#sso life warden

[starshinedragon]

SSO: LIFE WARDENS The magic trees of Jorvik

Main tree: Jordrassil in the Jorcrater -> The Crater is where the first pandorian contact happened, Aideen met the centaurs -> She combined the 3 magics (Light, Earth, Pandorian) and fought Garnok. -> Jordrassil is the first tree, manifestation of Aideen’s life powers. -> Also the place where she dispersed, gave up her light and souls to the creatures of the island -> Master portal- planted many other trees on the island, so she can get around quicky in the war. -> Jordrassil has the strongest hints of Aideen’s light (other than MC) would be a top prize for G to corrupt

Life Wardens: Primeival trees -> Fast travel system, their roots for portals after saying the right incantation.  -> From Jordrassil you can fast travel to ANY (living, friendly) tree -> From other trees only to the next in the network -> Guarding and strengthening any magic: Aideen’s or Garnok’s if corrupted. -> They can be awakened and speak, have different personalities.

1. Harvestlands: -> Sleeping Widow: Forgotten Fields. Helped Lisa, 1st one we meet. Wants to reconnect with the other Trees. Protective of the little one also growing in the Forgotten fields. -> Golden Lady: Scarecrow Hill. Grows Golden Apples, which are pure Aideen/Light power. Neighbors and best friends with the Widow. -> Ancient Sentinel: Wildwoods. Protected by the Wild Horse tribes. There is a pandorian rift underwater in the lake, through which Pandorian magic seeps through, infects the area. We close it when Garnok fully corrupts Pandoria and manage to prevent the Sentinel from being corrupted. -> Singing Yew: South Hoof. Helped Justin. Slumbering in the fields, the winds blowing through the branches make a song. -> Silent Poplar: Firgrove Mountain. Very mysterious. Turns out a hundred years ago he was corrupted and almost lost to the darkness, but they used the cleansing ritual to save him. -> Hidden Willow: Fort Maria. Hiding underground in a cave, guarding the library. The first place we go when we unlock the Tree Portal fast travel system. Guards the knowledge about the Life Wardens.

2. Winterdale -> Fire Glory: Ashland. Red pine, likes the warmth there, very lively, constantly talks about how much she likes the warm and finds the fires and the volcano beautiful. -> Glacier Heart: Dino Valley. Sister to the Ashland one, likes the cold. Constantly annoyed by Fire Glory’s neverending chitchat about Ashland, which she can hear. -> Astral Crown: Starshine mountain. Next to the Secret Stone Circle, protects it, she is why the DRs can’t come close to the circle. -> Silver Runebark: Rimefang woods. Silver leafs, revered by the Kallters, likes them, his bark covered in glowing azure runes. -> Wise Leaf : Anvil woods. Helped the druids protect the forest from DC, gives them advice. Talks in verses, metaphors and tales.

3. Springvalley -> Royal Cedar: Blossom woods. Majestic and reliable, he has been guarding the Blossom woods and Springvalley from the storm in Winterdale. -> Everbloom Elm: Everspring plateau. Covered in various flowers, she’s very proud of them. Gives you some random herbs every day if you go say hi to her. The tree is so full of herself, she’s basically giving you an autograph, don’t worry about it. -> Sun Queen: Suncrown lake. Cleansed from corruption by MC and SRs. Protects the Von Blyssen manor and vineyard. -> Twilight Oak: Morrinweald. The source of the valas’ power. Was corrupted by dark powers, later cleansed by MC and SRs.

4. Summerplains -> Restored Guardian: The Great Clearing. Was cut down long ago. We grow it back, like the one in Forgotten Fields. -> Elder Witchwood: Old Morass. She liked to watch the rituals the witches did in the swamp. Quickly becomes best friends with Pi and Mrs Holdsworth. -> Shadow Chestnut: Claymore mountains, hidden. He was tasked with keeping an eye on the Claymores- they have been serving evil for a long time. -> Aspen King: Lone Star canyon. Yellow-golden leaves, huge tree. Likes the Lone Star Cowboys, who bring gifts (anything from horseshoes to elk skulls). 

The New Fast Travel System: -> Advantage of using the trees: you pay for the trailer rides, but you use the tree portals for free. -> With all 4 big areas unlocked, you will need to cover great distances. You have a lot of choices: 1, Trailers (costs money, but most accurate, quickest) 2, Tree portals (free, but less accurate, takes a bit of time) 3, Pandoria portal in-between shortcuts (free, jumps great distances, but least accurate). -> Trailer rides now cost more money the farther the distance you go. Prices: 25 JS:  if you travel inside a great area (e.g. staying inside Harvestlands). 50 JS: if you travel to another great area next to you (e.g. from Harvestlands to Winterdale) 75 JS: travel to another area second next to you (e.g. from Harvestlands to Springvalley) 100 JS: travel to third next area (e.g. from Harvestlands to Summerplains) -> [Keep it in mind, that by our game design the JS cap has been raised to 100.000 and you earn more money, via reworked quest rewards.]

[lukas-crowsong]

elden ring fans 🙄 /j

[rinravenkeep]

The Trees are part of the Squid's Plan! (major main quest spoilers)

After spending way too long playing through the new quests in SSO, I've come up with a theory. A real long theory. That the Life Wardens are siding with both Dark Riders and Soul Riders in order to repair the Wild Weave and reconnect with one another, inadvertently helping the Dark Riders to free Garnok.

Lemme explain.

This is the map in the Fort Maria portal room. It shows the seven major Life Wardens that we know of, but it also gives us some clues about the story going forwards.

First, the obvious.

Yeah, there's no way that little illustration in the corner is anything but Ol' Squiddy's Tentacles. But we knew he was imprisoned between worlds, in neither Pandoria nor Jorvik - so finding out he's been chilling in the Wild Weave, or a location only accessible by it, makes sense.

Next, when it comes to putting a name to each of these trees I think most are fairly self explanatory. We've known about most of these trees for years, even if they've never been a part of the story, such as with the Ice Tree by the Stonecutter's Vault in Dino Valley, and the Unnamed Tree way up near where you finish the Red String Trail in the Firgrove Mountains.

Where it gets interesting is with the two trees I couldn't place; such as the one between the Sentinel Tree in Mistfall and the Ice Tree in Dino Valley; and the one on the far left, signified by floating islands.

In my mind it makes sense to have a couple of the trees sprouting in Pandoria, since the two worlds are connected by the tree roots - and the only floating rocks I know about are in Pandoria - but who knows.

Overlaying the normal map on top of these locations makes it pretty clear that they're supposed to correspond to real map locations. The only anomaly is the Ice Tree and Sentinel Tree, whose positions are reversed on the portal map.

What's interesting is that Garnok, if I'm following the map's logic correctly, would hold exactly the same positioning as the Dark Core Oil Rig.

(For context, we know the Rig's position from old skybox errors that used to show it when stood in the right spots, some maps from the books (which I know aren't always canon anymore, but hey it's the best we've got) and, most recently, if the player looks South when entering Devil's Gap, thanks to that little black hole we helped Sunshine open up recently.)

Where am I going with all this? Okay!

Firstly, we know that the trees have helped the Dark Riders in the past. The Life Wardens have repeatedly said the only loyalty they have is to each other, and quite frankly after what the Jarl did, who can blame them. (Thanks Jon).

This is going into massive spoiler territory for the most recent quest as of 17/1/24 so if you haven't completed it yet, flee.

The Sentinel Tree in the Wildwoods has been corrupted by Pandorian magic for a while now. But in the newest quest, we saw Sabine using the Runesmasher to break into it and create a portal to free Erissa.

Side tangent about the hammer:

For those who didn't play the Halloween quests, basically one of the Jarl's servants got the ice valley smith to make a hammer that could destroy runestones, broke one open, and a Vala witch gave him immortality. Aka. Sive (or an identical Vala witch), who is deeply connected with the Life Wardens and who probably gave Sabine the hammer when we saw her in Devil's Gap, has no problem with this action.

The Life Wardens, or at the very least Sive, their ally, wanted the portal opened and Erissa freed.

Why?

To re-grow the Wild Weave.

Assuming Garnok's position on my map was correct, the only way the Dark Riders now have to free him is to go directly through the Wild Weave.

And since we're good people who like nature... yeahhh the Soul Riders are totally going to end up healing some trees and inadvertently opening the path to Garnok wide open.

Oh yeah. We're going to mess up royally.

[coravonblyssen]

What are the most important places in sso lore wise?

oil rig, secret stone circle, pinehill mansion, jorvik stables, life wardens, fort maria, devil's gap, the dam, stonecutters vault, cauldron swamp, circus etc.

others? please help me think 🙏🏻🙏🏻

[intheferns]

☽The ancient roots, piercing the whole Woods, unite life and nothingness, dream and reality, past and future. Listen to it's voice, and you will see how flowers sprout on distant rocks☾

Gayana is one of my sso ocs (I made her moodboard earlier). She has a rather complicated past associated with the Jorvik wild horses, the Dark Core and the northern druids. After the death of her horse Storm, Gayana had a strange connection with the Sentinel Tree, which is why she can "connect with the forest" and feel any living soul within the Wildwoods. Currently, she has returned to the Wildwoods and is looking for a way to cure the Life Warden.

~Brief information~

Age: 19 years old

Zodiac Sign: the Mare

Place of birth: Jorvik City

Horse: Storm, stallion (died)

Special skills: limited abilities in the Moon Circle (rare prophetic dreams, premonitions), "connection" with the Sentinel Tree

Maybe someday I'll tell you more about her, but for now that's all

[corinne-eaglebridge-sso]

🐴🪄🛸 for the sso asks? :)

Horse is answered here!

🪄 [MAGIC WAND] -> Does your Original Character know about the magic powers existing across Jorvik? Do they know of the Sisterhood and the Keepers, of the Herds in Wild Woods, or Pandoria? If not, how do they explain some of the things happening around them (e.g. whatever Devil's Gap got going after the latest Main Quest)?

Alou's philosophy is "if I do not aknowledge it it does not exist. And even if it does it will not pay attention to me as long as I don't draw its attention and mind my own business." They do not know anything about magic, they have some knowledge on the uses of crystals but only because they use them in jewelry and it's a good thing to know when selling.

All the others know about the Sisterhood and the Keepers, and are part of the Keepers/druids! Zoe knows about the Herds from Kieron, but has promised him not to share. Corinne knows about the Herds on Wild Warden knowledge, again sworn to silence, it's a "trade secret" of sorts. They are all aware of Pandoria, and Elaina is training to specialize in exploring it.

Corinne's father introduced them into his coven at an early age, and they have been a witch for almost all her life. Crucially, the Keepers do not know about this, as she doubts they'd react well to it. Her coven does know about her druid status though, and they're cool with it.

Feya is sort-of-part of a hidden magical group. (homebrew lore). I will give no further info on that right now, I keep telling myself to make a post about it. Maybe I will sometime within uhhh 2 days and like 20 years. I mean... it's all there in faer name, really ;)

🛸 [U.F.O] -> What is your Original Character's opinion on Pandoria and the 'travel' through time and space taking place across some places in Jorvik?What about other legends and myths of Jorvik that they got to meet in person (e.g. Jon Jarl)?

Elaina loves Pandoria! She is very interested in it, which is why she accepted the explorer/researcher apprenticeship. The others all think she is insane for doing it but support her nonetheless.

They're really not that bothered by the time and space stuff, tbh. They mostly just use it to their advantage - Everlee most of all.

Since none of them are part of the main storyline, they haven't really interacted with any legends and myths as far as I can recall.

Alou lives in oblivious bliss.

[opalbrain]

Did i take a photoshop class in college? yes. Can you tell? absolutely not

[ghostcatsso]

Linda stayed up all night studying again, but now she has a story for us, complete with pictures even!

Long ago, when the light of Aideen spread over Jorvik and life was brought to the island, a handful of life wardens were created. They were trees that were tasked with guarding all this new life. They were the protectors of the flora and fauna of Jorvik.

When humans discovered Jorvik, they found these immortal trees, and initially respected them. The humans could tell the trees were special and served a higher purpose. The trees came to be known as primeval trees.

The primeval trees looked different in the olden days. They were stronger and much more magnificent, and had magical abilities. Now they are all dormant, sleeping away the exhaustion of having their energy sapped away by the mistreatment of Jorvik’s natural resources.

The trees are still there, though, and they are connected to each other through their roots. There’s an entire root system under the grounds of Jorvik that they can communicate with each other through.

We’ve already come across one of these primeval trees. The one on top of Scarecrow Hill, that held the golden apple we fed to Pi.

At least a half dozen primeval trees are known today, mentioned here and there in various records. One of these trees goes by The Sleeping Widow.

Once upon a time, the Forgotten Fields was a dense forest, full of life. It was protected by two primeval trees and they were a happy couple.

But then came Jarlaheim. When the city was built, the forest suffered. Trees were cut down for building material and firewood, and eventually cleared entirely to make room for houses and farmland.

In the excitement of a quickly growing city, the foresters made the mistake of cutting down one of the two primeval trees. Now all that’s left of them is one stump, and one primeval tree so full of sorrow and loneliness, it’s lost all its power. For a long time you could hear it wailing into the night, but it cried itself to sleep years ago.

Eventually the former forest, now grazing fields, was abandoned, leaving the widow to its lonely sorrow.

Well, that’s a depressing story. I guess this is the tree we have to wake up. Linda sent me to Elizabeth to ask how one wakes a primeval tree.

Elizabeth said we need to wait until nightfall and water the tree with the tears of Aideen, the dew drops that come off of these flowers

and then shine some of the light of aideen on it. I had to recharge that magic aideen rock again

look at me doing magic! fun!!

I had everything I needed, just needed to wait until nightfall, so I went to Starshine to see how he and Lisa were holding out

He said he can still sense Lisa but she’s very faint and he’s losing her. We better hurry

Here it is, the sleeping widow. Now we wait for night

Spooky. It said I could feel the sorrow radiating off of the tree and it made me sleepy. Both Chance and I fell asleep waiting for dark.

I didn’t get any pictures of me giving the tree the tears and light of aideen, but it glowed and creaked and seemed generally confused by being woken up, but happy to feel the light again.

It certainly looks more lively now.

I asked the tree if it can help us to save Lisa. It said it felt Lisa in its roots and she had promised to help it if it would help her out of pandoria. It said it will keep its promise and try to help, but it’s still weak, and it doesn’t know if it’ll work.

It’s a cool lightshow, anyway

The tree went back to sleep and I started running to see if Lisa was saved but...

Chance stopped and couldn’t move. And then he screamed and the game told me he has been injured. I do NOT like that

And then this guy shows up

Hi Sabine come closer i just wanna talk

you did WHAT to my horse?! you’re lucky im physically incapable of moving towards you or hurting you at all in this game. i’ll shatter your whole stupid red-hooded face!

She gave her stupid villain speech about how we’re gonna lose or whatever blah blah blah villain stuff shut up and fix my horse

But then

Lisa made a dramatic entrance, interrupting Sabine by telling her she’s wrong and the Soul Riders will always be there to save the day. And then the two of them exchanged some banter for a bit about if dark core will succeed in bringing garnok back or not before Sabine vanished in a puff of smoke. yeah you better run

can we PLEASE address that Chance has a broken leg now?? that’s like a death sentence for a horse!

i mean he looks fine to me lol sso you couldn’t make a hurt leg animation? not even just reusing the hoofpicking animation so at least he’s not standing on his apparently shattered leg? come on now

Oh okay, so he’s fine then. Cool that the star circle has healing powers, that means I have them too, right? When do I get to do some healing?

