House of Pleasure is the third mission in Dishonored, in which Corvo Attano must enter the Golden Cat pleasure house to eliminate Custis and Morgan Pendleton – two parliamentarians in support of the Lord Regent – and find and rescue Emily Kaldwin.
Briefing[]
Pre-mission, Overseers Undone[]
Martin is on his way to join the Loyalists, and Campbell's fate has thrown the Overseers into disarray. Decoding the High Overseer's journal may reveal any number of strategic secrets, most notably the location of the rightful heir to the throne, Emily Kaldwin.
Mission[]
The Loyalists believe that Emily is being held at the Golden Cat by the corrupt, aristocratic Pendleton brothers. These men are Lord Pendleton's despised older brothers, twins, and they are loyal to the tyrannical Lord Regent. Find Emily at the Golden Cat and eliminate Lords Custis and Morgan Pendleton.
Pre-Mission[]
Corvo can find Farley Havelock and Pendleton outside near one of the sewer entrances in the back. Havelock will ask Corvo to investigate the sewers, saying that there have been odd sounds coming from them lately. He will also recommend that Corvo speak to Piero, who can give him a combat sleep dart upgrade.
Upon descending into the sewers, Corvo discovers two weepers and two runes in the vicinity. He can kill them or knock them out, leaving the bodies there.
Teague Martin arrives while Corvo is gone and can be found with Havelock in the pub. As Corvo exits the sewers, Cecelia will comment on his courage for braving the area and inform him of Martin's arrival. Havelock and Martin will not brief Corvo on his mission, but will tell him important information. Outside, Pendleton waits for Corvo so that he can brief him personally on the mission to assassinate his brothers.
In the workshop, Corvo can find Piero speaking to Callista about the machines he designed for the Golden Cat, implying they are sexual in nature. Callista is disgusted, saying that she only brought Piero tea as a favor. Piero, realizing he misunderstood Callista's intentions, thanks her for the tea.
If Corvo goes to Havelock's room after this display, he will find Callista there, waiting for the admiral to return. Havelock will remind Callista of her duties when Emily arrives, telling her of the importance of her job.
Pendleton's memoirs and Piero's audiograph log are also updated. Havelock has thrown his audiograph player into the river, where it was recovered by Samuel, who has now recorded his first audiograph log.
Slackjaw's Mission[]
The Distillery District[]
To avoid the newly installed Watchtower at the beginning of John Clavering Boulevard, go toward the Dunwall Whiskey Distillery. A Bottle Street thug there informs Corvo that Slackjaw wants to meet him. Follow the thug.
- (Ghost Tip: When passing in front of the alley where Griff was barricaded, several of Daud's assassins will appear and attack Corvo if he gets too close, thus locking Ghost. If Corvo approaches the alley via the roof of the second-story building adjacent to Bottle Street, he will see an assassin pass through the abandoned apartment; this assassin can be neutralized without spotting Corvo, granting a vantage point by which the remaining assassins can be eliminated.)
Bottle Street is a Neutral Zone, so Corvo is free to move about the area. Slackjaw will be waiting for Corvo in the distillery, and will ask Corvo to go to the Offices of Dr. Galvani to find his missing associate in exchange for a reward.
- If Corvo poisoned the elixir still in Slackjaw's office during the previous mission, Slackjaw will mention it, but will not know that Corvo is responsible. Also, when Corvo leaves the distillery, there will be weepers attacking the thugs outside.
Galvani's Residence[]
Once inside Galvani's residence, avoid or neutralize the guards and head to the top floor. Two Officers will be inside, standing over the corpse of Crowley, Slackjaw's informant. Wait until the Officers separate; one will go out into the stairwell, and the other will patrol the room. Grab the audiograph next to the corpse. There is a rune located where the rat viscera was in the previous mission, which can be retrieved before leaving the building.
Return to the Distillery[]
When Corvo returns to Slackjaw, a cut scene will play - Slackjaw listens to the audiograph and, satisfied, gives Corvo the key to the Captain's Chair Hotel, simplifying the approach to the Golden Cat.
Slackjaw then offers Corvo a second deal: find Bunting, the art dealer, and retrieve his safe combination. In exchange, Slackjaw will have the Pendleton brothers dealt with for Corvo "real quiet-like." This represents the mission's non-lethal elimination.
Infiltration[]
If using the rooftop access provided by Slackjaw, Corvo can cross to the left or right sides of the Golden Cat with ease and without attracting attention. This becomes easier when using Blink Tier II.
- If crossing on the left, toward the gazebo, get onto the sign jutting from the building and blink over to the gazebo top. Cross the beams, blink on to the ledge, and sneak into an open window on the second floor.
