How and when do the sisters at Hunter's Keep change?

I like running around the Zee with my lights off as much as possible to conserve fuel. This has worked out pretty well so far because on the way back to london, I stop by Hunter's Keep and have lunch with Lucy, which reduces Terror by 10. I always save my "Recent News" for here so that I can immediately have lunch with her again. This ends up being 20 terror reduction per run, which is pretty sweet.

However, every time I have lunch with the sisters, it says something is changing with them, and I've seen people allude to something major happening with them at some point. I'm worried that I might be bleeding my sweet, sweet terror-reducing machine dry. Will this benefit end up going away? How exactly do the sisters change, and when will it happen?

sunless-sea

Best Answer

Each time you have lunch with one of the sisters (requiring either Something Awaits You or Recent News), your Sojourning with the Sisters quality is quietly incremented by between 1 and 5 (randomly determined). Once it reaches 20, significant changes occur at Hunter's Keep:

The sisters will not be present, and you have a brief opportunity to search before Phoebe (the youngest sister) sets the house aflame. Depending on your actions, it's possible to locate and rescue her, keeping her on board your ship as a Surgeon. She can later be permanently dropped off at Station III, Abbey Rock, or Naples for other rewards. After the event, you can no longer take lunch at the Keep or create Port Reports for the island (other than a one-time report to inform the Admiralty of the fire). The requirements to access the basement for the Tireless Mechanic's story will also slightly change, requiring Foxfire Candles and Supplies instead of a Zee-ztory, a Tale of Terror, and a Memory of Distant Shores.

It's not possible to determine the exact level of your Sojourning quality, or how much it has increased from a visit, within the confines of the game.