The Stolen Tax Register
From a job
Cargo: A registry clerk (passenger)
“She clutches a single leather bag and refuses to let anyone touch it.”
Possible rewards: Forger's Kit
5 scenes. Choices with a requirement only appear when you meet it.
The Clerk's Bag
At the delivery port1 Transport the registry clerk to her destination port.
On the dock, clerk Neve Arlen stops and opens her bag, revealing an official Crown tax register listing four hundred Lowborn dockworker families slated to have their taxes doubled.
"I was ordered to copy these names into the new enforcement book," she whispers. "I stole the register instead. A bookbinder hiding under the ninth terrace can replace every page with blanks so the families are spared."
"I was ordered to copy these names into the new enforcement book," she whispers. "I stole the register instead. A bookbinder hiding under the ninth terrace can replace every page with blanks so the families are spared."
- Bring her back aboard and smuggle her to the bookbinder.She closes the bag and hurries back up your gangway. Harboring a thief with a stolen Crown register is a hanging offense, and your crew know it.+1 heat
- [Lowborn] Have crewmate check the stolen register for family names first.Crew: Lowborncrewmate finds a relative's name on the ninth page alongside a doubled tax demand. Closing the book, crewmate guides your helm toward the ninth terrace via hidden back channels that Excise patrols ignore.+1 heatReveal 3 waypoints
- Refuse to get involved and leave her on the dock.She nods once and disappears into the dockside crowd, clutching the bag to her chest.The questline ends here.
Four Hundred Names
Right away2During the flight, Neve Arlen opens the tax register on your mess table. Each line lists a Lowborn dockworker, their family, and the doubled tax levy.
"A skilled bookbinder can replace pages or alter sums," she says. "I only copy records—but I can forge an Excise inspector's signature as easily as my own." She glances meaningfully at your ship's port papers.
"A skilled bookbinder can replace pages or alter sums," she says. "I only copy records—but I can forge an Excise inspector's signature as easily as my own." She glances meaningfully at your ship's port papers.
- Have her forge a set of official port papers for your ship along the way.She spends two nights at the mess table drafting forged port papers so convincing they even correct a misspelling on your real ones.+1 forged papers+1 heat
- Have the cook give her a warm meal and keep the register hidden.Starved after weeks of clerk's rations, she eats two full plates of hot food and sleeps with the leather bag under her head.−1 provisions
- [Quartermaster] Have crewmate learn how to forge Excise signatures from her.Crew: QuartermasterAfter two nights of practice, crewmate can forge cargo clearances that no harbor clerk would ever question, producing two sets of false port papers.+2 forged papers
The Sealed Bindery
Sail to The Bookbinder Under the Terrace (2–4 passages away)3 Take the clerk and the stolen tax register to the bookbinder under the ninth terrace.
The bookbinder's shop clings to the underside of the ninth terrace, its door sealed shut with three-day-old Excise wax. The bookbinder has already been arrested.
An Excise patrol cutter idles at the terrace edge nearby. Neve Arlen clutches the register tightly. "We either burn the book in your galley stove or break into the bindery and alter it ourselves."
An Excise patrol cutter idles at the terrace edge nearby. Neve Arlen clutches the register tightly. "We either burn the book in your galley stove or break into the bindery and alter it ourselves."
- Burn the tax register in your ship's galley stove.She carries the heavy register down to your galley herself, waiting by the stove door.+1 heat
- [Quartermaster] Have crewmate lift the wax seal intact so you can use the bindery unseen.Crew: Quartermastercrewmate carefully peels the Excise wax seal off with a heated blade so it can be pressed back in place once you're inside. The patrol cutter sees only a sealed door—and inside, you find twenty silver left in the bookbinder's cash box.+20 silver
- Attack the Excise patrol cutter to clear the way to the bindery.The patrol cutter was waiting for accomplices to show up at the bindery. She opens her gun ports as you close in!+1 heatBattle: Excise cutter · Close rangeIf you win:+20 silver
- Turn Neve Arlen and the stolen register over to the Excise cutter for the bounty.The Excise inspector takes the stolen register, pays you the standing reward, and locks Neve Arlen in irons before you even leave his deck.+45 silver+1 The Crown standing−2 heatThe questline ends here.
- Leave it for now.You pull back from the terrace for now while the patrol cutter holds station.
The Galley Stove
Right away4The heavy parchment register burns slowly, forcing you to feed the pages into the galley stove a few at a time while your crew gather quietly at the door.
Neve Arlen silently reads each family's name before feeding the page into the flames.
Neve Arlen silently reads each family's name before feeding the page into the flames.
- Burn the entire register and recruit Neve Arlen into your crew.It takes an hour to reduce all four hundred tax records to ash. With no job left to return to, Neve Arlen signs onto your crew as a quartermaster and brings along her pouch of blank port papers.New crewmate: Quartermaster+2 forged papers+1 The Undertow standing+1 heatThe questline ends here.
- Have her copy the family names into a pocketbook so she can tell them their debts are gone.She copies the four hundred names without the tax sums, then burns the register. At the next dock, she goes ashore to tell the families they are debt-free, leaving you her pouch of forged port papers.+3 forged papers+1 The Free Captains standing+1 The Undertow standing+1 heatThe questline ends here.
- [Lowborn] Let crewmate burn the pages listing their own neighborhood first.Crew: Lowborncrewmate feeds the neighborhood's tax page into the fire, then helps burn the rest of the book page by page. Neve Arlen joins your crew with her blank port papers, and crewmate's spirits lift enormously.New crewmate: Quartermaster+2 forged papersHeal 30 HP+1 The Undertow standing+1 heatThe questline ends here.
Inside the Bindery
Right away5The bindery is equipped with a book press, a sewing frame, and a wall of official stamps. Neve Arlen lays the tax register open under the lamp.
"We can cut out the pages and sew in blanks, or scrape off the numbers and rewrite the tax sums at half value," she says. "I can handle the forgery, but I need your crew's help with the binding."
"We can cut out the pages and sew in blanks, or scrape off the numbers and rewrite the tax sums at half value," she says. "I can handle the forgery, but I need your crew's help with the binding."
- Have your crew sew blank pages into the register and take the forger's kit.Your crew stitch blank pages into the binding as best they can. The altered register will buy the families time before clerks notice the rough stitching, and Neve leaves you the bookbinder's forger's kit and blank port papers before slipping away.The questline ends here.
- [Quartermaster] Have crewmate help her rewrite every tax sum to half value until dawn.Crew: Quartermastercrewmate and Neve work until dawn, seamlessly halving every family's tax levy so no auditor will ever spot the change. Before departing, she gives you the bookbinder's forger's kit and forged papers.The questline ends here.
- Finish altering the book and invite Neve Arlen to join your crew.Once the blank pages are stitched in, the cook brings a hot plate of food to the bindery door. Grateful for the kindness aboard your ship, Neve signs on as a quartermaster and brings the bookbinder's forger's kit with her.The questline ends here.
- Take the bookbinder's forger's kit for yourself and leave the register to her.She nods without looking up from her work. You pack up the official stamps, wax, and press tools, leaving her to finish altering the register on her own.Fitting: Forger's Kit+1 The Undertow standingThe questline ends here.
Data from Magehold Fairwinds v1.9.26. Spotted something out of date? Discord