Sunless Sea

Sunless Sea is a top-down survival and exploration game set in the wild and lightless depths of the Unterzee. The game makes ample use of Metaqualities to create interconnectivity between it and Fallen London.

Kickstarter Campaign

The Kickstarter project was launched on 3 September 2013 and met one stretch goal: the Zubmariner expansion.

While it was running, Fallen London players were given the option to Pledge to Sunless Sea (tracked with the quality SUNLESS SEA). This marked the only time FATE could be used in this manner.

Those who pledged at certain tiers were eligible to receive the following rewards in Fallen London:

• The Pantherine Pack (280 FATE) (£30) or higher: A Parabolan Panther, a companion with a repeatable storyline that may give a litter of Parabolan Kittens.
• The Corsair's Pack (470 FATE) (£50) or higher: The Affair of the Impatient Apprentice, a story exploring the Dadd Wing of the Museum of Mistakes and learning of a Troubled Painter's tale. This storyline granted one of three exclusive home comforts: A Painting entitled 'Ambition', A Painting entitled 'Self-Interest', or A Painting entitled 'Contentment'.
• The Navigator Pack (£80) or higher: The Surgeon's Child story and access to The Cladery Heart, a ship exclusive to this storyline.

Kickstarter Teasers

During and around the Kickstarter, Failbetter released three snippets of content through access codes:

Puzzling Map

Access Code: http://fallenlondon.storynexus.com/a/thegateandthekey
Wiki note: This Access code has been retired, and can no longer be used.
Who can dream / of the Dawn Machine? Who indeed? Find out in Sunless Sea. In the meantime, enjoy this small present.

Result:

A Puzzling Map! What will you do with it?

•  You've gained 1 x Puzzling Map

Darkdrop Coffee

Access Code: http://fallenlondon.storynexus.com/a/talleyrand
Wiki note: This Access code has been retired, and can no longer be used.
For today only...enjoy a cup of Darkdrop Coffee, worth ten actions. March of the Calendar Council is selling more, and offering peculiar gifts besides. You can find him anywhere in Fallen London.

Result:

Ah, Darkdrop. Its taste is fire, its aroma is sin, it is as invigorating as an enemy's humiliation. March of the Calendar Council is selling more, and offering peculiar gifts besides. You can find him anywhere in Fallen London. For a little while.

•  You've gained 1 x Darkdrop Coffee

The Smuggler's Lamp

Access Code: http://fallenlondon.storynexus.com/a/cleftforme
Wiki note: This Access code has been retired, and can no longer be used.
This unlocks a unique snippet of content to promote and celebrate the Sunless Sea Kickstarter passing 50%! All may use it, backers or not: it is suitable for early characters if you're trying out Fallen London.

Result:

This article is incomplete. You can help the Fallen London Wiki by expanding it. Reason: missing result

•  An occurrence! Your 'The Smuggler's Lamp' Quality is now 1!

The Smuggler's Lamp granted access to A Nocturnal Rendezvous, a storylet preview of Sunless Sea. This storylet was reprised when a code granting the same quality was distributed via the 2013 Advent Calendar.

This storylet was the only known source of  A Monstrous Orb prior to Whitsun 2020.

Failbetter also published snippets of the ballad of the Cladery Heart and the Surgeon's Child on the Echo Bazaar Facebook and Twitter feeds. Its mad entirety has been collated here (thanks, ZDee!).

Launch Codes

In the week before the official launch of the game, Failbetter released daily trinkets or A Particular Day in the Neath storylets through access codes.

January 30th

Access Code: http://fallenlondon.storynexus.com/a/CannibalismIsntInTheCharter
Wiki note: This Access code has been retired, and can no longer be used.
The Apicius Club: a society of refined tastes! Their Procurer-General will pay, if you can procure fare adequate to their palates.

Result:

(Wiki note: This code had no further description.)

For a short time, this has unlocked a storylet throughout London.

•  An occurrence! Your 'A Particular Day in the Neath' Quality is now De Gustibus!

January 31st

Access Code: http://fallenlondon.storynexus.com/a/UncertainSeas
Wiki note: This Access code has been retired, and can no longer be used.
Why is the Travel-Worn Antiquarian handing out old stock? And why only nautical charts? "These? The market's flooded. And Aestival hasn't been that close to the Salt Steppes in years."

