The Four Tests (Wintertusk; Austrilund)

 

The gate to Austrilund was surrounded by bushes that thrived even in the cold snowy ground. We passed through and I was amazed at the scenery - the trees were heavy with snow but still had all their leaves on, even if the leaves were ready to fall off. It was like the transition between autumn and winter. I took one look around, checked my map of Austrilund, and headed towards the hall of the giant Austri, who held one of the Golden Seals we needed to ensure Ymir never woke up.

(Author's note: You can find Black Lotus and Frost Flowers here and in Vestrilund in abundance, so if you still haven't gotten past Balthazar's crafting quests, you can make some headway now.)

It was a ways off but we reached the hall, which was just a wooden alcove built into the trees. Austri was huge and his green beard shook as he greeted us quite rudely.

"Hey!" snapped Christina. "You'd better taket hat back, you overgrown..." Grace calmed her down.

"Forgive my friend," I said quickly. I introduced ourselves. "We have..."

 "I know why you are here, Outlanders," said the giant. "You are here to obtain my Golden Seal in order to ensure that my father, Ymir, never wakes up. We are glad to hear that."

I was taken aback even though I was told by G.R. that Ymir's son hated his guts. "You mean it?

Austri chuckled. "If these Seals were placed our father, he will never wake up, and we could continue to rule over raven, bear and wolf!"

I was stunned. This can't be THAT easy.

"However," said Austri. "I won't give my Golden Seal to just anyone. I put before you four task of strategy, wit, charm and strength. If you can prove to me you are mighty,, the Seal is yours."

I sighed. Of course not. "Very well, what do you want us to do?"

"You must first defeat my greatest servant, Skeggis Forkbeak," said Austri. "Speak to him, he lives in a shack down the path, you probably passed it on your way here."

"Okay," I muttered. "See ya."

I wasn't surprised that Skeggis was a raven. I tipped my head to him. "Greetings, sir Forkbeak. Austri sent us to you to take one a task."

"So, Austri wishes to test your skill against me in the realm of strategy, does he?" chuckled the Raven. "Very well, I won't fold so easily! Beat me in a game of Thane's Table and..."

"What's that?" I said abruptly.

"Of course, you're an Outlander," said Skeggis, a bit annoyed. "You wouldn't know how to play Thane's Table. But then again, I am getting bored for a challenge. Nobody here is good enough! I have beaten everyone in Grizzleheim, save one - Mimir Strongclaw, and even then, we played to a draw." He rubbed his feathered chin. "If you want to learn how to play Thane's Table, and play well, I suggest you speak to Mimir. You will find him in the Norn's Well, in Hrundle Fjord."

"Norn's Well?" I muttered. I had an idea where that was. "Okay, be right back."

(And for the record, Grace finally hit Level 55 after talking to Skeggis the first time. She's lagging behind the others in EXP.)

 

We met a wolf who was having problems with someone destroying his traps. We found the perp in a cave nearby... a frosty treant who suddenly attacked us with Earthquake. We had a hard battle but we eventually defeated it. "You usurpers of the land will never be safe!" it roared. "The land will rise up against you and crush you for despoiling it and stealing from it!"

"Wow, talk about a tree-hugger," I joked.

The wolf trapper realized why the creature had destroyed his traps. He promised not to over-hunt the land in the future and let the animals procreate so there would be enough meat to survive.

(Frostbranch is the first gimmick boss of Wintertusk; no gimmick bosses exist in Grizzleheim, but here in Wintertusk there are a few. Grace had to refight him because she forgot to trigger the quest to find the mysterious cave since I had her port into the battle in hopes of avoiding the spawning of multiple Razortusk Warriors. That didn't work. *face palm* I had everyone attack with wand strikes to negate the nasty Efreets he uses on anyone who doesn't have a 'mark of courage' on them. However, I had to get past the two Smokescreens he'll use instantly on Round 1 and every round he does his Earthquake cheat. Needless to say, I almost died because the game spawns more Razortusks to ensure you fight four enemies if you have three party members. Ugh.)

 

Once thing that scared me was that the boars with that treant had summoned an evil version of my Ninja Pigs(which looked like the Yakeda ninja pigs with their putrid green skin and pitch-black clothes from the Ancient Burial Grounds) which poisoned the target and made them weak. I was scared. (BWA HA HA! YOU THOUGHT YOU WERE FREE OF THE ANNOYING WEAKNESS CHARM NOW THAT BALANCE ENEMIES STOP USING IT?!!? NOT ON YOUR LIFE! Death-element enemies are now high enough rank to use the pet spell Death Ninja Pigs(which are a pet spell because you get it from the Death Ninja Pig pet that is a rare drop from Yakedo), which is a Death-elemental Ninja Pigs which inflicts a Weakness charm on the attacked party. So yeah, if you see these guys, commence more hair-pulling and busting out of Cleanse Charms. But then again, you should be using Cleanse Charms if you can't avoid Frostbranch's uber Efreet - uber because it does more, lots more damage than a normal Efreet. This really sucks if Christina used her buffs since wanding the Weakness off will remove the Blades as well.)

