Overview
This is a detailed, spoiler-light guide to Sunless Skies’s fourth, hidden, ambition.
Foreward
The Martyr-King’s Cup is a secret ambition.This guide is intended to be spoiler-light, and was written pre-sovereign edition.
To begin the ambition, you will need to complete a quest, and then die/complete a different ambition. Your successor will be able to select this ambition. What this means is that any amount of preparation you do will not be super worthwhile. That said, I have included a shopping list.
You will need the following items in this order (in order to start the ambition)
– 1 Vision of the Heavens
– 3 Sky-Stories
You will need the following items in this order (AFTER you start the ambition, not before):
– 5 Sky-Stories
– 1 Savage Secret, not consumed
– Attention: The Storm That Speaks (optional)
– 1 Moment of Inspiration (optional)
– 1 Cryptic Benefactor (optional)
– 3 Tales of Terror and 1 Savage Secret (optional)
– 1 Searing Enigma (optional)
– 1 Selection of Immaculate Souls, 3 crew, or 3 Savage Secrets (optional)
– 1 Captivating Treasure or 5 Casks of Navaratine Gemstones
– up to 3 Savage Secrets (optional)
– 1 Moment of Inspiration (optional)
– 1 Searing Enigma (optional)
– 1 Cryptic Benefactor and 500 sovereigns
– 3 Sky-Stories, 1 Scrap of Ancient Knowledge and 3 Barrels of Hours (optional)
You’ll notice that a lot of the items above are marked as optional. That is because in the Martyr-King’s Cup, it is possible to fail the ambition, forcing you to start all over again, on a new character. The good news, though, is that the only way to fail is to fail a skill check which will be marked as such. But these are high skill checks, so unless you have 60+ in each stat, it is likely that you will not be able to 100% all of them. That’s where the optional items come in – you can spend them instead of having to pass dangerous skill checks. So don’t be intimidated! I was able to complete this ambition first try, and if you follow this guide, you can too.
The most important stats to have will be iron and mirrors. Veils is also useful, but the veils checks you’ll encounter will be extremely high, so you’ll have to invest a lot in veils for it to be worth it. You will also want a decent weapon and good hull power, as you will have to fight Logoi at some point in your quest.
This guide is assuming you have explored the whole map. You will have to go to every region at least once for this ambition, including the Blue Kingdom.
Finally: When I say something like “(hearts 50 for 100%)”, that means you will have to pass a hearts check, and you need 50 hearts to be able to 100% it.
Getting Started: The Chamberlain’s Absence
To begin, you will have to investigate the disappearance of the Dismal Chamberlain in the Most Serene Mausoleum.
You must first go to the Mausoleum and, after approaching the Deathless, attempt to speak to the Dismal Chamberlain. You will need 1 favour bestowed from the Deathless, which can easily be obtained by speaking to whichever member of the Deathless is on duty (hearts 50 for 100%). If you fail to obtain the favor, you can try again in a week, or spend one ministry-approved literature to try again immediately.
Next, investigate the Chamberlain’s disappearance (hearts 62 for 100%). You will also need a favor, which you will spend regardless of whether or not you succeed. If you fail, you will have to wait 15 days and try again.
Descend into the vault with “Bright eyes and a cold hand around your heart” – in gameplay terms, this means you need 50 terror and 1 vision of the heavens. The terror is easy to obtain – you gain 4 terror every time you “examine the strange vault”.
After finding your clue, you need 3 sky-stories. Simply having them in your inventory while travelling will enable you to translate it.
Return to the Mausoleum once you do. The quest will be marked as completed, and this character’s involvement in it is over. You will have to die/win to continue with a new character. They will be able to select The Martyr-King’s Cup as their next ambition.
Next Steps
After you’ve created a new character with Ambition: Martyr-King’s Cup, you’ll want to pick up your inheritance to begin the quest. You can do this at any major port, probably the one you spawned in.
You’ll need 5 sky-stories to continue. Like last time, you can decipher the journal just by travelling.
Once you do that, head to London with one savage secret (not consumed) to meet the Unseen Queen. While you’re there, make sure you talk to her courtiers for a free uncanny specimen. To continue the ambition, ask her about the cup and where to find fellow questers.
Some other things you can talk about with the Queen:
– Ask about her true nature (+1 Moored to Reality, must not be hallucinating)
– Swear fealty to her (+1 Silver Dreams of a Golden Day, +1 Visions of the Heavens, -15 terror)
– What is the Stain-Beneath-Marble? (+1 Savage Secret)
– Ask why you’re having trouble… (+1 Silver Dreams of a Golden Day, makes you hallucinate)
– Something isn’t right (Mirrors 84 for 100%. On a success, makes you stop hallucinating and gives you +1 Moored to Reality. Can only be tried once every 7 days).
