The gate to Vestrilund was down the path from Skolgul the Pale's house. When I entered I saw that it was the least ice-covered land of Wintertusk; there was still snow around, but most of the area was green and lush with snowless trees and farmland.
"We must find this Henrek," said Grace. "Grandmother told us that his help would be needed."
I nodded. "There's a fort nearby, let's check it out."
"We come from far away," said Grace. "We heard from Grandmother that you needed help and we are here to aid you."
"So Grandmother Raven sent you," said Henrek. "I wonder... that old witch always has schemes within schemes."
"We trust her," said Christina.
"Well, my people are in need of help and they come first," said Henrek. "If you will help me aid my people, I will get you into Vestri's hall. Do we have a deal?"
I smiled. "Yes, gladly! Even if you couldn't help us, we would gladly extend our hand in aid. G.R. told us you suffered so much from the Coven and any port in a storm."
"Yes?" said Henrek, grinning like a bear. "Then we will begin!"
The first task he sent us on was to gather smoked fish on drying racks and sacks of grain to make flour. We found the sacks near a potato farmer who asked us to look for his daughter, who was being held captive by Frost Bones led by a boar. Christina got annihilated by them but Grace healed her. (This side-quest is brutal, especially when the enemies gang up on your tank. As I said before, this 'second arc' is much more brutal than the first set of worlds when everyone can use Rank 5 spells out of the box. I was lucky to have obtained a Satyr, but maybe I will need to farm Waterworks to try to get life mastery amulets for everyone. The 'potato farmer' has a few tricks and sells recipes for various weapons[none of which have wand attacks but are useful in situations] and gear; the Topaz Bear Claw and Garnet Wolf's Ring are tempting crafts but Sierra ends up getting better. Also, you need to be Grandmaster Artisan before you can buy any recipe.)
We helped a warrior bear called Saga Windcaller remove a rhyming curse and defeated the troll Gurz for the final ingredient, an ice diamond. (Protip: If one person runs into the battle they might pull in two mooks and the boss disappears. This doesn't mean the boss is gone, he just won't join this battle - he will appear after the battle is over, so you can have two battles with two enemies and make the boss battle much more managable!)
"Hey look!" cried Christina. "Another rune stone!" It glowed as we touched it:
Ice went to Sleep
Beneath Grizzleheim
They called him YMIR in early days
Father of Frost, Bringer of Winter
So we knew a little more about the Ice Titan. That was interesting...
The next task Henrek made us do was slay a few boars and wildclaws that were pillaging the fields. It was a bit dangerous but we got through it. (Health had to be replenished a few times after battle because the enemies here do tons of damage with Life Cyclops and Earth Colossus, which are Life variants of familiar spells, and Green Spider, a spider which hits with a weak attack and throws up a bubble that powers up Life damage. As you see in the second shot, the second battle with the Wildclaws dropped Sierra to DOUBLE DIGITS. OUCH!!! X_X)
"There is no need for that sort of praise, Rra," said Grace, blushing. I was blushing too. "We just are glad to help you secure food stores."
"You were able to feed us," said Henrek. "But we still need some of defense. If we could rebuild the pallisade walls, it would limit the directions that they could attack from!"
I looked around and nodded. The fort walls were torn to splinter. "We just chop some tree downs right? That's easy enough."
"The wood is frozen, though," muttered Henrek. "The recent cold has made the trunks hard as ice, it would be difficult to chop through them... unless..." He rubbed his chin. "Once, our village had a legendary golden axe, a magical blade that could cut through anything, frozen or no."
"Where is it now?" asked Christina.
"The golden axe was stolen, long ago, by an ice troll called Thurnir. None could defeat him, so we let him keep it. If you could defeat him and get back the golden axe, we could use it to chop down the trees and rebuild the pallisade."
"No problem!" I said, smiling.