And now he’s good as new :)

Lisa said we should tell the druids about all this and also she wants to catch up on everything she missed, but she’s been trapped in pandoria for a while and first she wants a shower and a good night’s rest. That is most valid reason for a dayblocker I’ve seen yet. Go ahead and get some sleep, Lisa

[writingonjorvik]

I have no idea when SSO would actually set up their zodiac, so I’m just going to start it on the winter solstice since they released this for the holidays. Let me know what y’all’s zodiac would be!

The Adventurer - Dec 21st - Feb 20th

The Harp - Feb 21st - Apr 20th

The Sisters - Apr 21st - June 20th

The Mare - June 21st - Aug 20th

The Rune - Aug 21st - Oct 20th

The Life Warden - Oct 21st - Dec 20th

[another-void-racoon]

Rewriting (?) Mistfall

I honestly didn't thought I would go through with this, but it was actually a lot of fun. This is kinda a rewrite-trying-to-explain-mix since I had to add or change things here and there. Anyway, here we go;

Alright, magic first. At this point my theory about Sky's scar is that, it is indeed, the symbol of the Embermane herd. How this comes into play I will explain after this part.

In this theory, the four circles each have two sub circles.

Sun (Aideen's Shield) = Fire and Light (protection)

Moon (Aideen's Wisdom) = Wind and Weather (time)

Star (Aideen's Heart) = Water and Snow/Ice (life)

Lightning (Aideen's Judgment) = Earth and Plants (balance)

It's established by SSO that the JWH have a connection to magic because of the pandoric energy in their blood. This is part of another theory of mine but basically the first Soul Riders and their horses were from Pandoria (just like Aideen cough cough). The JWH are direct descendants of those first Soulsteeds and thus still have pandoric energy in their blood to this day. Unlike Starshine and the others who are directly tied to the main circle aka Star, Moon, ect. the JWH are connected to the sub circles, 6 herds especially;

The Embermane herd (Fire)

The Gleamtail herd (Light)

The Tempesttrot herd (Wind)

The Weatherwalker herd (Weather)

The Aquasole herd (Water)

The Icehoof herd (Snow/Ice)

The Dustcoat herd (Earth)

And the Floraflank herd (Natur)

(I apologize if the names are meh, if someone has better ideas please let me know)

If a horse from one of these herds decides to make a connection to a human, the human will be marked with the symbol of the herd e.g. Sky's scar, while the horse will have the fist letter of the humans name + their gender marked on them e.g. Balze' marks. By making that connection the human will gain the power of the sub circle the herd is connected to. So, unlike the Soul Riders who are born with their powers and destined to meet their Soulsteed, the JWH decide themself if and with whom they want to make this connection. No interest in bonding with a human = no bonding with a human.

Now that we've established the magic system, let's talk about Sky's mom. For this to work I settled with the idea that Mistfall takes place at the same time as when the MC arrived on Jorvik.

We can hear Sam call her a witch, whether that was an insult or a statement is unclear, but let's assume it was a statement. This would mean Sky's mom was either, like he said, a witch, or what I prefer, a former Druid. Assuming she was around when Catherine's generation of Soul Riders was around, she would've likely seen what it did to all of them. Maybe she was even the mysterious lightning sister we never really got to know about? Anyway, she knew what magic and all that comes with it could do and decided to ditch (lets be honest, no one could blame her for that) and moved to Mistfall. There she had Sky and a pretty peaceful life until the thing with Blaze happened. Not wanting her daughter to get sucked into all of this, she decided to leave Jorvik and they moved to New York. There everything was fine, until that day that Sky unwillingly caused the fire. Being a moody teenager and not knowing about your ability to cause fires and such may not be the best thing. When that happened, Sky's mom thought it would be the best to send her to Jorvik so that maybe the island would help calm her powers. What happened from there on is basically just the series, minus Alonso flirting with Sky because 18 and 24 doesn't sit right with me at all.

I do want to quickly talk about the druids we saw. I don't think they are Keepers of Aideen. Most likely they are a separate sect of Druids or Wild Wardens. They see a connection between a JWH and a human as destiny and are persistent on gaining the powers that come with it for themselves. They yet have to succeed on forcing a bond between a JWH and a human, but that won't stop them from trying.

Oh, and regarding Sam. I assume he either read the books from the Sect, was a Druid or is somehow connected to the Keepers.

I doubt this thing here is perfect seeing as I did this instead of sleeping, but I kinda like it.

[tildehummingbird]

Spoiler about Catherine and the Soul Riding

(I posted this over at sso forums, so if you see a thread like this there, it's me hehe)

So, I've done the Catherine Quests and I've completed them and as a lot of other people, I was mad. 

I mean, I had so many questions: If Aideen is in everyone, and destiny doesn't matter, then what's the need for Soul Riders, if anyone can do it? Destiny and being the "chosen one" is the whole entire concept of this game, and changing the route NOW, or at ALL doesn't make any sense, and they're probably gonna lose a lot of players that are interested in lore because this doesn't make any sense. Then what's even the need for a 5th rider? What's even the need for this game at all, if a 5th rider isn't needed then just follow the storyline in Starshine Legacy and don't add the 5th rider. If anyone can do it and if Aideen is in everyone, then explain why we're the only ones in this whole entire generation that can handle all powers at once, why can't any of the other riders in Jorvik? Why was Elizabeth so surprised that we could in fact use all powers? What was the need for the beginning cutscene? It literally told us "In times of despair, a sisterhood of Soul Riders will ride forth to protect the island from the evil that seeks to rip the world apart. It is foretold that a sisterhood led by a heroic and fearless girl will appear on horseback to bring hope and light back to those who believe that all is lost... Are you that girl?" I don't know dude, it doesn't even matter if I am because apparently anyone can be that girl, so who cares if I am? Then why were we able to literally fly on our horse? Why would Fripp be so adamant about our protection to the point of where he put his own life on the line, just so we could be protected? The message of "anyone can be a hero" is great, however that's not the point of this story and it never has been.

All these questions and no answers, so I thought we could theorize a bit so that, together, we could try to understand a bit more about this and understand what even happened, what it means and where it is going.

I was checking the star stable tag on Tumblr, and I saw a post by @sso-emberwood that pointed out a lot about Catherine: She didn't even want to be Aideen at all, all she wanted was a normal life with Thomas and her baby, to be free from this prophecy and these duties. Not only that, but The Keepers of Aideen aren't exactly the most telling bunch, so she would know as much as we do: nothing. She wasn't a fan of the prophecy thing, she wasn't a fan of being the only one who's special and different, and she rejected the whole idea, so it would make sense as to why she'd project that onto us, too. Not only that, we saw that she lost her horse, and therefore "half a soul", as Linda described it so maybe she really doesn't get it anymore.

Either that, or maybe we perceived what she said wrong. I went back to check on what she said, so I'll write it here: "We needn't wait for Aideen's return. The goddess is reborn with every horse and rider who open their hearts and form a true bond. Aideen's gift is love. She's been with us all along. In me. In you. At least that is what I believe."

So, to start off, I think that last part is very important. That's what she belives - referring back to what we know is fact: she didn't like the prophecy, and she wanted to define her own destiny and not be controlled by it - so it would make sense for her and her character that she'd have these beliefs. To her, all you need is Aideen's love because Aideen's gift lives in everyone. Now, it is true that Aideen's Gift lives in everyone because Aideen's gift IS for everyone in the island of Jorvik, and I even have Rhiannon dialogue to prove that the Keepers of Aideen agree on this too. This bit of text is from one of the Soul Riding quests, where Rhiannon takes us to South Hoof:

"Have you ever noticed there's something different to the nature of Jorvik? The grass is greener, the birdsong sweeter. But most importantly, the horses are happy and free. They have all this land to roam, and we Jorvegians share this land with them. This connects us to horses on a deeper level. The other Druids put so much focus on the Soul Riders, Guardian Horses, Aideen herself....but they forget to see the magic that's right before their eyes. The magic of Aideen's gift." At this point, you're given two choices: either "I already know that." or "That's what they all say." Regardless, she'll say "Is that so? You've probably heard folk talk about it as if it's some kind of friendship between horse and human. But it's so much more than that. It's what pulled me to travel up North to care for magical horses. It's what makes Nix so special to me. It's even why I'm a Wild Whisperer...On Jorvik, our deep bond with horses is magical. You've been training exceptionally well. During this time, the bond you have developed with [horse name] has flurished. But you haven't just strengthened the bond between both of you. You've connected to the nature of Jorvik on a deeper level, and with that have honed a magical link to all the horses in this island. Close your eyes, and listen to the sound around us. Can you feel how everything is connected?", yet again you can choose between "Yes, it's magical." and "Uh...no." she'll say "You clearly have an affinity for this. I'm impressed. Sometimes, if you focus clearly, you may notice a spark of something powerful. That's the presence of a wild horse. It's one of the ways we Wild Wardens sense they're nearby and ensure their safety. So now you know. Aideen's Gift ties us to all the horses on Jorvik, and it is something to treasure. You can use this knowledge to improve your riding skills. Pay close attention to your horse, and the horses around you, and you will find harmony. This is what I wanted to share with you weeks ago, but I thought you weren't ready to understand. However, I was wrong. Your dedication to Soul Riding has proven just how much you care for the horses on this island. I'm proud of you, [player name]. Thank you for helping protect the horses on Jorvik."

Aideen's Gift is what makes you have such a good connection with horses and it is what makes Jorvik's people and horses special - however, that's certainly not enough to lead Soul Riders into battle. Love isn't enough to defeat Garnok - you need to be chosen for it and destiny DOES matter, no one else has any power in any circle, only the people who are born specifically to have it. However, Catherine is right, but I'm not exactly sure that she understands that that's not why we are unique and that's not what makes us fit for battle instead of literally anyone else - we're unique and the reason as to why we're the only ones who should be able to go into battle is because we don't just have Aideen's Gift like everyone else - we are Aideen. Catherine is Aideen too, we are her and she is us. Cause all of the reeincarnations of Aideen are the same thing, different body. Us and the Soul Riders don't just have Aideen's Gift, we were reincarnated to be her and the soul riders were reincarnated to be what they are today.  Catherine very visibly rejected and left behind her duties and gave up being a soul rider after she lost her horse - she completely rejected even looking for a reeincarnation of it like we did with Anne - but when she did, we were born, because Catherine gave up which meant that another reeincarnation was needed, because it needs to be Aideen herself, not just someone who has the gift - she kept the gift, but she no longer had what it takes to be that girl, and didn't want to either, so someone who did was born.

And again, the Druids make it very clear that their mission, and their end goal is he rebirth of Aideen. A couple of days ago I got a lore book from the Soul Riding missions called "Druids and Horses: A Partnership" that said this: "Aideen's Gift enables druids to continue to protect Jorvik, feel spiritually closer to the land, and ultimately fulfill their mythical goal of the rebirth of Aideen" and  "[...] a network of spiritual people whose sole mission is to protect Jorvik through ensuring the return of the goddess Aideen." 

Which means they acknowledge that they're waiting for a specific someone to be born, so that that specific someone can lead the sisterhood into battle, when the final battle comes, which means that they acknowledge that it can't just be anyone. Waiting for someone special is the whole point of the Keepers of Aideen - they are literally called Keepers of Aideen, no Aideen reborn, no Keepers of Aideen.

Also, in the mission "Strenght in Numbers" with Rhiannon in the Soul Riding, she said that what made her leave Jorvik was that she saw a hooded figure in the forest, and it felt like it was draining the life out of her and her horse, so she left because she was afraid, but she came back upon Elizabeth's request for help, and she when she saw how much closer the Keepers of Aideen were, she decided to stay, but after she says she says: "What really opened my eyes was you, [player name]. Your dedication, skill, and sheer talent has given me faith in Aideen's Light that I haven't felt for a while." Everyone has something like this to tell us, I think there's a reason for that. One of the most important ones so far was for example, when Darko was able to enter the Stone Ring, threatening to destroy the keystone, and Fripp says: "I would sooner destroy the keystone than let you take [player name]. She is more important than you imagine..."

The reason as to why I choose to share the Rhiannon one is because it is recent, just like Catherine's memories which means the story and the objective remains the same, with the only difference that we know Catherine's perspective and why she failed and why the sisterhood fell apart, which will be important in the future, because if you don't remember, the dark riders are trying to recruit Nihili (previously known as Elise) who is the 4th Dark Rider. So far, we've only seen her horse but what we do know about her is that she has the ability to cause discord within the Dark Riders, but I'd imagine she'd have influence on us, as well, and that's why she'd probably be recruited. The Dark Riders know that the previous sisterhood failed due to discord and fights within the group, so it wouldn't be surprising that they'd try to make that happen yet again.

Apart from all of this, I simply don't think Catherine knows enough about this whole thing to be the one to reveal it to us, and I also think the "big reveal" was anticlimatic and not well done, at least in my eyes, because *assuming* this is the route they're going with...eh? What? Why was it so...dry?

Also, if you go back to the very first news post on Catherine's diary, it says "This chapter of the Soul Rider story arc is a standalone quest and is not mandatory to complete in order to play future quests with the Soul Riders." and if they were to add SUCH an important reveal then it wouldn't be a something you could choose not to do, it would be a mandatory, integral part of the story -  this seems like very important information, right? If we don't do this quest, and just move on then in the world and in a story sense, MC wouldn't know that there's technically no Aideen to look for. It doesn't make sense if this is really what they're going to do...Unless it's not and this is just Catherine's opinions on the matter.

Overall, I'm just not a believer yet - I still think this is just Catherine's thoughts. As @sso-emberwood said, the only one who could actually tell us anything for sure is Fripp. He knows way more than everyone in the Keepers of Aideen. But he's sick still, and has been since 2017 the poor guy. I don't think we should assume anything yet, and I certainly don't think the game has changed directions. If it did, I'll be honest with yall - my interest would not be the same and I think it would be that way for a lot people as well and I think that's fair. You can't just come in and suddenly change the route of something that has been hinted at and is supposed to be the point of the game, it just doesn't make any sense. If so, then there's no need for this game or for a 5th rider.

[starshinedragon]

SSO: WINTERDALE Fan written main storyline

The Map of Winterdale:

The Life Warden Trees of Winterdale:

Story design:

-> This is the updated version of an old post, taking into account the new main story quests and describing the quests in much more detail. -> It takes place after aging Concorde up and escaping Devil's Gap, after all of the main story quests up to 2023 December. -> Part of SSO Rewritten (my writing project of the whole story of SSO until defeating Garnok). You can find the story related posts with the tag "sso rewritten" -> Phases 1-2-3 is the main story so far, here I wrote phases 4-5-6 which are the main story quests connected to Winterdale.

-> The area of Winterdale was established in the Star Stable Winter Riders game and I added elements from SSO (kallters, rangers, druids) to fill in the empty places. The focus characters of the Winterdale main storyline are going to be Katja (as the main opponent), Linda (as she is her rival), Mr Sands (redemption arc) and the kallters. The setup for them is already in the game with the extremely effective hook when the MC spots them in Dino Valley leaving. The thematic guide for the Winterdale story is the rumor of the Ice Witch, already suspected to be Katja. The final confrontation of this phase is tied to Garnok and Pandoria.  

So saddle up and get ready for the adventure!

