God of War: Daughter of War

After dealing with one of the mining rigs the family continued to move around the lake or bay they were in, since there were a fair number of areas for them to dock in so they could obtain more resources and add more experience to their belts, as there were a good number of enemies as well. Once such area happened to be an area close to a large skeleton that was pure bones, of a creature that must have once called this realm home before it's demise, though while the head looked like a dragon's it was hard to tell with the scattered nature of the rest of it's body. In addition to that the area they ended up in after the first rig was where they discovered a dragon statue that was almost lifelike, almost like someone like Albis had used a petrification power on it, meaning that if someone came along with a spell or tool to free it the beast would most likely attack. The enemies of this beach were a refreshing familiar face, tatzelwurms, where Kratos and his daughters clashed with the creatures while Atreus provided the support he was used to giving, though this time around the four of them used their past experiences to bring down their enemies, including a few grim that showed up to join the battle.

Once they cleared out the area the family started to search for anything that might be useful, other than the few bits and pieces of resources that had been dropped by their slain enemies, where Kratos noticed a statement written in runes on the nearby scaffolding, one indicating that others 'shouldn't breathe', either due to the bad smoke or hold their tongues since speaking ill of Odin was a bad idea. In addition to that they discovered a runic chest in the area, causing them to keep an eye out for the runes that were empowering the lock, one of which happened to be behind a geyser that Kratos threw his axe at to break, causing them to keep an eye out for the other two. In addition to that Flurry found another Ormr hanging out under part of the scaffolding, or maybe it was the same one from before, but either way it noticed her, approached them, and dropped a bag of resources before rubbing it's head against her leg and then disappeared quickly. She suspected that her position as the Goddess of Death was more than enough for these creatures to realize that opposing them was a bad idea, but decided not to say anything about that as she stored the items away in her bad, while her father climbed up to the next level and kept looking around.

What he discovered was that there was no way up to the highest point of the scaffolding, to which he returned to the area his children were in and joined them in breaking the other two runes, both hidden behind two more geysers, and once they were taken care of he opened the runic chest so Flurry could loot everything that was inside it.

The moment they were done with the beach, for the time being since Kratos said it looked like they needed another item to continue exploring the uppermost area, and Flurry was sure they'd be back to free the dragon, Kratos returned to the boat with Atreus and Pandora as Flurry took to the air again. Following that they found where Sindri had decided to set up shop this time around, as it gave him a good view of the bay while he tended to his materials, and when they approached Flurry showed him the ore they had recovered from the mining rig they had taken out. He informed them that he could, in fact, use it to make something for the family that would be added to Flurry's bag, safe from the horrors of Fimbulwinter, but before that he suggested clearing out the other two rigs so they could have everything in hand. With that information in hand the family checked out the rest of this little island and found that there was a bit of scaffolding they could climb up, bringing all of them to a watchtower that had a locked door, one that worried Mimir as he told them to track down an island that was near a geyser, as it had a key they needed and he would explain things later.

In addition to that there was a strange hole in the ground that was on the other side of the small watchtower, which Mimir called a 'draugr hole', that ended up being were a flaming female draugr, who seemed to have a burning hatred for all things for some reason, pulled herself out of before attacking them. As Kratos blocked with the Leviathan Axe, however, they were able to learn something about their foe, her name was apparently 'Hertha' and those that had seen her had given her the title of 'The Hateful', who was an empress in life before her demise, and even when she died she was able to deny her own death, causing her transformation into her new form. Hertha, as they discovered, carried two burning axes into battle, and had the power to call forth stronger draugr from the hole while it was opened, where Flurry shifted her stance and drew the Serpent's Glaive, spinning it around as she blocked a couple of incoming attacks. Such a thing reminded Atreus that she was a force to be reckoned with, as he kept forgetting that she had more than the bow, her sickles, the large hammer, and the greatsword she only used on those she deemed worthy, as she had an entire arsenal tucked away, ready to be drawn at a moment's notice.

While she did that Kratos, Pandora, and Atreus dealt with Hertha, dodging or blocking attacks as they hacked into her body, finding that the draugr seemed to withstand their attacks until Kratos grabbed her and tore her in half, sealing the hole she had come out of, like the two had been connected, allowing them to loot a stone chest as Flurry picked up a few items that Hertha had dropped.

"Let's see... a piece for the Blades of Chaos," Flurry commented, where she held the piece out to her father, who took it and attached the addition to his old weapons, empowering them even more than before, before she glanced at a spark that was just like one of the Chaos Flames they had used to strengthen the blades during their previous adventure, a 'Chaos Spark' in her mind, which she stored away with some special coals and most Realm Dust, "and a few other odds and ends."

