Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines Wiki
Register
Advertisement

Calling Dr. Grout is a quest available in Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines.The Malkavian Primogen, Alistair Grout is missing. The Prince wants the fledgling to look for him at this house in the Hollywood hills.

Acquisition[]

This quest is given to the fledgling by Prince LaCroix when they report to him after completing Elizabethan Rendezvous.

Walkthrough[]

Brief[]

  1. Go to Grout's Mansion.
  2. Speak to Nines and go inside.

Level 1[]

  1. Go to the library and solve the puzzle to unlock the red hall doors. (Experience Rewarded (Icon) +1 Exp)
  2. Go to the red hall, open the secret door with the candle stick lever, and go up stairs.
  3. Make your way through the mansion, past the green hall, to the mirror room.
  4. Push the carvings on the fireplace to open a secret door.
  5. Go through the fireplace and to the second floor of the library.
  6. Use the false book or solve the puzzle to open the secret door.
  7. Go through the secret door into the lightning room.
  8. Turn off the lightning by flipping accessible switches.
  9. Pull the lever in the passage beyond and unlock the door to level 2. (Experience Rewarded (Icon) +1 Exp)

Level 2: Grout's Inner Sanctum[]

  1. Get the fridge key from the red room to the right.
  2. Get the blood packs from the fridge in the green room.
  3. Take the stairs down and go through the cell block.
  4. Climb up the boards at the end of the concrete passage.
  5. Go to the keepsake room and start the record player.
  6. Enter Grout's bedroom.
  7. Examine remains of Alistair Grout. (Experience Rewarded (Icon) +1 Exp)
  8. Leave the room and speak to Bach.
  9. Escape the burning mansion.
  10. Report to LaCroix. (Experience Rewarded (Icon) +3 Exp)

Detailed[]

Level 1[]

Go to Grout's mansion and speak with Nines then head inside. There is a test subject right inside the door and several more in the room ahead. The still ones won't attack unless you touch them or engage in combat but the wandering ones will attack if they see you. Get past them, go to the painting at the far end of the hall, and play the first of Grout's recordings. There are a total of nine recordings scattered throughout the mansion. The doors to the red hall are locked so go down the side passage with the piled up furniture. This will take you to the library.

There is another test subject in the library playing with the first lever puzzle. He won't notice you unless you hit him. There is another of Grout's recordings on a table to the left of the door. Play it and go deal with the test subject so you can solve the puzzle. Take the skill book on top of the desk (or the Weekapaug Thistle with plus patch) and read the note on the table to the right of the mind lever for clues to the puzzle.

“Perception at once shapes the mind and rules over time. Time, however, erodes human perception and then in turn warps the mind. The Mind is capricious, having various effects on perception, time, and the mind itself... with harmony progress is made.”
―Grout's First Riddle

The goal of the puzzle is to light up all three candles at once. From left to right the levers are perception, time, and mind. Perception affects time and mind at once. If they are both off it turns them both on. Time affects perception and then mind. If they are both off it turns on perception and then mind. The mind lever is erratic and can turn any of them on or off when pulled.

Solution

The easiest way to solve the puzzle is to pull perception and then time.

When all three candles are lit the door to the red hall is unlocked and you get (Experience Rewarded (Icon) +1 Exp). Go back to the entry hall and enter the red hall. There are more test subjects inside so be cautious. Your goal is the candle lever next to the stairs on the other side of the room. Pull the lever to open a trap door at the top of the stairs. Go through it.

There are more test subjects upstairs. Go to the table and desk down the hall and play another of Grout's recordings. It's best to wait here and listen to it as there is yet another recording in the next room between two red armchairs. Leave the room, go up the spiral stairs, across the tower walk, and down again. There's another test subject at the bottom of the stairs. Kill her, go down the stairs and enter the green hall. Go through the door at the far end of the green hall. This will take you to the mirror room.

There's another of Grout's recordings in the mirror room on a table next to an armchair if you wish to listen to it. The mirror room appears to have two mirrors which reflect the room perfectly but it is only an illusion as you will soon see if you kill the test subjects in the room. The mirrors are actually windows that look into another room on the other side of the fireplace. Go to the fireplace and press the three circular carvings in the center to open a secret door in the fireplace. Go through it.

In the hall outside the mirror room is a wandering test subject. If he attacks you he will alert the other two on this side of the mirror room. Deal with him and proceed up the stairs to the second floor of the library. There is another lever puzzle here which will open a secret door in the library below. However, the puzzle can be bypassed by pulling a false book in one of the bookcases.

