Forty False Letters

UncommonBounty hunts · Acts IV–VAct IV

From a bounty poster

Target: Ansgar Sollace, master forger · 💀💀💀💀 · 155 silver

“Forty forged privateer licenses bear his unmistakable craftsmanship. The Crown Admiralty wants him brought in unharmed—and the Free Muster is hunting him too.”

Possible rewards: Forger's Kit

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

The Scarp Paper Mill

Sail to The Scarp Paper Mill (1–3 passages away)1

Locate the master forger Ansgar Sollace's printing press inside the old cliffside paper mill.

Perched precariously on the cliff scarp above a dry waterwheel, the abandoned paper mill rises six stories through dusty rag lofts and drying rooms. Smoke curls from a single chimney, and a Free Muster sloop is moored to the wheel pit with only a four-man anchor watch on deck—meaning a Muster strike team is already inside hunting for the same forger.

From the top floor comes the steady, rhythmic clanking of a running printing press.

Lead a shore party into the paper mill on foot.
Landfall: The Scarp Paper Mill
→ The Press Room
Attack and capture the Free Muster sloop while her main boarding party is inside the mill.
Her four-man anchor watch severs the mooring cable and fights back desperately while the printing press on the top floor clanks on without pause.
Battle: Sky pirates · Close rangeIf you win:+25 silver
→ The Press Room
Leave it for now.
You hold off from the cliffside while the chimney smokes and the printing press clanks on.

The Press Room

Right away2

Ansgar Sollace is a tidy sixty-year-old craftsman with one hand stained dark with printer's dye up to the wrist. Hanging on drying lines above his head are forty freshly printed privateer licenses, every royal seal counterfeited to perfection.

"The Crown Admiralty posted a bounty demanding me unharmed," Sollace remarks, wiping his clean hand on a rag. "Stop and think why, Captain: governments don't demand a master forger unharmed just to hang him. Now, I can pay you well to drop me off at a civilian passenger dock instead—and before we leave, I can print your ship the cleanest set of official clearance papers on the mountain."

Put Sollace in irons and deliver him to the Crown Admiralty tender.
Out of long habit, Sollace holds out his stained wrist first for your shackles. Since the bounty poster made no mention of his cashbox, your crew empty his silver into a sack while Sollace politely corrects their count.
+25 silver
→ In Sight of the Tender
[Quartermaster] Have crewmate ask Sollace who ordered forty privateer licenses at once.
Crew: Quartermaster
crewmate puts the question to him as one professional clerk to another. Sollace sighs. "Free Muster captains buy forged letters one at a time. Only a state navy orders forty at once. The Crown Admiralty intends to make me their captive counterfeiter—and I won't be given a choice." Even so, he holds out his wrists for your irons while crewmate secures his cashbox.
+25 silver
→ In Sight of the Tender
Accept Sollace's deal: have him print forged ship's papers for you first, then escort him to a civilian dock.
While you wait, Sollace runs off a flawless set of ship's papers on his press—registry, customs clearance, and a sealed bill of health that look more authentic than genuine Crown documents. "Now," he says, packing his valise, "take me to a port with a passenger ship bound for the lowlands."
+2 forged papers
→ Two Buyers on One Quay

In Sight of the Tender

Sail to The Admiralty Tender (1–2 passages away)3

Deliver the master forger Ansgar Sollace unharmed to the Crown Admiralty tender.

Just ahead rides the Crown Admiralty tender, an anchored frigate flying a command pennant. Before you can reach her, Free Muster hunters drop out of the clouds flying Captain Rhosyn Talbot's red swallowtail banner.

Talbot's hail is blunt: "That forger's fake letters allowed Crown cutters flying false Muster flags to board and butcher four of our picket crews! Hand him over to us right now—or we'll take his printing hand and leave you the rest of him!"

Fight past Captain Talbot's two Muster sloops to reach the Admiralty tender.
With practiced coordination, Talbot's two sloops split apart to bracket your ship from both quarters.
Battle: Sky pirates · Close rangeIf you win:+30 silver
→ A Desk Already Laid
Fight past Captain Talbot's remaining sloop to reach the Admiralty tender.
Since you already captured her second sloop back at the paper mill, Talbot charges in alone without hesitation.
Battle: Sky pirates · Close rangeIf you win:+30 silver
→ A Desk Already Laid
Heave to and hand Sollace over to Captain Talbot's Muster hunters.
Boarding your deck in person, Talbot spares Sollace's hand—instead smashing his engraved printing plates one by one over your rail before taking him into custody and paying you the Free Muster's reward.
+100 silver+2 The Free Captains standing−1 The Crown standing
The questline ends here.
Warn Captain Talbot that the Crown Admiralty wants Sollace to forge forty false-flag passes for a fleet raid.
Talbot listens intently, then swears under her breath. "Transfer him to my ship immediately, Captain—not to maim him, but so the Muster Council can hear this plot from his own lips!" She pays you the full Muster bounty plus four casks of provisions for the warning.
+100 silver+4 provisions+3 The Free Captains standing−1 The Crown standing
The questline ends here.
Leave it for now.
You sheer off into the clouds as Talbot's sloops hold their blockade in front of the Admiralty frigate.

