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Quinn2win
Nov 9, 2011

Foolish child of man...
After reading all this,
do you still not understand?


The Banner Saga is a strategy game that was Kickstarted nearly two years ago, and finally saw its release at the beginning of 2014. Survive through battle, tenacity and difficult decisions in a world inspired by Norse Mythology while being beset by traitors, monsters and starvation. Almost all of the game's art is hand-drawn frame by frame, and the music is by Austin Wintory, the genius behind the soundtrack of the 2012 game Journey.

How this thread will go down:

  • I'm going to try to update every Monday and Thursday. It's a bit slower than my usual pace, but there's a lot going on in this game (and I may occasionally have to redo a battle multiple times to get past it), so I'm aiming low. If I'm feeling good about my pace, or if I have to do a smaller update, I may increase the pace.
  • :siren:No spoilers in the thread.:siren: Not even behind spoiler tags. Not even hinting smugly at events yet to come. No spoilers no spoilers no spoilers.
  • There are a lot of choices in this game, some trivial and some crucial to how events play out. I'll be glossing over the simple choices, but leaving the more important ones - plus some decisions about how we manage our caravan - to a thread vote. These will always be on a 24-hour timer, so that I have time to put the update together.
  • As with my previous LP, any vote accompanied by related fanart you drew yourself counts double.
  • If you already know the outcome of a particular decision, either by reading spoilers or playing yourself, don't vote on it.

Prologue


Day 0: Nobleman
Day 0: Departing Strand
Day 2: The Dredge


Day 4: Skogr Attacked
Day 4: Evacuation
Day 5: Distraction
Day 5: Hridvaldyr
Day 9: Hogun & Mogun
Day 9: Arrival at Frostvellr
Day 11: Ekkill


Day 13: Departing Vedrfell
Day 13: Bersi & Yrsa
Day 13: War
Day 17: Dredge Army (First Half)
Day 17: Dredge Army (Second Half)
Day 18: Fasolt
Day 19: Denglr
Day 20: Reinforcements
Day 22: Approaching Ridgehorn
Day 23: Arrival at Ridgehorn
Day 23: The Tower
Day 23: To Grofheim


Day 51: Frostvellr
Day 51: Ekkill Revisited
Day 53: Journey to Wyrmtoe
Day 59: Wyrmtoe
Day 59: Marek
Day 67: Collapse
Day 70: Burra Pass
Day 76: Bellower


Day 77: Juno
Day 77: Defense of Einartoft (Day 1)
Day 78: Defense of Einartoft (Day 2)
Day 79: Defense of Einartoft (Day 3)


Day 80: Departure from Einartoft
Day 82: Pursued
Day 84: The High Pass
Day 87: Dundr
Day 93: Ingrid
Day 95: Arrival at Sigrholm
Day 97: The Wait
Day 98: Onef
Day 104: The Road to Boersgard
Day 106: Bjorulf
Day 112: End of the Road

Bonus: The Map


Day 116: The Situation in Boersgard
Day 116: Seige (Day 1)
Day 117: Seige (Day 2)
Day 118: Seige (Day 3)
Day 119: Seige (Day 4)
Day 120: Stravhs
Day 121: The Slain

Quinn2win fucked around with this message at 01:40 on Aug 29, 2014

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Quinn2win
Nov 9, 2011

Foolish child of man...
After reading all this,
do you still not understand?
Fanart

:siren:WARNING: This contains spoilers!:siren:

By Akogare Zephyr


By tomanton


By yokaiy

Quinn2win fucked around with this message at 22:41 on Aug 31, 2014

Quinn2win
Nov 9, 2011

Foolish child of man...
After reading all this,
do you still not understand?




Video: The Road to Strand

Video links in this LP are all highly encouraged, but not required. What follows will always be a summary of what happened in the video.

BGM: How did it come to This?



"It has been several long months on the road. The first signs of snowfall accost us on our approach to Strand, largest of the trade cities on the varl-human borders, and our last collection before returning to the capital."



"Several days ago, the sun simply came to a stop in the sky, though during these long winter days, none of us can be certain how long it has been this way. Some of the men in the caravan have taken it as a dire open. I am not quick to superstition, but I myself will be glad to be done with this year's rounds."



"We have been warned by stranded travelers about brigands on the path through Ridgehorn, our road home. Our captain seems unconcerned. Perhaps he is eager as I to be done here. We will rest here this day and inquire further when we speak to the governor."






As the varl ride into town, a human approaches the caravan, shouting something in a foreign language.



Inside, everything is chaos - a chieftain in red threatens the governor, his men cutting down the guards.



Before he can cut the governor down, though, the doors are smashed open, and the varl make their presence known the only way they care for:



Blood and Steel.



The game begins with our first battle! This is the tutorial, so expect a lot of informational boxes. I'll be skipping most of them to explain the battle system as I go.



First up is our Shieldbanger. On his turn, he can move, then take an action.

Because he's a varl, he takes up four spaces, whereas humans only take up one. Also note that the edge of his movement range is highlighted in gold - more on that in a bit. Moving up to melee range.



This is a good time to talk about the game's stats!

Strength plays the role of both attack power and health. When your Strength is reduced to 0, you're down for the fight.
Armor is your resistance to enemy attacks. Every time you attack an enemy, you can choose to attack their Strength or their Armor. If you attack Strength, the damage you inflict is equal to your Strength, minus the enemy's remaining Armor.
Break is how good you are at breaking through enemy Armor. If you attack Armor, then the damage you inflict is equal to your Break, but the damage is applied to their Armor, so their Strength is not reduced. You can't kill anyone with Break attacks.
Willpower is your reserve of inner strength that allows you to push past your usual limits. It can be used to move farther or hit harder.
Exertion is the limit on how much Willpower you can spend on a single move or action.
Ability Rank is how powerful your special ability is.

This raider has 5 Strength and 4 Armor, and I have 9 Strength, so I can kill him with a single Strength attack.



Which I do.



Next is the chieftain in red - the row of portraits on the bottom indicates the turn order. Note how it's alternating us and them - that will (almost) always be true. Whoever has fewer warriors on the field gets more actions per unit.

Shieldbangers have very good Armor - the chieftain hits for a paltry 1 damage. That won't take the varl down anytime soon, but it does mean that his Strength attacks are doing 1 less damage now. The Shieldbanger passive ability means that anyone who damages him in melee takes 1 Armor damage in retaliation, so the chieftain's Armor is slightly reduced in exchange.



Next up is Gunnulf, the Warhawk. Fighting with a two-handed sword, his Armor is a bit lower, but his Strength is great.

The gold area at the edge of movement indicates space that you can't reach without spending Willpower. Because Gunnulf has an Exertion of 2, he can spend 2 of his 8 will to move an extra two spaces, putting him in range of these two raiders.

Note the numbers under the raiders as I put my cursor within attack range of them - that's how much damage I can do to them with a Strength attack from this character.



As outlined here, Gunnulf has two abilities!

His passive, Heavy Impact, means that when he damages an enemy, all enemies adjacent to them take 1 Strength damage.
His active ability, Tempest, hits one enemy and then also hits the next enemy around clockwise. Let's use that!



Both enemies have 7 Strength, so the 6 damage wouldn't be enough... but thanks to Heavy Impact, each hit does 1 Strength damage to the other, taking them both out at once.

Using an ability costs 1 will, for the record, so Gunnulf has 5 left.



When there is only one enemy (or ally) left standing, Pillage Mode starts. This overrides the usual rule of alternating turns between the two sides - instead, we all get an action to his one.



Not that we'll need it here. Will can be spent 1-for-1 to increase the power of attacks, be they hitting Armor or Strength. The Shieldbanger has an Exertion of 1, so he can only add 1 damage, but that's enough.



So ends the ambitions of the chieftain in red.





Victory is ours!

Renown is your reward for slaying your foes. It is used to upgrade characters and buy items.

Now, we have a governor to talk to.

Video: Like a Rabid Wolf



"Like a rabid wolf, that one. How did it come to this? We fool ourselves into believing that peace will last. My grandfather built all this from a poor fishing village, you know."



"He watched the gods die. Watched the chaos that followed. Watched man and varl slaughter each other, even before the dredge arose."



"All we've done is traded one struggle for another. Now that there are no more dredge to war against, we war against ourselves."



"This chieftain meant to kill me, and he's not the first. A dozen families in the city would gladly take my chair."



"This one had men waylaying merchants both north and south of the city, strangling trade; quite well I would add, though he denied it to his last. This sort of wolf doesn't stop biting because the head is cut off, it just grows a new head."



"I am in a bad way, my friend. Help me finish this fight and I will gladly send you on your way, with double our king's tithe."



"Take any men you need. They're loyal, I promise you that. They will meet you down in the proving grounds."

Quinn2win fucked around with this message at 23:09 on Apr 14, 2014

Quinn2win
Nov 9, 2011

Foolish child of man...
After reading all this,
do you still not understand?

Mehuyael posted:

This game looks great.

And the game mechanics look really engaging, though I can see myself really struggling with things until I got over my compulsion to never use any willpower at any point "just in case".

The game actually actively punishes you for hoarding Willpower, which I'll probably touch on in my next update.

I seriously love the battle system in this game.

Quinn2win
Nov 9, 2011

Foolish child of man...
After reading all this,
do you still not understand?




This is Ubin, our first perspective character. An old tax collector and historian.





I'm sure you'll get it, if not more.



It's been worse. We've got a lot of irons in the fire.
What does he want, exactly?
Skalfings that you didn't hack up in the great hall scattered after you took out their chieftain. The governor just wants to make sure they stay down. Was hoping you'd join me at the marketplace by the docks. If there's anyone left to worry about, I know who can tell us.



Strand! A nice place.

I'll get to what all that HUD means later. For now, all we can do is go to the market.



You meander through rows of open-face houses and eroded stalls. Colored canvases flap on a briny current. One man in particular blanches as you approach.

Hadd, I'm not in the mood today.



Talking to an idiot. The Skalfing's chieftain bled out about an hour ago, Hadd. So when you tell me what rat anus the rest of them crawled back into, nobody's going to try to kill you this time.



Hadd, I had a change of heart. I hope you do give us a hard time.

Hadd sweats visibly, fumbling with some dirty trinkets on his table.

Wait, just... buy one of these. If everybody thinks I'm getting worked over every week, how am I supposed to know much? Just a little food money, yeah?



Human bickering tires us.

You motion to Gunnulf, your enormous bodyguard, who looms over the man like a snake over a mouse.

Gods! Eirik, laying it on a bit heavy, don't you think?
Where are the Skalfings?
Nobleman, up by the east wall! But that was months ago, last I know.

Hadd skulks away with a wave of Eirik's hand, gathering things from his hovel. Disappearing for a while until this blows over, you figure. Your bodyguard steps forward.



Gunnulf, were you wearing green back a the great hall?



