How do you increase your skills here? Is it grindy?
I'll try to explain it. but you might have to playa nd try the game yourself.
you have inspirationals but they have skill specific values, you need certain ones to increase certain attributes which in turn are required for buying new skills. and studying them requires black bile humour which is like a stamina bar you must refill with food. so studying is much more envolved than in haven, you cannot really do it afk. and you cannot at all do it offline like in haven.
your 4 humour bars you increase by using "gluttony" to eating foods, its not radically different to food in haven in principle, although the exact mechanics are different.
I would say its alot less grindy alot more envolved and actually requires using your brain to use inpirationals efficiently. definitely takes less time to progress but more effort. like people got murder skills in a couple of days, it was hard to beleive but they must have been playing 24/7 and playing very smart.
the key thing is to get an alt with murder skills you actually have to play it, unlike haven where it may take more time to make an murder alt but you basically do it whilst logged into your main or logged off. so your character is less expendable in salem despite quicker progression. that I think is the idea anyway.