St. Francis' Folly

St. Francis' Folly is the fifth level of Tomb Raider and the first level in Greece. In this level, Lara unlocks the Folly's secrets in her hunt for the Scion of Tihocan.

St. Francis' Folly is an ancient Greek structure with an unclear purpose. It is the site which takes Lara's travels to Greece in search of Tihocan's resting place. The diary of a monk who, with a band of Brothers, investigated the folly sometime between the 15th and 16th century, noted that the structure's interior indicated that it was certainly hiding something precious within its innards - specifically, the Tomb of Tihocan. And as Lara soon unearths, those innards are deep, arduous and treacherous.

The folly is situated upon the zenith of a large mountain and the initial, small building is decorated with a pillared hallway. Seemingly, an area where its ancient inhabitants would have gathered and hosted conversations, presumably on the religious end. Why the folly was named after the titular St. Francis is unknown, it is not reminiscent of anything Greek - perhaps this is what its religious discoverers named it.

The folly's secret is hidden deep, deep below it. Once Lara traverses the pillared room to reach its aquaduct, she discoverers the iconic, massive room that owns decaying, broken platforms and four doors hiding rooms that are named after a God.

Firstly, there is the Damocles room - a smaller area off to the side that hosts torn pillars and a ceiling holstering several, abnormally large swords. According to Greek mythos, Damocles was envious of Dionysus's wealth and power, and liked to boast that Dionysus was happy, fortunate and never experienced any hardship - much to Dionysus's distain. At the lush banquets where they would feast, Dionysus placed a sword above Damocles's head and let it hang by a petite, weak thread - ready to plummet whenever Damocles complained and assumed. The barren, eerie room Lara faces to obtain Damocles's key poses the same threat of random, falling swords.

Secondly, there is Atlas's room - an even smaller area that only hosts, presumably, an observing area protected by a rusted grill and a steep platform that owns a boulder (symbolic of Earth) at its top, ready to crush whoever is placed before it. Atlas, according to mythos, was in fact a Titan that Heracles tricked into performing one of his twelve labours - to carry the world on his shoulders. Atlas was doomed to bear the planet's weight for eternity - Lara, however, can swiftly avoid the tumbling boulder to reach Atlas's key.

Thirdly, we have Thor's room. Thor is a Norse God - a mistake Toby Gard has addressed and also changed in the game's 2007 remake. Thor wielded the mighty hammer Mjiolnir, and could cast lightning as a weapon to defeat his foes; in this room, Thor's key is protected by channeled, fatal lightning and a colossal hammer that Lara utilizes to reach the high top of the room.

Lastly, there is the room of Neptune. Once again, not a Greek entity, rather, a Roman God. Gard also addressed and fixed this issue in the 2007 remake. Neptune was the Roman ruler of the oceans, and his room reflects the jeopardy that comes with marine territory. Neptune's key is hidden in an abnormally, and rather eerily, deep pool. Lara must swim to its bottom and back up again without any reprieve.

These four rooms, alongside the folly's main area of platforms that are decorated with intricate, painted tiles, seem to amalgamate to represent an area of worship - most likely used by its ancient inhabitants of priests, pilgrims or philosophers thousands of years ago. Now, Lara can lope her way through it to reach its deep bottom and continue through Greece.

Walkthrough
See St. Francis' Folly Walkthrough

Outfit

 * Classic

Weapons Found

 * Shotgun

Items

 * Damocles Key
 * Thor Key
 * Atlas Key
 * Neptune Key

Allies Encountered

 * none

Enemies Encountered

 * Lions
 * Gorillas
 * Pierre Dupont
 * Crocodiles
 * Bats

Locales Visited

 * Folly interior

Secrets

 * 1) Large Medipack and Shotgun Ammo
 * 2) Small Medipack and Shotgun Ammo
 * 3) Shotgun Ammo
 * 4) Large Medipack and Magnum Ammo

Monasterio de San Francis St. Francis’ Folly