Better than an eggplant.

Gunnulf goes off to look at more stalls.

Eirik, that man of yours seemed unreliable at best.
A blind dog wouldn't trust Hadd, but he used to be Skalfing. If they're licking their wounds, they've probably gone to the old haunts, not new ones.
Nobleman is a mead hall?
Best I can tell, the name's ironic. Listen, I know a guy who would love to put a few of these skals in the ground.



What a luxury. C'mon, you've already mopped up worse today.
Just make sure the governor remembers his promise. Double the usual tithe.
I'll remind him.



Still in the linear section! To the Nobleman.



"They ran to a mead house," says Valgard. "I'll be surprised if they can stand up straight right now. Ok, here we go."

Valgard boots the front door open so hard it won't close again without repair. As you under the hall, Eirik is already at he head of the table, his axe drawn. Wide-eyed, drunken SKalfings scramble to find their own weapons, turning tables ad mead steins in the process.




We're up to four heroes for our second battle! From left to right: Valgard, Eirik, Shieldbanger (he doesn't have a name), and Gunnulf. Two humans, two Varl.

Our opposition:



Eight thugs. The gray-shirts have 6 strength and 6 armor, and the beige-shirts have 8 strength and 5 armor, plus a special ability called Run Through. We'll probably see it in action soon.

I can reposition my men inside the blue area, but since I have no archers and this is going to be a pushover anyway, I don't bother.



Valgard's primary trait is his shield - his passive ability Shield Wall gives him and an adjacent ally +1 Armor when they're adjacent. His active ability, Stonewall, reduces the damage of all incoming attacks for 1 round by 3 points. It means he can't attack that turn, though, so it is of limited use.

Shuffling forward a bit - better to let them come to us.



This game's combat system is very sparse with hidden information. I know exactly how much damage every attack will do, how far every enemy can move, and what order everyone will act in. The only major uncertainty is the decisions my enemies take.



I can select any enemy to see their move range - as with me, the gold area is where they can move if they spend Willpower. Until one of them charges in, I'm moving everyone a single space short of the enemy's move-and-attack range.

The blue banner on the left is Eirik's stats. Not as strong as the varl, but he has less trouble maneuvering - his passive ability, Light Step, lets him move through spaces occupied by allies. His active ability, Rally, spends 1 Willpower to grant 2 Willpower to an ally.

Note that his Willpower is 7/5 - above the maximum. That's true for all of us, because our caravan's morale is fantastic.



Those two extra points of will are very handy. As a result, I don't feel any reservations about using one to push Shieldbanger into attack range of the thug who just charged in.



This is the most common tactical question in the game - Armor or Strength?



In this case, the answer is obvious. Their armor is so weak already that Shieldbanger can slam out 4 damage - not only will that kill them in two hits, but the first hit will drop them to 4 Strength, which isn't enough to do more than scratch any of us.



Gunnulf's stats, strangely, have changed completely since the tutorial. Most notable is the lack of gold area around his move space: He has no Exertion, so he can only spend his will on using Tempest.

Gunnulf advances, the thugs keep stumbling around each other while we remain out of reach.



This actually takes some consideration! I could rush in for the attack right now, but it would cost 2 will, and I'd risk Valgard getting mobbed. It might still be worth it, but...



What makes me ultimately reconsider is the fact that all of these thugs have Shield Wall - in that cluster, the one in the middle is at +6 Armor and the others are all at +2. I'm going to lurk outside of their attack range and wait for them to break up and come for me.



It pays off! The enemy still hasn't gotten a single attack off against me, and now Eirik is in range to punish the advance.



Eirik's Strength isn't very impressive, but he has 2 Exertion, so I can still do a full 4 damage here. 3 probably would've been fine, but eh.



The situation in this fight has changed as well! Shieldbanger was going to kill this guy in 2 hits, but an ally moved into range, and now they're giving each other Shield Wall bonuses. 2 extra Armor means that I can only take out 2 of his 4 remaining Strength, and since Shieldbanger only has 1 Exertion, he can't force the issue.

However, the turn roster shows me two important details: Neither of those two are acting next, and Gunnulf is coming up. So, a plan is formed.



Step 1: Shieldbanger moves out of the way and softens the thug up a bit.



Bleagh, that was crappy framing. Oh, well.

So that's Run Through. He charges through the enemy, inflicting 2 Armor damage, then turns around and does a Strength attack. This guy is just a feeble grunt, but in the right hands, it is seriously one of the best abilities in the game.



And here's step 2. When you have two adjacent enemies, and Gunnulf is near them, Tempest is the answer.



With the extra point of damage from Heavy Impact, this is nearly a double KO. The weaker thug dies, and the stronger is left with 2 Strength.

Note the light that just lit up on the horn at the top of the UI. Every time I kill an enemy, one of those five lights fills up. At any time, I can blow the horn to grant 1 Will to the person whose turn it is.

I'd like to take a moment to outline how awesomely complicated this game makes the simple strategical minigame of who to attack and how. First, I have to choose between strength and armor - the former is the only way to victory, and a single Strength hit reduces the damage dealt by the target for the rest of the battle, but a single Armor hit increases the damage they take from every attack of the rest of the battle, so you have to judge how low you want to bring each enemy's Armor before going for the kill. Then on top of that, there's the actual, legitimate question of whether to finish off a weakened foe or injure a healthy one. Once an enemy's Strength is low enough, they can barely hurt you at all, so leaving them alive doesn't seem like a huge crisis. On the other hand, they can still do full damage on Armor attacks. On the other hand, because of how turn order works, every slain weak enemy means more actions for their stronger allies. On the other hand, killing an enemy can give you the Willpower you need to survive elsewhere.

It's wonderful.



One of the thugs from the back gets in a hit on Gunnulf in retaliation! I'd be worried, but Gunnulf's Strength is an insane 15 - even after both of those hits, he does as much damage as my Shieldbanger.



In this case, the thing to do is to keep an eye on the turn order. This thug was acting next, and still has 8 Strength, so that needs dealing with.



Good thing, too - that Run Through would've done 5 damage to Gunnulf if I hadn't weakened him just now. The enemy is focusing on my heavy hitter, whose Armor is getting very low.



This move from Eirik serves two purposes. First, getting that Strength down from 8 before he can attack. Second, blocking his movement - now he can only reach the two humans, who both have 10+ Armor. Unfortunately, Eirik's subpar Strength and the enemy's Shield Wall means that even with full will usage, it's only 3 damage.



Did I mention that Run Through can hit multiple people? It goes forward 3 spaces, and the 2 spaces in the middle are both subject to attack. So, 1 varl or 2 humans. Seriously an absurdly good ability.



And here is one of the rare pieces of RNG in the game. If you Strength attack someone whose Armor matches or Exceeds your Strength, the attack will do 1 damage, but there's a random chance it will be deflected, doing no damage instead.



Looking around the map, this is the only guy with more than 6 Strength left, so let's fix that.



Gunnulf is in a bad place here. From ruthless enemy swarming, he's down to 3 Armor and 6 Strength - barely enough to damage his enemies. Also, because of the enemy positioning, he can't actually move from that spot.



Hell with it - he's gonna get a kill before he goes down.



And a level up! I'll talk more about how that works later, but kills are experience. Gunnulf eats another hit on the enemy turn, dropping him to 4 Strength.



This move with Valgar serves two purposes. First, killing off another thug...



...and second, establishing a Shield Wall with Gunnulf. 1 extra Armor doesn't seem like much, but it moves him from taking 2 damage to 1 damage here, effectively doubling his life expectancy.



Another kill, but...



Gunnulf had 4 Armor and 3 Strength left. The thug had 6 Strength and 1 Exertion. Putting a point of will into his attack was just barely enough to drop Gunnulf.

Units falling in battle has consequences reaching beyond the battle itself. More on that when it becomes relevant.



The two enemies on the left are the only real threats on the map at this point - both are at full Armor and Strength. Still, I'm going after this straggler for a reason.



If Shieldbanger has gone in close, the thugs could have stood their ground and hit back. Because I remained at a distance, he had to move to attack anyone, breaking up his Shield Wall.



And once he's out of his Shield Wall, Valgar kills him in one hit.



From here on out, it's pretty much wrap up. Eirik gets the kill and promotes, beginning Pillage. Valgar finishes off the last one.



Victory is mine!



Eirik is looking out the hall's windows onto the bay. A fleet of longships approach with sails of bold reds and blues.

One banner I know well. Vognir. Next for varl kingship last we spoke. The other flag? Looks important.
Yeah, important guests. See what I deal with all day long?
Ah, things make a little more sense. You hoped I'd have a stake in saying "everything's fine here" when the royal guests arrived.
Not me. The governor. Now I have to make are there are no rotting bodies or pools of entrails still in the great hall before they come by.



If you happened to stall our guests down on the docks I wouldn't object.
Maybe I will.

Eirik and Valgard hustle from the mead house. To his credit, Eirik tosses the barkeep a spar of silver for the mess. You give an apologetic shrug, and go to greet the new arrivals down at the docks.

Quinn2win
Nov 9, 2011

Foolish child of man...
After reading all this,
do you still not understand?


BGM: We Will Not Be Forgotten

So, let's visit the docks, then.



A familiar varl steps onto the docks. In your mind you recall a much younger version trampling the halls of Grofheim, abundant in purpose.



Comes with being old. And, if there is Vognir, there must be Hakon.



Still bleeding tributes from the poor and stupid, old yox? At what age do you lose a sense of shame?
Jorundr demands it. I'll take that over lingering to death in Grofheim. Speaking of, I had no sense that you were so far from home.
Just returned from Arberrang, in fact.
And glad for it.

Hakon motions to the other ships in the bay, sails still fluttering. Golden wolf head emblazoned on red. The king of men, or someone on his behalf.

The king's whelp.
The king's son, Ludin. Don't you know, scrivener? We visit his capital, he visits ours. It's how you make alliances these days.
It's a miserable waste of time.
Yes, Hakon has it. I'd almost forgotten. It's a good thing you're around, Hakon.
Then you're going to Grofheim? I have the distinct feeling I've finished my business in Strand and was heading there myself. We should caravan.
We should. Give it a day. In better circumstances I'd drink a week away, but, ah... let's just be done. Find me tomorrow at the gates.
What he's trying to say is the prince is a delight to behold.
Where is Mogr? Hakon, have him find a place to put up the warriors. I'm heading up to meet the governor.

A host of giants depart in his wake. You recognize a few, others are strangers to you.

Guess I'm off to find Mogr. See you in the morning, scrivener.
I'll be along.

The young prince of men ambles from his ship. He brushes off his tunic, scanning the beach with low eyelids. Ludin looks for all the world the sort of boy who grew up pulling the legs from spiders. The long road back to Grofheim should be more interesting than most years, you think.