PHASE 4 –  Entering and exploring Winterdale

PART 1: Icestorm

Unlocking Winterdale:

-> MC is called to Valedale. At the runestones before the portal spiral leading to the Secret Stone circle, we meet with Avalon, Evergray and the druids who arrived from Winterdale. The leader of the Winterdale druids is Cairn Stevenson (middle aged, but younger than Evergray, white beard, blue and brown robes) and his horse is a white Percheron wearing new brown and light blue druid tack, called Ossian. They came to ask for help, since the storm in Winterdale has gotten worse. Last night a huge blizzard hit the valley and they think it is magical and suspect the hand of the Ice Witch might be in it. They are unable to dispel it and ask for the help of the Soul Riders.  

-> We ride with them through Dino valley and they give us some exposition about Winterdale. They say Pine Hill ruled over most of the valley historically. They tell us about the cold micro climate, when the kallters migrated from Dino Valley to Winterdale, and that the current persisting winter storm started many years ago. The storm is sometimes weaker, sometimes stronger, but always present. It cut them off from the other parts of Jorvik as the Frostfire pass leading to Ashland and the Seaview pass leading to Marchenghast froze over and the blizzard halted the works on Northlink tunnel. The Lord of Pine Hill mansion, who has the strongest voice in how Winterdale runs itself does not seem to care anymore. Avalon asks them how did they leave and intend to go back to Winterdale then if there is no way open.

-> MC, the Soul Riders, Avalon, Evergray and Cairn arrive at the Icengate where Nanook and Sedna (kallters) wait for us on horseback. They perform a ritual and open the magical lock on the passage. The team is escorted through the tunnel of ice and rock, made of a similar design as Stonecutter’s vault. Halfway through it Magnus Steinar’s ghost appears as he guards this tunnel. Sedna tells him everyone here is a friend and they are to have safe passage through the Icengate whenever they please. The team exits the tunnel high in the mountains and looks over the snow covered Winterdale valley ravaged by the blizzard.

Fighting the Storm:

-> The team descends on the steep Meander trail (from the Winter Rider game) and arrives in Meander Stables, where the druids set up camp. You are greeted by Eric Lowe, the owner or Meander stables. There you are introduced to the other druid characters of Winterdale by Cairn. They tell you of the situation: the magical storm started some days ago and won’t stop. Katja’s frost powers wreaks havoc, flash freezes sweep across the valley every other minute and the winds, snow and raining icicles destroy houses, stables and threaten to freeze everyone to death. The team is asked to help the valley. MC agrees to help, while the druids try to figure out a solution to stop the storm.

-> MC is sent on four different missions in four consecutive days with the Soul Riders to introduce you to the layout of Winterdale. For each mission, you go to a location in Winterdale to help the people fight the storm by dispelling frost, gathering firewood, saving the animals, etc. To get anywhere, you have to ride through the storm. Each time a flash freeze is coming you have to take cover. Icicles rain on the way indicated by the circles appearing in front of your horse that you have to dodge. You and your Soul Rider partner get there, help out and return to Meander. First, you go with Lisa to Cape Point village, next with Anne to Icewind Station, then with Linda to Pine Hill village and finally with Alex to Anvil Woods Druid Village and back to Meander.

Dispelling the Storm:

-> In the meantime, Evergray and the druids tried everything and figured out that they can’t dispel the storm alone and need help from Fripp. MC is sent to ride back to Valedale through the Meander trail, Icengate passage and Dino valley (there is not an available trailer in Meander yet- not until you open Northlink). You ride to the spiral portal in Valedale and fail to open the way.

-> Katja appears on horseback, cornering MC, tells you that they have blocked your access to the Secret Stone Circle. MC vows to stop her terror of Winterdale, but she just laughs and tells you not if I stop you first – forever! She sends fer frigid powers after you. You race back to Meander the way you came, dodging icicles and also Ice Spectres, that are like shadow seekers, but made of mist and frost and are controlled by Katja. You get back to Meander and tell the druids that Katja blocked you from opening the portal. Evergray is unusually cheerful about this and when they ask him why is this a good thing, he tell you that he figured it out. Katja blocked you from going to the Secret Stone Circle, because the solution lies there. By uniting the power of MC, the Soul Riders, druids and kallters and Fripp, you will be able to stop the storm. Avalon, the forever optimist points out the only problem is getting there.

-> You can actually get to the Secret Stone Circle on foot, however, there is one problem besides the storm, and that is the cursed Nightmare Forest. You have avoided it so far, taking the paths next to the Meander river, but now you have to go through it. As only the Soul Horses are strong enough to go through the storm and the dark forest, Alex, Anne, Lisa and Linda are riding double with Cairn, Avalon, Sedna and Uyarak (the other magic user of the kallters beside Sedna) and MC takes Evergray. You ride through the storm, hiding from the flash freezes and ride into the dark forest. The Nightmare Woods in covered in snow and ice, shadow seekers patrol and dark blue and purple wisp-like spirits drift amidst the gloomy trees. The team takes the path through the abandoned Crescent Lake Ranger Station up to the Aurora pass and then the western road leading up to Starshine Mountain. You ride up the steep mountain path (design based on the Starshine Legacy games) and get to the broken bridge.

-> Katja appears behind you sending an army of Ice Spectres. You run through the narrow path and jump the broken bridge. She stops before the jump and her horse rears, not being able to come closer to the Secret Stone Circle. Fripp awaits you in the circle and tells you don’t worry, no servant of darkness can come into the circle again, because he woke up the guardian tree of the Circle: Astral Crown. You see the formerly leafless big tree towering over the circle now covered in azure and lilac leaves, that shine like stars. The riders dismount and form a magic circle, everyone positioning themselves in front of each runestone. They perform a ritual and dispel Katja’s Icestorm from Winterdale.

PART 2: Exploring the valley

The Roads to Winterdale: Marchenghast and Northlink

-> Now that the storm is gone, MC can properly explore the valley. The Secret Stone Circle’s portal to Valedale is open again. A cutscene takes you back to Meander so you don’t have to ride through Dino valley again. Eric, the owner of Meander stables thanks you for saving the stables and the village and promises to put in a good word for you for each place in Winterdale. The Meander Championship is unlocked, it runs through the Coldstone forest and Frostbitten fields.

-> After the full introduction to the Meander area, it is time to open Winterdale properly for people and the horse trailers. Eric sends you to Cape Point to meet a ranger friend of his (Aiobhinn, the leader of the Winterdale rangers) who will lead you through the Seaside pass up to the Marchenghast Castle. Eric apparently knows everyone in Winterdale.

-> At the Marchenghast Castle they open the gate for you. There are very few people and servants there and MC meets the lord of the castle. He was told that you stopped the storm and asks how. As you can’t say magic, can choose from different stupid options to try to explain scientifically how you stopped a whole blizzard. Whatever you choose, Lord Marchenghast laughs and says he know about magic in Jorvik, don’t worry he just thought you would be better at lying. He opens the gates and grants you safe passage through the castle and estate and sends you on your way. The rocks have been removed from the road in Goldenhills and cars can now access it, opening the trailer options in Winterdale.

-> MC rides to the Baroness and tells her that the storm is over and the work on the Northlink tunnel can continue. You are sent to tell this to the workers. While the main story calls you back to Meander, the tunnel dailies are now unlocked, requiring you to help in the work for seven days to build the tunnel.

Rangers and Pine Hill:

-> Eric tells you Aiobhinn liked you and is willing to properly show you Winterdale, now that the storm is gone. You are led though Coldstone forest with the blue crystals and trail riding pathways and arrive in Explorer’s Rest Ranger Station. You are going with Aiobhinn as she checks on all of her rangers throughout the valley. You help the rangers clear the paths covered by the snowstorm, unlock races. They show you the path leading to Frostfire pass, but it is not accessible, until it melts.

-> Next, you ride north, and he shows you Pine Hill village and tells the gossip about the lord of the mansion, Mr Sands. You meet the people of the village and stables, unlocking many side quests. The ranger shows you the Rimefang woods, but you only ride on the path next to Meander river, because the forest is infested with wolves. Frosted mammoth pine trees, fallen trunks, misty woods. If you go too close to a wolf, it will start to chase you and you need to gallop to lose it. If it catches you, you are teleported out of the woods with the message: “Your horse got you out, but be careful, next time you might not be this lucky!” She tells you there is a hidden kallter village in the middle, but you can’t reach it, unless they invite you.

-> You ride to Icewind station. You meet Henry Stevenson(the old guy from the Winter Riders game), second in command to Aiobhinn and brother of Cairn who is the leader of the rangers at Icewind station. He reports to Aiobhinn and tells you the rumors about the Nightmare Woods and that there are two abandoned stations there. They plan to man them again one day, but not until the woods are haunted. You unlock side quests and races in the Icewind Woods.

Druids and Cape Point:

-> Aiobhinn remains in Icewind and Henry offers to guide you through Anvil Woods to meet the druids and his brother. You ride to Anvil Woods and are introduced to their Life Warden Tree, Wise Leaf. They built their village around it. The tree is a gigantic oak who talks in verses, metaphors and talks like an old wizard and is generally whimsical and wholesome. In the side quests, you help the druids fight against Dark Core, as the corporation wants to cut down the forest. The Anvil Bay Championship is unlocked (joint project of the druids and rangers, organized by Henry and Cairn, running through Anvil and Icewind).

-> The druids tell you of their brothers and sisters in the other druid village of Winterdale: Jorwatch. You go there and meet them, unlock quests. They tell you that they guard the path leading to Jorcrater, since noone is allowed to enter as it is too dangerous. Finally, MC is asked to meet Fripp and Cairn in the Secret Stone Circle and you are rewarded with 100 Star Coins (just like at the end of each phase).

PHASE 5- The Kallters and Mr Sands

PART 1: The Redemption of Mr Sands

Secrets of Pine Hill Mansion:

-> Meeting at the Secret Stone Circle. The dark side have been awfully quiet lately and the Soul Riders suspect they are up to something. With Pine Hill Mansion so close, Linda proposes a plan for she and MC to sneak into Pine Hill Mansion (like she did in Starshine Legacy 2) and gather information. MC meets Linda in Pine Hill Village and they wait for nightfall.

-> The hole in the wall Lisa made back in SSL 2 is still there, hidden by a bush, but Linda knows where to find it. It is dark now and you have to find your way through the maze. You do, but there are some guards and dogs outside the house, you have to sneak past them. This time, unlike in the game, you get in through the greenhouse after finding an open glass panel. Linda tells you of the adventure they had here back in high school with Lisa, when she got stuck up in a scaffolding. Luckily, the house itself is empty so you are free to wander.

-> In the main hall, Linda shows you the pictures of the Soul Riders she saw last time here. However, there are four new pictures on the walls, paintings of the Dark Riders (Sabine, Katja and Jessica) similar in style, wearing similar ceremonial dresses. The fourth picture is still covered with a tarp, high on the wall, so you can’t see. MC and Linda get into the library and start looking for clues. Linda finds Sands’ journal. They find out about Rosalind, who was burned at the stake hundreds of years ago for being a suspected witch. She was in fact, a druid and Sands hates the druids because they didn’t save her. He himself turned to dark magics trying to bring her back, but only managed to reach Garnok, who offered him immortality and Rosalind back if he helps the forces of darkness achieve victory.

-> Mr Sands appears and captures them, trapping them in two magic circles. Linda and MC focus their powers (playing a slider-click mini game), but cannot bring his spell. Linda asks him about Rosalind and tells him she understands why he did it, but this is not the way. She manages to upset Mr Sands enough to break his concentration and MC breaks the magic circles. Linda makes a moonlight flash and they run away, escape through the main entrance. Meteor and MC’s horse wait for them there and they escape Pine Hill Mansion.  

Saving Justin (again):

-> Katja makes a plan to lure the Soul Riders into a trap. Just like she kidnapped James in Starshine Legacy 4, she now plans to kidnap Justin. Justin has discovered his druid powers since meeting the Singing Yew in South Hoof and has been training. Justin was to meet MC for training in Silverglade, but he doesn’t arrive. After waiting a bit, you get up to investigate. MC finds signs of struggle and uses moon vision to see what happened. You see Katja surprising Justin and even though he tries to fight back, Katja charms and mind controls him, like she did to James. You call the Soul Riders to tell them Justin was kidnapped, but they say Katja already called and gave them an ultimatum: she wants MC to come to Dark Core Platform and bring their Soul Horse.

-> It is an obvious trap, but you have to go. No sneaking this time: you are to meet the goons at the DC ferry in Moorland. MC and their horse are brought to the platform and led in front of the portal, where Katja, Jess, Sabine and Mr Sands wait for you. Katja is keeping Justin in a magic circle at the edge of the platform where he last fell and Mr Sands is not happy about this situation at all.

-> Katja says get on with it, sacrifice MC’s horse to bring Garnok into this world. MC uses her powers to make a shield around them. Katja says fine, then I will push Justin off the platform and time you can’t save him. MC asks Sands if he is going to let this happen? What would Rosalind think of him now? She would surely not want a kid to die so she can live again? Mr Sands hesitates, doesn’t know if he is willing to sacrifice Justin for a promise of Rosalind. MC says Garnok is a force of destruction, not life and he is lying to Sands and cannot bring back Rosa, but Justin lives and he is his family. Katja is waiting for permission from Sands and she is getting more impatient by the minute. She yells at Sands to give the order and he can’t.

-> Katja pushes Justin off the platform and MC can’t do anything from the shield. The Dark Riders laugh, but Justin levitates back up. He says he has been practicing and just like his mother, Catherine, he is also very talented. He didn’t like almost dying the last time and prepared for this case. Katja is furious, and raises her hand at him, saying, cute, but cheap tricks won’t save you from the true power of darkness. She shoots dark energy at him, but a shield appears around Justin, cast by Mr Sands and it reflects the power back to hit Katja. The explosion also dazes Sabine and Jess.

-> Sands shouts at MC to flee and take Justin while they are dazed. Justin jumps on your horse and you also want to take Sands. Before he can react, a blast of dark energy hits him from behind, cast as a joint spell of Jess and Sabine. Jessica says I have always wanted to do that. You have to flee and leave Sands there.

-> You escape the platform and leave with the little boat to Goldenhills. You ride to Jasper’s farm with Justin and meet the Soul Riders there. Jasper is scolding you for getting Justin into trouble, doesn’t like this druid business that took his Catherine from him. You tell the others what happened. Linda speaks up, says I am fine with being the one to say it, but we need to save Mr Sands now. Justin agrees.

Saving Mr Sands:

-> Meeting at the Valedale spiral, going to the Secret Stone Circle, Justin is also there. Reporting what happened to the druids. All druids from Harvestlands and Winterdale met to debate whether to save Mr Sands. The conclusion is that we need allies and intel so we are going to rescue him from Dark Core. The others say we cannot be even sure that he is alive, so Linda and MC conjure up a moon vision to look for him. It shows that he lives, but barely, kept captive in some unknown Dark Core facility. You have to find out where.

-> Spying on DC with Derek. As a government agent, he knows where and how to get the information to find Sands. MC, Justin and Derek go to every possible Dark Core location and follow a trail. Finally we end up at the station above Valedale and manage to find a photo validating that Sands have arrived to the location of his imprisonment. It is not written where as DC is very secretive about him.

-> We meet up at the Valedale spiral and show the picture to the others saying that is all we have found, ready to give up. Lisa looks at the picture and recognizes the place: it is the DC Barricade, where she freed Starshine from is SSL 1. It is located just north from Anvil Woods, but the road is closed so we need a boat again.

