Ok, I had originally planned to do another game for this one, but
yesterday evening I happened to play a bit of Sunless Sea and got to a
setup too interesting to not do today. So here goes part 2 of this great little game. (Read this first for more of an introduction to the game).
Setup: I’ve just arrived at Port Cavendish, a pirate haven where I
initially try to make some deals to meet with the Pirate King, but fall
short with my abilities.
However, just before, I got lucky and found
an empty mirrorcatch box—which doesn’t sound very lucky until I
realized that I could sell boxes of sunlight in Port Cavendish. And a
box of sunlight is a mirrorcatch box, in which sunlight has been
trapped.
And I happened to know (from a previous playthrough) that
there is a passage to the surface south of London—and on the surface is
sunlight.
So I start my quest today by sailing home.
In other news, my cargo happened to be full because I was carrying
some basalt stones that I needed to sell in London, so it fit anyway.
I take a slight detour over uncharted waters, not because I plan to find anything but just to get a bit more of my map filled out. Instead, however, I find Pigmote Isle.
Not a seemly place, but there’s a resemblance of civilization, so I disembark ashore.
And all of a sudden, I find myself in the midst of a war between rats and pigs.
Yes.
Uhm, and I’m supposed to pick a side. Uhhh. I hesitate a bit, going
back and forth. They seem to be fighting over what the rats call “The
Rat Star” and the pigs call “Our Lady’s Eye”—so probably some jewel or
some such.
I end up siding with the rats because they seem to be at a
disadvantage and less pompous than the pigs, so I help them with some
strategic planning. The victory comes soon after, and they claim the Rat
Star and the island for themselves, with the pigs degraded to
second-tier citizens living in ghettos...
I could even visit them
afterwards and see the damage I’d done—or help begin a revolution
against the rats I’d just inserted into power.
Ok, I’m out of here. Too much.
Back to London. A place I can deal with. Only large scale politics I don’t have to worry about happening there. And I can go back to being a well-meaning sailor trading basalt stones and sunlight to the highest bidder.
I stock and fuel up my ship, sell all the remaining cargo and get ready for the long trip south and up.
I’ll need a lot of fuel for this one.
With the nose pointing southward and scraping by a couple of large unfriendly crabs, I find what I’m looking for: The Cumaean Canal. The passage to the Surface.
I stock up again as I realize I need even more fuel and then press the button to travel far, far away.
We emerge at lake Avernus, sunlight and birdsong filling our ship as I see my options. Immediately, I can fill my mirrorcatch box, trapping sunlight within its reflective walls.
That was quick.
I fulfilled my purpose, but damn, I’m up here; might as well have a look around. I first travel to Naples, where I can buy and spend a great deal of money on a great deal of things, and I travel to Vienna where I can aid in another revolution by smuggling some wares to London. They don’t seem harmful so I say, sure, I can use that extra money, and tuck their boxes inside my ship.
Up there, I lose 3 crewmembers, as they seem to vanish in the sunlight, slowly but surely.
Best
get back underground. Yet, I realize I don’t have enough fuel to get
back. You can buy fuel on the surface, but it’s expensive.
Surface-travel is a costly affair.
Let’s hope I can sell this sunlight safely and for a lot of money.
I travel, first to London to stock up on cheaper fuel (and to sell those smuggled wares), then to Port Cavendish halfway across the zee. On the way I stumble into a pirate ship, far better equipped than my own, and I scramble away from it, blasting my engine and almost blowing up my own ship.
I escape, but with my ship in a severely damaged state. Hope I don’t run into another one of those.
But I make it to Port Cavendish, and look to my options. I can sell the sunlight. It’s risky, but I don’t know what the risks are and I don’t know where else to sell this—so I sell it.
The sale was a success, 500 echoes in my pocket, but through sleazy second-hand trading, I lose the mirrorcatch box. Crap. Can't do that again before I find a new box.
Just before I leave I stroll a bit around Cavendish again, and through some more carousing, I manage to secure a meeting with the Pirate-King’s Claw, whom I swear patronage to.
His first job for me: Smuggle red honey into London.
Shit. This
ain’t like that other stuff. This is seriously dangerous to be caught
with. And I have no idea how to smuggle things.
Well, that’s for next time!