On the other hand, if you're going to join Vognir's caravan tomorrow, it might not hurt to share a drink with Hakon, or introduce yourself to the prince they spoke so highly of.



For the first time, we are granted options! Before heading on to the Great Hall, I can optionally talk to Hakon or Ludin. I will hit up the former first.



You find Hakon in a mead house surrounded by other varl. Strand is no stranger to varl but rarely sees this many. Hakon waves you over.

Went straight for a flagon?
Vognir's the one who agreed to pass up a drink. I wasn't invited to the governor's hall anyway.
You already missed the massacre. Every year I make the rounds collecting taxes. Every year it's the human settlements that give me trouble.
No surprise. What this time?
When I got here the great hall was already full of bodies. We added a few more.
Hah... humans. I guess if I only lived as long as a yox fart I might be desperate to make something of myself, too.
It's not too late to start trying, Hakon.

Hakon lets slip a low chuckle. Any varl could recount his deeds, known as he is for cutting through dredge at Vognir's side in the second war, and regularly since then.

Down here I'm a glorified bodyguard. You might have a point. Just another reason to get back to Grofheim.
Soon enough, I imagine.

You drink until the mead house becomes overbearing, then step back into the cool air outside.



Okay, I can only put off talking to the prince for so long.



You find the prince at an inn. Guards blanket the building, including a sharp-eyed varl who must be working for Ludin. A woman in red eventually waves you over and stands nearby, arms crossed.

Greetings, Prince Ludin.



Not exactly. I've known Vognir a long time. I'll be joining you back to Grofheim, with my guards.

Ludin looks up for the first time. The woman doesn't react.

Why?
I work for the king, carrying tithes to the capital. We crossed by chance.
Oh, a tax collector. Fine company.



A varl historian? Aha. Don't you already know? Your king and mine both have been practically trumpeting it throughout the cities.
I've been on the road a while, I'm afraid.

Ludin takes a deep sigh. Whether tired or ungracious you aren't certain. Maybe both.

A formality, mostly. Vognir came to our capital in Arberrang and now we go to the varl's capital in Grofheim, to cement this grant alliance for the "next age" of men and varl.
You sound unconvinced.
There's no need for it. And it's so damned cold up here.

You get the sense he's struggling not to complain outright. You take the opportunity to excuse yourself.



And with no further distractions, we hit the Great Hall in the morning.



+20 Renown

Your guards take the treasure wagon down to the gates. Vognir is already here. A while later Ludin and his men appear, groggy and disheveled.



You follow Mogr and join the others.

Usually the smaller doors set into the gates would be enough to enter or leave the city, but the town guards have been told to push them open entirely. They mutter things under their breath that are best not heard. Perhaps the governor expected you to draw a crowd, but there's nothing of the sort; just frustrated, tired people. It summarizes Strand well as a while, you think.




Now that we're on the road, let's talk about all those numbers!

The big one at the center is the number of days since the story began. As time passes, the ring around it fills, one full circle representing a day (or an equivalent period of time - there's no day and night with the sun frozen in the sky).

The red banner on the top is our Renown, which can be used to get supplies or upgrade units. The gold banner is Supplies, measured in days - it will go up and down as people join or leave our caravan, and drops by one at the start of each new day. We do not want it to reach zero.

The numbers on the left are the size of our caravan. Clansmen are human non-combatants, Fighters are human warriors, Varl are varl. The face to the right of these numbers is the caravan's morale - currently Great.



This caravan is very well-off. Most everyone in it can fight, spirits are high, and we have food to spare. No difficult tradeoffs involved yet.

At the end of day 2:





"Thanks for the speech," slurs Vognir...



Thanks to Mogr. I thought the damned governor would never shut up. Did he give you the history of his entire family?
He tried. Then he asked me to clean up his mess. for your benefit, turns out!
I'd have given the job to you, too. Gods, there's no joy in politics.
Speaking off, what happens after this business with Ludin?
Hopefully the boy goes back to Arberang. On his own. And I... can take out some frustration on dredge or something.
Starting to sound like Hakon. You don't like the life of a diplomat?
Haha! Don't you miss the fight, Ubin?

You down your mead instead of replying. Vognir slouches and shakes his head.

There's no great joy in killing dredge. But this... pretty sure this nonsense is some scheme between the two kings to force some kind of lineage. Used to be, warriors would follow you for what you'd done.
Isn't that why they follow you now?
Is it? Or is it because I'm the next in line? These lines are getting muddy, old varl.
They've always been muddy, Vognir.

Vognir stares into he campfire, lost in thought. You leave him to it.

Quinn2win
Nov 9, 2011

Foolish child of man...
After reading all this,
do you still not understand?

TravelLog posted:

Heard good things about this game. Interested to see how it moves forward. Just how intense is the difficulty curve? Is this Thracia level bullshit?

I haven't played Thracia, but I would rank this game as generally easier than the harder end of Fire Emblem.

Quinn2win
Nov 9, 2011

Foolish child of man...
After reading all this,
do you still not understand?

Captain Bravo posted:

Wow. This is... this is just miles ahead of the Beta. Like night and day.

You mentioned that you would detail what happens when somebody dies in combat, is that going to be in the next update?

Yup!

Quinn2win
Nov 9, 2011

Foolish child of man...
After reading all this,
do you still not understand?
e: never mind.

To put some actual content here, I just noticed that in the second battle, Ubin is standing politely on the sidelines watching for the whole scene:


He's not a fighter, but that doesn't mean he's opposed to violence.

Quinn2win fucked around with this message at 14:22 on Apr 22, 2014

Quinn2win
Nov 9, 2011

Foolish child of man...
After reading all this,
do you still not understand?




Vognir releases a caged yawn, and receives a hard-eyed stare in return.

How long to Grofheim?
Haah. We're only two days out of Strand, you know. Come, I'll show you on a map.



The world map! Let's take a look at the route of our journey.



This is the progress we've made since we left Strand. Soon, we will arrive at Vedrfell, a dismal city populated mostly by people who were cast out of Strand. From there, it's north past the Hanged Man to Schlid, a fort that used to be at the forefront of the war against the dredge, before they were pushed far to the north.



From Schlid, it's a long march east, between the Varslmarch and the Brattabreck Peaks, before we finally arrive at the varl capital of Grofheim.

There's a lot of great detail on this map that I'll go over later.



You should have drank last night, Ludin.
Why not take the ships to Skrymirstead? What's the point of marching?
The Silverstone bay is called that for a reason. It stays covered in ice all year, it would tear up the longships.
Too bad, though. We could have shown you all the wonders of Skrymirstead.
A half-sunken city crawling with dredge, prince. Dredge and glaciers. You like glaciers?

Ludin exhales through the nose a poor diguise for his contempt. He turns and bats aside the tent flaps as he goes, barking at his company in the distance.

Don't poke the anthill, Vognir. He seems no happier to be here than you.
Spend a few more days with the boy, old friend. You'll be looking for a tall cliff to hop off, too. Ludin's got a shorter wick than Hakon.
Thanks, Vognir. Let's get moving. Another half-day to Vedrfell if we're lucky.



This is what will replace the town view for much of the game: Camp. From here, we can train in mock battles, upgrade heroes, rest, or get back on the road.

Mock battles I will ignore, because they are basically useless. Resting wastes a day (and a day of supplies) in exchange for improving morale - I don't need to do that right now because our morale is at the highest level. So, let's check out the hero tent!



Remember how Gunnulf went down in our most recent battle? Well, here's the cost of it. If someone drops to 0 Strength during battle, they get Injured, and stay so for a number of days after the fight. Injured heroes can still be sent into battle, but their starting Strength is reduced. The amount that Strength drops and the duration of the injury vary based on factors I totally don't remember, but I'll update later if I figure it out.

For now, let's look at what we've got to work with.



Gunnulf is the only living varl from the group of bodyguards Ubin had when he first became the royal tax collector. As a Warhawk, he has massive Strength and the ability to hit multiple enemies with a single swing of his greatsword.

The number at the bottom of the screen is his kill count - it's reached 2, so I can Promote him if I want. I'll get back to that in a minute.



Ludin is the prince of the kingdom of men, and the only human among my heroes at the moment. While he lacks the great strength of his varl kin, his spear lets him attack at range and impale enemies, causing them to slowly bleed out over time.



Hakon is the muscle behind Vognir's leadership, a legendary war hero with a long history of victories. His axe can strike so hard that enemies near his target are caught up in the impact.



Mogr is the commander of Vognir's personal varl army. As a Shieldmaster, his huge Armor stat makes him nigh-impossible to kill, and he can strike back with Armor damage against every attack that comes his way.



Promoting a hero requires that they have enough kills for their next rank (2, in this case), and also requires spending Renown - 5 times their current Rank. Gunnulf is my only active hero with any kills, so let's make him a bit stronger.



Three things can happen upon Promotion. First, every rank up means 2 points to distribute among any stats other than Ability Rank. Second, at Ranks 3 and 5 (or thereabouts), Ability Rank automatically goes up, making their active ability more powerful - in Gunnulf's case, his Tempest becomes able to hit 3, then 4 enemies at once. Third, they gain the ability to equip more powerful items.

I have a hard and fast rule regarding point allocation that has never let me down: Everybody gets 2 Exertion and 2 Break. Those are the minimum requirements to function as a proper hero in my eyes. Gunnulf still isn't there, but a point into each brings him close.

There is one exception to this rule, but he won't be showing up for a long time.



That's all we can do for now, so time to hit the road once again. We're almost to Vedrfell, at any rate.





Welcome to Vedrfell! It's a shithole.



What?
Couple days back, sent word to Strand about the cattle. Didn't expect an army!

He looks pleased with himself, until it sinks in that you aren't here on his behalf.

Where have you cattle gone?
Wouldn't know. My boys seen men up the hills carrying them away. Don't know many men who can hoist a whole cow by himself.
Skalfings out here, maybe? Could they have varl working for them?
Not from what the governor told me. I'm going to take a look around and get camp set up.

The peasant spits, his eyes anxiously darting about as the caravan sets up tents.

We'll be here no more than a day. There's silver for any food you've got.
For hundreds of varl? Are you serious?
Whatever you're willing to sell.
You thinking of squatting? Not enough room for a couple hunters here, forget hundreds of...



It's faint. Sounds like fighting and... something else. Hakon takes off at a run.



Ludin is getting himself into some trouble!

Starting off with a tutorial about setting waypoints - by clicking multiple times, I can dictate the specific route a unit takes to its destination. Not useful most of the time.



You've heard people talking about the dredge, and here they are. Ludin's attack bounces harmlessly off of the Brute's 15 Armor.

Against human thugs, I've been able to get away with just doing Strength attacks. That's about to change.



And in one blow, Ludin goes down. In case it was obvious, this was a bit of a scripted event.



But then the varl arrive! Now it's three on three, so let's see what we're up against.