Kratos nodded, he suspected as much from these odd special foes, and once they were done looting the area they returned to where the boat was resting and headed up the other path that was in the area, where they headed up to where another mining rig rested. As they moved around the area Atreus commented that it was definitely nice to be out of Midgard, even if they had to deal with Odin's oppression of the dwarves in the process, but he focused on the task at hand as they climbed up to where their main target. Once more Atreus and the others spotted that there were a number of grim, wretches, and a number of nightmares hanging around the core of the structure, causing them and their father to lash out at them like they had done to the enemies they had encountered so far, Kratos slashing through the grim as his children made sure to take out everything else. As Atreus loosed a few more arrows at their enemies he found that Pandora used her halberd to crush those that rushed at her, while at the same time Flurry weaved in and out of enemy attacks before cutting down her foes, allowing them to approach the heart of the rig once the coast was clear.

Sure enough they found that the materials that were dropped from the first one were given out for this one was well, which explained why Sindri wanted all of the rigs taken care of before working on some armor, though with the materials in hand they returned to the boat and set out once more.

Based on what Flurry could hear it was clear that Mimir had regrets about his hand in tricking the dwarves into serving Odin, even if it meant that they could survive to see another day, but it came at the cost of so many mediocre weapons and gear that ended up being made by the smiths of Asgard. He also held some regret for the prisoner that seemed to be in the area as well, since that was why he was interested in recovering the key while they were out here, even though she was sure that it had something to do with the slumbering beast that seemed to be below the island he wanted them to visit. Instead of going straight for the geyser island, which was an impressive geyser, they found another beach to dock at and discovered a crystalline lock on a door, to which Kratos used the chisel and undid the binding magic, allowing them to find that it was just a small area with a stone chest for them to loot. Flurry even found an area that had a new type of crystalline lock, one that required a bit more magic on the chisel for them to access whatever it was connected to, causing the family to continue on their way as they explored the rest of the area they were in, after she looted a wooden chest anyway.

There was a beach that had something interesting on it, there was what appeared to be a tombstone with a slot that one could put an item inside, likely to awaken some sort of ancient warrior, which Flurry kept in mind for later as her family quickly tapped all three of the runic bells to unlock a runic chest that they fully looted.

After that they doubled back to the dock near the geyser island, where Flurry found some stones blocking the way and just loosed an arrow at a bomb that was on the other side, blasting the way open so the others could move forward, though a few wretches had to be wiped out in the process. Of course they discovered that there was actually a nest producing them and Flurry crushed it with a bit of her magic, allowing her family to deal with the few remaining wretches, opening the way for them to explore the rest of the island while making sure their guards were up. After that they found their way up to the peak of the area, where there was a cracked floor for them to smash through, so while her family dealt with the wretches she switched her weapon to Earthshaker and brought it down on the area, making sure it was focused on what was right below her as she smashed through the stone. Such a thing allowed her to enter an area and crush a beast that looked like an ogre with a wretch nest on it's back, or part of it's back, with the force of the collapse and the force of her hammer, which allowed her to loot the nearby chest as she pulled out an important looking key.

With that in hand, and Mimir confirmed it was what they were looking for, the family headed out and docked at a dock that was right below the third mining rig, where Kratos, Atreus, and Pandora climbed up a chain as Flurry landed on the upper area, where she noticed that this seemed to be an area with moveable stuff for them to worry about. One thing they found out while they explored the structure was that there were a few explosive barrels, with a low amount of power based on what Mimir said, and Kratos struck each one with the Blades of Chaos, igniting them and blasting apart small barriers that were in their way. In addition to that there were a few stone figures in their way as well, of draugr and grims, though instead of allowing them to break out of their confinement, like they did in the past, Kratos nodded to Flurry as she loosed a couple of arrows, breaking them apart while her family explored the area. While they made their way through the area, which was easy since there weren't any foes to worry about, Atreus commented on why none of the dwarves tried to turn off the rigs in the past, causing Mimir to tell him that a few tried, but they were made an example of by the Einherjar, Odin's army, to put the rest of the dwarves in their place.

The only foes that they ended up fighting were more of the grim and wretches when they finally reached their destination, so it was only a matter of time until they cleared the area, turned off the final mining rig, collected their loot, and returned to the area that Sindri was in.

"Give me just a moment." Sindri said, as while there were a few other items he needed to make the gear he wanted to make, because it had been a dream of his to use this ore in making something, he didn't have to worry too much since he knew that Flurry could provide them with ease, which she did so when he asked for them, and it wasn't long before he produced a new set of armor for them, a gleaming blue chest piece with wrist guards, "There you go, armor ready to provide you with all sorts of useful effects."