Ugh. Foot in mouth. I was grateful that Christina stalled for time so we could teleport away, potion up, and teleport back. At least we defeated him with Chris's Judgement and got the golden axe from his corpse. (This is the first battle that I lost TWO of my characters! The kid gloves are off, folks! I blame the Frost Bone horde for spamming Tower Shield and making all of our attacks do cruddy damage, long enough for Thurnir to spam Icezilla and take out Sierra, and then he turned to Grace and defeated her before she could heal. I had to stall for time to have them flee, use a potion, and port back. This will be difficult to do in Khrysalis as most sigil areas won't let you port and give the "Your friend is busy" message if you try.)
 |
| (Guess what the girls had to do for moons after that battle! *sigh*) |
Yeah, glorious indeed. I was a little bitter but got over it - after all, we got the axe and whether we took some lumps didn't matter.
Henrek told us the trees we needed to cut down were marked, so we went to them and I took out my aggression on them, then we did some manual labor and repaired the walls. We returned the axe to Henrek so he could keep it safe.
"There is no need to worry," said Grace. "We did it from the depths of our hearts. We know you have suffered much and it is always good to help others."
"It is," he said. "And now I will aid you. Grandmother Raven was wise to send you to me. Long ago, she taught me a chant to bypass the magical wards on Vestri's hall and told me to teach it to a helpful Outlander, and you are the ones! If you had tried to go to his hall, the wards would have done terrible things to you, he relishes his privacy. This chant will get you past the wards."
We learned the chant and used it on the giant tree which was Vestri's hall. The wards glowed and let us pass. I was curious as to what terrible things would have happened without the chant, but that was only a brief curiosity which was quickly squelched.
Vestri was white as snow and we bowed to him. "I thought we had sprayed for Wizards," mumbled the giant. I immediately lost respect for him, but before we could speak he stopped us. "There is no need for the games, I know why you are here. You seek my Golden Seal. I have no issue with this. With the Seals in place, our father will slumber forever and we can go about our lives normally. Talk to my steward and he will take care of you."
I immediately coughed loudly. "Yeah yeah, I've heard the song and dance before, blackbird..."
"But there are three of US and only one of YOU, so..."
"STUFF. IT." (Strykar does have 6520 HP and is going to spam Life Banshee and Life spells, but other than his Earth Colossus, he's no threat, especially if you are Fire or Death. ;p)
"You won't succeed!" screeched the raven as my Pigs made him into chopped bird. "The Everwinter will come, long live Orin Stor---AWK!"
"I said STUFF IT, CROW!" I shouted. He vanished and I swiped up the Golden Seal, or tried to grab it before it shrank to charm size and I could take it. Halfway there!
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| (4th Wall? What 4th Wall? 6_^) |
"Before you go," said Vestri. "Let me give you some advice. The Coven knows you are onto them and are trying to ensure that you do not succeed. As such, the key to my brother Sudri's land is... in the hands of an unusual guardian. The ghost of a Valkyrie called Freya Warsong lies there."
"Dang Coven," I sneered. "This is unforgivable - ripping the dead from their eternal rest to serve them. I have some good recipes for stuffed crow when we kill them..." I wasn't used to be mean but the Coven brought out my inner *****.
"What can we do to release you, Mma?" asked Grace.
"I cannot rest lest I see the unquiet spirits of warriors three to their final rest. Slain unjustly, Halfang Bristlecrown, Osvud Fleetpaw and Asrik Widebelt were cheated from the Hall of the Mighty. If you can defeat them and give them peace, I will grant you the key to Sudrilund and be freed."
"We're on it, Miss Warsong!" said Christina. "Come on, girls, let's do this!"
The Coven was clever - they made it so we had to defeat the spirits in a certain order. First was Halfang Bristlecrown, a boar spirit who was guarded by Coven Darkwings. The crows were tough as they were Myth and were able to use Earthquake and a spell that summoned a rat magician to place a myth field, but we won after some struggle(and Stormzilla).
