Rune Mysteries

Vannaka: Keep your wits about you, young pup. Ashenfall is home to many a dangerous beast, and I've not yet tested my blade against each of them.

Vannaka: Getting ahead of yourself, aren't we, young pup? Check your map to see where you're meant to be headed.

Vannaka: My name's Vannaka. Back on the mainland I was a Slayer Master. It was my job to send adventurers after dangerous beasts.

Vannaka: Be ready to fight, that's my first piece of advice. Craft armour, weapons and anything else you need for battle.

Vannaka: Well met, young pup. Looking to get yourself ready to face off against a dragon? You'll need more than that butter knife to kill one, but you've got to start somewhere.

Vannaka: Well met, young pup. Looking to get yourself ready to face off against a dragon? You'll need more than that potato masher to kill one, but you've got to start somewhere.

Vannaka: Cull the monster population to make the world a better place.

Vannaka: There are goblins everywhere in Bramblemead, and deadlier things beyond.

Vannaka: Well met, young pup. Seems your hunt was successful, I see you've gathered the food I asked for.

Vannaka: Well met, young pup. Seems like you haven't managed to cook that rat roast for me yet. You can get them by killing giant rats and cooking their meat. You can find some up by the windmill.

Vannaka: Look, you may have a weapon, but every great warrior knows wars are won by the stomach, not the blade.

Vannaka: I was finding things a little stale on the mainland. When I saw the posters for the expedition, I felt a pull... a call to adventure that I could not resist.

Vannaka: Past Bramblemead is Ghornfell, a place of danger and excitement. Something calls to me out there and I intend to seek it out.

Vannaka: It may not exactly be gourmet cooking, but a meal like this could make the difference between life and death. You'll not be taking on any dragons if you're starving to death.

Vannaka: Behind me, up that little hill, is a windmill infested with rats. I want you to kill some of them and cook their meat.

Vannaka: You will find rats are annoyingly resilient to clubs. Some enemies can resist certain damage types and be vulnerable to others.

Vannaka: Don't pull that face, you can't be a picky eater in a place like this. Food will make you healthier and heartier, and much more likely to survive.

Vannaka: Rats, for example, don't take kindly to getting stabbed. Here, take this little butterknife to make it easier to fight them in future. You can have this as well, it'll help you with what's next.

Vannaka: Properly cook a rat roast and bring them back to me. You'll probably burn a few along the way, don't let that disuade you. No one said survival would be pretty.

Vannaka: Right, let's teach you a bit about magic. Zanik's the one to talk to for that, you can find her down the road just before the river.

Vannaka: Hrmm, seems you're carrying the weight of the world right now. Come see me again when you've got some space free in your backpack.

Zanik: A new adventure is always exciting, don't you think? We lost some good people... friends... but we need to push forward, in their memory.

Zanik: I think someone is looking for you. Mentioned a task they needed you to complete. Check your map for where to find them.

Zanik: I'm Zanik. I'm a cave goblin. Sort of like the goblins over there in Bramblemead village... only we chose peace over violence.

Zanik: There are goblins here. That's unexpected. I thought I knew all the tribes, but there's a whole load of them here.

Zanik: Vannaka was looking for you, mentioned something about fine dining?

Zanik: Most of my people stay underground, hiding from the surface. But I couldn't wait to explore this vast and wonderful world.

Zanik: I wonder why they're not in the history books.

Zanik: Dragons, it had to be dragons. Oh, hi, sorry, nice to meet you, I'm Zanik. I'm the local survival and goblin expert around here.

Zanik: I'm regretting it a bit, what with big scary dragons and all, but I'm excited too. Looking forward to learning everything about this place.

Zanik: As well as goblins. Look at the creatures here. So vibrant and full of life. This whole place feels... magical.

Zanik: The interesting thing about Ashenfall is that it's laced with magic. Anima everywhere, pouring out of the ground. Which we can use to our advantage.

Zanik: Cut down trees and gather 50 ash logs, then bring them to me.

Zanik: Great, you've got them. Now, between you and me, that was a bit repetitive right? I'd be exhausted having to do that all the time.

Zanik: Here, I'll show you. First, let's look at things without magic to help you. I need you to cut down a couple of trees and bring me some ash logs. Simple, right?

Zanik: Fortunately, we've got magic! As you improve in a skill you'll discover spells that you can use, such as my favourite - Axtral Projection.

Zanik: About fifty ash logs should do it, so make sure you've got a well maintained axe. Shouldn't take too long, come back to me when you have them.

Zanik: Axtral projection will let you slice down trees with a wave of your fingers. Much less time consuming than the lumberjack gig.

Zanik: But, magic comes at a cost -- runes. You'll need both air and astral runes to cast Axtral projection, so here's how to get them.

Zanik: See those geysers around, with the floating rocks? Take this pickaxe and mine some essence from them. From here you can use rune essence to craft some air or astral runes either by building your own rune altar or by siphoning from air or astral Anima vents found nearby.

Zanik: Oh wow, bit of a packrat are we? You're carrying too much right now, come back and chat with me when you've cleared some space from your backpack.