To find the false book start at the door and move left along the bookcases. On the fifth shelf of the eighth bookcase is a slightly larger book which sticks out a little from the others. On most of the other bookshelves there is an empty spot where the book is. Here it is filled. Pull out the book and open the door.

Alternatively, you can solve the second lever puzzle (though you get no Exp for it). Keep going left from the door until you find the levers. On a table by an armchair is another of Grout's recordings. On a table between two levers is another note giving clues to the puzzle.

“...Chaos, like the Mind, can be understood only through the scientific process. Order, however, is only as good as the Perception thereof. Time is the Key that links the two and bears witness their ebb and flow...”
―Grout's Second Riddle

As before the goal is to light all the candles. From left to right they are: chaos, key, and order. Chaos, as expected, is chaotic and random but if it is pulled enough times it will actually light up all three candles. Key affects first chaos and then order. Order affects key and chaos at once.

Solution

The easiest solution is to pull order once and then pull key three times.

Now that the secret passage is open go downstairs and enter the lightning room. This room is full of beams of electricity that will kill you if you touch them. Crouch down and proceed with caution. There are levers in the room which shut off the electricity but they only do it one section at a time. Pull the lever to the left of the entrance to shut down the section in front of you and move into the center of the room.

There are now two levers available to your left and right. On the floor by the left hand lever is Tarulfang, an occult object that will help you maintain control over your beast. Take it and activate the left and right switches to shut off most of the electricity in the room. Next flip the switches in the sections they shut down to turn the rest of it off. Go to the passage on the other side of the room and pull the lever to unlock the door to the second level of the mansion. (Experience Rewarded (Icon) +1 Exp) Go through the door at the end of the red hall and enter Grout's Inner Sanctum.

Level 2: Grout's Inner Sanctum[]

Go down the stairs, play the recording on the table next to the armchair. If your lockpicking skill is at least five there is no reason to enter the red room. The only item in it is the fridge key. The key is at the back of the room in the far left corner siting on a cabinet. It is in shadow and hard to spot without a good inspection skill. There are also eight test subjects in the red room including a wanderer who can turn all the others hostile.

In the green room straight ahead from the stairs is the lab refrigerator where Grout stored a large number of blood packs. The lock level on the door is five. Inside are three ordinary blood packs and two packs of elder vitae. There is also a bottle of morphine on the floor in front of the long table with the anatomy book and surgical instruments.

Now go back to the main room and proceed down the stairs to the cell block where Grout kept his test subjects imprisoned. There are two still test subjects in the first hall and one wanderer. Through the door on the wall across from you is a bottle of morphine. If you want to kill the rest of the test subjects go through the double doors. Otherwise, feel around on the section of wall to left of the room with the morphine. There is a secret passage there that will take you to the other side of the cell block with minimal trouble.

At the end on the cell block go through the wooden double doors and enter a short concrete passage. In this area there is one wandering test subject and four rats if you need some extra blood. Go to the end of the passage. Above the broken metal grate are several boards jammed against the wall. Use these boards to climb up to the next floor.

In the next room there is a wandering test subject and one of Grout's recordings on a table. Next to the recording is another bottle of morphine. Listen to the recording then go to the next room, up the stairs, and find Grout's final recording on a table to your right. Go up the stairs and through the double doors. (Note: in the Plus Patch version, there is a door to the left that can be entered that goes to a different part of the mansion that can be explored, leading to Kent Alan Ryan's remains. This area will become inaccessible with the rest of the mansion after the quest ends.)

This is the keepsake room. There are glass jars all around the room which contain items of significance to Grout and his wife. Grout's wife herself floats in a large glass jar in the center of the room. The door on the other side of the room is locked. To unlock it, start the record player. Now that the door is unlocked, pick up the gold ring next to the record player, and enter the master bedroom.

There you will find the ashen remains of Alistair Grout chained to his bed and staked through the heart. (Experience Rewarded (Icon) +1 Exp). As soon as you take the stake an explosion shakes the building. Go outside onto the balcony and talk to Grünfeld Bach, a hunter who lit the house on fire but does not seem to know Grout is dead.

Escaping the Mansion[]

Jump down from the balcony and go left into the green hall. There are burning test subjects that will attack. They are weak but if they touch you they will set you on fire. They can be avoided through stealth or shot before they get too close. Go straight through the green room, up the stairs, and down the hall. You'll come to an area with a railing and two test subjects. Keep going through the next hall. There is one more test subject at the end in front of a table. You'll have to kill this one to get past. Kill him and jump over the table. At the end of the hall is another room. Open the window and jump out.

