The Sallow

River country: reeds, barges and a market under truce. Work comes from the neighbours in Sallowbank (Aske, Tobin, Fenn), from Halfway's Truce Board and stallholders, and from Dorrit on the Barge Landing. Yarn file: Dialogue/Side/sallow.yarn.

Hand over Hand (aske_brace)

• Giver / where: Aske (unaligned, ex-Warden), sallowbank, the ferry landing, Mark_aske_ferry.
• Available from: Act 1. act1.stage >= 2 (the quest shows once the player has reached Halfway; Aske is back at the ferry from act1.stage >= 1).
• Story: Detailed in walkthrough-act-1.md, scene 6.3. Aske isn't surprised to see the protagonist and doesn't say she's glad. She traces Brace with them hand over hand, her thumbs over theirs and her bands turned to the skin, and never casts. In the square Fenn shows off a chalk door-mark that sparked once (fenn.spark). If the player bought Hob's boots that don't leak (item.dry_boots), Aske looks at them and says "Huh", which is the whole of the unused "Aske notices" hook from Act 1.

{
  "id": "aske_brace",
  "title": "Hand over Hand",
  "description": "Aske is back at the ferry. She won't cast, but she might teach.",
  "category": "side",
  "giver": "aske",
  "startWhen": { "flag": "act1.stage", "op": ">=", "value": 2 },
  "stages": [
    { "id": "visit_aske", "text": "Go home to Sallowbank and see Aske at the ferry.",
      "completeWhen": { "flag": "aske.brace", "op": "!=", "value": 0 } },
    { "id": "learn_brace", "text": "Trace Brace with Aske, hand over hand.",
      "completeWhen": { "flag": "spell.learned.brace", "op": "!=", "value": 0 } }
  ]
}

• Rewards: spell brace. No copper. aske.trust +1 if the player is wearing the dry boots.
• Yarn: Act1_Ferry_Aske (ends in <<learn_spell brace>>), and the _Act1 branches of Prologue_Villager_Tobin, _Marra, _Fenn (walkthrough). New: Side_Sallowbank_AskeBoots (the one line).

Sister Orla's Errand (mend_lesson)

• Giver / where: Sister Orla (Evane, Tenders), halfway, her stall on the Pale Row, Mark_orla; then Dorrit at the Barge Landing.
• Available from: Act 1. orla.stage >= 1 (Orla asks once act1.stage >= 2).
• Story: Detailed in walkthrough-act-1.md, scene 3.5. Orla needs three Mend Tonics carried to Dorrit's crew, who were cut by something under the river. Dorrit says something has been rocking barges near the Drowned Steps for two nights, the first rumour of the Wyrm. Back at the stall Orla teaches Mend hand over hand, because the protagonist has "two good hands and a long road". She heals what would heal anyway, and says so.

{
  "id": "mend_lesson",
  "title": "Sister Orla's Errand",
  "description": "A Tender healer at Halfway needs tonics carried to the bargefolk, and has a glyph for a pair of good hands.",
  "category": "side",
  "giver": "orla",
  "startWhen": { "flag": "orla.stage", "op": ">=", "value": 1 },
  "stages": [
    { "id": "carry_tonics", "text": "Take Sister Orla's tonics to Dorrit's crew at the Barge Landing.",
      "completeWhen": { "flag": "orla.stage", "op": ">=", "value": 2 } },
    { "id": "back_to_orla", "text": "Go back to Sister Orla on the Pale Row.",
      "completeWhen": { "flag": "orla.stage", "op": ">=", "value": 3 } },
    { "id": "learn_mend", "text": "Trace Mend with Sister Orla.",
      "completeWhen": { "flag": "spell.learned.mend", "op": "!=", "value": 0 } }
  ]
}

• Rewards: spell mend; rep.evane +5. No copper: the lesson is the pay. The 3 mend_tonic are Orla's, carried and handed over (<<give_item mend_tonic 3>>, <<take_item mend_tonic 3>>).
• Yarn: Act1_Orla_Errand, Act1_Landing_Dorrit_Tonics, Act1_Orla_Lesson (walkthrough).

Still Water (still_water)

• Giver / where: Quill (Facets), halfway, Quill's Cut Glass on the Amber Row, Mark_quill; then Harl on the Pale Row, Mark_harl.
• Available from: Act 1, after the Wyrm. wyrm.defeated != 0.
• Story: Detailed in walkthrough-act-1.md, scene 6.2. The wyrm plate still shows a sky that isn't this one. Quill can cut it but won't set it in silver; Harl can set it but won't cut mirror-glass. Carried between the two Rows, it becomes a Still-Water Locket, and each craftsman pretends not to know the other's work is in it.

