The first knife-fight in Duskovol took place not long after it was founded. Scoundrel legends say it was a fight over turf and money between a sailor and a coal miner. Both died of their wounds, walked away with their gangs, covered in blood and died later of internal injuries. The knives are named Jake and Harp but no two districts’ criminals can agree what that means – old slang? names of the cutters who died? arcane reference to demonic powers?

What do the knives really look like? Some accounts depict them as solid pieces of black metal and others depict them as an antique nomad dagger and a rigging knife.

Here’s what just about everyone agrees on:

When in the presence of violence, the daggers begin to heat up and sometimes give off sparks. The wielder feels the heat and the pain but it will not debilitate them as long as they continue fighting. They have appeared 4 times in Duskwall’s history, always during times of unrest and violence. Each time, blade-chosen cutters on different sides of the conflict killed one another with the knives and then the cursed blades always disappeared, spirited away by cultists who see the knives as holy relics.

There is a myth that the Dusker who wields both blades will cut Duskwall from the grip of the Empire. Imperial agents often investigate rumors of the daggers appearing, thinking that they are a sign of unrest or a symbol of rebellion conjured by con-men and a riotous rebel cult.

So, scoundrel, you’ve found one of the Blades in the Dark, the first is a mission clock if you go looking for the other dagger, wanting to become a symbol of bloody rebellion, the other clocks start ticking off with or without you…

Find the other dagger before your most hated enemy

Imperial Agents track you down

Monks from a mysterious blade cult pay you a visit

Duskwall descends into bloody war