The Kettleworks Burst

UncommonBounty hunts · Act IIIAct III

From a bounty poster

Target: Tansy Copperthwaite, fugitive boiler-wright · 💀💀 · 55 silver

“Blamed for a catastrophic boiler explosion at the Kettleworks that killed nine workers. Wanted dead or alive by the factory master.”

6 scenes. Choices with a requirement only appear when you meet it.

The Old Proving Works

Sail to The Old Proving Works (1–3 passages away)1

Track down the boiler-wright Tansy Copperthwaite at the abandoned cliffside proving works.

Cut into a remote cliff face, the abandoned proving works has smoke rising from its flue and a lopsided, homemade brass automaton patrolling the narrow ledge outside. Chalked on the stone beside the door in neat lettering are the words: "NO ORDERS TAKEN. GO AWAY." Inside, someone is steadily filing metal.

Destroy the clockwork sentry on the ledge.
The brass sentry swivels its single glass lens toward your ship and unfolds its weapon arms.
Battle: Clockwork sentry · Close rangeIf you win:+3 bolts
→ The Wired Safety Valve
[Gnome] Have crewmate shout workshop test-codes to disable the sentry's weapons.
Crew: Gnome
crewmate guesses the gnome-built sentry's test passphrase on the third try, freezing half its weapon arms while you move in to finish it off.
Battle: Clockwork sentry · Close rangeIf you win:+3 bolts
→ The Wired Safety Valve
Send a shore party down the ventilation flue on foot to bypass the sentry.
Landfall: The Old Proving Works
→ The Wired Safety Valve
Leave it for now.
You pull back from the cliff while the rhythmic sound of metal filing continues behind the iron door.

The Wired Safety Valve

Right away2

Inside the workshop, a sixty-year-old gnome woman with a fresh burn bandage on her arm stands over a workbench vise holding a heavy brass safety valve. She doesn't even glance at your weapons. "I'm Tansy Copperthwaite. Look at the valve seat—see that bright groove? Somebody wired my safety valve shut to run the boiler at double pressure! Factory Master Grindle wired it himself to meet his quota, killed nine workers when it blew, and put a dead-or-alive bounty on me before the ashes cooled!"

Arrest her anyway and deliver her to Master Grindle at the Kettleworks for the bounty.
She wraps the sabotaged valve in a cloth and tucks it under her arm. "Grindle wants this valve destroyed even more than he wants me silenced—you'll see."
→ The Company Office
Escort Tansy and the sabotaged valve to the Compact patent court to clear her name.
She packs her files, the valve, and a tin of tea in two minutes flat. "The patent court sits at the port downwind—and Grindle will have hired hunters watching the lane to stop us."
→ Ambush in the Forge-Smoke
[Repair 2] Have crewmate draft a signed technical diagram of the wire-scored valve seat as extra proof.
Crew: Repair 2+
crewmate examines the valve under the work lamp, confirming that heavy wire was wrapped around the seat to force it shut. crewmate drafts a precise scale diagram of the tampering and signs it as an expert witness while Tansy packs her tools.
+1 Repair skill XP
→ Ambush in the Forge-Smoke

The Company Office

At a port3

Deliver Tansy Copperthwaite to Master Grindle at the Kettleworks dock office.

Nine black mourning ribbons hang on the door of the Kettleworks dock office. Factory Master Aldous Grindle hurries out to meet you purse in hand before your mooring lines are even tied, his eyes fixed on the cloth bundle under Tansy's arm. "Hand over the valve as well—it's factory property. Then take your silver, and this matter is closed."

Hand over both Tansy and the valve, and take Grindle's silver.
Grindle pays your bounty in bright new coin. Factory guards march Tansy away while Grindle personally carries the sabotaged valve to the foundry furnace to be melted into scrap before nightfall.
The questline ends here.
Confront Grindle in front of his clerks about the wire marks on the safety valve.
Every clerk in the office stops writing. Without a flicker of emotion, Grindle orders his guards to escort you off the premises. You march Tansy and the valve back aboard your ship—just as an armed bounty cutter slips her moorings outside the breakwater to come after you.
→ Outside the Breakwater

Ambush in the Forge-Smoke

Right away4

Half a day toward the patent court, an armed bounty ship drops out of the thick forge-smoke ahead flying the Kettleworks pennant. Her captain hails you through a brass megaphone: "Master Grindle pays full bounty for that gnome dead or alive—and a bonus for the valve she's carrying! Heave to, hand them over, and we'll split the payout fifty-fifty right here!"

