The Watchful Eye Office

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Building newspaper office.png
The Watchful Eye Office
Region
 Ocean City
Area
 Plunkett Street
Unlocked by
 Receiving the newspaper office key from Jessica

The Watchful Eye was the local newspaper office, before it shut down.

Quests

A number of quests pass through this place. See Shadows over Loathing quests.

For the Prologue quest here:

  • Start by examining the middle desk in the column to your left.
  • Move the cooler to get underground.

Then deal with the fishmen.

  • You can fight them.
  • You can use the pneumatic tube controls: push the green button, pull the lever, then turn the knob to C.

Grab the cursed hat and return to Jessica.

Interactions

Fishing in the water cooler
Limit
 Once
Items
 handful of clean water

An A.P. Feed crystal ball shows several news stories:

  • TODAY'S WINNING RACEHORSES: Gristler's Mother, Too Much Corn, and Howitzer Jacket.
  • BABE RUTH GETS HAIRCUT. Barber says 'You'd think he coulda left a better tip.'
  • CHARLES LINDBERGH COOKS STEW. Onlookers report it smells like it might be beef, or maybe lamb.
  • TODAY'S LIST OF BANNED DANCES: The Chutney Slider, the Dirty Dirty Blitz, and the Upside-Down Tango.
  • PARISIAN BARDS DECLARE INDEPENDENCE. Claim debauched tavern as a sovereign city-state.
  • SECOND EDITION OF PRINCIPIA MATHEMATICA PUBLISHED. 'We still cannot understand a word of this,' say local children.
  • PROHIBITION AGENTS CONFISCATE FORTY BARRELS OF WINE. Ten cheese wheels and some nice fresh honeycomb also seized.
  • SEVERE STORM CAUSES TROLLEY DISASTER. Prevents five other trolley disasters.
  • JACK DEMPSEY REMOVES TEETH TO IMPROVE BOXING SKILL. 'Mmmmf mff, says Dempsey in interview.

And the archives, a valuable resource throughout the game.

Underground

Attack them
Enemies
 spittin' fishman
burly fishman
XP (kill)
 5
XP (suck)
 5

Other Locations

With antique manhole opener, go under the basement to reach Underground Fishman Boxing Club.

News Archive

If you come across a date in Shadows over Loathing, you can try looking it up in the Archives. You normally get 5 XP per date researched. After researching 3 stories, you get the News Hound perk and get 10 XP per new story.

Date News Story Conditions
1783-1799
Dec. 11, 1784 You look up the date of Fchmidt's firing. Apparently he was terminated for doing dangerous research involving exploding paper.

The newspaper editors at the time even managed to archive a few wads of the paper. You got an item: exploding paperwad (3)

Searching Fchmidt in the S.I.T. (Library).
Feb 17, 1788 You look up the date of the Galtz Prize -- apparently, it's an award for extraordinary achievements in interidsciplinary science. In 1788, it was awarded to four professors at S.I.T. Professors Gregory, Howe, Jeffy, and Milkwood - for building some kind of antenna for listening to cosmic radiation. The presentation and subsequent celebration was emceed by Dean Wormwood. Searching Wormwood in the S.I.T. (Library).
Aug. 2, 1792 DIED: Largestmouth Luke, bass fish (large). Read the sign outside Largemouth Bass & Sons.
1800-1819
Apr. 18, 1805 You check the file for the date mentioned in that letter from the insurance company. Sure enough, there's a big pile of Meat in there! It's old and dry, but it'll still spend.

Meat You gain 500 Meat.

Afterwards: The only thing left in there is that letter from the insurance company that you put in there yourself.

