The Bonded Warden

Anywhere in the sky

RareThe MarchholdsAct IIAct III

From a job

Cargo: A runaway Warden (smuggled)

“She slips aboard after dark with a single bag and asks that her name be left off your passenger manifest.”

Possible rewards: Singing Shuttle

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

The Ambush on the Dock

At the delivery port1

Deliver the runaway Warden to her contact at the destination port.

Throughout the voyage, your passenger Ilse Thorn quietly mended and tuned your ward thread without being asked. At the destination dock, the contact waiting for her gives the right password—but wears the heavy boots of a noble house guard. Ilse spots them instantly. "My lord claims I still owe him nine years of indentured service," she whispers. "That man is his debt enforcer. My 'rescue' was a trap."

Honor the delivery contract and hand Ilse over to the debt enforcer.
The debt enforcer pays your carriage fee plus a generous bounty totaling seventy silver. Ilse refuses to look at you as he leads her away in irons.
+70 silver
The questline ends here.
Refuse to hand her over and cast off with Ilse still aboard.
The debt enforcer shouts for the port guard, but your ship is already clear of the dock. Ilse lets out a long breath. "My masterwork loom frame is hidden in a tenants' mill across the border. Get me there, and I will weave lord-grade wards for your ship."
+2 heat
→ Nine Stolen Years
[Marine] Have crewmate restrain the debt enforcer on the dock while you cast off cleanly.
Crew: Marine
crewmate clamps a friendly arm around the debt enforcer's shoulders and walks him back up the pier. By the time he breaks free, your ship is a mile out without a single alarm bell rung, and Ilse gives you the heading to the border mill where her loom frame is hidden.
→ Nine Stolen Years
[Forged papers] Present a forged release deed proving her indenture was already bought out.
1 forged papers
The enforcer inspects the forged release twice; he cannot challenge it in a Guild port without admitting he is kidnapping her illegally. Once he leaves, Ilse gives you the heading to the border mill where her loom frame is hidden.
−1 forged papers
→ Nine Stolen Years

Nine Stolen Years

Right away2

Ilse Thorn sits beside your Ward Loom with her travel bag between her feet. "When a lord pays for a Warden's training, the Warden repays it in years of service. My lord paid for four years of schooling, then altered the contract to read thirteen. I already served my four." She shows you her certified copy of the original four-year tuition receipt—then eyes your Ward Loom with a master craftswoman's critical gaze.

Let Ilse tune your Ward Loom on the flight to the border mill.
She strips and reassembles your loom frame before the watch changes. The ward thread runs so smoothly that you recover four crystals in saved power.
+4 crystal
→ The Bounty Cutter
[Warden] Have crewmate assist her at the Ward Loom to learn her techniques.
Crew: Warden
Working side by side through the night, crewmate learns to weave a far tighter ward pattern while Ilse tunes your loom frame.
+1 Wards skill XP
→ The Bounty Cutter
Alter course to a Guild port first and bring her tuition receipt to a Guild assessor.
She folds the receipt carefully. "For four years I've carried this proof, unable to reach a court my lord couldn't bribe." You set course for the Guild assessor's office at the nearest port.
→ The Guild Assessor

The Bounty Cutter

Right away3

Deal with the bounty cutter pursuing Ilse Thorn.

The debt enforcer had a backup plan. At dawn, a fast bounty cutter closes on your stern flying a fugitive-warrant flag. Her captain hails you: "I have no quarrel with your ship, Captain. Put the runaway Warden in a boat, and I'll let you fly on in peace." Below deck, Ilse is already manning your Ward Loom for battle.

Refuse and fight the bounty cutter.
Below deck, Ilse weaves defensive wards for your ship as fiercely as if it were her own.
Battle: Bounty huntersIf you win:+30 silver
→ The Tenants' Mill
Lower a decoy boat into the dawn mist with a dressed dummy aboard.
Call out to the cutter captain and read out the proof that Ilse's lord falsified her contract.

The Guild Assessor

At a port4

Bring Ilse Thorn's contract proof to the Guild assessor at the marked port.

The Guild assessor—a sharp-eyed lupine official—compares Ilse's original four-year tuition receipt against the thirteen-year indenture filed by her lord. "Clear contract fraud: four years paid, thirteen recorded. I can void the indenture immediately if you pay the standard sixty-silver cancellation fee, or I can summon her lord to answer the charge, which costs nothing but gives him warning."

