Shipwright of Yore

The «Shipwright of Yore» (の) is a quest available in Rovia on the 4th Floor of Aincrad in Sword Art Online, and is crucial to easier navigation on the floor.

Background
The shipwrights in Rovia were once free to build ships as they pleased. But at one point, the Water Carriers Guild (水運ギルド) monopolised the work, forcing other shipwrights out of business and forbidding civilian gondolas from leaving the town to hide the fact that the guild was dealing with the fallen elves.

Quest Details
The quest can be started by requesting Romolo, an ex-shipwright living in Rovia, to build a boat. As the quest requires a special prompt to start, the player is normally supposed to learn of the existence of the quest from rumours around Rovia, but Romolo's house is littered with hints to the prompt needed to start the quest.

The quest begins with Romolo explaining that he was no longer a shipwright and that the Water Carriers Guild now controlled all the materials needed to build boats. However, the shipwright agrees to make the player a boat, if they bring him the required materials.

The first material that the shipwright asks for is bear fat that can be obtained from the bears living in the Bear Forest to the south-east of town to seal the wood against water. Although the player can deliver regular bear fat from ordinary black bears in the forest, the shipwright mentions the existence of a king of the bears, Magnatherium, in the forest. The Fire-Bear's Fat (幻の熊脂) dropped by the Magnatherium is a premium version of bear fat that can be obtained to produce a higher quality gondola.

After the player brings enough jars of bear fat, the shipwright reminds the players that the Water Carriers Guild controls the supplies needed to make a boat, and thus requests the players to gather lumber. The shipwright mentions that the players would need solid birch or oak lumber from the Bear Forest, but adds that Noblewood Cores (銘木の心材) of massive, aged teaks are the best for shipbuilding.

After presenting enough cores of lumber, the shipwright requests bear claws to carve into nails and bear pelts for upholstering the seats. For a higher quality gondola, the players may bring Fire-Bear Claws (火炎熊の) and Fire-Bear Pelts (火炎熊の毛皮) that are dropped by the Magnatherium instead of the ordinary ingredients.

Once all required materials are presented, the shipwright unlocks his carpentry storeroom, brings a scroll and allows the player to choose the design of their gondola. If the players had gathered additional items, like a Fire-Bear's Horn (火炎熊の硬角), they are given the choice to equip additional items on their gondola; however, the window will only display the possible optional equipment that the players already have the materials for. Once the players finalise the design of the gondola, the shipwright draws a three-dimensional model of the ship on his parchment and proceeds to his workshop to work on the gondola. The player's are informed of the completion of the boat three hours later via a pop-up window and may claim their gondola from the shipwright's workshop.

However, once the players enter the canals with their own gondola, the gondoliers from the Water Carriers Guild begin acting strange and the players are prompted to visit the shipwright again. Instead of giving an answer, the shipwright tells the players to find a boat carrying wooden boxes in the evening, and follow it without drawing notice as it leaves from the southeastern district of town. The players must then follow the ship outside of town to a waterfall that leads to a submerged dungeon. In the dungeon, the players must find where the ship has docked and see a scene of the sailors unloading the boxes at a pier, and dealing with a group of fallen elves. Once the sailors and fallen elves finish their transaction, the players must avoid being noticed by the sailors as they head back to town. The players may use an Argyro's Sheet spawned in a nearby storeroom to hide their gondola.

Once the ship has been avoided, the players are given a vague instruction to find the secret of the transport ship, and must thus find the mysterious boxes. Avoiding the guards, the players must find the room where the unloaded boxes are stored. When the players find the room and discover that the boxes are empty, a scripted scene is triggered and a group of Non-Player Characters head for the room. The players must hide and overhear a conversation among the fallen elf foreman Eddhu, the fallen elven general N'ltzahh and Kysala. Once the players leave the cave after overhearing the conversation, the quest log gives them another vague instruction to alert the appropriate person.

If the players had chosen to the dark elf side of the Elf War campaign quest and had completed the Elf War campaign quests on the 3rd Floor, the person the players must inform is the dark elves at the Yofel Castle. In the aftermath of the quest, the players are brought to Yofilis, the dark elven viscount to report that the fallen elves were making ships for the forest elves to invade the dark elven castle. At the end of the report, Yofilis offers a new series of quests to retrieve the Lapis Key from a dungeon on the 4th Floor. The end of the Shipwright of Yore quest also leads to a new quest, the «Laketop Fortress», during which the player must help the dark elves defend against the forest elven invasion.

Completed By

 * Kirito - party leader
 * Asuna

Trivia

 * The Shipwright of Yore was not available in the beta test of Sword Art Online.