Thief: The Dark Project (Gold) Song of the Caverns - Expert Difficulty, All Loot (No Commentary)

No-Commentary playthrough of "Song of the Caverns"
(Gold Edition with TFix 1.27)
Expert Difficulty
cw: arachnophobia

"There's always music in the air"
Laura

We finished The Song of the Caverns with style - this recording is bookended by encounters where we simply run right past a threat. Running frantically through the cave full of craymen was a thrilling experience.

We breezed through the opening areas and met Raoul in the cave without any trouble, and his song is always such a delight to hear. We know you agree.

Once we got to the opera house itself, we used multiple secret passages and actually avoided some guards instead of obsessively knocking out every NPC we encountered. We made a beeline for the Talisman and then spent the second half of the recording going around collecting all of the loot.

After we stole the flute, checked the ticket office cashbox, and cleared out much of the other loot, our luck finally ran out when we got spotted in some heavily guarded hallways. After a long-ish wait in a dark shadow, we successfully evaded the search, but we had one last close encounter before we could slip into the secret passage and get away.

After that, we emerged near the front entrance to the Opera Hall and collected the last loot while running away from multiple alerted guards. That one bit of loot on the statue's head is probably more trouble than it's worth, but we got it.

'Song of the Caverns' is the last of three regular missions added to the game as part of the Gold Edition (still not counting the 'Blooper Reel' level.) We understand that some people find the voice acting to be obnoxious, doubly so because the player is forced to listen to some of it, and that takes a while. We understand, but we disagree. 'Song of the Caverns' is one of our personal favorites.

The gossip backstage is delightful, and the overall layout gives multiple options for routes and navigation. We particularly enjoy the 'front of house' area - all the opulent halls and viewing boxes for the high-class audience, and the various little connected rooms and spaces in that style. We like saving on moss arrows by hopping from one carpet to the next, and we love pickpocketing the fancy opera glasses off the smug rich people. What a delight!

Exercise caution: There are spiders in this video during the 'Spiders down below' segment. Later, we pass by a dead spider during the 'Inside the Shrine' segment, and another during the segment titled 'That is good information to have.'

Very Important Final Note: Much gratitude is due to all those responsible for creating and maintaining the "Keeper's Chapel" guide for many years, without whom this recording would not have been possible.

00:00 - Mission Intro
01:45 - The City's most observant guard
02:37 - Spiders down below
03:37 - Crayman cave-dive
05:04 - Inside the shrine
06:00 - A strange voice
08:54 - That is good information to have.
09:50 - Inside the Opera House (New Objectives)
11:09 - Secret passage in chimney
12:51 - Looting the wine cellar
14:29 - Ambush in the dining room, looting in the kitchen
15:44 - Another secret passage in a different chimney (and a conversation)
16:44 - A note from 'Lord B', looting storage rooms
17:51 - Finding the hidden entrance and stealing the Talisman
19:08 - Loose ends
20:06 - A lotta work for a little loot
26:35 - More strange voices (stealing the flute)
27:51 - A lotta more work for a little more loot (ticket office)
29:56 - Spotted on the way out
32:16 - The Master Thief waits patiently and then runs away
34:56 - Close encounter at the secret passage
36:18 - The Master Thief runs right out the main entrance in plain view of everyone
36:45 - Mission Complete