The Yard Behind the Fog

UncommonThe Low LanesAct I

From a tavern tip

A tip bought in a tavern for 18 silver.

“A bargeman swears there is a hidden ship-breaker's yard concealed inside the permanent fog bank at Eel Bend—a fog that hasn't lifted in nine years.”

Possible rewards: Heartwood Keel Beam Fog Kettle

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

The Fog That Stays

Sail to The Fog at Eel Bend (2–4 passages away)1

Locate the hidden ship-breaker's yard inside the fog bank at Eel Bend.

A dense gray fog bank sits motionless over the river bend like a pot lid while the surrounding sky is completely clear. The mist smells faintly of boiling copper, and from deep inside comes the steady thud of a wooden mallet.

Creep blindly into the fog testing the way with a weighted line.
[Air mage] Part the fog bank with a wind channel.
Crew: Air caster · Mage
crewmate parts the thick mist like a curtain for a hundred yards, revealing a wooden jetty and an annoyed old woman holding a heavy mallet.
−12 mana (the crewmate who acted)
→ The Woman with the Mallet
[Lookout 2] Use acoustic horns at the Lookout to steer straight toward the mallet's sound.
Lookout level 2+
Tracking the echo of the mallet through an ear-horn, your lookout guides the helm smoothly alongside the hidden jetty without a scratch.
→ The Woman with the Mallet
Leave it for now.
You steer clear of the mist for now. That fog has sat on the bend for nine years; it will be here tomorrow.

The Woman with the Mallet

Right away2

The hammering stops. An old ship-breaker stands at the end of the jetty with a mallet over her shoulder while a boy aims a loaded swivel gun at your helm. "Nine years my yard has stayed hidden in this bend," she snaps. "Now you barge in, and a Collector's enforcement cutter is nosing along the edge of my fog a mile behind you! I don't care if you led her here—I care how you help me get rid of her."

Fly back out and lure the Collector's cutter away downriver.
[Helm 2] Lure the heavy cutter onto a shallow mudbar.
Crew: Helm 2+
crewmate skims your hull over a submerged mudbar with inches to spare; the heavier enforcement cutter charges right into the mud and runs hard aground.
+1 Helm skill XP
→ Nan Tully's Yard
Help her stoke her fog-making boiler to hide the yard.
She lowers her mallet and nods toward a massive steaming cauldron. "Start hauling river water, then!" The boy uncocks his swivel gun.
→ The Fog Kettle
Refuse to get involved with the cutter and ask to see her salvage wares.
She glares at you, then sends the boy to stoke a massive boiler at the end of the pier until the fog thickens on its own. "Make it quick, then."
→ Nan Tully's Yard
Betray her: hang a signal lamp on your mast to guide the Collector's cutter in.
You hoist a bright signal lantern above the mist. The old woman stares up at your mast in cold fury, then shouts for her crew to scatter.
→ The Collector's Lieutenant

Nan Tully's Yard

Right away3

Inspect the salvage in Nan Tully's breaker's yard.

Row after row of half-dismantled ships rest on the mudflats, hidden by the barrel-sized copper fog kettle steaming on the pier. Ship-breaker Nan Tully wipes her hands on her apron. "Every hull here was hiding from the Collector's debt sweeps. Since you know my location now, let's do business: I have a seasoned heartwood keel-frame salvaged from an old Guild flagship, and a ship-sized fog kettle."

Buy the heartwood hull frame for 35 silver.
Costs 35 silver
Her shipwrights bolt the massive heartwood timber along your keel in a single day, permanently reinforcing your hull.
Relic: Heartwood Keel Beam
The questline ends here.
Have your crew work a hard day breaking hulls to earn the heartwood frame for free.
A grueling day of swinging sledges and iron wedges leaves one crewhand bruised and limping, but by sundown the heartwood keel-frame is bolted into your ship.
20 damage to a random crewmateRelic: Heartwood Keel Beam
The questline ends here.
Buy the portable fog kettle device for 20 silver.
Costs 20 silver
She shows you how to boil water and crystal dust in the copper kettle to cloak your ship in dense fog during combat.
Device: Fog Kettle
The questline ends here.
[Repair 2] Have crewmate re-tin the inside of her giant fog boiler in trade for both items.
Crew: Repair 2+
crewmate climbs inside her giant kettle and spends half a day re-tinning its leaky seams. Delighted with the repair, Nan gives you both the heartwood hull frame and the portable fog kettle!
Relic: Heartwood Keel BeamDevice: Fog Kettle
The questline ends here.
Claim your reward for driving off the Collector's cutter.
"The heartwood flagship frame is yours, free of charge," Nan says before you even finish asking. Her crew bolts the massive timber along your keel in a single day.
Relic: Heartwood Keel Beam+1 The Undertow standing
The questline ends here.

The Fog Kettle

Right away4

At the end of the pier sits a barrel-sized copper kettle boiling river water mixed with pulverized sky-crystal, belching clouds of wool-thick fog out of its spout. "Haul more water!" the old woman barks. "And I'm down to crystal dust if you can spare two shards!" Out in the mist, the cutter's bell rings slowly as she searches for the riverbank.

Feed 2 crystal into the kettle to blanket the river in fog.
Costs 2 crystal
The copper spout roars, rolling a solid wall of fog across the river until the cutter gives up and turns away. Grateful, the old woman pays you back with six salvaged bolts.
+6 bolts
→ Nan Tully's Yard
[Water mage] Have crewmate lift a continuous stream of river water into the kettle.
Crew: Water caster · Mage
crewmate channels a steady ribbon of river water straight into the boiling kettle, doubling the fog bank until the cutter retreats. Amazed, the old woman hands you a sack of six heavy bolts.
−12 mana (the crewmate who acted)+6 bolts
→ Nan Tully's Yard
Have your crew haul water buckets up the ladder until the cutter gives up.
After two grueling hours of hauling water buckets up the pier ladder, the cutter finally gives up and sails downriver—leaving one of your crew with a strained shoulder.
15 damage to a random crewmate
→ Nan Tully's Yard

The Collector's Lieutenant

Right away5

Guided by your masthead lamp, the enforcement cutter storms the pier. Her lieutenant walks down the mudflats, logging row after row of half-dismantled ships. "Nine years of indebted vessels the Collector wrote off as sunk—and every single hull was hiding right here." While old Nan Tully sits silently on her copper kettle under guard, the lieutenant turns to you. "Do you want the seventy-silver finder's reward, captain, or should I wipe your ship's enforcement record clean?"

Take the 70-silver finder's reward.
She pays you seventy silver from the cutter's strongbox while her debt enforcers chalk seizure numbers onto the salvaged hulls.
+70 silver+1 The Crown standing
The questline ends here.
Have her wipe your ship's enforcement record clean.
She signs an official clearance order striking your ship's infractions from the Collector's books.
−3 heat+2 The Crown standing
The questline ends here.

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