The group thanked Sindri for his work as Flurry stashed the armor away, adding more power to their overall ability, before they climbed up to where the locked door was resting, which Kratos used the key on and revealed that there was a gong on the other side, which he raised so Atreus could strike it with an arrow... causing the island geyser to rise and confirm that it was a living creature that had chains on it's large fins.

"I'm sad and surprised that it's still here... we'll need to break it's chains." Mimir said, as he was surprised to see that the large creature was still here, chained where it had been left all those years ago, though he glanced at the family as they made their way down to the boat so they could check the creature out, "This is a Lyngbakr, a creature that I... captured many years ago, a gift of sorts for Odin since I believed that it was imaginative and eye-catching way to earn his favor. I was young and stupid, and didn't know the weight of chains myself..."

Kratos remained silent for a time, as he had to think about Mimir chaining an innocent creature to earn Odin's favor, but he decided not to bring it up, because part of him understood his friend completely, given how he had been chained at one point in the past as well. With that in mind he focused on landing and climbing up to the upper area, where Flurry landed as she loosed a few arrows into the stone draugr that were in the area, allowing her family to continue exploring as she dealt with a potential problem before it could become a problem. While she did that Kratos tracked down where one of the beast's chains was located and blew up a bomb that was blocking the path to it, though upon reaching the chain he used one of the blades and cut used it's fire to help cut through it like it was made of butter. Such a thing caused the Lyngbakr to raise it's now freed fin and revealed that it even had a lock on it, to help prevent it from moving, though as Kratos smashed the lock with the Leviathan Axe the act of freeing even a portion of it caused the island that had formed on it's shell to shake as part of it broke, revealing a new path.

The new area had a number of nightmares and a few grim that didn't want them to intrude on their homes, though since all of them seemed eager to fight the family engaged them, three of them hacking their way through all of their enemies while Atreus focused on loosing arrows at those that weren't the immediate focus on his family members. They also had to climb up a chain and reach another area to move through, requiring them use a hook as they crossed a large gap, reminding both Kratos and Flurry of some of their first adventures and how they had to traverse certain areas. There were some draugr in the area, but it wasn't anything they couldn't handle as the family tore through them, though as they did that Kratos did ask if Odin ever did anything to the creature, where Mimir responded that he harvested it for oil, for his lanterns, which only served to annoy the father and daughter for a few moments. Fortunately they didn't have to think about that for too long as they dropped down into the area that the second chain was in, causing it to be cut in half before the other fin was revealed to them, where Kratos crushed the lock with a well placed throw of the Leviathan Axe.

Such a thing caused more of the exterior of the island to collapse and reveal another area, where they smashed through yet another wretch nest with ease before continuing on their way, though it wasn't a path, rather it was that the nest was right on top of a device that dispensed fire bombs for them to throw at certain things.

It didn't take a genius to figure out what was going on as Kratos used one of the fire bombs to blast apart some stones that were blocking another path, which not only brought them to a stone chest for them to loot but also gave them a good view of another dock that was blocked with stone. With that information in hand the family nodded as Kratos retrieved another fire bomb and hurled it across the water, where it struck the stone and blasted it apart, opening the way for them to use a new dock, which likely held the way to the third and final chain. As such he opened a gate that was blocking the way before they crossed over to where they had docked and departed without delay, making their way to the other side of the massive creature, though while her father did that Flurry looted a stone chest before catching up with her family. The area that the other dock brought them to just had a couple of draugr for them to fight, so while the others did that Flurry opened a gate so that they could bring a fire bomb over here and use it on some stones, as she knew that her family didn't help her help against a few undead enemies.

She did get involved when some grim jumped into the area, but it didn't last very long as they crushed their enemies, which opened the way for Kratos to cut the chain and break the lock, fully freeing the creature, though Flurry left them to return to the boat and head for the beast's head, allowing Mimir to get some closure on this matter.

"A race subjugated, an innocent creature enslaved and forgotten, and so much more sadness." Flurry commented, speaking to herself as she observed what her family was doing, her father speaking to Mimir as Atreus tried to speak with the beast, where she let out a sigh as she imagined what else they might discover in the near future, "And yet, something tells me the worst has yet to be seen."

This one of the rare times where Flurry hoped that she was wrong about something, that there was nothing worse than the things they had seen so far, and knew that it was only a matter of time until she knew whether she was right or wrong, they just had to find Durlin and see if he could help them, before worrying about what the future decided to throw in their way.