Zee Shanty Entry Thread

Sunless Sea
1

[color=#0066ff]We’re celebrating a Year at Zee with a Zee Shanty Competition![/color]
[color=#0066ff]
[/color]
[color=#0066ff]The full explanation of the competition and all the delicious prizes is on our tumblr, but in short:[/color]

  • [color=#0066ff]Post your zee shanty online, wherever you like - including this handy thread[/color][/li][li][color=#0066ff]They can be on any Sunless Sea/Fallen London theme you like, but they must be 100 words or less[/color][/li][li][color=#0066ff]Email a link to us at competitions@failbettergames.com[/color][/li][li][color=#0066ff]We’ll shortlist the top 5, and then community vote will decide the winner![/color]

[color=#0066ff]Best of luck, delicious friends![/color]

2

Oh,'Ow do ya stave off a ravenous 'unger
Oh let us count the ways,
Bread and stew and meat and crew,
None will avert that gaze,
Oh you wanna stave off that ravneous 'unger?
Well it’s really quite simple ta doooooooo,
Make sure not ta feed it, that’s how ya beat it,
But be sure not to die from that too!

Just came up with it on the spot, what do you all think? It’s supposed to be a sort of cautionary tale about a certain hunger and how to stop it, but it’s also supposed to be somewhat jaunty so people don’t forget it. It’s also not really one to sing round the Masters that’s for sure.

3

Hey, up! from the Mourn and to the Crow now,
Hey, up! and a-full steam ahead
hey, up! we’ll berth her out and show how
a true London-born zails the zee with no dread

hey, up! fill those larders up here
hey, up! get those boilers stoked well high
hey, up! shine the lantern bright, we’re
a-heading out to where the beasties neath us lie

hey, and up! the cannons they’re a-firing
hey, and up! the waves they lash the bow
hey, and up! next port we’ll be a-hiring
another lad or lass to take a zailor’s vow

hey, and down, and we see the dock’s far lights and
hey, and down, we can hear the bouy’s bell
hey, and down, we will raise our glass tonight, for
a true London-born their lost friends remembers well
edited by IHNIWTR on 2/4/2016

4

Let me tell you a story a few verses long,
About some hamsters and rats that just cant get along.

I docked at the port for supplies and some rum,
To be met by two creatures neither noble nor strong,

The Rat begged my service and so did the hamster,
To join a bloody war, they awaited my Answer.

So if ever you land upon Pig-mote Isle,
Heed my advice, turn and leave her in style
For bloodshed and slavery you’ll leave in your wake,
And they are only vermin for goodness sake,
edited by somekindawizard on 2/4/2016

5

[color=#0066ff]That was quick! Remember to email us a link to your piece, as we’re managing all of the entries through our support system. Hooray![/color]

6

[color=#ffffff]Just spotted on twitter that @Echobazaar said we can &quotMake the best possible use of your 100 words, however you see fit!&quot So Im putting back in the chanting chorus I made :D

  • Chorus “OH To hell with the vermin I say!”

    Let me tell you a story a few verses long,[/color]
    About some hamsters and rats that just cant get a long
    *

    I docked at the port for supplies and some rum,
    To be met by two creatures neither noble nor strong,
    *

    The Rat begged my service and so did the hamster,
    To join a bloody war, they awaited my Answer.
    *

    So if ever you land upon Pigmote Isle,
    Heed my advice, turn and leave her in style
    For bloodshed and slavery you’ll leave in your wake,
    And they are only vermin for goodness sake,
    *
    edited by somekindawizard on 2/4/2016

7

Shouldn’t that be Zee-Zhanty?

– Mal

8

[li][color=#000000] [/color]

[color=#000000]No land, no land, lost in the Zee
No food at hand, my crewmates and me

A crewmate’s gone missing
No land, no land
While we were a-drifting
Lost in the Zee

We searched high and low, he did not show
Did he fall down below, below, did he fall down below

Another man missing
No land, no land
We are still drifting
Lost in the Zee

While searching the hull, discovered his skull,
They didn’t fall down below, they didn’t fall down below

No land, no land, lost in the Zee
The food at hand, my crewmates for me

[/color]

[color=#000000] [/color]

9

May as well throw my hat in the ring.

We think the Captain’s a Snuffer


[Chorus]
Call: We think the captain’s a snuffer
Reply: Tell me, how do you know?

He asked for a menu of wax,
It was in among the cargo.
And after he ate, the candle crate,
He told the bosun so.

[Chorus]

When we saw The Mountain,
He cried “The Garden Ho!”
He scrambled up the rigging,
Bathing in the glow.

[Chorus]

He had some fun, with a sailor’s son,
A rather gruesome show.
Now it’s in his box of faces,
He stashes it down below.

10

Question: does the tune need to be original?

11

According to this Tumblr post, one song to the tune of another* is permitted.

  • Possibly with Colin Sell at the piano.
12

[color=#0066ff]
[/color]
[color=#0066ff]Nope, you can specify ‘to the tune of’ if you like - but remember you have 100 words, total. :)[/color]

13

Okay so, quick question before I submit mine: Is there are glraring mistakes in spelling or lore or anything you can think of before I zubmit it?

Also, I think I had a tune in mind when writing it but for the life of me have no idea what it was or where it was from. /:

14

It took some ruthless squeezing and cutting, so it may be rough around the edges.
Apologies for probably mistaking some pronouns as well.