Dredge Grunts, the smaller enemies, are only marginally more dangerous than thugs, with no particular special abilities. Their passive, Splinter, they share with all dredge, and I'll touch on it when it becomes relevant.

The Brute is far more dangerous - in addition to its massive 15 Armor and 16 Strength, it can summon more allies to the battle. Taking the Brute down is my top priority.



While I do need to get that Strength reduced before he starts carving chunks out of my army, attacking him right away is useless. None of my attacks will do meaningful damage through that armor.

Mogr and the two Grunts just advance, none of them fast enough to close distance with the other team.



I'd be tempted to break Armor again here, but the Brute's turn is next, and if I leave him at 16 Strength, he could hit Gunnulf back for 9 Strength damage, nearly taking him out in one shot. Fortunately, Gunnulf's massive Strength is enough to break through that thick Armor for 5 damage.



Honestly, the game is still largely playing nice at this point. With that last hit Gunnulf got it, none of the enemies have above 11 Strength - barely enough to scratch Hakon or Mogr before wearing their Armor down.



For some reason, I don't get my team's morale bonus for this fight. These two Armor hits burned through all of Hakon's will.



Just like last time, the enemy sees Gunnulf as the biggest threat and tries to swarm him down. I've got to get that guy some Armor.



Instead of attacking, I use Mogr's special ability, Bring the Pain! It does Break damage to one enemy's Armor, but that's not all...



Mogr's passive, Return the Favor, inflicts 1 Armor damage every time an enemy attacks him. For one full turn after using Bring the Pain, that's increased to 2!



Gunnulf's Strength is getting low, but thanks to the damage I've done to the Brute's Armor, he can still bring some decent hurt against it.



THIS is potentially dangerous. With its Strength reduced, the Brute isn't a real threat, but it still has its active ability, Tremble. If the Brute is still alive by the time its turn comes back up, a new Grunt will arrive on the battlefield.

However, it's worth noting that it only has 5 Armor and 7 Strength left, and Hakon has 14 Strength.



Thank you for cluttering up my screencaps, tutorials!

The Brute is down. the right Grunt carves another chunk out of Gunnulf.





Mogr continues to be unkillable.



That 70% there is the chance that Gunnulf would be Deflected if he tried a Strength attack here. I'd be worried about him suffering even more injuries, but mathwise, there's not a huge danger of it. The Grunt has 10 Strength and 1 Willpower. Gunnulf has 7 Armor and 5 Strength. Even if it goes all out, it can't quite drop him this turn.

While he won't be killing anything anytime soon, Armor attacks are unmodified by reduced Strength, so Gunnulf can still carve a good 3 Armor off.



1 strength left!



9 damage - one short of a kill, and Hakon's out of Willpower.

But wait! I got a star for my horn for killing that Brute! I can give anyone 1 point of will with it!



Grunt down. Hakon rank up. Pillage on.



Fun fact I picked up on while having to redo this fight due to an accidental quit: The AI is fully deterministic. It will always react the same way to the same situation.



Battle over.



I was trying... finding a... trying to get a shot in between the plates.
You never see a dredge before, boy? What kind of idiot... break their armor first!
Where did they come from?
We didn't even see them... they were just... there.

Hakon goes to where Vognir lies face down. The future varl king lies motionless, aside from a spreading pool of blood.



End of Chapter One

Quinn2win
Nov 9, 2011

Foolish child of man...
After reading all this,
do you still not understand?
I'm playing on Normal! also there's a 2-day gap between the first battles and this one - injury time is usually in the vicinity of 3 days.

And it's entirely possible that Str/Arm is a better bet, but I hate people not being able to do decent damage to Armor.

Quinn2win
Nov 9, 2011

Foolish child of man...
After reading all this,
do you still not understand?

Chewbot posted:

The biggest problem people had with combat was that we didn't explain it. I don't mean tutorials, I mean we didn't tell the player anything about strategy: turn advantage, maiming vs killing, positioning, smart ability use, etc. We just kind of expected people to figure it out because that's the fun part (or so I thought). We'll be rectifying a lot of complaints we got for the second game, especially lack of diversity, but I'll admit the combat is different on purpose and that's always risky.

Btw, thanks for LPing the game, ProfessorProf!

Are you one of the devs? Thanks so much for making a great game, and please do continue to drop by and offer your inside insights if you can!

Quinn2win
Nov 9, 2011

Foolish child of man...
After reading all this,
do you still not understand?

Enchanted Hat posted:

ProfessorProf, are you planning to show off Factions at all?

Not at present. I haven't looked at Factions at all, though, so if I give it a try and am taken with it then maybe it'll warrant a bonus post.

Quinn2win
Nov 9, 2011

Foolish child of man...
After reading all this,
do you still not understand?




In the wake of the death of the varl prince, it is time to say farewell to Ubin and his caravan.



We cast our eye far to the east, to the distant edge of the Setterlund. To...



...I think this transition was programmed with the assumption that I was in widescreen mode.



Shh. Stay close.
I think it saw us!



More tutorials for things I already talked about! I can move these two anywhere I want within the blue area before I start.

The tactical usefulness of this is somewhat hampered from not being able to look at anyone's move ranges before starting the battle.



Having abandoned the deer it was carrying off, the starving drudge turns to face us.

This is Rook, our new protagonist! With axe and bow, he can attack up close and at range. He shares Eirik's passive ability to move through allies, and his active ability, Mark Prey, does 1 Armor damage, then lets all allies adjacent to the target make free attacks on it. Only works in melee, though.



Both of these two can attack from up to 5 spaces away. The dredge advances and feebly bats at Rook for 1 Strength damage.



Unlike Rook, Alette is a pure archer - she can't attack in melee range. Her passive, Puncture, gives her bonus damage if she doesn't move before attacking and targets an enemy who has taken Armor damage since her last turn (I'm not sure offhand exactly how much, but it's significant). Her active, Thread the Needle, lets her hit multiple people with one arrow as long as they're along a straight line.

The dredge has 8 Strength and Rook has 8 Armor, so as long as it's wasting time with 1-point Strength attacks, I can take my time wearing down its armor.



I guess this is why Rook told her to not get too close! Fighting with only archers isn't easy.



We're in no real danger here, since this is another tutorial fight.

Unfortunately, the "no melee for archers" rule counts even if the enemy takes up multiple spaces, so Alette can't take advantage of Puncture.



A bit of attrition later, the battle ends with no casualties.



Like so. Only 3 Renown, though.



Alette looks calm, but you can tell her heart is about to beat right out of her chest.

It was. Let me see... are you hurt?
No, I'm... I'll be fine.

When the dredge attacked your cart and the yox bolted, it spilled most of your supplies. You can see more dark figures moving through trees when you glance that direction.

All that food. That's the last we're going to get before winter. Do we... what do we do?



We're about to be in serious need of supplies, so let's take what we can get.

I can see them, in the trees... are you sure about this?
No. We have to try, be quick!



+15 Supplies

(Supplies are measured in some sort of generic units - that doesn't mean 15 days. The more people you have in the caravan, the more supplies you need to get through one day.)



Our "caravan", at present, is just Rook and Alette, hurrying back to Skogr.



Already we see more between the trees as we approach our home, and Alette grips my hand tight. We must find Iver.



The enormous varl in question towers over the men in the training field. He squints as you approach.



Dredge. Everywhere!
Dredge? How did they get through Greyhorn?
Must have broken through the fort.

The fighters nearby have stopped sparring. They gather around you.

Dammit! They'll be here soon, if they're not already.

You hear screams. From the outskirts, people are running toward the great hall. Iver turns to one of the older boys in his group of fighters.

Egil, take Alette to the great hall, tell the chieftain what's happening. The rest of you gather up as many people as you can!





I'm gonna need as many fighters as I can get for this one.

Why not invite some goats to join us, too? You're asking for dead kids.
I won't let anything happen to her.
They'll have to deal with it sooner or later, Iver. What now?
Fuh. Egil, keep your shield up. We just hold them off until everyone's inside, then we figure out what to do next.

More shouts draw your attention to some houses atop a nearby hill!



Skogr isn't much of a town, but the people living here have always managed to scratch out a living from the forest's bounty. Until now.



"Behind you, Tryggvi!" shouts Iver, who shoots you a dour look. If Tryggvi is known for being a madman, at least he's the sort who can hold a spear in the right direction. He smiles a mile wide when he realizes you're going to have to fight your way out of this.



From here on, every battle will be preceded by this screen. Here, we can pick which heroes to send (max 6, so since we only have five right now, it's a moot point) and their turn order.

The game suggests fighters before archers, but I like to stagger the two, so that I can send in a head-knocker and then send in someone to support them from the back line.



I think this'll do for a starting formation - the important thing is keeping the enemy away from Rook and Alette.

I'm going to make some stupid mistakes in this battle, so brace yourself.



In addition to the grunts, we have a new dredge type - a Stoneguard. Armed with an enormous shield, they can slam all adjacent enemies away from them while inflicting Armor damage.



Iver is another Shieldmaster like Mogr, but instead of Bring the Pain, he has the active ability Battering Ram, which does 1 Armor damage and knocks the target back four tiles. If the target runs into other enemy units, it passes through them and takes additional damage.

The Stoneguard advances, but isn't close enough to do anything.



Dredge Grunts are weak enough that Armor attacks are seldom necessary - a couple heroes with high Strength can beat them down without worrying about it.



Already reduced to 4 Strength, the Grunt makes a feeble attempt to break Iver's armor. It takes 1 Armor damage in exchange.



Egil has the same skill loadout as Valgard from the previous chapter. He's actually going to stay put this turn. If he moved, he could attack the Grunt or the Stoneguard, but I'm not liking either option. The Grunt is already weak enough for Iver to kill in one blow, and I don't want to get any closer to the Stoneguard. As it stands, it'll take a point of will for it to reach me, and in doing so, it'll come into range of the archers. For now, Egil will just use Stonewall in case the Stoneguard decides to attack him.



This looks like a good opportunity for Alette to use Thread the Needle, but it's a bit risky, because the attack hits allies as well as enemies. If this was a more serious battle, I'd skip it, but it should still leave Iver with enough Armor to block anything these Dredge can do to him, and I want to show off every skill at least once.



Oops. Apparently Thread the Needle does Strength and Armor damage. Sorry, Iver!



Tryggvi is an enthusiastic fellow who shares Ludin's active ability, but has a different passive - Embloden grants him and any adjacent allies +1 will whenever he gets a kill. Yet another wrench to throw into the problem of when to maim and when to kill.

If you bought the game after launch, you may be surprised to see him here - Tryg was a preorder-only bonus character.

He's also carrying a piece of equipment! Tryggvi's Necklace, unlike the name suggests, can be worn by anyone, and it gives every Strength attack a 10% chance to randomly inflict double damage.



...like so!