Pay the 60-silver filing fee to void her indenture immediately.
Costs 60 silver
The assessor voids the remaining nine years of debt and stamps the official release seal. Ilse stares at the canceled contract in disbelief—she is finally free.
→ A Free Woman
[Quartermaster] Have crewmate cite Guild law requiring the fraudulent lord to pay the fee.
Crew: Quartermaster
crewmate cites the exact statute: when an indenture is voided for fraud, all filing fees fall on the offending lord. The assessor nearly smiles, bills the lord's account, and stamps Ilse's release free of charge.
+1 The Guild standing
→ A Free Woman
Have the assessor send a formal summons to her lord instead of paying the fee.
The lord's reply arrives by fast courier: instead of answering the court, he has dispatched his household frigate to the border mill to seize Ilse's hidden loom frame. "A Warden without her loom frame can be tied up in court for a year," the assessor warns. "Beat his frigate to that mill!"
→ The Tenants' Mill

The Tenants' Mill

Sail to The Tenants' Mill in the next region5

Fly Ilse Thorn to the tenants' mill in the next region where her loom frame is hidden.

The old grain mill stands on a windswept cliff shelf, its sails turning briskly. You find Ilse's masterwork loom frame wrapped in burlap beneath the mill floor—just as a heavy household frigate rises from behind the cliff! Her lord's enforcer guessed where she was heading and laid an ambush.

Attack and fight off the household frigate.
Ilse sprints for your Ward Loom clutching her recovered frame as your gunners engage the frigate.
Battle: Household ship · Close range
→ A Lord's Ward Weave
[Helm 2] Dodge away right between the turning windmill sails.
Crew: Helm 2+
crewmate threads the ship straight between the spinning windmill blades with inches to spare, scraping some hull paint but leaving the heavy frigate unable to follow.
−2 hull
→ A Lord's Ward Weave
Have Ilse project a ward shield over the mill while your crew loads her frame.
Having already tuned your Ward Loom, Ilse projects a triple-layered barrier over the entire mill cliff while your crew hauls her frame aboard. Unwilling to bombard his own lord's mill through a master Warden's shield, the frigate captain fires a single warning shot that splinters a spar before you break clear.
−1 hull
→ A Lord's Ward Weave
Betray Ilse and surrender her and the frame to the frigate for the bounty.
The frigate captain pays you a ninety-silver bounty, clears your warrant, and hauls both Ilse and her loom frame aboard in irons.
+90 silver−2 heat
The questline ends here.
Stand off for now.
You pull back out of cannon range while the windmill sails keep turning.

A Free Woman

Right away6

Ilse Thorn stands on the Guildhouse steps holding her stamped release papers, free at last. "Nine stolen years, wiped away in a morning. My old lord will seize my hidden frame out of spite, so I'll have to build another." She looks from your ship to the Guild ward-loom tower across the square, where a hiring notice hangs on the door.

Sign her on.
She signs her name into your crew roster as a free woman and takes her post at your Ward Loom.
New crewmate: Ilse Thorn, Mage−1 heat
The questline ends here.
Let her take the job at the Guild loom tower ashore.
She secures a master weaver's post at the Guild tower within the week and sends you her first month's wages—ninety silver—by courier, along with the Guild's lasting favor.
+90 silver+2 The Guild standing
The questline ends here.
[Mage] Ask her to teach crewmate household ward-weaving techniques before she leaves.
Crew: Mage
Over two days of intensive instruction on your deck, crewmate masters a guarded household spell that noble Wardens never teach outsiders.
Learns a new spell+1 The Guild standing
The questline ends here.

A Lord's Ward Weave

Right away7

Let Ilse Thorn upgrade your Ward Loom to settle her debt.

Ilse bolts her masterwork frame beside your Ward Loom and works for two days straight without sleep. When she finishes, your ship's wards snap shut faster and hold a full tier stronger. Wiping her hands, she says, "That pays my debt to your ship. Now I have nine free years ahead of me—either in a quiet port ashore, or serving aboard as your Warden."

Sign her on.
She signs her name into your crew roster as a free woman and takes her post at your Ward Loom.
Upgrade: Ward LoomNew crewmate: Ilse Thorn, Mage
The questline ends here.
Drop her off at a safe port and offer her a parting purse.
She refuses your coin, leaving her set of spare loom shuttles mounted in your upgraded Ward Loom so your wards weave even faster.
Upgrade: Ward LoomRelic: Singing Shuttle
The questline ends here.
[Mage] Ask her to teach crewmate household ward-weaving techniques before she leaves.
Crew: Mage
Over two days of intensive instruction on your deck, crewmate masters a guarded household spell that noble Wardens never teach outsiders.
Upgrade: Ward LoomLearns a new spell
The questline ends here.

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