Winter Wolf
| Winter Wolf | |
|---|---|
| GweyrQuest | |
| Creator | The Observer |
| Information | |
| Quest Giver | Gweyr |
| Requirements |
|
| Level Range | 5+ |
| Quest Type | Side Quest |
| Reward | Returning Gweyr to her family |
| Location | Glacial Rift |
| Timed? | No |
| Can Fail? | No |
"The point of sending you to walk the ice is to kill you, [pc.name]; you're meant to keep on walking further and further north until the cold takes you. A way to kill you while maintaining the illusion of keeping one's hands clean. But as you can see, I didn't die. I wasn't about to let myself. I've hunted Tollus for all these years... and now he and his ilk wind up on my doorstep.
"You're right, [pc.name]. Those snares weren't meant for rabbits. They're meant for people. You can guess who."
Winter Wolf is a quest following your adventures in the Glacial Rift helping Gweyr thwart Master Tollus's ambitions, and then persuading the old wolf to return home to her family.
Quest States
| State | Acquisition | Description |
|---|---|---|
| 0 | Complete Gweyr's paralogue | Having heard Gweyr's tale on how she got herself banished from Hawkethorne, it's time to help her fulfill her vengeance against Tollus here in the rift. Talk to her again when you're ready to rumble. |
| 1 | Talk to Gweyr about Task | Now that you're ready to take action, Gweyr wants you to meet her in the rift by the northeastern edge of the permafrost where it borders the sea ice. Together, you'll attack their camp and sabotage their stockpile of gray goo — she'll let you decide what role you want to take in the attack when you're able to survey the situation for yourself.
If you want to create the diversion yourself, you should be prepared for an extended combat. If you would rather perform the sabotage, you should bring along items and companions that will help you destroy as many barrels as you can in the time Gweyr's able to buy you. |
| 2 | Complete the Cultist Stockpile | With the stockpile damaged, it's only a matter of time before the demon cult has to send for more corruptive goo from the source, wherever that might be. Head back to Gweyr at her cave when you're ready to pick up the trail. |
| 3 | Talk to Gweyr about Task | In the wake of your sabotage on the cultist outpost and the goo stockpile, Tollus' underlings have called for fresh supplies to be brought — not from afar, but from somewhere within the rift. Gweyr intends to trail the ship and see where the source is, as well as any other information she can get her hands on.
Since she does not intend to fight on this expedition, you should take that in mind and bring items and people with you who might make subterfuge easier on you. Once you've finished your preparations, rendezvous with Gweyr on the eastern side of the sea ice, close to where it meets the land. |
| 4 | Complete the Mage-Ship | Working together, Gweyr and you have pinned down the source of the goop barrels which are plaguing the Rift — a deep, dark abyssal trench far below the ocean's surface. The question, then, is how you're going to get down there in one piece.
Gweyr has an idea: Imora, a siorcanna shaman she knows, has the power to imprint tattoos that protect land-dwellers from the hazards of the icy ocean. She'd like you to check in with Imora and secure her cooperation in the matter so that you can head down and confront Tollus, whom you have discovered to have fled here from Harvest Valley and is mucking about in the depths right now, doing gods-knows-what. You can find Imora in the northwestern part of the rift, out over the sea ice. |
| 5 | Offer Imora Eggs | Instead of fucking her, you've agreed to supply Imora with three purple harpy eggs in exchange for the deep-sea tattoos you'll need to descend to the bottom of the ocean trench Tollus is hiding out in. You should be able to find purple eggs off harpies or in their abandoned nests all over the foothills... or if you're daring, lay some yourself. Regardless, Imora would like three of them for, uh, purposes, so hop to it. |
| 6 | Retrieve Eggs or offer Imora Fuck | Now that you've managed to secure Imora's cooperation, it's almost time for you to head down into the depths after Tollus. You should check in with Gweyr to let her know of the good news, and to wait for your next move. |
| 7 | Talk to Gweyr about Task | It's about time you went down into the depths and confronted Tollus, Leold, and any of his other henchmen whom he may have with him. It's going to be a difficult trip and you won't be able to turn back once you set off, so consider everything you've learned about the cult's operations in preparation for what lies ahead.
When you've made your preparations, return to Gweyr and ask her about the cult. |
| 8 | Talk to Gweyr about Task again | You've descended to the bottom of the ocean trench in your pursuit of Tollus and his cult, discovering that the trail ends at a sunken jotun castle far beneath the surface. The hunt, as they say, is on; it's your task here to get to the bottom of matters and wreck whatever scheme Tollus has cooking up.