Result:

"This one places Stamford's Expanse beyond the Pillared Sea. That captain was a drunk or a liar."

•  You've gained 1 x Puzzling Map
•  You've gained 1 x Memory of Distant Shores

February 1st

Access Code: http://fallenlondon.storynexus.com/a/Zee-Ztories
Wiki note: This Access code has been retired, and can no longer be used.
Cards at the Blind Helmsman. A Ragged Corsair surrenders coins, Prisoner's Honey, and her hat. After that, she stakes stories of the Unterzee.

Result:

A city on a turtle's back. A doorless ice-fortress. A ship's cat defeating pirates. Just tall tales?

•  You've gained 86 x Penny
•  You've gained 12 x Drop of Prisoner's Honey
•  You've gained 1 x Pirate Hat
•  You've gained 3 x Zee-Ztory

February 2nd

Access Code: http://fallenlondon.storynexus.com/a/ASunlessConundrum
Wiki note: This Access code has been retired, and can no longer be used.
"You come highly recommended. I need an unorthodox approach. The situation is degenerating daily."

Result:

(Wiki note: This code had no further description.)

This has unlocked a storylet throughout London.

•  An occurrence! Your 'A Particular Day in the Neath' Quality is now A Conundrum of Cavies!

February 3rd

Access Code: http://fallenlondon.storynexus.com/a/ASmallToken
Wiki note: This Access code has been retired, and can no longer be used.
"My dear - I hope you will forgive me this premature Rose-gift... after your conduct in the affair of the Hon. S-- I am quite unable to contain myself..."

Result:

"Please do not mistake my intentions; I hasten to assure you it is already occupied..."

This has unlocked an opportunity on the Aspiring Zee-Captains storylet in Wolfstack Docks.

•  You've gained 1 x Soothe & Cooper Long-Box
•  You've learnt a new route: Route: Wolfstack Docks

February 4th

Access Code: http://fallenlondon.storynexus.com/a/WaterWhiteAndBlack
Wiki note: This Access code has been retired, and can no longer be used.
You dream of a clifftop and a clouded sky. The wind weeps salt, while the thunder speaks of loss and sacrifice and something long ago that ended badly.

Result:

Storm. One of the zee's nameless gods, they say. They say he's still angry.

•  Having Recurring Dreams: What the Thunder Said is increasing… (+? CP)
•  Stormy-Eyed is increasing… (+? CP) (if higher than 0)
•  You've gained 1 x Storm-Threnody

February 5th

Access Code: http://fallenlondon.storynexus.com/a/AdviceForCaptains
Wiki note: This Access code has been retired, and can no longer be used.
M. Demeaux: navigator, diarist, casualty at zee. And now, author of a commemorative edition printed by his admirers.

Result:

(Wiki note: This code had no further description.)

Equip this at zee for a small bonus, or sell it at the Bazaar.

•  You've gained 1 x M. Demeaux's Advice for Captains: Commemorative Edition

Permanent Stories

Parabolan Kittens are still abundantly available. You can obtain one (or more) from your own panther, demand one from an empanthered friend, or ask for one politely on the official forum or Discord. If you play with your kitten enough, it will follow you into Sunless Sea.

Since 23 January 2024, players who missed out on the Kickstarter can now raise a Kitten into a Panther for 20 FATE. For more details, see A Panther's Progress (Guide).

The silver-bordered Aspiring Zee-Captains storylet in the Blind Helmsman provides three zee-themed options, two of which unlock further content in Sunless Sea.

The gold-bordered -SUNLESS SEA- Intruding upon Ratty Larceny storylet allows you one chance to wisely dispose of a whisper-locked puzzle-box, unlocking further content in Sunless Sea. This can be reset with FATE, if needed.

Metaqualities

These qualities mark out small stories that start in Fallen London and end in Sunless Sea.

Sunless Sea: Advice for the Navigator
Provide Sage Advice to Aspiring Zee-Captains in the Blind Helmsman. You will need to be an An Explorer of the Unterzee - (i.e. a PoSI with a ship).
You will start out in Sunless Sea with a Navigator's Boon, worth three Secrets.