This is actually a problem. It speeds up the clock on the enemy turn order and leaves Tryg exposed to, say, an incoming Stoneguard.



There are times where that necklace is amazing, but this is not among them.



Next up is Iver, who faces a decision. That Grunt is up next. Two immediate choices present themselves: Kill the Grunt, or attack the Stoneguard.

If I attack the Stoneguard, then the Grunt will be free to walk past and start harassing my archers, which would be annoying. If I kill the Grunt, then the enemy will have two units left, meaning the Stoneguard starts taking 2.5 moves for each move any of my heroes takes.

I choose option three!



By using Battering Ram, I accomplish two things - first, I tear the Grunt's armor down so that anyone on the team can finish it off in one attack. Second, knowing that it's the next enemy to act, I push it out of range of most of my army.

This works even better than I had hoped - in some bizarre glitch of AI, the Grunt doesn't do anything on its turn beyond resting to recover its one point of will.



The downside of this is that when I start focusing down the Stoneguard, I have to use Rook, who only has 1 Break and 1 Exertion. Getting through that Armor is gonna take a long time.





As we tear down the wall, I realize I overlooked another important fact about Alette's skillset:



Splinter only affects Strength attacks. So, even though the Stoneguard has taken Armor damage, and Alette hasn't moved, I can't bring any bonus damage to bear against it because it's too well-defended.



Tryggvi is down to 2 Strength. If I was playing on Hard, I'd probably have him fall back, but I have a plan.

The turn order is perfectly set up here - Tryg, then the Grunt that can't reach him, then Iver, then the Stoneguard. Time for some ability synergy.



Step 1: Tryg Impales the Stoneguard, doing 1 point of Strength damage and making it bleed 1 Strength for every tile it moves until the end of its next turn. Stoneguard Strength remaining: 10.

The Grunt, unable to reach Tryg, hits Egil for 1 Strength damage.



Step 2: Make him move.



Impale's damage doesn't care whether they move on purpose or because I make them. In addition to one Armor damage inflicted by Battering Ram, each tile he moves does 1 Strength damage. Stoneguard Strength remaining: 6.



Even better, if he wants to do anything to us, he has to trudge all the way back, still taking 1 damage for each step.

And that's how I bring the Stoneguard down to 2 Strength without cracking his Armor.



Determined to do something, the crippled Stoneguard uses Kindle, knocking everyone back and doing boatloads of Armor damage. That includes both of his allies.

I'll get a gif of that move another time. This was already a busy turn, so I almost missed it completely.



Another stupid mistake as I begin the mop-up phase - Rook's move was 1 space short of picking off the Grunt harassing the critically-injured Tryg, and once you finish moving, you can't add more to it, even if you didn't move your full distance. Instead, he's got to pick off a little more of the Stoneguard's Armor so we can get that finishing blow in.



Hang in there, Tryggvi!



There! Now there aren't any enemies with serious Strength left.



And there's the Puncture bonus at work.

I might as well start getting kills at this point. If I leave it alive, it can go and try to finish off Tryggvi. If I kill it, the Grunt will act next instead, and it'll definitely try to kill Tryggvi. Whether he survives or not comes down to the random Deflect chance from his remaining Armor.



So, we pray.



Oops! I forgot, the gods are dead, so it doesn't matter if I pray or not. Tryggvi goes down.



The enemy is starting to get a lot of turns, so we'd better hurry this up.



Pillage start.



Pillage end.



+6 Renown, Rook Promotes.





We're already pushing our luck being out here.



Uh oh.



You let go. A second passes like an eternity.

The arrow bounces off the dredge's face, inches away from what you think is an eye. It recoils, then turns upon Alette again. Egil rushes to her side. Iver throws himself between them, catching the mace on his shield and returns the favor, crushing the dredge's head with his shield point. When the dust settles, you can see see that everyone is all right.

"Let's get out of here," says Iver, as he goes back to check the last few houses nearby. "Rook, see if you can find any more survivors and meet me in front of the hall."

Quinn2win fucked around with this message at 23:55 on Apr 28, 2014

Quinn2win
Nov 9, 2011

Foolish child of man...
After reading all this,
do you still not understand?
As far as I'm aware, you can't get anyone killed in that scene, but I could be wrong.

e: I forgot to mention: Expect a small bonus update tomorrow.

Quinn2win
Nov 9, 2011

Foolish child of man...
After reading all this,
do you still not understand?

Coolguye posted:

Also, I feel like I should mention that hero deployment is not at all a 'moot point' if you have fewer than 6 heroes. It didn't matter much here since you had roughly equal numbers to the dredge and it's the first couple of battles, but shoehorning someone who doesn't fit into a particular engagement is a great way to get one of your core group hurt, especially if he gives you a numerical advantage. Turn advantage is a big deal in the most ideal of times - bringing someone who isn't useful into the fray is conceding the turn advantage for no benefit. I've frequently run with only 4 soldiers against 6 dredge playing on hard, just to make sure that I wouldn't get my best characters' poo poo pushed in.

A good point, which I had not considered! It may affect my strategy down the road.

Quinn2win
Nov 9, 2011

Foolish child of man...
After reading all this,
do you still not understand?
I'll just say now that I'm no tactical genius, so I wouldn't expect me to be anywhere as good at the fighting as Chewbot's demonstration. If I was, I'd be playing on Hard. The bar I'm aiming for is "Occasionally does something clever, and makes it through the end of the game".

Anyway:

Quinn2win
Nov 9, 2011

Foolish child of man...
After reading all this,
do you still not understand?


A couple orders of business before we meet up at the Great Hall! First, let's check out our new Heroes.



In addition to the turn order and hero selection, we can also equip items here! The number next to an item is the item's rank - a hero must be at least that advanced in order to use it.

Alette's Bracelet is a simple item that benefits anyone, so I'll go with what seems to make sense and give it to Alette.



Rook is a Hunter descended from a long line of Skor woodsmen. As huntmaster of Skogr, he wrestles between trying to raise his daughter Alette to be strong and self-sufficient and trying to protect her from harm - something he wasn't able to do with his late wife.

Since he promoted last battle, I'll go ahead and spend the Renown to increase his Rank, rounding out his Exertion and Break.



Egil is a Raidmaster who specializes in defense of himself and his allies. An orphan who has trained since childhood to use his shield, he almost definitely has a thing for Alette.



Alette is Rook's daughter, who has shown great interest in becoming a hunter ilke her father since her mother died wen she was a child. As an Eagle Eye, she specializes in piercing through enemy defenses.



Triggvi is a Spearmaster who doesn't have many friends. He's more or less the spear equivalent of that guy you knew in high school who spent way too much time talking about his knife collection.



Iver is the only varl living in Skogr, having wandered in to help the build the town without ever giving his reason for leaving varl lands. He's Rook's best friend.



Next, the Market! Here, you can trade Renown for supplies or equipment. For sale here:

Lightning Runestone: 10% critical chance, enemies are more likely to attack you over your allies.
Worldhook: +2 Break.
Statue of a Sightless Man: 20% chance to dodge Strength attacks, +2 Strength.

The items are tempting, but I'll have access to better down the road, and I want to stock up on Supplies. I spend 9 Renown to get 27 Supplies, and leave the equipment alone.



Next, let's take a look at the surrounding area!

Skogr's located approximately at the rear end end of nowhere. East is the Vetur Sea, which few bother traveling - there are no ports of note along the east cost, the northern waters freeze over every winter, and nobody knows of anything beyond the sea you could sail to. South of Skogr is the Baa Harbour, a mess of ice and rock that made mankind finally give up trying to settle any further to the east. Nothing beyond that but the bleak and uninhabited Ravenhead.

North of Skogr is Blotsbalkr, eastmost of the varl settlements. Throstr, fourth of the varl kings, built it to be his seat of power, then died almost immediately. Only the most tenacious or foolish varl remain there now.

The road southwest from Skogr leads through a number of small towns - Bitra, Rike, Haukstorp - and continues past all of them at great length before ending at the distant and dubious city of Boersgard. The western road hits Frostvellr, a dying down next to a dried-up lake that doesn't welcome outsiders. Past Frostvellr is the Setterlund, a desolate arctic wasteland, followed by a network of roads connecting most of the varl territories.



And finally, a chat with Iver.



A few, sent them inside. Gods, this is bad. I'm out of practice, Rook.
Look. As long as I've known you, you've always wormed your way out of talking about dredge. This would e the time to start talking.
I can tell you they rarely stop for rest. The sooner we leave, the better. They'll follow us until we're tripping over tired women and children. Then they'll attack. Even after we're wiped out they'll keep coming, trampling corpses in their wake. There's no end to them.
...How did anyone survive the great wars?
Ask the menders. I wasn't there.
But I know you've fought your fair share.
Yeah. I've killed enough slag for one lifetime.
That's why you're going to save us now.
Don't lay that on me. Come on, let's get inside.



Time to figure out what to do about this.



The great hall is an utter din, filled as it is with dozens of terrified families.

Don't stop worrying yet.
I haven't. What in the depths is going on? Dredge milling around, ransacking houses?

The chieftain's wife finds you, pushing through the crowd.



Don't know. I wouldn't expect it to last.
I've made some decisions. But tell me straight, what would you both do in my place?
I'd have left by now. They're already outside the doors.



The chieftain sighs a deep and heavy breath, slumping. He looks years older.

I imagined us fighting back and "saving the town", but... nonsense. Iver's right, of course. We can't just wait to be slaughtered.
Where do we go? If dredge are coming down from the north...
Frostvellr, to the west. It's close and it has walls. I intend to be free of Skogr in one push, nobody left behind.
I wouldn't. If they follow us we're done.
What do you suggest?



And now it's time to make our first major decision! How shall we handle the evacuation of Skogr?

Should we evacuate immediately? This will get us to Frostvellr quickly, but we run the risk of the dredge biting at our heels the whole way there.
Should we create a distraction? This will help the villagers escape safely, but combat will be brutal and fighters may be lost.
Should we seize the warehouse? This will help us survive in the long run, but lives will almost certainly be lost on the way.

An additional question for people who vote to create a distraction: Should Alette come and fight with us, or stay to keep an eye on the chieftain?

Voting will last for 24 hours.

Quinn2win
Nov 9, 2011

Foolish child of man...
After reading all this,
do you still not understand?
Oh, before we get into full swing, a rule I forgot to put in the OP: :siren:Don't vote if you already know the outcomes of the decision.:siren: If you've played the game before or looked the scene up in a guide or whatever, do not vote.

And to clarify, the Alette decision is only if we create a distraction.

Quinn2win
Nov 9, 2011

Foolish child of man...
After reading all this,
do you still not understand?
Hey guys, let's stop talking about characters who haven't shown up yet!

Quinn2win
Nov 9, 2011

Foolish child of man...
After reading all this,
do you still not understand?