- If crossing right, blink to the balcony of a building across the street. There will be a hole in the ceiling; move through it to the next floor then go to the window, exit onto and follow the air vent. Corvo can then either use a rat tunnel located behind the bushes on the right wall, or follow the ledge to the open window on to the second floor.
Locating the Pendleton Brothers[]
The brothers can be located by three different means:
- When entering through an open window over the front entrance, Corvo will hear Madame Prudence and one of the twins' guards conversing. Eavesdropping will reveal which rooms the Pendleton twins are currently occupying.
- On the desk in Madame Prudence's office is a ledger noting the habitants of each room, including the Pendletons.
- There is also a copy of the ledger downstairs in the lobby.
- By sneaking in and eavesdropping on Betty and another courtesan in the washroom on the first floor.
(Note: Morgan Pendleton will always be in either the Ivory Room or the Steam Room. Custis Pendleton will always be in either the Gold Room or the Smoking Room.)
Accessing the Pendletons[]
Custis Pendleton[]
Both the Smoking Room and the Gold Room are on the third floor. To gain access to the smoking room, the easiest method is to enter from the outer balcony, which can be reached from another balcony nearby. Corvo can enter through the door. If Corvo wishes to be stealthy, he can hide behind the room divider or underneath the dresser.
The Gold Room is more difficult to access from the outside, as the balcony is difficult to reach. To enter from inside the building, Corvo must make his way to the third floor, avoiding any guards. One guard will patrol the area in front of the door, periodically looking through the keyhole. Another guard will patrol the entire floor, and a third guard stands near an outer balcony.
If Corvo does not alarm him, Custis can be witnessed expressing his anger toward Lady Boyle, telling his courtesan, Violetta, a bit about his current financial situation. The courtesan will suggest that she dress up as Lady Boyle, and Custis agrees, saying that he would "like to teach her a lesson".
Morgan Pendleton[]
The Ivory Room is located on the second floor and can be accessed from outside through a broken window or through the doors. Two guards patrol the floor, but there is no guard posted directly outside the room.
The Steam Room is on the lower level, where two guards can be found discussing the Pendletons' financial situation. Once they are finished speaking, one will patrol the room while the other stands with his back to the stairs. Morgan is in the nearest room with a courtesan, Loulia, and discusses politics with her while receiving a hand massage. To easily kill Morgan, Corvo can enter the caged room across from the stairs where he can increase the steam until it bursts from the pipes, killing Morgan and the courtesan and earning an achievement.
Locating Emily[]
As with the twins, Emily can be located by two different means:
- If entering the Golden Cat through the rat tunnel, Corvo will arrive in a bathroom where Betty and her fellow courtesan are discussing Emily. Eavesdropping on them will reveal her whereabouts.
- This room can also be accessed while Corvo is in human form; locate the service stairway where the entrance to Madame Prudence's office is found. The door to the bathroom is on the ground floor of the stairway.
- A note left in Madame Prudence's office will also reveal Emily's location.
Emily can be found in a room on the third floor of the Golden Cat. When the door is opened, a cut scene plays as Emily and Corvo reunite. Emily will then tell Corvo that she knows a way out through the VIP exit at the base of the stairway. The Golden Cat Master Key, which can be retrieved from Madame Prudence, is required to open it.
Once through the VIP exit, Emily will run ahead, saying she will meet Corvo at Samuel's boat. Once he leaves the Cat, Corvo will encounter Granny Rags. In the area outside will be a group of weepers - neutralize or avoid them, and leave the alley.
If completing the non-lethal elimination, Corvo can now return to the Distillery District. Otherwise, meet Samuel and Emily at the riverboat and return to the Hound Pits Pub.
Non-Lethal Elimination[]
Completing the first mission for Slackjaw opens the non-lethal elimination for the Pendletons. To utilize this elimination, Corvo must find the art dealer, Bunting, at the Golden Cat, and procure his safe combination.
While the locations of the Pendleton brothers change with each playthrough, Bunting is always in the Silver Room. When Corvo enters, Bunting is blindfolded and strapped into an electric chair. He mistakes Corvo for his typical courtesan, and chooses a safe word before instructing Corvo to shock him.
After Corvo shocks him several times (during which Bunting reveals how he has been swindling the Pendletons out of their fortune), he will use his safe word. Ignore this command and shock him twice more. Bunting will realize that Corvo is not his regular courtesan and ask what he wants. He will then easily reveal the combination to his safe when prompted.
When Corvo returns to the Distillery District and gives Slackjaw the combination, Slackjaw will reveal what is in store for the twins: his thugs will abduct them, shave their heads, cut out their tongues and put them to work in their own silver mines. The Art of the Steal achievement will be awarded if Corvo loots the safe before giving Slackjaw the combination.
