Ambrose's news was dire. "What do you mean?" I said, trying to hope that it wasn't what I thought it would be. Sadly, my hopes were dashed.
"Your old friend in Grizzleheim, Bjorn Ironclaws, sends word," said Ambrose. "The ravens of the Coven have struck once again!"
"Already?" joked Christina. "Wow, that was fast." She turned her head and gave a raspberry.
"Please, be respectful," scolded Grace. "Rra Ambrose, tell us more."
"Bjorn sent word to ask you to venture to Northguard and speak to him at once." He then smirked. "Your instructors are aware that you may miss some class time and there may be make-up work when this matter is complete."
"Not funny, Ambrose!" I groaned. "I just dealt with ugly bug-men, I am not hearing it!" I bowed. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to be like that, I just..." I explained what had happened earlier.
"I see, these Shadow Weavers are a menace," said Ambrose, rubbing his beard. "I'll do some scrying into them while you are busy in Grizzleheim."
"Let's bounce," Christina said with a giggle. "This is gonna be an adventure, I can tell."
Bjorn nodded as we greeted him by the gate to the palace. It hadn't changed much. "Your presence humbles me. I am only the second-greatest hero in Grizzleheim when you three visit my world."
"Okay, enough small talk," I sighed. "Give it to me straight, what's the damage?"
He grew serious when he realized we weren't here to break the ice, so to speak. "Times are grim. Though you defeated them before, the evil members of the Coven have struck again. We fear that this is their final act to curse the Spiral with the dreaded Everwinter."
"Knew we should have killed them," said Christina. "Oh well, c'est la vie. Where are they now?"
"We do not know," said Bjorn. "King Valgard Goldenblade has need of your spells. Enter his hall and speak with him, if you are true heroes."
We entered and approached the king, bowing politely to him. He nodded. Verik was there as well, gripping his halberd with such force his knuckles were turning white. Clearly this was a crisis.
"We are happy to help, Your Majesty," I said, bowing again. "Tell us the details."
"As Bjorn Ironclaws told you," he said. "The evil ravens of the Coven are trying to bring the Everwinter upon Grizzleheim. Once this dreadful cold comes, it will wreath our world in ice and the freeze will spread throughout the Spiral."
I shuddered and hugged myself tightly, not from despair like in Mooshu after hearing what Malistaire had done there, but from genuine terror. No world will be safe from this fatal ice age.
"Though the Coven met with defeat at your hands," said Valgard. "They crept from their hidey-holes and struck again!"
"Ugh," said Christina, holding her head. "This is just great. First these Shadow Weavers and now this. How can they do this anyways? They can't use the same ritual as before."
"There is much to tell you, but still much I do not know. Speak with your old friend Hrafn Lorespeaker in Ravenscar, he knows more about this grim threat."
Hrafn was cheery as always. (cue the sarcasm)
"But how can they summon it?" asked Grace. "I thought we defeated them and stole the Raven's Stone so they couldn't do their ritual."
"They have a more daring plan, my children," said Hrafn, leaning on his staff. "You have no doubt heard of the Titans of Storm, Ice and Fire, yes? They were the first beings, created by the dreams of Bartleby before the Spiral was made."
Grace nodded. "I have a spell that invokes the Storm Titan."
"And we saw the Fire Titan ourselves in Dragonspyre and stopped a fellow wizard from awakening him," I added. Then it hit me. "Wait... you mean..."
"Yes," he said. "The Ice Titan sleeps deep beneath Grizzleheim, sent into eternal slumber by Bartleby himself. The Coven would rouse the Ice Titan from that eternal rest..."
"And if the Dragon Titan's wakening would burn the Spiral to ashes," said Christina in ashen terror. "Then the Giant Titan's wakening would..."
"Yes, his fury would be cold and fierce!" said Hrafn somberly. "You stalled them when you prevented them from wakening the Titan with the corruption of the clans' stones, but they are not easily stopped by your actions... the runes told me they have resurfaced in Hrundle Fjord, a port in Wintertusk."
"Wintertusk? That sounds ominous," I said.
"It is a part of Grizzleheim which was settled long ago," said Hrafn. "If you think this part of Grizzleheim is chilly, then you have never visited Wintertusk. That place is cold as winter."
"And it'll be the same through the Spiral if we don't stop the Coven," said Grace sadly. "We will stop them this time, Rra Lorespeaker."