Mehuyael posted:

Someone said that the game keeps changing POVs, do we return to previous POVs at some point? Do POVs converge?

Without saying too much in this regard, we haven't seen the last of the varl from the previous chapter.

Quinn2win
Nov 9, 2011

Foolish child of man...
After reading all this,
do you still not understand?
As of the end of the voting period, there is a dead tie between Warehouse and Distraction. We are now entering sudden death: The next unique vote cast determines our course of action.

Quinn2win
Nov 9, 2011

Foolish child of man...
After reading all this,
do you still not understand?
Decision locked!

Quinn2win
Nov 9, 2011

Foolish child of man...
After reading all this,
do you still not understand?


The chieftain thinks for a long moment.

I didn't ask for advice just to ignore it. Promise you're not throwing away your lives on this.
That wasn't part of my plan... Iver?
Nope.
Then I'm coming with you.

That catches you by surprise. The chieftain rubs his chin, but doesn't argue. From the training she's given Alette, you've no doubt she can handle a bow.

Fine. I'll get the townspeople ready. Make your move, Iver. We'll leave when you're clear.



"Don't leave me alone," she says, tears in her eyes. It's difficult, but you drag yourself to the door of the great hall, resolute that you're making the best decision for her.

You step into the town courtyard, where you can already see dredge in every direction. Iver starts banging his shield and swearing at them. "We kill a few," he shouts, "And the rest will follow!" You steel yourself for a tough fight.




Tryggvi is still injured from the last fight, so I'm putting him late in the turn order, but still next to Iver in the rotation - we saw how well that worked last time.





Unlike previous battles, we have two separate areas we can deploy in. Four enemies, five of us, so they'll have a turn advantage.



I'll go with this formation, just to try something out. Egil as a lure, everyone else together.



By a lucky break, the first enemy acting is within range of Iver, and has another enemy behind it. This means I can use Battering ram to damage its Armor while pushing it out of counterattack range.



Egil, meanwhile, will use Stonewall to try and draw out the Grunts and waste their turns.



So far, so good!



Rook gets to knocking down the Armor on the closer of the two Scourges - fortunately, much less thick than the Stoneguard from the previous fight.

The universal dredge passive, Splinter comes into play here, too - If you do 3 or more Armor damage with one hit to a dredge, then any other dredge adjacent to them take a point of Armor damage. So, 4 to the one in front, 1 to the one in back.



Oddlief, like most archers, has kinda low stats, but remains immensely useful. She shares her passive with Alette.



Her active ability, Rain of Arrows, marks an unoccupied tile, then strikes the first enemy to walk through it before her next turn for Strength damage.

That Scourge is acting next, and the only tactically sound decision he can make is to approach Iver, so let's lay a trap.



The damage isn't much, but here's the thing - the target's turn is cancelled. So far, our team still hasn't taken a single point of damage.



Tryggvi appears to be down 2 Strength from his injury. He'll play it safe for now, advancing on the southern front while remaining one tile too far for the Grunt to reach.



There goes my perfect no-damage record! However, because it's Iver, the Scourge loses a point of Armor in retaliation.



Now that the enemy's armor is getting low, I can start dishing out the real damage.



Miraculously, the turn disadvantage actually worked to my advantage here! Stonewall lasts until Egil's next turn, meaning that he successfully deflects two hits from the same Grunt with a single activation of it.



In fact, this is working out so well that I'm gonna go ahead and keep doing it!

The second Grunt doesn't take the bait, though, instead heading into attack distance of the rest of the party.



This Scourge is up next, so my first instinct is to dish out some Strength damage... but it has 14 Strength, and can only reach Iver, who has 14 Armor, so it isn't any sort of threat right now. Instead, I do another Armor attack, and in defiance of all logic, the Scourge falls back on its turn instead of pressing the assault, hiding behind its companion. Sometimes the AI just does weird things.



Furthermore, because this Scourge took Armor damage from Splinter, Puncture activates, letting Oddleif do impressive damage despite her low Strength. The frontmost Scourge is a non-threat at this point.



Instead of trying to press the advantage, though, it goes to use Tremble. I have until Rook's next turn to kill it, or it will summon another Grunt.

I think I'll leave it alone for now.



Tryggvi goes to say hi to the second front! I would have used Impale, but this is the only tile from which the far Grunt can't reach him, and Impale can't be used from 2 tiles away.

The far Grunt moves around Egil, but doesn't bother trying to attack him. I think Stonewall Time is about over.



Now both of the Scourges are cripplingly weak, making the Grunts the only actual threat here.



I really have to be careful with Tryggvi on this map, though. He's already down to 6 Strength.



One more hit like that would take it down. One high-Strength enemy left!



And now BOTH of them are using Tremble. This has the potential to get ugly.

Currently, there are 3 weak enemies and 1 strong enemy, meaning that 25% of enemy turns are legitimately dangerous. If I kill the Trembling Scourge, then there will be 2 weak enemies and 1 strong enemy, for 33% dangerous enemy turns. If I let it summon a Grunt, then it'll be 3-2, so 40% dangerous enemy turns.

On the other hand... new Grunts come in on the edges of the battlefield, so there's good odds it'd take a turn or two to reach us. Also, if I kill the Scourge, then the enemy turns will accelerate enough to guarantee Tryggvi gets hit again.



Against my better judgment, I'll let it finish the Tremble.

Unfortunately, some kind of weird UI glitch hit here, and Rook didn't do anything. Don't know what that was about.



So here's the new guy. It'll take it at least one turn to reach us, so that works for me.

As a bonus, it's at the top of the initiative, so that delays all the other enemies immediately.



This is why I wanted Oddlief to get her turn in before that Grunt - this way, she can protect Tryggvi with Rain of Arrows.



Not able to safely move off of this tile, Tryg reduces the Grunt in front of him to uselessness.



As planned, Rain of Arrows stops the Grunt in its tracks, keeping Tryg from taking any more damage.



I'm risking one, but two new Grunts is a bit much, thank you.





Man, they really like ganging up on people like that. Tryg's in trouble again.

Missed a screenshot here, but Rook falls away from the southern Grunt, so that the only hero it can reach is Iver. It doesn't fall for the bait, instead heading around to follow the archers.



Oddlief is running out of enemies whose movements can be easily predicted here, so it's down to plain ol' attacks. I think we're about ready to start dishing out kills.



A note on how Deflecting interacts with Willpower: Using will on an attack doesn't increase your effective Strength, it increases your final damage. So if I have critically low Strength and attack someone with enough Armor to make it a 90% deflect chance, pumping 2 will into the attack won't reduce the deflect chance, it'll just make that last 10% case do 3 damage.



In another baffling move by the AI, the Grunt following Tryggvi doesn't do anything. Is this because I'm not on Hard, or is it just kind of quirky?



I've gotten into a good enough spot that I can kill most of these guys in one good attack, so let's do that.



This guy is still a threat, but I'm gonna ignore that fact for now!



2 left. This could be a bit scary if the other one goes after Tryg...



Nope! Victory is about to be ours.



With the enemy turn advantage crushed, all that remains is mopping up.





Zero casualties. Promotion for Iver.



An hour later, Oddleif is the first to spot them. "There!" she points to the road. As you rejoin them, you can tell there was trouble, some people wounded.

Alette rushes to you, throwing her arms around your waist. You smile and hug her tightly. "Dad... please don't do that again," she says.

"Brave girl, this one," adds one of the women from Skogr. "Chieftain would've died without her." She points to the back of the caravan.

You find Oddleif beside her husband, who is laid out in a cart. "Old fool," she says. "Got himself a prize for trying to fight back." She shows you his deep gut wound. "But he's alive. Nothing for it but to get to Frostvellr." You continue on in silence, Alette's hand in your own.


+30 Renown



Well done, voters! This is arguably the best possible outcome for the evacuation of Skogr. Not only did the Chieftain survive due to Alette's protection, but we got the maximum Renown reward for the event.

Unfortunately, we weren't able to seize the warehouse, so supplies are limited. Our caravan of 315 refugees takes to the road to Frostvellr, and it's time for a more tactical decision: How hard should we push them?

Our options shall be:
Relaxed Pace: Stop and rest whenever morale drops below Normal.
Steady Pace: Stop and rest whenever moral drops below Weak.
Forced March: Never stop unless absolutely necessary.

Lower morale means that all our heroes will have to fight with reduced Willpower. It shouldn't be more than a few days to Frostvellr, but there's no guarantee that reaching the city will be the end of our problems. What do you say, thread?

Voting will close in 24 hours.

Quinn2win fucked around with this message at 17:17 on May 14, 2014

Quinn2win
Nov 9, 2011

Foolish child of man...
After reading all this,
do you still not understand?
Stop talking about the flow of future events in ways that will influence people's decisioooonnnnsssssss

e:
vvvvv ehhhh fine

Quinn2win fucked around with this message at 04:42 on May 2, 2014

Quinn2win
Nov 9, 2011

Foolish child of man...
After reading all this,
do you still not understand?
Voting closed, Steady Pace wins. There may be a bonus update this weekend.

Quinn2win
Nov 9, 2011

Foolish child of man...
After reading all this,
do you still not understand?
It doesn't - if I leave any will in it, it's because I forgot or it wouldn't have helped me win the battle.

Quinn2win
Nov 9, 2011

Foolish child of man...
After reading all this,
do you still not understand?


We depart for Frostvellr at a steady pace. We'll rest if things get too dire, but won't be taking things too easy, either.





You make your way to the rear and hoist a small child onto your shoulders. "Fight for every step! Remember those who didn't make it and push onwards!" The clansmen see your effort and follow suit, pushing themselves harder.

+5 Renown



Stopping early would have made it take longer to reach Frostvellr. Slowing would have done less so, but also would have reduced morale. Keeping a steady pace without a speech would have resulted in some stragglers getting lost.



On day 6, we come across something interesting.



After a day of misery, men and women drop their meager possessions beneath the godstone of Hridvaldyr.

What are we doing? We just left our homes because suddenly there were dredge.
Chieftain did what I suggested and look what he got for it.
Look at these people. Somebody has to hold them together.



Lie? Tell them everything's going to be all right? Gods, Rook, I don't know. Pretend you know what you're doing. That's what the rest of us do.
Thanks for the advice.
Then do whatever you want. Let them fend for themselves if you can live with it. You humans are absurd, Rook. Furious when you're not in control, terrified when you are.



Think of how I feel. I'm stuck nursing a bunch of weaklings.
You do care, I can tell.
Feh, men are a plague on the world worse than any dredge, as far as I can tell.
Chats like this are why we get along so well, Iver.

You sleep poorly, the sun forever stuck to an eternally bright sky. Before the others rise, you find yourself staring over long, low hills covered in pine.