Post-Mission[]
Corvo, Samuel, and Emily arrive at the Hound Pits to find Callista, Lydia, and Wallace waiting for them by the edge of the river. Wallace can be seen running towards the stairs and then calling out for the maids. Corvo helps Emily from the boat, and Callista welcomes her. After Emily goes to her room with Callista, Havelock congratulates Corvo on a job well done.
From there, if Corvo walks toward the tower, he will find Lord Pendleton. Pendleton says that he never imagined that he would be the one to provide the family's next heir and reveals that he has bastard children. Additionally, he calls for Wallace as he tries to hide his guilt, joking humorlessly and promoting Wallace to "Head Lackey".
After Pendleton is finished talking, he tells Corvo that Havelock wants to speak with him.
Side Objectives[]
- Slackjaw sent one of his men to investigate the Galvani Residence, and he never returned. He asks Corvo to find out what happened to the man. On the delivery of the dead man's audiograph, Slackjaw will reward Corvo with a key to the Captain's Chair Hotel so that he may infiltrate the Golden Cat from an adjacent rooftop.
- A woman is being harassed by two City Watch guards over a vial of elixir. Corvo can choose to intervene and protect her.
- Go to the walkway underneath the entrance to Galvani's House. Follow it to the large alley under the bridge.
- If Corvo saves the woman by neutralizing the two guards, she will give him the key to the back door of the Art Dealer's Apartment, located near the spot where Griff sets up shop. If Corvo does not kill the weepers along the street, the woman may be killed by them after she leaves Corvo. She can also be eaten by a group of rats that sometimes spawns after the guards have been killed.
- If Corvo does not save the woman, the key can still be looted from her corpse.
- After Corvo gets the safe combination from Bunting, he may choose to rob the safe himself.
- There are two ways into the Art Dealer's apartment:
- If Corvo obtained the key from either the woman on Gaff Street or Bunting, he can get in through the back door, located near Griff's Curio Shop.
- Corvo can also enter the building through the doors on the second floor balcony.
- There are four thugs total in the building - two on the second floor and two on the third. Despite the rest of the Bottle Street Gang's neutrality toward Corvo, the thugs in the art gallery will turn hostile upon seeing Corvo.
- On the second floor, the thugs will be distracted as they view a Sokolov painting, making it easy for Corvo to either sneak past them or take them out.
- On the third floor is the safe, in front of which are Stu and another thug attempting to open it. Once again, they are distracted, and Corvo can neutralize them with ease.
- The loot found in and around the safe includes elixirs, coins, an invitation to a party at the Boyle Mansion, and Sokolov paintings.
- There are two ways into the Art Dealer's apartment:
Special Actions[]
- Helped Slackjaw Find Crowley
- Put the Pendletons to Work In Their Own Mine
- Robbed the Art Dealer's Safe
- Steamed A Pendleton To Death
General Mission Notes[]
- Corvo begins this mission at the Distillery District. The District is largely the same as before, except for increased security and the appearance of weepers. Granny Rags has also abandoned her home and taken refuge outside the VIP exit of the Golden Cat.
- The thugs in the district (except in Bunting's house) will be neutral toward Corvo and will not attack him on sight.
- Slackjaw's reception changes based on Corvo's chaos level. On low chaos he addresses him cordially, musing that Corvo looks like a man out for murder. On high chaos Slackjaw is suspicious and calls him a villain, but one he has work for.
- There will be a new Watchtower in front of the first bridge in the Distillery District. If Corvo saved Geoff Curnow in the previous mission, the tower is added on his orders. If Curnow died, the tower is added "in light of his death."[1]
- Completing Granny Rags' quest during the previous assassination mission does not affect this one. The only differences are that thugs will be talking about the poisoning of the bootleg still, and there will be weepers on Bottle Street that must be dealt with after the first conversation with Slackjaw.
- If Corvo replies "Nothing" when torturing Bunting, Bunting will give up the key to the back door of his apartment. Corvo can then activate the chair again to get the same dialogue options, allowing him to obtain both the key and the safe combination without having to bother saving the woman from the two city guards (mentioned above).
- Corvo may ask Bunting for the combination to his safe only if Corvo knows about the safe, either from speaking to Slackjaw, reading his note about Bunting or by interacting with the safe or its dials. If Corvo tortures Bunting without any of these clues, Corvo will receive no dialogue options and Bunting gives up his key as if Corvo said nothing. Corvo may then leave Bunting to find one of the clues, which will allow Corvo to ask for the combination if he returns and activates the chair again.
- If Corvo robs the safe after telling Slackjaw the combination, more thugs will enter the building from below right after the combination is entered.
