Scene 1 - The Forest of Traps
"This game is a narrative experience that does not hold your hand."
With no one else left to turn to, Ethan Carter sends mail to the guy you call as a last resort: Paul Prospero. Prospero says the boy's letters came off like regular fan mail, until Ethan begins mentioning things normal people shouldn't be able to see. Paul then goes to find Ethan and solve his mystery.
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After hearing this story, you emerge from a tunnel, walking on train tracks in a foggy forest. Immediately go back in the tunnel and pass to the other side of it to unlock Steam achievement. No matter from which end you exit the tunnel, you will end up at the same place - this area is littered with traps. Upon triggering them, you'll have your first opportunity to use your sense ability. Sensing all five traps reveals a scene that gives more information about the area.
Traps to the left of the tracks
Take an immediate left from the tunnel and walking to the back of the clearing. There, a patch of grass drops to reveal a pit that is framed with wood and metal spikes. A bloody branch sticks out from the pit.
Just north of the pit is the second trap. The bear trap will snap right as you approach it.
Traps to the right of the tracks
The first trap is directly to the right once you leave the tunnel. A crudely made bundle of logs and spikes that swings down from the trees when you approach the area.
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The second trap is towards the end of the tracks, and looks like a catapult that instead of launching something, its purpose is to instead smack someone with its many deadly spikes.
The third trap requires a bit of walking. Follow the tracks to the broken bridge, but don’t cross it quite yet. Make a right before the trees end. It will wind you down a path that leads to an clearing that overlooks a valley. The trap is in the back of the clearing, close to the tunnel you originally emerged from. It's another strange catapult-like trap.
After activating and sensing all of the traps, you are transported to the middle of the clearing from the third trap, but this time to field is littered with bones. At the base of the tree on the left of the clearing is a note called SAP by Ethan Carter.
The note describes the tale of an old man who went to the forest that was filled with traps every day to drink sap from the trees. There was a rumor that the old man had hidden a jade amulet in the forest. The old man hoped the rumor would encourage the villagers to search for the amulet instead of taking his sap. Someone then set fire to the forest. The old man survived the fire by covering himself in sap, but the rest of the villagers perished. Upon returning to the village, the old man found the villagers' bones. He cried, but went back to drinking sap. The back of the note has a drawing of a house and the forest on fire with a bear trap hiding in the burning trees.
A man named Ed then tells Ethan that he can't be there. Ethan tells Ed, his grandfather, that he wrote a note for him. Ed tells Ethan to leave it and that he'll read it later. After this exchange, you are back in the field.
The note is still there and is now surrounded by mossy bottles. The bones have been replaced by a campfire, an old cigarette box and buds, and more bottles. There's a newspaper clipping in the ashes of the campfire.
The bits of the article that are readable reveals that a fire may have been started by Edwin Carter's cigarette that he failed to extinguish before falling asleep. His wife Gayle Carter died, but the five other family members escaped.
The other side of the clipping reveals another article that describes a legal battle in the Vandergriff family to determine "the fate of the Vandergriff fortune." There was no resolution, but James Vandergriff mentioned that the family members did not want to live on the Vandergriff estate for "personal reasons."
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Go back to the bridge and proceed on to the next area.
