Riverspring Castle
You Have Gotten Past Valarr’s Defenses. It Is Time To Confront Him
Objective Point A
Interrupt Valarr in the throne room and condemn his treatment of the Riverspring people. He tries to lie his way out of the situation and orders you to surrender or he’ll turn his men loose on the city. Mors calls for a duel to the death to settle matters, and Valarr accepts.
Triumph Against Valarr In A Trial By Combat
Objective Point B
Valarr will try to get under your skin before the fight begins and weaken your resolve. To avoid a combat penalty, choose the dialogue option “I need to concentrate on the fight” at the end of Valarr’s taunts.
Begin the fight with a strong attack, preferably one that will stun and keep Valarr off balance. He hits very hard with his big two-handed sword; the more strikes you avoid from him, the better.
When you knock him down one-quarter of his health, you break out of combat and Valarr taunts you again. This time keep him talking, and you can catch your breath and recover more energy for the next portion of the battle.
When you see Valarr wind up for a bit attack, interrupt him immediately. When you have the opportunity, hit him with a damage-over-time ability like Bleeding to chip away at his health total while you trade blows. When you knock him down to half health, you break out of combat again.
As much as you try to keep your composure, Valarr gets to you at the fight’s end. He taunts you about the death of your family; he seems to have specifics on how they died. You furiously go after him for the final portion of the battle.
Give it everything you’ve got now. Use up all your energy and unleash your best attacks on Valarr. You have to drop his remaining health total before he finishes off yours. If you continue to keep him off balance with stuns and knockdowns, you should avoid the majority of his huge attacks and outdamage him.
Unfortunately for Mors, Valarr doesn’t fight fair. Even as you beat him in combat and throw him to the ground, he draws upon black magic and conjures up a shadow behind you. Alester tries to warn you, but it’s too late—the shadow stabs you through the back. Before you die, Valarr whispers in your ear that it was he who slaughtered your family.
There’s an uproar from the crowd at the treachery. The lords and ladies in attendance see Valarr for the evil coward that he is. They denounce him as potential ruler, so he has them all executed. Only Ryman manages to escape in the bloody chaos.
The Bloodseekers bring Alester and Elyana before Valarr, who asks Alester where Jeyne Greystone is hidden. He threatens Elyana if Alester doesn’t reply. Alester tells him that Harlton has Jeyne in Castlewood, and Valarr thanks him by lopping Elyana’s head off. In a fit of rage and despair, Alester screams as Valarr orders his men into Riverspring to kill as many as they need to make them acknowledge they have a new regent.