The weathered stone doesn't see many visitors. Not much reason to travel so far east. When hunters come through, they sometimes stop to give offerings, out of habit more than anything else now that the gods are dead. Hridvaldyr was the god of hunters and of wild beasts, occasionally seen roaming the land as both a man and a wolf. He was always depicted in effigy with his terrible spear. You wonder what he'd think about his woods being full of dredge now.

A young girl from the caravan approaches you. "I made this for you," she says, handing you a crude necklace carved from a branch she must have found nearby. "Thank you for saving my mama," she says, before running back to her tent.

Back at your tent you rouse Alette, who clings to your arm until she's completely awake. Bad dreams. Eventually the camp is broken down and it's time to move on to Frostvellr. It feels like an end more than a start.




Day 7 begins with a new piece of equipment, as we pass the godstone.



Still no sign of Frostvellr, as we return to the main road.





On one hand, more mouths to feed. On the other hand, people who now how to hold a spear might be useful soon, and so will that watering hole, if it's real.

"If you'll be no trouble, come along," you say. The me cautiously join your ranks and prove trustworthy. The hidden watering hole nearby is teeming with animals and soon your supplies are nicely restocked.

+12 Fighters
+5 Renown
+18 Supplies


That stretches our supplies for another four days!

Day 8, however, starts with some trouble.



Oh, please, we're vikings.

You look around at all the bruised and bloodied faces, then lift your own horn of mead. "Skal!" you shout with a smile. "Skal!" the younger warriors shout back. The merriment spreads and soon everyone is laughing and drinking again.

+5 Renown



The caravan is visibly relieved to find a small village on the way to Frostvellr, with beds and fresh supplies. The local here are shocked by the news you bring and discus it amongst themselves while you set up nearby.



Welcome to the middle of nowhere! First of all, let's check on our progress.



Looks like a little under halfway to Frostvellr, 3 days after our departure. We're making decent progress.



I made some good Renown during the evacuation and on the road, so I'll buy out their supplies. Equipment:

Singing Stone: A rare crystal that, when struck, creates a pleasing sound, often strung on weapons with melodic effect. +2 Will per kill.
Horseskor: Shoes made from the hooves of horseborn have long been rumored to make one fsater, if not cold-hearted. +1 Movement, 10% chance to dodge Strength attacks.

I'm skipping both.



The rune I got back at the godstone is a fine item. I'll give it to Rook for now.



For 5 Renown, I promote Iver, adding a point of Exertion and a point of Strength.



Next, checking up on the local youngster.



You find Egil just outside the camp, practicing his sword swings.

I saw you taking some hard hits out there.
Oh. Yeah, I'm great. Er, not great, considering everything that's... I'm fine. My arm's fine. It's a strong shield. It's Rook, right? I know we haven't... talked much. Before now. But if you want, just call me Gil.
Okay, Gil.
I wanted to let you know that I meant what I said before. About making sure nothing happens to Alette.



Well, she's... I don't want her to get hurt.

You can see his cheeks turn bright red.

Don't worry, she can take care of herself, too.
I know, I didn't mean...
Easy, Gil. I know what you meant.



Yeah, I doubt there's many. My father made this. It's solid metal, really heavy. But I've been practicing with it since I was a kid. I used to spend a lot of time just getting used to lifting it.

He raises it up to show you.

I'm pretty good with it now. It's the only thing of my father's I have left. Then, when my mother died... she gave it to me, before she died.



Did he say that? That's good. Never had to fight anything like dredge before, but... I don't have much else to do, and how many people get to train with a varl? Just seems like... I could be a help to someone. That's what I want to be.



I will. Oh, and if you need something, let me know. I can do anything you need. Between you and Iver, we're going to be okay, I can tell.



Tryg just can't hold still, can he?



Triggvi turns his head, eyes wide as though something was stalking him.



Oh, okay. Why are you here?
Fat clansmen.
What?
They eat, eat, eat, don't know how to kill a thing, Rook.

He rolls the "R" in "Rook" gratuitously while holding out his spear for you to inspect.

Look at this thing. They grow on trees. You can make this from a tree. My advice? Show them how to stick some pigs, or... stick a rabbit. A bird. You can stick almost anything, Rook.



Have I always been Tryggvi? Dumb question, Rook. Look, I hear what they say behind my back. "Tryggvi's handsome, Tryggvi's brave." But you're the right man for this job. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise.



Glad you finally asked. Don't trust a man, just because they have faces and use their mouths. A man will look at you right through his helmet and lie.
Should I trust you, Tryggvi?
Come on, Rook. Am I wearing a helmet?



I get it. We all got things to do. Me, I was about to go swimming.
At least you're keeping clean.
Nobody comes looking for you in a pool of water, you know. Don't let me waste too much time there, okay?
We'll come get you before we leave. I'll see you around.
Only if you keep your eyes open, Rook.

You can't help but hope there was nothing sinister about that last comment.



And with that, we hit the road once more. As soon as we do, though, we run into more trouble.



What's going on?







I'll have you both gutted before I let half the village desert!

Behind the angry villager, a mob of armed thugs have appeared, all furrowed brows and nervous stares.

You both know what will happen to the rest of us if the fields are abandoned! Nobody leaves!



We thought that's how it went, ourselves.
A good number told me to my face they didn't want to be beaten to death by dredge.
Dredge, my rear end! I don't know what the scam is this time, Hogun, but you've got two choices. Get back to work, or I'm finally putting you in the ground.
Mogun, what do you say? Thought it was unfair that he only asked me.

Mogun draws his axe slowly, followed by Hogun. Despite their confidence, the brothers are significantly outnumbered.



Decision time! Do we side with the village, side with the brothers, or not get involved? This has the potential to get ugly.

Voting will be open for 24 hours.

Quinn2win fucked around with this message at 23:47 on May 4, 2014

Quinn2win
Nov 9, 2011

Foolish child of man...
After reading all this,
do you still not understand?
No Anti-votes, so I'll interpret that as a vote for siding with the village chief unless otherwise clarified.

Quinn2win
Nov 9, 2011

Foolish child of man...
After reading all this,
do you still not understand?
OK, locking the vote. Hogun and Mogun are the winners.

Quinn2win
Nov 9, 2011

Foolish child of man...
After reading all this,
do you still not understand?


If we let the village leader have his way, everyone dies.

Iver steps forward. The thugs hesitate. As you pull your axe you notice that Alette is nowhere to be seen.



It would probably be smarter to bring Tryggvi along for variety, but I want the brothers to get a proper chance to shine in their first engagement.



As cool as this opportunity looks, I don't think it would be a great idea to split up this badly. This fight is harder than it appears.



The main considerations I have for this formation: Having all of my archers protected while having both enemy archers within range of my melee fighters. Let the battle begin!



If I really wanted to, I could actually kill that archer on the first turn. Iver's just that strong.

I don't fancy the idea, though - it would put the enemy units at a 3-to-2 turn advantage.



Instead, I carve a chunk out of the Thrasher, which is a new kind of enemy unit. Hogun and Mogun are both Thrashers.



Egil is going to play lure again. I could hit the archer, but:

1. Doing so would cost Egil a point of will from movement.
2. At 7 Strength, the archer isn't really much of a threat to any of us yet.
3. That would leave Egil within punishing range of four enemies.
4. Just being this close will hopefully make the archer panic and fall back again.

So instead of those things, Stone Wall time.



On the other side, meanwhile, Iver is doing an admirable job at tanking. The Thrasher takes 1 point of Armor damage in retaliation.



This move probably won't be hugely useful - I mainly want to see whether or not the enemy AI is smart enough to walk around Rain marks.



The test is inconclusive - instead of advancing on Egil, he turned around to join the ranks fighting Iver.



Stats-wise, the brothers aren't great. The only difference between them is that Hogun has 2 more Armor, while Mogun has 2 more Strength.



For now, no special moves, just forming a shield wall with Iver and dropping the archer to 3 Strength.



Possibly knowing that running won't help her, she makes the best of her doomed position by harassing Rook.



Mogun forms a shield wall with Egil, otherwise not acting.



The second enemy Backbiter uses Run Through to get a decent hit off on Iver. He's starting to not look so good.



Rook isn't in position to do anything particularly cool, but now that he has 2 Exertion and 2 Break, he's shaping up to be a very nice Armor shredder.



poo poo. Important tidbit I overlooked: Enemy archers have Puncture, just like mine do. Iver has taken a lot of Armor damage this turn.



Now, let's see if this works like I think it will work.



It does! Iver uses Battering Ram to knock the Backbiter into Oddlief's trap. Cool, but admittedly only does 1 point each of Armor and Strength damage.



More importantly, it broke up all of the enemy shield walls.



This isn't that much of a hit, but it turns out it's still pretty important...



...because the Backbiter follows it up with another Run Through on Iver. 4 Armor, 2 Strength remaining.



The other archer is up next, but Oddlief can't reach that one. I'm not sure if Iver is doomed or not, because I'm still hazy on how Puncture works, mathwise.



Well enough, it turns out.

I think my mistake with Iver was on the very first turn - he moved too deep into the enemy formation, letting them surround him and form shield walls.



Okay, before this gets any more painful, let's see what these brothers are good for.



The Thrasher active ability, Bloody Flail, hits four times in a row, each hit doing either 1 point of Strength damage or one point of Armor damage at random (I think the last hit is always Strength, but I might be wrong). The fourth attack does +1 damage for each ally adjacent to the attacker, which in this case was none.



Thanks, little girl in the previous update!



Mogun could have easily killed her, but I'm not quite ready to begin the death cascade that marks endgame yet, so instead I'll leave her with 1 Strength.



The best role for any injured unit is as an Armor breaker. The computer knows this.



Dangerously low on Armor, Rook falls back to the only tile that Thrasher can't reach in one turn.

This works well - instead of chasing Rook, he turns around to poke at the armor of my much sturdier northern front.



For his trouble, he is weakened to the point of uselessness.



Seriously, I should make that girl an honorary hero.



Okay, time to wrap things up. Starting with the Thrasher, because he's the furthest down the initiative order.



Careful! If I kill the northern Archer or eastern Backbiter now, then the western backbiter (7 Strength, 7 Armor) will be able to get a turn in before Rook. That could cause some serious damage.



So instead, he kills this one!



If this battle wasn't almost over, I'd be worried about that.



And with that, the enemy has nothing left to threaten me with.



Rook's active, Mark Prey, is a great choice for when he's low on Strength and you really need to kill someone.



Hogun softens the last one up, and Mogun deals the killing blow.



Egil promotes.



+165 Clansmen
+22 Fighters
+10 Renown
+30 Supplies


I feel bad for the rest of the village, but there's only so much we can do.



Day 9 begins with a much larger caravan. The new supplies and the new mouths to feed from the last couple days about balance out, leaving us with 17 days of supply.





Oddleif has gathered up the long banner from the caravan, and smiles warmly as she passes it to Alette.

