The Carriers' Long Table

UncommonThe Low LanesAct I

From a tavern tip

A tip bought in a tavern for 15 silver.

“A tavern boy says the independent Carriers' historic mess hall has been seized for debt, and its century-old oak long table is about to be chopped up for firewood.”

Possible rewards: A Wheel of Good Cheese Captain's Long Table

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

The Seized Mess Hall

At a port1

Visit the seized Carriers' mess hall before its long table is sold off.

The old hall is cold, with debt enforcers' chalk numbers scrawled across every piece of furniture. Running the length of the room is a massive oak table scarred by a century of captains' initials. Six retired bargemen sit around its empty surface. "They're auctioning it for firewood tomorrow," one says quietly. "Thirty silver clears the back rent, and we only have four coins between us."

Pay the 30 silver in back rent to save the table legally.
Costs 30 silver
The debt enforcer wipes his chalk mark off the oak with his thumb. The six old bargemen proudly help carry the long table down to your ship.
→ The Secret Drawer
Sneak the long table out of the hall tonight without paying.
[Ursine] Have crewmate hoist one end of the table and march it out in broad daylight.
Crew: Ursine
crewmate effortlessly lifts the heavy front end alone while the six old bargemen carry the back. You march the table down to the pier in broad daylight, and not a single debt enforcer dares step in your way.
→ The Secret Drawer
Leave it for now.
The old bargemen nod quietly; they didn't expect anyone to waste silver on an old table.

The Secret Drawer

Right away2

As your crew sets the heavy oak table down on deck, a concealed drawer slides open underneath and spills its contents across the planks: a century-old mess register, a pouch of silver Carrier tokens, and a signed rent book proving the hall's rent was paid two years in advance to a crooked debt enforcer who pocketed the money!

March the signed rent book straight to the debt enforcers' office.
One of the old bargemen puts on his best coat and accompanies you as a witness.
→ The Enforcers' Office
[Quartermaster] Have crewmate audit the rent book's figures before confronting the enforcers.
Crew: Quartermaster
crewmate tallies the columns twice and discovers the crooked enforcer actually collected double rent for two winters running. crewmate tucks the exact sum into the book.
→ The Enforcers' Office
Keep the 20 silver in tokens and ignore the rent dispute.
Under the tarnish, the old tokens are pure silver. The retired bargemen refuse a share, saying mess money belongs to the captain who keeps the table.
+20 silver
→ Supper at the Long Table

The Enforcers' Office

Right away3

The chief debt enforcer at the desk is the very man who chalked the seizure notice. His face flushes crimson as he reads the signed rent receipts. "One of our own pocketed the Carriers' rent money instead of logging it." He glances nervously at the door. "If you take this to the Guild, three of us will be fired. Let me wipe the hall's debt quietly today, and I'll refund thirty silver from the office strongbox."

Accept his deal: clear the hall's debt quietly and take the 30-silver refund.
Stone-faced, he counts thirty silver out of the office box and rubs the mess hall's seizure number off his slate.
+30 silver
→ Supper at the Long Table
Show your quartermaster's audit and demand the full 60 silver that was embezzled.
Confronted with proof that rent was collected twice over, he pays the extra thirty silver out of his own pocket and erases the seizure order.
+60 silver
→ Supper at the Long Table
Refuse his hush money and report the embezzlement to the Guild.
The Guild clerk reads the receipts and immediately calls the town guard. By afternoon, three debt enforcers are suspended and the mess hall is officially cleared.
+1 The Guild standing
→ The Hall Reopened

Supper at the Long Table

Right away4

Decide what to do with the Carriers' long table on your deck.

The massive oak table stretches from mast to rail across your deck. Refusing to part with it yet, the six old bargemen sit down in their customary places and look up at you hungrily—none of them has eaten a proper hot meal since their hall was seized.

Spend 3 provisions to cook them a hot supper, then mount the table in your mess.
Costs 3 provisions
You serve hot stew and fresh bread by candlelight. Before going ashore, the old men carve your ship's name into the oak; installed below deck, the long table expands your crew quarters by two berths.
Relic: Captain's Long Table
The questline ends here.
[Cook] Have crewmate cook them a proper feast so one of the veterans joins your crew.
Crew: Ship's Cook
crewmate serves a feast that has the old men loosening their belts and singing river shanties. You install the table below deck for two extra berths, and the spryest veteran signs onto your crew.
−3 provisionsRelic: Captain's Long TableNew crewmate: Deckhand
The questline ends here.
Order the old men ashore without supper and install the table below deck.
They walk down the gangway in cold silence. Installed in your quarters, the long table provides two extra berths, though word of your stinginess spreads in port.
Relic: Captain's Long Table−1 The Guild standing
The questline ends here.
Set the long table up on the public pier as an open soup kitchen for river crews.
The old men rig a canvas awning over the table on the pier and serve hot soup to passing crews. The Guild commends your generosity, and one of the veterans joins your crew along with his twenty-silver savings.
+2 The Guild standingNew crewmate: Rigger+20 silver
The questline ends here.
Tell them you cleared their hall's debt so they can reopen.
Once the oldest bargeman sees the cleared slate with his own eyes, they hurry back to relight the hall's hearth—insisting you keep the long oak table aboard your ship to expand your crew berths, along with four crates of provisions from their cellar.
Relic: Captain's Long Table+4 provisions+1 The Guild standing
The questline ends here.

The Hall Reopened

Right away5

The Guild clerk tears the seizure notice off the mess hall door himself. By nightfall, a warm fire is blazing, the long oak table stands back in its rightful place, and the six old bargemen are arguing happily over their favorite seats. The oldest presses a soup ladle into your hand. "You've always got a seat at this table, captain—and the hall owes your ship a proper reward."

Have the hall restock your provisions and give you a wheel of aged ship's cheese.
They pack your lockers from the hall's cellar and carry aboard a prized wheel of aged cheese to keep your crew's spirits high.
Fitting: A Wheel of Good Cheese+6 provisions+1 The Guild standing
The questline ends here.
[Cook] Have crewmate cook a grand reopening feast in the hall's kitchen.
Crew: Ship's Cook
crewmate cooks a legendary stew for forty river crews. In thanks, the hall packs your provisions, gifts you a wheel of aged ship's cheese, and honors crewmate in the Carriers' hall roll.
Fitting: A Wheel of Good Cheese+6 provisions+2 The Guild standingHeal 30 HP
The questline ends here.
Ask if one of the veteran river sailors will join your crew.
The youngest of the retired bargemen—a spry sixty-year-old rigger who knows every river bend by heart—packs his sea bag before you finish asking.
New crewmate: Rigger+1 The Guild standing
The questline ends here.

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