The Sealed Works
From a tavern tip
A tip bought in a tavern for 45 silver.
“A retired machinist says his old factory was sealed fifty years ago with a master engine governor still inside—and its clockwork guardian was never wound down.”
Possible rewards: Boarding Golem Crystal Funnel Gnomish Fuel Governor
8 scenes. Choices with a requirement only appear when you meet it.
The Sealed Works
Sail to The Sealed Works (2–5 passages away)1 Find the sealed factory and the master engine governor inside.
Mast-high iron doors stand set into the cliff face, barred by a fifty-year-old lead Compact seal. Behind the doors, something heavy paces a slow, unceasing patrol.
- Break the Collector's seal and storm straight inside.Landfall: The Sealed Works
- Leave it for now.You mark the factory doors on your chart and fly on while the heavy footsteps echo inside.
The Keeper's Keys
Right away2With the brass guardian construct destroyed, you take the key ring from its arm: one key opens the paymaster's office, the other unlocks the governor vault. The oil in the construct's head-lamp is almost spent, leaving you enough light to search only one room before darkness falls.
- Use the remaining light to loot the paymaster's office.You recover forty silver in unclaimed wages and three lamp crystals before the guardian's light gutters out, forcing your crew to make their way to the vault by dim hand-lanterns.+40 silver+3 crystal
- Head straight to the governor vault while the bright lamp lasts.By the bright beam of the guardian's lamp, you spot the original installation blueprints pinned to the vault wall and roll them up before the oil runs dry.
- [Quartermaster] Have crewmate search the paymaster's office by ship's lantern while you take the lamp to the vault.Crew: Quartermastercrewmate methodically clears out the paymaster's safe by lantern light while your team uses the bright head-lamp to recover the installation blueprints from the vault wall.+40 silver
The Governor Vault
Right away3 Choose what to salvage from the sealed factory.
At the center of the vault stands the factory's master governor: a spinning brass regulator that meters crystal fuel with zero waste. In the corner, beneath a dusty tarp, a massive iron golem sits awaiting orders.
- Unbolt and salvage the master engine governor.Your crew disassemble the governor into four heavy sections. Every piece bears a stamped patent plate that the Compact registry will immediately recognize.
- [Construct Bay] Use your bay's recall signal to wake the dormant golem.Room: Construct BayYour ship's recall hum resonates through the stone chamber. Beneath the dust sheet, the golem's head turns toward the governor frame rather than toward you, refusing to stand.
- Leave the registered governor and strip the factory for untraceable scrap brass and crystal.You strip forty silver worth of brass fittings and four lamp crystals, leaving everything with a traceable serial number behind.+40 silver+4 crystal
The Patent Counter
At a port4 Take the master governor to port and settle its patent registration.
The port registrar inspects the governor's serial plates through her jeweler's lens. "This patent reverted to the Compact when the factory was sealed. You can pay fifty silver to register it to your ship, sell it to our archive, or try walking out with it—in which case I ring the alarm bell."
- Pay the 50 silver registration fee and keep the governor.Costs 50 silverShe stamps all four plates. Installed on your engine, the master governor cuts crystal consumption, expands fuel capacity, and recovers unspent crystal after every battle.Relic: Gnomish Fuel GovernorThe questline ends here.
- [Gnome] Have crewmate challenge the patent lapse under Compact debt law.Crew: Gnomecrewmate proves the factory was sealed for an already-settled debt rather than abandoned. Impressed by the legal argument, the registrar stamps the governor plates free of charge.Relic: Gnomish Fuel Governor+1 The Compact standingThe questline ends here.
- Have the factory golem display its chest plate to prove the works were never abandoned.The registrar reads the golem's active directive plate and concedes: "A factory with an active custodian was never legally abandoned." That night, the golem installs the governor on your engine, then powers down forever with its fifty-year duty fulfilled.Relic: Gnomish Fuel GovernorThe questline ends here.
- Sell the master governor to the Compact archive for 70 silver.She pays you seventy silver from a locked drawer and has clerks carry the governor into the archive vaults.+70 silver+1 The Compact standing
- Refuse to pay and fight your way out of port with the governor.The alarm bell clangs before your mooring lines are even cast off, and an elite clockwork cutter launches from the harbor wall to intercept you.+1 heat−1 The Compact standingBattle: Clockwork sentry · Close rangeIf you win:Relic: Gnomish Fuel Governor
The Golem's Directive
Right away5A fifty-year-old directive is stamped across the golem's chest plate: KEEP THE GOVERNOR TURNING. It refuses to abandon the regulator frame, though it will follow the frame anywhere—unless you overwrite its directive using your Construct Bay.
- Overwrite its directive and assign the golem to your Construct Bay.The golem stands, folds its dust sheet, and marches aboard your ship, where it rebuilds your Construct Bay's cradles to superior specifications.Construct: Boarding GolemUpgrade: Construct BayThe questline ends here.
- Unbolt the governor and let the golem carry it aboard.The golem hauls all four sections of the governor into your cargo hold in a single trip and sits beside them on guard. However, the patent plates on the governor will still need to be cleared at a registry port.
The Old Machinist
Right away6When you emerge from the doors, the retired machinist who sold you the tip is sitting on the steps with a lunch pail. Seeing only scrap brass in your crew's arms, his face falls. "You left the master governor behind? I've waited fifty years for someone to get past that guardian!"
- Sell him the way in.He pays you fifty silver from his life savings and heads inside alone with a wrench, spreading word across the Compact of your fair dealing.+50 silver+1 The Compact standingThe questline ends here.
- Go back inside with him and unbolt the master governor.He shows your crew which bolts to pull first, dismantling the governor into four sections whose patent numbers he knows by heart.
- [Tinker's Bench] Let him use your bench and the scrap brass to build a smaller fuel regulator.Room: Tinker's BenchWorking a full day at your Tinker's Bench, he crafts a compact crystal funnel that meters fuel grain by grain—and requires no registry stamp.Fitting: Crystal Funnel+1 The Compact standingThe questline ends here.
The Archive's Offer
Right away7After locking the governor away, the registrar peers at you over her lens. "Because you dealt honestly with the archive instead of running, I can offer you a bonus: either a compact crystal funnel built by the same inventor, or sixty silver in coin."
- Take the crystal funnel fitting.Installed in your engine's feed pipe, the funnel saves crystal fuel on every passage of your voyage.Fitting: Crystal FunnelThe questline ends here.
- Take the 60 silver bonus.She counts out sixty silver and records your ship in the archive's register of trusted contractors.+60 silverThe questline ends here.
- Sell her the original installation blueprints as well.She unrolls the blueprints in amazement. "We thought these drawings were lost fifty years ago!" She rewards you with both the crystal funnel and forty silver.Fitting: Crystal Funnel+40 silverThe questline ends here.
Wanted by the Registry
Right away8The unstamped governor runs flawlessly on your engine, but by morning your hull number is posted on wanted notices at every registry counter in the Cogholds. Paying sixty silver by courier will clear the warrant.
- Ignore the warrant and keep flying.The wanted notice remains posted, but the master governor runs like a dream.The questline ends here.
- Send 60 silver and the plate numbers to clear the warrant.Costs 60 silverA stamped receipt returns on the next mail boat with a dry note from the registrar: "Next time, wait in line." Your warrant is cleared.−1 heat+1 The Compact standingThe questline ends here.
Data from Magehold Fairwinds v1.9.26. Spotted something out of date? Discord