-> Going to Cape Point to find someone willing to ferry us there. The Soul Riders and MC all plan to go and we manage to convince Justin to stay in Cape West as it is too dangerous for him to come. With the guidance of Lisa, we sneak into the DC Barricade at night. Linda conjures a vision and now that we are closer, is able to find Sands. He is held in the main building where Starshine was also held. MC, Lisa and Linda are going on foot, trying to find Sands, while Alex and Anne take the horses to a point where we can get on to escape.

-> We go through the Barricade and see many weird Dark Core projects, shipments of drakonium, artifacts, pandorian creatures in cages and imprisoned in a runic circle there is a massive, formless shadow monster. We can only see its glowing six eyes and huge clawed hand. We manage to sneak into the main building and find Sands in the same cage where Starshine was imprisoned. He spots them, but someone is coming. MC, Lisa and Linda hide and see Katja is there to taunt Sands.

-> She laughs. Oh look, how the mighty fall. Held captive in the very cage where you imprisoned the first soul horse. Another failed quest of yours. You could not get anything done even back then. Maybe I am going to be the new general of Garnok now. Sands tells her no, she isn’t going to be as she is nothing compared to Elise. You are weak, Ice Witch. You compensate well with your smarts, but you always were and will always be weak. And you know Garnok only values raw power. You are nothing to him.

-> He knows this will make her lose her cool. Linda realizes this is an opening and attacks Katja. They duel and Katja is too angry to concentrate. MC and Lisa get the cage open and get Sands. Katja wants to shoot him with dark power again, but Sands throws it back at her, weakening her a great deal. Katja uses an illusion spell, but Linda had enough of her magic. She counterspells, makes Katja lost in her own illusion labyrinth. The team runs and gets on the horses. Alex has stolen the remote opening the gates as Lisa instructed and we escape. We get to the shore and the ferry takes us back to Cape Point. Justin meets him and Sands says sorry for everything.

-> Mr Sands reconciles with Justin and the Baroness and moves back to Pine Hill Mansion. The Pine Hill Championship is unlocked. He becomes our ally, gives the Soul Riders important information about Dark Core and the Dark Riders. He promises to help us against Garnok.

-> MC has a vision: Darko has been stuck in the realm between worlds ever since Elisabeth’s sacrifice. Now Garnok needs a new general, so he rescues Darko. MC tells this to the others and Sands warns them that Darko is unpredictable, dangerous, very power-hungry and not to be underestimated.

PART 2: Cleansing Starshade Woods

Gathering intel:

-> The Nightmare Woods are still inaccessible, infested with darkness and shadow seekers. Team meets up in Meander, Linda’s idea is to check on Mr Sands and ask him for help in cleansing the Starshade Woods. MC and the Soul Riders ride up to Pine Hill Mansion and knock. A very grumpy Mr Sands opens the door and tries to send you away. You convince him to let you in, but he continues to be extremely grumpy. He leads you to the library.

-> You ask him what he knows about the Nightmare Woods. He tells you it is was the dark side’s plan to stop you from accessing the Secret Stone Circle, Darko, Jess, Katja and Sabine all kept throwing their worst dark magics to corrupt the forest. Over the years, the Starshade woods got so dark, the druids had to leave, the rangers had to leave and now noone dares to go into the haunted forest. Sands doesn’t remember all the monsters and magic that was thrown in there, so the Soul Riders keep investigating and find lists of them.

-> Sands also tells you, that the forest has a dark secret, but even he doesn’t know what it is. You have to find out if you want to cleanse the forest. Going around Winterdale, asking to people about the Nightmare Woods. Long investigation, eventually you go to Lord Marchenghast, but he only gives you cryptic answers. You investigate the Baroness’ and Fort Maria’s library too to find out more about Lord Marchenghast.

-> You find out what happened in the Starshade Woods hundreds of years ago: that was where the witches (druids) were burned. You and Linda go to Marchenghast Castle to confront the lord about it, but you cannot find him. You go into the castle and get lost in it, realizing it is cursed. You keep wandering and see the pieces of history as it was basically a tragic misunderstanding and the then young and gullible Lord Marchenghast was pressured into ordering the burning of witches. He and the castle was then cursed by one of the dying druids to suffer misfortune until he admits the truth. You and Linda finally find him in the „throne room” of the castle. Linda realizes using her powers, that the visions were not the complete truth, the castle shows you the lies of Marchenghast. You get him to admit he is not blameless in the tragedy and it is his fault as well. When the truth comes out the curse of misfortune is lifted. Marchenghast gives you a diary of the events.

-> The main story continues as you prepare for the Battle for Starshade Woods, but the Matchenghast Castle side quests are now opened. Lord Marchenghast wants to open the castle as a museum for the public and host an equestrian championship. MC is tasked to try to convince people that the curse is gone. You get merchants and horse people to come and organize the first Marchenghast championship. As the name roughly means „dark fairy tale” new magic horse breeds will be available to buy here after you do the introductory fairy tale quest line for them.

Preparation:

-> MC and the Soul Riders make a plan for the Battle for Starshade Woods. Now you know the druid ghosts, that originally haunted the place and the dark creatures the forces of evil put there. You have to find ways to neutralize each. Linda briefs you on the plan: come back every day to decrease the darkness of the woods to a manageable level until we can finally go in to cleanse the forest. You get a progression bar and have to complete daily quests for some weeks like with the Rune Runner grind.

-> You get multiple, various dailies every day. One quest is always soul riding, where you are sent into the edge of the forest to close a portal, vanquish a dark creature, etc. The other two are coop quests with one of the Soul Riders. With Lisa, you sneak in, avoiding the hostile creatures and heal and cleanse plants and animals from the darkness. With Alex, it is basically a sniper mission, you ride to a high point and shoot Shadow Seekers with lightning. With Anne, you use your light powers to dispel the dark wisps, collect their light and use it to cleanse a patch of forest from the darkness. With Linda, you ride to certain points in the forest and dispel Katja’s illusions by playing various mini games.

-> Every time you reach a milestone in the progression bar, you get a quest about the druid ghosts that died or were burned in the forest. The druids were five in total: Nimue, Moria, Lucius, Einar and Rosalind. You have to help the ghosts find peace. First, you find them in the forest, then you solve their murder (for example one was frozen to death by Katja), you make their last wish happen (e.g. take their bones out of the forest and to the place where they want to rest eternally) or bring their descendants to meet them (convincing people to come meet a ghost in the haunted forest is tricky). Lucius was Marchenghast’s friend and now wants revenge on him. MC convinces him to just talk and maybe tell him to go to hell, but Lucius ends up forgiving him and from now on lives in the castle.

-> Rosalind is the last one, who wants to meet Sands when you tell her he is alive to make sure he is okay. You bring Mr Sands to the Nightmare Woods and Rosalind says goodbye and tells you all that now she can rest in peace. The progress bar is completed and the Battle for Starshade Woods can begin.

Battle for Starshade Woods:

-> Druids, Soul Riders and MC gathering in Meander again. As the darkness decreased in the woods, Sabine and Jessica appeared attempting to restore it. You cannot let them undo your work, so it is now or never. The plan is to sweep through the forest, dispelling the final remnants of darkness and cleanse the Starshade Woods for good. The battle takes three days.

-> On the first day, you go into the part east of Crescent Lake station and disperse the remaining Shadow Seekers and dark wisps with the soul riders. The druids march behind you, cleansing the trees and animals. You get to Crescent Lake station, but Jessica is waiting for you there, defending it. Boss fight: she stands in the middle with a magic shield around her, powered by Shadow Seekers she summoned. You have to charge your lightning powers with the „catch a runner” soul riding mechanic and shoot the shadow seekers. After that you can hit her shield and defeat her. If the timer runs out she releases a dark explosion that knocks you out and you have to start again. When you defeat her, she retreats into the dark woods. You have taken the eastern part of the woods back.

-> The next day, you meet up in Cape Point village and do the same dance. You cleanse the part of the forest west of Storm Hill with the druids coming behind you. Sabine is waiting for you at the top of Storm Hill, promising she won’t go easy on you like Jess and makes a circle of fire around her and MC. Her bossfight works similarly to the Mr Anvir fight in Pandoria, except she is the monster chasing you. You have to dodge waves of fire, falling firebolts, gather sparks of power the Soul Riders summon to charge your attack and then run into her. She flees and you have Storm Hill Station.

-> The third day, you help Lisa and Anne first in pushing the front in Crescent Lake, then you fight with Linda and Alex in Storm Hill. In the middle you find Darko who is ready to unleash a massive dark creature he borrowed from Garnok. The thing is standing behind him in a cloud of darkness and you can only see its glowing evil eyes. Darko says if the forest can’t be theirs then it will be noone’s and the creature will have it. Mr Sands appears and taunts Darko. He says maybe you got what you wanted but it is not as easy being Garnok’s general as he thinks. Mr Sands counterspells Darko and the creature attacks its master. Darko teleports them both away in a panic and we win. Linda asks Sands if Darko is dead, but Sands says probably not, he has proven quite difficult to get rid of. -> The Nightmare Woods are cleansed and it returns to its original state: the Starshade Woods. It looks similar to the Hollow Woods, but with blue wisps flying around and also has a mother runestone and quests. Now we can get to the Secret Stone Circle on foot and the Winterdale rangers send people to the Crescent lake and Storm Hill Stations. The Starshade Championship is unlocked.

PART 3: The Kallters

The Blizzard:

-> Katja appears once again and unleashes a blizzard, but only on the Rimefang Woods. MC and the druids want to help, but noone can reach the kallter village unless they are invited. MC goes into the blizzard into Rimefang Woods anyways, trying to dodge the wolves. They start chasing MC and you run, but end up cornered in a gorge. A kallter girl Erika and her wolf Idun appear and save you. She leads MC to their village.

-> You meet the kallters: the council of leaders are Takuraq, Sedna, the high priestess and Uyarak, the spiritual leader (kind of a druid) whom you already met in a previous quest. Erika is the daughter of Takuraq. You have already met Nanook, who is a horse breeder. Malina and Anniq are the twins of Sedna, girl with golden hair, boy with silver and they do a little moon and sun circle magic. Kauyar is the main wolf trainer and Nasami is his wife.

-> MC is led into the communal hall and the council of elders accept your help against the wolves and Katja, but you have to gather reputation before progressing with the main story. Erika introduces you to the kallter village. It is in the middle of the Rimefang woods, next to a small lake. You have fishing dailies here. All of the kallters have their own tame wolves that keep the wild ones away from the village.

Gaining their trust:

-> In order to be able to properly help them and move around in the forest, you need a wolf. MC is sent to speak with Kauyar, who helps you bond with a wolf. They will run next to you in the Rimefang Woods and keep the wild wolves away so now MC can go wherever in the Rimefang Woods. You name it like you name a new horse you buy.

-> MC gathers firewood in the forest, helps repair the village walls, lights fires that the storm estinguished. In the forest, you have to hide from the flash freezes and dodge icicles, like in the first storm when you entered Winterdale. You have chores in Nanook’s stables for the fjords. You are introduced to Silver Runebark, the kallters’ Life Warden tree, that keeps Katja’s storm from destroying the village. When running around in the Rimefang Woods, you can sometimes see a wolf bigger and meaner than the others watching you. The kallters tell you it is called Amarok, but are strangely secretive and refuse to tell you more.

Fall of the Ice Witch:

-> Once you gathered enough reputation, the main storyline continues. The wolf pack of Amarok attacks and MC helps Nanook protect the kallters’ fjord horses. Katja is there, helping the wolves wreak havoc and using her ice powers. She says she has finally come to have revenge. MC helps stop her from freezing the village, but Nanook is cornered by the wolves. He turns into a bear and fights Amarok. The wolves are driven back and Katja flees.

-> Sedna and Nanook tell MC, that Katja is half kallter and hates them, wants to destroy the village. Nanook and his brother were cursed by Katja into a form of a bear and a wolf. MC agrees to help break the curse. The brothers have to trust each other again to break it (Amarok thinks Nanook betrayed him). Sedna and the twins help MC.

-> You have to find clues on how to break the curse. With Erika, you sneak into the den of the wolf pack using your magic. You find the writings of Amarok that he wrote before going crazy and permanently becoming a wolf. It tells you the full story of how Katja became like this. For looking different, having strong powers and being only half kallter the villagers treated her like an outsider and blamed her for every bad thing happening. She eventually got recruited by Garnok and destroyed the kallters’ previous village in Dino valley, making them leave for Winterdale to find a Life Warden Tree, that can protect them from the monster they created.

-> You confront Sedna and Nanook with this and they admit it is the truth. Nanook also chose the village over Amarok at one point and he is bitter. Amarok in turn used his wolf form to hurt Nanook’s horses and the cycle goes on. Erika says this is stupid we cannot be like this or the village is done for. Katja appears in front of the gates. She says now you see MC, I have a good reason for doing this. Help me get justice. MC says no and Katja unleashes the strom, blasting open the gates and the wolves pour in. Nanook changes into a polar bear and fights Amarok again, wins. Katja wants him to give in to hatred and strike Amarok down. This way he would complete the curse and stay as a bear forever because of his hatred. MC shouts to him not to and Nanook realizes. He changes back into a human and holds out a hand, saying i forgive you brother and hope you can forgive me as well. Amarok has managed to change back to human as well and takes his hand. The curse is broken. Katja shrieks impossible, but she cannot do anything. MC and Sedna unite their power and dispel the storm and Katja flees. Amarok returns to the village and the wolves of the Rimefang woods are no longer hostile.

-> Unlocking the Kallter Championship. You are rewarded with 100 Star Coins as it is the end of a big main story phase. The Wintersoul grind: the second "free" horse, like the Rune Runner. Now that you have completed the kallter questlines, you can start the soul riding-like grind and reputation collection with Uyarak. The Wintersoul is a special silvery-gray kallter fjord horse with ice blue kallter markings and it wanders in the Rimefang Woods. It was created when the a remnants of katja’s evil storm was trapped in a horse that ran away from Nanook’s stable. It has part of Katja’s power, freezing parts of the forest around it, needs to be tamed and who better to take care of it than MC.

PHASE 6 – Apocalypse

PART 1: Ashland and Sabine

Frostfire:

-> The dark side is properly angry now, that you have defeated every one of them again. They gather more dark power and openly attack Winterdale, sending Sabine to wreak havoc with her fire powers. Sabine always wanted to prove herself as best- now she wants to prove herself to Garnok, drunk with power.

-> The siege lasts a week, Sabine attacks different magical parts of the valley each day, until she depletes the powers she got. Every day MC gets called to a location and has to stop her. She brags about showing you all, that she is better, stronger, than Katja, who failed, just like Sands. Once the week is over she leaves and noone like the calm before the storm. The Soul Riders decide you have to figure out where she went, but before you could get on with it the earth shakes and there is a plume of smoke rising from Ashland.

Ashland:

-> This is bad. You have to get there to stop whatever Sabine is doing before she makes the volcano erupt and destroys half of Jorvik. First, you five are taking Avalon, Evergray and a Winterdale druid and ride to Explorer’s Rest and a ranger escorts you to Frostfire pass, but it is still frozen over. The druid says there is another way into Ashland. You ride to Dino Valley, but of course the path is still frozen.

