Shikkoku no Sharnoth



The third in the series of Visual Novels including Sekien no Inganock, Shikkoku no Sharnoth takes place in an alternate reality Victorian Era London. Before the current young generation was born, England made contact with the advanced society known as Kadath and began trading Engine Machine technology. This technology has allowed England to become the dominant world superpower and appears to have allowed Queen Victoria to live years past when she would have died in our world.

Our protagonist, Mary Clarissa Christie is currently attending university with her friends Charlotte Bronte and Angelica Derleth, happily spending their days as normal students. Only... Charlie has been a little off lately. When Mary tries to find out what is bothering her, she finds herself thrown into a dark version of London with no one in it. No one in it but her and the monster that wants to take her eye, that is. Eventually, she is saved by a strange man in black and swears a contract with him in order to return to her normal everyday life.

Shikkoku no Sharnoth contains multiple references to Sekien no Inganock and is crammed full of figures from around the Victorian Era, whether they were alive then, or not. We're looking at you, Heinz Heger and Charlotte Brontë. And we're pointedly overlooking you, George Lestrade and Sherlock Holmes.

Tropes found in this visual novel:

 * All Crimes Are Equal: In Kadath territories, any law breaker is punished with death. No exceptions for the severity of the crime or the status of the one who committed it.
 * All Give And No Take – Howard gives and gives for Angie and expects nothing in return. He’s absolutely head over heels for her. She loves him back, but all gestures are definitely one sided.
 * Almost-Dead Guy –
 * Ambiguously Evil – M. Never displays any sympathy and very rarely even any emotion, but he gets rid of the Metacreatures. Probably not doing it for the sake of mankind when considering he’s the only one with an actual Evil Laugh.
 * Arc Words – A few examples. 'Thus, I deny tomorrow,' a statement spoken by the screams that Mary finds. 'Have you given up yet?' asked by M and multiple characters saying 'I have already given up.'
 * Anachronism Stew – In regards to the cast rather than styles or technology. Sherlock Holmes, Queen Victoria, Charlotte Brontë, Bram Stoker, Baron Von Munchhausen, Josef Capek, Heinz Heger and more all at the same time. While many of them were certainly alive at the same time the ages don’t work at all and Heinz Heger and Charlotte Bronte were separated by over half a century.
 * Anti-Hero – M.
 * Badass – M.
 * Badass Damsel - Mary. Outrunning Eldritch Abominations on a regular basis has to count for something.
 * Bad Dreams – The stories going around town give Mary nightmares.
 * Better as Friends –
 * Bifauxnen – Moran and Henry.
 * Big Bad – Baron Munchhausen.
 * Bishonen – Heinz.
 * Bittersweet Ending:
 * Can't Hold Her Liquor - Mary, as well as Angie.
 * Continuity Nod – Passing reference is made to Thoth, a character alluded to in Sekien no Inganock. Mary’s eye changing to gold is also very similar as what happened to Ati. David, a minor character, is referenced in passing.
 * Cool Big Sis – Charlie, normally. But she’s been a little off lately.
 * Creepy Child – Banshee.
 * Delayed Reaction – Angie greets Viola Baskerville, an in universe celebrity of sorts after the Hound of the Baskerville case, in an exceedingly friendly and familiar manner. Which is good, because Viola just wants to be friends. A few minutes later, Angie realizes who she’s been talking to, but subverts the expectation by continuing to treat her exactly the same.
 * Determinator - Mary. Pretty much one of her defining characteristics, along with being The Messiah.
 * Doomed Appointment –
 * Eldritch Abomination - All of the Metacreatures,
 * Embarrassing Nickname – Charlie loves to call Mary Kitty, which Mary does not enjoy. She likes it even less when M starts doing the same.
 * Evil Eye – Mary’s eye can see things that are normally hidden.
 * Evil Laugh – M.
 * Eyepatch of Power – Worn by M.
 * Furo Scene – There’s also an earlier example where Angie and Mary take a bath together despite the tiny size of Mary's bathroom.
 * Gambit Pileup – Sherlock, Mary, M, Baron, Heinz, the Research Group, Society, Diogenes, The Illuminati, RAF,
 * Gender Flip – Meet Colonel Sebastian Moran, currently serving as the local Robot Girl. And Henry Irving is apparently Henrietta Irving. And August Derleth is now a very small girl.
 * The Ghost –
 * Graceful Loser –
 * Historical Villain Upgrade – Multiple.
 * Humanoid Abomination –
 * Human Resources – Metacreatures require a corpse to use as a host or foundation.
 * Ignored Epiphany –
 * I Want My Beloved to Be Happy: Moran and
 * Jerkass – O’Neal.
 * Literal Split Personality –
 * Living MacGuffin – Charlie.
 * Locked Out of the Loop – Angie.
 * Lonely At the Top -
 * Love Makes You Crazy –
