Welcome to Dragons & Redshirts where I give you, the listener a tiny look in at my life as I practice my professional writing! Catch all the podcast episodes on your favorite podcatcher or go to Linda Teppler.com to check out all my work. This series is about my adventures playing Valheim, an RPG by Iron Gate studios based in Sweden. In Episode 2 Grillain encounters more than she was ready for! In a way this episode reflects life. It feels very much like I'm beset on all sides by things I can't do anything about because here in our part of Oregon we're pretty much in a lockdown with no visible end in sight. This can really cause a person to question the reason they even exist. I am really glad I have gaming to fall back into. This early into spring, there's not much I can plant outside, so you wind up in your own head a lot.
That can be good...or it can be very...very scary…
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Building a house shouldn't be this hard, should it? The magnificent skeleton of the house stood out proudly on the ground she had cleared. She had struggled to reach the roof beams to lay the thatched panels into their slots. She struggled even harder to make sure they were positioned correctly. If they didn't meet at just the right angle they…
An ominous creaking caught her attention. Seconds later a crack gave her warning she couldn't ignore and she leaped desperately for the slat attached to the one solid structure in the whole place, the fireplace. A rush of exploding wood shards rained down on her as she held her arms over her face.
"No...no no no! Not again!"
The wail did nothing to alter her predicament. What was left of the roof trembled and another beam tipped in slow motion and fell to the floor with a clatter.
"Why won't this work?" she yelled.
She leaned over to pick up a cracked beam.
"It's not strong enough."
She let it fall to the ground.
"I'll have to get stronger wood. But I need a better axe."
Kicking the remaining wood into a heap, she tossed a few pieces into the fire to keep it going and walked out into the warm afternoon. She was glad she had built a small longhouse first. She at least had a warm, dry home to build out from. It didn't offer much of a view though. Not the spectacular view she really wanted at least.
The shore with its softly lapping waves called to her and she spent some time wading in the water, looking for stones. In a pile of mud she spied a smooth looking gray rock. She dug it out and a smile touched her lips. Flint. Greedily she looked for more. Concentrating on what was in front of her, she wasn't paying much attention to the sounds around her. The soft "churr" she usually heard from the squat, slow, water creatures residing there had shifted in tone to more of a warning growl. Oblivious she seized another piece of flint and felt sharp teeth sink into her ankle.
She gave a yelp and automatically the axe she always had to hand descended, crunching into the creature's skull. She picked up the mashed little monstrosity and checked her ankle. A few swishes in the water and it was good as new. The creature, however, was done for. She frowned. It was so weird. An odd product of an odd realm. It had no real "body" except for the space up front where all its guts were squished. It looked for all the world like something a head would sit on.
"Like a neck," she muttered.
She sliced open the body cavity and spilled the guts into the water, then stuffed it into her bag next to the flint. Glittering eyes stared at her accusingly from deeper in the water. She lifted her stone axe and they vanished into the depths. She went back to her flint hunt.
To her amusement, nothing but the tail of the creature was edible. To her gratification it was very delicious. Fatty and sweet, it reminded her of the raw salmon her father had sometimes given her with taro root. A little more "meaty" but still really good. After dinner she set her flint on the workbench. Two strikes later and she had a sharper axe than she had ever had with stone. And more secure. She turned to her testing block and placed a stick of wood on it. The flint axe sliced through it like butter and she grinned. Now I am ready, she thought. It was time.
Sleep had been slow in coming, but curling up on the floor in front of the fire, she felt reassured. Finally she let herself slip down into the depths of unconsciousness. When she awoke it was late morning. She was glad she had already taken the opportunity to hunt and had filled up her boxes with food, for now she needed it. She stuffed her pack with it and dozens of arrows. Her new flint axe went to her belt, her simple crude bow on her back. This left her free to heft a wooden shield she had made in one hand and the two sets of antlers as a sacrifice in the other. As she walked she wondered about her lust for the mission ahead. Victory was in her veins, as it had been in her father's. She was happy doing this. Much happier than she had ever been as a child, puttering around a house while her father left her behind to go out hunting or scavenging.
"You are like a wild mare little girl. Always straining to do more than you are fit for!"
When she refused to cook for him, he chuckled at her, a deep, humorous sound. He snatched her up and tickled her until she was too tired to be mean to him anymore. As she grew, he tickled less, and taught more, letting her rein out until it was she who hunted and foraged on her own, taking down a six point deer with a single arrow. Supposedly this Prey was kin to the deer she was used to hunting. If so it would be a breeze to take it down.
It was a long walk to Eikthyr's altar. When she arrived she thought she saw a familiar figure on one of the surrounding stones, but at a second glance she saw nothing and put it down to a waving branch. She took in the stone altar on a slight rise, at the head of it was a stone inscribed with the same type of runes she had originally seen in her summoning spot. She bravely touched the glowing runes and the words inscribed themselves in her mind.