Sunless Sea: Supping with Kittens
Play with your Parabolan Kitten. You will need a kitten (see above).
You will start out in Sunless Sea with a Parabolan Kitten (+2 Hearts mascot).

Sunless Sea: A Soothe & Cooper Long-Box
Sell a Soothe & Cooper Long-Box to an Aspiring Zee Captain in the Blind Helmsman. You will need a Soothe & Cooper Long-Box to sell; these were available at Christmas and from the pre-launch /a/ASmallToken access code. Today, this item can be obtained from a variety of sources.
You will start out in Sunless Sea with a Soothe & Cooper Long-Box.

Sunless Sea: A Whisper-Locked Puzzle-Box
Sell your freshly-pilfered puzzle-box to a zee-captain of your acquaintance.
You will start out in Sunless Sea with a Whisper-Locked Puzzle-Box.

This article is incomplete. You can help the Fallen London Wiki by expanding it. Reason: Missing backer-exclusive metaqualities

Easter Eggs

In its classic fashion, the Iron Republic used to host Harbour Provisioners in the Bazaar tab, displaying the following items:

• Echoes
• Fuel
• Supplies

Elsewhere, one may also find An Eggshell Painted Black.

Zubmariner Launch Codes

For the five days preceding the launch of the Zubmariner DLC, Failbetter again released a daily reward through access codes.

October 6th

Access Code: http://fallenlondon.storynexus.com/a/BodyCentredConversation
Wiki note: This Access code has been retired, and can no longer be used.
A sharp-tongued visitor has been causing a fuss at London's salons. They go bandaged, as the Tomb-Colonists do - but rumour has it they're nothing of the sort. You make arrangements to see for yourself.

Result:

As the salon gets underway, the visitor unwinds their facial bandages, revealing skin like polished crystal. Their tongue glitters in the gaslight as they fire witticisms at their audience. An admirer asks where they're from. "Nowhere of consequence," they reply, with a wink.

•  You've gained 3 x Scrap of Incendiary Gossip
•  Scandal is increasing… (+1 CP, up to level 7)

October 7th

Access Code: http://fallenlondon.storynexus.com/a/DeniableDentistry
Wiki note: This Access code has been retired, and can no longer be used.
A ragged zailor has set up a stall near Wolfstack, selling 'wonders from the Gant Pole'. Salt-scarred veterans jeer him from the Rusty Tramp. "Is that the Gant Pole that's next door to Atlantis? Just up the road from Lemuria?"

Result:

The zailor's attention is diverted as he rebuts his hecklers. You investigate his wares in peace. They are a collection of rocks, knapped to a point; but their smoothness is closer to enamel than stone. Worth holding onto some, perhaps.

•  You've gained 3 x Ambiguous Eolith

October 8th

Access Code: http://fallenlondon.storynexus.com/a/APaguroidVisitor
Wiki note: This Access code has been retired, and can no longer be used.
A note has been posted through your door. 'London grows too large. I have found a new refuge; I hope you can offer the same to my old friend.' You don't recognise the signature.

Result:

Opening the door, you find a cloth bundle, filled with a crab. It scuttles through your Lodgings, and insinuates itself into a discarded soup-can.

•  You've gained 1 x Live Specimen

October 9th

Access Code: http://fallenlondon.storynexus.com/a/SmokeAndWater
Wiki note: This Access code has been retired, and can no longer be used.
You spy a zailor smoking a distinctive cigar. The shop that sold them closed twenty years ago - how did she get her hands on that?

Result:

"He's back at it. Reopened beneath the zee. He's working on something new, too. Something to set the zee ablaze."

•  You've gained 1 x Vital Intelligence

October 10th

Access Code: http://fallenlondon.storynexus.com/a/NavigatorsPeril
Wiki note: This Access code has been retired, and can no longer be used.
Every zee-captain possesses a copy of M. Demeaux's enduring classic, Advice for Captains. Few, however, are aware that the book has a second edition. Fewer still possess it.

Result:

The Ministry of Public Decency has been through this like a rat through a box of Murgatroyd's Fungal Crackers. Nevertheless, some intriguing snippets remain, hinting at terrors lurking beneath the Unterzee.

•  You've gained 1 x M. Demeaux's Advice for Captains: Second Edition