(Needless to say, from now on, if you have to fight a Death-type enemy, pack tons of Cleanse Charms or just accept that you won't one-shot enemies from now on.)

"You've gotta be kidding me," muttered Christina. "Oh well, here we go into the troll well!"

Good news, Mimir was there. Bad news...

 

 

 

He wasn't very friendly. We got attacked by Zillas...

 

 

But we responded in kind.

"It's okay, Skeggis sent us," said Grace. "We are here to learn Thane's Table."

"So Skeggis has sent you to me to learn the game of Thane's Table, has he?" said the ghost. He chuckled. "That was wise. Had he taught you, he would have given you poor advice and used that against you when you confronted him. I will glad teach you, but I am a bit peckish. I would like to eat some of Regin's home-baked bread."

I sighed. "Okay, we'll get it for you. Be right back."

Regin told us that he had delivered the last batch of bread to the bakery before the ice set in, so we went there and re-heated the bread in the oven. He also said that it should be eaten with wild honey.

Ow ow ow ow! Why did I  have to be the one to take bee stings? In hindsight, I should have used my Smokescreen treasure card on the hive to calm them down before harvesting. I sliced the hot bread and slathered it with honey before we headed back to the well.

I held my tongue, mainly because my left cheek was swollen. One bee nailed me there! Luckily the swarm backed off after a few stings but I was still packing snow on my face and right hand. Regin had applied some herbs and the swelling was going down, but I still felt upset.

He had BETTER appreciate it! He put the bread down. "You won't eat it?"

"I will, but I won't make you watch me," he chortled. "You are here to learn Thane's Table. I am a quick teacher, so you had better be a quick learner."

"Ugh, I don't like playing board games," muttered Chrstina. "You two learn it." She climbed up the rope and left the well.

Me and Grace listened and asked questions and I absorbed everything. After all, I had to put up with a cranky magic professor, so I gained the ability to be a quick learner. (If you are interested in where Wizard101 came up with the game of Thane's Table, go to this Wikipedia link, which talks about board games caled tafl games which are played in the Nordic regions. ^_^)

I felt embarassed. "Uh... don't you have pieces for me?"

Skeggis got annoyed again. "All players supply their own pieces. I don't have any spare pieces."

"Well, I don't have any!" I snapped.

Grace sighed. "Forgive us, Rra Forkbeak, we did not realize that we would need to supply our own pieces. Are you sure you have no spare pieces?"

"I did, but the Frost Bones stole them," said Skeggis, who calmed down when Grace had spoken. I was glad Grace was here, she was a great mediator. "You'll need to get them back if you can't get your own pieces."

I sighed in disgust. Seriously? We got the bag of pieces from the dang skeletons wandering around outside of Austri's hall. (Ice enemies will start spamming Tower Shields. Luckily one of our girls has access to Earthquake to deal with them in one shot.)

"Sure thing," I said. "Which us of do you want to play first?" He pointed to me and I nodded. "Okay, let's do this. I think I can show you a few things I learned!"

The duel was... well, I won't bore you with details, but it took a long time. Skeggis was not boasting - he kept me on my toes with every move he made, but Mimir had given me a few tips on how to deal with his moves. I then saw an opening, smirked widely, and made a major move, crossing my arms with a smug smile. He frowned and shook his head.

Grace looked over the board and clapped happily. "You have won, Mma. He cannot counter you.

"We are ready to play now," said Penny.

"Maybe another time," muttered the raven. "If your friend defeated me, you would DESTROY me."

"Uhm..." I said.

"It's fine, Mma," said Grace, smirking. "He recognizes my intellect and skills in perception. After all, I would not be the #1 Lady Private Detective in the Spiral without those attributes. Even if Mimir had not taught me the tips, I could have figured out how to win."

"Oh come on, you think we're that cowardly?" I sneered. I briefly explained what had happened.

"Well, the next task is not so easy," said Austri. "To pass the test of wit, you must defeat my riddle-master, Grond. He lives at the boar camp north of here."

"I'm not very good at riddles," I said under my breath. My big brother always stumped me with riddles when I was a kid.

Here it comes...

"What is your name?" he said.

"Sierra," I said.