Based on your actions in the previous leg of this quest, you've obtained the following knowledge which could be helpful:
|
| 9 | Complete Abyssal Depths | Is... is it over? You've defeated Tollus and the lureling deep beneath the frozen ocean, and as far as you can tell, the grey goo polluting the rift should eventually come to a stop. Yet there's still the matter of Gweyr. After hunting Tollus for roughly two decades and having decided to pass on the torch to the younger generation, she feels like she's finished her purpose in life, and there's nothing left for her to do.
Maybe you should check in with her family. There may be only one person left in the world who may be able to convince her to come home, as opposed to accepting her end. |
| 10 | Talk to Garret about Gweyr without completing Shades of the Past | Sure, Garret might be the only person in the world who might be able and willing to give Gweyr meaning to her life at this point, but you don't think he's presentable to his mother as-is. Maybe digging further into the history of Garth's family will give his idiot son the impetus he needs in order to realize the epiphany he needs.
Return to Garret and try again when you think he's finally ready to accept the truth about his mother without doing something silly in the bargain. |
| 11 | Talk to Garret about Gweyr with Shades of the Past completed | After a tense standoff with his father, Garret's agreed to accompany you into the rift and convince his mother to come home. He's asked you to go ahead first while he deals with a couple of matters back in Hawkethorne, and meet him at the elevator in the Winter City. |
| 12 | Talk to Garret at the Winter City elevator | Looks like everything went well, with Garret managing to convince Gweyr that her family needed her, and to come home with him; it might've been a close thing considering his approach, but he did come through in the end.
All that's left is for you to head back to Hawkethorne and wait for mother and son to make their appearance, which should take two or three days since you left them; the town square should give you plenty of advance warning of their approach just in case something happens. |
| 13 (complete) |
Encounter Gweyr and Garret in Hawkethorne two days later | And that's the end of the tale, or at least where you're concerned. With Garth's family reunited at last, Gweyr can spend the rest of her life repairing her relationships with her kin and hopefully guiding her kids into a better place for the future. It's not going to be easy — it may even be more of a challenge than everything she or you have faced up to this point — but by the gods, is it worth doing. That, and you realize you never quite did discover what dark, deep-rooted fear of hers the lureling tried to use against her...
If you still have business with Gweyr, she'll be in the nursery, trying to build bridges with a daughter who resents her. Like what was said... not going to be easy. |
Writer Credit
Acquisition
Encounter Gweyr in the Glacial Rift and complete her paralogue adventure.
Characters
Glacial Rift
- Imora
- Leold
- The Lureling
- High Shaman Seastone
- Master Tollus
- Master Whisper
- Demon Cultists
- Glacial Rift Selkies
Hawkethorne
Guest Companions
Progress
Cultist Stockpile
The first step to Gweyr's plan to take down Master Tollus's activity in the area is to destroy the stockpile of grey goop that the Demon Cultists are dumping around the Glacial Rift. When you're ready, she'll ask you to meet her at the site and advise you to prepare for one of two roles you can play in the mission. If you opt for Sabotage, you will need to bring companions and consumables suitable for destroying the stockpile in however long Gweyr can give you. Whereas for Distraction will require you to be equipped for a drawn out combat against the upgraded cultists you've encountered in the Rift. When you get to the marked spot on the map, you will be given the choice.
- Sabotage: You'll handle the barrels while Gweyr draws away the cultists. Presumably you brought people and items suited to the task like she told you to.
- Distraction: You'll draw the cultists' attention while Gweyr handles the sabotage. Presumably you're ready for a protracted battle.
Sabotage
If you choose Sabotage, Gweyr will leave to engage the enemy directly and draw their attention. The game asks if you brought appropriate consumables to help destroy the stockpile — Naptha, Leananstone, and Ley-crystal Grenade will count for the mission, or if you didn't bring any of them you'll need to select Nothing. If you choose the Ley-crystal Grenade, you'll skip straight to the resolution. Otherwise, there's a companion check — Brint, Brienne, Arona, Azyrran, and Kiyoko are all good choices, otherwise you'll need to select No One.
Once your selections are locked in, you perform the sabotage, with varying results depending on your choices. Gweyr regroups with you after the mission. Depending on how well you did, she was able to loot the camp in the chaos and shares the rewards with you.
| Selections | Reward |
|---|---|
| Ley-crystal Grenade |
|
| A companion and an item |
|
| A companion or an item |
|
| No companion or item |
|
Distraction
If you choose Distraction, you and your companions are responsible for launching an attack on the stockpile so Gweyr can destroy the barrels. You are faced with an endlessly respawning group of Demon Cultists, and how you perform depends on how many cultists you're able to defeat before falling. Once you drop to 0 health, you disengage from the cultists. You rendezvous with Gweyr afterwards, where she comments on how well you did. If you were able to start a ruckus, she got into the enemy camp to loot some rewards.
| Enemies Defeated | Reward |
|---|---|
| 11+ |
|
| 7-10 |
|
| 3-6 |
|
| 0-2 |
|
The Mage-Ship
After your attack on the stockpile, Gweyr caught word of when a ship will be travelling into the Glacial Rift to resupply the cultists. It's a golden opportunity for you, Gweyr, and your companion to sneak aboard and learn what you can about what Master Tollus is doing here. It's a stealth mission, so you'll need to be equipped for a reconnaissance mission rather than a fight. When you're ready, meet Gweyr at the marked spot to begin.
