The Wreckers of Lamp Rock

Anywhere in the sky

UncommonBounty hunts · Acts IV–VAct IAct IIAct III

From a bounty poster

Target: Captain Ruan Verrin, accused wrecker · 💀💀 · 55 silver

“Accused of hanging false signal lights on Lamp Rock to lure ships onto the reef and plunder their cargo. Five Guild haulers have wrecked there this season. Wanted dead or alive.”

Possible rewards: Star Glass Salvage Hooks

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

The Lamp Rock

Sail to The Lamp Rock (1–3 passages away)1

Sail to Lamp Rock, where the accused wrecker Ruan Verrin operates.

A Guild cargo hauler lies freshly wrecked against the jagged stone of Lamp Rock. Swarming around her broken hull are small rowboats whose crews are offloading her cargo—and rescuing her surviving sailors wrapped in warm blankets. Hovering above the rock to guard the work is Ruan Verrin's patched Free sloop.

Already on the scene is a rival bounty hunter's cutter, firing indiscriminately into the rescue boats. Her captain hails you: "I'm Mirren Keene! That patched sloop belongs to the wrecker Verrin—help me flank him and we'll split the bounty fifty-fifty!"

Join Mirren Keene and attack Verrin's sloop from the opposite flank.
Swinging around to shield the rowboats below, Verrin's patched sloop bravely takes on both of your warships at once.
Battle: Sky pirates · Close rangeIf you win:+20 silver
→ Halves
Fire a warning shot across Keene's bow to stop her from shooting into the rescue boats.
Taking your warning shot as a rival hunter trying to steal her bounty, Keene swings her cutter's cannons away from the rowboats and opens fire on you.
Battle: Bounty hunters · Close rangeIf you win:+25 silver
→ The Dark Lamp
[Lookout] Have your lookout scan the rock for any sign of a false wrecker's light first.
Room: Lookout
Scanning the crag twice through a spyglass, your lookout finds no false bait-lanterns anywhere—in fact, the official Guild lighthouse crowning the summit is completely dark. When you signal Keene to cease fire, she angrily turns her cannons on your ship instead.
Reveal 2 waypointsBattle: Bounty hunters · Close rangeIf you win:+25 silver
→ The Dark Lamp
Leave it for now.
You hold your distance while the small boats work around the wreck and Keene continues firing.

Halves

Right away2

Ruan Verrin—a burly, exhausted man smelling of lamp oil—sits on your main hatch with a splinter in his thigh as Mirren Keene climbs aboard your deck.

"We agreed on a fifty-fifty split, Captain—or you can sell me your half right now and let me haul him in myself, since this poster pays the same dead or alive." Looking up from his wounded leg, Verrin speaks quietly: "Before you haggle over my head, Captain, climb up the rock and take a look at the Guild lighthouse."

Honor the fifty-fifty split and let Keene sail along as you bring Verrin in.
Keene shakes your hand, transfers her sea chest aboard your ship, and pays you a small advance in silver as a token of good faith.
+15 silver
→ The Underwriter
Refuse to share the bounty and drive Keene off your ship.
Without a word, Keene climbs back down into her skiff and clears her cutter for battle before her boat is even hoisted aboard.
Battle: Bounty hunters · Close rangeIf you win:+25 silver
→ The Underwriter
Hold off on the deal and climb the rock with Verrin to inspect the lighthouse first.
Rolling her eyes, Keene warns that she will wait one hour and not a minute longer as Verrin limps ahead of you up the stone path.
→ The Dark Lamp

The Dark Lamp

Right away3

Atop the summit of the rock stands the official Guild lighthouse—its heavy wooden door nailed shut from the outside. Pasted across the nails is a printed official notice: BEACON DECOMMISSIONED FOR COST SAVINGS — BY ORDER OF P. LYLE, GUILD UNDERWRITER.

"I have never hung a false wrecker's light in my life," Verrin tells you bitterly. "The Guild underwriter shut down the real lighthouse to save money on lamp oil. Now cargo ships crash onto this reef in the dark on their own. My crew rescue the drowning sailors and salvage the cargo—so the underwriter put a wrecker's bounty on my head to cover up the fact that he turned off the light."

