This was over a year ago now, but I thought some people might enjoy the story.

Around a year ago, my paternal grandfather passed away from Alzheimers. It was a slow passing, and I had known it was coming for a long time.

We lived overseas from each other so we mainly talked over Skype or FaceTime, but once a year or so, he and my grandmother would fly over and stay with me and my parents for a month or two. Despite the distance, I think I was a lot closer with him than my maternal grandparents who lived just upstate.

When he was first diagnosed, I didn’t like the idea of his life and stories of his childhood being forgotten. Whenever I could, I would ask him stories about his life, and he would tell me of his childhood. But stupidly, I didn’t want to look strange in the moment or bring attention to why I was asking him, so I trusted my memory and told myself I would write down his stories later. I never did.

Fast forward a few years, and his Alzeimher’s had progressed. After some resistance from my grandmother who had been looking after him all this time, she had agreed to move him to an old folk’s home, and visited him almost every day. But the Alzeimher’s kept worsening. He stopped talking, stopped acknowledging anyone, and soon he stopped eating. He would just lie there, still, slowly wasting away. He was given intravenous fluids, but everyone knew it was only a matter of time.

A few weeks later, he passed away, and all the stories of his life were gone.

I had been playing Sunless Skies for a while at this point. I had just completed the Wealth ambition and was tinkering around with the Fame ambition, though none of the captains had made it yet. A few days after my grandfather died, my Locomotive was destroyed by a Curator and I started making a new captain.

As I was looking through the customisation options, I realised that one of the hats was the spitting image of a hat my grandfather would always wear when we went on walks together. In that moment, I made a decision. I redid the customisation, changed my captain’s face silhouette to as close to my grandfather’s as possible, changed their background to the one that best fit my grandfather’s own, and named them with my grandfather’s name. And then, I set out with the Fame ambition. I had failed to preserve my grandfather’s stories in real life, but in Sunless Skies, I could right that wrong.

There was one key rule I gave myself: I only had one chance. If my captain died, I would not customise a new captain after my grandfather. I would not use Alt-f4 to save scum my way back from death. There were no do overs. Just like life.

What followed was the most intense run I have ever done, then or since. I planned out routes meticulously. I prepared twice as many supplies and fuel as I thought I might need on any voyage. The moment I saw a monster larger than a Cantankeri, I would use full evasive manuevers and leave the area as fast as I could.

I couldn’t just stay along safe routes though. I had to write the seven cantos of the Song of the Sky. My grandfather had to become a legend. No cheating with lies about escaping Piranesi. So my captain became the revolutionary of Brabazon, and shattered the empire’s power in the Reach. He found the lost ship of the Parzifal and became a scourge of the greatest monsters of the sky. He mended time itself and explored the depths of the deepest wells in the Sky.

He came close to death so many times. Hull on 5 points after narrowly winning a terrible battle with a Curator or Scrive Spinster. Several times he limped his way into Magdalene’s with terror in the 90s threatening to shatter his mind. But he endured.

As his song began to reach its conclusion, his final act was to defy the very gods no less than 4 times. He sailed through time, through the gulfs between the heavenly regions, and even to the graveyard of the stars, all to spit in their faces and tell them they could not end his tales. That even if they cursed his mind and memories to fade, his Song would remain for generations to come, to be told and retold.

And then he returned to London. He wrote the final Canto. And with that, his journey ended.

I sat back from my computer and breathed a long slow sigh. It had been a few weeks since my grandfather had passed, and soon I would begin a new year. I looked at the photo on my bookshelf of my grandfather holding my younger self in his arms just outside the airport, both of us smiling with pure joy at being reunited. I smiled back at them, and said my final goodbye.

Hi so I got the notice that my messenger is a criminal and that I could bring her back ti the station I picked her up from to turn her in for a paycheck.

But I don't have the option to?

So how do I do that?

Hello Skyfarers!

The Monarch mod team is looking for dedicated individuals to join us in three key roles: Testers, Proofreaders and Writers for our upcoming update!

Monarch mod is a comprehensive content addon that enhances Sunless Skies with new storylines, events, an overhauled economy, new enemies and locomotives. You can find us on Nexus Mods - Monarch Mod.

For the 5th update we have drafted/conceptualised a large variety of quests and activities, but our current team turned out to be too smol' to write and implement all the planned stuff at reasonable speed. A long list of features we want help with can be found below.

