| Hunter's Keep | |
|---|---|
| Hunter's Keep (Map) | |
 | |
| Hunter's Keep (Gazetteer) | |
 | |
| Located in | Southern Archipelago |
| Ports | Yes |
| Shops | No |
| Shipyard | No |
| Data ID | 143373 |
As you explore the areas local to Wolfstack Docks and 
London, you will come across the single house on Hunter's Keep, inhabited by three sisters Cynthia, Lucy and Phoebe and their shady maidservant. Once a certain event is triggered, the ever-welcoming Hunter's Keep will be permanently transformed to a dark and abandoned place, called Hunter's Keep in ruins.
So long as the sisters live in the house, you have the option to visit them or to do some small work for the 
The Admiralty Survey Office. Do mind that before doing a visit to Hunter's Keep you might want to check your current ship's 
Fuel as there is no shop available.
Port description[]
A quiet isle; a grand old house.
Overview[]
This port is useful in the early game to gain some items by lunching with the sisters. Choose one of the three sisters to lunch with and listen to her stories. This action will decrease 
-50 x Hunger and give you 
+1 x Supplies. Lunching with Phoebe or Lucy decreases your 
Terror by 5 or 10 points, while lunching with Cynthia slightly increases Terror. While only available a limited number of times, is otherwise the cheapest and the most convenient way to gain 
The Gods of the Zee: Salt's Attention, 
The Gods of the Zee: Stone's Attention, and/or 
The Gods of the Zee: Storm's Attention.
The original Hunter's Keep is only available while you have 
Acquaintance: Sojourning with the Sisters ≤ 19. After a number of lunches, based on your Acquaintance: Sojourning with the Sisters value, the 
Hunter's Keep in darkness event becomes available. Each lunch increases this Quality by a random value between 1 and 5, so in the worst case you will have only three lunches before the event is triggered on the fourth visit. This event provides a single chance of saving 
The Scarred Sister, an easily missable Surgeon, and it may be worth delaying it until you have high 
Veils and 
Mirrors.
Officers[]
Following the Hunter's Keep storylet and being successful will lead you to recruit The Scarred Sister, who is, in fact, the younger sister Phoebe.
The 
Tireless Mechanic storylet also passes through here.
Port interactions[]
Hunter's Keep[]
Location description[]
A hump of dark rock swathed in mist, like a hundred other Unterzee islands. But here's a grand house, windows aglow. Lawns, impossibly green and lush in the false-star light. Raked gravel paths. You stand on the dock as the sea nudges the ship's sides. An unexpectedly warm breeze carries the faintest trace of lavender.
Interactions[]
| Interaction | Unlocked by | Effects | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Present yourself at the house
They will have heard your ship come in. Why hide? |
Acquaintance: Sojourning with the Sisters ≤ 1 [You know something of Hunter's Keep] |
Knock, and enter
A maid with smouldering topaz eyes shows you into the parlour where three young women wait. "A visitor!" the youngest cries. The next youngest chuckles. The eldest sighs. "Do excuse the indecorum," she says. "Visitors are rare. You are very welcome. I am Cynthia: the noisy one is Phoebe, the cheerful one is Lucy. You are in good time for lunch. Will you join us?"
|
|
| Spy on the house
This place may not be as simple as it seems. |
Acquaintance: Sojourning with the Sisters ≤ 0 Veils challenge (34 for 100%) |
Failed event | |
| Three sisters.
You peer through a half-open French window into a grand parlour: grand in size, if a little reduced in style by dust and neglect. A dark-haired, pale-skinned young woman bends earnestly over a piano keyboard. Another, fair-haired but unmistakably her sister, sprawls on the sofa with a book. A third sits by the fireplace, staring sorrowfully into the embers. A log pops, and the woman by the fire gives a violent start. You cannot restrain a start of your own, and her eyes meet yours through the glass. She claps her hand to her mouth in shock. There is nothing to do but step apologetically into the room. "A visitor!" the pianist - the youngest - cries. The next youngest chuckles. The eldest, who you frightened, sighs. "Excuse us," she says. "Visitors are rare. You are very welcome. I am Cynthia: the noisy one is Phoebe, the cheerful one is Lucy. You are in good time for lunch. Will you join us?"
