The Rain Drum
From a job
Cargo: Stretched drum hides (fragile)
“These cured hides are meant for a single giant weather drum, and the artisan paid double to get them shipped fast.”
Possible rewards: Rain Drum
5 scenes. Choices with a requirement only appear when you meet it.
The Drum Maker
At the delivery port1 Deliver the stretched drum hides.
The drum maker is an elderly lutrine whose fur is dusted with toxic silver-slag from forty years living downwind of the crystal refineries. She laces the cured hide onto a wooden drum frame as tall as she is. "Every night the refinery vents its exhaust stacks, coating our village in poisonous crystal dust by dawn. A heavy rain washes the dust out of the air, and this drum summons rain—I just need a ship to fly it up into the dust cloud tonight."
- Agree to fly her rain drum up into the dust cloud tonight.She lashes the tall weather drum to your foredeck before you even finish nodding. "Beat it at a slow, steady rhythm—the cloud doesn't like to be rushed."
- Take your delivery pay and leave.She pays your ten-silver freight fee out of a battered tea tin.+10 silverThe questline ends here.
The Refinery Clerk's Bribe
Right away2As you prepare to cast off, a refinery clerk holding a handkerchief over his nose stops at your gangway and points at the tall drum on your foredeck. "The refinery management knows what that weather drum is for, captain. Rain pouring down our exhaust stacks ruins a whole night's crystal run. I'll pay you thirty silver right now to fly that drum anywhere else on the coast." Behind him, half the village has gathered on the pier to hear your answer.
- Pocket his 30-silver bribe and fly up to beat the drum anyway.The clerk counts out thirty silver and walks off satisfied. Once he's out of earshot, the old drum maker chuckles darkly. "Watch yourself up there—he'll alert the refinery's guard cutter the moment he hears thunder."+30 silver
- Refuse his bribe and send him back up the hill.He hurries away clutching his handkerchief. Without a word, grateful village families carry three crates of fresh provisions down to your gangway.+3 provisions+1 The Undertow standing
- [Quartermaster] Have crewmate question the clerk about the refinery's night venting schedule and guard patrols.Crew: QuartermasterPosing routine navigation questions, crewmate gets the clerk to reveal which hours the stacks vent thickest and where the refinery guard cutter patrols.Reveal 2 waypoints
The Night Venting
Sail to The Dust over Lowkettle (1–2 passages away)3 Fly the rain drum into the toxic dust cloud above Lowkettle village and beat it.
A glittering shelf of toxic crystal dust hangs over the sleeping village, lit from below by the fiery glow of the refinery smokestacks. Your crew ties wet cloths over their faces against the grit—while on the far side of the cloud, an armed refinery guard cutter patrols to keep anyone from interfering with the night venting.
- Beat the rain drum inside the cloud.
- [Water mage] Have crewmate amplify the drum's call to unleash a sudden cloudburst.Crew: Water caster · Magecrewmate channels water magic into the drum's rhythm, breaking the entire cloud open at once! The sudden deluge douses the guard cutter's signal lamps and forces her back to port.−12 mana (the crewmate who acted)+1 Casting skill XP
- [Ursine] Hand crewmate the drumsticks to beat a thunderous rhythm.Crew: Ursinecrewmate pounds the tall hide drum like a giant heartbeat, calling down a torrential rainstorm so fast that the guard cutter loses sight of your hull completely.
- Fly directly over the refinery smokestacks and beat the drum straight down the vents.Braving the blistering heat and grit directly above the chimneys, you pound the drum until torrential rain pours straight down the open smokestacks! Below, furnace doors slam shut in panic as the guard cutter races over to confront you.−1 hull
- Leave it for now.You pull back from the dust cloud for now; the refinery will vent again tomorrow night.
Clean Air at Dawn
Right away4 Return to Lowkettle village in the morning.
By morning, the toxic dust has been washed away into harmless gray mud, and village children are playing outside without masks for the first time in months. The old lutrine drum maker looks up at the weather drum lashed to your foredeck, then down at her stiff hands. "I'm too old to fly up into the clouds every week, captain—keep this drum aboard your ship, or leave it on our chapel roof for the next passing crew."
- Keep the Rain Drum for your ship and accept the village's 45-silver collection.She gifts you the Rain Drum—which summons a drenching squall in battle—and the villagers pass a hat holding forty-five silver.Device: Rain Drum+45 silverThe questline ends here.
- [Deluge Tanks] Keep the Rain Drum and let the village coopers upgrade your Deluge Tanks.Room: Deluge TanksThe village coopers line your Deluge Tanks with corrosion-proof slag glass to upgrade their capacity, and she lashes the Rain Drum permanently to your foredeck!Device: Rain DrumUpgrade: Deluge TanksThe questline ends here.
- Leave the drum on the village chapel roof and accept their 70-silver collection.You mount the weather drum atop the village chapel so any friendly ship can use it, and the grateful villagers present you with seventy silver.+70 silver+1 The Undertow standingThe questline ends here.
Flooded Smokestacks
Right away5With the refinery smokestacks drowned and steaming in the dark, the guard cutter pulls alongside your ship with the furious night manager shouting from her rail. Once close enough to see the tall weather drum on your deck, he swallows his rage and pulls out a ledger. "Flooding my stacks costs the company a whole shift's output, captain. Name your price to stop beating that cursed drum."
- Sell him the weather drum for 110 silver.He pays you a hundred and ten silver from the company chest and has his guards haul the drum below deck. By dawn, toxic dust coats the village roofs once more.+110 silver−1 The Undertow standingThe questline ends here.
- Refuse to stop unless the refinery installs slag-cloth dust filters on its smokestacks.Realizing filter hoods are cheaper than flooded furnaces, he signs the work order on the spot. Within the month, the smokestacks are fitted with slag-cloth traps—and the grateful village lets you keep the Rain Drum plus thirty silver!The questline ends here.
- [Guild +1] Threaten to report the refinery's illegal night venting to the Guild district agent.The Guild standing 1+Knowing a Guild-backed captain's report will bring massive fines, he immediately agrees to install dust filters on every stack and pays you eight units of sky-crystal for your silence—plus you keep the Rain Drum!The questline ends here.
Data from Magehold Fairwinds v1.9.26. Spotted something out of date? Discord