A New Fence for Fisk

Quest · Chapter 1 · Old Camp

Start with: Fisk.

Route

  • Mordrag was Fisk's number-one supplier, so forcing him out leaves Fisk looking for a replacement. Fisk warns that he will vote against you joining the Old Camp unless you repair the damage.
  • Ask around the New Camp. Cipher refuses to become Fisk's fence and directs you to Sharky, whose morals he considers loose enough for the work.
  • Sharky agrees to make nuggets on the side and says he will get in touch with Fisk. Return to Fisk and report the new contact.

Quest Parts

  • A New Fence for Fisk: Fisk identifies Sharky as the person you need to track down.
  • I'm supposed to find a new fence for Fisk.:
  • I can tell Fisk that I've found him a new fence.:

Failure and outcome

The arrangement fails if Fisk or Sharky dies before the hand-in. If both survive, Fisk accepts Sharky as a replacement and promises not to undermine your standing with Diego.

The fallout from Mordrag

This job begins as the economic aftershock of removing Mordrag from the Old Camp. The camp's gatekeeper wanted Mordrag gone because he was stealing from the ore barons and selling the stolen goods back to their own men. The matter was already politically delicate: Mordrag also carried messages between the Old Camp's Fire Mages and the New Camp's Water Mages, so the mages protected him from a straightforward punishment. The Hero was brought in to handle a problem the Old Camp could not solve openly.

Mordrag's departure leaves a gap in Fisk's business. Fisk is not merely annoyed that a familiar face has disappeared; he has lost his most important source of goods. He blames the Hero for the disruption and makes the threat personal, warning that he will oppose the Hero's attempt to join the Old Camp. At the same time, his demand reveals how the camp's power works: a newcomer can earn a place through the opinions of people whose influence is built on trade, favors, and useful connections.

A deal across the camp divide

Fisk sends the Hero to the New Camp because the replacement has to come from the same network Mordrag used. The trip is more than a search for a willing merchant. Mordrag has described the New Camp as a refuge from the ore barons, with its own mine and its own hope of escape, yet its rogues still deal in the goods and opportunities created by the Old Camp's economy. The camps may be rivals, but their markets are not sealed off from one another.

Cipher is the first person the Hero approaches. He refuses to take Fisk's business, then points toward Sharky. The recommendation is hardly a character endorsement: Sharky's reputation is built on loose morals and practical self-interest. That is precisely why he is useful. Sharky is a New Camp rogue who deals in trade and supplies, and when the Hero presents the arrangement as a chance to make extra nuggets, Sharky agrees to contact Fisk. The new partnership is therefore not a reconciliation between the camps; it is a tolerated side business held together by profit.

Fisk's verdict

When the Hero returns with the answer, Fisk is surprised that he followed through. He accepts Sharky even while judging him to be worse than Mordrag, which says something about the standards of the Old Camp's marketplace as well as Sharky's reputation. Fisk does not need to like the replacement. He needs someone who can keep goods moving, and the Hero has repaired the immediate damage well enough for business to continue.

That acceptance also repairs the Hero's standing. Fisk promises not to interfere when Diego weighs the Hero's reputation, turning a hostile witness into a neutral—or even useful—one. The task is one of the small but consequential jobs that make up the Old Camp's initiation: Diego listens to what influential figures say about the newcomer before allowing him to approach the camp's leader.

Why the job matters

A New Fence for Fisk looks like a simple introduction, but its implications reach beyond a single transaction. The Hero is forced to deal with the consequences of choosing the Old Camp's solution to Mordrag, then cross into the rival camp to repair the damage. In the process, the story shows that the Colony's faction lines are strongest in public and weakest in private commerce. Ore, stolen goods, favors, and information continue to move wherever people can profit from them.

The replacement is also a test of the Hero's usefulness. Fisk's support is not earned through loyalty or ideology; it is earned by solving a problem that affects his livelihood. If the arrangement is completed, the Hero has demonstrated that he can turn an awkward political consequence into a workable deal. That is why the job helps keep the path to the Old Camp open, even though neither Fisk nor Sharky needs to trust him completely.

Related entries