{
  "id": "still_water",
  "title": "Still Water",
  "description": "A plate from the Sallow Wyrm still holds a sky that isn't this one. Halfway's craftsmen could make something of it, if they'd work together.",
  "category": "side",
  "giver": "quill",
  "startWhen": { "flag": "wyrm.defeated", "op": "!=", "value": 0 },
  "stages": [
    { "id": "cut", "text": "Ask Quill on the Amber Row to cut the wyrm plate.",
      "completeWhen": { "flag": "still_water.stage", "op": ">=", "value": 1 } },
    { "id": "set", "text": "Take the cut plate to Harl on the Pale Row to be set in a locket.",
      "completeWhen": { "flag": "still_water.stage", "op": ">=", "value": 2 } }
  ]
}

• Rewards: still_water_locket (charm: breath +8%). Costs 20 copper (Quill's cut) and 25 copper (Harl's setting); the wyrm_plate goes into the locket.
• Yarn: Act1_Quill_Plate, Act1_Harl_Plate (walkthrough).

The Line Between the Rows (side_stall_line)

• Giver / where: Reeve Hollin Tace (unaligned), a notice on the Truce Board, halfway, the Middle Market, Event_truce_board; then Harl (Mark_harl) and Nell (Mark_nell).
• Available from: Act 1. Posted when act1.stage >= 2.
• Story: Harl's Pale Row awning and Nell's free glyph table have crept toward each other for a year, and this week they met. The truce line down the Middle Market is a strip of white stones nobody has re-laid since the Reeve's grandmother, and each says the other is over it. The player borrows Sef's measuring cord and walks the stones from the Truce Stone to the Split Loaf, and finds the old line was laid crooked: by the old stones both stalls are over it, and by a straight line neither is. The protagonist decides where the line runs. Quill watched the whole thing from across the square, and afterwards offers to help them design a sigil of their own from two unlike shapes.

{
  "id": "side_stall_line",
  "title": "The Line Between the Rows",
  "description": "Harl's awning and Nell's free table have finally met. The Reeve wants the truce line measured, and both Rows have promised to live with the answer.",
  "category": "side",
  "giver": "reeve",
  "board": "truce_board",
  "postWhen": { "flag": "act1.stage", "op": ">=", "value": 2 },
  "startWhen": { "flag": "side.stall_line.stage", "op": ">=", "value": 1 },
  "stages": [
    { "id": "both_sides", "text": "Hear both sides: Harl on the Pale Row, then Nell on the Amber Row.",
      "completeWhen": { "all": [
        { "flag": "side.stall_line.harl", "op": "!=", "value": 0 },
        { "flag": "side.stall_line.nell", "op": "!=", "value": 0 } ] } },
    { "id": "walk_line", "text": "Walk the old truce stones from the Truce Stone to the Split Loaf, and measure them.",
      "completeWhen": { "flag": "side.stall_line.stage", "op": ">=", "value": 2 } },
    { "id": "verdict", "text": "Tell the Reeve where the line runs.",
      "completeWhen": { "flag": "side.stall_line.choice", "op": "!=", "value": 0 } }
  ]
}

• Rewards: 40 copper from the Reeve. Choice 1, the line favours the Pale Row (Nell moves): rep.evane +5, rep.facets −5. Choice 2, the old stones stand (Harl moves): rep.facets +5, rep.evane −5. Choice 3, a new straight line down the middle (both move a little): no standing change, and the Reeve adds 10 copper ("Cheaper than a fight."). Afterwards Quill's sigil: flag sigil.own 1 (cosmetic; Facet NPCs greet the player as someone with a sigil, and Evane gatekeepers notice it).
• Later: after Act 4, a player who is Even-handed (rep.evane >= 25 and rep.facets >= 25) gets more Truce Board disputes on the same pattern, the "judging disputes at Halfway" half of Act 4's Even-handed hook: notice id side_truce_dispute, repeatable, 150 copper each, each verdict moving one side by 5 unless it splits the difference.
• Yarn: Side_Halfway_LineNotice, Side_Halfway_LineHarl, Side_Halfway_LineMott, Side_Halfway_LineWalk, Side_Halfway_LineVerdict, Side_Halfway_QuillSigil.

