Oh! Why greetings fellow adventurer. Welcome to my Lady’s humble abode.
Feel free to take a look around. The manor may be big, but it has plenty of
things that might peak your interest. We have the main hallway, the kitchen, my
room, my Lady’s, the pool, and much more.
Excited to look around? Well, before we start, why not some tea? Let us
sit down in the main hall. Oh, and it wouldn’t be proper tea time without some
melodies to relax our ears, now would it? Nathan, could be a dear and play your
sound, please?
Now, off we go then. By the way, the tea is hot, so do drink carefully.
You know, it’s rather lonely around here. Ever since Lady Croft has
disappeared a long time ago, things have been quiet around here. Worst part is,
not even I know what happened. Some say she was last seen in Prague, some claim
she was seen in the frozen temples of Nepal, and then there are those that say
she never came back from Peru. It’s strange, isn’t it? She ended her grand
journey at the place she started. As a matter of fact, I have something to show
you. Thankfully, Lady Croft was kind enough to not force me to do her
gymnastics in order to get to her treasure vault.
Sorry for the delay, my good fellow adventurer, but the lever seems to
be rusty as of late. I’d better call our regulars to fix it. Regardless of that
little problem, here we are. The treasure vault of Lara Amelia Croft, filled
with various artefacts and treasures she has discovered in her years of tomb
raiding. And perhaps Peru does have a meaning to the Croft family. For it was
the first place she visited that was an adventure unlike others. Showing off
the world that Big Foot is real or the Ark of the Covenant were done in a day.
This one however, exhausted her. The artefact that you see in front of you is
The Scion of Atlantis. Yes! The Atlantis!
A hunt for this artefact took place many years ago. From India, Miss
Croft then suddenly took a flight to Peru to find this mystical thing. She
originally wanted to search the deep jungles of India in hopes of finding
another artefact, the one you see there amongst the others of the same
material. But, a business tycoon named Jacqueline Natla said otherwise.
In Peru, mainly behind an ancient city, Vilcabamba, lied a tomb, where
the Scion was located. Upon obtaining it, she quickly learned that this was
only one piece of the whole package. Traveling to Greece, and then Egypt for
the remaining pieces, she ended up in a deadly duel against her former boss,
who was revealed to be the queen of Atlantis, and that she used the Scion to
create abominations of the Atlantean race. With the Scion in her possession,
she planned on restarting her desired, yet twisted dream. In the end, she was
defeated by Lara. After the adventure was over, she returned slightly injured,
but not injured enough to go onto another one, and it’s about the mystical
Egyptian Cat you see behind the Scion. She went back to Egypt to get it.
You are now wondering what the artefact next to the Scion is. That
dagger over there. Well. A year later,
after her war against Atlantis, her eye caught something interesting. A Chinese
dagger, which turned the user into a mystical golden dragon. Once the user
stabbed himself in the heart, of course.
She started her journey, innocently enough, in China. Only then to go
around various places, such as Italy, the Mediterranean, Tibet, and then back
to China. As a matter of fact, the reason for her travelling to Italy was to
discover more about the artefact she was seeking. This, unfortunately, led her
to deal with a dangerous foe. Have you ever heard of the Fiamma Nera? A cult
from Venice that focused on achieving many supernatural goals in various dark
ways. Its leader, Marco Bartolli (although some jokingly name him Macho
Broccoli), was in pursuit of the Dagger. His ambitions equalled those of
Lara’s, and both ended up facing off in a mystical temple. The Temple of Xian,
the resting place of the dagger.
And then she decided to go out on a search for a Golden Mask that was
located somewhere in Alaska. What she did to that mask is unknown.
She took a little break then. To prepare herself for her main journey,
the one she wanted to do before she got rudely interrupted by Natla. You see
the turquoise artefacts? Well, they were actually crafted from an artefact that
landed on Earth millions of years ago. But all this was unknown to her. She
just thought the artefact in question was unique to the Indian tribe, known as
the Infada tribe. Lara was well informed about it once she met a scientist
named Dr. Mark Willard. The man himself owned a mining company. He noticed how
valuable her skills are and hired her to search for the rest.
