A Shrewd Proposition

###

3,375

###

Normal

## Related quests

*Previous:*
Symbols of Death
 * Cruel Cargo
* Clearing Out Crookspur
* Of Like Minds
* Tip of the Spear

**A Shrewd Proposition** is a faction quest in *Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire*.

## Synopsis

Captain Furrante has a wealthy contact who has business dealings with the slavers of Crookspur. However, recent troubles with the locals have affected their trade routes.

This contact is willing to owe Furrante a political favor for assisting the slavers. However, as slaving is a crime within the Príncipi, Furrante has asked the Watcher to discreetly smooth this problem in his stead.

## Walkthrough

* Furrante will ask you to travel to Crookspur and meet Master Kua, the leader of the slavers. As you leave Dunnage, you will receive an alternate missive from Aeldys, asking you to come meet her. She, in turn, wants you to destroy the slaver operation.
* After leaving Dunnage, you will recieve a letter from Captain Aeldys asking you to meet with her at Fort Deadlight. You can inform her of Furrante's little side-gig. She knew as much, but if you also figure out that he's working with the VTC (by way of Director Castol), you can inform her of that and get 2500 cp. Bringing her the Candied Nuts she asked for will net you Minor Positive Reputation gained with Príncipi sen Patrena.
* Ultimately, this quest has two separate paths that you can take, the outcomes of which will influence the other concurrent quests. You can either choose to oblige the Crookspur slavers, and wipe out the Wahiki tribe, or you can bring a stop to their operation. Make sure to bring along Serafen for some unique dialog.

### For Crookspur

* This option is the goal of Captain Furrante's side of the quest, and the VTC quest Of Like Minds. It starts Tip of the Spear.

**Note:** Completing Tip of the Spear will cause you to fail the RDC quest Clearing Out Crookspur upon returning to Atsura in the Imperial Command (though not if you have killed Kua, see notes below). This means you will no longer be able to ally with the Royal Deadfire Company later during The Coming Storm!
* Head to Crookspur, to the far north-west of Neketaka.
* Enter the fortress by speaking to the ogre at the gate, he'll think you're just another buyer here for the slave auction, and will let you straight in. The auction will be coming to a close, with the last slave, Handsome Eliam - a death godlike, up for offer. You can either bid for the slave (win straightaway with 2,000, or 1,200 if you bid sparingly), continue to spectate the auction, or - by passing a skill check below - question the legality of his sale. This will have you ejected from the fort, putting it on high alert (not recommended if you want to assist the slavers):
	+ With Streetwise 10, you can point out their need for so much firepower if what they're doing is perfectly legal.
	+ With Bluff 10, you can say that their operation is under investigation by the crowned royals of Neketaka.
* If you don't make a scene Auctioneer Marcca will wish to speak with you. Do so to be granted an audience with Master Kua, assuming you:
	+ Had the winning bid for Eliam during the auction.
	+ Pay her 2,000 to show you are worthy clientele.
	+ Lie to her with an assisted Bluff 10 check, telling her that your lord has sent you to inspect their stock.
* Enter the fort to the north west and speak to him in his office. Kua will commend your "refined tastes" in purchasing their most valuable offering, and will ask that you pay what is owed. You can pay him (if you want to waste your money) or offer your services in exchange. He will discuss his prior agreement with Furrante, and ask that you eliminate the leaders of the Wahaki tribe, who have recently been commanding attacks on the slavers' ships. You can agree to take care of it, and again you have the opportunity to question the legality with Bluff 10 (with no effect). If you decline Kua's offer, he and his guards will attack you.
* On your way out, Master Kua will remind you to pick up your slave. You can either have him join your crew as a slave, or free him. You can then offer him a job on your ship or suggest that he head to the Temple of Berath in Neketaka.
* Otherwise this will start Tip of the Spear, a sub-quest involving taking out the leaders of the Wahaki tribe on Ori o Koīki. See the associated page for more information.
* Once the quest is complete, return to Kua (for some experience and a pat on the back).
* Return to Captain Furrante to complete the quest, netting you the unique crossbow Fleetbreaker, 2,500, and Major Positive reputation with the Príncipi.

