Teddy Bear's Picnic (Vigrid Roughland wrap-up)

I was feeling cold and tired - I had collected all the reagants for that Grendel shaman who smeared it on my hands. Gross but it managed to destroy the magical barrier around the crypt where the Eye of Truth was hidden. I needed that device, I had a feeling that it would expose the truth behind Thane Anderson's treachery... but I was gonna die here. I let out a scream as my Cyclops fell...

And then SHE appeared. I was inspired to summon Ninja Pigs and destroy the ghost that was bothering me. I sobbed in glee.

"Grace!" I cried, glomping her. "You're back!"

"Clever Agnes agreed to let me go visit you and help you out," said Grace, pulling me away. I was tempted to kiss her on the lips and beg her never to leave me again, like she was my boyfriend instead of my friend, but I finally calmed down. "Let's finish up this investigation. That will be our final adventure together, at least for now."

 

 

We faced down the evil spirit with our combined powers... (Lothrin Doombringer is much stronger than Skellek, the first boss past Krokotopia with over 1000 health. But he's easily brought down with a strong set up attack.)

And then I hit the rune stones as that shaman told me to - the Eye of Truth appeared, a giant device.

"That's going to be a pain to carry, no Mma?" mumbled Penny.

"We are wizards, Mma," giggled Grace. "We can shrink it."

(Had to go through this again because Grace hadn't completed the collection of bark and troll sweat from Druk. Oops.)

Egil was stunned when he saw this. "I don't think our Thane Rra is under a curse or brainwashed..." murmured Grace. "The Eye of Truth is said to dispel illusions... I think that Thane that stabbed you in

"You will need to go to Frostholm," said Egil. "Talk to Grimnir."

Grimnir, the recluse who refused to leave the village, told us where to go. "There is a member of the elite Red Claw called Ragnar Stormbrow in the cave nearby, steal his sword and show it to the guard. The Red Claw will not let you through unless you have a valuable weapon for their fort."

That was no problem at all. He fell quickly between the might of myth and storm. ^_^

"What a fine blade," murmured Grace, pocketing it. "We can easily fool the guard into letting us through - it has no marking to distinguish it as a weapon of their own kind."

"Pretty stupid if you ask me, Mma," said Penny, huffing.

"They are brutes, they do not think to use tact," said Grace, smirking. "Let us go to Frostholm."

Sure enough, the guard let us into the fort. We were ready for anything.

 

 

 

Inside we found a bear called Ulric Oathbreaker who helped us get into the fort. We did acts of sabotage - first we destroyed their weapons, then we killed the boars who they were making peace with after giving the boar emissary a fake gift that insulted them, and finally we freed the prisoners that were being tortured, all under the guise of seeking to join them. We killed the bears who held the weapons and prisoners easily.

 

Gunnar was furious. "You dare to pretend to join the Red Claw, girls! I will rip you in half!"

"You have no permission to touch a lady, you foul thing!" screamed Penny. "Let's teach these bruins how to treat women!"

I giggled. "She's like this much?"

Grace rolled her eyes and sighed as we crushed Gunnar Quickaxe and his mook. "You should have seen her when I first fought Rattlebones. I prefer less violence but sometimes fighting is the only way to solve a problem."

"Well, we have to do it to arrest Thane Anderson, or his fake," I said, smirking as I blasted open the wooden gates leading to the keep. We carefully dodged the Red Claw and barged into the keep.

 

 

We were in for a fight - the fake Thane had two Red Claw guards with him. We switched to our mass-attack decks and did business and I said a prayer of gratitude to Christina for trading me those strange treasure cards which I used to empower the Puking Frog, or else the Red Claws would have wasted us with their lightning attacks. (This can be a tough fight to solo since you have to fight two Red Claws but Myth boosts on the mooks, just watch out as the fake Thane will spam Weakness and Hex on you, he's Balance. Luckily, one Monstrous Humongofrog one-shots the mooks and brought fake Thane down low enough that it didn't matter if Kraken was shielded by his Elemental Shield.)

"You fake!" I cried, throwing out the Eye of Truth. It glowed and exploded into light and where the bear thane was stood a bird in a green hooded cloak. I recognized his ilk - I had helped one in Savarstaad Pass get the reagents for a potion of fate. Hgufnir? I can't remember.

"A crow!" snorted Penny.

"No, the Ravens are one of the clans of Grizzleheim," said Grace. "They are the wizards of this land."

"Bah!" it screeched. "Even if you stopped me here, you are too late, little human girls! Even now, the Thane is under our control! Ha ha ha!" He vanished in a puff of smoke.

"No..." I said in horror. "Kidnapped!"

"We can do nothing more," sighed Grace. "Let's just go. Oh, there is one of the books Rra Wyndrune wants us to read." I saw the weathered book and nodded slowly. "I am sorry Mma, but I am afraid I cannot help you anymore, Agnes needs my aid." She smiled. "But... it was nice having one last investigation. Take care, sister."

She teleported away and I sighed as I wiped a tear from my eye. "Goodbye... sister."

It was with a heavy heart that I reported my findings to Egil Axebreaker and Bjorn Ironclaws. Egil was glad that the real Thane, even in a hostage situation, had not betrayed Grizzleheim. Bjorn said he would bring the matter of the kidnapping to the king. Things were turning dark... why would the Raven Claw break peace with the Bears? It made no sense... (And that guy is Cody Firerunner, who I stupidly added to her friends list - he invaded her home and ruined the moment with his text box.)

And then I got a call from Christina. "Hey, how are you up to?"

"Just one last adventure with an old friend," I sighed. "And finishing up an investigation in Grizz."

"What a coinkidink!" said Christina. "I've met a Bear who needs some strong wizards to deal with a Grendel invasion of his home! Care to help out?"

This was intriguing and it would get my mind off of Grace's farewell. I wasn't alone, I had a new friend to help me quest. I smiled. "I'll be right there."

(That last scene is a little hint on what Sierra's next adventure. Stay tuned! ^_^)