### 1. Testers \ 5 people at most

A Tester ensures the quality and functionality of the mod:

• Playing through new content and providing feedback on gameplay mechanics as well as balancing suggestions.

• Playtesting will last about a month.

• Identifying bugs and issues.

• Testers are required for current beta version.

Requirements:

• Readiness to tinker with installation of the mod every time the beta version is updated.

• Knowledge how to do save editing (you can find a guide on steam).

### 2. Proofreaders \ 5 people at most

Proofreaders polish the written content:

• Currently we need proofreaders to do finishing touches for a few large content elements for the current update.

• Reviewing and editing quests, events, and dialogue for grammar, clarity, and consistency.

Requirements:

• Having strong command in English

• Being an English native.

• Having a solid sense of FBG style.

### 3. Writers \ 5 people at most

Writers write stuff!

• Currently writers are mainly required to finish some snippets for the current update, then there is a lot of stuff for future updates.

• Create new quests, locations and activities.

• Finishing conceptualised stuff.

Requirements:

• Knowledge of the lore of at least one FBGverse game and familiarity with Skies.

• Creativity and a sense of FBG style.

• Provide an example of your works.

If you are interested in contributing to the Monarch mod, please write here and reach out to me via Discord - desblat_17 and tell what would you like to be doing. Writers should also provide an example of their work. I will do my best to answer fast. Cheers!

———

[FEATURES PLANNED FOR THE 5TH UPDATE]

Finished content that needs playtesting

1. The New Brass Embassy

2. Dawn Fluke enemy

3. Special wrecks

4. Ancient Machine Discovery

5. Langley Windows Discovery

6. Eclipse Douser enemy

7. Nostalgic Frigate player engine

Written stuff for current update that requires proofreading and finishing of some snippets

1. Picaroon terminus - slaver pirate port in Eleutheria

2. Kur - alien pirate port in Blue Kingdom

3. London Espionage

Half-written stuff for next updates:

1. Unique hailing Albion Locomotives, Tackety, Dousers

2. Discovery - Spider infestiation

3. Eleutheria - Khanate/Empyrean/Eleutheria Espionage

4. Eleutheria - An-com revolutionaries port

5. Eleutheria - Eclipse-class Douser - player locomotive building questline

6. Eleutheria - House of Rods and Chains Shapeling Arts add-on

7. Eleutheria - Extinguishment discovery diving

8. Albion - Avid Horizon sequencer exile add-on

9. Enemies looting: Marauder Warchief

Boarding Fleshing-out for next updates:

1. Seize the vessel and send is somewhere to sell

2. Unique looting options for faction vessels

Bosses and their looting for next updates:

1. Discordance locomotive boss

2. Chronoanomaly dreadnought

——

Yours,

Monarch mod project lead - Desblat

I’ve been playing Sunless Sea for about a month now and although I love it (and sink a lot of hours into it - if you’ll excuse the pun) I was wondering if Skies is sufficiently different in terms of mechanics, story threads, etc that it’s worth investing in straight after I hang up my Zee Captain hat?

Or is it basically just a new map with new interactions that I would be better off keeping in my back pocket until I’ve played some other games?

Thank you in advance fellow intrepid explorers.

i don't know exactly when it started, but it must've been when i closed the game to do something and opened it back up. i can't sell any of my items at all, the arrows don't do anything, and if i put in a number manually and click sell, i don't earn any money and the items aren't removed from my hold. i've tried a lot already, reinstall, new saves, deleting the LocalLow Sunless Skies folder and reopen the game, deleting the game's registry and reinstalling it again, and none of that worked.

i've only seen a single other person on the entire internet who's had this same exact problem, but it was fixed for them with a reinstall.

i've tried selling general things as a test such as fuel or supplies both at New Winchester and Port Avon, it didn't work, so it's not like i'm trying to sell things i can't.

A couple of years ago I discovered this game and absolutely loved it until I got to Eleutheria. It seemed to run out of steam for some reason, maybe because I found the gameplay too slow, or that I had already gotten a fully decked out Moloch and there wasn't any more progression except for the story, idk. Two of my playthroughs ended like that.

But I really do want to revisit this game and finish at least the main story ambition. I was looking at the Monarch mod and I wondered if it addressed those issues I had, since it seems to add so much new stuff. Hopefully that stimulates my reptile brain enough so that I can actually enjoy the writing as well.