Refuse the deal and fight your way through the bounty ship.
The captain lowers his megaphone and slams open his gun ports.
Battle: Bounty hunters · Long range, Ember windIf you win:+20 silver
→ The Patent Court
[Gunner] Have crewmate snipe the captain's megaphone with the bow gun to rattle their crew.
Crew: Gunner
crewmate fires a single precision shot that blasts the brass megaphone—and a section of the bow rail—clean away, leaving the bounty ship's crew rattled and deafened as battle begins.
Battle: Bounty hunters · Close range, Ember windIf you win:+20 silver
→ The Patent Court
Accept the fifty-fifty split and hand Tansy and the valve over to the bounty hunter.
Calmly tucking the valve under her arm, Tansy climbs down into the hunter's skiff. The captain pays you half the bounty on the spot, ensuring Grindle's crime stays buried.
The questline ends here.

Outside the Breakwater

Right away5

A mile past the harbor breakwater, the Kettleworks' hired bounty cutter overtakes you and opens her gun ports without hailing. Tansy eyes the approaching ship from your rail. "Grindle can't afford to let this valve reach the patent court. He'll gladly sink us both to bury the evidence."

Turn your guns on the hired cutter and fight her off.
The cutter opens fire at long range, aiming low into your hull to sink both you and the evidence.
Battle: Bounty hunters · Long rangeIf you win:+20 silver
→ The Patent Court
[Helm 2] Have crewmate cut dangerously close inside the breakwater beacons to lose the cutter in the dark.
Crew: Helm 2+
crewmate threads your ship through the shallow rocks inside the harbor beacons where the hired captain dares not follow, leaving the cutter behind by dawn.
+1 Helm skill XP
→ The Patent Court

The Patent Court

At a port6

Escort Tansy Copperthwaite and the sabotaged safety valve to the Compact patent court.

Three Compact registrars pass the brass safety valve along the bench, running their thumbnails over the deep wire groove scored into the seat. "Wired shut by hand," the chief registrar rules. "Mistress Copperthwaite is cleared of all charges, and the Kettleworks will answer for nine deaths. While this court does not pay bounties, we compensate honest captains who bring the truth to light." Beside you, Tansy is already inspecting your ship's Drive housing with a critical eye.

Have Tansy overhaul and upgrade your ship's Drive in thanks.
Refusing any payment, Tansy spends three days rebuilding your Drive with a compact, cooler-running boiler—stamping nine small memorial marks onto the new safety valve.
Upgrade: Drive
The questline ends here.
Accept the patent court's silver reward and reputation commendation.
The court clerk pays you a generous reward from the fines chest and enters your ship into the Compact's rolls as an honest vessel.
+90 silver+1 The Compact standing
The questline ends here.
Present Grindle's written order to destroy the valve as additional evidence.
With Grindle's signed order in hand, court marshals arrest him at his own office door. The court pays you a witness fee while Tansy uses her settlement from the Kettleworks to overhaul and upgrade your ship's Drive.
+40 silverUpgrade: Drive+1 The Compact standing
The questline ends here.
Submit your engineer's signed scale diagram alongside the valve for an expedited ruling.
Backed by the signed scale diagram, the court issues an immediate judgment, paying you a higher expert-witness fee and copying the Kettleworks' private trade charts into your logbook.
+110 silverReveal 3 waypoints+1 The Compact standing
The questline ends here.
[Tinker's Bench] Invite Tansy to join your crew and take charge of your Tinker's Bench.
Room: Tinker's Bench
Tansy inspects your ship's workshop, shifts the bench vise an inch to the left, and signs onto your crew while the court pays you a finder's fee from the fines chest.
New crewmate: Tansy Copperthwaite, Gnome+40 silver
The questline ends here.

Data from Magehold Fairwinds v1.9.26. Spotted something out of date? Discord