Hunt His Kin.
“Well, I've done that."
Lifting herself to her feet she readied herself. Darkness had fallen. She laid the antlers on the altar and took up her bow, nocking an arrow.
"EIKTHYR! I COME FOR YOU!"
A sound of rattling chains swept across the altar and just past her raced an arc of pale purple energy, coming together at the far end of the site. For a second she felt her blood freeze in her veins. The creature was deer shaped, but that was where the resemblance stopped.
Mad red eyes stared down from a height of ten feet or more. Chains covered the massively muscled stag and atop its head were dozens and dozens of points on bone antlers dripping with what she swore had to be the blood of its enemies. It reared tall shaking its head as lightning surrounded it. She had just enough time to snatch up her shield before a wave of pulsed lightning came at her, crashing into the shield so hard it drove her back several feet. Sound and lightning had confused her but she stood and grabbed the bow again, sending a series of arrows at her Prey.
The fight became a series of equal hiding behind her shield, and whipping her axe at his legs and head. He would dodge away from her and she moved from shield and axe to bow, letting fly her projectiles at him. Maddened at her ability to hit him from afar he charged again and again, striking her with antler and hoof.
For an age she held her own, but once, just once, she forgot to raise her shield as he struck. His stomp of lightning sent her tumbling painfully to the ground. The darkness wrapped her up and blinded her. She scrambled for the altar, hiding behind it and hoping she had long enough to make sure she had enough arrows to finish the job. Axe in hand she let him come to her snuffling along the length of the altar while she calmed her breathing. The pain of her wounds lanced through her. She desperately wanted to gasp but bit her cheek hard to keep her mind on the sound of Eikthyr's hooves clapping the stone while his growl made sweat bead along her face as well as the hairs on her neck rise. A gigantic flaming red eye slid into view and she slammed her axe right into his teeth.
With a roar he danced back, fleeing the second swipe of her axe. Dropping the axe to the ground she sacrificed her melee weapon for the bow and with cold surety she pulled the string back.
His damaged jaw hung loose, but his anger had not been spent. Turning back he crashed forward, blinded by his own blood, crashing into trees. As he spied her he charged once more, wheezing and stumbling. She let loose the arrow and watched it fly, and sink into his throat. With a groan, he finally gave in, his head folding forward onto the ground, unable to lift the giant racks of bone. She watched the eyes lose their intense brilliance and fade as his magical life bled away.
Raising her arms, she howled out her triumph over her Prey. Taking out a knife she sliced her hand and inscribed deep red lines into her shield followed by a bloody handprint in the center. Her pride knew no bounds as she approached her Prey and reached for it, but it had one more surprise for her. As she took hold of one of the massive bone antlers, Eikthyr's giant body dissolved into a pool of supernatural energy leaving behind only the antlers and a perfectly formed trophy of Eikthyr's head.
On the runestone, the Valkyrie screamed and Grillain could swear she heard approval in its cry.
*You have done well Warrior. Take your trophy to the Summoning circle and discover Eikthyr's gift.*
With that, the creature vanished, leaping into the air and becoming as the wind, blown from Grillain's sight. Happily, Grillain packed up and ignoring the lancing pain of her wounds, started off at once at a brisk trot. She reached the Summoning Circle much sooner than she had gotten to Eikthyr's altar. The Valkyrie was already there, ruffling its feathers and dipping its head in eager anticipation. A brief look around proved that there was a hook on each of the stones surrounding the circle. She approached the inscription of the deer head. With an almost gentle reverence, she secured the trophy head to the hook, hoping Odin would be pleased with her.
No sooner had she stepped back than the scream of the Valkyrie and another voice spoke, becoming one, deep, resonant voice.
"So you were my death. So small for one so powerful. Tell Odin he may have broken my form, but the Wilderness shall never submit!"
The same malevolent purple energy surrounded the trophy and with no warning, slammed into Grillain. The hand of power held her. All her hurts and pains vanished in that moment. She felt not the malevolence, but a peaceful stamina suffuse her mind and body. Then it dropped her on the stone carelessly and the only thing remaining was the glowing red within the trophy's eyes. She wondered if it honored her or mocked her.
*Eikthyr has granted you his power. Use it well Warrior. You will find your next Prey in the depths of the Black Forest. Go, explore, conquer, and survive. The Elder awaits!*
Grillain was too excited to wait for the next day. Once at home, she immediately set one of the hard antlers into one of her longest pieces of wood. Wet sinew secured the antler. As it dried, she prepared to leave again, giddy with her success. More meat, more berries and one more longing look at her half finished shell of a home.
"I will finish you!"
Then she was off again, trotting along the coast.
