Skills

 are one of the defining characteristics of your Captain. The four main skills are:

Iron, the skill of confronting and overpowering.

Mirrors, the skill of investigating and deducing.

Hearts, the skill of convincing and enduring.

Veils, the skill of deceiving and evading.

Your skills are mainly increased by choosing your captain's Facets as you level up, or by engaging an officer. Officers can also provide temporary bonuses when appointed to a post.

Some storylet options require a skill check: your chance of success is based on on of your four stats (or even on sheer luck).

=Other skills= There are also skills which are necessary for certain interactions, but can only be increased by applying modules to your Locomotive.

Currently the only skills like this are Mining, Assaying and Butchery.