In Detail: The Snake Mound
Now, if you are a genuine Sierra enthusiast like myself, you can't help but appreciate Day 9 and its beutiful Snake Mound: yes, finally some time-sensitive events, action-related sequences and multiple gruesome deaths!
Admittedly, deaths in the
Gabriel Knight series lack the amusing charm of
King's Quest, the hilarious spoofs of
Leisure Suit Larry or the biting mockery of
Space Quest, and, as such, it's usually not as fun experimenting them than in other Sierra's series. Nevertheless, if you're in for a truly complete experience of
Sins of the Fathers, you simply have to try the following:
Spoiler:Let the mummies kill you in Room 3. Don't avoid the mummy in room 6. Wait without doing nothing in Room 7 with Wolfgang
Beware that there's a particularly tricky mummy in Room 5.
Spoiler:The only safe way to bypass it is to wait for it to come near the center of the room, then steer completely to the right and skirt the wall, then - when the mummy starts going to the right - dash off for the door.
Apart from this masochistic endeavor, there are many things to examine in the mond: the ground, the moss-covered ceiling, the overhanging creepers, the walls, the torches, the tiles and the patterns. And, finally, in the inner chamber, the altar conceals more secrets than what meets the eye. Try to examine the base andthe top of the altar, the carving, the poles holes. And try even to open the altar without using the bars.
Real-Life Locations: People's Republic of Benin
The
Republic of Benin is one of the poorest countries in Africa, and little remains today of the splendor of the Kingdom of Dahomey, fabled and renown for its art and flourishing architecture. One of the cradles of
West African Vodun, the
Fon people of Benin recognized
Nana Buluku as the supreme deity of their pantheon. Interestingly enough, Nana Buluku is an androgynous deity, worshipped both under its feminine aspect (mother, earth, water, moon) and its masculine one (tree, village, fire/hearth, sun), like the much more famous
Erzulie, who, while always being depicted as a black woman (sometimes elderly), is also considered an homosexual deity. The matriarchal tradition of Voodoo seems to stem from the Benin region too, since it was in the West African area - both within the Fon tribes and the Yoruba ones - that the
Queen Mothers originated. A nice reading if you're interested in the religion and culture of the region can be found
here, where another deity comes into play: Dahn, the snake god who "gives and he takes away. He is a theif. One is never done with being anxious about placating him, for he does not forgive readily, as Legba does." This obviously ties with the ubiquitous snake imagery in the voudoun religion (i.e.
Damballah) and it is most likely the reason why Jane imagined the Snake Mound as the burial ground of the Worshippers of the Sun. However, it must be noted that not only 'mound' is a word not used outside North America (instead, Europeans, Asians and Africans prefer to use 'tumulus'), but also that we don't have any information about such a burial place ever being built by African tribes (whose tumuli more closely resemble
this one, minus the modern trappings of course
)
Day 8 in the novel
The the mass shifted, took shape and became Gabriel; Gabriel in green glass, his own doppelganger - with red, ugly eyes and an evilly curled lip. His own double, down to the jutting bangs, in putrdi green, similar in all ways except for the crystal sword that was buried where its belly button should be. And it still laughed, laughin at him, himself at himself.
Jane Jensen,
Gabriel Knight: Sins of the Fathers, Roc 1997, p. 329
Day 9 in the novel
Gabriel looked at Wolfgang quizzically. No wonder Gerde was so attached to the old guy. He was still handsome, with weathered features that looked a lot like Gabriel's own, and long, thick white hair. There was still a dignity, a regalness about him, the look of a commander. But age had made its mark. Around the eyes and mouth there was a tension that had once been iron resolution, but had now faded down, softened a bit, like warm wax. Gabriel felt an unexpected longing well up inside him, as if he were mourning something he'd never even known he'd missed.
Jane Jensen,
Gabriel Knight: Sins of the Fathers, Roc 1997, p. 351