Her first lucky strike came as she spied something that looked similar to flint, but much brighter and shinier in the sandy puddles where the tide water had pulled away. Setting her antler pick to the shiny metal, she raised it and then brought it down firmly. It took many strikes, but eventually the chunk of metal burst apart and she was able to pick up pieces to put into her pack. While studying a chunk, a fluttering squawk brought her attention around. The Valkyrie stood looking at her. Was it...following her?
*I will appear from time to time Warrior. To make sure you have the teaching you require. That metal will require smelting. The smelting will require charcoal. Create a Kiln for charcoal and a smelter to melt the metal down. To create these you will require surtling cores. Search for them in the dark places beneath the earth.*
Before Grillain could look up the Valkyrie had vanished, triggering yet another memory. Her father talking of working metal. It was a difficult task and one which almost none of them undertook. It was one of the rare times her father was reluctant to do something. He preferred wood. he traded for the metal tools and arrow heads he needed. Grillain never used metal for her arrow heads. She used power and accuracy as her guide.
That accuracy helped her now as she pushed away from the coast and headed inland. She moved quickly. Almost TOO quickly. A heavy shaking beneath her feet stopped her as she passed from the meadows into the edge of where her mental map told her the Black Forest began. She'd been looking at the pine trees with their tall, strong trunks. Surely those trees would give her the wood she needed to build her house! Now she scuttled into a stand of fir trees and peeked out. Far through the trees, she saw a gigantic blue figure moving. It was barely a shadow. Was it the Elder? No. Her mental map did not include a marking for the next Prey. And if she hadn't made the sacrifice, would it appear on it's own? She didn't think so. This was just another monster. One she wasn't ready to take on. A low rumbling growl echoed through the quiet forest, reinforcing her healthy avoidance strategy. She turned away and moved further into the Black Forest along another path.
She smelled moss and the clean scent of sprinklings of pine needles from somewhere. The heavy earthy smell of a healthy forest. The twittering of birds. She was so relaxed she almost didn't realize she had gotten to the pine trees, until she looked up and realized the magnificent tree before her was almost nothing but a trunk, rising toward the sky, reaching for the light with everything it could pour into its woody being. She patted it fondlly.
"You will help me make a great house!"
She set the edge of her flint axe to the pine tree. For something so tall, so strong, her axe bit into it readily. in only a short amount of time, the pine was tumbling from the heights to land with a crash on the forest floor. A few strikes and logs were ready to split. Stretching her muscles, she prepared to begin to chop again and that was when she heard the noises that were not normal forest sounds.
Chittering. Hissing. Growling. Rattling. ….Rattling? Where would…
Bony monstrosities rose up in front of her as if they had appeared from the ether. One after another, they moved slow, but they had weapons. Bows? Skeletons!
Grillain brought her shield up just in time to deflect the first arrow. She waded in behind the shield. It took at least three strikes before the skeletons fell to pieces, but more were coming. And behind them came the creatures that had been following her from the beginning. Angry little grey creatures that grunted and spit. A whole pack of them had gained enough bravery to attack her here, in a place so unfamiliar to her. Suddenly, Grillain was on the defensive,
"This was a mistake."
She couldn't face them all. A skeleton got in a hit that brought her to her knees. She tried to turn and run, tripping over shrubs and the pine log she'd been chopping. She couldn't get to her feet! She couldn't run fast enough! She swung helplessly around her. As she looked up they swarmed over her, blocking her view of the fast advancing afternoon sun and even the World Tree.
More pain and then darkness.
A breath of fresh air. Hard stone beneath her. Her naked parts were again covered with little. Was she dead? Could she die? Confusion had invaded her mind. Where had she gone? The eyes of the Eikthyr trophy glared down at her. The Summoning Circle. She hadn't even activated Eikthyrs power, she'd been too focused. She patted herself as she sat up. No wounds, but she felt weak.
Above the Eikthyr trophy the Valkyrie sat waiting patiently for her to notice it. She got to her feet.
"What...happened?"
*Each time you are defeated, you will re-appear in your summoning place. If you wish you were home, make yourself a bed and bind yourself to it. When you are struck down you will lose some of what you were. It is inevitable. You will also have to retrieve anything you carried. Your day is almost over Warrior. If you are defeated too many times there will be nothing left of you to summon.*
Sighing in chagrin, Grillain began her ground eating trot. If she could be put down by such a weak little enemy like skeletons, then what was she doing here? how could she hope to destroy all the Forsaken? Dispirited, her thoughts trended toward a downward spiral. Death was nothing for a Viking. She had never been afraid of it. There had been some in her village who were afraid of death. The old woman who made pots. She was terrified that there was actually nothing after death. Grillain thought that would be peaceful, though her destiny had involved a bit more responsibility. Why had Odin chosen her? Her life had been ordinary, if a bit lonely. She had gotten used to being alone, though. It didn't bother her as it did when she was a child.