Read the old insurance company letter
Mar. 25, 1808 "UNUSUAL EVENTS! Residents of Porkham astounded and terrified by a tower of 'black fire' that shot out of the roof of the Seaside Institute of Technology's Administrations building! Fortunately, the blaze was surprisingly well-contained, and did not spread to other buildings, or even rooms. Assistant Dean Benwald Jeffy perished in the event, and Dean Lucian Wormwood is missing, presumed also dead. The cause of what is now being referred to as the 'Black Fire Incident' is unknown, but, as one observer put it, 'What with all the stuff they get up to in there, it's honestly surprising this sort of thing doesn't happen more often.'" Searching Jeffy in the S.I.T. (Library).
1820-1839
Jul. 22, 1828 The biggest headline on that date is the daring midnight theft of an entire model village from the Gray County fair. That must be where the puckwudgies got their buildings. Read the sign in Puckwudgie Village
1840-1859
Jan. 4, 1845 "To-day a new Charter Riverboat, the 'Longerfellow,' was announced. Those possessed of sufficient endowment to charter the vessel are guaranteed 'the time of their lives,' according to the boat's owner, Mr. Henry Longerfellow, who is the younger and longer brother of poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. At the riverboat's champagne christening on the Crystaldream River, one reporter was heard to joke, 'Is there a Long-est-fellow?' to which Mr. Longerfellow replied somberly, 'No. That is a myth.'" Told the date by Captain Dan on The Wreck of the Longerfellow
Apr. 18, 1858 A flattened sandwich has been carefully concealed in the folder for that date. So that's what that code was all about. Find a pressed ham panini.

Afterwards: "There's nothing left on that day except grease stains."

Hobo glyphs in front of the Watchful Eye
1860-1879
Oct. 31, 1626 The archive doesn't go back that far, but you do find an article about the village's 250th anniversary, on Oct. 31, 1876. It says that the town was founded in 1626 by a man named Fulke Proctor, and was considered a nice if unremarkable little village, until traders found the town completely empty in early November 1692 - apart from one "dark-eyed" old man, who joined them on their route back to Ocean City. After that, the town remained abandoned and undisturbed due to rumors of a haunting or curse. Reading the plate in the Proctor house, after changing the past so the house is not burned down, Sandwich Museum
Sep. 8, 1870 "An impromptu and sparsely-attented demonstration was held to-day in front of S.I.T.'s Administrations Building. Professor Augustus [unreadable] read several works of the 16th century poet Schmedlund Plencer, interspersed with loud demands for the creation of a new 'Poemology' Department. An S.I.T. official commented that this was likely the last straw for [smudged], who has been 'a real pain in the [...] about this poetry thing.' Said official went on to say, 'Poetry isn't a science, the very notion is absurd,' and 'Plencer's poems were rubbish even by the standards of his time.'" After searching "Dooley" in the S.I.T. (Library). After seeing this, search the bookcase in The Black House to find The Complete Works of Schmedlund Plencer.
July 1876 The month's papers tell of the McElhatton murder trial, which ended in a mistrial when the star witness was metamorphosed into a tree; the third such incident that year. Mr. McElhatton praised the outcome as a victory for the rule of law, and forestation. Talk to Will Hunter after painting his fences
1880-1899
Nov. 10, 1882 The cover story for that date is the sinking of the Porquod, a whaling vessel that operated off the coast of Ocean City. The story says that the wreck had only one survivor, Captain Augustus Durch. Despite his best efforts to go down with the ship, he was rescued and transported to shore by a friendly otter. Note the date on a rock outside Captain Durch's House. Reading this news entry allows you entry to the house.
Jul. 4, 1899 To-day saw the grand opening of a new banking concern, Secureberus Building & Loan. Residents of Ocean City watched in appalled disgust as, during the opening ceremony, the maximum security vault door was installed backwards, sealing inside their savings and valuables for eternity. The bank's Chair-man re-assured worried customers the mistake would not affect operations.

> What happened next?

Ten minutes later the bank was closed permanently.