- If Corvo tells Slackjaw the safe combination after killing the Pendletons, Slackjaw will comment that Corvo is a hard man to figure out and that there is no need for him to uphold his end of the bargain.
- (Ghost Tip: Should Corvo walk back along Bottle Street after giving Slackjaw the safe combination, an assassin will appear on the balcony of the barricaded former home of Granny Rags if Corvo looks directly at the balcony. A transversal can be heard, then a second one as the assassin appears on the balcony. If Corvo gets too close, he will be spotted. Should he remain unseen, the assassin will then teleport again to stand with the other assassin on the roof next to Granny Rag's old home along Endoria Street.)
Trivia[]
- Even though Samuel says he will drop off Corvo as close to the Golden Cat as he can, there is a part of the river much closer right along the building itself and which is lowkey enough where he could have done so. It is even shown in a pre-release image.
- While there is no Outsider shrine in this mission, it appears a citizen was attempting to make one.
- It can be found in a building in the alley that connects Griff's shop with the door to the Bottle Street distillery.
- Rather than a rune, a bone charm will be found.
- If Griff was not released from the barricaded building during the previous mission, he can be found having succumbed and turned into a weeper.
- Despite telling Corvo he wants them dead, Treavor Pendleton shows disgust with Corvo if his brothers are killed. If the non-lethal elimination is utilized, Treavor still initially reacts with disgust, but eventually learns the truth of his brothers' fate. He then thanks Corvo by leaving a note and two gold ingots in Corvo's bedroom after Lady Boyle's Last Party.
- There are no repercussions for emptying the art dealer's safe before telling Slackjaw the combination. However, when Corvo meets Slackjaw again during The Flooded District, he will call Corvo a cheater.
- There is no way to harm Emily as all weapons have no effect on her. Although if Corvo throws grenades at her, she sometimes attempts to walk away from them. Emily also has specific comments whenever Corvo uses his abilities or gadgets such as pistol, Devouring Swarm, and Bend Time.
- There is an unused game over screen saying "Emily is afraid of you." This implies that she was able to be harmed or intimidated during development.
- If Corvo kills Slackjaw after completing the non-lethal path, the mission will fail, stating there is no one left to carry out the kidnapping. If Corvo turns Slackjaw hostile or renders him unconscious, the mission will fail for similar reasons.
- A fourth assassin can be encountered at the end of the mission on Endoria Street. He can be spotted on the roof of the building next to Granny Rags' abandoned home. This assassin will respawn everytime Corvo reenters the area.
- If Corvo goes to the Steam Room when Morgan is in the Ivory Room, he will find a City Watch Officer with one of the courtesans.
- If Corvo uses possession on a courtesan and enters one of the private rooms, the man inside will joyfully welcome the beauty to join the party.
- After Emily goes through the VIP exit, she is instantly transferred to Samuel's boat and cannot be found on the other side of the door.
- When Corvo talks to Emily after she has reached Samuel's boat, she implies that Granny Rags showed her the way there, even though she stated earlier that she knew the way.
- If Corvo knocks out the weepers in the sewers rather than killing them, a note can be found in his room upon returning to the Hound Pits Pub after the mission, pinned to the wall with some sleep darts.
- The song heard playing in the Golden Cat is called "Small Secrets". It is the real world Classical music piece Violin Duet No. 2 in E major, Op. 46, G 64: Larghetto by Luigi Boccherini.
- Bunting, thinking that Corvo is his normal courtesan, will comment on how Corvo's footsteps sound louder. Interestingly, he says this even if Corvo is crouching, when his footsteps should make no sound.
- If Corvo kills the courtesan that is trying to wake up Dunstan without first moving her away with possession, the sound will play as though someone has been alerted, but the guard will remain unconscious.
- If Corvo takes care of the weepers before speaking to Havelock, he will not get the key to the sewer door and will be unable to open it for the rest of the game. However, leaving one weeper unconscious will still cause Piero to leave a note and sleep darts.
- If Corvo killed Granny Rags in the previous mission, she will say: "Yes. Here I am. Guess it's not so easy to be rid of Granny, is it?"
Gallery[]
Low Chaos Walkthrough[]
References[]
Missions in Dishonored | |
---|---|
Main Campaign |
Returning Home • Dishonored • High Overseer Campbell • House of Pleasure • The Royal Physician • Lady Boyle's Last Party • Return to the Tower • The Flooded District • The Loyalists • The Light at the End |
The Knife of Dunwall |
None Like Her • A Captain of Industry • Eminent Domain • The Surge |
The Brigmore Witches |
Choosing Your Mark • A Stay of Execution for Lizzy • The Dead Eels • Delilah's Masterwork |