The second chapter ofThe Excavation of Hob’s Barrowstarts with a new mystery to unravel - the sudden appearance of a mysterious journal under the door to Thomasina’s room. It makes for quite cryptic reading, and it’s not immediately apparent what significance it has.

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The Excavation of Hob’s Barrow - Journal under the door

This chapter has Thomasina making significant progress in her quest to conduct an excavation of the titular barrow, though there are plenty of hoops to jump through to get where she needs to be. After all, what sort of adventure game would it be if the characters weren’t plainly unhelpful?

The Strange Journal

When you wake up,examine the book that has been thrust under Thomasina’s door. You’ll get theJournaland theJournal Stone. Read the Journal - much of it won’t make sense at the moment. Head downstairs andtalk to Stanleyabout the journal, the stone, and your dream.

You’ll have four objectives during this chapter: toconvince Mr. Bridento let you excavate Hob’s Barrow, to learn aboutlocal folklore, to investigate themysterious journal, and to gather ateam of workmento help you in your excavation once it’s approved.

The Excavation of Hob’s Barrow - Talking with Father Roache

Before leaving the inn,examine the knife stuck in the table. You can’t remove it.

Investigating The Journal

Leave the inn and, in the village square,talk to Father Roache(to the left). Exhaust his dialogue, and thengo to the Herne wood crossroads to find Arthur. Talk to him about everything to learn aboutMother Mildred, an alleged witch who lives in the woods. Continue on to the left - you’ll witness a flashback.

Continue on, heading south on the screen with the hole that you entered last chapter. You’ll be able towalk all the way south until you reach Mother Mildred’s cottage.

The Excavation of Hob’s Barrow - Mother Mildred’s Cottage

Talk to Mother Mildred. You’ll learn a lot of information about the previous excavation and about your father. attempt to leave, and Mildred will give you another warning, which triggers a flashback. During the flashback, walk to the right. After the conversation with your mother, go back to the left to pick up the doll, and then return to the right to end the flashback.

On the screen between Mildred’s cottage and the screen with the badger hole,use your Chisel with the yellow Resin on the right. You’ll need this later.

The Excavation of Hob’s Barrow - Resin in the woods

Keep heading towards the entrance to the woods (fast-travel is disabled at the moment) andtalk to Arthurwhen you encounter him staring into the distance.

Convincing Mr. Briden

Fast-travel to Mr. Briden’s farm- on the way, you’ll get yet another flashback. In this one, walk to the left and then pick up the page that falls in front of you.

At the farm,talk to Mr. Briden. Show him theJournal Stone. You’ll be granted permission to excavate Hob’s Barrow, but you’ll need workmen to help you do this.

The Excavation of Hob’s Barrow - Briden’s Farm

The Market Day

Now, head to the church to meet a dog. It’ll run away - follow it to the screen with the creek to meet up with the man from the previous day who didn’t give you his name. Exhaust his dialogue here and then leave - the market day will have started in the village square by now, so head there.

Talk to the various people at the market:

With that done,head to the graveyardto see the little girl that you first saw in the previous chapter.Follow her to the right to meet Mr. Shoulder, finally. Exhaust his dialogue to learn more about the previous excavation and local folklore.

Before anything else, head to the next screen to the right to obtain a final objective - tofind a string for the little girl’s fiddle. Now, return to the inn and talk with Mr. Shoulder there about everything.

The Excavation of Hob’s Barrow - The Market Day

How To Get Milk For Miss Tompkins

Fast-travel to Mr. Briden’s farm.Examine the empty bucketto the right of the house and then knock on the door totalk to Mr. Briden. With this permission,pick up the Bucket and attempt to use it with the Goat.

After the disturbing scene, talk to Mr. Briden again. He offers to milk the goat for you if youfind him something to heal his bad joint.

The Excavation of Hob’s Barrow - The goat on Briden’s farm

Go to Mildred’s cottagein the woods. On the way, you’ll have another flashback. During the flashback, interact with the crate to pick up the Pot, and place it on the spot next to the lamp.

Talk to Mildred about Mr. Briden’s aches. She’s able to make a poultice but needs two ingredients from you:ElderflowerandFlirtwort.

The Excavation of Hob’s Barrow - The tower garden

First,return to the creek and pick the flowers on the left. Return to Mildred and offer them to her to find out thatthese are not, in fact, Elderflowers, and that you probably need to look elsewhere.

To findFlirtwort:

To findElderflower:

With both plants,return to Mildred and have her make the Poultice for you. Go toMr. Briden’s farmafter this, andgive him the Poultice. He’ll give you a pail ofMilk.

Bring the Milk to Miss Tompkins in the village square, and she’ll take you to Panswyck Manor.Try talking to Ms. Fenchurch three timeshere, until you meet Panswyck himself - a familiar face!

The Excavation of Hob’s Barrow - The earthworms

He agrees to let you use his workmen for the excavation, on the condition that youacquire him some Bakewell Puddings. Before that, though, we have a fiddle to fix.

How To Fix The Fiddle Bow

Go to the alley behind the inn to find a horse. Examine the horse - horsehair would make a fine string for the fiddle!

Feed the horse the Sugar Cubeyou picked up inside the inn, and thenuse the Knife with the horseto get some Horsehair.

The Excavation of Hob’s Barrow - The Workmen and the ruined church

Combine the Horsehair with the Resinyou chiseled off the tree stump earlier.Combine the new Bow String with the Fiddle Bow.

Head to the Devil’s Toe and give the Fiddle Bow to the girl. Watch the scene that unfolds. Pick up the Fiddle afterwards.

How To Get The Bakewell Puddings

Return to the church and talk to Mrs. de Plancy inside. You’ll learn that she only has a few Bakewell Puddings left, and she’s saving them for Father Roache, who isn’t in town at the moment.

Walk to the right of the church and examine the fresh gravethat doesn’t have a large headstone. You’ll learn that it’s the grave of Albert de Plancy.Talk to the manthere about the grave.

Return to Mrs. de Plancy and talk to her about the grave. You’ll learn that, more than anything, she wants someHippeastrumto lay on the grave, as they were her husband’s favorites.Fast-travel to Panswyck Manor and examine the tall red flowers in the flowerbeds- you’ll learn that these are, indeed, Hippeastrum.Talk to Miss Tompkinshere and ask her to distract Ms. Fenchurch - she agrees to do so if youfind Mr. Ambrosefor her, as they were supposed to run away together today and he hasn’t turned up.

Head to thevillage squareand start moving to the right - you’ll have a flashback in which you need to examine all of the pots on the shelves by the bed.

On the screen with the house on it,keep moving to the right. You’ll findMr. Ambrose tied to a sign. Use theKnifeto cut him free.

In the following scenes, you’ll get someHippeastrum. Return to the church andhand them to Mrs. de Plancy. After the scene, she will allow you totake the Bakewell Puddings from her basket, which is still in the church.

Take the Bakewell Puddings to James Panswyck, who can be found standing outside his manor.

Ending The Day

Return to the innand watch the scenes inside. After,talk to Mr. Shoulder, Stanley, and then Arthur, who asks you to meet him in the alleyway behind the inn.

Head to the alley to witness a scene, and thenhead back to the inn. During the dream, walk to the left to end the chapter.

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