"Well done! You win!" said the boar. "Not even Grond know that answer!"

My eyes widened and I stared at the boar for a looooong time, until Christina rejoined me and slapped my back. "You okay, carrot fairy?"

"Let's return to Austri before I follow my desire to cook wild pork," I grunted.

The giant held his sides, laughing.

"You GAVE us that one, didn't you?" I grumbled in anger.

"Hey, don't look down," whispered Christina. "Getting a freebie isn't all bad."

I shook my head in disgust. Boars make lousy riddle-masters. Oh well, I guess it wasn't as hard as trying to beat a raven in a game of chess.

"With the tests of strategy and charm under your belt, you are only halfway to earning the Golden Seal," said Austri. "Next is the test of charm - you must convince a warrior to part with his weapon. The wolves are a thorn in my side. Speak to their leader and ask him to give up his spear, but... you must not harm him."

I nodded. After dealing with the wolves in Mirkholm Keep, I knew wolf warriors were tough! I knew I wasn't a seductress but I was sure I could get Grace to help me reason with the wolf leader.

"Thank you, brother wolf," said Grace.

"If you would speak, speak quickly," said Garm. "My time is short and I have many boars to slay."

"Speaking of boars..." I said. I then got an idea. "If we slew all the boars in this area for you, would you relinquish your spear to us?"

He smirked. "We have grounds for bargain! Austri's thugs are everywhere, if I knew they were all dead, I would gladly part with my spear."

"You've got a deal," I said. "I'm eager to butcher some pigs."

 

I couldn't harm Grond, but that didn't mean his fellow Razortusks and Svini warriors weren't fair game. After many many battles, we not only got revenge for the lame riddle I had to solve...

We also got enough items to make a bow for "Winterheart" Ragna, who was the first female bear I had met. I had all but given up hope that the bear clan had women to mate with, but I smiled - the women were as fierce a warrior race as the men. (Can we say too much zoom? :p)

 

 

She also helped us deal with Hod, an insane wolf who had lost his marbles(in both terms of the word) - we beat him into sanity and then helped him recover the food he had lost to the boars.

With my wild pig butchery quota satisified, I got Garm's spear and handed it to Austri.

 

 

Of couse, we first had to train one of his students in the ways of battle with a friendly duel. It was a bit of a struggle, but that was fine! Erling had become stronger and was ready to fight the boars.

I could have told Austri this, or that Garm had taken up another of his many many spare spears, but NAH, we needed that Seal and that information was something the giant galook could find out on his own, long after we had the Seal and were in Celestia, where he couldn't get to us. :p

"Now you must complete the test of strength," he said. "I will not mince words, you must win a battle in order to pass this final test. My greatest warrior, Sulkir, lives in a cave near my hall. Challenge him to a duel and win, and you will have your Golden Seal."

I smirked. "You are going to learn just how powerful three girls are!"

 

It was another ice troll, but...

 

We had dealt with ice trolls before. "You must tell me about your time in Rra Whiteshield's hall," said Grace after Sulkir fell unconscious. "I wish I had been there."

"Yeah, you could have really helped us!" I said.

We found another glowing rune which spoke: (My apologies for forgetting to put this in when I uploaded this post. I'm embarrassed. :( )

Tree and Raven stopped the War

They sang the Song of Sleep

And put the Titans to Rest

"This is old news, we learned this from day one in our studies," said Christina.

"Yes, but revisiting the past helps with studying for the future, Mma," said Grace. I nodded...

And then found myself elsewhere. Sailor Mercury was on a white stag. "Hello! I sensed you have become very powerful, so I brought you to this place. Examine the pedestal."

I did and felt even stronger. Now I could enchant attacks to be more powerful! (Yep, by the end of these final events and completing a few side-quests, Sierra and Grace hit Level 56, so now we had to go to the Floating Land with them to teach them Monstrous! [Chris Storycrafter helped Grace warp there.] We've used Treasure Cards of them, but now we can train the spell. The final Sun enchant - for now - is also learned here in two levels but after we visit GR again, Christina hits Level 57! Also, Level 58 is when we'll start getting the Rank 8 Spell spell quests, all of which involve a gimmick boss.)

"Where are we?" I asked.

"The Floating Land in Celestia," said Amy.

I gasped and remembered something. "Is there a guy called Pierce Stanson here?"

"Yeah, he's just outside of the camp," said Amy. "But hurry, I can't keep you here."

I got to the Marleybone chap, a bulldog chap, and tipped my hat. "I heard from someone that you were a Grandmaster Artisan. I am a Master wanting to be such."

He chuckled. "Well, I am the head of inventory management here in the expedition."

