Artemy Burakh, also known as The Haruspex, is one of the protagonists of the 2005 survival horror title Pathologic and the only playable protagonist with a complete story of it's sequel/remake, Pathologic 2.
Role in the story of the first game[]
Bachelor Route[]
The Haruspex is initially elusive, only appearing in the accounts of others until several days have passed. The Bachelor hears both that he is accused of murdering his father, and that his benefactors believe he is innocent.
On Day 5, the Bachelor requires his assistance in retrieving a Living Heart for his Vaccine, so breaks him out of the basement of Factory Building #3, where he has been arrested on the orders of Alexander Saburov. The Haruspex is focused on his own goal of creating a Panacea, but agrees to help. Later, he can be found in the Termitary working on his Panacea.
On Day 7, the Bachelor receives a letter from the Haruspex requesting an Executor's Cloak and a Talon Mask. He also warns the Bachelor not to give the items to the Changeling. He will never appear to collect the items, so the Bachelor can keep them.
On Day 8, Vlad Jr. tells the Bachelor that there is a false Panacea being produced and distributed inside of the Termitary under the Bachelor's name. The Bachelor will find the Haruspex in a room on the first floor, right next to the Termitary entrance. The Haruspex tells the Bachelor where he can find several Worms who have been producing the false Panacea and he can choose whether or not to punish them.
On Day 9, the Inquisitor asks the Bachelor to find the Haruspex. He finds the Haruspex in the Long Block of the Termitary in the same room where he found the Worms on the previous day.
On Day 12, at 9:00, the Haruspex writes to the Bachelor claiming that he knows what to do, but is running out of time. He may be found in Factory Building #3, the same place where he was held captive on Day 5.
Haruspex Route[]
Artemy's main objective is to fulfill the obligations of his father. His route is called The Path of Sacrifice.
Because he is an oynon, or sage, he cannot afford to allow the dead of his family to have outstanding commitments. If they do, he shall be divested of the right to his title. The Haruspex relies upon the traditions and wisdom of his ancestors; he is a menkhu first of all, no matter how long he lived in the Capital.
He strives each day to create a Panacea, in the hopes of being able to cure the Sand Plague, and believes that the future of the town rests on the survival of those that are Bound to him. Whether or not this is the case is dependent on one's disposition.
Changeling Route[]
On Day 1, the Changeling has a quest to raise her reputation by healing a man the Haruspex injured. She speaks to him at his Lair in the works and discovers that the man escaped and crawled up the river. By following Anna's quest, the Changeling asks Notkin about the Haruspex and can get a Double Barrelled Pistol.
On Day 2, the Changeling needs to investigate Aspity, who refuses to speak until she can bring the Haruspex. He is in his lair. Later that day, Anna Angel has a quest where the Changeling discovers the efficiency of the Haruspex's tinctures from talking to some worms and Andrey Stamatin.
Role in the second game.[]
At some point while studying, Artemy receives a letter from his father, in which Isidor expresses great concern, warning his son of some great trial that awaits him. He urges Artemy to return to the Town. Artemy stows away on a train, and, in the middle of September, arrives in his hometown, only to find it changed almost beyond recognition.
Upon arriving in the Town, Artemy is attacked by three men at the Train Station who believe that he is responsible for the murder of his father, Isidor Burakh. He must seek out the people in the Town who know him and would be willing to vouch for his innocence. He gains the aid of two of his old childhood friends - Lara Ravel and Bad Grief - but finds his relationship with Stanislav Rubin unstead, as he believes Artemy is guilty of the murder he is charged with. Finding his reputation crushed except for the trust of a few friends, Artemy finds himself lost. Through the help of his friends and perhaps with some unexpected aid from Big Vlad, Artemy is able to restore his reputation and reconnect with his Town.