Dorrit's Cargo (side_dorrit_cargo)

• Giver / where: Dorrit Mallow (unaligned), a notice on the Truce Board, then the Barge Landing, halfway, Mark_dorrit. The crates are on the overworld (the Sallow Road), in the Sallow Fen stretch below the Drowned Steps' turning, markers Fen_1 to Fen_4.
• Available from: Act 1, after the Wyrm. Posted when wyrm.defeated != 0.
• Story: When the Wyrm took Dorrit's barge under, her cargo went into the fen and the reeds kept it. She can't run the barge until she has paid for what she lost, and she won't pay for what can still be found. A mirebelly toad has made a nest on one crate, and another sits in a pool with glints round it. The last crate isn't on Dorrit's list: it is small, sealed in amber wax with a Facet sigil and no name, and it rattles like glass. Opened, it holds rough warp-shards packed in reed that still smell of the river upstream. Return it sealed, open it, or hand it to Sef at the Bridge Gate; nobody in Act 1 knows who is digging up there, and this is only a hint.

{
  "id": "side_dorrit_cargo",
  "title": "Dorrit's Cargo",
  "description": "The Wyrm put Dorrit's cargo in the reeds. She won't pay for what can still be found.",
  "category": "side",
  "giver": "dorrit",
  "board": "truce_board",
  "postWhen": { "flag": "wyrm.defeated", "op": "!=", "value": 0 },
  "startWhen": { "flag": "side.dorrit_cargo.stage", "op": ">=", "value": 1 },
  "stages": [
    { "id": "crates", "text": "Find the crates Dorrit lost in the Sallow Fen, below the Drowned Steps' turning.",
      "completeWhen": { "flag": "side.dorrit_cargo.crates", "op": ">=", "value": 4 } },
    { "id": "odd_crate", "text": "One crate isn't on Dorrit's list. Decide what to do with it.",
      "completeWhen": { "flag": "side.dorrit_cargo.choice", "op": "!=", "value": 0 } },
    { "id": "back", "text": "Take the crates back to Dorrit at the Barge Landing.",
      "completeWhen": { "flag": "side.dorrit_cargo.stage", "op": ">=", "value": 2 } }
  ]
}

• Fights: fen_toad (mirebelly_toad, at Fen_2) and toad_and_glints (mirebelly_toad + 2 glint, at Fen_4), both the bestiary's.
• Rewards: 50 copper; Dorrit's barge runs again, so her free passage (scene 6.1) becomes a fast route along the Sallow between Halfway and Sallowbank (travel.barge 1). Odd crate, choice 1, returned sealed: rep.facets +5. Choice 2, opened and closed again: no move, but side.dorrit_cargo.choice 2 lets Sabe at the Sallow warp (Act 3, scene 1.3) recognise the player as "the one who opened our crate". Choice 3, handed to Sef: rep.evane +5, rep.facets −5.
• Yarn: Side_Halfway_DorritNotice, Side_Fen_Crates, Side_Fen_OddCrate, Side_Halfway_SefCrate, Side_Halfway_DorritPaid.

The Drowned Choir (side_drowned_choir)

• Giver / where: Tobin (unaligned), sallowbank, by the river, Mark_tobin. The quest moves through Halfway's Middle Market (the Still Choir monk), Hushfold or Twinhold (someone who reads hand-signs), the Drowned Steps (drowned_steps, Event_deep_glyphs) and the Undermere's flooded nave (undermere, Event_nave).
• Available from: Act 1, heard.choir != 0 (scene 1.1). It runs into Act 3: the drowned stair opens only once act2.done != 0.
• Story: Tobin has heard the Drowned Choir hum on still nights for forty years, and he'll talk about it to anyone who cuts him five green reeds for his weir. In Halfway a Still Choir monk watches the protagonist the way Tobin watches the river; stand with him long enough and he leaves a folded note in mirrored hand-signs, which Sister Ise or any Hushfold monk can read: "When the Sallow is still, the Steps sing. Listen with both hands." With Listen (or Drift's ford across the lowest step) the deep glyphs under the Steps (steps.deep_glyphs) turn out to be no spell at all: they are the Choir's hymn, cut as marks down the stair, running on under the river. When the Act 3 warps crack the lowest step open, the stair leads down to the Undermere's flooded nave, where drowned choristers still sing the last lines and leave a hymn page when they are beaten. Tobin can't read it either, but he can hum it, and the Steps hum back; the protagonist decides whether the page stays with him or goes to Choirmistress Wen.

