The Second Mainspring

The Cogholds

RareThe CogholdsAct III

From a job

Cargo: A sealed mainspring (sealed)

“The sealed crate ticks loudly. The shipping agent swears it shouldn't.”

Possible rewards: Coiled Springs

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

The Clockmaker

At the delivery port1

Deliver the sealed mainspring.

Master clockmaker Tibb Ovenbrass pries open the crate on her workbench and exhales in relief. Inside rests a heavy blue-steel mainspring, wound tight. "There were two of these," she says. "My apprentice stole the second spring and its heavy winder, then fled across the border. A gun deck powered by that spring fires continuously without ever needing to be cranked."

Offer to track down the apprentice and recover the spring.
She sketches a route on the back of a patent form. "He'll have set up shop past the border where the registry doesn't inspect. Bring my spring back and I'll pay you well."
→ The Stop-Key
[Gnome] Inspect the apprentice's indenture contract.
Crew: Gnome
crewmate reads the contract over her shoulder. "He wound both springs himself. Under Compact law, half the second spring belongs to him." Tibb falls silent for a moment, then sketches the route and marks the border patrol posts for you.
Reveal 2 waypoints
→ The Stop-Key
Decline the hunt, and offer to haul her finished clockwork instead.
She packs four delicate clock movements in wool. "A ship chandler is waiting for these. Keep the crate level and away from heavy shocks."
New job: Clock movements
→ The Ship Chandler
Take your delivery pay and leave.
She pays your freight fee without looking up from the spring.
+15 silver
The questline ends here.

The Stop-Key

Right away2

Tibb opens a drawer before you leave. "The boy builds armed clockwork sentries out of border-picket scrap. I taught him the design, so I have the master key that shuts them down. Take the stop-key, or take a silver advance for your supplies—one or the other."

Take the sentry stop-key.
She hands you a finger-length brass key on a wire loop. "The keyhole is behind the sentry's left shoulder. Turn it once, and don't let him spot the key beforehand."
→ The Runaway's Bench
Take the 30 silver advance.
She counts thirty silver out of her cash tin and notes the advance on the back of the map.
+30 silver
→ The Runaway's Bench
[Gunner] Test-fire a gun powered by the first spring.
Crew: Gunner
crewmate winds her test cannon once, and it fires four rapid shots before needing the crank again. Tibb lets crewmate copy the gearing ratios and pays you the thirty-silver advance to get you both out of her workshop.
+1 Gunnery skill XP+30 silver
→ The Runaway's Bench

The Ship Chandler

At the delivery port3

Deliver the clock movements.

The ship chandler sets each clockwork movement ticking and listens closely. "Three of these are Tibb's work—nobody else gets the beat this even." He holds the fourth movement to his ear for a long moment. "This one is even finer, and Tibb didn't build it."

Ask who built the fourth movement.
He pops open the back plate, revealing a tiny second maker's mark scratched beneath Tibb's stamp. "Her runaway apprentice. Word is he fled across the border." He pays your freight fee plus a bonus for your patience.
+20 silver
→ The Fourth Movement
[Gnome] Have crewmate open the back plate and inspect the mark.
Crew: Gnome
crewmate opens the casing before the chandler can object and reads the hidden mark beneath Tibb's stamp. "Her apprentice built this movement, and she sold it under her own name." The chandler pays crewmate a handsome fee to sign a witnessed statement.
+35 silver+1 Repair skill XP
→ The Fourth Movement

The Runaway's Bench

Sail to The Runaway's Bench in the next region4

Find the runaway apprentice and the second mainspring in the next region.

A solitary lamp illuminates a workbench under a cliffside lean-to. The apprentice is a twenty-year-old gnome with scorched fingers, and the second mainspring sits clamped in a heavy winder behind him. "Tibb told you I stole it, didn't she? Did she mention she sold our gun-winding patent to the arsenal and left my name off the deed?"

Hear out the apprentice's offer.
"I forged and tempered both springs myself over the winter," he says. "Side with me, and I'll mount this second spring on your ship so she can never get her hands on it."
→ Standing Watch
[Tinker's Bench] Offer him a place in your crew and full use of your Tinker's Bench.
Room: Tinker's Bench
He studies your ship for a long moment, then nods and begins unbolting his winder to bring aboard.
New crewmate: Gnome
→ Standing Watch
Hand him the fourth movement and the chandler's letter.
He inspects the movement and reads the chandler's letter. "So she's still selling my work under her stamp." He goes quiet for a moment, then nods. "I'll install the mainspring on your ship, and you can keep the silver I would have charged for the fitting."
+40 silver
→ Standing Watch
Seize the mainspring for Tibb by force.
He lets out a sharp whistle. A heavy brass sentry cobbled together from border-picket scrap unfolds from the rock ledge and charges your boarding party.
Battle: Clockwork sentry · Close range
→ Returning the Spring
Use Tibb's stop-key to disable his sentry and seize the spring.
He whistles, and a brass sentry unfolds from the ledge. You slip Tibb's key into the slot behind its left shoulder and twist once; the construct collapses across the rocks in a heap of loose gears. The apprentice stares at the brass key and knows immediately who sent you.
→ Returning the Spring

