Pazuzu

Long is the way and hard, that out of Hell leads up to light...

This article is about The Dark Pictures Anthology's third installment, House of Ashes .

Pazuzu
Installment	House of Ashes
Act	1
Chapter	4
Overall	5
Both Cuts
Playable Character(s)	Salim & Eric
Time(s)	1904 HRS 1906 HRS
Location(s)	Sand Caverns
Depth(s)	55 FT. 62 FT.
Collectibles	3 (Secrets: 1; Pictures: 2)
Chapter Guide
Previous	Underworld
Next	The Temple

Pazuzu is the fourth chapter of Act 1 in House of Ashes and the fifth overall.

The player controls Salim and Eric as both sides continue to move deeper into the caverns.

Sand Caverns, 1904 HRS, 55 FT.

Salim going down the stairs.

Salim wakes up after he fell, coughing up. Salim tries to contact his patrol. Salim is answered by Dar, who asks where he is, but he immediately loses contact with him. Rising from the ground, he examines his surroundings. Salim explains his location to Dar but isn't heard, and discovers that he has lost his pistol. Exploring the caves, Salim mutters to himself about how he wanted to rest quietly and celebrate his son's birthday and blames Dar for the fact that they are now stuck here.

Reaching the end of the tunnel, Salim finds himself in the huge ruins of a temple with the head of Naram-Sin's statue. He hears gunfire from below, and can explore to find a picture and the corpse of an American marine with a long trail of blood leading into a room in the lower area of ​​the ruins. As Salim climbs down the stairs to the bottom of the temple, a small earthquake starts. Salim drops his rifle into the chasm between the ruins, but he himself has to complete a QTE to jump to the lower area of the ruins (QTE has no consequences).

Salim inspecting the body of his fallen comrade.

Approaching the entrance to the dark corridor, Salim hears clicking sounds in the distance. He throws a flare at the end of the corridor and walks in, lighting the path with a lighter. Passing dozens of scratched carvings, Salim comments that Zain would love this place. After reaching the antechamber with large doors, Salim must perform a QTE to open them.

• If Salim completes the QTE, he will open the doors and enter a small room, where he hears clicking sounds again and sees the corpse of an Iraqi soldier. Upon approaching it, the corpse is suddenly dragged into the shadows and Salim falls back. He can perform a QTE and arm himself with a nearby pistol. The creature throws the body back into the light and Salim runs out of the room. Then he can choose whether to shut the door behind him or keep running.
  • If Salim shuts the door, he must perform a QTE to hold it.
    • If he fails the QTE, the creature will follow him through the door, and Salim runs away.
    • If he completes the QTE while holding the door, Salim will pray to Allah, after which the creature will knock out the door. Salim can shoot him or throw nearby rock at him.
• If Salim fails the QTE, he backs up and charges through it, falling to his knees. Inside, he sees a creature feasting on the corpse of an Iraqi soldier, and it begins chasing him immediately.

Salim praying to Allah.

While escaping from the creature, Salim must perform QTEs to jump over the pillars. If he fails two QTEs (including the one to hold the door shut and attack the creature, if he didn't choose to run immediately), the creature briefly grasps his leg and he kicks it away.

The creature continues to chase Salim as he emerges back into the ruins. The creature reaches the doorway and stops as Salim staggers back, looking as the creature claws it's way towards him.

• If Salim was grabbed by the creature, he prays for Allah to protect and spare him.
• If Salim wasn't grabbed by the creature, he shouts at it, asking what it is and what it wants from him.

An earthquake begins again and a truck falls on the creature, crushing it.

• If Salim was grabbed, he mutters to himself that it's over and thanks Allah as "merciful".
• If Salim wasn't grabbed, he falls to his knees, laughing ecstatically as he stands up.

Sand Caverns, 1906 HRS, 62 FT.

Eric has a flashback of putting a ring on Rachel's finger during the wedding as she calls out to him. He wakes up and Rachel helps him up and warns that the area is unstable. Eric can ask her where the marines are or be concerned for her safety.

• If Eric is concerned for Rachel's safety, her response will differ based on if Rachel told Eric that their relationship is over in The Briefing.

Rachel asks him if he saw Nick or Jason, to which Eric replies that the last time he saw them they were together. He then tries to use the radio, but Rachel says she already tried and something is interfering with the signal.

The couple enters the tunnel and are faced with a dark ledge leading downward. Rachel takes out a lighter and discovers an airflow through the tunnel. As they pull the gear to rappel down, Eric asks Rachel when she started smoking, and she clarifies that she picked up the lighter at base; in reality, it belongs to Nick.

The two reach the bottom and Rachel comments that the area does not look like a weapon silo, to which Eric can question why they were attacked if it isn't (which leads her to point out shootouts being common in a warzone) or berate Rachel and suggest that she would prefer it not to be one.

• If Eric and Rachel has a low relationship, both will start arguing for a short time before moving on.

Walking through the tunnel, Eric and Rachel joke that they spend this time as "quality" and they had a different perspective on it. At the entrance to the room, Eric can take an alternate path and find a picture. In the room, the couple finds ancient language scrawled on the wall. which Rachel will reveal is Sumerian cuneiform writing if inspected. Eric remarks he didn't realize she's an expert in history, to which Rachel replies that maybe he don't know her as well as he thought.

Going down the stairs, the couple find themselves in a small chamber with a large hole in the center, causing them to cross by sneaking around the door. With full access to the room, Eric can explore it and find:

• Ancient carving depicting a god.
• A giant hole where he hears the clicking noises of a creature.
• A small statue of Pazuzu. Rachel will explain to Eric who Pazuzu is.

Shortly afterward the two are startled by the sound of gunfire from the hole. Eric throws a flare down and comments that the hole looks deep and they can't see the bottom. Rachel replies that it's their only option and the two prepare to rappel down.

Collectibles

Secrets

• Pazuzu - Near the hole before Eric and Rachel rappel down.

Pictures

• Daylight - In an alcove before Salim approaches the stairs leading down.
• Fallen - Through a side tunnel before Eric and Rachel reach the hole.

Deaths

Inevitable

• A marine - Mauled by a creature.
• An Iraqi soldier - Mauled by a creature.

Trivia

• In a Reddit AMA, the game's director mentioned a cut scene from the game where Eric and Rachel would be trapped in a room filling with sand. This chapter is likely where that scene would have taken place, as there is a second set of doors across from the hole that Rachel will examine and attempt to open in her idle animation.
• In Shared Story, both segments are played at the same time.