"Go and speak with Valgard Goldenblade once more and tell him that Hrundle Fjord is where you must go," said Hrafn. "I wish you three great luck - Wintertusk is much more dangerous than any part of Grizzleheim you have ever visited."
I felt a deep chill down my spine.
"Yes, he has, Your Majesty," said Christina. "We need to hurry to Hrundle."
"So Hrafn Lorespeaker tells you that the Coven is up to their evil in Hrundle Fjord," said the king, growling deeply. "This angers and frightens me."
"How?" I asked.
"I have not heard from my subjects in Hrundle Fjord in some time, and I worry they have met with trouble. Baldur Goldpaws is at the docks, he will take you to the place in Wintertusk known as Hrundle Fjord. Go with my favor, like a trusted sword."
We bowed and wished him farewell - we had to go to this new part of Grizzleheim and stop the Coven from their attempt to wake another Titan. We knew the dangers of waking a Titan, and if the Dragon Titan in Dragonspyre was any indication, the Ice Titan was not going to be any friendlier.
"It's nice to see you again, Baldur," I said. "I remember you taking me to this land in your ship when I was just a rookie wizard... but now we need your ship again to go to Hrundle Fjord."
"You want to go to Hrundle Fjord?" asked the bear captain. "It is a simple matter enough, I go there seasonally to trade. Board my ship and we will be on our way."
No point in waiting, we boarded the ship and he commandeered it around the land to an icy place...
We were in Wintertusk, and I felt myself shiver from cold. Even my cloak was not enough to migitate the chill. "There is an unnatural chill in the air," said Bjorn. "And that longboat nearby is covered in ice. Go check it and see if the crew is alive."
"This is not natural frost," whispered Grace. I could see her breath, it was that cold. "This is magic."
"I think we've found the crew, or what remains of it," muttered Christina, showing some bears frozen in blocks of ice. "Bjorn needs to know about this."
"Yes, they're waking the Ice Titan," said Grace.
"What now?" I asked.
"You should go and examine the gates to the village," said Bjorn. "See is they were able to withstand this terrible cold. Go and scout only... do not open the gates or enter the village yet. There may be trouble within!"
"Likely," I said. "Stay here, we'll check it out."
I quickly realize that trouble was an understatement - the gate was locked and tons of skeletal warriors were lurking outside! They spotted us and attacked!
They unleashed ice-based attacks that I swore were too powerful for first-turn, but it was obviously the Coven's evil magic giving our enemies an advantage.)
(Welcome to the gimmick of the second arc and Wintertusk - all enemies start with at least two pips and may start with power pips! That means they'll be able to cast their strongest spells first turn, which can do a LOT of damage to you! Later worlds will have a lot of pips so you can expect to be slammed by Rank 8 or higher spells, which can be fatal. Luckily, Icezilla is the strongest attack the Frost Bones, which have over 1000 HP[most enemies in Wintertusk will have this level of health], will launch at you.)
We defeated them and I noticed that one of dying warriors banged on his shield and the gate opened for more warriors to clamber out. I had an idea...
It worked! ^_^
(If you are using this blog as a walkthrough, I must warn you that I skipped most of the other parts, like talking to Baldur after you get the message from the Frost Bones.)
"The Coven is clearly holding power here," said Grace. "There are many ravens."
We nodded in agreement. Carefully we slipped by their eyes.
The residents were also encased in ice. We were too late.
"Let's tell Baldur about this," said Christina sadly.
"You're crazy," said a wizard on a lion.
"You! Did you see anything suspicious?" I asked.
"Yeah, lots of ravens and goblins crawling out of the caves," mumbled the wizards. "Do us a favor, girl, don't try to be a hero. I'm going back to Grizzleheim." He bounded off.
I shook my head. "No, I can't let the Everwinter happen."
"Is there anything we can do?" I asked.
"This is raven magic, we need a raven!" said Baldur. "There's an old crow called Morn Shadowbrew in the village. She may not be trustworthy, but she's our only option. Try to reason with her."
Fat chance. Time to kick some Coven tail.
 |
| Sierra: "AAAAAAAGH!" Grace: "Mma! Are you okay?!" |
 |
| Sierra: "I'll live." |
Morn zapped me with her own Storm Titan...
But Grace gave her a taste of her own medicine, with the help of a Prism.
(And THIS is why Wintertusk is called the Big Loot Farm - enemies usually drop Level 52 gear that sells for thousands of gold! There is one boss in Vestrilund that is easy to kill and drops almost nothing but gear, making him the best guy to farm for bazaar pawnage.)