Read the plaque inside Secureberus Building & Loan
1900-1919
Aug. 5, 1900 To commemorate Editor-in-Chief Grover Burgess' birthday, the August 5, 1900 edition of the paper is printed entirely on Meat. That's awfully generous of him, and explains a fair amount about how this place went out of business.
You pluck it out of the archives.		 Rescue Jeffers at Gatorman Village
Apr. 18, 1906 "FRISCO FRIGHTS!" This morning at 5:12 Pacific Standard Time, the city of Frisco was rocked by a massive earthquake, the magnitude of which science has not yet agreed upon a method of measuring. The initial death toll is estimated at as many as 500, though that number will certainly increase due to the fires currently raging across the city. There have also been strange, scattered reports from witnesses who claim to have observed unusual phenomena such as 'beams of black light', 'subsonic laughter', and 'soul-rending nightmares', though our Editors wish to point out that Frisconians are known for their fondness of psychedelic intoxicants. using stamp from Murray's letter
Oct. 14, 1908 "Tragic Accident Certain to Have No Consequences" Tragedy occurred yesterday evening, when Hiram O. Crullins, owner of the first mass-produced commercial automobile registered in the state, accidentally struck and killed the state's first 'hitch-hiker' -- i.e., a person standing on the side of the road, attempting to solicit transportation from passing motorists. Fortunately for Mr. Crullins, the notion that vengeful spirits of the dead might haunt the places of their demise in murderous, phantasmagoric rage has been rejected by Modern Science as 'rather unlikely, wouldn't you say?' reading the plaque on the The Outskirts of Ocean City
Mar. 6, 1917 "This morning, an unexpected explosion destroyed a barn in Gray County. Captain Alvin Hamlinado of the Gray County Fire Brigade reported that the fire was 'um, pretty well contained, nothing to worry about, no problems here', and that it was probably caused by 'some hay exploding weird', and that we should 'go away and don't ask me any more questions.'"
"Funeral services for the farm's residents will be held tomorrow at St. Polycarp's Cathedral in Ocean City."		 Read the logbook at Păpuşășcu Homestead. Unlocks conversation with the Father at St. Polycarp's Cathedral to get a strange memorial card.
Jul. 22, 1917 The top story from that date is the Ocean City Comptroller's passing of an overly complicated sidewalk right-of-way policy that outlawed streetside newspaper vending machines and limited the maximum allowed width of newsstands to four feet. The story continues to say that Watchful Eye management raised concerns about loss of revenue, and the Comptroller made a vague promise to divert city funds to make up for any future shortfall. Reading calendar below the trapdoor in The Watchful Eye Office
1920-
Nov. 13, 1922 "This morning, a new sculpture was revealed in Goldthwait Park, donated by Ocean City Comptroller Margaret [smudged]. The sculpture, which consists of five jagged, pointed rocks arranged in a rough circle on small concrete plinths, has been variously described as 'avant-garde', 'thrillingly pointy', and 'fine I guess. Wait, are you writing this down? Hi mom!' by interested onlookers." Checking out the pointy rock exhibit in Goldthwait Park
Jun. 4, 1927 The day's paper tells of the disappearance of the charter riverboat Longerfellow. All passengers and crew are presumed deceased. The riverboat's owner, Henry Longerfellow, is quoted as saying, "There are many things that are long, such as boats and some distances. But the longest of all is grief." The article is not much help, but further down the page there is a coupon for... free Meat?
Jul. 6, 1927 There's an article about a minor strike at Haim Quarry apparently the workers were striking for better pay, living conditions, and safety. The strike was broken up by the Pinkertons, and one worker was killed and two others wounded in the resulting fight. The article ends with a note from the editor: "We would like to make it clear that the workers were neither minors nor, strictly speaking, miners. -Ed." Haim Quarry(?)
Search for reports on the Pulitzer Prize 06-07-25:
Three headlines grace the front page.

GOVERNMENT VALLEY ROADS PROGRAM TO INVOLVE 152,662 EAT
GLOUT DEFEATS HOWELL IN PULITZER PUNCH-UP
SAILING UNDER A BLACK FLAG, LOCAL PRINCIPAL RETURNS FROM LONG VOYAGE
The second article confirms what the windmill told you: Sidney Glout was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Drama, for his play Hummingbird, Behave.
"152,662 EAT"? They must mean "Meat."

06-08-25:
Well, look at that! In a massive and unlikely error, the newspaper has run corrections for all three of the previous day's top headlines.
CORRECTION: GOVERNMENT VALLEY ROADS PROGRAM TO INVOLVE 152,662 MEAT
CORRECTION: HOWELL DEFEATS GLOUT IN PULITZER PUNCH-UP
CORRECTION: SAILING UNDER A WHITE FLAG,
LOCAL PRINCIPAL RETURNS FROM LONG VOYAGE

Find: Watchful Eye, June 8, 1925

After searching the Old Ham Mill

Gallery

  • The interior

    The interior

  • The Archives

    The Archives


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