-> The druid directs us to go talk to the Life Warden Tree of Dino Valley in the summit. Glacier Heart is peacefully slumbering still and we debate how to wake her. Before the team decides on anything, the ground shakes again and she wakes. At first she gets angry at you, but you manage to explain to her, that this is not your doing and you want to go to Ashland to stop it, but the path is frozen. Glacier Heart sighs: Do I really have to talk to her? Can’t you people just melt the ice of the road? The druid tells her respectfully that we are in a hurry, trying to stop the volcano from erupting and covering half of Jorvik in ash. That does it, because Glacier absolutely does not want warmth in her valley.

-> You can hear the telepathic communication between the trees. Glacier Heart calls out to her sister, Fire Glory in Ashland. She is very chatty and very ADHD and very excited about everything. It takes some tries for Glacier to explain to her that people want to go to Ashland, but the road is frozen. Fire Glory is very excited that she will get visitors and says hold on one second. She uses her fire powers to melt the ice on the road and the path to Ashland is finally open.

-> The team rides to Ashland and arrives in Ashfall village. There is a small community living there, some families and druids. The people grow extraordinary fruits and plants in the volcanic soil and the druids are stationed there to watch the volcano. Ever since the first quake, ash is falling from the sky like snow and the ground shakes here even more often. You ask about Sabine, but they didn’t see anything as they had to hide. You leave your druids in the village and go to ask Fire Glory about her.

Firefall:

-> Meeting Fire Glory, who is on one of the surrounding peaks, overlooking a valley. She likes the warmth in here, can’t image living in a cold place like like Dino and won’t shut up about how much she finds the fires beautiful. Linda politely shuts her up saying surely she would not want the valley to burn tho. She says no and we ask her is she saw Sabine. She did see her.

-> First, Sabine went to the caldera, and tried to control the fires to empower herself, but could not. Glory then saw her running around in the valley looking for something. We ask if she knows what, and the tree tells us about the Firestones. Hundreds of years ago, then the mysterious meteor shower rained pandoric stones, many landed in Ashland. Along the years they collected the fire energy of Ashland, and their pink glow turning to orange, they have become Firestones. Sabine is probably looking for these.

-> The Soul Riders and MC run around Ashland to collect the stones before Sabine does. Two progression bars show your and Sabine’s stones collected. When you found all you can, you return to Ashfall village as the druids found some more firestone locations. You go out, get them and now you have more stones, than Sabine.

-> When you return to the village however, you find the Soul Riders locked in anti-magic nullification circles. They tell you Sabine came and she was stronger than the four of them and she kidnapped Avalon. Alex tells MC that you are the only one still strong enough to defeat her, that’s why she attacked them separately. Sabine called you all to the volcano to surrender or she throws Avalon into the volcano.

-> You five ride up to the caldera. Sabine is at the edge, holding Avalon with magic over the lava. She’d drawn five more anti-magic circles and orders you to stand in it and surrender. Your lives for Avalon’s. The Soul Riders and MC all do, their powers are useless now.

-> MC has a plan to play on Sabine’s weakness. You kneel before her and admit defeat, saying she was right, she achieved what Sands could not, succeeded where Katja failed and Dark Rider Malumi is really the strongest opponent. The Soul Riders look at you like you’ve lost your mind and their reaction sells it to Sabine, who lowers her guard. Then you push Sabine and blast her with lightning and reach out for Avalon, barely catching him. Sabine falls into the lava and as her concentration is broken so are her magic circles and the Soul Riders help you pull Avalon up. Alex says nobody tell Fire Glory, but I fripping hate this place.

-> You collect Sabine’s firestones and go back to the village. As you have no use for them, you take them all to Fire Glory. She is very happy and melts the ice blocking Frostfire pass, opening the final blocked path to Winterdale. You ride back there.

PART 2: The Fall of Pandoria

Spying:

-> With Sabine gone, Katja weakened and Darko hurt by his darkness creature the Keepers of Aideen decide it is the perfect time to strike. Council meeting in the Secret Stone Circle, making a plan for how to defeat Garnok. Fripp tells us that he found the weakest point of Garnok’s prison: the Pools of Pandemonium in Devil’s Gap. He tells us that as of right now, he is imprisoned between the dimensions, that’s how he is able to access both Earth and Pandoria and that is how he was able to get Darko out of there. We debate different plans, but no decision yet.

-> The Soul Riders gather in Fripp’s rooms below and say that Linda and MC should scout DC using visions. You sit down to meditate and a series of cutscenes take place. First you see Darko standing in front of the portal, talking to a shadowy figure in it. They talk about Garnok’s return approaching, but the plans have been set back, since Sabine fell. The dark figure says my return also nears, you just have to buy some time. Darko asks what strategy you suggest and the dark figure says: They are so trusting in each other, it is disgusting. Time for some doubt. Conquer and divide, sow discord, make them make a mistake.

-> Darko’s evil plan, what we don’t see, is to make the Soul Riders send Garnok to Pandoria, where he will gather even more energy, will be stronger than ever and will be able to finally anchor himself to Earth. Darko knows MC is spying in a vision and he stages a scene. MC and Linda see him and Jess talk about how they must stop the Soul Riders from banishing Garnok to Pandoria.

-> We tell what we have seen to Fripp, not knowing this is a trap. Fripp thinks it makes sense. We have to sacrifice one world to save the other. We tell this to the druids and they agree to the plan, believing Garnok will be powerless and unable to reach Earth anymore if we manage to banish him to Pandoria. However this decision really divides the good guys, as a lot of druids believe Pandoria is not evil, there are creatures living there and the Keepers swore to protect all life. Evergray doesn’t like it either: How would you feel if someone decided Earth has to go, just so your world can live?

-> Ydris appears: How indeed. I believe one would feel quite resentful towards said people and would swore never no help them with anything ever again. Some druids ask him how did he get in here, but he just point at the runestones. I am pandorian you imbeciles. Typical humans. You surround yourselves with the magic of my world, take what you want and let the rest rot. Don’t count on my help when Garnok comes to destroy you all. Zee rears and they vanish.

-> The druids still go ahead with the plan. MC and the Soul Riders are piecing together the ritual that they will use to imprison Garnok in Pandoria. You go to the libraries of Silverglade, Fort Maria and Pine Hill with Linda to study magic circles. You gather magical herbs with Lisa, practice portals with Anne and go to Pandoria with Alex to gather crystals.

-> Now you only need to go to Devil’s Gap and convince Sive to let you do this. Linda stresses the whole way how will you convince Sive to give up the ancestral home of the vala (even if they drew power from Garnok’s prison), but when you get there she’s nowhere to be found. The Chaos Vortex is worse, than ever, a storm is raging above the gorge and lightning strikes. MC goes well that was easy, but Linda says easy never meant anything good for the Soul Riders. You go back to Fripp to report that you are good to go. Your final quest is going with Anne to close all of the portals to Pandoria.

Devil’s Gap:

-> Arriving at Devil’s Gap: the team still debates wheater they should do this, but settle for yes, they won’t have another chance like this. Using the many narrow, winding stone pathways of the valley you draw the lines of the magic circle. At certain points you carve pandorian runes into the rock walls as makeshift runestones. You make the whole valley into a big magic circle to open the gate of the prison for a moment, then banish him to Pandoria. The success of your mission relies on the fact that he is technically still sleeping.

-> Once the magic circle is done, however, Garnok stirs. MC has to ride with each Soul Rider to four different points of the valley and help them activate a rune, before riding to the middle. While riding through the pathways Garnok’s tentacles appear (like in SSL 4 and when you escaped Pandoria after finding Anne). You activate the four runes and manage to ride to the middle to complete the ritual. Garnok roars, a portal opens and the dark presence leaves the Pools of Pandemonium and is sent to Pandoria.

-> The good guys think they have won, but trouble hits immediately. Darko appears on one of the rocks above you, laughing at how you fell right into his trap. He meddles with the spell. Linda and MC have a vision of Garnok turning Pandoria dark blue and purple, breaking the islands and laughing, deep as an earthquake rumbles through the doomed world.

-> You have to act immediately. MC and Anne open a portal to Pandoria and the Soul Riders go there to stop him from destroying all of Pandoria. Once he’s done, he will also come for Earth, your only luck is that he is too busy breaking Pandoria. Linda directs you to make a binding rune, similar to what you did in Devil’s Gap. Riding around, dodging his powers. You manage to contain Garnok in Pandoria, but the realm now answers to Garnok and tries to kill you. Escape from Pandoria, the portal is collapsing. Some sun circle druids sacrifice themselves, staying behind to stabilize the portal, while we escape.

PART 3: The Hope of Pandoria  

War effort:

-> Pandoria is off-limits now. All the portals are closed and the locations are guarded by druids to alert us if anything tries to come through. Garnok is empowered by Pandoria and even through he cannot come to Earth, his evil magic can reach it. Garnok-effect appearing everywhere in Jorvik, the sieges led by Katja, Jess, or Darko. MC has to fight it with soul riding quests.

-> Chaos in Ashland, a fiery entity terrorizes the valley. The Soul Riders are sent there to investigate. Sabine returns as a flying fire-ghost entity(the ghost model is like in the picture in SSL 3's Pandoria) and she is really pissed at you. She joins the sieges.

-> This cannot go on, we need a plan. MC suggests to use Jessica. We need information, have to find out how to defeat this kind of void power and how to seal Garnok back to sleep. Jess has a rivalry with Katja and still wants to outdo her to show Garnok she is the stronger one. We organize an ambush: Anne is the bait. When she attacks her, all of us appear and say we just want to talk. We manage to strike a deal with her- in exchange for information, she will have a victory over us that Katja did not. Some druids and Anne are against this plan, but they have to make a sacrifice to have a chance.

-> Jess tells the info we need right away. Anne is suspicious, says she must be lying, why not wait until we fulfilled our promise? Jess says because she can count on the good guys being disgustingly honorable and if she told something useful, they will surely make good on their promise. Jess reveals that Pandoria can be saved if we bring Garnok back to Earth to his prison. The prison ship also used the dimension between world to keep him imprisoned. If we manage to do this, his generals will lose a good deal of power also. Linda still uses moon power to see the truth and announces that she’s not lying.

-> Agreeing on the plan: the Soul Riders are to attack the DC Barricade, pretending that we are trying to free the creatures and get the artifacts. Now we cause all kinds of havoc in DC territory. Katja and Jess arrive to protect it. MC and the Soul Riders have set a trap for Katja and we imprison her in a circle. As Darko arrives Jessica attacks us and we pretend to fall back to put on a show for him. Jess got a good point from Darko for defending the barricade, while Katja failed again.

-> We tell the information we got from Jess to Fripp and he agrees to the plan. We need to try and save Pandoria even if it means endangering Earth, as we cannot let another world be destroyed by Garnok. We just need to convince the druids of it when we get the chance.

Shadowfrost

-> Evergray calls us to meet in Valedale. Why hasn’t Sabine come back to her human form? Evergray suggests the Dark Riders can be defeated by the combination of their own power and their opposite Soul Rider’s. For Sabine it was fire and lightning. Jess must be defeated by darkness (in Pi’s swamp) and Anne, Katja by ice (in Dino vale) and Linda. We plan to make these happen. We split up: MC helps Anne and Lisa defeat Jess first, while Alex and Linda prepare to defeat Katja. If we manage they too will turn into elemental ghosts (shadow and frost), like Sabine. They will still be able to fight us, but without human consciousness, just as primordial powers. Until they get their bodies back, this will leave Darko alone in fighting us.

-> Anne and Lisa lure Jessica into Pi’s Cauldron Swamp, playing on her pride. Anne can go all in, make it seem like she gave in to hatred, then when Jess is sure she will win, Anne reveals Jess has walked into a trap pursuing Anne. She stepped in the darkness seal made by Pi, which draws power from Jess’s magic. Lisa, Anne, and MC focus their powers on Jess, she disappears, a dark ghost flies away from the swamp. This was the easy part.

-> MC, Alex and Linda go to Dino Valley, but Katja knows already what happened to Jess, she is angrier than ever. Finding her at the Ice Witch portal, she attacks us. 1st race through Dino: to lure her to the frozen lake, where we can fight her. 1st phase: Soul-riding-like bossfight in the frozen lake, Katja has a frost shield. Dodging icicles, Linda helps see where K’s magic will hit, so MC can dodge it, Alex shoots her shield with lightning. MC has to keep them ice-free, free them if they are iceblocked. Without Linda, MC can’t see where the ice will hit and without Alex it is only her shooting the shield. After removing half of her shield here, Katja starts breaking the ice on the lake.

-> 2nd race: to the higher valley, through the pine forest. The 2nd phase of the fight takes place amidst the ice columns, same fight, lightning strike her, remove her shield. She is defeated, but with the last of her power, summons illusions of many characters, hides herself as one of them. Linda and MC is find the one and point at it for Alex to blast it with lightning. When Alex turns, the illusion wears the body of James. Katja begs Alex as James not to hurt him, but Alex collects the storm from above the valley and lightning strikes her. A frosty ghost flies away. Cutscene: Darko roars and curses before the portal of DC platform as the three elemental ghosts hover before him silently.

Saving Pandoria

-> Soulriding stuff all over Jorvik, fighting the three Dark Rider entities. The Keepers try to agree on the plan. The options: A, Fully sever G’s connection to Earth and get rid of hom for now (he still may find a way back later) and let Pandoria die, or B, Save Pandoria by bringing Garnok’s full consciousness back to his Earth prison, just like Jess said. The alliance finally decides to try to heal Pandoria, sever Garnok’s link to it and defeat the monster on Jorvik for good.

-> MC and the Soul Riders are going to the Garnok-ruled Pandoria: instead of pink, it is dark blue now. We are trying to stay hidden and set up a base camp. Anne really hates being here, we have to talk her into not breaking We have to avoid Shadow Seekers and corrupted creatures. We manage to heal a small bit of Pandoria.

-> Darko notices this and comes to confront us. He siphons power from corrupted Pandoria and gives the Dark Riders their human bodies back. They are so empowered, they are just toying with us. We take part in the three bossfights for each of them, losing in each. Our Soul Rider partner magics us to safety every time, but ultimately, it seems like we have lost. Our Aideen magics start to weaken as Garnok gets stronger. His giant silhouette appears on the horizon in the distance in an epic shot.

-> MC still wants to try and fight Darko, but he blocks all your pathetic attempts at magic. The Soul Riders are on the ground, giving up. Even Lisa says all hope is lost. Then, Ydris appears with the Hope of Pandoria to save the day. For him it transforms from a fridge into a pink and golden blazing Sun and flies up to the sky its searing rays of light burning away garnok’s darkness. The low roar or a kraken reverberates from the distance.

-> Ydris combines his power with the Soul Riders’ and MC's, but Anne is still on the ground. He shouts at Anne: Stand up Sun of Pandoria and help us send him back to his prison! Concorde walks to her and holding onto Concorde, Anne is pulled to her feet. She guides the spell, and we banish Garnok from Pandoria completely, back on his prison ship on Earth, fully anchoring him to Jorvik. Darko and the Dark Riders are also sent back to Earth.

-> Linda walks up to Ydris to thank him, but he says he is still angry at them for doing this to Pandoria. He only helped the world, but still won’t ever help us again. Pandoria is accessible again, but parts are still corrupted and in ruins. Garnok is banished from Devil’s Gap and the Chaos Vortex disappears.

-> Victory, end of main storyline in Winterdale. You get a reward of the final 100 Star Coins upon returning to the Secret Stone Circle and the druids talk about possibly soon heading north to meet their brothers and sisters in Spring Valley.

