Quests:Dun Barethsol:The Way of The Knife

The Way of the Knife

Dwarvish Steel

Elgar Basil is interested in an exquisite dagger belonging to Ynar Hammerhand. It is a powerful weapon of dwarven manufacture, possibly enhanced with mighty runes. The dwarf usually keeps it in a locked chest in his room. With some skill in lock-picking, Marcella will be able to open the chest. Marcella can learn to pick locks from Elgar, Nebrin, or Reylyr. The more dealings Marcella has with Reylyr or Nebrin, the more likely they are to invite her to learn alchemy from them.

When searching Ynar’s room, Marcella may find one of the letters or tokens that allow the bearer to take part at the audition held by Thorig Axehaft. This will give Marcella the opportunity to leave the evil path and help the dwarves instead. She may even try to follow both ways for some time.

Will Ynar attack Marcella, if she speaks to him while carrying his dagger?

Seekers of Magick

The Men of Knife are in search for some magic items that will help them. The dockmaster believes that Risartus Solmanus might have these items in his shop. He is wrong however, so Marcella won’t find what she is looking for when sneaking in there.

Therefore, Elgar will tell her of a witch who is rumoured to live in the forest to the southeast. She should have the desired potions and ingredients. Upon arrival at Ella’s cottage, the witch will sense Marcella’s intention and confront her. She’ll reveal some details about her origins and urge her to return to the right path.

If Marcella refuses to do this, Ella will ask her to leave and not come back. In that case, Marcella will have to grab the magic items and run for it before Ella’s golem drives her out of the cottage.

If Marcella agrees to change her life, Ella will leave the room to fetch an amulet that belonged to Marcella’s mother. If Marcella takes the opportunity to steal the magicka, Ella will again confront her and tell her that she hasn’t passed the test. Then the golem will go after her.

Once Marcella accepts the amulet, she should no longer be able to complete the Seekers of Magick quest. Her reputation with the Men of the Knife will suffer. But Ella should give some further hints. She could send Marcella to help the shepherds with their wolf problem, and thus discover Abbot Tham the Learned, or send her directly to the Abbey to free the monks.

Alternately, Reylyr may approach the Marcella directly and ask her to acquire some ingredients so she can oil and poison Ynar's Dagger. The player might get this from Risartus or another alchemist, by stealing something from Ella (either some of her herbs or perhaps even Ella's blood).

Blind the Watching Eye

After returning the magickal object to Elgar or the alchemical components to Reylyr and Nebrin, they will tell Marcella of a ranger (Lareth, Andare, or another?) that seems to know too much about their involvement with the Men of the Knife. The Ranger’s camp is located in the forest between Waste’s Edge and the mountains, a few hundred yards from Arynsval. Marcella needs to go there and kill him, possibly with the newly magicked dagger that Nebrin or Reylyr can make for her or help her make.

Completing these three quests (and possibly some related sidequests) will lead result in the player joining the Society of the Blade and possibly the Blackwidow Sisterhood. The player's alignment will drop from its starting point at -1 to -4 or -5.

Endhelm's Endgame

Whatever path Marcella takes will eventually lead her to a confrontation with Alek Endhelm. If she is trying to help the Society of the Blade, she can begin the confrontation by trying to rob him. Once the fight starts, she can kill him, or capture him and deliver him to the Society for ransom, or even deliver him to the Dwarves, since the Society wants Alek gone and doesn't mind if the Dwarves do the killing. She cannot deliver him to the Wyvern Guard or solve the mystery of the praline thief and remain loyal to the Society.

If she loses, she can make an alliance with him and then double-cross him later, or backstab her way out of the camp once she rests and heals.