Details about how to find the vampire prisoner (Kurt) in Emem’s second scene (Scene 04) in Vampire the Masquerade: Swansong.
Throughout Emem’s second scene (Scene 04) you’ll find the odd note mentioning a dangerous nosferatu prisoner kept atop the tower, with some instructions for how to reach him. Despite this information, actually accomplishing this feat isn’t something that’s not terribly intuitive, as you’ll have to go out of your way - unpromoted - and solve some additional puzzles.
Progress through Emem’s second scene (Scene 04) until you perform your second Blink jump, after recovering your first missing memory (while looking at the Jefferson Library sign). You should find yourself on a ledge with a well-furnished study across from some sundered stairs that lead to a tower. Use Blink to cross between the two sections of stairs and enter the tower, where you’ll find some grooved concentric circles on the floor.
To advance up the tower you’ll need to solve a puzzle - there are three levels of the tower you need to ascend to reach the end of this scene, which means three puzzle floors. Interact with the pedestal along the edge of the room and the camera will shift to an overhead view, giving you a good look at the puzzle. To activate the elevator you’ll need to move the concentric rings and line up their grooves, creating a channel from the pedestal (bottom of the screen) to the center of the lift.
The puzzles will increase in complexity as you advance, with the first puzzle having only one rotating part, while the second and third puzzles both allow you to rotate all three concentric rings. In the second puzzle, moving the middle ring will also move the inner ring, and for the third puzzle moving the middle ring will also move the inner ring, and moving the outer ring will also move both the middle and inner rings.
Solving these puzzles will allow you to reach the end of the scene and is necessary to advance through the game, but they’re also the key to ascending to the top of the tower, where the vampire prisoner is being kept. First, solve the puzzle on each floor to unlock the elevator to the next floor, after which you’ll be able to interact with the pedestal again and can this time work on solving the puzzle that’ll ultimately unlock access to the 5th floor.
The goal of each puzzle the second time around isn’t the pedestal, but rather one of the runes encircling the puzzle itself. Note the runes on the floor near the bases of the pedestals, and the runes that encircle the ring puzzle on each floor. The rune encircling the puzzle that matches the one on the floor near the pedestal is what you need to create a channel to.
Below you’ll find solutions for each of the three puzzles you’ll need to solve to ascend to the 5th floor.
Solve the optional puzzle on the 1st floor.
How to Solve the First Puzzle to Reach the Vampire Prisoner¶
Check out the ground near the pedestal after solving this puzzle and note the rune - a circle with two squares inside it. Like the elevator puzzle on this level, solving this shouldn’t be too much trouble, as there’s only one moving part and the grooves on each ring are aligned. Just rotate the puzzle until you create a channel connecting the target rune (which is on the left side of the circle, at roughly 9-o’clock) to the center of the puzzle.
Solve the optional puzzle on the 2nd floor.
How to Solve the Second Puzzle to Reach the Vampire Prisoner¶
The symbol you need to target this time is fairly ornate, appearing as a stylized sunburst surrounded by a ring with four dark circles along its orbit. It’s located at the top of the puzzle, at roughly 12-o’clock. As intricate as the rune itself is, this puzzle is surprisingly simple - it even makes use of the otherwise neglected straight line segment! Like with the elevator puzzle you had to solve earlier, you have three moving parts and the grooves are not aligned to make a path - you’ll have to do that yourself. The inner, outer and middle rings can all be moved, but rotating the middle ring will also cause the inner ring to rotate, so work your way from the outside in to the center. Check out the image above for the solution.
Solve the optional puzzle on the 3rd floor.
How to Solve the Third Puzzle to Reach the Vampire Prisoner¶
The symbol you’re targeting this time is a triangle with a circle inside it, which itself envelopes another circle. Since it’s the only one with a triangular outer shape, it should stand out fairly well. If not, it’s the rune at roughly 2-o’clock.
Like the elevator puzzle you had to solve previously, since this is the third ring puzzle, it’s going to be the hardest of the bunch. You once again have three moving parts - an outer, inner and middle ring. This time, however, moving one ring also causes any interior rings to also move, so moving the outer ring moves the middle and inner rings, and moving the middle ring moves the inner ring.
The elevator puzzle before this dabbled in the channel backtracking from the middle ring to the outer ring, and this one ups the ante by doing so twice. This should make it fairly easy to solve, however, as the two meandering channels on the outer ring are pretty distinct, and once you’ve lined those up, everything else should fall into place. Once again, check out the image provided for the solution.
(1 of 2) If you pick the option “Erase the symbol” you’ll free the vampire prisoner,
If you pick the option “Erase the symbol” you’ll free the vampire prisoner, (left), and earn the trait “Friend or Enemy?” in the process. (right)
How to Reach and Free the Vampire Prisoner Kurt¶
Once you’ve solved all three puzzles for a second time, you’ll unlock the 5th floor as a destination on the elevator. Ride up to the 5th floor and, after a scene, you’ll be able to investigate the ring surrounding the prone prisoner. Do so and you’ll get the option to “Erase the symbol.”, which will free the vampire prisoner and give Emem the Friend or Enemy? trait, which lowers her success rate in rhetoric ties by -10%, but increases her success rate in Psychology ties by +10%.
This decision will also influence how Scene 08 (Emem’s fourth scene) plays out.
He doesn’t look particularly friendly.
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