She went around the globe for this one, let me tell you. Nevada, South
Pacific, London. Perhaps her venture back home was a crucial one, as she faced
off an opponent like no other. That opponent will show up again in France,
after Lara deals with the mad scientist in Antarctica. But you’re asking
yourself, why deal with another boss? Sadly, Dr. Willard had ill intentions
with the artefact. Creating something inhuman out of man. And as for the opponent
of Miss Croft, she didn’t give up on her revenge. Sophia Leigh, owner of her
own company business, snatched the final meteorite artefact, The Hand of
Rathmore, and gave chase to Lara in France, where in the end, after a battle
that spanned across dimensions (maybe even across other universes and
timelines), Lady Croft ended up being the victor. I remember noticing the
changes once I was near the place where the battle took. She climbed up onto
the family’s hot air balloon, and on our way back, we saw things reverting back
to normal.
And I see you have finished your tea, sir. Wait here, while I go get us
another round. And in the meantime, let us sit down next to the artefact in the
corner, The Iris. And a reminder to myself: tell Peter to play his music on my
way over to the kitchen.
Here I am. With round two of our tea time. Sorry to keep you waiting,
sir, but I got locked up in the freezer by Nathan. He was upset for telling him
to stop playing his music. But released me after giving him the reason as to
why Peter was needed.
Now, where were we? Ah, yes. The Iris. Lara’s life changed forever with
this one. As a matter of fact, you may have noticed The Philosopher Stone, a
replica of the Spear of Destiny, and The Bestiary surrounding The Iris. That’s
because all of those artefacts tell more of Miss Croft’s ventures. The
Philosopher Stone she found in Rome; The Spear of Destiny, which we had to make
a replica of because the original one vanished into the depths of the Barents
Sea; and The Bestiary. That one and The Iris are interlocked, since both were
discovered when Lara was a little angel. She used The Bestiary to save an old
friend of ours back in 1984, and The Iris was her first true major discovery,
that same year. She pressured her professor, Werner Von Croy, into taking her
into his expedition to Cambodia, where it all ended tragically. Werner got
trapped whilst attempting to get the artefact. Thankfully, he escaped, and took
the thing with him. It was when he created his Von Croy industries that led
Lara and him become bitter rivals, with Lara stealing The Iris right underneath
his nose. Can you believe that?
But what’s sad is that, in a way, their rivalry was perhaps the thing
that kept the two of them going forward. 1999 in particular. A fateful year.
Everything started to change. And its effects can be felt even today. The
change’s effects, for the better or worse, are making things very bizarre. But
what I do know is that dear little Lara was trying to undo her mistake. Saving
the world from the wrath of the Egyptian god Seth. Something she unwillingly
did during an expedition in Egypt. From Karnak, to Alexandria, to Cairo, all
the way to Giza. In less than a week before we entered the new millennium, Lara
was trying to undo her errors.
And if we open this secret wall next to The Iris and its guardians, we
can see what’s left of the armour of the sun god Horus. She was told by a good
friend of hers that in order to defeat Seth, Horus was to be summoned. Finding
the armour and placing them onto his statue in a temple dedicated to him, it
will summon the sun god to defeat the ancient Egyptian evil. But, as fate would
have it, that did not come to fruition. Seth ruined the ceremonial summoning
with his entrance and destruction of the statue. But that was the perfect
opportunity to give Lara a shot at trapping him inside. Little did Miss Croft
knew, Seth was going to trap her as well.
Sorry for expressing myself a bit too much, fellow adventurer. But I
still think about it. Especially with what followed afterwards.
She was found. Alive and well. Little Lara was alright. Werner hadn’t
lost hope after the incident in Egypt. He was able to find her and bring her
back to civilization after Seth trapped her with him in his nephew’s temple,
now a tomb.