"So, you know what's been going on, do you know anyone called..." I began to say, but I stopped myself. No, that could wait. I wasn't here to talk about that. "Can you teach me to be a Grandmaster?"

"Well, I'll need to test you," he said. "I can sell you a recipe for an amulet called the Seal of the Seven Seas. Make one for me and if it's good, you will be promoted to Grandmaster Artisan."

I was thrilled and shelled out my money for the recipe.

It was decent - I had been hoarding Sunstone so I had ample. (We got a few Sunstone from packs.) The only things I was lacking were the Treasure Cards and some fish fins. I had a feeling I could get the fins in Celestia, but Amy approached me and I knew I had to go back to my friends. "I can't do this now but..."

"Take your time, Sierra," said Pierce. "When you come back, I'll be waiting." He tipped his hat.

"Where were you?" asked Christina. I explained where I had been.

"Oh, I got the spell upgrade too," said Grace. "I feel we will be much stronger now, fights will be much easier."

"Well, not by much but the more damage we do, the better," I said. "Let's go proclaim our victory."

I was really beginning to hate this guy. I was glad when he dumped a huge Golden Seal - and it was a literal sea lion made of gold! - in my arms. It magically shrank and I put it in my bag. One down, three to go. I wanted to be far away from this jerkfreak.

"You will not find my brothers so easy to deal with," warned Austri. "I suggest you visit Vestri, he is the most reasonable to deal with. The gate to Vestrilund is locked, and a raven called Grimaldi Keymaker has the key... I have not heard of him in some time, but his cave is south of here."

"Good day," I said, leaving quickly. The sooner I got away from this giant, the better.

"He is not here," said Penny.

"Hey, look at that rune stone," said Christina.

I touched it...

"Who dare disturbs my eternal rest?"

I leapt out of my skin in shock and turned to see a ghostly raven. "Grimaldi?"

"Yes, we do," said Grace. "What happened to you, why are you late?"

"The Coven slew me when I refused to hide the key," said Grimaldi. "They could not destroy the key so they broke it into two pieces and gave them to two Ice Colossi brothers, Nali and Gnarr. You will have to defeat them, then bring them to me and I will repair the key."

"Will do," I said. "I feel like an glass of tea..."

 

"With plenty of ice cubes!"

(Nali's cave flanks the entry gate to Hrundle Fjord on the other side from Frostbranch's cave, and Gnarr's is near the Boar Camp. These two have a lot of health - Nali has one to three Grendel Scarbacks[I trained Grace in Infallible from the Stellarium when she hit Level 54 not only to make sure her attacks hit but also to pierce Tower Shields and resistance from Storm enemies] and Razortusk Warriors, one to three, were accompanying Gnarr. Needless to say, lots of DNP. If you didn't get that the big guys were Ice-elemental and Ninja Pigs is awesome on them, then ugh. :p)

We gave Grimaldi the key pieces but as soon as he repaired the key...

"Shaking my head here," groaned Christina, who shook her head and sighed. I shook my fist in the air. Curse you, Orin Stormfather! Curse you and your contingency magic!!!

 

(Aurekk the Mighty, despite being our first yeti enemy and being unable to see how much damage we're doing because he fills the screen with his size and the damage counter is off the screen, is actually anti-climatic for the final story boss of Austrilund. He's ice like the Colossi and you won't get three Frost Bones unless the girls had a friend join in. The Frost Bones is more the threat due to him spamming Tower Shield. Aurekk has only 90 more HP than the Jade Oni and we dealt with THAT guy when the girls were only Master Rank Wizards. Ninja Pigs clinched the win. Sierra will have a much easier time in Wintertusk than Amy did.)

"The Coven is onto us," said Grace. "We must warn Grandmother."

G.R. was not pleased when she heard about the ambush. "It is as I had feared," she murmured. "My children of the Coven know you are coming."

"Let them know," said Christina. "I'm about to RAGE!"

I was furious too. These birds had committed acts similar to Malistaire in their mad quest - and they didn't have a reason to bring Ymir out of slumber except to turned everyone into popsicles, they were clearly fanatical and insane. "We're heading to Vestriulund now."

"Before you go, let me give you some advice," said G.R. "You will find a farmer called Hekkir Grainbearer in an encampment near the entrance. He and his people have suffered much due to the Coven. If you can aid them, they will aid you in reaching Vestri."

"Of course we'll help anyone who was hurt by the Coven," I said, bowing. "The more allies we get against our enemies, the better. Come on, girls, let's go!"

"Time to bounce!" said Christina, bowing to G.R. Grace bowed as well, and we got on our mounts and headed to the southwest part of the Fjord, to our next adventure in Wintertusk...


[To be continued...]