Stars of a Thief Walkthrough

This is a detailed walkthrough of the Stars of a Thief quest. The Stars of a Thief page describes the quest without spoilers.

The Tale Book
Once the Crew has voted on the Tall Tale and listened to the Sudds, they are given the Tale Book, which they can find and take out in the  menu. Any Tale Book can be viewed with the  button (Left Mouse Button/Right Trigger). Once taking a closer look at the Tale Book, it's pages can be turned with the  and   keys on a Keyboard and the   and   buttons on a Controller.

Pages 3-10 of the Tall Tale book are always the same:

Opening
The tall tale is started by voting on it on Sudd's desk at The North Star Seapost.

In his own special way, Sudds will inform you that he once had a special spyglass like the the one you already found during The Cursed Rogue. That one belonged to Briggsy but this one was his and can show you where you might find the next piece of the Shroudbreaker.

If you are seeking all of the commendations, you will need to grab Sudds' Journals. All of the locations that you could visit on this quest are scattered all over the Sea Of Thieves as are the journals. You may or may not visit a place where (or near) a journal is located. Journal locations will be called out in puzzle locations below so you can grab them while you are there but be sure to visit the Sudds' Journals section at the bottom of the walkthrough to collect those that you missed before ending the quest.

Stars of a Thief
You will be tasked with finding Sudd's Ancient Spyglass. You will then use the Spyglass along with the tall tale book to find two Star Jewels. The Star Jewels will allow you to grab a totem and use that totem to open a vault where you will find the object of your quest.

At the island where Briggsy and Sudds parted ways. Briggsy left an Ancient Chest containing Sudds' Ancient Spyglass that will be required to observe the constellations in the sky. These constellations represent compass directions. You will need these to decipher the clues in the Tall Tale book throughout the journey.

The Spyglass
Start off your journey by finding the spyglass that will help you find the rest of what you will need.

Luckily there are only two possible locations for the spyglass and the first page of the Tall Tale book gives a clue to where it is located. Click on the text below that matches with the beginning text in your tall tale book to see the location of the spyglass.

Island: Rum Runner Isle

Dig under the lantern on the North side of the island.

Note: While you are here, you might want to pick up Sudds' Journal #1

The Star Jewels
Pages 11-16 of your tall tale book contain two stories that will lead you to the two Star Jewels that you are looking for. You can either search the text for keywords that match the constellations that in turn match the directions on your compass or you can click on the name of your story below to find the location.

You can ignore the first part of the story as it just gives directions to Kraken Watchtower which the story mentions by name. Starting there, head to the island that is in the direction of the feather constellation.

From that island, head to the previously unmarked island that lies in the direction of the Arrow constellation.

Once you arrive to the final island, dive down in the southern waters to find the skeleton of the beast mentioned in the story among the coral (take a really, really, deep breath first).

Keeping in mind that the Tall Tale book was written some time ago, head to what it referes to as an "unmarked island" but what we know as The Reaper’s Hideout.

You will dive to a great depth right between the proper island and the very small island on the south side. You will see a ravine and if you follow the that ravine you will find a small cave with the Skeleton of a Kraken just inside. The Star Jewel is inside the smiling face of said skeleton.

An Ancient Awakening
Now that you have two Star Jewels you will want to head to the island indicated in what are currently the last pages of your tall tale book.

No matter where you obtained the Star Jewels, all roads lead to Uncharted Island (N-13) where you will use them to obtain the Totem Key that you will need to complete the Tall Tale.

Once you arrive at Uncharted Island (N-13), grab your Star Jewels and take a deep dive just west of the small island with the red flower on it. You will find a cave fronted by stone archway. Enter that cave and you will find a statue. If you followed the previous advice to bring along the ancient chest, you can place the Jewels into the ancient chest so you will just need to make one trip. Otherwise, enjoy the exercise.

Before placing the Star Jewels into the statue, make sure to grab the extra pages to the Tall Tale book sitting on the statue. Once you are sure you have the pages, place the Jewels into the statue to receive the Totem Key.

The Totem Key
Now that you have the Totem Key, it's time to open the vault where you will find the last item for the quest.

You will receive one of six possible Totem Keys. Each one opens a specific vault on different islands. The pictures on the second to last page of your book will show you where to find the island and vault for your Totem Key. Have a seat in your thinking chair and decipher the images or just click on the name of your totem below to reveal it's location.

Island: Devil's Ridge

Amidst rocks on the South East beach.

Note: While you are here, you might want to pick up Sudds' Journal #4

The Pillar Puzzle
Now that you are inside the vault, stop and catch your breath then read on to the end of this section before starting the puzzle ahead. If you fail this part of the quest by letting the timer run out, you will have to start over from the beginning.

To begin the puzzle, raise your lantern and light the four braziers on the table and light them up. After this, the room will start filling with water leaving you on a timer and no escape. You will notice that the four pillars will light up with neon-green figures. You can rotate these pillars to switch between the figures.

The last page of your Tall Tale book will give you two paragraphs. The words of each of these lines match up with the descriptions of the constellations on pages 3-10 of the tall tale book. The constellations will then match up with the symbols on the pillars that need to be facing you. Line one is for the first pillar, line two is for the second and so on. You will do one paragraph at a time.

Once you are satisfied with the pillar placement, go to the Table and press a button to Enter a Solution. If the solution is correct, the pillars will refresh with new images. If the solution is wrong, they will flash red. Once you have the correct pattern and entered the solution, you will move to the next paragraph in the book and repeat the process.

Once you are ready, read the paragraphs and get the symbols in your mind (or on paper) and start the puzzle. Or, click on the first words of your final page below to see the solution.

The Unsolved story?

A tear of the sun fell down to land And lit the way for man to sail Even the warmonger was brought to peace He was taught more than war by the iron shell The courter danced in new light As Glimmer showed man the way The oldest creature watched them at play As the queen bided her time

First Set:
 * 1) Tear of the Sun = Unending Flame
 * 2) Sail = Tar-Pitch Boat
 * 3) Warmonger = Great Warrior
 * 4) Iron Shell = Iron Scarab

Second Set:
 * 1) Courter = Courting Crab
 * 2) Glimmer = Glimmer Fish
 * 3) Oldest Creature = Patient Turtle
 * 4) Queen = Sea Queen

Conclusion
Submit the Shroudbreaker Stone to Sudds to finish.

Sudd's Journals
01=

The North Star Guides You
(Eastern islet, Rum Runner Isle)


 * -|02=

The Little Glimmer Fish
(Highest peak, Plunder Valley)


 * -|03=

Snake Gets What He Deserves
(Mainland, Snake Island)


 * -|04=

The War that Shook the Sky
(Northeast rock, Devil's Ridge)


 * -|05=

The Binding of the Kraken
(Southwest rocks, Crescent Isle)