Written in Stone was a virtual representation of one of Kassandra's genetic memories, relived by Layla Hassan in 2018 through the Portable Animus HR-8.5.
Description[]
Kassandra agreed to follow a scribe to learn what had happened to her mother and brother all those years ago.
Dialogue[]
Kassandra met with Timoxenos.
- Timoxenos: Greetings, young one. Come to offer Asklepios a sacrifice?
- Kassandra: No, but I'm searching for a Spartan mother who may have.
- Timoxenos: The great goddess Hera guides many mothers to this sacred place. Surely I'm too feeble to remember them all.
- Kassandra: What are these stone slabs for?
- Timoxenos: These are records. We document all who pass through—their illnesses, treatments—so that the glory of Asklepios can be celebrated.
- Kassandra: Then I don't need your memory. I just need to find the right stone.
Timoxenos: Um, yes, of course. That's very wise, indeed. If only I had the time to help you...
- Kassandra: Listen, I'm not here to hurt you. I'm just looking for my mater.
- Timoxenos: It's Chrysis. She's got every priest in the sanctuary under her thumb, and she'll squash anyone who feeds information to the Eagle Bearer.
- Kassandra: Then don't tell me anything—just bring me to the stone that can.
- Timoxenos: Follow me, then. Quickly, we must be discreet.
- Kassandra: Lead the way.
Kassandra followed Timoxenos to where she hoped would be stone engravings about her mother.
- Timoxenos: This way. Over here. If anyone is watching, they'll have my head.
- Kassandra: What kind of sanctuary isn't safe for its priests?
- Timoxenos: Times have changed, Eagle Bearer.
They arrived at the tablets.
Kassandra with Timoxenos at the first slab
- Timoxenos: Ah! I remember this tale. Written during the time of the great Helot Revolt. You would have been only a child.
- Kassandra: I don't need the history, just the details.
- Timoxenos: It tells the tale of a woman with worms in her throat. Asklepios took off her head so we could remove them, then reattached it in her sleep.
- Kassandra: Definitely not the right one. I wonder what Hippokrates would think of these... treatments.
- Timoxenos: Hippokrates is a fine healer. Showed so much promise.
- Kassandra: Showed? He's healing the sick right now.
- Timoxenos: He puts too much faith in his hands, and not enough in the gods.
- Kassandra:: When it comes to life and death, I prefer hands. Are all the testimonies so... outrageous?
- Timoxenos: Writers today—Thucydides, Euripides, the petulant Aristophanes... All of them try for realism, but—what really inspires is greatness, magic, gods!
Near the guesthouse they found another slab.
- Timoxenos: This one tells the tale of a man with sword wounds. A pack of dogs licked him clean, and eureka! A man's best friend indeed.
- Kassandra: This is hopeless.
- Timoxenos: These stories give people hope, Eagle Bearer.
- Kassandra: Well, I'm losing mine. Tell me about Chrysis.
- Timoxenos: A very powerful, dangerous woman. But it was not always so. She was abandoned here as a child and taken in by the priests. Taught the ways of the gods. She learned very quickly, was very strong-willed, and before too long it was the priests who listened to her. She was loved. But there's an anger in her heart that could not be soothed. So when her methods turned to madness, anyone who opposed her got...
- Kassandra: Got what?
- Timoxenos: I've already said too much.
They reached yet another slab.
Kassandra and Timoxenos at the last slab
- Kassandra: And what about this one? Let me guess: it tells the tale of a blind woman who had her eyes licked by snakes.
- Timoxenos: It reads "Of Sparta. Came here with child. Sought pity from the gods."
- Kassandra: Why is most of it scratched out?
- Timoxenos: Oh, I um... I'll just tell you. I know this one by heart. The Spartan woman arrived filthy and bleeding from her travels. We cared for her, gave her food, a bath, and she left. Where she went, I do not know. The child... could not be saved.
- Kassandra: Who does know where she went?
Timoxenos noticed another priest watching them.
Pleistos interrupting Kassandra and Timoxenos
- Timoxenos: We've been spotted. Meet me later, near the Olive Tree of Herakles at the entrance of the sanctuary. I may have something for you.
The man approached them.
- Priest: And what do we have here, a priest and a mercenary out for a friendly stroll?
- Timoxenos: May the gods be with you, Pleistos! I was just on my way to the archives when this misthios bumped into me.
- Priest: Is that so? And what were you both chatting about so fervently, might I ask?
- Kassandra: I'm looking for my mother, a Spartan woman who came through here. This kind of priest brought me to this stone—it could be hers.
- Timoxenos: I um, have to... There's something—I must be going.