TO BE CONTINUED!

THE OTHER PARTS:

SSO Rewritten 2nd Part: Springvalley https://www.tumblr.com/starshinedragon/716459529087401984/sso-rewritten-springvalley?source=share

SSO Rewritten 3rd Part: Summerplains https://www.tumblr.com/starshinedragon/726343248992419840/sso-rewritten-full-story-series-summerplains?source=share

[centeris2]

19. Horoscope (Soul Riders) (SSO winter prompt)

Lisa learns about the Jorvegian zodiac. On AO3 and Wattpad

Lisa had lived in Jorvik for quite a while before she noticed some odd differences in the zodiac. She knew she was a Taurus but beyond that nothing. When she overheard someone reading their life warden horoscope she was confused, unsure if it was a Jorvik thing or a zodiac thing.

So, as Lisa often did when she had questions, she asked Linda the next time the four girls were together.

“A life warden horoscope?” Linda repeated, collecting her thoughts.

“Yeah, I don’t remember that being a zodiac sign. I thought they were all like Greek or Latin names,” Lisa continued, looking at Linda for answers.

“Jorvik has constellations unique to its culture, and has horoscopes for them,” Linda explained.

“Oh really? What are you guys?” Lisa was curious, looking at the others and surprised when they all had to think.

“Maybe Rune now? I didn’t feel like any of them before you came, but I think Rune might include learning? It’s magic focused if I remember correctly,” Linda tapped her chin in thought.

“I don’t identify with any of them, ” Anne said as she studied a fashion magazine.

“I’m a Sisters I guess? Or Adventurer?” Alex was thoughtful, the events with Garnok making her rethink what sign matched her.

“You… identify with them? Isn’t it just when you’re born?” Lisa tilted her head, confused now.

The other three, mostly Linda, explained the six constellations, what they represented, and how a person chose their sign rather than being assigned one. After a moment of reflecting she decided.

“Harp. I’m definitely a Harp,” Lisa announced, surprisingly no one, before commenting, “I’m surprised none of you are a Mare.”

They all looked at Anne, who noticed the silence and looked up from her magazine.

“What?”

“You love horses,” Alex pointed out, making Anne raise an eyebrow.

“You could say that about all of us, or Sisters, but just because I love Concorde doesn’t mean my interest in horses is my greatest personality trait,” Anne pointed out before adding, “besides, for the most part it’s vague stuff anyway. Most people would say they are creative, or value their friends, or like adventure.”

“You’re no fun,” Alex pouted, making Anne smirk behind her magazine.

“She’s got a point, none of you were insulted that I said I was a Harp rather than a Sisters, because we all know we value our friendships and horses,” Lisa defended. “But at least you pick your Jorvik horoscope sign.”

“And thankfully they’re not as complicated as other horoscopes, unless you are someone who mixes the Jorvegian zodiac with other cultures’,” Linda chuckled, returning to her book, the conversation shifting away from horoscopes to other topics.

[starshinedragon]

SSO Rewritten: SPRINGVALLEY

Fan written main storyline (Update)

Previous Part: Winterdale https://www.tumblr.com/starshinedragon/736955792328146944/sso-winterdale-fan-written-main-storyline?source=share

Map of Springvalley:

Life Warden Trees of Springvalley:

Story design:

-> Part of SSO Rewritten (my writing project of the whole story of SSO until defeating Garnok). You can find the story related posts with the tag "sso rewritten" -> This is the updated version of an old post, that takes place after the Winterdale part. -> Phases 1-2-3 is the main story so far (Harvestlands), phases 4-5-6 is the Winterdale parts in the previous post, phases 7-8-9 are the Springvalley parts written in this post.

-> The area of Springvalleywas established in the Star Stable Spring Riders game and I added elements from SSO (rangers, druids, a lightwood, etc) to fill in the empty places. The focus characters of the Springvalley main storyline are Jessica and Elise (as the main opponents), Anne (as she is Jess' rival), Jordan Jet (from the Spring Rider game), Life Warden Trees and Vala witches (eg. Sive). The thematic guide for the Springvalley story is the dark corruption spreading in the valley and the final confrontation of this phase is cleansing the Cursed Forest and the witches' castle.

So saddle up and get ready for the adventure!

PHASE 7 – Opening Springvalley

PART 1: Resurrection

-> At the end of the Winterdale Storyline, the Soul Riders managed to win back Pandoria and banish Garnok from there. A new reputation opens: Pandoria. We can access all of it again, but it is in ruins. Ydris kind of forgives the druids, since his world was saved, and begrudgingly agrees to help and direct the restoration of Pandoria. Ydris becomes the faction leader and sends MC and the Soul Riders to all kinds of quests. 

-> MC is summoned to the Secret Stone Circle. The Soul Riders, Ydris, and some druids are waiting for you there and tell you that you are going to restore Pandoria and cleanse it from Garnok’s corruption. MC, Fripp, Ydris and Anne open and stabilize the Path of the Winds, the portal at the edge of the Circle, that now leads to the central part of Pandoria. The team rides through and you set up base in the main structure of Temple Ruins, a building similar to the ruins you saw in Starshine Legacy 3’s Pandoria.

-> For your first quests you are to secure that island. They ask you to help set up the base, and cleanse Garnok’s (dark blue) corruption from the land and creatures. You explore the island and find three portal sites you have to activate. With Anne’s help MC opens the way to the other three islands. You report back to the druids and unlock the map of Pandoria. 

-> You are sent to explore a new Pandoria. In the Harvestlands storyline (live SSO) we can only access two areas: the crystal cave island where Anne was imprisoned and the island with the winding paths and many plants under it. The crystal cave is also not accessible anymore if you have already completed those main story quests. In the Winterdale storyline (SSO Rewritten) we banish Garnok from Devil’s Gap to Pandoria, thinking it is a good plan, but we soon realize it was a mistake. During the quests when we banish Garnok from Pandoria (back to his spaceship prison at the bottom of the Jorvik Sea) we access the two areas from live SSO again: the crystal cave and the winding paths. Here, in the beginning of the Springvalley storyline, new areas of Pandoria become accessible. Ydris sends you to explore all of the areas: you unlock all 4 map parts of Pandoria after completing the quests. The now accessible areas are:

1. The Botanical Gardens: this is the winding paths currently accessible in live SSO. The Pandoria botany dailies send you here, to find the plant they want (see the names of Pandorian plants below!). The area now has pathways to make it easier to find your way, some lamps with wisps in them and some decorative fences and benches, as well as Pandorian critters and creatures hanging out there.

2. Crystal Peaks: the second zone from live SSO, the island where Anne was imprisoned in the crystal. This area now has some plains and various wild Pandorian horses running around. Zee watches over this island and sends you on quests to help the wildlife there.

3. Temple Ruins: a reskinned and upgraded version of the area you walk with Anne, when you find Concorde in Starshine Legacy 3. This is the main base of Pandoria now. Ydris, some druids, and those who help restore Pandoria hang out here. From here, three portals lead to the other three accessible Pandorian areas.

4. Rune Island: where the Soul Riders went so seal their power runes in the last map of Starshine Legacy 4. Reskinned and upgraded, the stone circles of the seals are now the training arenas for each power. These are where you will get and practice your new soul rider powers.

Entrances to Pandoria: -> Secret Stone Circle: the Path of the Winds portal leads to Temple Ruins (central part). -> Random daily portal to Pandoria: still leads to the Botanical Gardens. -> Five Horse Valley: leads to Crystal Peaks, like during the saving Anne storyline.

-> Races: each island has multiple races. There are simple cross country runs around landmarks. There are butterfly and wisp collection races, a catch Pandorian rays race (like the catch rabbits one), a garden race, etc.

-> Pandorian Quests: after exploring Pandoria to unlock the maps you can access all quests and dailies on every island and Jorvik. The daily quest that can appear on each island is when you are sent to cleanse sites of umbrasyan (Garnok’s) corruption. Quests by zones:

1. Jorvik: pink cracks and lost beasts. All kinds of pandorian creatures had appeared on Jorvik as the veil between worlds got torn in the confrontation with Garnok. MC and the Soul Riders are sent all over Jorvik to clear the Pandorian cracks, and capture and return beasts to Pandoria.

2. Temple Ruins: You help set up the magical defenses of the base in dailies like rune carving and rune ciphers. You investigate and locate sites of gathering corruption and dispel them. Ydris figures out a way to stop the Pandorian scars’ spread on Evergray and he joins the camp too.

3. Crystal Peaks: Zee oversees this island. Many Pandorian wild horses (magic horses, unicorns, etc) roam the plains and valleys here. The caves are where the druids and Ydris collect the most powerful magic crystals from. MC is sent to cleanse corrupted crystals and horses, to befriend the magic horses and also on fetch quests.

4. Rune Island: Rhiannon hangs out there with some druids who are interested in the magic of the circles. Here you meet Amryn, a Pandorian humanoid like Ydris. She had survived the destruction of Pandoria by living a nomad life (much like Evergray during his wanderings in the pink world). She came back because she felt a dark presence gather in these parts. Mc befriends her and she and Rhiannon teach MC some new magic. MC is taught how to use their star powers to heal sick horses, how to use visions to spy on the enemy, you use sun powers to dispel darkness and corruption and fight with lightning to destroy shadow seekers.

5. Botanical Gardens: there are both some druids and capran-like Pandorian cratures here. You unlock the Pandorian botany dailies: they send you to ride around in the gardens and find them 3 different types of plants each day.

-> At the end of the storyline with the Pandoria faction, Ydris discovers a Remnant of Garnok (a dark tentacle) that threatens to attack, corrupt and destroy what we had achieved so far. With the help of Ydris, Zee, Evergray, Rhiannon and Amryn, a plan is formed: to complete a ritual that dispels the Remnant forever. MC and the Soul Riders are sent to gather four rare materials across the islands on four consecutive days.

-> With Lisa, MC goes to the Botanical Gardens to find the Cyclamen Starflower. With Linda you explore Temple Ruins to find a special, ancient runestone, the Eclipse Cypher. With Anne, you go to Crystal Peaks to find the strongest Pandorian Crystal yet, the Aphelion Gemstone that glows light blue. With Alex, you go to Rune Island, carve a magic wand out of a nettletree branch and infuse it with lightning magic, creating the Fulminus Wand (Alex just calls it the Boomstick).

-> MC brings these four ingredients to the Temple Ruins, where you set up the ritual to dispel the Remnant. Ydris draws a complex magic circle combining star, moon, sun and lightning magics and stands in the middle conducting the ritual. The Soul Riders stand on the circle’s four point, paired with each of the other characters: Zee, Evergray, Rhiannon and Amryn. You start the ritual and the Remnant of Garnok attacks.

-> You have to use the powers you learned recently to stop the Remnant from stopping the ritual. The Remnant summons shadow seekers which you have to shoot with lightning to dispel. If it hits one of the characters with its shadow attacks, you use the star circle to heal them. You dispel spots of corruption from the ground using sun magic. For the moon ability check, the Remnant curses MC using a rune sealing all your other abilities until you dispel it. You get rid of the curse by finding the same rune around you, like the rune ciphers in Hollow Woods. You have to hold out for some minutes and once the progress bar completes, Ydris directs the power of the ritual to you and MC destroys the Remnant. The shadowy tentacle bursts into sparks of light and you are rid of it for good. You have fully restored Pandoria.

PART 2: The Violet Fog – Dark Rider Elise’s introduction questline

-> The forces of good couldn’t enjoy their victory for long. A suffocating violet mist covers the island. The lakes and rivers are frozen over, shadow seekers roam the night. An eerie atmosphere covers Jorvik. Before you start this questline a window will pop up asking if you are ready to start it, as the story will start a Jorvik-wide event and most NPCs will temporarily disappear. They come back once you have completed this questline. You click Yes, I’m ready. (This is a single event. Even though it is divided into four days, you don’t need to wait a day to do the next one, you just get a black screen and the game tells you a day passed.)

-> The screen goes black, „The first day” title appears and you hear a sound of magic being used. MC wakes up in their home stable. Your first quest is to do a round of stable care for the horse you are riding (doesn’t matter if you did it already, it is for the immersion). Next, you remember that Avalon wanted to meet you and you leave the stable. Outside it is dark, despite it being the morning and you are greeted by a thick, violet fog. The people are confused, but not yet panicking. The soundtrack has changed to playing the dark and mysterious ambiance anywhere you go.

-> You hear the magic sound again and a shockwave sweeps through Jorvik. Your horse rears and people panic and run to their houses. You ride to Avalon. He tells you that all of Jorvik is covered by the violet fog and that it blocks both magic and technology. This means no quick communications and the Valedale spiral leading to the Secret Stone circle is also blocked. The spymaster arrives in a panic, telling MC and Avalon that people have started to disappear. His critters told him that if they get lost in the fog they vanish. The Soul Riders get here as well and Avalon takes the lead.

-> Avalon tells MC and the Soul Riders that the druids prepared for something like this. He tells you to gather the people of Valedale who haven’t vanished yet and meet him at the door in the Hollow Woods. You do that and he opens the door. It leads to a bunker similar in design to Stonecutters’ Vault and Fripp’s study. Avalon tells you it is protected from magical attacks. The people hide inside and MC and the Soul Riders are tasked to go sort out the other bunkers. The plan is to split the bunkers among the Soul Riders, get the people to safety, and meet up the next day.

-> You ride together, leaving a Soul Rider at each bunker. First, you go to the Starshade Woods through Northlink. The Soul Riders remain at the door to open it as Avalon showed you, while MC rides around to gather people. Some you can find, and some have already vanished. You get the people into the bunker and Alex stays with them.

-> Next you go to Goldenhills, and try to find the people and Linda stays with them. After gathering people in Epona, Jorvik Stables, and Jarlaheim, Lisa stays to guard them in the Greendale bunker. You gather the remaining NPCs from Silverglade and Moorland and leave them with Anne in the Moorland bunker. Alone, you return to Avalon to the Hollow Woods bunker. The screen goes black as the day ends.

-> „The second day”. MC rides to Silverglade Village, where you agreed to meet. The Soul Riders made it as well. The cutscene shows a shadowy rider watching you from afar. You are in the middle of talking when you feel an eerie presence. Black lightning crashes down in the middle of the group and everyone freaks out. Shadow seekers appear and you have to flee. MC manages to lose their pursuers in Valedale. You talk to Avalon and he sends you to the other bunkers to check on the Soul Riders. You ride to Moorland to check if Anne has returned, but she hasn’t. You search for the Soul Riders all over Jorvik, riding to certain places indicated on the map. You cannot find anyone and return to the Hollow Woods bunker to sleep.

-> „The third day”. Avalon sends MC to check on the other bunkers. There is a snowstorm in Dino Valley. You find that Northlink is infested with shadow seekers and you cannot go through. Linda hadn’t returned to Goldenhills but the people needed supplies. You ride to Cape West and bring them some. The Greenwoods bunker is ok, but Lisa isn't here. You collect supplies from Jarlaheim for them. MC feels a dark presence following them, cutscenes sometimes show the silhouette of the dark rider, watching you from afar. Moorland is also ok, but Anne hasn’t returned either. When you ride in the fog, sometimes you can see aurora up high, a single wisp flying around, or lightning strikes and hear thunder in the distance.

-> MC rides back towards the Hollow Woods. In the forest, you walk into an ambush set by the mysterious dark rider. Dark lightning almost hits you, and MC flees out of the forest into Everwind fields. The fog thickens so much, that you can't see more than a meter ahead. The single wisp appears and you follow it. The wisp leads you out of the fields, to your bunker. You go to sleep.

