Sunless Skies – How to Receive Hearts or Mirrors (Blue Kingdom)

There are a few general ways to increase skill points in Sunless Skies.

Choosing a past at the start of the game, choosing a facet after a level up or appointing an officer. Additionally one can do a Rite of the Well which will reduce 2 Skills moderately and increase a third greatly.

But in contrast there are far more ways to permanently lose skill points and most of the choices that lead to them do not make it obvious before you select them.

To mitigate this there are two events which can reward a captain with a permanent skill boost. Though only Mirrors and Hearts may be gained.

Basic Information

All credit goes to Mosethyoth!

Both skill point increases require a possession which will be lost and can be encountered in the ports of the Blue Kingdom by selecting Actions which become available again after 15 days. They all depend on the same timer (so travelling between ports is useless).

The Actions are:

• Death’s Doorstop: Wander the streets of the officially-nameless town.
• Urd: Mingle in the crowds approaching the staircase.
• The Court of Dust: Wander the Courtyard.
• The Porch of the House of Days: Mingle in the crowds approaching the staircase.

Selecting one of those will trigger the event An Encounter in the Blue Kingdom and one of 6 possible status with 2 possible introductions each is randomly chosen.

Depending on the introduction you can deduce if you’ve received a status which will allow you to receive a skill point.

Mirrors

Required possession: Searing Enigma

The introduction reads either:

You notice that one of the spirits of the dead is lying and convulsing in the gutter. Its porcelain mask is cracked. The other spirits walk swiftly by, not even pausing to glance in its direction.

or

Noticing your concern, a bureaucrat stops beside you. A voice issues from the jar tucked under its arm. “It has a disease of the soul,” explains the jar hollowly. “Far rarer than any disease of mind or body, and more difficult to treat. The poor thing will likely unravel soon. Nothing to be done, unless you have something that might strengthen it.”

The option which will grant one Mirrors is: Offer a mystery to keep it rooted to the world. 

Hearts

Required possession: Testament of the Feather

The introduction reads either:

As you are making your way along a mean and narrow boulevard, you notice a Weary Spirit hurrying towards you. It clutches a jar containing its voice babbling frantically.

or

Not far behind it are two dead bureaucrats, citing the Spirit’s violations of its status as one of the Yoked. They are gaining on the Spirit, whose jar has now begun to sob hysterically.

The option which will grant one Hearts is: Help the Weary Spirit