The Hidden Seed Corn
From a chance meeting
Possible rewards: Crown Pennant Captain's Long Table
6 scenes. Choices with a requirement only appear when you meet it.
A Low-Riding Grain Barge
Right away1A village grain barge hails you from beneath a cloud bank, riding far heavier than her cargo tally claims. Her captain—a farmer wearing a rope belt—calls across the gap: "The lord's reeve comes to collect the harvest tithe tomorrow, and this year he means to seize our spring seed corn too! We've hidden the seed sacks under our deck planks. Smuggle them to the mill at the next hold for us, or our village starves come spring."
- Load the hidden seed corn aboard and smuggle it to the mill.The villagers pass the heavy sacks over your rail hand to hand while their children keep count.New job: Hidden seed corn
- [Lowborn] Load the seed corn and show the villagers how to rig a false floor.Crew: Lowborncrewmate shows the barge captain how to brace a hollow cargo floor so it sounds solid when tapped by an inspector. Grateful, the villagers send three crates of smoked ham aboard along with the seed sacks.+3 provisionsNew job: Hidden seed corn
- Betray the villagers and report their hidden seed corn to the lord's reeve.You signal the reeve's nearby patrol sloop. He pays you a twenty-silver informer's fee and thanks you loudly enough for everyone on the village barge to hear.+20 silver
- Set course and fly on.You fly on, leaving the overloaded barge to slip back into the cloud bank.The questline ends here.
The Tax Clerk at the Mill
At the delivery port2 Deliver the villagers' hidden seed corn to the hold mill.
When you reach the mill, a nasty surprise is waiting: the reeve's tax clerk has arrived a day early and sits on the loading steps with his ledger open, inspecting every sack brought inside. The miller catches your eye over the clerk's shoulder in silent warning. Your seed sacks are unmarked, and the clerk is watching the main door like a hawk.
- Wait until nightfall and sneak the sacks in through the back waterwheel chute.
- Hide the sacks beneath a false floor in the mill using the barge smuggling trick.The tax clerk walks across the mill floor twice, tapping the planks with his staff. Satisfied by the solid sound, he certifies the mill clear and rides off—and the relieved miller gives you the twenty-five silver he had set aside for a bribe.+25 silver
- [Cook] Have crewmate distract the tax clerk with a lavish two-course supper.Crew: Ship's Cookcrewmate cooks the clerk the finest two-course supper he has eaten all year. Too stuffed and sleepy to inspect a single sack, he leaves a ten-silver tip under his plate while the seed corn is stowed safely below.−2 provisions+10 silver
- Bluff your way past him in broad daylight, claiming the sacks hold millstone grit.He waves the first sack past, then drives his iron probe into the second—spilling golden seed corn across the steps.
The Barge Makes a Run for It
Right away3 Decide whether to chase down the fleeing village grain barge for the reeve.
Within the hour, the reeve's sloop grapples the village barge and pries up her deck planks. In front of the village children, the reeve confiscates sack after sack of seed corn—until the barge captain suddenly chops the grappling lines with an axe and flees toward the cloud bank with the last third of the seed still aboard! "Captain," the reeve calls across to you, "your ship is faster than mine. Cut him off!"
- Run down the fleeing village barge and cut across her bow.Your ship easily overtakes the heavy grain barge before she can reach the clouds. The farmer at her helm stares at you with bitter hatred as the reeve's men board her again and pay you an extra twenty silver.+20 silver
- Fumble your sails on purpose so the village barge escapes into the clouds.You pretend to struggle with a fouled line, allowing the barge to vanish into the cloud bank with a third of the village's spring seed. The reeve says nothing, though he notes your poor performance.
- [Helm 2] Pursue the barge into the cloud bank and intentionally lose her there.Crew: Helm 2+crewmate charges into the thick cloud bank after the barge and emerges on the far side alone, putting on an apologetic face that the reeve cannot fault—while the grateful villagers escape with the rest of their seed.+1 Helm skill XP+1 The Free Captains standing
The Village's Gratitude
Right away4With the seed corn safely hidden beneath the mill floor, the miller shakes your hand. "The villagers have no silver left to pay you, but they sent word of what they can offer." Outside by your boarding ramp stand a village carpenter with his tool kit, a nimble young roofer's apprentice eager to go to sea, and a farmwife carrying smoked hams.
- Have the village carpenter build a proper mess table in your galley.He builds a sturdy ash-wood mess table and benches in your hull, expanding your crew quarters with room for two additional hands.Relic: Captain's Long TableThe questline ends here.
- Hire the roofer's apprentice as a rigger, along with the farmwife's hams.Though he has never flown before, the boy scrambles up your shrouds as fearlessly as a steep slate roof, and the farmwife loads four crates of smoked ham into your stores.New crewmate: Rigger+4 provisionsThe questline ends here.
- Take the smoked hams, mill flour, and a collection purse from the miller.Your crew loads eight crates of flour, ham, and cheese into the hold, and the miller adds sixty silver from his own safe.+8 provisions+60 silverThe questline ends here.
The Clerk's Bribe
Right away5The tax clerk rolls a handful of golden seed corn in his palm, in no hurry at all. "Under the reeve's law, undeclared seed is forfeit and the ship that carried it is fined. My own rule is simpler: I record whatever I'm paid to record." Behind him, the desperate miller is gripping a heavy iron sack hook and eyeing the clerk's back.
- Pay the clerk a 30-silver bribe to look the other way.Costs 30 silverHe counts your thirty silver far more carefully than he ever counted grain sacks, marks the mill clean, and rides away.
- Refuse to bribe him and let him report your ship to the reeve.He records your ship's name in his warrant book and rides off to fetch the reeve. Even so, the miller hides every sack beneath the mill floor before the guards arrive, leaving the reeve with nothing but a grudge against your ship.+2 heat
- [Marine] Have crewmate intimidate the clerk into shutting his book and leaving.Crew: Marinecrewmate sits down right beside the clerk and quietly reminds him how far he is from the reeve's guards. Taking the hint, the clerk snaps his book shut and rides off, and the grateful miller pays crewmate the twenty-five silver he had saved for a bribe.+25 silver
The Informer's Payout
Right away6Aboard his command deck, the reeve opens his tithe chest to settle your account. "The keep rewards ships that enforce its law—even if no village in this valley will ever sell you a loaf of bread again. You can take your payout in coin, or accept a lord's scout pennant that waves you past Crown customs patrols."
- Take the silver.He counts out fifty silver in worn tithe coins from the village collection box.+50 silverThe questline ends here.
- Take the Crown scout pennant for your mast.You hoist the Crown pennant bearing the lord's tail-flag; customs inspectors see it from a mile off and wave your ship through without a search.Fitting: Crown Pennant+1 The Crown standingThe questline ends here.
- Demand the final third of the seed corn you ran down as your bonus.Knowing he wouldn't have caught the fleeing barge without you, the reeve hands over ten crates of seized grain for your ship's stores along with forty silver.+10 provisions+40 silverThe questline ends here.
Data from Magehold Fairwinds v1.9.26. Spotted something out of date? Discord