The Contessa's castle

The Contessa's castle
Location	Prague
Affiliation	The Contessa Klaww Gang
Appearances
Sly 2: Band of Thieves

It's a well-fortified, Gothic nightmare that would make any thief run in terror.
― Sly in the opening cutscene for A Tangled Web

The Contessa's castle is a Czech castle owned by the Contessa, located in Prague. It served as the Contessa's main base of operation as well as her residence.

History

Not much is known about the Castle's history, but it is presumed that like the Contessa's rehabilitation center, she inherited it from her husband.

After Sly Cooper and Bentley rescued Murray, the Contessa was forced to flee to the estate. In "A Tangled Web," the gang pursued her to the Castle after learning she was a secret member of the Klaww Gang in possession of the Clockwerk eyes and was using them to hypnotize Carmelita to take the blame of her actions against INTERPOL. At the same time, INTERPOL ordered Neyla to hire a group of mercenaries and arrest the Contessa, erupting a war between the two factions.

While working on a plan to rescue Carmelita and steal the Clockwerk Eyes, the Cooper Gang also created more tension between Neyla and Contessa's armies. Eventually they carried out "Operation: High Road" and successfully freed Carmelita, acquired the Eyes and defeated the Contessa. After her arrest, the Castle was presumably abandoned.

Locations

The Castle grounds and the surrounding district consist of several locations:

The castle

A large gothic castle, located on an island in the heart of Prague, connected to the surrounding city by a large bridge, continuously being watched over by two spotlights. The Castle is formed of multiple sections, that are joined together with narrow passageways high on the fortress' upper levels.

The Castle courtyard

Overview of the Castle

Re-education tower

The re-education tower is one of the tallest buildings within the Contessa's large manor and estate, positioned near the main parts of the Contessa's castle and is one of the most important locations of The Contessa's hypnotic operation. After capturing Carmelita Fox in India, the Contessa kept her prisoner on top of the re-education tower throughout the fourth and most of the fifth episodes. It was here that the Clockwerk eyes could be found, attached to a mind-shuffler used to brainwash Carmelita. The main entrance is locked and two members of the Shadow Guard patrolled the front door. An old terminal that controlled the Iron Tech 250, a security device used to contain Carmelita, could also be found in the top of the tower.

Re-Education Tower

Inside the tower

The Contessa's workspace

Crypts and catacombs

The Castle had numerous old crypts and catacombs, filled with medieval traps. In "Mojo Trap Action," Bentley visited many of them to collect bad mojo and in "Crypt Hack," hacked the Contessa's computers.

Inside one of the crypts

Inside one of the crypts

Guard room

The break room of the Contessa's guards, located opposite the Re-education tower. It is a large part of the Castle and was used to store the Contessa's wiretap and the vault of the episode. The second part of Sly and the Contessa's duel in Operation: High Road occurred on top of this edifice.

Sly in the Guard room

The Tomb of the Evil Wolf Priestess

The final resting place of an evil Wolf Priestess, located in the Castle's cemetery. In "Ghost Capture," Sly entered the tomb, smashed open the Priestess' coffin, freed some ghosts, re-captured them and released them into Neyla's HQ to make it look like the Contessa's declaration of war.

Entrance to the tomb

Sly frees a bunch of ghosts in the tomb

Neyla's HQ

Neyla's headquarters.

Neyla and her mercenaries turned an old bank, located outside the Castle walls, into their headquarters. The district surrounding the Castle is in their control. The Cooper Gang had their safe house next door. During "Ghost Capture," Sly sent some captured ghosts down the chimney of the bank to trick Neyla into thinking it was an attack by the Contessa. A speaker system mounted onto the building allowed Neyla to give orders from inside, but Sly, with the help of Bentley, modified the system so Bentley could give orders as well using Neyla's voice.

Guards

• Vulture guards (Flashlight guard)
• Wolf guards (Rooftop guard)
• Bat guards (Rooftop guard)
• Explosive spiders (Miscellaneous guard)
• Purple spiders (Miscellaneous guard)
• Shadow Guard (Flashlight guard)
• Tanks (Vehicle)
• Warplanes (Vehicle)

Trivia

• A grave can be seen in this area with the words "R.I.P Rocket." This is a reference to the protagonist of Sucker Punch's first game Rocket: Robot on Wheels.
  • Both Rocket and another character from the game, Jojo, appear inside the crypt as easter eggs.