"You'd better show us how to thaw everyone, you blackbird," I warned, wand up.
"May I ask a boon if you can forgive this crow," said Morn. "Frost Goblins stole my rune-carving tools. If you can recover them for me, I will make you a charm and give you a way to thaw the ice."
I sighed. "Okay, but don't double-cross us or else..."
The goblins were dangerous and I nearly died. (Sierra ended up with 286 HP in one battle!) But we managed to recover the tools and Morn made us magical amulets. (Which we quickly sold - you get the Frost Giant's Amulet, which gives you a Frost Giant item card, which can't be enchanted and would be useless against most enemies here. Amy would use it but her Frost Giants CAN be enchanted. It's a nice gesture though.)
"Take this urn and fill it with water from the geysers," she said, handing me a rune-covered urn. "This will break the spell and melt the ice."
"I hope they're okay," muttered Christina.
The ice melted with a flash and soon we freed the Thane. "The last thing I remember was arming myself to fight the Coven, and then there was darkness," said Vanie. "Then I find myself wet and steaming. I have lost my dignity but owe you my gratitude, Wizards."
"Thanks," I said. "We're here to fight the Coven before they bring about the Everwinter."
"I will gladly help you, but my people need my aid," said Vanir. "They are all trapped in ice. Could you take this bucket and free them like you did me?"
"Surely!" said Christina. "Let's go! We've got bears to thaw!"
We quickly thawed out the bears and they thanked us.
We also saw fellow wizards fighting the Coven. "Hey, Sierra!" said one of the battlers. "We got word from our friend that you were here fighting the Coven, so we're here to help! Austin, say you're sorry to the girls who brought down Malistaire."
The wizard I had seen earlier grumbled as he cast a spell. "Sorry for being a coward."
I wiped a frozen tear from my eye. "Thanks, keep up the good fight!" I cried.
We learned from the Thane that we had to speak to someone called Grandmother Raven. That name was faintly familiar, I think Ambrose spoke that name...
We were told to go to the base of the tree called Nastrond and we did. "We have found her," said Grace. "Come quickly."
I approached... and felt a familiarity. "You, you were the one speaking to me through the statue in Mirkolm Keep, in the caverns!"
Grandmother Raven nodded. "I have been watching all of you for a long time as you made your way through the Spiral, both apart and together. Perhaps you have felt my presence before."
Grace and Christina gasped. "I saw your statue in a corner of that treant's cave in Savarstaad Pass!" said Grace. "You warned me of my home world falling to darkness."
"And I saw your statue in one of my friend's houses, only you looked very different," said Christina. "You told me that I would learn the magic of the sun, the moon and even the shadows."
She nodded and turned to each of us. "I celebrated your victories..."
"Consoled you in your defeats..."
"And I hope that my counsel reached you on your respective journeys."
I smiled. I felt like someone had been narrating my life ever since Ambrose gave me the Book of Secrets and I became the Tightwad Conjurer, telling me what would be best for my course of action in a sticky situation. I knew it had been her. "Thank you."
She sighed. "You find me at a disadvantage. Though the ravens are all my children of a sort, some of them are quite wicked. The Coven are the most untrustworthy."
"Is that all you can say about them?" sneered Christina. "After the sh--" I silenced her with a glare. I knew G.R. was sad to see her children try to destroy the Spiral. That was how Ambrose felt when Malistaire malignantly resigned from Ravenwood to awaken the Dragon Titan.
"Did they do this to you, Grandmother?" said Grace. The great one nodded. "I promise we will find a way to free you from this prison."
G.R. smiled. "If you would help an old grandmother, talk to the tree wise sisters called the Norns, at the nearby well. They can see into the past, across the world as it is, and know what is to come. They can help you set me free."
"We'll be right back with your freedom," said Christina. "Count on it!"
We went to the raven witches and they introduced themselves as Urd, Verdandi and Skuld. (Oh My Goddess! Not really - fun fact, that anime was based off of Norse Myth[as Grizzleheim is] and the 'goddesses' in that anime were actually based off of the Norns, Norse figures who were similar to the Fates in Greek Myth.)
"In order to free Grandmother Raven, you must first do the impossible," said Urd. "You must collect a feather from a white raven..."
"A claw from a bear who has no name..." said Verdandi.
"And a tooth from a wolf who has never known battle," said Skuld.
We had our work cut out for us, but a quick exploration of the village wouldn't hurt. I confronted Grace. "Say, you said your home world was in danger... and that gorilla guy..."