### Against Crookspur

* This option involves taking a stand against the slavers and optionally removing them from the island. Note that after freeing the slaves, or upon putting the fort on alert, you will no longer be able to assist the slavers, as this will fail Tip of the Spear - see notes below. This method will cause the bad outcome for Furrante's side of this quest, but the good outcome for Aeldys' side.

**Free the slaves**

* Freeing the slaves is the goal of Captain Aeldys' side of the quest, and you are able to do so independently of wiping out Crookspur. Wiping out the slavers will not net you any more of a reward from Aeldys. However, as mentioned above, you won't be left with other options with the slavers after freeing the slaves.
* You can talk to Aeldys' agent Seafol, on the beach at Crookspur to get more information about this route. She has a skiff ready and waiting for any slaves you send out.
* Firstly, enter the sea cave via the entrance on the beach to the east, swimming down the lighter tunnel to get to the Sea Cave. Here you'll have to deal with a few spiders, but nothing too difficult - you can easily sneak past too. The tunnel to the south leads to a barred gate, that you can open using either a prybar, high Might, a Corrode ability, an orlan in the party to reach through the bars, or a Wizard with the spell Form of the Helpless Beast, turning one of your party members into a piglet to open the way.
* The fort dungeons themselves are swarming with ogres and slavers, with exits to the fort exterior to the north east, and the interior to the north west.
	+ The slaves that you need to free are held in a cage to the east. You can open it with Mechanics 11, or by retrieving the Large Iron Key from Taskmaster Grom to the north. Freeing these slaves is the minimum required to complete this quest. Although the slaves are concerned about the safety of their escape, you do not need to clear the spiders from the caverns, the slavers from the dungeons, or even unlock the barred gate in order for them to escape. Hilariously, they'll run the wrong way anyway, but will make it out without issue. Further along the corridor you can loot a Blackwood Log.
	+ The Wahaki slaves are held in the southwest side of the area, you can free them with Mechanics 12, or with the same key as above, looted form Taskmaster Grom. Freeing them isn't necessarily required for this quest, but they can be used to assault the fort.
* Once you've freed the slaves, continue with wiping out Crookspur or return to Aeldys.

**Wiping out Crookspur**

* Wiping out the Crookspur slavers is the goal of the quests Clearing Out Crookspur, Fruitful Alliance and Cruel Cargo, so make sure to pick those up first.
* The most straightforward method is invading the fortress under the pretense of participating in the auction (purchasing Handsome Eliam in the process) and then killing Master Kua once you're granted an audience with him. See the above for information regarding this route.
* Alternatively you can liberate the Wahaki slaves led by Bauha. Open the cage using Mechanics 12, or after you've acquired the key from Taskmaster Grom. You can continue to assault the fort with the tribesman, or convince them to escape with Intimidate 10 or Survival 8, rather than try and fight the slavers (though this just means you will have to take them out yourself).
* If you incited a revolt with the Wahaki slaves, this will clear some of the slavers in the dungeons and the fort, making your job a bit easier. Doing so will also free the slaves for Aeldys' side of the quest if you haven't already done so. The warriors will exit out the way of the ladder to the north east, then out the front of the fort, leaving the corpses of slavers in their wake.

Cannot replicate

The section below needs verification. While there are dialog entries supporting it as a possible option, Master Kua will be unfazed by any evidence against him, and releasing the slaves will always result in the fort becoming hostile. This may have been removed in a patch to the quest.