The Fourth Movement

Right away5

The chandler turns the fourth movement over in his palm. "I can sell it under Tibb's name, say nothing, and settle your pay right now. Or you can carry this movement and a letter from me to the apprentice across the border. A craftsman deserves to know what his work fetches under his master's name."

Let him sell it under Tibb's name and settle your pay.
He sets the fourth movement on the shelf beside the other three and wipes his hands.
→ Settling Accounts
Carry the fourth movement and the chandler's letter to the apprentice.
He wraps the movement in wool, writes a brief letter, and sketches the border route on the wrapper. "Look for a cliff ledge with a single lamp. You'll hear his file scraping metal before you spot the camp."
Reveal 1 waypoints
→ The Runaway's Bench

Standing Watch

Right away6

The apprentice cannot move the spring until it is cased. "The winder is bolted straight into the cliffside," he explains. Your ship stands guard off the ledge while he works. Near midnight, a border picket's searchlight sweeps slowly along the cliff face, checking every crevice.

Put out the workbench lamp and wait for the patrol to pass.
The patrol ship passes in the dark without spotting you. Working blind costs the apprentice two hours, and your crew go through extra rations waiting in the cold.
−1 provisions
→ The Wound Spring
Intercept and fight the border patrol ship.
You swing across the patrol's bow with your battle lanterns lit. It is a Compact excise cutter, and its captain opens fire on sight.
Battle: Excise cutter · Long rangeIf you win:+35 silver
→ The Wound Spring
[Helm 2] Have crewmate position your hull to shield the ledge's lamp.
Crew: Helm 2+
crewmate holds the ship broadside against the cliff face all night, blocking the workbench lamp from view. The patrol sees only an anchored merchantman and moves on. Grateful, the apprentice sends over a crate of spare springs and bolts.
+1 Helm skill XP+4 bolts
→ The Wound Spring

Returning the Spring

Right away7

Return the second mainspring to Tibb's agent.

With his sentry disabled, the defeated apprentice surrenders the mainspring and slumps onto his bench. Tibb's agent arrives within the hour carrying a heavy coin purse and a shipyard work order. "Tibb says to take your pick: silver or a battery refit."

Take the 70 silver.
The purse is stuffed with a hundred and twenty silver.
+120 silver+1 The Compact standing
The questline ends here.
Cite the indenture contract: half the spring's value belongs to the apprentice.
The agent reads the indenture clause twice and pays half the silver directly to the apprentice, who uses it to buy out his contract. Tibb's crew still upgrade your Battery Deck, and the grateful apprentice throws in a crate of heavy bolts.
Upgrade: Battery Deck+60 silver+6 bolts+1 The Compact standing
The questline ends here.
Have Tibb's crew upgrade your Battery Deck.
The agent's fitters upgrade your Battery Deck and pay you a fifty-silver bonus for disabling the sentry.
Upgrade: Battery Deck+50 silver+1 The Compact standing
The questline ends here.

Settling Accounts

Right away8

"Then our business is settled," the chandler says. "I have an unsold gun regulator of Tibb's make in the back room if you want it for your battery deck. Otherwise, I'll pay you in silver."

Take the gun regulator to upgrade your Battery Deck.
Your crew bolt the regulator beneath the gun deck, where it clicks out the timing for every shot and keeps the gunners firing in rhythm.
Upgrade: Battery Deck
The questline ends here.
Take the silver.
He counts out eighty silver in neat stacks of five.
+80 silver
The questline ends here.

The Wound Spring

Right away9

Let the apprentice install the second mainspring.

The apprentice works through the night, housing the coiled spring inside a heavy brass drum. "I can couple this drum beneath your gun deck so every cannon starts battle pre-wound," he says. "Or I can build a custom rapid-fire cannon around it."

Install the spring drum beneath your gun deck.
He couples the mainspring drum to every winch on the battery deck. Whenever battle quarters sound, your guns are already wound and ready to fire.
Relic: Coiled Springs−1 The Compact standing
The questline ends here.
Have him build a custom cannon around the spring.
He spends two days building a squat, spring-driven cannon and sells the leftover scrap brass to pay for your ship's supplies.
Weapon: a random weapon+40 silver−1 The Compact standing
The questline ends here.

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