 * Love Makes You Evil –
 * Love Martyr –
 * MacGuffin – Mary's golden eye is apparently greatly desired by certain parties for reasons that are not initially clear. She is understandably reluctant to give it up.
 * Mad Love – M doesn't reciprocate the affections bestowed upon him, but he does not react or involve himself. He simply does not outright reject his suitors. Despite the clear lack of interest, multiple women are intensely devoted.
 * Magic Is a Monster Magnet – The use of Engine technology appears to cause magic mutations, which in turn attract Metacreatures.
 * Magitek – Engine technology, unknown to its users in London, is more than pure science.
 * A Man is Not a Virgin: M. Just about every woman who comes across him expresses some level of interest, ranging from intrigue to flat-out adoration (with being perhaps the only exception).
 * Mask of Power – Baron Munchhausen's mask.
 * The Messiah – Mary.
 * Mismatched Eyes – Mary.
 * Naughty Tentacles –
 * Necromantic – Capek.
 * Not So Stoic:
 * Obviously Evil – Subverted. The sunken eyed, hunched Capek is more sympathetic than he appears.
 * The Ojou – The girls at the university.
 * Older Than They Look – Angie is a university student and should thus at least be around 20 or so, but looks much more like a little girl than other students her age.
 * Only Known by Their Nickname – M.
 * Parental Abandonment – Mary's father is never really mentioned and her mother moved to a university in Kadath.
 * Plucky Girl – Mary. Though she seems quite unwilling to involve herself in trouble, she's a much braver and willing to leap into action than she appears. The minigame is even based on keeping her mental strength high.
 * Robot Girl – Moran.
 * Science Destroys Magic - The dark kingdom disappeared as the light of human civilization grew. Its fantasy denizens eventually all left until only the king was left alone in his black, empty kingdom.
 * Sherlock Holmes – Holmes appears to be working against the vague Sharnoth plan. Numerous Holmes character can be seen or are mentioned, such as Moriarty, Moran, Lestrade, Mycroft and Watson. Arthur Conan Doyle, on the other hand, is something of a mad librarian.
 * Ship Tease – M and Mary, despite the fact that Mary fails to understand him and grows to loathe him as the story goes on.
 * Spirited Young Lady – Charlie.
 * Steampunk
 * The Stoic – M.
 * Sword of Plot Advancement –
 * Teeth-Clenched Teamwork – Mary is not exactly a big fan of M or his methods. In fact, she appears to outright hate him more as the story goes on.
 * Third Person Person – Angie.
 * Twice Shy –
 * The Un-Reveal –
 * Unrequited Love – People who become attracted to M tend to have poor luck.
 * Unwitting Pawn – From the beginning, it’s clear that whatever Mary is doing is furthering the agenda of someone called Baron Munchhausen.
 * Verbal Tic – Moran confirms or denies information or inquiries with 'Yes. No.' or 'No. Yes.'
 * Victorian Britain – At least, it starts like that. And then Engine Machines show up, Sherlock Holmes wanders through and Winston Churchill introduces himself as an up and coming merchant. Although the time period is actually after the historical Victoria's death, but she is still alive.
 * What Happened to the Mouse? - Several points lack proper resolution
 * What Is This Thing You Call Love? – M is "interested" by Mary, but which makes everything kind of weird.
 * When She Smiles: Subverted. Moran smiles only twice, but
 * Where the Hell Is Springfield? – Where is Kadath, anyway? It’s described as though it’s an alternate dimension with its own sky, but to get there you go north. If it was in the same world as Earth, then shouldn’t London have had gray skies for a much longer period?
 * Yandere:
 * You Gotta Have Blue Hair – Claudia has green hair. Viola is a subversion, as she dyes it.
 * Unwitting Pawn – From the beginning, it’s clear that whatever Mary is doing is furthering the agenda of someone called Baron Munchhausen.
 * Verbal Tic – Moran confirms or denies information or inquiries with 'Yes. No.' or 'No. Yes.'
 * Victorian Britain – At least, it starts like that. And then Engine Machines show up, Sherlock Holmes wanders through and Winston Churchill introduces himself as an up and coming merchant. Although the time period is actually after the historical Victoria's death, but she is still alive.
 * What Happened to the Mouse? - Several points lack proper resolution
 * What Is This Thing You Call Love? – M is "interested" by Mary, but which makes everything kind of weird.
 * When She Smiles: Subverted. Moran smiles only twice, but
 * Where the Hell Is Springfield? – Where is Kadath, anyway? It’s described as though it’s an alternate dimension with its own sky, but to get there you go north. If it was in the same world as Earth, then shouldn’t London have had gray skies for a much longer period?
 * Yandere:
 * You Gotta Have Blue Hair – Claudia has green hair. Viola is a subversion, as she dyes it.