What's this about?
I was hoping you'd sew up the banner with everything that has happened since we left Skogr. Come find me another time, Rook, and we'll talk.

Before you can comment, she departs.



Oh. Then that means...

You're both quiet for a moment, while Alette unfurls the banner.

Oddleif has been teaching me how to sew.
She speaks pretty highly of you.
Can we read the part about mom?

You nod. On the banner has been sewn the story of the families who have lived in Skogr throughout the years, just as is done on every banner in every town.

I wish she were here. But I'm kind of glad she isn't.

The section of banner about your family is short, but Alette has been sewing in colorful designs.

Why do you say that?
So she doesn't have to deal with... all of this. Dredge. Leaving home. And... why did you have to kill those men? In the village?



Because... the dredge are terrifying. Every time we have to fight them I just want to run. But... I don't want to kill a person. Please.



Alette smiles at this, then her face sinks again.

I guess I would do it, if I really had to. But, do we have to?
I know what you mean.
Yeah, I know. Dad... I think you're doing a good job.

She hugs you. ou spend the rest of your time together, sewing new verses into the banner. For better or worse, the story of Skogr is your burden now.

Quinn2win
Nov 9, 2011

Foolish child of man...
After reading all this,
do you still not understand?

Coolguye posted:

Incidentally, it's not a bad idea to kill off an enemy if you can instagib them from full health like you noted you could there. You concede a bit of a turn advantage, but your alternative is leaving a perfectly functional unit on the board, which is Bad, as you found out. Archers in particular are a colossal pain in the rear end, since they synergize with pretty much any melee unit just by their nature. It can bite you in the rear end if there's a real titan of an enemy unit with like 20+ strength or something, but there isn't here (IIRC that blond Veteran Thrasher is the strongest at 11 str). Truly powerful units are pretty darned rare, at any rate.

What you see above is actually my second attempt at the fight - the first time, I killed the Archer, and things quickly went to hell.

More likely, as you say, I should have kept everyone together on one side.

Quinn2win
Nov 9, 2011

Foolish child of man...
After reading all this,
do you still not understand?

inthesto posted:

I had always assumed that Bloody Flail was kind of a useless move. Heavily RNG dependent and completely useless against shieldbangers. I wasn't aware that you got extra hits out of it for having adjacent allies, which does help a lot. Would be nice if that were included in the ability description. :crossarms:

It is!



That being said, I've often found the descriptions in this view to be difficult to parse.

Quinn2win
Nov 9, 2011

Foolish child of man...
After reading all this,
do you still not understand?


Camp time!



We have made precious little progress since our last stop. Frostvellr is probably still a few days away.



That stabbing at the village left Iver at reduced capacity for the next two days.



Egil promotes for 5 Renown, getting an extra point of Exertion and Break.



And, as promised, Oddleif wants to talk to us.



I'm all right. Oh, but I realized after I handed you the banner I probably gave you the wrong impression. My husband's still in and out of consciousness. It doesn't look good. It's harder than I thought it would be. Just... not knowing. People tell me I'm a "strong woman". It's funny, my father named me Oddleif before I was even born. He wanted a boy so badly.



Don't take this the wrong way, but I don't want to be known for handling my feelings. I feel nothing about my husband dying, people think I'm strong. If I cry because my insides feel like they're on fire, I'm weak. Why does that feel so backwards. I'm sorry, Rook. It's been hard.

You're not sure what to say. In the many years you've known the chieftain's wife, this is probably the most you've ever talked.

You asked me to come find you?
Yes. It's about the banner. I thought about it a long time.



That's what I've been thinking about so much. It should be mine. I could carry it. But I thought about why he named you.



Come on, Rook. This isn't the time for pretend. It's not just about our small town. What happens the first time we need something from another clan? How will that go? And the first time someone thinks they can take advantage of us?



She looks sideways, eventually giving over a timid smile.

I'm not sure if that's the dumbest thing I've heard or the sweetest. Listen, I know I dragged this out. The truth is, my husband and I could never have a child. I don't want our banner to end her. It'll be safe with you and Alette. I know you're going to take care of her.

She puts her hand on your shoulder as she heads back to the camp.

+5 Renown



Time to hit the road again.



BGM: Cut with a Keen-Edged Sword



Some men want to warn their kin about the dredge. I say they're free to do so.

+5 Renown
-8 Fighters




Day 10, and we're coming out of the woods. Morale is steady, but there's some trouble.



Rafnsvartr nearly set our supply wagon on fire. Time to get him sober.

Rafnsvartr groggily agrees, slurring his way through promises to quit being such a nuisance. Many of the onlookers snort or roll their eyes, but go back to their business. Somehow, you doubt it'll be long before Rafnsvartr manages to find another drink, whether you'll allow it or not.



Around noon, our destination comes into view!



I gave you a chance, Rafnsvartr, but this is crossing the line. You've become a liability for the caravan, and you need to learn that.

A swift and brutal beating befalls Rafnsvartr, one that leaves him begging for mercy. The next time he is offered mead, the man shies away in fear. As for the rest of the caravan, everyone seems pretty satisfied.

Choosing to keep Rafnsvartr away from the other caravaners prevents the second event, but the beating results in a minor overall boost to morale, so it's a wash, I guess.



Once a strong, thriving city, the walls of Frostvellr now just keep the howling winds at bay.



With luck, they'll hold out against dredge as well.





Why are there so many people in the fields?
We can't stay outside in the open like this.

Oddleif finds you amongst the many refugees.

Rook, I just talked to some of the women here. Nobody is being let into the city.
Why?
It's overrun with varl from Blotsbalkr, Greyhorn, people from Bitra, all the nearby villages. The dredge are everywhere, and the chieftain of Frostvellr has locked himself in his great hall. That's when they closed the gates.
When the dredge come, these hills will turn red.



I see a lot of people gathered around the rest houses and the gates. We could find out what they know.
How would we get in, anyway? They closed the gate.
I can get that gate open.
Let's see if there's any other way before we start breaking down gates.
I wasn't going to break it. Just push really hard.



Welcome to Frostvellr! It might not be quite the safe haven we were hoping it would be.



First, emptying the market of supplies again. Equipment available:

Leather Flask: It takes either a brave man or a stupid man to stop for a drink in the midst of battle, but those who do swear by it. +2 Will instead of +1 Will when Resting during battle.
Namejis' Ring: This ring was once worn by one of the great kings of men to symbolize the unification of his people. 2 Strength deflected (?), +1 Will per kill.

I'm hazy on what the latter does and it's only usable by rank 5 heroes, and the flask is crap. Moving on. The gate.

You approach the gate, where hundreds of people have gathered. In the trodden, bloody space in front of the doors, several pin-cushion bodies lie unclaimed, as though they simply belonged there.



"We're from Skogr! Open the gates!" you shout to the archers, not expecting much. You get as much response as you expected.

You leave the crowds and head back down the hill. "There are a lot of people gathered around the rest houses," says Oddleif, pointing. "Maybe we can find help there, or at least make ourselves useful."


Let's do that!



Egil pulls you aside. "I followed the outside of the city walls," he says, "And there's a water passage we could squeeze through, I think. Not the whole caravan, but if a handful of us get in we might open the gates from the inside."



We've got a lot of options open to us as day 12 dawns.

  • We can force the gates, using Iver's great strength. This will almost certainly end in a fight.
  • We can try the water passage. This could leave us separated from our caravan in the worst case.
  • We can tend to the wounded. No obvious gain presents itself, but these people are suffering as much as we are.
  • We can settle in for the long haul. Other people are surviving outside the walls; maybe we could, too.

Voting will last for 24 hours.

Quinn2win
Nov 9, 2011

Foolish child of man...
After reading all this,
do you still not understand?
As a related side note, one of the things that bugged me about this game is how literally every female hero and female enemy in the game is an archer. I hope there's at least one badass lady with a battle axe in the next game.

Quinn2win
Nov 9, 2011

Foolish child of man...
After reading all this,
do you still not understand?
Vote locked, tending to the wounded wins. There will definitely be a bonus (very)mini-update this weekend right now.

Quinn2win fucked around with this message at 00:53 on May 10, 2014

Quinn2win
Nov 9, 2011

Foolish child of man...
After reading all this,
do you still not understand?
Not counting this as an update, but there's a lot of rapid-fire decisions that need to be made here at the end of the chapter.



Alette and Oddleif spend the day along with others in your caravan treating wounds, most of which came from the archers at the gates. "I overheard from one woman that the city has been sending carts with food around," Oddleif tells you.



Ambush or confront? 24 hours.

Quinn2win
Nov 9, 2011

Foolish child of man...
After reading all this,
do you still not understand?


Alette and Oddleif spend the day along with others in your caravan treating wounds, most of which came from the archers at the gates. "I overheard from one woman that the city has been sending carts with food around," Oddleif tells you.



"Keep your sword down until we need it," you tell Iver. "We'll make a deal unless they're looking for a fight." Early the next day, you spot another cart leaving the gates of the city. After they've thrown their scraps to the refugees, you approach.



It's not what I wanted.





He's in charge up here.
In charge of what?



Hey, free route into the city! Besides, if we wanted to take the cart by force, we would've done it earlier.

He nods. You follow him back up to the gates, where they open the doors for you. A man clad in black approaches as you step inside.



The man orders his guards to get the doors closed again before more refugees notice.

You said you wanted fighters.
You heard about the chieftain?
We heard he's hiding out in the great hall.
Oh really? Think you mean hiding out in a grave. He's eating worms, if that wasn't clear.
What happened in here?
Soon as they heard dredge were coming, anyone who couldn't swing an axe got one to the head. That's the short story, anyway. At least three clans in here warring over turf and food, and the WORST are the god-forsaken varl!

He eyes Iver and shrugs with exaggeration, as if simply stating the obvious.

We're in more danger here than out there?
Look, I was in charge here before things went to crap. You've got some people who can fight, you've got your own varl. That counts for something. I can keep your flock safe, in the great hall. You fight for me. And to take back Frostvellr.
I don't take sides. Too hard to tell when the good guys have become the bad.
Fine, cut these sheep loose and watch your own asses, what do I care? All I want to do right now is get out of the damned streets.



Once again, we come to a crossroads.

Do we fight for Ekkill to reclaim Frostvellr?
Do we cut out a life of our own inside Frostvellr?
Do we go back outside and take our chances outside the walls?

Voting ends in 24 hours.

Quinn2win
Nov 9, 2011

Foolish child of man...
After reading all this,
do you still not understand?
Forgot to say it, but voting closed, fend for ourselves is the winner.

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Quinn2win
Nov 9, 2011

Foolish child of man...
After reading all this,
do you still not understand?


Really sorry about this, but considering that the above is what Banner Saga looks like when I open it right now, I don't think there's going to be an update today. If I can get it working soon, I might update tomorrow, but for now consider the first update this week cancelled due to technical difficulties.

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