{
  "id": "side_drowned_choir",
  "title": "The Drowned Choir",
  "description": "Tobin swears the Sallow hums on still nights. He'll tell you about it for five green reeds.",
  "category": "side",
  "giver": "tobin",
  "startWhen": { "flag": "heard.choir", "op": "!=", "value": 0 },
  "stages": [
    { "id": "reeds", "text": "Cut five river reeds on the Sallow banks for Tobin's weir.",
      "completeWhen": { "flag": "side.drowned_choir.stage", "op": ">=", "value": 1 } },
    { "id": "monk", "text": "A Still Choir monk in Halfway's Middle Market keeps watching you. Stand with him a while.",
      "completeWhen": { "flag": "side.drowned_choir.stage", "op": ">=", "value": 2 } },
    { "id": "read_note", "text": "Find someone who reads mirrored hand-signs.",
      "completeWhen": { "flag": "side.drowned_choir.stage", "op": ">=", "value": 3 } },
    { "id": "listen", "text": "On a still night, cast Listen or Drift on the lowest Drowned Step.",
      "completeWhen": { "flag": "side.drowned_choir.stage", "op": ">=", "value": 4 } },
    { "id": "nave", "text": "Follow the hymn down the drowned stair.",
      "completeWhen": { "flag": "side.drowned_choir.stage", "op": ">=", "value": 5 } },
    { "id": "tobin", "text": "Bring the hymn page home to Tobin.",
      "completeWhen": { "flag": "side.drowned_choir.choice", "op": "!=", "value": 0 } }
  ]
}

• Gates on the scene side: the monk leaves the note only at side.drowned_choir.stage >= 1; the deep glyphs answer only at steps.deep_glyphs != 0 and with spell.learned.listen or spell.learned.drift; the stair trigger needs act2.done != 0. Question for the Lead: this makes the flooded nave a second way into one Undermere room, reached from the Steps and open to a clean player. The nave stays cut off from the den (a rope bridge nobody crosses), so it doesn't open the evil path's hub.
• Fight: drowned_hymn (2 drowned_chorister, the bestiary's Undermere table, 75 XP).
• Rewards: 30 copper for the first reed order (Tobin pays double "for the walk"; after that he buys river_reeds at the catalogue's 1 copper whenever the player has them, his standing reed order). The hymn_page (key item) from the choristers. Choice 1, the page stays with Tobin: Tobin gives 2 reed_band (a matched pair), morality +5. Choice 2, the page goes to Wen: rep.choir +10, Wen sends 2 still_water, and Tobin says he has it by ear now anyway. side_choir_guilt (region 4) reads the choice.
• Later: after Act 4 (act4.stage >= 8), Tobin has one more node at the Steps, Side_Steps_HumAfter, for Act 4's Drowned Choir hook: Mended, the hum is gone and he misses it; Shattered, it's louder and has words in it; Held, it's two tunes, and they fit.
• Yarn: Side_Sallowbank_TobinReeds, Side_Halfway_ChoirMonk, Side_Hushfold_ChoirNote (and Side_Twinhold_IseNote if Sister Ise reads it at the courting), Side_Steps_DeepHymn, Side_Steps_DrownedStair, Side_Nave_Choristers, Side_Sallowbank_TobinHymn, Side_Steps_HumAfter.

The Stilled Weir (side_tobin_weir)

• Giver / where: Tobin, at the ferry landing in sallowbank (he keeps the rope while Aske is away). The weir is at the reed bend, sallow_warp, Event_weir.
• Available from: the end of Act 3, once Thaw is known. composite.known.thaw != 0.
• Story: When the Wardens' seal went over the Sallow warp, Tobin's eel weir at the reed bend went to glass with it: every stake, every trap and the eels inside (the whole bend, if the player declined the mending, world.sallow_stilled == 2). Tobin has heard what happened at Corran and wants his weir back. Glints roost on the glass; once they are cleared, the protagonist threads Thaw over the weir. If Sabe's cut was let go or sent home (act3.hunters 1 or 2), they are camped at the bend with a boat the glints stove in, and helping float it is one of Act 3's atonement deeds. When the weir wakes the eels come out of the glass alive and go straight downstream, and Tobin laughs for the first time in the game.