To the tune of &quotThe Fish Of The Sea&quot:

Come all young zailormen listen to me
I’ll zing you zong of treacherous zee,
And its
Scary weather, boys, creepy weather, boys,
When nothing happens for weeks mad we’ll go.

Up jumps seal with his halfton of weight,
Drops to stern as cap gets into bate
Cuz
We caught one yesterday, stalked it for tenday,
Captain got bruised and ain’t place for one more.

Then up jumps the blue blemmigan
With his tentacles holding huge sealed old jar
And
Offers selling for printing his poetry once we get home.
We were in hurry, so took him along.

Fallen London is © 2015 and ™ Failbetter Games Limited: www.fallenlondon.com. This is an unofficial fan work.
Not sure it’s needed here, posting on the forums, but oh well.

15

Apparently, I can’t ever pass up a chance to show off my mediocre skill as a Fallen London lyricist (see http://community.failbettergames.com/topic21166-sacksmas-carols.aspx?Page=1#post122906 for my previous foray). I apologize for lacking a specific theme. I have a tendency to try for themes far larger than can be supported in my chosen medium. Or at least, in 100 words or less. However, this is a song describing a voyage in 100 words exactly. Bits even rhyme:

Long we’ve zailed towards THE SUN of Man.
'Scaping its influence best we can
Set Full Power! past Kingeater’s Castle
Make port there and court disaster.

WE. ARE. CLAY. Keeping engines running strong.
Show respect to the gods Salt, Stone and Storm.
Shoot zee bats and it’s crew morale you’ll mourn.

Long we’ve zailed through the Pillared Sea
The future of Irem a memory.
Start to freeze under Censor’s Arch
Flee from lifebergs with weapons charged

Wolfstack Docks. I can see the lights ahead.
Back to port. Home to London once again.
Free Evening. A night I can sleep abed.
[li]

[li](I realized after posting the original that I’d nearly covered the four corners of the map, accidentally. How could I pass up a chance for a clean sweep?)
edited by The Dark Gentleman on 2/5/2016

16

We saw the bats, we saw the dark.
London fall.
The twisted will of the Bazaar.
London fall.

On that black day, the deal was made
She sold us all
By the hand of the Empress
London fall

Never bargain with the Masters
They eat love and spit out disasters.
The Neath is a cold and cruel place.
Surrounded by absolute darkness.

Now we have no lights, thanks to her.
Having to face a lot of dangers.
Among them, devils and zee monsters.
All standing in the way, of our Heart’s Desire.

We left our hearts in London.

17

I shall try as well to enter this contest, even if my skills are not as sharp as those of others here.

There is no sea more sunless than this.
Capt’n, dear capt’n, in darkness we’re free.

I long for the light and the sun and the sky.
Rest now, oh capt’n, for Death said goodbye.

Deathless and lawless and lost and alone.
Gleeful and cheerful, Life’s mysteries shown.

I weep for the light. I cry for the law.
We laugh for the songs, we search for the awe.

Capt’n, dear capt’n, don’t give us that stare.
Our happiness’s here, you must be aware.

Go, then. Sing and be merry and be gone.
I will create a Machine for my Dawn.

[color=rgb(51, 51, 51)]Fallen London is © 2015 and ™ Failbetter Games Limited: www.fallenlondon.com. This is an unofficial fan work.[/color]
edited by Maximilian Datterpie on 2/5/2016

18

Is the competition limited to one entry per person?

– Mal

19

Here’s hoping I’m allowed to squeeze out the call and responses in without word counting each time!

To the tune of &quotA Hundred Years on the Eastern Shore&quot

 	 	 	   Map's all wrong and the engine screams

+Sleep, boys, sleep
Fire and smoke, and the sage in my dreams
++Ah, vast the zee and deep!

Twas the pirate’s isle all cov’rd with bees
+
Left a zailor there where he dreams of trees
++

In the frosty north where the monks they feast
+
They said me bunkmate fell to a beast
++

I saw it meself tho’ I dared not speak
+
Cap’n surely pushed Shirley to the dank and bleak
++

An altar stands here alone at zee
+
Cap’n and the mate, come grinnin’ at me
++

20

Inspired by a shanty I read in a book somewhere… vexingly, I cannot find an online reference. Done as call-and-response, the italicized bits are the response, each stanza concludes with the same response before the chorus (but can’t be fit into 100 words, so I cheat). (Note: &quotzailor&quot and &quotover&quot are shouted in the chorus, and represent the point at which everyone heaves on the line)

Chorus: Hey, ho, rock and roll, Fallen London zailor
Hey, ho, down below, rock and roll me [i]over.

[/i]Oh, London lads is a cheery lot Fallen London Zailor
They’ll eat your flesh before it can rot [i]Rock and Roll me over.

[/i][chorus]

Oh, London lasses is mighty fine [FLZ]
You take yours and I’ll take mine.[i] [RnR me O]

[/i][chorus]

Oh, London ale is best of all [FLZ]
Makes you feel you’re walkin’ tall[i]. [RnR me O]

[/i] [chorus]

So come to Fallen London, men. [FLZ]
You’ll never miss the Surface again. [i][RnR me O]

[/i] [chorus]

– Mal