-> „The fourth day”. You leave the bunker and the wisp is waiting for you there. the Moorland runestone. Moonlight illuminates the stone and MC touches it, and has a vision of one active runestone in Jorvik (one with five runes). You have to find it. The quest sends you to check some other 5-rune stones first and finally, you find it in behind the Jorvik Stables. You have a new vision there: it shows you riding to the Secret Stone Circle and using magic to dispel the mist.

-> The dark presence finally reveals itself. The fog gathers and a dark rider materializes. She is wearing the dark rider outfit in violet and rides a quick-looking dark horse with a blond, almost white mane and tail. She says „Greetings, worm. I am Elise Samassa, Dark Rider Nihili, and this is the strongest horse in Jorvik, Acheron. Now that we are acquainted, it is time for you to face oblivion, like your pathetic friends, chosen of Aideen.” MC attacks her, releasing a lightning bolt, but magic is so weak in the fog that she easily deflects it. You decide to flee and get to the Secret Stone Circle to dispel the fog. The longest race leading through the island commences.

-> You are chased through the island by the cloakrider, following the wisp, while the rider tries to stop you using magic. You escape Jorvik Stables, and run through Jarlaheim, Greenwoods, the bridge, Moorland, Everwind, Hollow Woods, and Valedale. You enter Dino Valley for the first time since the fog fell. The Icengate is blocked, so you ride to Ashland, down the Frostfire pass, through Coldstone forest, Sharshade Woods, and up Starshine Mountain. You jump the broken bridge.

-> Cutscene: MC stops their horse and watches how the dark rider does the same on the other side of the bridge. Like in Starshine Legacy 1, she can’t follow you into the circle. She removes her hood: the introduction of Elise, the 4th Dark Rider. She says „Enjoy this victory, because ultimately it means nothing. You might have won the battle, but the war has just begun. And you pathetic servants of Aideen better prepare, because I will bring down upon you hell itself. And so it begins!” She raises an arm and you hear the magic sound that summoned the fog for the third time. Thunder rumbles and it gets much darker, the fog thickens. You barely see enough to get to the center of the circle.

-> MC goes to the middle of the Circle and activates the runes, but doesn’t know what else to do. The wisp is still hovering next to you. You investigate the rune: it shows the other four Soul Riders and you call out for their help. The wisp hovers over to one side, moonlight and aurora appear and lightning strikes the last one. A faint glimmer appears in the middle as the darkness around you approaches. You use your rune stick at the glimmer. The four Soul Riders materialize around you and together you use your magic to disperse the fog. Cutscene: people rematerialize in cities and the one refugees leave the bunker. The Druids celebrate and you get rewards.

PART 3: Opening Springvalley

-> The next day you are called to the Circle again to talk to Fripp and the druids. Before the meeting could start, the Spymaster appears, telling you that druids from Springvalley arrived and need your help. He leads them in front of the council. They tell you that darkness attacked Springvalley, a dark rider wreaks havoc there, Nihili. Elise really didn’t waste any time. Her power summons umbrasyan corruption, her dark power infuses the land and she woke up the witches inhabiting the Morrinweals as well. It is chaos in the valley and the druids alone are not enough to fight her. They ask for your help. You agree to go, but Fripp warns you that you have to improve the defenses of Harvestlands and Winterdale first. The two druids wait in the Circle until you complete the Runestone Upgrade Questline.

-> Runestone upgrade questline: MC gets a message, that Fripp wants to meet you in the Secret Stone Circle. He tells you that you all have to prepare for the war to come, and Elise will be a tough enemy. The druids have to bolster their defenses the best they can, and the first step is to strengthen the Circle. The runestones around the circle only had ceremonial purposes (meaning they had some power, but they were mostly just pretty), but now you have to make them into proper magic runes, that will protect the place. You are sent to go talk to Ydris about how to use the Pandorian language as a magic weapon.

-> Linda comes with you. MC and Linda meet Ydris in Pandoria, and he sends you all over the pink world to look at the runestones there. He made those to protect the islands. Linda remains in Temple Ruins to study his books. You get a new page in your notebook labeled Pandorian language and have to collect the drawings on all of the runestones in Pandoria. When you are done collecting the inscriptions on one island, you go to Ydris, who tells you the meaning (plus Linda tells you the Pandorian phonetic pronunciation if you are interested). Once you collected all of the runestones and meanings, you unlock the last page, which is the Pandorian runic and phonetic alphabet and dictionary.

-> MC and Linda return to the Secret Stone Circle, where Fripp, the druids, and other Soul Riders are already waiting for them. They talk about which runes should be used where. MC has to choose the correct runes to be carved in the 10 stones of the circle.

-> The druids decide to remake the runestones with the help of Conrad. MC is tasked to meet him, offer the job, and bring Conrad to the Circle. He will work on the project for 10 day (a day for each of the stones). You have to complete the quest he gives you each day for him to finish a stone. Those will be simple fetching quests: he needs a special carving tool from Stonecutter’s Vault, needs you to check out a stone in Pandoria again to make sure the shape of the rune is correct, wants a dessert from Aideen’s plaza, etc. You get the stuff he wants and he will get to work. The next day he is done and your first quest is to use your magic to activate the runestone he made. After that you get the usual fetch quest, get him his stuff, he gets to work, the next day you activate the runestone, and so on.

-> While this is happening, the rune recarving side quests become available. MC will be going around Jorvik, looking for all the old, not working runestones. You need to carve them into one of the Pandorian words you learned. For each quest, you grab the carving tools and find the runestone. Once you click it, it will give you a choice IN PANDORIAN about what you want to carve. Using your notebook you have to choose the correct thing to carve- For example, it will give you the runic options for “leaf”, “blue”, “defense” and “laughter”. If you choose the wrong one, you get a funny punishment: if you choose blue, the stone turns blue, if you choose leaf, a bush grows around the stone, and if you choose laughter, MC will keep laughing. You have to choose defense (after you figured out the correct rune combination). You replace every runestone in Jorvik this way with a useful inscription, which keeps evil forces away from the area, so the violet fog incident will not be repeated.

-> After 10 days, Conrad is done. When you return to the Circle, you activate the last runestone and the whole circle flares up with magic. Astral Crown awakens truly (Fripp was only able to wake her power before, not her consciousness), and thanks you for waking her by giving her enough power and helping her protect the Circle.

-> Now that Harvestlands and Winterdale are sufficiently protected, MC and the Soul Riders are ready to depart for Springvalley. The two druids are Sienna Springleaf, the leader of the Everspring druid village, and her horse Solaria, a palomino, and Lorelei Moordusk, the leader of the Thistlebranch druid village, and her horse the black Shadowsong. They arrived by taking the Seaside Road from Bayridge to Anvil Woods, barely managing to sneak past the Dark Core Barricade. Initially, we plan to enter Springvalley that way. Anne is excited to be back home at her family’s manor.

-> MC, the Soul Riders, Sienna, and Lorelei ride to the Seaside Gate. The two druids have the key and they open it. Linda casts a magical shield around the group that makes you invisible and you ride slowly and stealthily, trying to remain hidden. It seems like you can pass the Barricade unseen, when a cutscene triggers. Katja and Elise are standing on top of a lookout tower of the DC Barricade. Katja uses her scrying powers to detect Linda, she says „Got you, little Soul Rider. Elise, now!” She casts black lightning towards the mountain. The scene cuts back to your group, right when Alex spots draconium barrels hidden up the mountain, among the rocks. She shouts „Watch out!” and the black lightning hits the barrels, bringing down the whole mountainside. Your group has to turn around and flee the rockfall. The road in now blocked by huge rocks, you can’t enter Springvalley that way. Now your only option is the Wolf-pass, which is not used for a reason. In the final cutscene, Elise looks over the destruction satisfied, and says „Bye-bye Soul Riders. I hope you like the present I left for you in the mountain pass”.

-> You meet up with the team in the Rimefang Woods, near the mouth of the Wolf Pass. You ride through carefully, your Kallter wolf coming with you. The pass is similar to the gorge of Aideen you go through in the Light Ride quest. Everything seems fine, but is is eerily quiet and you have a bad feeling about it. Anne spots a patch of corruption and the familiar violet fog starts to seep into the canyon. You hear wolf howls and the Kallter wolf growls. Dire wolves appear high on the canyon walls and in front of you, blocking the path. Their eyes glow with Garnok’s dark blue corruption. Anne steps forward, saying „Enough is enough. No Dark Rider will keep me from my home!” She starts to channel sunlight. Lisa says „Quick, MC, we have to help!”. You join the spell. The wolves attack, running toward the team, horses freak out. Right before they reach you the spell completes, and an explosion of light burns away the corruption from the canyon and the wolves. They are dazed, your Kallter wolf walks up to them, and they sniff and greet each other. They leave and let you pass. The team crosses the Winter Mountains and arrives in Rockville. You get your 100 SC for finishing a phase.

PHASE 8- Jessica and Elise

PART 1: The Jet Syndicate and Von Blyssens

-> For now, you quickly ride through Rockville and get to the windmill in the middle of Seabreeze Meadows where you were to meet the druids. Lorelei leaves halfway, she has to go back to Thistlebranch Village and invites you to come and help, once you are done with Everspring. Sienna leads the team to the windmill, but no one else is there. We find signs of a recent attack by Elise and follow the hoofprints of the fleeing druids towards Everspring Plateau. We race to the Cliffside Mountains and spot the fleeing druids. Cutscene: they are chased by shadow seekers, black lightning strikes, and corrupted vines. Sienna gets ahead of the Soul Riders, trying to help her people. She runs into the pass after them, leading to Everspring Plateau. Before MC or the Soul Riders could follow her, the corrupted vines close the pass. You stop your horses and see Elise and Jessica standing on a ridge above you, laughing. They dissipate into dark smoke and fly away. 

-> You have to cleanse the corruption of the battlefield here. By the time you are done, the Cliffside rangers appear to ask what the hell was that. You try to explain and they kind of buy it as there are no more signs of corruption, just the battlefield. You say it was a lightning strike and they accept it saying that there was some weird weather recently in Springvalley so why not.  MC and the Soul Riders ride back to Rockville.

-> Jordan Jet greets you in Rockville, saying she has heard that you are an excellent rider, and invites you to take part in the dressage and other competitions of Springvalley. She tells you of the two main equestrian factions here: her Jet Syndicate ruling Rockville, Bayridge, and Beauvista, and the Von Blyssen riders of the manor. She recognizes Anne and tells you that she’s not going to keep you anymore, as you would probably want to go with your friend to the Von Blyssen manor, but you are welcome to come back anytime to ride in her syndicate.

-> Introduction to the Von Blyssen Manor: The team follows Anne to the Von Blyssen Manor. It is managed by Eva Von Blyssen, Anne’s mother, who used to be a soul rider. You explore the manor and unlock dressage training and reputation dailies. You see the trails in the woods, the riding arenas, and the stables of the manor. You can’t yet cross the river as the bridge to Suncrown Island with the conspicuous golden tree is blocked by a closed gate. At this point, the dressage in SSO receives a huge upgrade, dressage becomes available at the Baroness', Pine Hill and Shoreline Riding Arenas and a Dressage Championship opens.

-> Exploring Springvalley: You are sent to check out the Shoreline Equestrian, where the great dressage competitions of Springvalley are held. It is solely a competition center, designed similarly to the Baroness’ racetrack. The main dressage arena is the upgraded version of the one where you do dressage at the end of the Spring Riders game. Here you meet some nice Jet Syndicate riders. They have a rivalry with the Von Blyssen riders, and both factions would like to win the Great Dressage Trophy. Both factions are very sportsmanlike, whichever loses, they don’t get bitter, congratulate the winner, and are happy that they took part even if just for the experience. Since Anne’s been gone, the trophy was won by the Jet Syndicate’s best rider, Jasmine, Jordan’s niece. Anne vows to win it back with Concorde.

-> Next MC goes alone to explore the Jet Syndicate villages. You meet the people of the villages and the crew of the stables, explore the places, and unlock local quests. You also unlock the Rockville, Bayridge, and Beauvista Championships (normal, cross-country ones, the only dressage championship is at Shoreline). You meet the rangers of Cliffside and Highmarsh station. Cliffside Station is north of Beauvista, in the red pine forest (from the Spring Riders game) and their leader is Jace Morrin. They oversee north of the Seabreeze Meadows and the Cliffside Mountains. The Highmarsh Station oversees south Seabreeze and they are led by Alys Morrin, sister to Jace. They are the descendants of the ancient Morrin family, that ruled over the Morrin Meadows since Jon Jarl’s age. You still cannot enter either Everspring Plateau to the west or Morrin Meadows to the east (both the pass and the bridge are blocked by corrupted vines).

-> Unlocking the Von Blyssen gardens: They are located on the side of the manor facing the river and on the little island in Suncrown river. In style, they are similar to the Silverglade Manor’s gardens. MC meets Anne’s mom in Silverglade Manor. She tells you that she has recently met the Baroness and she likes what the gardeners did there in the garden. She sends you to invite them to fix the Von Blyssen Manor’s gardens as well and train her new gardeners. You meet them and they say that they need a day to prepare and pack up their equipment. The next day you have to give one of them a lift on horseback to the Von Blyssen gardens, while the other takes the car with the driver, the Baroness, and Anne’s mom. There they (and MC of course) start to clean the gardens and train the new Von Blyssen gardeners. They are the siblings Amara and Andreas (Amy and Andy). You help them fix the gardens, and the siblings become the groundskeepers of the Von Blyssen gardens.

-> Jessica appears: It is time for the big competition in Shoreline between the Von Blyssen Manor and the Jet Syndicate. You compete in the place of Anne for the Von Blyssens because Concorde is still too inexperienced to take part. MC is tasked to win the grand trophy. You go through three rounds of dressage tests. They are moderate level tests and you need your starter or another dressage horse for this. MC almost wins, but the last rider is Jessica and she and Erebos absolutely destroy you. MC and Anne witness the victory ceremony as the Great Dressage Trophy is won by the Jet Syndicate and given to Jessica Jet. Even the other Syndicate riders are not happy about this and Jordan Jet is shocked. While Jess passes her, she says: „Well, mother? Aren’t you proud of me? I’ve defeated the Von Blyssen bastards for you!” She rides away with the trophy laughing.

-> MC and the Soul Riders speak to Jordan in her house in Rockville. The trophy is ominously sitting in the Great Hall there. Jordan tells you she had a daughter who disappeared long ago and she didn’t know Jess was back, even that she was alive and what she has become. She just dropped the trophy here and left again without a word, destroying the good friendship between the Jet Syndicate and the Von Blyssens. Lisa says this smells like Elise’s plan. Jordan asks you to try and repair the relationship between them and the Von Blyssen riders.

-> Anne’s comeback: She is the only one good enough in dressage to beat Jesica. She plans to train and get Concorde good enough to win the trophy back. Jess is going to compete again in the next grand dressage competition against Anne. Even though both the Von Blyssens and Jordan know what she’s become, they can’t stop her from taking part in it. She has been training with her dark horse Erebos for a long time, and Anne is having a hard time. Corcorde is still young and magically aged up, she still has a lot to learn is dressage. Anne has also just gotten her back and is afraid, that Jessica will hurt Concorde to win if they manage to be better, than Jess.