Grace sighed. "Jabari was a Drum Jungle warrior who my mother saved from death, just before she was killed by a dark mysterious foe when I was three. I was given the flute my mother gave him as a wedding gift. She said that if he was ever in danger to blow the flute and Jabari would come to our aid. After what Malistaire had pulled..."
"Where is the Drum Jungle?" I asked.
"Zafaria, my home," said Grace.
"NO WAAAAAY!" said Christina in shock. "Oh ho ho! You're from Zaf?! I thought only lions and elephants and zebra people lived there!"
"Us humans live in clans around the land," said Grace. "I was rased by my daddy and then his cousin when he died. I was inherited of all his cattle and sold it all to pay for application to Ravenwood so that I could be the #1 Lady Wizard Detective in all the Spiral. I am sorry if I did not tell you sooner. I am proud to be a patriot of Zafaria, but when I left home, there was rumblings of war between the peoples."
"Well, that explains the dark skin," I said. "No offense."
"None taken," said Grace with a smile. "Here, let me rest your shoulders for a bit." She blew a whistle and something appeared...
"This croakagator will disappear after the charm on it wears off and makes it mean again," said Grace. "But you can ride on it until then."
I got in the saddle, it was sort of bumpy but hey, my arms were aching from flying on wings for so long that I think a rest was in order. (Had to use the 1-day Croakogator mount from the Pharoah's pack that I opened. :p)
We searched the village for answers and I discovered a hut with ice over the door. "Hello?" I said.
"If you are with the Coven, leave me be!" cried a voice. It was clearly a raven.
"We have no love of the Coven," I said. "Can we help you?"
"If you would help me, unfreeze my door!" said the voice. "Take a cooking pot from the village sotres, fill it with snow, and boil it over the nearby fire, then pour the water over the ice."
Easiest instructions to follow EVER. The ice shattered into dust and we entered...
And I knew we had our white raven. "No, we are not," I said. We introduced ourselves and she introduced herself as Skolgul the Pale.
"I'm sorry if I was hostile but I am so angry at the Coven!" hissed Skolgul. "If you could get revenge on them by beating up a few of those birds, I'll listen to you."
We smiled at each other...
We LOVED punishing the Coven. (And the best part? You can defeat either the Myth-based Nightwings or the Death-based Frostbeaks. We fight two battles of Frostbeaks and we're done, since the Nightwings would be tough for Sierra.)
She pulled out a white feather from her wing. It looked painful to see her pluck it but I took it.
"If you dare use that in a spell against me..." she began.
"Perish the thought!" said Christina. "We wouldn't have fought the Coven if we were going to double-cross you." She winked and we left. "Now what?"
"Maybe Rra Stormroarer would know of a bear with no name," said Grace. I nodded and we headed back to the Thane's Hall.
"I dunno, but to rescue G.R. we need to have a claw from such a bear," I said. "Any ideas?"
"The census board outside of the hall lists the names of every bear who lives in the village," said Vanir. "You can check it if you like."
He then asked me about the Grendels I slew in Savarstaad Pass. "We have need of one of your power," he said. "A foul troll lies in the cave near the gate, can you drive it from Hrundle Fjord?"
We did so, though we took a lot of damage. (This was the closest the trio came to losing - Sierra and Christina were dropped to less than 1000 health because they were attacked by tons of Blizzards. Luckily, she was able to boost by a Storm Prism - that's the second new battle mechanic in this part of the game which counteracts the fact that they can launch big spells on turn one; enemies now have two weaknesses. Ice enemies like Hrundle-troll here or the Frost Bones are now weak to Sierra's puke frog and ninja pigs, while Myth enemies like the Runeclaws - yes, I called them Nightwings earlier - take extra damage now from a Death wand from Christina's mogged Lunar Scepter of the Anubis. Frostbeaks, being death, take extra damage from ice attacks now like that aforementioned Amulet of the Frost Giant. I'll give a low-down on the other schools when we meet enemies of those schools.)
We also found a rune stone. As soon as we approached, it glowed and spoke in deep tones:
In days agone, void was all
Storm, Ice and Fire made war
The One World was torn apart
"That's the history of how the Spiral came to be," said Christina. "This is interesting..."
I did and smiled. One name was on the list. It was a bear I had spoken to, just outside of the gate.
"Yes," I said. "I noticed that your name is not on the list. Are you from here?"
"What? My name is on the census?" cried Leif in shock. "I..."
"Do you have a claw we could borrow?" I asked.