| |||
| Successful event | |||
| Piano music drifts across the terrace
You peer through a half-open French window into a grand parlour: grand in size, if a little reduced in style by dust and neglect. A dark-haired, pale-skinned young woman bends earnestly over a piano keyboard. Another, fair-haired but unmistakably her sister, sprawls on the sofa with a book. A third sits by the fireplace, staring sorrowfully into the embers. "Soon," she says, and the piano music falters and stops. "We'll go hungry, and then the end will come, for me but not for you." The pianist raises her eyes from the keyboard. "Hush! If we don't speak of it - " She frowns. Has she seen you at the window? You withdraw.
| |||
| Walk in the gardens
Take a couple of burly zailors with you, just in case. But the gardens are tranquil as moonlight. |
The lawns are neatly trimmed, and the night-flowers of the Neath bloom here in profusion. You watch the hedgerows, but nothing comes to menace you. You can savour the peace - There is a pointed cough from the shadow of a potting-shed. An angular woman in a maid's uniform - her eyes a peculiar sulphurous yellow - advances, frowning. She indicates the house, turns on her heel, and leaves.
|
||
| Luncheon with the sisters: Cynthia
Cynthia is the eldest: melancholy, pensive, occasionally dramatic. |
Acquaintance: Sojourning with the Sisters ≥ 2 [You are acquainted with the sisters of Hunter's Keep] Something Awaits You ≥ 1 [The waves are flecked with light] |
Cynthia grasps your arm and whispers to you. Her eyes are wide and blue: her hair is wild and tangled. Bats might nest in it. It seems to you that you are sitting on a hillside, above a wide blue lake, listening to a story of a murder. An axe. A net. Blood on scented water. "Another chop?" Cynthia asks. "You've barely touched your food. Here. I'll have the maid wrap something up for you. You can't be hungry. It's not safe to be hungry."
|
|
| Luncheon with the sisters: Lucy
Lucy, the middle sister, is sunny, restless, prone to giggles. |
Acquaintance: Sojourning with the Sisters = 2 to 19 Something Awaits You ≥ 1 [The waves are flecked with light] |
A daft tale
Lucy leans over and whispers to you confidentially: a complex story about a butler, a pig and an inheritance. You don't follow all the details of the plot, but somehow the pig ends up in an attic and the butler in a vicar's bed. Candles flicker, dishes enter and leave, and the wind butts gently at the window-panes. By the time the plum-pudding arrives, you're as cheerful as you've been in months.
|
|
| Luncheon with the sisters: Phoebe
Phoebe is soft-voiced, watchful, unpredictable. |
Acquaintance: Sojourning with the Sisters = 2 to 19 Something Awaits You ≥ 1 [The waves are flecked with light] |
Here's a story
Phoebe has a story to tell: of two lovers parted by water, of a raven that carried messages, of a fragment of the moon. She beats time on the table as she speaks, as if to a song only she can hear. The effect is hypnotic. Your attention drifts, out through the skylight of the dining room, to the false-stars glittering in the roof of the cavern. You drift like a puffball-spore. The Unterzee shimmers below. Islands lie like mineral specimens on black velvet. Ships bob like wood-chips between the islands. Vast spined things pulse in the depths. There is a scent like the scent before a storm... "The storm came," says Phoebe quietly. "Everything changed." Somewhere in there, you finished the last course. The scowling maid reluctantly serves cheese and Bath Oliver biscuits.
|
|
| Not receiving visitors?
The parlour is empty. Where are the sisters? |
Acquaintance: Sojourning with the Sisters = 2 to 19 Something Awaits You ≤ 0 [That's all for now] |
The maid makes it clear, through a series of unwelcoming growls, that Phoebe, Lucy and Cynthia are all three 'indisposed'. No lunch today, apparently.
|
|
| News! News!
