › Laboratory
• The road to the Argentine departure airport. See: Places › Argentine Departure Airport
• The estate's grounds hold a helipad and a large natural lake with a yacht.

7. Concept Image

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8. Open Questions

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