Fulfill your bounty contract and arrest Verrin anyway.
Verrin nods heavily. "Just leave my crew out of it, then." Before you depart, his people quietly load three casks of salvaged rations into your hold to ensure you treat their captain fairly.
+3 provisions
→ The Underwriter
Leave Verrin free and peel the underwriter's notice off the door to confront the Guild.
Peeling the freshly pasted notice intact from the planks, Verrin folds it into an oilskin pouch for you. "Underwriter Prosper Lyle runs the Guild hall at the next port—he'll recognize his own stationery." He marks the fastest lanes to the port on your chart.
Reveal 2 waypoints
→ The Underwriter
Kick down the nailed door and inspect the lighthouse lantern room.
Three hard kicks burst the nailed door open. Inside, the lantern room is clean, dry, and intact—with the main crystal lens resting in its cradle beside a crated spare—except that the fuel reservoir is bone-dry.
→ The Lamp Room

The Underwriter

At a port4

Dock at the Guild hall where the bounty on Ruan Verrin was issued.

Underwriter Prosper Lyle occupies a plush corner office in the Guild hall overlooking the harbor, using a brass miniature of the Lamp Rock lighthouse as a desk paperweight. Pink-cheeked and brisk, he beams as you step inside.

"Ah, the Lamp Rock wrecker! Dreadful business—five cargo haulers lost this season, all insured through my office and paid out in full, I'm proud to say. Well, Captain, what have you brought me?"

Deliver Ruan Verrin alive and collect the full posted bounty.
Lyle pays your silver immediately from his desk drawer, refusing to meet Verrin's eyes as the prisoner glances pointedly at the brass lighthouse paperweight on the desk. Along with your bounty, the Guild awards you Verrin's heavy salvage grappling hooks.
Fitting: Salvage Hooks+1 The Guild standing
The questline ends here.
Deliver Ruan Verrin alive and split the bounty fifty-fifty with Mirren Keene.
Lyle pays out the silver from his drawer while Keene counts her half twice. Before you even think to ask about the salvage rights, Keene buys you a cheap drink and spirits Verrin's heavy grappling hooks aboard her own cutter.
+1 The Guild standing
The questline ends here.
Lay Lyle's own decommissioning notice on his desk and blackmail him for the cover-up.
Lyle's cheeks drain from pink to ash-gray: five insured ships wrecked because he personally cut off their lighthouse oil—and likely pocketed a kickback on the insurance payouts. Opening a private strongbox drawer, he pays you a hush-money sum far larger than the bounty to hand over the notice and withdraw the warrant.
+100 silver−1 heat
The questline ends here.
Nail Lyle's decommissioning notice directly to the front doors of the Guild hall for every captain to read.
By noon, forty furious cargo captains have read the notice. By nightfall, Lyle is stripped of his office and arrested, the bounty on Verrin is torn down, and a supply boat is dispatched to relight Lamp Rock—while the grateful captains take up a generous silver collection for your crew.
+60 silver+2 The Free Captains standing−1 The Guild standing
The questline ends here.
Leave it for now.
You step out of the underwriter's office while Lyle attends to other callers.

The Lamp Room

Right away5

The burner reservoir is completely empty, though the wick is brand-new. Having climbed the stairs behind you, Verrin's salvage crew watch quietly from the doorway.

"This beacon burns refined crystal spirit, the exact same fuel your ship's Drive uses," Verrin says. "A few measures from your bunkers would keep the light burning until a supply boat arrives. I have no right to ask a bounty hunter to give up his own fuel—but I'm asking anyway."

Refuel and relight the lighthouse from your own ship's crystal bunkers.
Costs 4 crystal
Igniting on the second spark, the great lens projects a steady white beam far out across the jagged reef while the boat crews below pause to cheer. In gratitude, Verrin has his crew carry the uncrated spare starglass lens down to your ship.
Relic: Star Glass+1 The Free Captains standing−1 The Guild standing
The questline ends here.
[Gnome] Have crewmate re-machine the burner nozzle so it runs for a week on a fraction of the fuel.
Crew: Gnome
Working inside the burner housing with a fine file for an hour, crewmate narrows the fuel jet so the beacon can burn for a full week on a single day's worth of Drive runoff. As the white beam blazes out across the rocks, Verrin personally carries the spare starglass lens down to your ship in thanks.
Relic: Star Glass+1 Repair skill XP+1 The Free Captains standing−1 The Guild standing
The questline ends here.
Conserve your crystal fuel and take the underwriter's notice to the Guild hall instead.
Verrin carefully peels the printed notice off the door and folds it into an oilskin pouch for you. "Underwriter Prosper Lyle sits at the next port's Guild hall—go ask him how much money he saved by wrecking five ships." He marks the quietest lanes to the port on your chart.
Reveal 2 waypoints
→ The Underwriter

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