Even when the sisters aren't feeling sociable, they can be tempted out of their lair by the smell of new stories. |
 Recent News ≥ 1 Acquaintance: Sojourning with the Sisters = 2 to 19 Something Awaits You ≤ 0 [That's all for now] |
Knock and wait
You ask the sulphur-eyed maid to carry a few hints of your news to the sisters. Oddly enough, she comes back with a message that their headaches are cured, and you're invited to lunch...
|
|
| Reconnoitre the island
Plunging cliffs, soft green lawns. A well tucked away in a fold of the grounds. Anything else? |
The sea's silence
Ships rarely come here; nothing changes, even the weather. The house is the heart of the isle: the house, and the sisters. But the Admiralty may be happy to know that nothing's changed, at least. |
||
| Put a blemmigan ashore
Fertile ground for little purple people. |
Into the hedgerows
A flash of deep violet, and the blemmigan is gone. Perhaps the sisters of the Keep will find the creature, or its spawn. Perhaps they'll keep it as a pet. Perhaps they'll make a pie. |
||
| Visit the cellar
"We will need," the Mechanic tells the sisters, "to visit your sub-cellar - " "Oh, that nasty place," Lucy says airily (a little hastily?). "Yes, we'll take you down there." She smiles. "But we'll need stories. Something alarming for Cynthia. A zee-ztory for Phoebe. And a tale of distant places for me." |
 Clay Man, Marked for London ≥ 1 Memory of Distant Shores ≥ 1 Tale of Terror!! ≥ 1 Zee-ztory ≥ 1 Empty Mirrorcatch Box ≥ 1 Learning About: The Tireless Mechanic ≥ 10 [Take a Clay Man and an empty Mirrorcatch Box to Hunter's Keep] A Serpent-Trap ≤ 0 Acquaintance: Sojourning with the Sisters ≥ 2 [You are acquainted with the sisters of Hunter's Keep] |
Beneath Hunter's Keep
The sisters listen with delight to your stories, and unlock the cellar door for you. The key is so heavy that Cynthia can only lift it with both hands. "We won't go in," she says. "We don't go in." The signs on the stones have a Khaganian look. In the deepest sub-cellar, your candles illuminate a litter of tumbled stones - the remnants of a temple. The pool at the cellar's centre is almost dry. The remaining water there seethes oddly in the candle-light, as if it were near boiling, but it's quite cool to the touch. "The Writhing River flows near here," the Mechanic remarks. "One of the tributaries of dream. (I hope it doesn't touch the well those poor girls drink from.) My enemies find me when I sleep - but this water will attract my enemies to this poor fellow." He bends to dip his hand in the water and sketches a sign on the Clay Man's forehead. The Man watches him stolidly. The Mechanic hands him the Mirrorcatch Box. "Hold this," he says. "Keep it open. Don't let go, no matter what happens." The Clay Man's huge hands enfold the box. "There," the Mechanic says, turning to you. "A serpent-trap. Now, I can sleep. I can finally sleep." He smiles. "And then I think I may be able to offer you something rather interesting."
|
Game note: Speak to the Mechanic on board ship to advance the story further. |
| Find the Imperious Sister
Explain what you found, and what you refused to find. |
 Aigul: Commissioned to Retrieve a Regret = 40 [Abandoned drilling for a regret — you may tell the Sister so at Hunter's Keep] |
She is not delighted
"You were there, and you came back with nothing?" Her anger is more than a performance. "It is wrong in my Brother, very wrong, to withhold his confidence from me! Why, I could be helping him -- could be comforting him -- could be lending him solace, if only he would allow me to do so!" She dabs her face with a balled handkerchief.
|
|
| Deliver her Brother's regret, in Needle form
She offers a smooth wrist, and does not flinch. |
Aigul: Commissioned to Retrieve a Regret = 55 [Grew a regret into spine form] |
Only this?
Afterward, she rubs her wrist. "I was certain he had fathered a Deviless' child. I had steeled myself to meet the yellow-eyed creature, and offer it a respectable home. But this! He kept sleepless watches over a pile of burned paperwork?" In a half-wondering voice, she adds: "He is right. The secret has made me think the less of him. What a wormy little man, my Brother." She straightens her gloves and walks away.
