Finding Moder – Part I

In the world of Valheim, there are so many sights to see. My favorite sights were of the meadows. –Especially the rolling hills, free of trees aside from a spare and sacred Oak. That's the place where my friends and I oft roamed. There were many glorious battles too. As I basked in the sunlight just outside of my hearth and home, I pondered what to do next.

I bested the draugr and skeletons in their tombs, both under the water and in the dark forests marred by the occasional troll. I ascended to the mountains, where the production of silver is still ongoing. I crafted Draugr Fang, a potent bow, thanks to much of that silver. The ancient trees helped conduct the form of Draugr fang, but the guck I learned to harvest from the trees of the swamps turned it into a deadly and glowing thing. –Just like its namesake.

I prayed to Odin and the Gods under the heads of the foes I had slain. Eikthyr. The Elder. The Bonemass. Foes that Odin needed me to vanquish. I also looked to the tomes of those not yet dead. The stones of Moder and Yagluth. As I prayed, I used the stones as guidance to find out about Moder as much as I could. She was a dragon that looked much like the wyverns that I harvested cold organs from. I could already tell that Moder would be a large enemy. Her home was high up in the mountains, and I assumed she must’ve been just as comfortable up there as she would be in the warm meadows. I looked at my frost arrows in disgust after the revelation.

To find Moder, I needed to explore the mountains more. And so I did. Like a goat, I carefully conserved my stamina so I can properly scale the walls towards better heights. After defeating my first golem, I was less scared of the fauna and monsters that needed no warmth, and no light. I came across many buildings up at the crest of the range. It turns out that ancient vikings must’ve also called the mountains their home.

To conquer the cold, and to build up here with such ease swelled my heart and warmed my cheeks.

As I ventured in the deep cold, I came across a curious sight. Two wyverns were guarding a glowing object laid atop the snow and frost. After dispatching the wyverns with fire arrows, I inspected the glow. A large egg, the largest I’ve seen in my life, was resting in a nest made of curious stones. The egg glowed crimson red against the white hallowed light beaming from the stones themselves. At first, I took a pick to the stones, and they would not give me anything despite the strength of my iron tool. Next, I inspected the egg. I tried lifting it and I immediately regretted the decision. I would have to forgo my wood, my stone, and everything else that I had gathered just to muster the strength to carry an egg this size. So, I simply marked it for later. A curious thing.

One particular building housed the ancient ones, draugr, who I thought only crept in the muddy swamps. Occasionally, wyverns would fight them, beckoning the ancient ones to leave their place. –Their abode in the snow. The draugr didn’t care about them. I didn't care for either foe, as I descended one fateful building and dispatched the enemies. Someone had dug deep within the earth, with stairs that spiraled down, almost close enough to meet Ymir’s strong underground flesh just below the loosened soil. There, in the darkness, illuminated by my own torch, a tome glistened. The blood-red text could be read, and I understood the place where Moder occasionally slept.

She was in the Mountains to the West.

It was night out when I emerged from that place. The moon was full, and foreboding. But I paid no heed. I was well rested, well fed, and well clothed. My tempered iron mace and my new silver shield afforded me more luxuries than I knew.

But I was foolish. I did not remember that new beasts and ghosts could emerge under the moon. I did not know about the beast the darkness would send to me too. As I made my way downhill, I heard strange howling. Thinking there were more wolves, I prepared myself. Like I expected, a few of the beasts surrounded me. I caved in one of their heads. As the other wolf drew my attention, I felt cold claws slicing and ripping at my back. I turned to meet my new enemy.

It was a terrible parody of man. It stood bipedal on two legs, with human arms and torso covered in darkened fur. The head of a wolf adorned this monster, and it howled at me and bared its teeth. It’s earlier attack made me bleed profusely. So, I ran.

But the wolves and their master are faster. As I ran, I conserved what stamina I had. I stopped, shield up as they attacked. One wolf became three, plus this hideous dark beast. When I had respite, I downed a healing potion. It strengthened me. Now, with less pain at my back, I could focus better on the fight I was forced to carry out.

The werewolf crouched, and jumped on me. Surprise! But I had my shield at the ready. I blocked as much of its claws as I could. –I heard them scraping on wood and silver. My mace at the ready, I swung at it. But it dodged. Instead, my mace ended on the ribs of a wolf, breaking the bones there. A second quick swing finished off the poor beast that was caught in between.

I got my shield up, ready for the next blows, and I looked for better footing. The werewolf spit as it took its haggard breath. It came at me, and swung once, and twice, before giving my mace a second chance to riposte. It was a good counter hit this time, and the werewolf staggered. –If only briefly. Before I could properly wail on the thing, it flailed back at me twice over. I couldn’t block in time. It’s claws dug deep into my chest and pushed me down a hill. I got back up as quick as I could, but my stamina was gone. I screamed at it. It howled back.

I was prepared to die.

But not yet! Not until I gave it a good fight! With my shield up, I prepared for its next strikes. My shield held fast, and I downed my favored honey mead. It wasn’t much, but I was able to regain my fighting strength in half the time it usually took to catch my breath. My goal was to be smart, not dumb.

Swing. Block. The werewolf’s fur was now matted in it’s own darkened blood.

Swing. Block. More wolfs joined the fray. I saw now that this thing was truly their master.

Swing. Block. I downed more mead. My eyes became hazy, and the blood I lost was substantial.

Swing. Block. The werewolf finally fell.

My mace somehow lodged inside of it’s collar bone, blood spurt in my eyes. It tried to howl, but it gurgled and attempted to breath before going limp before me. In short order, the last wolf alive also met a similar fate.

Covered in Mead, sweat, and blood, I knelt to the ground. The Mountains sought to cover me with more snow, and a blizzard set in once more just after the battle. The rage of the wolf spirits encompassed me. As I hollered my battle cry, the only witnesses would be the trees and the rocks, and whatever lived near them. Perhaps the Gods, too.

Perhaps.

My only prize from that battle was a tooth, some fur from the wolves, and a paw from that cursed beast.

As I exited the mountains, back to my base, I rested. I used the teleporter to go back to my hearth and my home. By my bedside, I cleaned the paw I took and displayed it for memorial. And I slept.

The next day, I took my long ship, Bonemass, and sailed West towards Moder. I wasn’t done in the mountains yet. At sea, I was assaulted by serpents. I killed two of them, and marked the location of the others I ignored. Draugr Fang was their bane, and I replenished my lost serpent stew supply in short order. On the same island where the she-lizard roamed, so too did I discover a new place: The Plains. As I sailed, I saw a gloomy village, roofs tapered with animal hides, and the largest fire I had ever seen brimming against the light rain.

I got closer, and this small fellow was ashore. I tried to say ahoy, hello, but the small thing only stared. It was armed with what looked like a primitive spear. I could swear I heard it laughing too. I decided to continue along the shore towards safer, known, places.

It was in the black forest, further along the island, that I prepared to meet Moder. I did not yet know what this beast required for me to stir her, but I had the inkling of an idea. Instead, I prepared for what I could. I chopped down trees for wood, and set up a proper base under the mountain again. It was there that I placed another portal towards my hearth and home.

While admiring my handiwork, I checked my map. I discovered, through magick or otherwise, a marking of a bag was placed upon it. This marking placed upon itself somewhere nearby the black forest. –On this very island I trespassed. I decided to check it out before meeting the dragon.