Heart of Ice is the eighteenth chapter of Among Thieves. After making their way through the ice caves, Nate and Tenzin finally stumbled upon the ice temple. Near the end they discovered what happened to Karl Schäfer's expedition, and are attacked by more of the monsters.
Story[]
In the temple Nate and Tenzin have to split up and make use of several levers and pressure switches to enable the other party to make their way across. The contraptions on Nate's side are notably more deteriorated however, forcing him to take longer and make detours compared to Tenzin. Ultimately the two succeed in raising the bridge that granted them access to the temple's inner chamber.
Would a Man Become?[]
In the inner sanctum Nate quickly learned their way back was blocked off, while Tenzin found the remains of the expedition. While examining a corpse Nate found a small case depicting the Cintamani Stone, and containing several pieces of resin to his confusion. On a closer look he also realized that the body contains a gunshot wound straight through the forehead, realizing all of the corpses were shot.
Tenzin then shows him a book depicting the Tree of Life, Irminsul, and while leafing through the book learns that it belonged to the Ahnenerbe, and comes to the conclusion that the expedition were Nazis. After observing the room's statues and the books contents he told Tenzin that Schäfer killed his own expedition members, presumably as it was the only way to stop them from gaining access to the Stone. Distant growls then alerted them to the presence of more of the yeti-like monsters encountered before.
Before the monsters arrived, Nate managed to find and activate a lever, after which he and Tenzin managed to dodge the rocks they threw until the platform finished descending. Nate climbed on first, and although Tenzin attempted to move the lever so it would rise back up, he was unable to do so due to a monster blocking his path. Nate got him to climb on anyway, and instead shot the lever from afar. While thinking themselves out of the clear, the two are instead jumped and forced to dangerously hang off one another on a slanted platform, due to the weight of the monster clinging onto Nate. Several direct shots to the head finally made it let go, falling to and also through the floor below.
This is our Fault[]
After finally making their way out of the temple Nate spots the Tibetan village being on fire, and alerts Tenzin who gets worried about his daughter; Pema. The cutscene skips to them arriving in the village and meeting Elena, who tells Tenzin that his daughter is with Schäfer. She confides in Nate that she thinks the attack is their fault, as Lazarević will be looking for them and the Phurba.
Walkthrough[]
Upon entering the temple area proper activate the pressure plate on the left, which will prompt Nate to tell Tenzin to activate the other one. Wait for the wall next to you to lower and then climb the wall statue to reach the ledge above you, which leads to three large cylinders. They will be too high for you, so take the tiny side path to a lever, which will lower the cylinders on Tenzin's side. Tenzin will return the favor, allowing you to use them to climb across. The latter two cylinders have vertical boards, which will knock you off if you cling on for too long and do not get out of the way in time.
Once you reach the other side you need to do more platforming, this time using the wall in front of the gap to reach a wooden beam, which leads to a large rotating gear. Cling to the gear to get past it, then use a swinging bar to reach a second one, after which you must time a jump to get past a massive broken wheel. Past the third gear you will need to drop down, and use another bar to land onto a fourth, from where you can use a rope to swing onto a small platform, which will promptly break. The fifth gear underneath it will save Nate from falling however, so ride it to the bottom to land safely.
From here you need use the next vertical gear to climb back up again, finally granting you access to another lever. The cutscene will show the bridge breaking on your end, so climb down the stone ladder in the stone wall beneath you. Use the chain to reach the broken beams on the other side, then climb across the gear in time to reach the beam next to it. Use the next swinging bar to hang onto a contraption that contains chained blocks that continually move either up or down, depending on the chain you are hanging onto. Make your way to the third chain, then ride it to the top and shift over to the fourth and then immediately jump over to the ledge next to you.
Use the nearby rope to lang onto the massive gear behind it, then ride it to the bottom, walk to the other side, and ride it to the top. Switch to the second gear halfway through, then use the third to reach another bar which leads to another pressure switch. The pillar puzzle it activates is fairly straight-forward, jump from pillar to pillar to reach the center one, using the swinging bars to do so. Each pillar descends once you jump off as well.
At this point you can make your way to the enormous statue in the back of the chamber, and enter the temple's inner sanctum. After a cutscene you must move the lever that is up the stairs, at which point the monsters arrive. You can pick up an MP40 to shoot them, although this is largely pointless as they are essentially invulnerable. Instead, focus on dodging the massive boulders they throw at you until the platform has finished descending. Jump onto it and wait for Tenzin to join you, then shoot the monster when it grabs onto you. After the cutscene you will immediately continue with the next chapter "Siege"