Side note: Moored to reality/Visions in Silver
By this point, you’ve probably encountered three Cup-related qualities: Moored to Reality, Silver Dreams of a Golden Day, and Visions in Silver.
Moored to Reality is obtained by questioning your fantasies, and doing things in the real world throughout your quest. You won’t have a use for it until the very end, at which point you will need your Moored to Reality to be higher than your Silver Dreams to unlock an ending where you betray and kill the Unseen Queen.
Silver Dreams is obtained by indulging in your fantasies, and doing things in the fantasy world throughout your quest. Like Moored to Reality, you won’t need it until the very end, at which point you will need your Silver Dreams to be higher than your Moored to Reality to unlock an ending where you live forever in the dream world..
Visions in Silver just tracks whether or not you are in your dream world or the real world. If you are “seeing what really ought to be”, you are hallucinating. If you are “seeing what is”, you are grounded in reality.
Go to Brabazon
Go to Brabazon to fight the Chamberlain. You will enter the dream world and get +1 Silver Dreams when you track him down. This is a good introduction to how the rest of the ambition will work – failable skill checks, and different options depending on whether you are in the dream world or reality.
If you are dreaming, be careful. You can defeat the Chamberlain with an iron check (iron 55 for 100%) and get +1 Silver Dreams as well, but if you fail, you will lose the ambition. You can also try to clear your mind (Mirrors 67 for 100%) to enter reality, and if that doesn’t work, you can come back in a week.
If you are in reality, you won’t need skills of any kind. Simply chase him down to defeat him and get +1 Moored to Reality.
After you defeat him, you can ask him about his quest before you take the pen. You can distract the overseers or not, it doesn’t affect anything.
When you’re done on Brabazon, return to the Unseen Queen for your next tasks. You can complete these tasks in any order.
The Blindness Throne
Once you arrive at Polmear & Plenty’s and sit on the blindness throne, you will not be able to leave until you’re done, and there are multiple skill checks here that may be mandatory and can end your ambition, so be careful! You may also find the wiki to be helpful for this part, but be warned that it obviously contains spoilers.
If you want to play it safe, bring:
Attention: The Storm That Speaks (Having its wrath should theoretically also work, but I’m not completely sure)
1 Moment of Inspiration
Depending on what you want to do, you might want also to bring 1 Cryptic Benefactor, though it’s not really necessary.
You may lose 50% of your money when you sit on the blindness throne. You will be able to recover it afterwards, but if you really have a lot of money/don’t want to read ahead to make sure you can recover it, you may want to come back to this one.
This guide is intended to be comprehensive, so I’ve talked about all the options below, but if you just want to get through this part, the easiest path is to:
Stay in the dream world the entire time. Use the items mentioned above instead of skill checks, and then kill the demons to get your money back.
Anything in the following event that sends you to the dream world will also give you 1 Silver Dreams.
STEP ONE:
Go to Polmear & Plenty’s, and search for the blindness throne.
Once you are there, you can focus on a little detail (Mirrors challenge that gets more difficult every time you attempt it) in order to bring yourself back to reality and gain 1 Moored to Reality as well. You will be able to lose yourself in order to leave reality at this point, but you will not be able to do this as easily later on, so choose wisely.
Sit on the throne after you’re prepared and proceed to step two.
STEP TWO:
If you are dreaming, you can steel yourself to continue. (Iron 55 for 100%). You will be brought back to reality and gain 1 Moored to Reality on a failure. If you pass the check, you will move onto the next step.
If you are not dreaming, you will be able to:
Struggle (Veils 92 for 100%) – You will be sent back to the dream world, but if you succeed, any challenge that relies on a variety of factors will be easier and you will advance to the next step.
Insist – You will be sent straight back to the dream world and advance to the next step.
Calmly allow them – You will simply advance to the next step.
STEP THREE:
If you are dreaming, you can endure (Hearts challenge that gets more difficult based on a variety of factors). The safer option is to ward them away with your Attention: The Storm That Speaks. Either way, you will lose half your money (you can recover it later).
If you aren’t dreaming, you can protest (will send you back to the dream world), warn them with 1 Cryptic Benefactor (will send you back), warn them about vengeance (Iron 80 for 100%, will send you back to the dream world on a pass or a fail), or stay silent. All of these options will take you to step four, but if you don’t use your cryptic benefactor or you fail to threaten them, you will lose half your money (you can recover it later).
If you are in reality, this is your last chance to voluntarily return to the dream world. The next step has no alternative options, and if you fail it, you will fail your ambition.
STEP FOUR:
If you are dreaming, you can try to stand up (Iron challenge that gets more difficult based on a variety of factors). The safer option is to use a Moment of Inspiration.
If you aren’t dreaming, you can try to wriggle free (Veils based on a variety of factors). Failing to do this will end your ambition.