|
|
| Deliver the Brother's Regret, in the form of red honey
It may be less daunting than the regret in spine form. |
Aigul: Commissioned to Retrieve a Regret = 70 [Delivered a regret by way of Prisoner's Honey] |
She is gone for some minutes, inhabiting the memories
When she returns, she is deflated. "I was certain the trouble ran deeper. I thought -- if I may confess? but I feel I have no more secrets from you! -- I thought he had fathered a Deviless' child. I had steeled myself to meet the yellow-eyed creature, and offer it a respectable home. But this! He kept sleepless watches over a pile of burned paperwork?" In a half-wondering voice, she adds: "He is right. The secret has made me think the less of him. What a wormy little man, my Brother." She straightens her gloves and walks away.
|
|
| Inspect the Lorn-Fluke with the Anxious University Student
It lies on the shore, just beyond a hill. You can just make out the fluke's spikes over the grass. |
 The Fate of Needles = 1 [Bound for Hunter's Keep] |
The Anxious Student rushes by you, whooping - but he stops on the hilltop. On the shore, standing before the mass of dead needles, is a Drownie in a Nuncian postal uniform. He glowers up at you. "This is not where the fluke belongs," the Drownie cries in a plummy voice. "It's to be taken else where. It already has a delivery label - that means I have to deliver it." The Student sneers. "Sod your label! [Addressed as], help me haul the beast to Station III. My adviser at the college has arranged room there for its dissection and study. My work will benefit us all."
|
Hunter's Keep in ruins[]
| Hunter's Keep in ruins | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Category | Story Event |
| Type | Story |
| Data ID | 149712 |
Location description[]
The lawns are weedy meadows walked by the wind. The gravel paths have sunk to mud. The house is a jumble of charred stones and timbers.
After you have Acquaintance: Sojourning with the Sisters ≥ 40, this will become the permanent port interaction.
Interactions[]
| Interaction | Unlocked by | Effects | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pick over the ruins of the great house
Fungus and cavern-vines are already reclaiming the masonry. |
Acquaintance: Sojourning with the Sisters ≤ 49 [The house on Hunter's Keep is a blackened shell] |
A presence in the ruins
No one has come to reclaim Hunter's Keep, despite its proximity to London. (Here's one: a porcelain heart, untouched by flames.) The place has an eery reputation. One of your zailors cocks an ear. You look questioning. "I thought - " she says - "for a moment, I thought I heard a woman singing."
|
|
| Rare event (75% chance) | |||
| Peace in the ruins
No one has come to reclaim Hunter's Keep, despite its proximity to London. The place has an eery reputation. It's difficult to see why, today. The place is as peaceful as a folly in a park. The air is still. Far across the water, the lights of London glow.
| |||
| Put a blemmigan ashore
It seems fitting, in this place of ruins. |
A mushroom in the meadow
It saunters up the beach, casual as a costermonger on a Sunday afternoon. It snatches a cave-cricket from a stone and, munching cheerfully, disappears into the undergrowth. |
||
| Look in on the ruins
Has anything changed? |
Acquaintance: Sojourning with the Sisters ≥ 50 [The house on Hunter's Keep is a blackened shell] |
Wind, weeds, water
Tumbled stones. The garden unwinding gently into disorder, week on week. Nothing more.
|
|
| Excavate the cellar
"Right," the Mechanic says. "That's, er, a problem. The pool we need is down there." He points to the ruins. "I'm afraid we'll need to do some digging." |
Clay Man, Marked for London ≥ 1 Supplies ≥ 5 Empty Mirrorcatch Box ≥ 1 Foxfire Candles ≥ 1 Learning About: The Tireless Mechanic ≥ 10 [Take a Clay Man and an empty Mirrorcatch Box to Hunter's Keep] A Serpent-Trap ≤ 0 |
Beneath Hunter's Keep
It takes a full day to clear away sufficient ruins to reach the cellars. In the deepest sub-cellar, your candles illuminate a litter of tumbled stones - the remnants of a temple. The signs on the stones have a Khaganian look. A pool at the cellar's centre is almost dry. The remaining water there seethes oddly in the candle-light, as if it were near boiling, but it's quite cool to the touch. "The Writhing River flows near here," the Mechanic remarks. "One of the tributaries of dream. My enemies find me when I sleep - but this water will attract my enemies to this poor fellow." He bends to dip his hand in the water and sketches a sign on the Clay Man's forehead. The Man watches him stolidly. The Mechanic hands him the Mirrorcatch Box. "Hold this," he says. "Keep it open. Don't let go, no matter what happens." The Clay Man's huge hands enfold the box. "There," the Mechanic says, turning to you. "A serpent-trap. Now, I can sleep. I can finally sleep." He smiles. "And then I think I may be able to offer you something rather interesting."
