The Banner Saga created by Stoic.
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Chapter Three

Main Walkthrough

Frostvellr

- Back to Rook! Yaaaay! Turns out Ekkill is a jerk after all, assuming you decided to stick around in Frostvellr. If you did you're facing a battle.
  • Thashers
  • Thrasher Veterans
  • Backbiters
  • Raiders
  • Archers
This is a fairly dangerous battle, though you can limit the danger. Avoid spreading your troops out too much by choosing one side of the battlefield and focusing on it first. To the left you'll face some weaker competition that you can wipe out with minimal effort; to the right are the Thrashers. Yikes. I recommend going left to start, as you can wipe up the enemies more quickly and will be less likely to run afoul of the Backbiter's annoying strike. Then you can turn your still-fresh troops around and run the gauntlet that is the Thrashers. Iver is an asset here, so try not to lose him quickly.

- DECISION. One of the surviving guards, Onef, will admit that Ekkill was not appointed as head of the guards of Frostvellr. You then have the option to hunt down some supplies Ekkill's been hiding, thereby recruiting Onef to your team, or flee the city. If you stick around you can use the Market to buy more supplies, as well as a few cool items. Proceed to the supply cache. Be warned: although recruiting Onef is the only way to get another party member later on, you'll also lose Egil in Chapter Six as a result.


- DECISION. You have a choice: make multiple trips to gather everything, take what you can and flee, or take what you can and destroy the rest. You'll get the most (140 Supplies) from taking your time, but you'll also get into a fight with Ekkill and his men.
  • Archers / Bowmasters
  • Thrashers / Thrasher Veterans
  • Backbiters
This battle can either be very dangerous or rather easy, depending on your placement. The Archers are very annoying at a distance, yes, but if you manage to quickly close that distance you'll find them rather easy to kill - especially with Onef, your new Backbiter. Position all of your characters on the left side of the screen, right beside the bulk of the Archers, and wade into them immediately. Rook's Mark Prey is great for killing them in a single hit with the right positioning, Egil can attract the majority of the ranged shots with Stone Wall, and Iver is great at driving away potential threats with Battering Ram... namely the Thrashers. Tricky, but less daunting than it appears. Completing this battle will earn you supplies, 35 Fighters, and a Shepersky Stone, a great item for Egil.

- If you didn't enter Frostvellr in the first place and you decide to leave... well, ignore the preceding paragraphs.


- Back on the road again. If you make camp and didn't ditch them a while back you can speak with Hogun and Mogun, particularly Mogun. Press him and he'll admit that he likes being on the road in a world gone mad. You can agree or disagree with him. Weird guy.

- DECISION. A ways down the road your caravan will come across a nearly-frozen child. You can let your healers tend to her, stop for a rest to tend to the girl, or stop and look for survivors. You won't find anything of interest here if you stop, sadly, though if you only let the menders heal the girl she won't make it. She's useful later, so resting is recommended. (I've found this encounter in a few different places, though typically on this stretch of the journey.)

- IMPORTANT DECISION. Shortly after stopping, assuming you mucked about in Frostvellr and stole supplies, Ekkill and his band will appear in the distance. You can try to run, dig in for a fight, charge his ranks, or try to work it out peacefully. Ekkill will offer parley so long as you don't run, and he'll offer himself and his men up as prisoners. You can ignore his request, take them all as prisoners, or let them join you under strict conditions. If they join you'll gain 45 Fighters, though Morale seems to drop a touch.


- DECISION. Later that day you'll arrive at a godstone. Another group of people is here, and they ask if you'll pay tribute to the gods. You can accept and try it out yourself or just keep moving. If you give the tribute a try they'll give you Gullinfyri. Inspect the godstone for some history on this particular god.

- DECISION. Shortly after the visit to the godstone your caravan will be circled by vultures, and Oddleif will start shooting them down. You can join her or tell her to stop. If you encourage Oddleif she'll offer to train some of the women in the caravan to fight; you can take her up on this or refuse. Accepting now will unlock another character later.


Wyrmtoe

- At the next forest you'll come to a varl encampment. Here Iver will meet Krumr, an old friend, who welcomes you in. (Grudgingly.) After you're done talking you can check out the market, which has tons of supplies at a good exchange rate and some decent items. You can also speak to your new recruit, Krumr. He has some wisdom to share on killing dredge.