Till I wait for 5.0, what are y'all's opinions on the mod? (Ideally without spoiling too much, lol)

Hi all! I’m exploring elutheria for my first time, tried the midnight’s favour, and was fascinated by it. Unfortunately I misclicked on the “burn the plant” option… is there going to be any way to reverse this? I’m afraid I threw out a whole storyline :((

I often wake up with the question of what I'm, or many other questions starting with interrogative pronounces. Now I stop knowing questions as well, lest panicing myself more.

Skies are dark… so dark. And only merciless lights other than darkness. I'm just scared of both.

Blindfolded, both inside and outside, I begin to feel something dark reach me, like a cold touch from where no one sees.

Maybe I need penance. Yes, I need penance. The only thing I know, I need penance.

Good devil lords, please lend me hand and tell me what to do. I here swear my oath to donate my soul after it is cleansed.

I know that old Tom will try to kill me at the well if he doesn’t respect me enough. Assuming he doesn’t, am I screwed without the Ratbite with me?

Content would cover various locations, cultures, factions etc. I can find a series covering Sunless Seas but nothing of Skies. I feel like I would watch the hell out of such a series if it existed. Anyone else feel this way?

Edited ‘can’t’ to ‘can’

Is there a difference between different versions? Mainly is there an advantage to getting it on Steam or GOG?

(I have this game on Epic, and I am wondering if I am missing anything without Steam or GOG, such as better port or smoother gameplay).

I've been wondering why this isn't at the very top of everyone's how-to-get-more-stats guides. I looked around and saw that someone else posted about it here two months ago.

Go and get yourself trapped in Piranesi by intentionally breaking one of the rules. Then just keep changing yourself. Each change gives you +5 to one skill, +3 to another, and -5 to another. That's a net +3 every time you change. I think it costs 1 sky story or 1 tale of terror or something really cheap to change. I've gotten myself trapped there twice on purpose now, and I made about 30 or 40 changes each time. I have all of my skills over 100.

Is this intended behavior? Is this just how you're supposed to get through the late game? Or is this a bug?

Since FailBetter Games doesn't run a shop anymore, does anyone know of a place to buy some merch of the game?

I'm level 17 and have 65 Irons and just over 50 for the other three. 4 completed office quest lines.

I should be able to get one more stat above 65 in two levels and maybe a third in three levels if i do it right but what do i need most?

It's been a while, but I've finally had a single legacy where I completed all 4 Ambitions.

But it's been a lovely journey, and I've enjoyed where I've been. Reset to start 'wealth' by default and can I think instantly complete it! :)

I'm now going to try and tick off the 'pseudo ambitions' and achievements - got a few left, and some are a little trickier than others.

And then to do it all over with the Monarch mod installed! :)

Are there any voice over mods?

Or someone that can create something like this?
Would say it should be posible to created something with ai to read out like a narrator.

Hi. I know this question has been asked previously but I felt like opinions were so evenly divided. I thought maybe I would just check and see if opinions have shifted since the last post I could find some time ago.

I like difficult games. I like challenging and skill testing games. As long as they are fair. I don't mind a setback and I don't mind re-experiencing something. So I was leaning towards legacy.... But I also don't want to just get my ass kicked relentlessly if that difficulty is meant for experienced players of the game.

I guess my question is, is legacy still fun for someone who is brand new to the series, enjoys a challenge, and is pretty adept at video games?

Or is it meant to be like just brutal difficulty to test your mettle once you know the game.

Hi everyone! I’m new to sunless skies, I’ve discovered port avon and a few small locations so far, delivered my port report, got money, bought supplies and fuel, and now I’ve ran out before discovering anything new, with my scout having provided zero help. I am completely out of everything and I have no sovereigns/money. How do I get un-stuck?

Edit: I died and ran a few port reports back and forth from Avon to buy enough fuel/supplies to explore and find Magdalene, which I needed for a prospect. I’m sorta up and running now!

Since the newest update of either the monarch mod or the game my controls will change back to default everytime I go to the main menu. Does someone else have the same problem or know a way to fix it?

!I saw on the wiki that there were several choices you could make once you discover the Parzifal, including burning it down. If you choose to burn it down, does that still count for achieving a Momentous Exploit? Or is it necessary to transport Percy somewhere else? I can't tell by reading the wiki if this is the case, so I wondered if I could just ask here!!<