Say goodbye to your money woes! Halfang is the best guy to farm for gold for three reasons:
(1) He only about the same HP of a Snow Skull(which is a Frost Bones with 1980 HP).
(2) He is Storm so Sierra can one shot him with a buffed Ninja Pigs.
(3) He almost always drops a bit of gear, including amulets like the Cow's Pearl Amulet which sell in the Bazaar for over 8000 gold! An hour of beating him to ether is enough to give you enough money for a Red Barn Farm!
For some reason, Grace disappeared when me and Christina defeated the other guys - a wolf spirit and a bear spirit. They were difficult without Storm Lord but we won.
We also helped light a lookout tower's fire so they could signal danger, but we had to drive out some tough ice skeletons. Clearly the Coven was trying everything to prevent us from stopping them. (As I said before, this is your first encounter with Snow Skulls, which will be common in Nordrilund. They have 1980 HP and start with more power pips, meaning they can wreck you. And they also spam Tower Shield, so watch out for that. I didn't show the fight as it was boring.)
Grace returned. "I am sorry I was away, but Rra Balestorm called me in for a couple of things - he said I was ready to learn a new spell to summon a beast called the Leviathan. He also said that a trader in Nordrilund had found a Kraken pet egg." (Actually, Grace was called away to help old Hunter Hex defeat the Plague Oni. He's a Sorcerer and doing the Power Nova quest. Grace didn't get Level 58 right then, but right after speaking to Grandmother Raven again.)
"Wow," said Christina. "I was called away to visit Al when you guys were fixing up the walls of the fort. He said I was ready to summon Ra, a god of light! Niles told me he used to be a Wizard!"
Oh cra--- "BRB!" I teleported back to Ravenwood and rushed to the Myth School, barging in. "Sorry, Professor! You called me?"
He rolled his eyes. He had and I didn't get the message. (Whether it was because the game defaults to turning off tutorial tips when you reinstall or what, I don't know, but I didn't get the icon alerts from the Professors stating that it was time to learn a new spell! Also, I didn't get egg quests for Sierra and Christina yet. They may not have them.)
"A new spell?" I said.
He nodded. "You are ready to begin your studies in summoning Medusa, a creature of powerful myth. Talk to Ivan, I have papers to grade."
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| (I got the real legend of Medusa from www.dltk-kids.com. The story Ivan gives is much different.) |
Ivan was friendly as usual. "Hello, I'm not chopped liver!" said Chloe.
"Of course not," I said, patting her head and avoiding her snake hair as it snapped at me. "I am sure you are both related." I explained how I got Lady Chloe.
Ivan grinned. "Well, it seems you've gained much favor with your fellow students."
"She said she got her pet from Aquila," I said.
"Yes, those creatures are native to that realm, young wizard," said the tree. He took a deep breath. He was about to tell me a story, I was going to be here a while. *sigh* "You know there are many legends about things in Aquila, do you not? The Immortals are powerful beings and their wrath is terrible to behold. Let me tell you the story of Medusa..."
"Long ago, she was human like you or Professor Drake. She lived in Aquila, long before the Eagles became the dominant people. The women of Aquila back then was exceptional but Medusa was the most beautiful of them all."
"However, with her beauty came vanity and she spoke of little else but that. She was arrogant and boasted everyday about it, and every day her bragging got worse and worse. She would brag about how her skin was more beautiful than freshly fallen snow, and then the next day would brag about her eyes were clearer than the sea, and then the day after that, she would brag about her lips were redder than the reddest rose."
"Ugh!" I said in disgust. "Talk about being a DIVA!"
"If she wasn't bragging about her looks," said Ivan. "She would be preening herself in her little hand mirror, looking at her reflection lovingly. She would have a ritual of preening herself in her mirror for an hour. She would always look at her reflection, be it in her mirror, a window or even pretend to fetch water for her father's horses to gaze into the reflection in the water."
