This throne room event should occur immediately after you complete the quest Patronage, recruiting the artisan [Nazrielle] in the process. After the aforementioned quest, return to your throne room and one of Nazrielle’s apprentices, an elf named Sartayne, will ask for your help in recovering another of Nazrielle’s missing apprentices, who was apparently driven mad by the blade Nazrielle created for you. This starts the quest [Nazriell’s Greatest Creation].

When you’re ready to get this quest going in earnest (it’ll increase Nazrielle’s artisan rank, so the sooner the better) return back to your Kamelands village and talk to Nazrielle, who will admit to the foul up, then ask you grovelingly to recover her missing sword lest her reputation suffer. Oh, and if it’s not too bother, save her wayward apprentice.

Her priorities could use some work.

Reclaiming the Cursed Sword¶

After you’re done talking to Nazrielle, exit your village. She mentioned her apprentice being “near the river”, which isn’t all that helpful since there are two major rivers running through the Kamelands - the Gudrin River and the Little Sellen River. Fortunately, big red exclamation marks should guide you true - you want to head to the Bridge Over the Gudrin River area to continue this quest. If you haven’t previously explored the Bridge Over the Gudrin River area, check out the links provided for information on the area’s native encounters.

Not that you really need to fight through much to find what you’re looking for. Ditael - Nazrielle’s wayward apprentice - can be found in the northwestern corner of the map, just south and off the road to the southwest from where you’ll appear. You’ll find him beset by two Dire Wolves, who should be trivial to dispose of.

After killing the overgrown hounds, talk to Ditael and he’ll do the whole “my precious’’ routine, claiming to be the “warden” of “It”. You’ll have to pass a [Bluff 30], [Intimidate 30] or [Diplomacy 30] check (you can try each one in succession, so you have three chances to pass one of these) to get Ditael to hand the blade over without a fight, otherwise you can always resort to violence. Ditael, even with a pilfered sword, isn’t much of a fighter and you should be able to easily dispose of him, after which loot him for Nazrielle’s Cursed Sword, a Potion of Aid, a Potion of Cure Moderate Wounds a Chainshirt +1, some Boots of Elvenkind and a Ring of Protection +1. If you pass one of the dialogue checks, above, you’ll only get the sword (pick it up off the ground) and potions, in addition to a rather hefty 720 XP

However you got it, return to Nazrielle with her accursed sword and she’ll promise a somewhat less bedeviled weapon for you at some point in the future. Quality control, indeed.

Confronting Sartayne¶

The quest will go dormant for some time (for us it was two weeks, but this time could vary) after which the quest will… just update. That’s right, no fanfare, no throne room event, just a quest update that pops up. When it happens, you’ll need to return to Nazrielle in your village in the Kamelands and when confronted she’ll cast blame on her apprentice, Sartayne, whom she wants you to kill. Well, damn.

Return to the capital and head to Sartayne’s house. Somehow he managed to secure himself a prime location just to the southeast of your throne room. Enter his abode and talk to him and make your accusation, which will cause him to monologue like any two-bit villain. After he’s done you’ll get several moral choices:

• [Chaotic Neutral]: Without your help, Sartayne will flee your realm, but swears to continue seeking revenge against Sartayne.
• [Lawful Evil]: Sartayne attacks.
• [Neutral Evil]: Hires Sartayne as your swordsmith, condemning Nazrielle to serve under him. The mechanics of how Nazrielle works as an artisan remain unchanged.
• [Chaotic Evil]: Attacks Sartayne.

The alignment modifiers here are somewhat perplexing, and if you’re a goodly character, there’s really no satisfactory option. Take the minor alignment hit, and if you wish to avoid a fight and keep Nazrielle in charge, pick the [Chaotic Neutral] choice, while if you want to avoid a fight and replace Nazrielle with Sartayne, pick the [Neutral Evil] option. No matter who ends up as your swordsmith, none of the mechanics of how your [swordsmith artisan] functions will be changed - you’ll get the same items, the same tier ranks, and the same conditions for improving said tier ranks with Sartayne in charge as with Nazrielle.

If you pick the [Lawful Evil] or [Chaotic Evil] choices, Sartayne will fight (or fight back, as the case may be) summoning two Leopards to aid him. They’re dangerous beasts, as you’d know well if you had any as pets, and while their stats are relatively low, they still get five attacks per round, one of which can trip your character up. If your protagonist is somewhat combat savvy and has an Armor Class of 30+, you probably don’t need to worry, but not every character will be equally suited for close quarters combat without any companions to support them.

Sartayne, for his part, is a Magus, and will spend his first few rounds buffing himself with Displacement, Mirror Image and Shield. He’ll also make use of abilities like “Arcane Weapon Enhancement”, “Arcane Accuracy” and “Spellstrike”, which will significantly increase his defensive and offensive capabilities. Still, he’s not doped with a level of Monk and doesn’t make use of “Fighting Defensively” or any of the synergistic feats that help boost Armor Class to silly levels, so he’s a pale imitation of what’s truly possible.

Cut Sartayne and his Summoned Leopard down if you can and not only will you resolve Nazrielle’s dispute permanently, but you’ll score a Keen Scimitar +1, a Potion of Cure Moderate Wounds, a Potion of Blur an Acid Flask, a Mithral Chainshirt +1, a Belt of Giant Strength, a Ring of Protection +1 and a Cloak of Protection +2. Not a bad haul, even if much of it is obsolete - some of it is bound to find a home on your back-benchers. Failing that, all that gear should sell for a considerable amount of coin (5,887 gold was the offer we got).

If you replaced Nazrielle with Sartayne, the quest botches and you don’t need to do anything else. If you put Sartayne down or chased him off, return to Narzielle to complete the quest and earn 780 XP.