"Now that you mention it," he said as he took a bag from his pouch and opened it up. "While I was sharpening my axe, I chipped off my smallest claw. It must be fate. Here, take this."
I took the bag and saw the claw inside and reunited with the others. "We have our claw. Now we just need the tooth."
"Well," said Christina. "I stumbled into a hut..."
"The latter," said Grace. "So, Christina says you are an herbalist. Do you heal the wounded?"
"Oh no, only the sick," said Regin. "I left Mirkolm a long time ago."
"So you didn't know..." I smirked again. "Did you break a tooth?"
"It seems this is not coincidence," said Regin, taking a wooden bowl with a chipped fang on it. "When the ice came, I bit a piece of it to test it and I broke my tooth. I could give it to you but not before I ask a boon of you." He held his cheek and winced. "The tooth broke off and left me in pain and the herbs I need to make a potion to remove the pain are far from my hut. I would go out..."
"We'll get them for you," said Christina and I nodded. If Regin ran into the Frost Goblins lurking about his door, then his tooth would become invalid for the ritual. "Just tell us where to go."
 |
| (The Verbana tufts are in the Frost Bones area - one is in the middle of the patrols so be careful! - and the Amaranth is on the path to Sudrilund. You'll also find the Hrundle Trogg near the Sudrilund gate, behind a tree.) |
 |
| (Oh yeah, and you need to defeat Nightwings until they cough up the three Moonworts. Phails for using a picture of Frostbeaks being defeated as I was lazy. :p) |
"We have our stuff," said Christina. "Let's go rescue Grandmother Raven!"
 |
| (Oh yeah, this quest gave Sierra the experience to hit Level 55! Erik Wyndrune will give us another spell now, but unfortunately we have to get a little into Sudrilund, which won't be for a LONG time. :p) |
The Norns tasked us to weave the three items into the thread of our lives, and that would make us immune to the effects of the cage and allow us to release it, freeing G.R. - I was going to volunteer to take the task but found a shock when I found my thread of fate... Grace and Christina's were in there too, just close to mine! I smiled and wiped a tear from my eye as I wove the feather, claw and tooth into our threads. We felt a tingle as the items vanished into the threads, and I felt a lot less cold. In fact, I felt like Grizzleheim was my second home!
I was too stun-struck to speak. G.R. wasn't as big as her brother, Bartleby, but she oozed just as much power, maybe more! "Come now, don't be afraid," teased G.R. "Come up here and face me."
We gingerly came up the ramp and prostrated ourselves. "Now now, get up," said G.R. "I am not a god. Please, no formalities."
We got up and hung our head in awe. "Grandmother," whispered Grace.
"Please, look at me," laughed G.R. gently. "I am not trying to scare you. We must speak much."
We looked at her. "Good," she said. "Now listen carefully. You three are the only hope of this Spiral. You have shown great bravery; I have seen you defeat the warlock Malistaire and I know it was hard to slay one who used to teach in your school, but you prevented the world from being incinerated in the Fire Titan's flames. Now the Coven seeks the same goal, only this time the one they seek to awaken is Ymir, the Ice Titan, and once he wakes, he will breathe on the land and turn everything to ice - nothing will live."
We nodded. "What can we do, Grandmother?" asked Grace.
"There is a way to ensure that Ymir never wakes," said G.R. "Before Ymir was sealed in slumber by my brother, the great Bartleby, he created four sons in his likeness - Austri, Vestri, Sudri and Nordri. The lands of Wintertusk around Hrundle Fjord are named after them as they control those lands. Each was given a Golden Seal by the Coven. If you bring these Seals to me, I will enchant them with runic magic to ensure that, if placed in front of Ymir himself, he will be put into a coma and never wake. Not even the Coven will be able to break the spell."
"Wait, if you can make the Seals put Ymir to unbreakable sleep, which not even the Coven can break," said Christina. "How come did they..."
"We'll do it," I said, interrupting her. "Which son should we find first?"
"Austri, he is the most reasonable," said G.R. She conjured a map of the land of Wintertusk and I saw that Austrilund was to the northeast. "Gates bar the way to each land but I have opened them."
"Go bargain for his Golden Seal, there is no other way," she said.
I bowed again. "We will complete this task, get the Seals, and bring them back to you and then we'll ensure the Coven's plan fails again." We made our leave, but little did I know that the task would be a long and arduous journey and the final step would pit us against the four Coven brothers again...
[To be continued...]
No comments:
Post a Comment