STEP FIVE:
If you are dreaming, you can choose whether or not to slaughter the demons. Slaughtering them will give you your money back if you lost it, and has no drawbacks.
If you are not dreaming, you can flee, which is the safer option. You can also pull out a knife (Iron 75 for 100%) – this will give you your money back if you lost it on a success. Both options will give you 1 Moored to Reality.
And that’s it. The only thing to do now is return to London – and recover the Cloak of the Lion from Pan, if you haven’t already.
The Cloak of the Lion
Head to Pan to begin your quest for the Cloak of the Lion. Like the Blindness Throne, you can choose between spending items and passing difficult skill checks. Unlike the Blindness Throne, you will be able to leave at any time and come back later.
You can enter reality (+1 Silver Dreams on a success) by questioning the hermit (Mirrors 78 and 94 for 100%). You can do this in steps one and two, but you only get two opportunities to do this (one in each step). You can retreat back into fantasy at any time (+1 Silver Dreams).
When you first arrive, you will be dreaming, but if you leave and come back after step one, your Visions in Silver will not be changed. This means if you feel very strongly about one of the options here and you’ve already failed the mirrors checks, you can theoretically go get a reality check somewhere else (with the Unseen Queen or the Blindness Throne, if you haven’t already completed it).
STEP ONE:
If you are dreaming, you will need to use 1 Savage Secret and 3 Tales of Terror. If you are in reality, you will only need 1 Supplies.
STEP TWO:
If you are dreaming, you can use 1 Searing Enigma (+1 Silver Dreams). If you are in reality, you will need to pass a check (Veils 112 for 100%, +1 Moored to Reality on a success).
STEP THREE:
If you are dreaming, you will have to sacrifice 1 Selection of Immaculate Souls, 3 Savage Secrets, or 3 crew. If you are in reality, you will have to pass a check (Iron 67 for 100%, +1 Moored to Reality on a success) to snag the cloak. Ordering one of your crew members won’t help in the slightest, and you’ll lose the crew member.
After you’ve obtained the cloak and survived the throne, return to London.
Return to London
Return to London after you’ve obtained the cloak and survived the Blindness Throne for your next steps.
You’ll be told to go to Piranesi. Bring either 1 Captivating Treasure or 5 Casks of Navaratine Gemstones with you – this is a mandatory expense, there’s no way around it. You’ll receive 1 Searing Enigma and 1 Savage Secret for your troubles, also 1 Moored to Reality after you first talk to the conformer.
You’ll want to return to London again and talk to the queen. She’ll announce a grand tournament – you’ll have to come back in 15 days to participate.
The Tournament
After a lot of very dangerous skill checks, the tournament should be a nice break. It only contains one opportunity to fail your ambition, and you can leave and come back at any time.
It’s possible to make it through this next part without a single item, but a handful of Savage Secrets and/or 1 Moment of Inspiration might help. You might also want a Searing Enigma as an alternative to a dangerous skill check at the end, though you will be able to leave and come back later.
You’ll start by joining the melee. You can enter reality (Mirrors 52 for 100%) and gain 1 Moored to Reality, or you can not. Either way, you can wade inwith an iron check – 60 for 100% if you’re in reality, 109 for 100% if you’re dreaming (+1 Silver Dreams on a success). Losing these fights will give you a small amount of progress – the same amount of progress that you’d get for sitting out. Winning will give you more progress and 1 Moment of Inspiration (if you’re dreaming) or 1 Sky-Story (in reality).
After this, you’ll be thrown into the grand tournament with a number of options.
You can indulge your paranoia and slip back into fantasy to change between dreams/reality at any time during this stage. Paranoia will cost you 1 Tale of Terror and give you 1 Moored to Reality.
You can use a Moment of Inspiration to gain progress once (+1 Silver Dreams). This will also cause you to start dreaming.
If you are in reality, you can use Savage Secrets to gain progress. This will also give you 1 Moored to Reality every time you do it.
Watching a fight or a bout will give you 1 Tale of Terror and Sky-Story respectively. You can do each one once – one in reality and one in your dreams.
Winning at jousting will give you progress (Hearts 75 for 100%). You can only win at jousting once, though you can try again if you fail.
Successfully battling a dragon (50 Iron for 100%) will give you progress. You can only succeed at this once, though you can try again if you fail. Failure will give you 1 Moored to Reality and take you back to reality.
Once you have gained enough progress, you will have to fight the final champion (+1 Silver Dreams to start). You can choose between two skill checks – Veils 67 for 100% and Iron 92 for 100% – or use a Searing Enigma for a guaranteed win. Succeeding in either skill check will grant you a Crimson Promise, in addition to your victory. Fun fact: If you played Sunless Sea, you’ll recognize Isery from the Isle of Cats.
After you win, you will have to return in two weeks for further instructions.
The Tower
After you receive your instructions, arrange matters in London with 1 Cryptic Benefactor and 500 sovereigns.