{
  "id": "side_tobin_weir",
  "title": "The Stilled Weir",
  "description": "Tobin's eel weir went to glass with the Sallow warp. He has heard what happened at Corran.",
  "category": "side",
  "giver": "tobin",
  "startWhen": { "flag": "composite.known.thaw", "op": "!=", "value": 0 },
  "stages": [
    { "id": "look", "text": "Go up to the reed bend at the Sallow warp and look at Tobin's weir.",
      "completeWhen": { "flag": "side.tobin_weir.stage", "op": ">=", "value": 1 } },
    { "id": "glints", "text": "Clear the glints roosting on the glass.",
      "completeWhen": { "flag": "side.tobin_weir.stage", "op": ">=", "value": 2 } },
    { "id": "thaw", "text": "Thread Thaw over the weir.",
      "completeWhen": { "flag": "side.tobin_weir.stage", "op": ">=", "value": 3 } },
    { "id": "boat", "text": "If Sabe's cut is at the bend, help them float their boat.",
      "completeWhen": { "any": [
        { "flag": "side.tobin_weir.stage", "op": ">=", "value": 4 },
        { "flag": "act3.hunters", "op": ">=", "value": 3 } ] } },
    { "id": "tobin", "text": "Tell Tobin the eels are running.",
      "completeWhen": { "flag": "side.tobin_weir.stage", "op": ">=", "value": 5 } }
  ]
}

• Fight: weir_glints (new): 4 glint + glint_brute, Act 3, difficulty about 3.5, 75 XP.
• Field cast: <<prompt_cast thaw>> at Event_weir.
• Rewards: 150 copper (Tobin's eel money, "saved for a new weir he won't need now"), 3 eel_pie. The boat (needs 2 rope from Hob): morality +5 (an atonement deed), rep.facets +5, and Sabe gives a facet_token. If act3.hunters == 4 the cut's camp is empty with a Warden notice nailed to the boat; if 3, only their spoil heaps are left. If Act 4 is over, Tobin's last line at the weir uses Side_Steps_HumAfter's outcome variant.
• Yarn: Side_Sallowbank_TobinWeir, Side_Bend_Glass, Side_Bend_Glints, Side_Bend_Thaw, Side_Bend_SabeBoat, Side_Sallowbank_EelsRun.

Fenn's Chalk (side_fenn_chalk)

• Giver / where: Fenn (unaligned), sallowbank, the square, Event_square (Mark_fenn), beside the golem on guard; the last stage at the farm door, Event_farm_door.
• Available from: Act 3, act3.stage >= 2 (Aske has left the golem on watch). The last stage waits for the world after Act 4 (act4.stage >= 8).
• Story: Since Aske left the golem standing guard, Fenn has slept in the square beside it and chalked door-marks on every fence post to help. The golem's chest glyph is a little fainter each night. Fenn asks the protagonist to stand one night watch with them; at midnight glints come up from the river, and one of Fenn's chalk marks holds a glint back for a breath, as it did in scene 1.1. Fenn sees the protagonist see it, and from then on wants to be shown properly. That waits until the Pane is settled, and in scene 4.20 Fenn comes up the lane with chalk. In the Shattered world Fenn's chalk marks work, so the real question is the one Lio's arc asks: now, or not yet.

{
  "id": "side_fenn_chalk",
  "title": "Fenn's Chalk",
  "description": "Fenn has been chalking door-marks on every fence in the square, to help the golem. One of them worked.",
  "category": "side",
  "giver": "fenn",
  "startWhen": { "flag": "act3.stage", "op": ">=", "value": 2 },
  "stages": [
    { "id": "watch", "text": "Stand a night watch in Sallowbank's square with Fenn and the golem.",
      "completeWhen": { "flag": "side.fenn_chalk.stage", "op": ">=", "value": 1 } },
    { "id": "wait", "text": "Fenn wants to be shown properly, once things are quieter. Come home after the Heart Pane.",
      "completeWhen": { "flag": "act4.stage", "op": ">=", "value": 8 } },
    { "id": "shown", "text": "Show Fenn the door-mark.",
      "completeWhen": { "flag": "side.fenn_chalk.choice", "op": "!=", "value": 0 } }
  ]
}

• Fight: square_night_glints (new): 5 glint + 1 winged_glint at night, Act 3, difficulty about 2.8, 55 XP.
• Rewards: the watch: morality +5 (Act 3's "stand a night watch at Sallowbank with the golem" deed), 3 ward_chalk from Fenn. The lesson: choice 1, teach Fenn at the farm door now (fenn.taught 1): morality +5. Choice 2, take Fenn to Marra first and teach them at the bakehouse table (fenn.taught 1): morality +5 and 3 honey_bread. Choice 3, "not yet" (fenn.taught 2): no move; in the Shattered world Fenn chalks the whole lane alone that night and the marks work.
• Yarn: Side_Sallowbank_FennWatch, Side_Sallowbank_NightGlints, Side_Sallowbank_GolemGlyph, Side_Sallowbank_FennShown (one variant per act4.outcome), Side_Sallowbank_MarraTable. It joins Act 4's Act4_Home_Fenn: that node offers this quest's last stage.

From Side Quests › The Sallow