The Mage-Ship operates on a three strike system (And despite the game implying otherwise, there is no time limit or interaction limit. Yet.). There are a number of options on the ship, some which provide vital information and some which cause delays or noise, leading to a Strike. Once you hit three strikes, the cultists will come below deck to investigate, with your group barely escaping in time. A critical path through the dungeon that can be achieved by any champion and collects the plot-relevant loot is provided below, although it is by no means the only way through. With preparation and luck, there is much more that can be learned and collected from this stage of the quest.
You enter the ship through the crew quarters. You and Gweyr quietly incapacitate the sleeping cultists, though if you fail an Agility check and don't have Etheryn or Quintillus in your party, you immediately gain a Strike. From there, you travel west to the cargo hold, where you can check the Manifest for intelligence about the next step in the quest. You can then travel east to the navigational cabin, where the Logs reveal the password to a vault.
From there, you head south, skipping the engine room to come face-to-face with a locked wooden door. A Thief character or Quintillus can bypass the door safely, however you will otherwise incur a Strike. If you check the Cupboard, you retrieve a set of Avanai circlets being stored in a heavily reinforced cupboard. You don't know what to use these for yet, but since they seem important Gweyr collects them. However, unless you're a Thief, have the Slum Rat background, or have Quintillus with you; opening the cupboard will set off a trap causing a Strike.
If you failed the crew quarters check, the door check, and the cupboard check, after collecting the circlets you will hit three strikes and be kicked off the ship. If not, you can keep exploring until you trigger the dungeon end. As you make your escape, Gweyr recognises the voice of Leold, who she believes should be dead. He was rather gruesomely dispatched in her paralogue, complete with a sword through the chest. You also witness the ship dumping their supplies in the ocean, and realise the cultist base must be under the ocean.
To reach their underwater base, Gweyr instructs you to seek the help of Imora, who can be found in the northern area of the Glacial Rift. She agrees to help, but demands either 3 Purple Eggs or a Fuck for her assistance. Once you've secured her aid, head back to Gweyr to trigger the next step of the quest.
Abyssal Depths
"Make your final preparations, [pc.name], and come back to me when you're ready for an underwater adventure. At long last, I think I can finally finish this hunt of mine and put Tollus right were he belongs... I don't expect it to be easy, so consider everything that we've learned about Tollus and his operation up to this point, and prepare accordingly. Since you just told me that Imora's tattoos will fade once we resurface, there's going to be no turning back once we set off."
During the upcoming dungeon, consumable items, companions, and information learned during the Mage-Ship will affect how much trouble you have facing Master Tollus and the Demon Cult. You also face significant combat challenges, so bring companions who are ready to throw down. Gweyr will accompany you as a guest party member for this stage of the quest as well. When you're ready to begin, you, Gweyr, and your companions if present will travel to Imora. With the help of Imora, High Shaman Seastone, and other Siorcanna, you are equipped and prepared to swim to the bottom of the ocean to confront the cult.
Floor 1
After a fair swim, you find a jotun castle half-buried in the wall of an underwater trench. At this point your quest log updates with important information you learned in the previous stage. It comes into play right away; if you head directly south, the bridge crumbles underneath you, inflicting Bruised and Beaten on you and Gweyr for the rest of the dungeon. The Manifest on the ship warns that you need to take the west bridge, as the east bridge has been damaged by water seepage.
Past the bridges, there's only one walkway to the eastern side of the floor, and the cultists have established a barricade. You are forced to take cover as the cultists rain down arrows and firebolts on your position. You have the opportunity to use a consumable item to break the offensive — a Leananstone, Wyvern Venom, Naptha, or a Ley-crystal Grenade. Failing that, certain companions or weapons can help you advance on the enemy position without taking damage — Arona in her Warhides set, Brint in his Winter Knight set, Atugia, or if you're wielding a shield. Otherwise, you and your allies suffer the Bleeding effect before fighting the Demon Cultists.
After defeating the cultists, you're able to move into the eastern section of the map. Something about the atmosphere starts affecting your companions as well, though it passes reasonably quickly. You can travel north to find a vault to open with the password from the Mage-Ship and gain Gloves of Giant Strength. The staircase to the east leads to the next stage, but if you take the north path you run into another ambush. However, if you head south, you can try to clear the rubble to make another entrance to the staircase. You need to pass a strength check and have one recommended companion, or fail the strength check and have two — Azyrran, Brint, Brienne, or Arona. You will take damage from clearing the rubble unless you have a Camping Supplies on you. Alternatively, you can use a Leananstone or Ley-crystal Grenade to clear the rubble.
