1. Find the Blaxton Heirloom

First Version

Find the Blaxton family heirloom.

The heirloom is a sword.

The lack of the sword creates a miasma of terrible dark energy of pure despair.

Whoever stole the sword is capable of radiant magic.

They weren’t alone, someone helped them.

Saga, Blaxton’s ex-paladin, knows more than she reveals.

Saga used to be a member of the same Paladin Order who stole the sword. She abandoned the order as she slowly started to realize that it was being corrupted by some dark force she could not comprehend. She calls them the Forsworn, those who have betrayed their oaths and have given themselves to the Unknowables.

She doesn’t reveal this, because she doesn’t want people to associate her with the Forsworn. The actions of this rogue paladin order, while not 100% public, are spoken in hushed whispers. Rumours abound of dark magic and blood sacrifices. This stuff is less well known in Port Gardan, but back in the West where Saga is from, the rumours can be heard more loudly.

Saga’s Paladin Order used to be called Duskwardens.

The thieves probably headed towards the Orman Woods. Portnoy’s blood tracking corroborates this information. This is also what Saga believed.

Second Version

[Top secret very important: The sword was actually stolen by the real Saga and Blaxton.]

Here’s how it makes sense.

The vault could only be opened by a true paladin. The NiseSaga faked opening the door. It was never locked to begin with.

How come Gentil never felt NiseSaga’s presence? The miasma spread by the lack of the sword overpowered all else.

A true paladin would never think themselves better than everyone else. They’d be able to empathize and respect others. NiseSaga does none of these things.

The curse NiseBlaxton talks about is just a bad lie. His group wants to use the sword for their own nefarious deeds.

The signs of struggle in the vault was actually Saga forcing her way out. She actually fought against NiseSaga.

Saga and Blaxton did escape from that window. There were no signs of a break-in, mainly because no one broke in.

NiseSaga and NiseBlaxton, shapeshifters of some sort, tricked Saga into letting them into Blaxton’s Estate by pretending to be members of Saga’s order. Saga is not an ex-paladin. A paladin never forsakes an oath. She is, to this day, a member of the Dawnwardens.

She couldn’t see through their lies, because the Shadow magic was too strong. Having spent so much time in the East, away from all the struggle and chaos, Saga was caught off guard. She wasn’t expecting to be tricked. Once the two shapeshifters were allowed into the estate, they were able to summon more reinforcements.

She is in a dark place. She has failed her quest to protect the vault in the Blaxton Estate.

Blaxton’s heirloom is the key to all this. There is a great shadow that was sealed away in the West. (It is all our fears, all our despair manifest.) A magical knot keeps this evil in place. At some point, a Blaxton was hired to build a magical weapon that could cut through that knot. For this, he was paid handsomely, which is how Blaxton now has an estate in Port Gardan.

But before the weapon could be used, the Dawnwardens were able to capture it and send it to East. Saga is assigned as the lone guardian of the sword, who brings it to the repentant descendant of Blaxton the Disgraced. Rich beyond belief, but ashamed of his family’s legacy, Gilderoy Blaxton agreed to build a vault in his estate and assumed the character of an eccentric, good-for-nothing rich man so that no one would suspect a thing.

They can’t go back. They’re in too deep. Now they must journey west, to Taegan’s Rest where the last of the Dawnwardens are. There, Saga can safeguard the sword for good. Otherwise, it’s always at the risk of falling into the Forsworn’s hands.