They both then went to France, Paris, to discuss a very important issue
not too long after their initial reunion. Misfortune then struck both, when an
intruder killed Werner, setting up Lara to be the supposed killer, forcing her
on the run. And down the corner here, we see what was supposed to be another
trophy she was going to bring home, but she never did. She never came back from
that hunt. From raiding tombs, uncovering mysteries, to fighting a cult over
the resurrection of The Nephilim race. She never retrieved the supposed Obscura
Paintings, nor The Sanglyph that supposedly saved her. I heard from sources she
was accompanied with a friend, and that he was wounded in his attempts to help
her out. Last from what I was told, she entered into the darkness to seek out
her comrade. With a smile on her face. After that, no one has seen her…
I honestly don’t know what could’ve happened to her. She never returned.
Did she escape with her friend and started a new life? Where they don’t
deal with anything that’s related to archaeology and cult hunting?
I refused to listen, or to even make contact with people once I
discovered she was not coming back. I refused to deal with the news. Her
parents, Lord Richard Heshingley James Croft and Lady Amelia Croft, passed on
not too long ago. Lord Richard died during a trip in Cambodia, and Lady Amelia
vanished in Nepal. I question Lord Almighty why I’m still alive, and not with
the family I swore to serve for all eternity.
Even now, when I decided to listen as to what happened to dear little
Lara Amelia Croft, I refuse to believe it.
Some say she went on a worldwide hunt for King Arthur’s Excalibur. And
that Peru… My God. Again Peru. Anyways, and that Peru gave away the answer she
was seeking for during that time. She dealt with a yakuza leader, a young
enthusiastic adventurer, and her former best friend. They all had pieces of
what was supposed to form Arthur’s legendary sword.
The sword, when forged together, could open a portal through time, is
what I was told. A stone dais is needed in order for this to happen. Once the
sword is put in the dais, the portal is opened. However-
Oh my. I see young Troels is doing his work now.
Where was I? Ah, that’s right. The portal is opened, allowing people to
communicate through time and space. Lara, was however, unable to do that, due
to the meddling of her former best friend. She caused the portal to be
destroyed.
And what was Miss Croft trying to do exactly? Communicate with her now
dead mother.
Again. I don’t believe any of this, nor the fact that the continuity of
this madness leads to dealing with her former nemesis, Natla, who somehow
managed to survive her demise and is now in an alliance with Amanda Evert. The
friend of Lara’s. She mentions that Lady Amelia is in Helheim, and that Helheim
and Avalon are the same place. The place where Lara’s mother is. So, suddenly,
Lady Amelia vanished from Nepal to Helheim?
A long venture cut short, Natla backstabs Amanda, in order to fulfil her
plans for world conquest, with the armies from Helheim no less. Lara, now
forced to work with Amanda, is successful in stopping the fallen queen. What
happened to them, after that, is unknown.
I’m sorry for ranting on about. I just opened myself some old wounds.
It’s hard to control this feeling. The feeling of false hope, that one day, she
may return to us.
The yakuza leader I mentioned earlier, reminded me of another story I
heard about Lara, that she became a survivor after a terrible shipwreck lead
her astray on a mysterious and remote island in Japan, and that she had to
fight for survival against the enemies inhabiting the island and the spirit of
the Queen of The Kingdom of Wa, Himiko. Or that once she found herself free
from Japan, her work was discredited by some shady people that then later
forced her to fight against them for an artefact that has the powers of
immortality.
All of this culminated to her having the final showdown against the
shady people, whose organization name is supposed to be Trinity, in Peru, for
they have somehow managed to bring the apocalypse to the world.
The way how I described all of this is something that I heard only.
Never believed in any of it. Could this be true? Perhaps. But we may never
know, for the world itself is unsure of it.
And I just now noticed those beautiful roses you have. Were you on your
way to Sir Dudley’s manor? If that’s the case, then I humbly apologise for
stalling you with my stories about our missing Lady. But I do hope that the tea
was good and that Nathan, Peter, Troels and now Brian in the end made the
stories a bit bearable.
Be sure to tell him that Winston is unable to come over due to garden
related problems, but that he congratulates his defensive title win.
And before you leave the gate, a big thank you for taking the time for
listening to an old man’s grieving story as a support for the main heroine. And
as you go along the path, remember her words:
Now it’s time for our third adventure…