Completion[]

Leave the mansion grounds and go back Downtown to report to LaCroix. Tell him that Grout is dead and that you saw Bach and Nines at the mansion. (Experience Rewarded (Icon) +3 Exp). Since Bach didn't know Grout was dead and Nines was the only other person there Nines becomes the prime suspect in Grout's murder. LaCroix will say he needs to think about what to do regarding Nines and give you your next mission. If you want to you can ask him for money. He'll be irritated but will give you $200.

If you're concerned for Nines you can try to find him at the Last Round after speaking to LaCroix but he has already fled. It is possible to convince the Anarchs you didn't mean to accuse him of murder and you can still start working for them if you wish.

Items[]

Plus Patch Only

Notes[]

N/A

Trivia[]

Test Subjects: Alistair Grout was researching vampirism, but his test subjects do not appear to be vampires. They do not turn to ash when killed and do not show up as vampires when using Auspex. They aren't much tougher than ordinary humans and can be drained for six blood points. Which is a normal amount for a human. The test subjects also growl and make other noises not usual to humans. Some of them may have claws though it is not clear if they are part of them or are something they are wearing. It is possible the test subjects are ghouls as that would allow him to study vampire abilities in some capacity. The erratic behavior of the enemies (hinting they might be affected by malkavian blood), the presence of elder vitae in the medical wing (probably blood tapped from Grout himself), and the isolated test chambers where subjects fight each other beneath an examination window in the ceiling supports this.

John: Grout mentions a test subject named John in one of his recordings. John chewed off his own arm to get out of his restraints and escaped into the floor boards. Grout comments he "can still hear him scuttling around in there". The one armed body next to the trap door on the second floor may be his.

Corpse: Grout is the only vampire corpse that can be seen in-game, as all other vampiric enemies disintegrate completely upon death but Grout leaves a skeleton. The skeleton also appears to be crucified, chained and staked. This might be because his killer, Ming Xiao, not being completely sure about how vampires work, wanted to be certain he was dead. (Note: in the Plus Patch version, his is not the only vampire corpse seen, as that of Kent Alan Ryan can be found, apparently burnt by sunlight, in another part of the mansion.)

Quest Logs[]

Log Entry
  • Quest Log Updated (Icon) Update: Upon receiving quest:
The prince wishes you to contact Alistair Grout, the Malkavian Primogen. You should try looking for him at his mansion on the outskirts of town.
  • Quest Log Updated (Icon) Update: Upon entering the mansion.
You just entered Grout's mansion and something about it doesn't feel quite right.
  • Quest Log Updated (Icon) Update: Upon finding Grout.
You have viewed the charred remains of Alistair Grout. You should probably inform the prince about his demise.
  • Quest Log Updated (Icon) Update: Upon completion:
You have viewed the charred remains of Alistair Grout and informed the prince of his demise.
  • Quest Complete (Icon) Quest Complete

Navigation[]

Quests
Main Quests Jyhad for BeginnersWherefore Art Thou, Mercurio?Surf's UpExplosive BeginningThe Ghost Haunts at MidnightSlashterpieceBad BloodSibling RivalryElizabethan RendezvousCalling Dr. GroutPatron of the Ancient ArtsThe Epic of the Ankaran SarcophagusDead ExSnuff Is EnoughGoing the Way of KingsI Spy BarabusKikinappedOriginal GangsterDragon's TailCome Into My ParlorItalian DinnerSociety for the Preservation of ProfessorsHell at the Hallowbrook HotelThe Enemy of My EnemyOut for BloodMing Must Die!Royal Flush
Side Quests The Regent's RiddleCarnival of DeathThe Pain of Being MercurioDrug TripTrick or TreatmentDaydream BelieverThinned BloodReplanting a LilyThe Hunted HunterA Bounty for the HunterJumpin' the BailBloody MessSpiritual ReleaseMudd HuntMissing DataTraffikA Plague for the AngelsFun With PestilenceAttention WhoreMore Fun With PestilenceNecromanticA ConfessionAnd Her Name Was VenusVenucideOccultish PersonalityNight at the LibraryAsh to AshesHot Stripper Assassin Action!B-Rated WriterHunters HuntingYou Only Die Once a NightPimpin' for RomeroA Dish Best Served ColdGargoyle Removal ServiceA Tangled WebModel CitizenCover GirlPoster SessionGone Fishin'Eye Gouge HellBad Luck FarmerThe Hitman ImpasseDirty Dishes
Advertisement