The tree shook his leaves. "Of course, this made her many enemies, who prayed to the Immortals to curse this woman with ugliness and shut her up. Well, one day, their prayers were answered. One day, she visited the temple to Athena Battle-Sight, you recall her?"
I nodded as I recalled the great eagle warrior goddess.
"Well, on that visit, she examined the sculptures and temple and then made a horrible insult to the Immortal - she said that the temple was wasted on Athena and that people should build a temple to her. Everyone in the temple grew pale and fled, for they knew that this woman had just implied that Athena was not beautiful, and to insult an Immortal had dire consequences."
Ivan went on. "As Medusa was admiring her reflection in the metal doors of the palace, the reflection transformed and Medusa was seeing the visage of Athena in the metal doors. Then she spoke..."
"Foolish vain child! You claim to be more beautiful than even I! No matter how beautiful you are, there is more to life than beauty! While others work hard and are rewarded you waste your life admiring yourself and bragging about your looks!"
"But my beauty is an inspiration to others!"
"Ridiculous. Beauty fades and vanishes, it doesn't last. Beauty doesn't comfort the sick or feed the hungry. And thus, you shall be stripped of your beauty. Let this be a reminder to all."
"And with that, Athena cast a powerful curse on Medusa," said Ivan. "Transforming her legs into a serpent's tail and her hair into snakes. Athena then told her that this was the consequences of her pride and that her eyes were cursed so that looking at any eyes, even her own in her refleciton, would turn the one looked at into stone. She was banished to Tartarus to live with Sstheno, the blind Gorgon. Due to this curse, Medusa grew violent and vile, and became filled with bloodlust. She seeks to come to the mortal world to kill and fight..."
He sighed. "If Cyrus has deemed you worthy to summon Medusa, he feels you have the strength. Go talk to Cyrus and he will tell you more."
"Yeah," I said.
I nodded. If the legends were true, looking at her eyes would make me a housing item!
"There is an engineer from Marleybone called Montgomery who has invented a device called the Quicksilver Shield," said Cyrus. "Unfortunately, he isn't in Marleybone anymore. I heard from Professor Balestorm that there was an expedition to Celestia. After visiting Marleybone briefly, I found that Engineer Montgomery was in that expedition and he hasn't returned yet. However, if it was possible for that expedition to survive, he will have a research station somewhere. Find him and ask him about the Quicksilver Shield."
"I will, Professor," I said. I was tempted to visit Halston but I had a better source. I warped back.
"Sorry, I know you guys were waiting patiently," I said. I turned to Grace. "Did Professor Halston..."
Grace shook her head sadly. "I saw Rra Balestorm working gingerly on it, but the Spiral Key that thing shattered, the way to Celestia, is not repaired yet. I must go there soon, Torrence told me that the Leviathan, the creature my next spell will summon, is found in the seas of Celestia."
"How long will it take?" grumbled Christina. "I have to go there too, to visit a living waterfall on this Floating Land to ask about a sun shard!"
"I was at the Floating Land," I said, explaining Sailor Mercury's gift. Before they asked, I shook my head rapidly. "No, I won't call her to help, the Sailor Wizards are busy as is. Besides..." I looked around at Vestrilund. "It won't do jack to get new spells if we can't use them because we're iced up by the Everwinter! We need to keep helping G.R. until the Coven is brought down and Ymir sleeps."
Grace nodded. "You are a natural leader, Mma. We got the key from Mma Warsong, let's go."
"Thanks," I said, saluting. "With the Golden Seals from Austri and Vestri, half of the journey is done. The gate to Sudrilund is to the south."
"We will head to Sudrilund now and see if Sudri will give us his Seal." Grace said.
"Be warned," said G.R. "Sudri is much more malicious than either Austri or Vestri. You must first win over his blackguard, Ketil Blackheart. Be wise and watchful!"
We made our way down the ramp and I felt the chill grow. It was time to get warmer clothes.
[To be continued...]
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