The Long Forge
From a chance meeting
Possible rewards: Salamander Hide Cindermaw Storm Sails
7 scenes. Choices with a requirement only appear when you meet it.
Smoke Across the Lane
Right away1Brown smoke chokes the sky ahead, raining hot cinders onto your deck. A forge barge emerges from the haze with a scorched-aproned gnome shouting from the bow: "The Long Forge blew its main damper! If that ember wind isn't shut off by morning, half the district will burn—I need a sturdy ship to get my crew close to the flue!"
- Follow her barge into the smoke to help shut the damper.Forewoman Vessa Ironkettle briefs you along the way: the blown damper wheel sits on a high gantry above the roaring flue, guarded by a malfunctioning clockwork fire warden that attacks anything approaching the forge.
- [Deluge Tanks] Spray down her scorching barge before following her in.Room: Deluge TanksYour deluge pumps drench her smoldering decks and cool her burned crew. Grateful, Vessa charts the Long Forge and two safe approach lanes on your map.Reveal 2 waypoints+1 The Compact standing
- Decline the mission, and sell her water and rations for 25 silver.She pays twenty-five silver for the supplies without haggling and steers her barge back into the smoke alone.−2 provisions+25 silverThe questline ends here.
Into the Smoke
Right away2Vessa's barge leads you deep into the cinder cloud, where her burned stokers beat out deck fires with wet sacks. "I can spare one thing before we reach the flue," she calls across. "Take our soaked fire-hides to armor your rails against the embers, or take my veteran stoker Tolla, who knows the damper gantry inside and out."
- Take the soaked hides to protect and repair your hull.Her stokers nail heavy wet hides along your bulwarks and patch the scorch damage along your hull.+3 hull
- Bring her veteran stoker Tolla aboard to guide your crew.A scar-chinned Emberkin stoker swings across on a line and sizes up your deck. "Name's Tolla," she says. "Get me to that gantry and I'll show your crew how to winch the damper shut."
- [Surgeon] Have crewmate treat her burned stokers first.Crew: Surgeoncrewmate boards the barge with a jar of burn salve and spends an hour bandaging her crew. Grateful, Vessa sends over the wet fire-hides and twenty silver to restock your medical chest.+3 hull+20 silver+1 The Compact standing
The Long Forge
Sail to The Long Forge (1–3 passages away)3 Reach the Long Forge and shut its blown damper.
The Long Forge is a quarter-mile trench in the cliffside spewing fire into the sky. High above the roaring flue stands the damper wheel on an iron gantry—patrolled by a haywire clockwork fire warden that opens fire on anything moving.
- Fly in through the ember storm and destroy the fire warden.Swirling cinders ignite small fires along your rails as you close in to engage the clockwork warden.Battle: Clockwork sentry · Close range, Ember windIf you win:+30 silver
- [Fire mage] Have crewmate part the ember storm so you can slip past the warden.Crew: Fire caster · Magecrewmate parts the curtain of sparks around your hull, letting you glide beneath the gantry undetected while your crew haul the damper wheel shut.−20 mana (the crewmate who acted)
- [Emberkin] Send crewmate up the scorching flue wall to turn the wheel by hand.Crew: Emberkincrewmate scales the red-hot stone wall behind the warden's back and wrenches the damper wheel shut with a boom that echoes for miles.
- Hold position at a safe distance while Vessa's stokers climb the gantry on wet ropes.It takes Vessa's stokers an agonizing hour on soaked ropes to bypass the warden and crank the wheel shut, leaving two of her workers badly burned while your ship stayed safely out of harm's way.
- Leave it for now.You pull back out of the canyon as the smoke thickens behind you.
The Damper Shut
Right away4 Settle your reward with Forewoman Vessa.
As the ember gale dies down, Vessa surveys the quiet forge. "The bronze blast nozzle that blew out is scrap to me, but bored out on our mill, it'll make a triple-barreled fire cannon for your ship. Or, if you want a bigger payout, haul our banked forge heart across the border to our sister foundry."
- Have her smiths bore the blast nozzle into a ship's cannon.Her smiths haul the boat-sized bronze nozzle out of the ash on a heavy cart and wheel it to the boring mill.
- Haul the banked forge heart to her sister foundry across the border.Her crew load a heavy lead-lined chest onto your deck, still radiating heat through the lid. "Keep it well clear of your powder magazine," Vessa advises.New job: A banked forge heart
- [Gnome] Ask for the forge's fireproof brick lining and 50 silver instead.Crew: Gnomecrewmate points out the high-grade salamander firebricks lining the flue. Installed around your galley and magazine, they fireproof your ship's interior, and Vessa adds fifty silver.Relic: Salamander Hide+50 silverThe questline ends here.
- Recruit the veteran stoker Tolla and take 60 silver.Tolla glances from the scorched gantry to Vessa, who shrugs. "She's wrestled that damper shut four times now—let someone else take a turn." Tolla signs onto your crew, and Vessa pays you sixty silver.New crewmate: Emberkin, Deckhand+60 silverThe questline ends here.
Ferry Pay Only
Right away5As the ember wind dies, Vessa helps her burned stokers aboard before looking your way. "You brought us to the cliff lip, and my own people took the burns climbing the rope. I'll pay you fifty silver for the escort—or you can still earn a full reward by hauling our banked forge heart across the border."
- Take the 50 silver escort pay and move on.She counts fifty silver onto the rail and turns back to tend her injured stokers.+50 silverThe questline ends here.
- Haul the banked forge heart to her sister foundry across the border.Her crew load a heavy lead-lined chest onto your deck, still radiating heat through the lid. "Keep it well clear of your powder magazine," Vessa advises.New job: A banked forge heart
The Boring Mill
Right away6By noon the heavy bronze nozzle is clamped onto the boring mill. The master smith chalks cut-lines along the barrel. "Bored out into three throats, this makes a Cinder Maw cannon whose fireballs warp enemy wards. Or, if you'd rather have coin, I'll buy the bronze casting off you right now for a hundred and twenty silver."
- Have the smiths finish boring the Cinder Maw cannon.Working through the day, her smiths bore and mount the triple-barreled Cinder Maw cannon on your gun deck.Weapon: CindermawThe questline ends here.
- [Gunner] Have crewmate operate the boring wheel to learn the cannon's tolerances.Crew: Gunnercrewmate runs the boring feed all day, mastering the triple barrel's exact tolerances, and the smiths pack the leftover bronze offcuts into five crates of ammunition.The questline ends here.
- Sell the bronze casting to the smith for 120 silver.He pays you a hundred and twenty silver on the spot and breaks the casting down for foundry stock.+120 silver+1 The Compact standingThe questline ends here.
The Sister Foundry
At the delivery port7 Deliver the banked forge heart to the sister foundry.
The engineers at the sister foundry open the lead chest, inspect the glowing core, and close it carefully. "If Vessa trusted this to an outside captain, the Long Forge must have come close to disaster," their forewoman says, eyeing your ship. "We pay in shipyard work plus silver: do you want your drive overhauled, or wire-woven storm sails?"
- Upgrade your Drive and take 90 silver.Their machinists strip and rebuild your drive by nightfall, leaving it running smoother than ever, and pay you ninety silver.Upgrade: Drive+90 silverThe questline ends here.
- Fit wire-woven storm sails and take 110 silver.They rig your yards with heavy wire-reinforced storm sails that shrug off the fiercest gales, and pay you a hundred and ten silver.Fitting: Storm Sails+110 silverThe questline ends here.
Data from Magehold Fairwinds v1.9.26. Spotted something out of date? Discord