At the staircase, you encounter Master Whisper and have to defeat him to progress. He summons two decoys to fight alongside him, but you can check the initiative order or combat log to see which Whisper acts multiple times a round. That Whisper is the real one you need to defeat to win the encounter. If you accepted Getting Into The Closet but never completed it, you find the quest item on Whisper and can turn that in to Brother Sanders. After that, you can head downstairs.
Floor 2
There's a wordlock chest to the east, which you can open for a Kaelirra's Tears. Afterwards, head north to encounter Master Tollus and Leold. Leold is shielding Tollus from damage, but you can use multi-target attacks to stack damage on Leold and pick him off. If you win, Tollus and Leold retreat further into the floor. Gweyr stops you from pursuing further, saying they're luring you into a trap and you need to be prepared before proceeding. Next square is a magic fountain you can use to restore the party's HP.
In the next room, you discover a mass of Selkies, seemingly controlled by a discordant melody. With cackling glee, Tollus stops the music and sets the selkie mob on you before escaping. You can use a Leananstone to peaceably disperse the mob, or Wyvern Venom to set them on each other. If you don't use an item, you fight a respawning series of Glacial Rift Selkies, however after you defeat six of them they come to their senses and flee.
You should be home free at this point, but the oppressive psychic forces assailing the party only intensify. The melody returns, emanating out of a massive teal monster that's erupted into the chamber. You and your allies are all incapacitated, reliving some past trauma. However, if you investigated the Cupboard in the Mage-Ship, Gweyr uses the Avanai circlets to help you shake off the psychic influence. Otherwise, you manage it with sheer willpower but are unable to shake the Lureling's voice from your heads. A boss battle against the Lureling ensues. It has a special move where it takes over one of your companions and has them fight on its side. However, if you have the circlets, the move is neutralised.
After you're victorious, the Lureling flees, threatening to bring down the chamber with it. You travel west the same way Tollus left, stopping to pick up Notes from the ground which explore Tollus's plans, and his relationship with Kasyrra, and also come with the Dream-Plate. At the west corner there's a Waystone out of the Abyssal Depths, which you take back to Winter City. You and your allies travel back to Gweyr's camp, where you recover from the harrowing journey and discuss the events with your companions.
Homecoming
"Being banished to walk the ice is a death sentence in all but name. I guess now that I've done all I can about Tollus, after nipping at his heels all over for twenty years now... maybe it's time for me to lay down and — "
Now that Master Tollus has been foiled, it's time to find a happy ending for Gweyr. You're not able to talk her into coming home, but maybe someone from her family. Garth is nearly as stubborn as his wife, and Gwyn hates her mother, but Garret might have a shot. In order to progress here, you need to have completed Dog Days to rescue Garret in the first place, and complete or fail Shades of the Past for Garret to have the emotional maturity to take on this task. When he's ready, approach him in The Frost Hound to let him know what's going on.
Once he's looped in, Garret has tense confrontations with Brother Sanders and his father, before announcing he's travelling to the Glacial Rift to bring back his mother. It takes him a day to prepare and travel up to the Winter City, where you can find him waiting at the elevator to the Rift. Once you meet up with him there, you travel with him to meet Gweyr. His appeal is successful, and Gweyr agrees to come back to Hawkethorne with her son once she's settled things here.
Two days later, Gweyr arrives. There's a lot of people awkwardly avoiding her, a friendly reunion with River, a significantly less friendly reunion with Sanders, and then she actually returns home to her family. Things won't be fixed, not right away. But, partly thanks to your intervention, everyone's started to put in the work.
Notable Loot and Rewards
The rewards for destroying the stockpile are available in the Cultist Stockpile section. Extraordinary success leads to:
- 1x Wyldsap
If you loot the Cargo in the Mage-Ship, you gain:
- 5x Winterstem
- 5x Brazenberry Ale
If you loot the Liquor Cabinet in the Mage-Ship (requires Arona, Quintillus, or Slum Rat background), you gain:
- 1x Pupper Pale Ale
- 2x Brazenberry Ale
- 2x Ice Wine
If you unlock the Lockbox in the Mage-Ship, you gain:
- 1x Bone Seax
If you open the vault in the Abyssal Depths, you gain:
If you open the wordlock chest in the Abyssal Depths, you gain:
For defeating the Lureling, you gain:
For looting Notes after defeating the Lureling, you gain:
- 1x Dream-Plate
Gem Puzzle
Chest Puzzle
Ring