|
Game note: Speak to the Mechanic on board ship to advance the story further. |
| Deliver the Brother's Regret, in the form of red honey
It may be less daunting than the regret in spine form. |
Aigul: Commissioned to Retrieve a Regret = 70 [Delivered a regret by way of Prisoner's Honey] |
She is gone for some minutes, inhabiting the memories
When she returns, she is deflated. "I was certain the trouble ran deeper. I thought -- if I may confess? but I feel I have no more secrets from you! -- I thought he had fathered a Deviless' child. I had steeled myself to meet the yellow-eyed creature, and offer it a respectable home. But this! He kept sleepless watches over a pile of burned paperwork?" In a half-wondering voice, she adds: "He is right. The secret has made me think the less of him. What a wormy little man, my Brother." She straightens her gloves and walks away.
|
|
| Deliver her Brother's regret, in Needle form
She offers a smooth wrist, and does not flinch. |
Aigul: Commissioned to Retrieve a Regret = 55 [Grew a regret into spine form] |
Only this?
Afterward, she rubs her wrist. "I was certain he had fathered a Deviless' child. I had steeled myself to meet the yellow-eyed creature, and offer it a respectable home. But this! He kept sleepless watches over a pile of burned paperwork?" In a half-wondering voice, she adds: "He is right. The secret has made me think the less of him. What a wormy little man, my Brother." She straightens her gloves and walks away.
|
|
| Find the Imperious Sister
Explain what you found, and what you refused to find. |
Aigul: Commissioned to Retrieve a Regret = 40 [Abandoned drilling for a regret — you may tell the Sister so at Hunter's Keep] |
She is not delighted
"You were there, and you came back with nothing?" Her anger is more than a performance. "It is wrong in my Brother, very wrong, to withhold his confidence from me! Why, I could be helping him -- could be comforting him -- could be lending him solace, if only he would allow me to do so!" She dabs her face with a balled handkerchief.
|
|
| Inspect the Lorn-Fluke with the Anxious University Student
It lies on the shore, just beyond a hill. You can just make out the fluke's spikes over the grass. |
The Fate of Needles = 1 [Bound for Hunter's Keep] |
The Anxious Student rushes by you, whooping - but he stops on the hilltop. On the shore, standing before the mass of dead needles, is a Drownie in a Nuncian postal uniform. He glowers up at you. "This is not where the fluke belongs," the Drownie cries in a plummy voice. "It's to be taken else where. It already has a delivery label - that means I have to deliver it." The Student sneers. "Sod your label! [Addressed as], help me haul the beast to Station III. My adviser at the college has arranged room there for its dissection and study. My work will benefit us all."
|
Available interactions[]
These only become available when you are docked in Hunter's Keep and have met the requirements.
Hunter's Keep in darkness[]
View the Hunter's Keep in darkness page.
This interaction appears if you have the following:
Acquaintance: Sojourning with the Sisters ≥ 20 and ≤ 24 The Thing in the Kitchen[]
View the The Thing in the Kitchen page.
This interaction appears if you have the following:
Acquaintance: Sojourning with the Sisters ≥ 25 and ≤ 30 The Silent House[]
View the The Silent House page.
This interaction appears if you have the following:
Acquaintance: Sojourning with the Sisters ≥ 25 and ≤ 30Triggered events[]
These events trigger automatically when you are docked in Hunter's Keep and have met the requirements.
Hunter's Keep alight[]
View the Hunter's Keep alight page.
This interaction appears if you have the following:
Acquaintance: Sojourning with the Sisters ≥ 31 and ≤ 35 Phoebe the Arsoniste[]
View the Phoebe the Arsoniste page.
This interaction appears if you have the following:
Acquaintance: Sojourning with the Sisters ≥ 36 and ≤ 39| Hunter's Keep story events | |
|---|---|
| Hunter's Keep alight • Hunter's Keep in darkness • Hunter's Keep in ruins • Phoebe the Arsoniste • The Silent House • The Thing in the Kitchen | |