Her thoughts churned. The appearance of the skeletons. Tales told her that skeletons only occurred where death was. Was the appearance of the skeletons proof she would find that place or places? Approaching the place of her defeat, she slowed and went as stealthily as she dared. The skeletons and angry greylings had abandoned her. It was the work of just a moment to grab her shield, good flint axe, and bag containing arrows, bow, torches, food, and metals. The chunks of metal. She didn't want to lose them. Nor the wood she had managed to pick up. Anxiously she retraced her steps to an abandoned house closer to the coast and stored her valuables there.
Upon her next return she saw the skeletons moving around what looked like a pile of large rocks. Taking out her bow she began a battle that was less a battle and more target practice. She preferred killing things from afar, though it did not fire her blood as the axe and shield did.
The dark space on one end of the pile of rocks proved to be an entrance. It was a narrow, pitchy place. Definitely an unmarked barrow. Who had been buried here, in such a place? One of the previous inhabitants? Perhaps one of the skeletons. She lit a torch and carried her axe in the other hand. There was a quiet solitude as she traversed the flat stones leading downward. The quiet both comforted and disturbed her. She strained to hear more sounds as the darkness enveloped her. She was aware of coming to a fourier with doors. She was concentrating so hard on the sounds that when a skeleton did appear it took her by surprise, She yelled and hit it so hard that one hit sent the spiritual conglomeration slamming into the wall, scattering its bones to the four corners of the room. She breathed a sigh of relief. They weren't very dangerous, just intimidating with their chattering and clattering. She gathered up the bones. These would work very well with some deer hide to make a good cape for herself. No doubt there would be other uses for them too. In picking up the bones she also discovered tiny yellow mushrooms. These would be very good to eat along with the berries and meat! A few of them eaten raw on the spot tasted delicious and chased away the last remnants of the weakness of defeat.
She hefted her axe and torch again, approaching the doors. The first room contained nothing but dust. The second, a chest with invaluable arrows. There were also some dusty coins and glittering pieces of amber on the floor, but she left those behind. What use were treasures she couldn't spend? She could always return for them if she discovered a use. Her purpose here was not to decorate herself, it was to destroy the evil infesting Valheim.
As she reached for the last door she stopped. Yes. That was still her purpose. Wasn't it? Odin had charged her with making Valheim safe. She had all eternity if necessary to do it. The last room was a long way down a sloping stone hall. The sounds of rock shifting in the earth around her startled her and she broke out in a slight sweat. being defeated by a cave-in would be humiliating. Other sounds behind the door she came to were now familiar sounds. Rattling. So there were skeletons behind the door. Gripping her axe and torch tightly, she flung open the barrier. She felt vindicated with every skeleton she obliterated.
It was a close fight. There were half a dozen skeletons. It was sheer luck that she discovered another weapon. Her torch. She only meant to push a few of them back with its light, but the skeleton didn't seem afraid of the torch. Instead it walked right into her swing and it blazed up, catching fire. An unearthly scream echoed in the chamber as it ran blindly, setting yet other skeletons on fire. Yet she had no time to celebrate as a breathy moaning enveloped her. Thoughts of rage, of lonely despair invaded Grillain's mind. There was no point to life. There was no point to anything. She should just— That was as far as the alien thought got when Grillain's weapon swept in. The desperate, desolate thoughts vanished as the ghost was destroyed.
As the quiet settled, Grillain heard her own feet scraping the dirt on the floor as she turned around and around again, making sure there were no more enemies to face. Then she noticed the glow. Tiny cube shaped objects were set on stands around the room. There was no doubt that these were the surtling cores that the Valkyrie had spoken of. They were eerily beautiful. The orange and red colors licking the inner surfaces of the cube intrigued her. The outer black edging was a material she was not familiar with. It was smooth and cool while the rest of the core felt warm to the touch. Did the cubes hold fire? As she inspected the one in her hands a skeleton rattled its way up behind her and she absently whacked it while still looking at the core.
Gathering up as much as she could possibly hold, which was every core and almost every bone and mushroom in all the hallways she made her way back out of the barrow.
"Sleep well, you who are dead. Do not come back to life for I shall destroy you again."
She was tired as she exited the barrow and began making her way home through the dark that had fallen. It had been a day of firsts. Her first good axe, her first Prey, her first mine, her first special tree. The many monsters she had never seen before, and now a new power source which would allow her to smelt metal for the first time. She wondered if she could really consider being defeated a first. She'd died before. She decided that she would consider it her first death here in this new realm.
What firsts would fall into her hands the next time she ventured out?
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If you'd like to see Valheim in action, check out the Twitch link on my website every Friday at 10:30 a.m. pacific time!