Two Buyers on One Quay

At a port4

Deliver the forger Ansgar Sollace to a port with a civilian passenger ship bound for the lowlands.

At the far end of the pier, a lowland passenger ship waits with her boarding ramp lowered. Blocking the quay between your ship and her gangway stand two rival buyers: a plainclothes Crown intelligence agent and Captain Rhosyn Talbot of the Free Muster.

"Deliver him unharmed," the Crown agent calls out, naming the official bounty price—whereupon Captain Talbot immediately counters with a generous offer of her own. Picking up his leather satchel, Sollace waits to see whether you will honor your word or sell him.

Sell Sollace to the Crown agent on the pier and fight past Talbot's two sloops outside.
Confident of your greed, the Crown agent pays your bounty silver right on the pier. Without a word, Captain Talbot returns to her two sloops waiting outside the harbor mouth to intercept you.
+1 The Crown standing−2 The Free Captains standingBattle: Sky pirates · Close rangeIf you win:+20 silver
The questline ends here.
Sell Sollace to the Crown agent on the pier and fight past Talbot's single remaining sloop.
Confident of your greed, the Crown agent pays your bounty silver right on the pier. Without a word, Captain Talbot returns to her remaining sloop outside the harbor mouth to intercept you.
+1 The Crown standing−2 The Free Captains standingBattle: Sky pirates · Close rangeIf you win:+20 silver
The questline ends here.
Keep your word and escort Sollace safely past both buyers onto the passenger ship.
Neither buyer dares draw steel on the crowded pier as you walk Sollace up the passenger ship's ramp. Outside the harbor mouth, however, the Crown agent's Excise cutter tries to intercept the liner—and finds your warship blocking her path.
+1 heat−1 The Crown standingBattle: Excise cutter · Long rangeIf you win:Fitting: Forger's Kit+40 silver
The questline ends here.
Sell Sollace to Captain Talbot and the Free Muster right in front of the Crown agent.
With visible satisfaction, Talbot counts out her silver right in front of the furious Crown agent. Sollace walks aboard her ship willingly: "The Muster only wants me to retire from the trade, Captain—which I was meaning to do anyway."
+110 silver+2 The Free Captains standing−1 The Crown standing
The questline ends here.
Leave it for now.
Sitting down on his leather satchel on the pier, Sollace waits while both buyers stare you down.

A Desk Already Laid

Right away5

Inside the Admiralty frigate's great cabin, Commander Tavish Hewitt welcomes Sollace with chilling courtesy. A worktable is already laid out waiting for him: Free Muster sealing wax, red ribbon, and forty blank privateer licenses.

"You will complete all forty by the end of the week, Mr. Sollace—one for each of our strike cutters, so they can sail straight into the Free Muster's home port disguised as allies." Turning to you with your bounty silver already counted out, Hewitt waits for you to leave while Sollace silently meets your eyes.

Collect the Admiralty bounty and leave Sollace to his new masters.
Commander Hewitt pays your bounty to the last coin. As you step back onto your deck, marines carry Sollace's printing press over from your hold while the old forger takes off his coat and asks for a brighter work lamp.
+1 The Crown standing−1 The Free Captains standing
The questline ends here.
Collect the Admiralty bounty, then secretly sell a warning to the Free Muster.
Hewitt pays your full bounty on the spot. That very night, you dispatch a fishing skiff to warn Captain Talbot—earning a second purse of silver and ensuring the forty Crown strike cutters find the Muster harbor boom chained shut when they arrive.
+40 silver+1 The Free Captains standing+2 heat
The questline ends here.
Grab Sollace by the collar and fight your way back off the Admiralty frigate with him.
You haul Sollace out the cabin door before Commander Hewitt even realizes what is happening. Your boarding party outpaces the frigate's marines back to your ship—though her heavy cannons open fire the instant you cast off.
+2 heat−2 The Crown standingBattle: Excise cutter · Close rangeIf you win:Fitting: Forger's Kit+1 forged papers+1 The Free Captains standing
The questline ends here.

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