**Alternate - Confront Kua with evidence of illegal slaving**

* This is the most peaceful solution to the problem of the slavers, and involves evicting Master Kua by confronting him with evidence of the illegal trafficking of Deadfire citizens.
* Note that this cannot be accomplished after freeing either of the slaves, and putting the fort on alert. Nor can it be done after killing the Wahaki tribe leaders, as the slaves will no longer be present.
* Firstly, head down to the dungeons by the way of the sea cave (see above for more information). The slavers are keeping a group of Wahaki tribesman in the cage to the southwest. All you need to do is talk to Bauha to get the evidence you need. Do NOT free the slaves yet, but instead back out of the dungeon and make your way into the fort via the front entrance under the pretense of participating in the auction (see above).
* Once you've been granted an audience with Master Kua, you can then confront him and suggest that he flee the island before word of his misdeeds spreads. You can do this by selecting the "Does he know you're trading illegally" dialogue option, then tell him that you've spoke with the Wahaki slaves locked in the dungeon. This requires Streetwise 5.

Return to Aeldys
* Once you have either freed the slaves and/or wiped out the slavers, return to Captain Aeldys to complete the quest, netting you the unique hood Blackblade's Hood, 2,500, and Major Positive reputation with the Príncipi. If you also return to Furrante, he will be displeased that you failed to uphold his business arrangement.

## Notes

* Note that you cannot do both sides of this quest, and will have to choose between the either siding with Furrante and the slavers and wipe out the Wahaki, or side with Aeldys and save the slaves / clear out Crookspur. There may be some crossover where the player would be able to do quests on both sides, but typically doing so will result in more bad outcomes than good.
* Wiping out Crookspur is technically optional for Aeldys' side of the quest, but rescuing the captive slaves - be it peacefully or violently - will cause Crookspur to become hostile, eliminating any opportunity to further assist the slavers and the extended quests.
* If you kill the Wahaki tribe leaders for the slavers, this will cause Cruel Cargo to fail (if you already picked it up), and will result in a bad outcome for Fruitful Alliance. After this you will be unable to do Aeldys' side of the quest, since the slaves will have been moved by the time you return to Crookspur. This happens immediately upon killing the Wahaki tribe leaders, regardless of what quests you have or haven't picked up.
	+ Killing the slavers at this (or any) point will cause a bad outcome for Furrante's side (even if you do it after killing the Wahaki and completing Tip of the Spear). If you do so and return to Aeldys, she will be displeased that you failed to save the slaves, but will appreciate that their operation is no longer standing. If you do so and return to Furrante, he will be upset that you failed to uphold his business arrangement. This is the worst possible outcome for the quest.
* If you kill the slavers for the Wahaki tribe, or free the slaves for Aeldys, this will cause Tip of the Spear to fail. In addition this will result in a bad outcome for Furrante's side of the quest and Of Like Minds - though neither of which will lose you reputation, only the associated quest rewards.
	+ Killing the Wahaki tribe leaders has no bearing on the outcome of this side of the quest.
* Clearing Out Crookspur will be failed if you return to Atsura after completing Tip of the Spear, but will not fail if you have killed Master Kua. In this sense it is technically separate to the Crookspur quest chain. This way, you can wipe out the Wahaki, return to Kua to complete Tip of the Spear, return to Furrante to complete A Shrewd Proposition, return to Castol to complete Of Like Minds, then kill Master Kua and the slavers, then return to Atsura to complete Clearing Out Crookspur.

## Outcomes

These tables cover the two main paths "Anti-Crookspur" (kill the slavers + aid the Wahaki + free the slaves) and "Pro-Crookspur" (aid the slavers + kill the Wahaki). It does not cover potential edge cases or mixing of the two paths, since most of the time attempting to do one side of the quest will cause the other side to fail or get a bad outcome. Workarounds or alternate paths should be mentioned in the notes section above.

 = Good outcome,  = Bad outcome,  = Complete quest,  = Fail quest
Rewards table

* 2,500
* Major Positive reputation with the Príncipi
* 2,500
 Of Like Minds | * Moderate Positive reputation with the VTC
 Tip of the Spear | * Kahua Hozi (looted from Ruāsare)
 Fruitful Alliance | * 2,000
* Moderate Negative reputation with the Huana
 Cruel Cargo | * Quest fail
 Clearing Out Crookspur | * Quest fail
* Major Negative reputation with the RDC
* Cannot side with the Royal Deadfire Company during The Coming Storm / The Final Maneuver.
* Major Positive reputation with the RDC