Into the sea

Guide to The Sinking City's 'Lost at Sea' main case. Follow Charles Reed's investigation from Grimhaven Bay to the expedition headquarters and Oakmont Port.

Alright, so you've just finished up the first main case and are ready to dive into the next one, 'Lost at Sea'. This one kicks off right after you leave the port in Grimhaven Bay. You'll have a bit of a vision, a classic Charles Reed experience, and wake up back at the Devil's Reef Hotel. Johannes van der Berg will leave you a note, and the landlord, Victor, will give you a nudge to start the side case 'Letters from Oakmont' – don't forget to grab those letters! Your first real stop is the expedition headquarters. It's in Coverside, near the police station. When you get there, you'll find the place trashed. Look for the following clues: a kicked-in door, the 'Dangers of Diving' book, a smashed phonograph, damp papers, a note from Harriet Dough called 'How to protect?', a box of strange green shells, a note titled 'Fishermen reports', a green shell sample, a newspaper clipping about 'H. Dough, anthropologist', and a faded map of Cape Cod. Once you've got those, use your Mind's Eye on the wall near the stairs to find a hidden basement entrance. Watch out, an Innsmouther will attack you down there. After you deal with it, check the area for two more clues: 'Partially burned cargo manifest' and a cracked diving helmet. Piecing it all together, you'll figure out that some Innsmouthers trashed the place and burned the papers in the basement. Your Mind Palace will point you to the Oakmont Chronicle to look for ads about the freighter the expedition used from Grimhaven Bay. Search the archives for ads after the flood, in the Grimhaven Bay district. You'll find a 'Ship freight advertisement' for a 30-ton ship called 'Titania', available for hire at 70 rifle bullets a week. Contact Captain Jeremiah Sanders at Pier 3, Oakmont Port. Head over to Pier 3. A guy hiding in a cabin will beg for your help. Clear out the Stygians swarming the pier, and then you can investigate. You'll find a dead sailor shot point-blank, the pistol, another sailor with two axes in his chest, and a body chewed up by wylebeasts. Inside the ship's cabin, you'll find a strange artifact, that same Cape Cod map, and a 'Time-charter Contract' on the desk. There are also bottles of alcohol on deck. It seems the sailors were drinking and things got out of hand, leading to them killing each other.