- Priest: We treat the sick, Eagle Bearer, and we respect the privacy of those we've treated. Now please leave. Your presence can only cause harm.
Pleistos left. Kassandra proceeded to leave town, making her way to the Olive Tree of Herakles.
- Kassandra: The tree of Herakles... I'm not sure if it's loved more for its legend or its olives. Now, where's that priest?
Kassandra arrived, only to discover Timoxenos's lifeless body.
- Kassandra: What happened? Who did this?
Kassandra finding Timoxenos' body
As she stepped forward to investigate, Kassandra was interrupted by Pleistos accompanied by guards loyal to the Cult of Kosmos.
- Priest: He knew the penalty for speaking with the Eagle Bearer about... her. Chrysis was clear.
- Kassandra: You didn't have to kill him.
- Priest: But we did... and now we'll kill you.
- Kassandra: The good priest here was teaching me how to heal sword wounds.
- Timoxenos: Erm, yes... sword wounds...
- Priest: Oh really? And what is the treatment for sword wounds according to Timoxenos here?
- Kassandra: Um... snakes. You wrap snakes around the wound to stop the bleeding.
- Priest: Ooh! A most ingenious treatment wouldn't you say, Timoxenos?
- Timoxenos: I um, have to... There's something—I must be going.
- Priest: We treat the sick, Eagle Bearer, and we respect the privacy of those we've treated. Now please leave. Your presence can only cause harm.
Pleistos left. Kassandra proceeded to leave town, making her way to the Olive Tree of Herakles.
- Kassandra: The tree of Herakles... I'm not sure if it's loved more for its legend or its olives. Now, where's that priest?
- Timoxenos: I thank you for your discretion, Eagle Bearer. Chrysis has many eyes and ears throughout the sanctuary.
- Kassandra: What else can you tell me about the Spartan woman and child?
- Timoxenos: The woman left the child's blanket behind. We tried to return it, but it was too painful a memory for her.
- Kassandra: Where did she go? What happened to the child?
Kassandra and Timoxenos confronted by Pleistos and a Cultist guard
Their meeting was interrupted by Pleistos accompanied by guards loyal to the Cult of Kosmos.
- Priest: So, Chrysis was right. You knew the rules, Timoxenos. You will suffer her wrath.
- Timoxenos: Pleistos, please!
- Kassandra: Get behind me, priest. I'll deal with these two.
- Kassandra: I'm filthy and could use a good bath. The kind priest here was pointing me in the direction of the bath house.
- Timoxenos: Erm, yes... that's correct. The bath house is right over there. Now if you'll excuse me.
- Priest: The baths are for healing the sick, not for washing the blood off one's hands. Leave.
Pleistos left. Kassandra proceeded to leave town, making her way to the Olive Tree of Herakles.
- Kassandra: The tree of Herakles... I'm not sure if it's loved more for its legend or its olives. Now, where's that priest?
- Timoxenos: I thank you for your discretion, Eagle Bearer. Chrysis has many eyes and ears throughout the sanctuary.
- Kassandra: What else can you tell me about the Spartan woman and child?
- Timoxenos: The woman left the child's blanket behind. We tried to return it, but it was too painful a memory for her.
- Kassandra: Where did she go? What happened to the child?
Kassandra and Timoxenos confronted by Pleistos and a Cultist guard
Their meeting was interrupted by Pleistos accompanied by guards loyal to the Cult of Kosmos.
- Priest: So, Chrysis was right. You knew the rules, Timoxenos. You will suffer her wrath.
- Timoxenos: Pleistos, please!
- Kassandra: Get behind me, priest. I'll deal with these two.
Outcome[]
Kassandra learned about her mother and brother, and recovered Alexios' baby blanket from Timoxenos.
Trivia[]
- Lying to Pleistos, or correctly answering "Dogs" when he quizzes the player on sword wounds according to Timoxenos, is the only way to keep him alive. Telling the truth or giving an incorrect answer tips him off and results in Timoxenos's immediate death. Pleistos says, "We treat the sick..." in response to all three "incorrect" dialogue choices.
- This quest is not actually required to track down Chrysis, and in fact is available for some time after her death as well. All dialogue assumes she is still alive and has the sanctuary under her thumb.
- Pleistos can be knocked out and recruited as a lieutenant for the Adrestia with a unique avatar. If that is the case, he is the only Cult of Kosmos member with a unique avatar that is named, as the other three Cult of Kosmos members with unique avatars are not named. The vanguard without a mask can also be knocked out and recruited as a lieutenant, though in the Ship menu, he will simply be called "Cultist".
Gallery[]
Pleistos and his guards