- Set back out. You'll gain 62 varl and 20 Supplies for your caravan. Not too shabby.

- DECISION. A blizzard hits just ahead, and some of your clansmen will go missing. You can search thoroughly; ask volunteers to scout; rest a while and see if they'll return; move on; or search for an hour before leaving. You're going to lose clansmen regardless of how you approach this, though if you take some time to search you'll limit the loss.


- IMPORTANT DECISION. Shortly thereafter, assuming you brought Ekkill on board, Alette will speak of conversations they've had. Sounds like he's been badmouthing the journey. You can confirm his story with Onef if you brought him along, then ignore the situation or confront Ekkill. You have the opportunity to kill Ekkill here, if you wish, or warn him to stay away from her. 

- DECISION. Another godstone ahead. At the base of the godstone your travellers will find shining scales, and people will start gathering them up. If you let the travellers gather them all they'll make a Godscale for you, at the expense of a day of scavenging. Not too shabby.

- DECISION. Assuming you encouraged Oddleif to train female fighters, you'll have some trouble with the caravan's men, arguing against the practice. You can either argue for Oddleif and convert some of the clansmen to fighters (even more than initially forecasted, if you ask for more to be trained) or you can have second thoughts and drop the whole thing. Pushing forward with training will cause a slight Morale drop.


- Your first War with this party awaits! Hmm. The dredge's numbers are hardly substantial at this point at around 170, though you probably won't be much better. Fight as you see fit. Regardless of the difficulty of the intervening battle you'll get Fasolt on your team for the fight, should you want his help. I highly recommend making the fight easier on yourself - the dredge are very, very tough if you wade in with your party on the front lines.

- After the War, Fasolt will speak of things happening back west - and say your caravan isn't welcome to come with him. Regardless of your response the caravan will keep on moving.

- Bad things will happen. Oh dear.

- DECISION. Yet another godstone ahead. After an illuminating-but-not-really conversation, you'll have some options: inspect the godstone, leave immediately, or cast about for news. Do as you wish and ultimately you will leave, 20 supplies richer (and if you check the godstone, you'll receive a Farthingjord as well).


- Shortly after leaving the godstone you'll come to an empty hall. You can walk right in to sleep, check it out first, ignore it, or look for clues as to its abandonment. Try to sleep or look for clues and it will collapse, killing off a number of clansmen. Yaaaay. Inspect it first and it will collapse without any deaths.

Einartoft

- You'll wind up in a small village. Rest, check out the Market if you have some leftover Renown, and head out. There are some good items to be had here. Supplies are at a nice rate of four for one Renown, so this is a good spot to stock up. 

- Your next stop isn't quite as good. Shortly thereafter you'll be in the shadow of Einartoft, surrounded by unhappy varl. Rest once you're done shopping, then head for the Great Hall the next day.


- DECISION. You're meeting with Jorundr, the king of the varl. Now both parties are together. Eyvind (remember him?) will set out to meet the dredge; you can either step forward to support him, fighting at his side, or you can stay back and let Eyvind do his thing alone. He's a compulsory member of the battle party if you choose to fight. If you choose not to fight, Hakon and Fasolt will step out instead.

HELP EYVIND
  • Enraged Grunts
  • Stonesingers
  • Dredge Stoneguards
  • Dredge Fire Slingers / Flame Slingers / Blind Slingers
Thanks to Eyvind, this battle is not so terrible. The odds are on the enemy's side, true, but they're also rather low on Armor as a whole. Strike fast and furious, ploughing into their ranks to take out their Slingers as quickly as you can. You especially want to do this before they start planting bombs in the terrain. (Get away from these, speaking of which. You have one turn. They hurt.) The Stonesinger is your primary target once you proceed far enough up the field, as its abilities allow it to strip away dredge Armor - but give them a +3 to Strength. Not good, that, not good at all. Eyvind is good at keeping your team Mended, and when the dredge are heaped up in a common area (like at the beginning) they're highly susceptible to Arc Lightning.

- Thought you were done? Not yet. Here comes Iver to save the day.

  • Bellower
Yep, Iver has to fight this one alone, and his chances are not good. In fact, they're impossible. You can't win this fight. Bellower regains his Strength and Armor each turn. Give Iver the best sendoff you can.

Chapter Five