On the morning of the second day Artemy goes to see his father's body in the Cemetery. Unfortunately he discovers that the Earth will not accept Isidor's remains, as it is said that there is a debt still owed. Artemy is to take the burden of his father's legacy upon himself and allow Isidor's body to be buried. There is a possibility that Artemy may refuse, instead, having his father's body burned. At the funeral awaits Aspity, who tells him of a list of children his father took care of. Artemy does not know why his father picked these children, and he does not know why a strange Steppe symbol called the 'Udurgh' was among his father's list.
While some of the children are in places Artemy cannot reach, he is able to speak to Capella, who tells Artemy that she thinks Isidor believed the children on the list were to become the Town's future and that is why he taught and protected them. It then falls on Artemy's shoulders to continue to watch out for these children, doing all that he can to keep them safe - a task that becomes more difficult once the Sand Plague outbreak begins. The plague will begin to attack his List as soon as it is able, knowing that it must destroy them in order to destroy the all important Udurgh. The plague often communicates with Artemy in the form of an Executor, coming to him in strange - often mocking - visions that disappear as quickly as they appeared.
For many days the identity of the Udurgh remains a mystery. Artemy may ask those who know the language of the Steppe to discover that they believe the word means "a body that contains the world", "something living that consists of many parts.". It is up to Artemy to interpret the meaning of the phrase and choose for himself what he believes the Udurgh is.
It is Artemy's responsibility to use his Menkhu knowledge, passed to him from his father, to aid in stopping the Sand Pest outbreak. Artemy knows that his father once created medicines by mixing herbal tinctures and human tissue. He may test a number of infected human tissues but they will always end just short of his goal, providing only an antibiotic that can slow the disease instead of a Panacea that can eradicate the disease completely. Artemy may discover that bulls are immune to the Sand Pest during a sacrifice at the Ragi Barrow and decide to test the claim. The claim is true, but useless, as the two types - bull and human - are incompatible. As no human can survive the disease long enough to be of use and bull antibodies do not transfer well into human blood in order to extract the antibodies needed to fight the Sand Pest Artemy believes that he will need a creature that by all accounts shouldn't exist: a half man, half bull - a minotaur. Should his experiments bring results and he is able to sleep on his thoughts, he will be able find a Panacea by travelling to the Ear in Shekhen, the abandoned steppe village. The cure works, though its quantity is severely limited. Later with the aid of Oyun he is able to venture into The Abattoir and discover the coursing living blood that can provide for the Panacea. He discovers that beneath the town courses this blood, as the Earth is alive and the Plague is its pain.
During the outbreak Artemy is tasked with reuniting himself with the Kin and becoming a leader to them, bringing them together as a whole. He may choose to return the Kin once living inside of the Termitary to Shekhen. It is through their union that he may ask the Kin a number of questions and discover who killed Isidor Burakh and, more importantly, why.
In the later days Artemy is to obey the commands of two new players - the Inquisitor and the General. As one of the few doctors in the Town he becomes crucial to stopping the plague and, by extension, he becomes vital to the two player's goals. Alongside the Inquisitor Artemy determines that to save the Town and destroy the Plague the Polyhedron - whose spike he discovers is buried mere meters from the Earth's living, beating heart - must be destroyed. If the Polyhedron is destroyed the Earth will die but the blood that will seep from the ground will be enough save the survivors of the Town. This choice, however, is not the only choice. If the Polyhedron is to remain the Earth will continue to live and those close to the Earth will be immune to the Sand Pest. This choice will also return magic to the Steppe, summoning the great Aurochs - once believed to be extinct - back to the Town.
It is prophesied a number of times during the week following his return that Artemy is to spill a river of blood, and that he will drown the Town with it.As the end grows closer it becomes more and more obvious what such a premonition may have been referring to.
On Day 11, Artemy is given the choice to destroy (Diurnal) or preserve (Nocturnal) the Polyhedron, which will either provide the blood needed to cure the town and create a future, or allow the Plague to continue, allowing the Earth to reclaim her domain. The two choices - past and future - are incompatible and something must be lost. It is here where he must decide what he believes the Udurgh, and by extension his father's task, truly was.