The Fog That Stays
From a chance meeting
Possible rewards: Fog Kettle
6 scenes. Choices with a requirement only appear when you meet it.
Fog Against the Wind
Right away1A thick bank of fog clings stubbornly to the sea cliff despite a stiff coastal wind that should have blown it clear hours ago. Outside the mist, an armed mine-guard cutter is patrolling back and forth. Her lieutenant hails your ship: "Forty striking miners walked off the Farrowdeep shafts this morning—have you seen where they went?"
- Tell her you haven't seen them, wait for her cutter to leave, and slip into the fog.The guard cutter continues patrolling down the coast. Once she's out of sight, you steer into the cliffside fog—where the air is warm and smells of brewing tea.
- Attack the mine-guard cutter and drive her off before entering the fog.You swing your bow around at the edge of the mist and open fire on the company cutter!+2 heatBattle: Excise cutter · Fog, no escapeIf you win:+1 The Undertow standing+15 silver
- Betray the strikers: point the lieutenant toward the unnatural fog bank.The cutter lights her search-lamps and noses toward the mist. "Stand by, captain," the lieutenant calls back. "I may pay you to help flush them out."
- Set course and fly on.You steer clear of the company patrol and leave the miners' strike behind.The questline ends here.
Sentries in the Mist
Right away2Inside the unnatural fog bank, visibility drops to zero. Nearby, a child coughs in the damp air, and a calm voice calls out from the rock face: "Hold your position right there, captain—whose side are you on?" A shuttered lantern opens, revealing four striking miners standing on a cliff ledge with heavy pick-handles raised.
- Tell them you sent the company guard cutter the wrong way down the coast.One of the sentries chuckles. "We heard her engines fade out!" They lower their pick-handles and wave you in alongside the ledge.
- Tell them you just fought off the company guard cutter for them (+5 crystal).Having heard your cannon fire through the mist, the miners erupt in cheers and pass a sack of five cut sky-crystals down to your deck as you moor beside the ledge!+5 crystal
- Pass 2 crates of provisions across to feed their families on the ledge.Four miners hoist the food crates up to the families on the ledge and warmly invite you into their camp.−2 provisions+1 The Undertow standing
- [Surgeon] Send crewmate onto the ledge to treat the coughing child (+3 crystal).Crew: Surgeoncrewmate climbs straight onto the ledge to treat the child's mine-dust cough with steam from the boiler. Grateful, the child's father presses three sky-crystals into your hand.+3 crystal+1 The Undertow standing
Blinded in the Mist
Right away3The mine-guard cutter noses into the fog bank with a leadsman taking soundings, then backs out ten minutes later in frustration. "I can't see my own bowsprit in that soup," the lieutenant admits. "Guide my cutter in to their ledge for thirty-five silver, or hold position seaward to block them if they try to escape."
- Guide the guard cutter straight to the miners' ledge for 35 silver.Following the scent of coal smoke and tea, you lead the armed cutter straight to the hidden ledge. The lieutenant pays you thirty-five silver upfront and tells you to meet her at the guard dock for the head-bounty.+35 silver+1 The Guild standing−1 The Undertow standing
- Wait outside the fog to seaward for 15 silver while the cutter searches alone.You hold station outside the mist all afternoon until the lieutenant eventually locates the ledge on her own and pays you fifteen silver, inviting you to collect your bounty share at the guard dock.+15 silver
- Trick the lieutenant: lure her cutter onto a shallow gull-ledge so she runs aground!You lead the company cutter onto a submerged rock shelf where she grinds hard aground! While her crew curses and tries to kedge off the reef, you slip deep into the fog to warn the miners.+1 heat+1 The Undertow standing
The Kettle on the Ledge
Right away4 Decide how to help the forty striking miners on the fog-shrouded ledge.
On the narrow cliff ledge inside the mist, forty striking miners and their families huddle around a barrel-sized brass boiler. A gnome artificer is feeding it seawater and pinches of sky-crystal to pump thick cloud cover out of its spout. "This artificial fog hides us from company gunboats as long as my crystal lasts," she tells you. "And I only have enough dust left until supper."
- Give them 4 crystal to keep their fog cover running until the company concedes—earning a ship-sized Fog Kettle.Costs 4 crystalYour four sky-crystals keep the ledge hidden in dense fog for three more days until the mining company caves in and meets the strikers' demands! In thanks, the gnome gives you a ship-sized Fog Kettle from her pack.Device: Fog Kettle+1 The Undertow standingThe questline ends here.
- Evacuate the striking miners aboard your ship (-3 provisions) and take the ship-sized Fog Kettle.You pack all forty miners onto your deck—sharing three crates of provisions with them—and the gnome gifts you her compact Fog Kettle as you set course to land them at a friendly cliff town.
- [Gnome] Have crewmate modify her boiler to burn a third as much crystal, earning a Fog Kettle and a bonus device.Crew: Gnomecrewmate and the artificer redesign the boiler's intake baffle so their remaining crystal lasts three times as long! Thrilled, she gives crewmate both her spare ship-sized Fog Kettle and another device from her pack.The questline ends here.
- Wish the strikers luck and slip back out of the fog.They nod quietly as your ship pulls out of the mist.The questline ends here.
Forty Prisoners
At a port5 Dock at the company guard port to collect your share of the head-bounty.
At the company guard dock, the forty striking miners sit roped wrist-to-wrist on the stones beside their confiscated brass fog-boiler. Pleased with the capture, the lieutenant turns to you: "The mining company pays a head-bounty for captured strikers, captain. Do you want your forty-five silver share in coin, or would you rather take their portable fog kettle?"
- Take the silver.She counts out forty-five silver in head-money while the bound miners glare at your ship.+45 silver+1 The Guild standingThe questline ends here.
- Claim the gnome artificer's ship-sized Fog Kettle instead of the silver.While the giant camp boiler is too heavy to move, the lieutenant hands over a ship-sized brass Fog Kettle from the gnome maker's pack as she watches you in cold silence.Device: Fog Kettle−1 The Undertow standingThe questline ends here.
- [Gnome] Have crewmate claim the arrested gnome kettle-maker as kin to secure her release and a Fog Kettle.Crew: Gnomecrewmate vouches for the gnome artificer as family, persuading the lieutenant to release her into your custody; before slipping ashore at the next port, she builds a custom Fog Kettle for your ship!Device: Fog Kettle+1 The Undertow standingThe questline ends here.
The Cliff Town
At the delivery port6 Land the evacuated miners at the cliff town.
Townspeople smuggle the striking miners up the cliff town's back stairs to shelter them two to a house. Down on the pier, however, a mining company agent is questioning every captain with a clipboard, demanding to know who just landed passengers—while one burly miner lingers at your gangway, hoping to sign onto your crew.
- Lie to the company agent that you only unloaded ballast, and recruit the miner as a marine.The suspicious agent logs your answer while the grateful miner shoulders his pick-handle and signs onto your crew as a steady marine!New crewmate: Human, Marine+1 heatThe questline ends here.
- Refuse to answer the company agent and accept the townspeople's gift of 4 provisions and 35 silver.You stonewall the company agent while the grateful townspeople send down four crates of provisions and thirty-five silver.+4 provisions+35 silver+1 The Undertow standingThe questline ends here.
- Betray the miners: sell the passenger list to the company agent for 70 silver.He pays you seventy silver by the head and sends company guards up the back stairs by nightfall—making your ship's name hated among the working folk of the coast.+70 silver+1 The Guild standing−2 The Undertow standingThe questline ends here.
Data from Magehold Fairwinds v1.9.26. Spotted something out of date? Discord