The Refugee Dilemma

Type: Moral Choice Quest
Location: Ironhold
Difficulty: Medium
Rewards: Variable (75-250 Aether-Coins, reputation shifts)
Implementation Status: ✅ Fully Implemented

Overview

The Refugee Dilemma is a morally complex quest about immigration, compassion, and pragmatism. Hundreds of refugees fleeing Rot-corrupted islands wait outside Ironhold’s gates, but the guards turn most away.

A family—mother, father, two children—is denied entry. They’re skilled workers with nowhere else to go. Can you help them?

Quest Stages

Stage 1: The Encounter

Trigger: Visit the Gates at Ironhold
Objective: Encounter the refugee family being denied entry

Outside Ironhold’s gates, makeshift refugee camps house hundreds fleeing corruption. Guards turn most away. You witness a family being denied: “Please, we have nowhere else to go!”

Choices: - Offer to help: Commit to helping the family - Question the policy (Cunning DC 24): Learn about vouching system - Walk away: This isn’t your problem

On Success (questioning): Learn that someone with credentials can vouch for refugees
On Failure: No special knowledge, but quest continues

Stage 2: Finding a Solution

Objective: Find a way to help the refugee family enter Ironhold

You have multiple approaches, each with different costs and outcomes:

Option 1: Official Vouching

Skill Check: Piety DC 28 (reduced to 23 if you learned about vouching)
Cost: 100 Aether-Coins + 10 stamina

Go through official channels, vouching for the family and paying their entry bond.

On Success: - 3 XP - 3 time units - +20 Outland Clans reputation - -10 Sky-Guild reputation - Family gains legal status - Quest progresses to Stage 3

On Failure: - 1 XP - Lose 100 coins - 2 time units - “Insufficient credentials. Request denied.” - Return to Stage 2 (try another approach)

Option 2: Smuggle Them In

Skill Check: Cunning DC 32
Cost: 15 stamina + 3 focus

Find a way to smuggle the family through a maintenance entrance.

On Success: - 4 XP - 2 time units - +15 Outland Clans reputation - -20 Sky-Guild reputation - Family lives in hiding but inside walls - Quest progresses to Stage 3

On Failure: - 2 XP - Lose 150 coins (fine) - 2 time units - -25 Sky-Guild reputation - Quest Complete (failed)

Option 3: Find Work Outside

Skill Check: Strength DC 26
Cost: 12 stamina

Can’t get them into Ironhold, but find them work at Windmere Farms.

On Success: - 3 XP - 2 time units - +20 Outland Clans reputation - Family gets honest work at Windmere - Quest progresses to Stage 3

On Failure: - 1 XP - 2 time units - Quest Complete (failed to help)

Option 4: Petition Commandant Vask

Skill Check: Piety DC 35
Cost: 15 stamina + 4 focus

Get an audience with the Commandant and make an impassioned plea.

On Success: - 4 XP - 3 time units - +25 Outland Clans reputation - +10 Sky-Guild reputation - Vask’s approval carries weight—family welcomed - Quest progresses to Stage 3

On Failure: - 2 XP - 3 time units - “We cannot save everyone. The policy stands.” - Quest Complete (failed)

Stage 3: Resolution

Objective: Complete your arrangement with the refugee family

The family thanks you for helping them find safety, whether inside Ironhold’s walls or elsewhere.

Choices:

Accept Thanks

• 75 Aether-Coins
• Humanitarian achievement
• Quest Complete

Refuse Thanks

• No coins
• +10 Outland Clans reputation
• +15 Clergy reputation
• Selfless Act achievement
• Quest Complete

Strategic Considerations

Optimal Outcome: Vask’s Approval

The most difficult path (Piety DC 35) provides: - Best reputation gains (+25 Outland, +10 Sky-Guild) - Family fully welcomed, not just tolerated - Highest XP reward (4 XP) - Demonstrates exceptional character

Pragmatic Outcome: Windmere Solution

If you can’t get them into Ironhold: - Still helps the family (honest work) - Good reputation gain (+20 Outland) - No negative Sky-Guild reputation - Moderate difficulty (Strength DC 26)

Risky Outcome: Smuggling

High risk, high reward: - Highest difficulty (Cunning DC 32) - Family inside walls but living in fear - Significant negative Sky-Guild reputation (-20) - Failure means fine and quest failure

Budget Outcome: Official Vouching

Most expensive (100 coins) but reliable: - Moderate difficulty (Piety DC 23-28) - Legal status for family - Balanced reputation changes - Failure allows retry with other methods

Connections to Other Content

Related Quests

• Arc 6: The Eos-Ironhold War: Immigration policy becomes more critical during war
• Windmere quests: If you send family to Windmere, they may appear in other quests

Related Characters

• Commandant Theron Vask: Can be petitioned for special approval
• Ironhold Guards: Enforce immigration policy
• Windmere Elders: Accept refugees as farm workers

Related Themes

• Immigration: Who deserves safety? Who decides?
• Pragmatism vs. Compassion: Security vs. humanitarian aid
• Resource Scarcity: “We can’t feed everyone”

Lore and World-Building

The Refugee Crisis

• Caused by Rot-corrupted islands becoming uninhabitable
• Hundreds displaced, seeking safety in fortified settlements
• Ironhold’s strict immigration policy: can’t accept everyone
• Economic strain: feeding and housing refugees
• Social tension: locals vs. newcomers

Ironhold’s Immigration Policy

• Strict quotas to prevent overcrowding
• Requires vouchers from citizens or officials
• Designed to prevent infiltration and resource strain
• Enforced by guards at the gates
• Can be bypassed with influence or cunning

The Family’s Story

• Father: blacksmith (skilled worker)
• Mother: weaver (skilled worker)
• Two children
• Fled Rot-corrupted island
• Nowhere else to go
• Represent thousands in similar situations

Moral Complexity

This quest has no “right” answer:

Arguments for Helping: - They’re skilled workers who can contribute - Compassion is a moral imperative - “We were all refugees once” - Children are innocent

Arguments for Ironhold’s Policy: - Limited resources can’t support everyone - Security concerns (infiltration, disease) - Existing citizens’ needs come first - Slippery slope: help one, must help all

The Player’s Choice: What matters more—security or compassion?

Tips and Strategies

1. High Piety builds: Can attempt Vask petition (best outcome)
2. Budget conscious: Windmere solution costs no coins
3. Risk tolerance: Smuggling is high-risk, high-reward
4. Reputation management: Consider your faction relationships
5. Moral alignment: Choose based on your character’s values

Achievements

• Humanitarian: Help the family through any means
• Selfless Act: Refuse payment for helping

Implementation Notes

File: data/vignettes/ironhold/refugee_crisis.json
Quest ID: refugee_crisis
Type: quest
Stages: 3

Notable Features: - Multiple solution paths with different skill requirements - Significant reputation consequences - Moral complexity with no “correct” answer - Dynamic text based on chosen solution - Failure states that allow retries or quest completion

Philosophical Themes

• Justice vs. Mercy: Is it just to turn away those in need?
• Individual vs. Collective: One family vs. society’s needs
• Pragmatism vs. Idealism: Practical limits vs. moral imperatives
• Power and Privilege: Who gets to decide who’s worthy of safety?

Last Updated: December 3, 2025