Note: Previous excursions might have had opportunities to fail your ambition, thus forcing you to choose a new ambition and abandon your quest. This event is different. You can actually die here. If you want to play it safe, make sure your locomotive is in good condition and has at least 40 hull.
When you’re ready, head to the Tower of Chimes and fly over it to trigger an event. I have included a screenshot, not because I think you need to know what the Tower of Chimes looks like, but because this is my absolute favorite scene in the whole ambition and I think it deserves a screenshot.
To start, you can either attach it yourself (Hearts 67 for 100%) or send a duo. Both of these options will give you progress, even if you fail the hearts check. Sending a duo will kill one of the crew members and give you 1 Moored to Reality.
After you heave, you’ll get to choose between dreams or reality (+1 Silver Dreams and +1 Moored to Reality respectively).
If you are dreaming at this point, you will only have one option (Iron 109 for 100%). Succeeding here will allow you to leave with your prize. Failing here will simply give you 1 Moored to Reality and send you back to reality.
In reality, you can:
Kill it (Iron 144 for 100%). Succeeding will kill 3 of your crew and deal 10 hull damage, failure will kill you.
Blast it (you need to have a Cotterell & Hathersage ‘Golgonooza’ on your ship). If you attempt this with the above weapon, you will be able to leave with your prize. If you attempt this without the above weapon, you will just take 5 hull damage.
Cut the chain. This will give you 30 hull damage, however, it is the safest option here.
If you chose to cut the chain, you can search the rubble (Mirrors 58 for 100%). You’ll find what you’re looking for on a success or a failure, but failure will cost you 1 supplies and 10 hull.
Return to London.
The Blue Kingdom
After bringing the Queen on board and talking to her, head to the Blue Kingdom.
If you’ve never been to the Blue Kingdom before, you’ll want to stock up on supplies (like 20+) and store them in your bank. Petrichor, which they sell there instead of supplies, is more expensive and you’ll have to pay to leave if you eat any. You’ll also want to have a strong train and good weapons.
Keep in mind that you’ll need 1 Gratitude of the Embassy of Albion to repair your hull in Sky Barnet, so try not to get into too many unnecessary fights and don’t be afraid to save-reset.
Red, and blue Logoi spawn all over the Blue Kingdom. As far as I can tell, gold Logoi only spawn in an area to the southwest of the White Well. Logoi have a lot of health, but they aren’t too much trouble if you keep your distance. The most dangerous thing about Logoi is that you could run into other enemies while fighting them.
You do have to recover sparks by interacting the Logoi you kill – just killing them isn’t enough.
While you’re hunting for Logoi, you might also want to work on changing your Blue Kingdom Status to Yoked, since you’ll need it for the next part. There are many ways to do this[sunlessskies.gamepedia.com], but the simplest way involves 3 Sky-Stories, a litigator, 1 Scrap of Ancient Knowledge, and 3 Barrels of Hours.
Be declared Antedeceased at the Stone-Faced Court, become Ephemera at the Court of Mayflies in the House of Days, then visit the Lamentation and bribe him with 3 Barrels of Hours to become Yoked at the Forge of Souls.
Receive further instructions from the Queen after you’ve gathered all 3 sparks.
Go to the Shadow of the Sun with Yoked status and do what you came here to do. Make sure you steal the other treasures before you step into your dreams (+1 Silver Dreams).
Talk to the Queen back on your locomotive.
The Chamberlain/Isery
Go to either Brabazon or London. This is more of a personal choice – neither person will be particularly dangerous or difficult to bring along, though you’ll have to go to The Reach and back to get the Chamberlain.
If you find Isery, you’ll have to defend yourself (Iron 67 for 100%, +1 Moored to Reality on a success). Failure will just mean you have to call on the Queen (+1 Silver Dreams) for help. You can choose whether to bring Isery along or not. This will be one of your last opportunities to adjust your Moored to Reality/Silver Dreams.
If you ask about the Chamberlain, you’ll be directed to Carillon. Just go there and meet him to bring him aboard.
Once you’ve got someone with you, talk to the Queen.
The Storm
Make your final preparations for the end of the ambition. If there is anything you still wish to do, do it now before you head to the Storm That Speaks.
Fly into the Storm and begin the ritual, ending your game. You’ll have different endings available to you depending on the choices you’ve made throughout your quest.
You will always be able to join the Queen. If you argue with her, you’ll get another option – If your Moored to Reality is greater than or equal to your Silver Dreams, you can betray the queen. If your Silver Dreams is greater than or equal to your Moored to Reality, you can live on inside the cup.
Depending on what you chose to do, your successors might hear stories about an immortal skyfarer being told in New Winchester
And that’s it. You’ve completed your search for the Martyr-King’s Cup. I hope you’ve enjoyed this quest and this guide. If you find any outdated information, let me know in the comments.