-> Helping Anne’s training: Concorde’s dressage knowledge appears as a reputation bar and you have to complete it for Anne to have a chance against Jess at Shoreline. The daily you get changes every day: one day you complete a dressage course, while Concorde and Anne watch, the next you go on a trail ride race with them, etc.

-> The Competition: Once you max the bar, the day of the competition comes. You meet up in Shoreline Equestrian. The first day Anne and Concorde arrive and settle in the stables. You are tasked to help Concorde get comfortable: bring her food, give her a bath, etc. Jess and Elise are also there, and you have to make sure they don’t get to sabotage Anne (for example they switched the good apples for Concorde for rotten ones, made the horse shampoo disappear, made the water dirty, hid Anne’s stuff all over the place, etc.) The second day the actual competition happens. They stopped making mischief, but are now using evil magic and runes to sabotage Anne. This time Jessica rides first. While Anne is riding her round you „fight” against Elise and Jess: they will run around drawing dark runes, that harm Anne and Concorde, you have to follow her unseen and dispel them. You succeed and Anne wins back the trophy, which Jordan is happy to hand over to her. Jess and Elise angrily ride away, promising this is not over.

PART 2: West- Everspring Valley

-> Next up is opening Everspring Plateau. Jace Morrin, the leader of the Cliffside Rangers sends you a message that they have an injured druid who came from the west. You ride to the station and find Linda and Lisa already there, trying to heal him. MC is sent to gather some herbs, and you manage to heal him enough that he wakes up. The druid tells you Elise attacked Everspring Village and completely closed off the plateau with her dark magic. You have to find a way to go there and help. Lisa says you should take a boat and the druid tells you that the plateau has a port: Shark Point. MC agrees to meet the Soul Riders in Shoreline Fishing Village the next day (dayblocker).

-> The next day when you ride to the shore, you get a cutscene of Elise summoning a dark storm over the bay. You see the black clouds, thunder and lightning strike every minute, wild winds blowing the trees on the shore. You meet the Soul Riders at the village. Linda suggests that MC and Alex try to dispel the storm, but your magic can’t affect it. You are tasked to ride around in the fishing village and try to find a captain who will take you to Shark Point through the storm. You ask every captain, but they are not willing to sail out with five horses in a storm. You are about to give up and look for another way when one approaches you. The old man says he overheard you and asks if the storm is some kind of witchcraft. He’s seen weird stuff in Jorvik and wouldn’t be surprised. He takes pride in being the only one who is brave and skilled enough to sail through storms and says his ship is the only one that could stand a storm like this. You get the horses on board and sail out.

-> Cutscene of the ship sailing through the storm. The team lands in Shark Point and they ride up a winding path to the Everspring Plateau. It is similar to South Hoof, as it is a relatively flat, elevated area, but it is covered sparsely by an oak forest and blossoming bushes, the Monarch Woods, and framed by hills and mountains. Usually, the woods are full of colorful butterflies. A small river originates from Pegasus Spring and creates the Butterfly Lake, and the druid village is in the middle of the lake. Right now, however, the whole plateau is covered in the strange violet mist Elise used before. As the team rides through it, shadow seekers start to chase you. You race through the unfamiliar woods and get separated. MC alone arrives in the druid village as the race ends. You realize that the Soul Riders were once again claimed by the violet fog.  

-> Everspring village and the druids were not claimed by the fog. There is a shield made of light around the village that keeps the dark out. The power to keep them safe comes from a Spark of Aideen that the druids are protecting. It is a magical spark of light contained in a polished light pink gemstone. Sienna Springleaf welcomes you and she tells you that Elise wants the Spark and she made the fog trying to steal it. MC tells her they know how to dispel the fog but they need the Soul Riders back. Sienna stays in the village to help protect it, you ride out in the fog alone. The butterflies are momentarily gone from the forest, shadow seekers patrol in their place. You find the wisp (Lisa) in the northern forest, the moonlight (Linda) in the southern part of the Monarch Woods. You ride up to the Pegasus Spring to find the aurora (Anne). The place has a rearing statue of a pegasus where the water erupts from the mountain. The lightning strike (Alex) is at the highest peak of Everspring, which is in the hills above Shark Point. You use your her magic to dispel each one and the two race back to the village. Once all five of you are there, you use your magic and the Spark of Aideen to dispel the violet fog. Cutscene: Elise and Jessica appear (in dark rider uniform) in the woods and send the shadow seekers against the shield. The Soul Riders and MC manage to dispel the fog before the creatures reach the shield. The magical explosion of light burns away the shadows. Acheron and Erebos rear up and the dark riders gallop away. The woods become bright again and the butterflies return.

-> Now you are free to explore the Everspring Plateau. They send you to cleanse the Garnok effect that grips the vines blocking the pass leading from Seabreeze to Everspring. You clear the path, return to the village, and unlock the reputation dailies for the Everspring druids. You get two races here: the Pegasus race and the Butterfly race. You meet the Life Warden tree of the plateau: Everbloom Elm, who gives you several random flowers each day if you say hi to her. The Everspring plateau is a lightwood: you have an additional Motherstone here and you can collect light, similar to the Hollow Woods and Starshade Woods. At the north edge of the plains, you discover the broken Suncrown bridge that will lead to Summerplains in the future. To keep Elise from summoning the violet fog again, you recarve the protective runestones of Springvalley as you did in Harvestlands and Winterdale.

PART 3: The Sun Queen

-> The Von Blyssen gardeners, Amy and Andy call you to come immediately. They say they need you because you know a lot about the „weird stuff” of Jorvik. They show you signs of weird corruption spreading in the garden. This time it doesn’t look Pandorian or Umbrasyan, it is the vala’s magic. You trace the corruption to the gate leading to Suncrown Island where the golden crowned tree is. Anne arrives to help you. She has the key to that gate and opens it for you. The gardeners tell you the same corruption attacked the Von Blyssen vineyard and the whole eastern valley, that is why the gates were closed.

-> You inspect the tree and realize that it is a Life Warden, currently being suffocated by the dark magic of the vala witches. It was attacked by corruption coming from the cursed forest in the northeast. Anne’s mom arrives and tells you that the golden three is called the Sun Queen. She protects the Von Blyssen Manor and makes the plants grow extraordinarily well, so they must save the tree. She asks you to find a way to cleanse the corruption and save the Sun Queen.

-> MC goes to ask Fripp and find out if there is a way to save the tree. Historically, Life Wardens who fell to the darkness were cut down, but Anne’s mom wants you to save it since it makes the manor, gardens, and vineyards bloom with life. Fripp directs you to the Everspring druids as they are the best in plant magic. Sienna tell you about the ritual that could be used to save the Sun Queen. Unfortunately, the specifics of the ritual were lost centuries ago. Luckily, she knows which tree was saved by the ritual: the Silent Poplar, on top of Firgrove Mountain. MC and Sienna meet there and talk to the tree to find out how the ritual was done. Poplar tells you that the last time it took all four Soul Riders, the chosen of Aideen and a powerful magic source to save him.

-> Fortunately, the Everspring druids have the Spark of Aideen that can be used to save the Sun Queen. But Sienna is reluctant to give it to you as it would leave the village vulnerable and it can get stolen by the dark riders. As MC and Sienna argue, Everbloom Elm shakes off petals and enters the conversation. She tells Sienna to help save her sister and while the spark is gone, she will guard the village. Sienna agrees, but she is holding on to the gem containing the spark and she also brings many druids as escorts and wants all four Soul Riders to come as well.

-> Race to the manor: from Everspring Village to Von Blyssen Manor, the whole group rides together to keep the Dark Riders from getting their hands on the gem. Sienna was right to worry as halfway there, in the Seabreeze meadows all four Dark Riders ambush you. The Soul Riders and druids stay there to hold them off. MC and Sienna ride on and she gives you the gem to get to the Sun Queen at all costs. You continue to race towards the manor. Cutscene: the Soul Riders and druids are successfully keeping the four Dark Riders from chasing you. Anne manages to hit Elise with a beam of light, which reveals that she is just an illusion. Katja laughs and mocks the Soul Riders and the real Elise is catching up to MC.

-> You complete the race and almost reach the gate of the Von Blyssen Manor. Cutscene after you cross the finish line before the manor: Anne’s mom covered the walls in protective runes, so Elise couldn’t come in. She decides if she can’t have the spark then no one shall: she shoots dark energy at you to destroy it and you. Sienna jumps in front of the spell to protect you and is crystallized, just like Elisabeth was (but as a figure on a rearing horse). You reach the manor and Elise is kept outside by the runes. She retreats.  

-> The Soul Riders arrive, as the other Dark Riders also retreat with Elise. The Sun Queen is in a really rough shape, she barely has any light in her leaves anymore and they are drying and falling down. The five of you perform the cleansing ritual on the Life Warden tree. For a second, it looks like it failed, but then the light gets stronger and burns away the vala corruption. The tree is cleansed and she thanks you for saving her from the suffocating darkness. She tells you that the source of this darkness is the great castle up in the mountains in the cursed forest. She will now use her powers to cleanse the land around her from this darkness. In an explosion of brilliant light, the gardens are cleansed as well as most of the vineyard, and the spell that turned Sienna into crystal is broken.

-> MC returns the spark of Aideen’s magic to the Everspring druids. After that, you go back to the Von Blyssen gardens, where you meet Anne’s mom under the tree. She agrees to open the gate to the vineyard and sends you to help out there. She opens the other gate for you leading to the eastern part of Springvalley. MC goes over the bridge to the other side of the Suncrown River and into the vineyards. You have unlocked the Cursed Forest Area and you get your 100 SC as it is the end of a Phase.

PHASE 9- The Vala and Morrinweald

PART 1: East- The Cursed Forest

-> First you are sent to help the Von Blyssen vineyard. MC and Anne help cleanse it from the grasping vala vines, corrupted thornbushes, and other aggressive flora. You and Anne clear out the whole vineyard, get the grapes growing and wine production started again. You unlock the vineyard race. Anne opens the other vineyard gate for you, leading to the Morrin Meadows and you can leave the vineyard.

-> You can explore the rest of the eastern valley now and meet the druids and rangers trying to keep the corruption in the forest. First, you meet the Morrinweald station rangers. This station is led by Saoirse (seer-sha) Morrin, Jace and Alys’ mother. Saoirse knows about magic stuff happening and her rangers are close with the druids. MC tells her that they are here to cleanse the corruption. For this, Saoirse is willing to unlock the gate on the bridge below the Old Morass – the way to Highmarsh station.

-> She also tells you of the druids in the forest in Thistlebranch Village, led by Lorelei Moordusk. Unfortunately, the druids’ village is deep in the forest, and it is dangerous to go in there alone as the wildlife in the forest tend to attack you. Saoirse tells MC about the vala witches of Caer Cailleach and warns you to not go near their castle unless absolutely necessary. She suspects, that their dark magic did something to the druids as no one hasheard about them for weeks. Saoirse wants to go check on them. MC is invited on the mission to go into Morrinweald, to Thistlebranch village and see if the druids are okay.

-> Slowly and sneakily the group goes through the dark forest, avoiding all signs of the Vala. You arrive in the village and find that everyone is okay, but the whole place is asleep. A strange pollen cloud covers the village, coming from exotic looking, vibrant flowers. Before you too fall asleep, you have to ride through the village and stomp all the flowers with your horse. The village wakes up. Lorelei welcomes you with a better late than never.

-> You are introduced to the village and the forest. You unlock the dailies to help them and a race, where you run over the sleepy flowers. You help cut back the vala vines trying to cover the village. In the last quest, Lorelei thanks you for the help in front of the whole village, when Sive, matron of the Vala Witches appears. She says „This is our forest. You are not welcome here! Leave, or face the consequences!”. Then she recognizes you, but she is strange, different. You know Sive from Devil’s Gap and try to reason with her. She says that she has to do this to keep the balance and keep her sisters safe. She leaves. Mc realizes that the Vala witches are not simply causing the corruption to spread, they are victims to it as well.

PART 2: Enemy of my enemy

-> The Soul Riders suggest that we should try negotiating with Sive. The first step is to go to Moorland and Goldenhills to invite Mrs Holdsworth and Pi to help us against the bad witches. MC and the Soul Riders meet with Mrs H and Pi in Thistlebranch village and ride towards the castle. On the way, Elise and Jess ambush us, but the Vala also attack. The witches try to kill both the good and bad guys, we have to work together to escape the forest. Race in the forest, jumping over vines and dodging rabid animals to escape.

-> Jessica tells us that this corruption is not their work. They also want to get to Caer Cailleach. Since our goals align, the good guys agree on a truce with the Dark Riders. Our goal is to try and find a way to cleanse the forest, and stop the corruption from spreading. The gods only know what the DRs are planning to do in the witches’ castle. Jessica tells us about a hidden path leading up to the castle  starting where the Claymore fence and the Aurora Mountains meet.

-> We fight off the corruption together. MC, Anne, Elise and Jessica work together to clear and cleanse our way to Caer Cailleach. Each day, we clear another part of the path leading there. After 5 days, we finally reach the castle, but the gates are closed and Valas are patrolling all over the walls. The next quests are stealth missions to explore the castle, like when we were sneaking through the DC platform. MC discovers the source of the darkness: a corrupted Life Warden tree, the Twilight Oak. In a cutscene, we witness Sive performing a ritual, where all the witches draw power from the tree.

PART 3: Helping the Vala

-> The next 3 days we work with Mrs Holdsworth and go to the Fort Maria library to learn more about the castle, the witches, and how to defeat them. On the fourth day, we meet with Elise and Jess in front of the gates, hiding from the Vala guards. The Dar Riders want to convince us that the witches cannot be saved anymore, they have a plan to exterminate the Vala. We don’t trust them anymore. MC has been learning about the history of the witches and realizes they were originally corrupted by Garnok. Now that they are uncontrollable and inconvenient to the Dark Riders they just want to get rid of them. We want to help the Vala and cleanse the Twilight Oak. The plan is to perform the ritual we used to cleanse the Sun Queen. We must get to Caer Cailleach and use it on the sacred source of the Vala’s power, the Twilight Oak. We hope that it is enough to free the witches from the festering corruption.

-> We borrow the Spark of Aideen from Everspring Village once again. However, the spark is too detectable, especially in the dark forest, so we have to enchant it first with a magical camouflage spell. Pi can do it if we collect some ingredients for her (she sends us all over Jorvik and asks for very weird stuff. She gets it done and we set off on our mission.

-> The final conflict: MC and the Soul Riders meet up under the castle. MC helps all four of them sneak into the throne room, where Twilight Oak is. You spot Elise and Jess nearby, they also picked this day to come and destroy the tree and the Vala. They bring the gates down with their Shadow and Darkness powers combined and incapacitate the witches, putting them into stasis with shadow magic. MC, Anne, and Alex run down to the courtyard to fight them. Tin-can, Concorde and MC’s horse run in, we mount up. Linda and Lisa start the cleansing ritual.

-> In the meantime, a small boss fight commences- MC against Jessica. Jess surrounds them with a shield and summons a dozen shadow seekers that circle around them, while Elise casts a spell to gain control over the corruption affecting the tree. We have to dispel the shadow seekers and Jess’ shield to stop Elise from finishing the spell. We succeed and race them through the castle to the throne room. Stalemate, as neither the DRs or SRs are willing to give up their position, attacking or guarding the tree. We can’t do the ritual and hold off the Dark Riders at the same time.

-> Mrs Holdsworth and Pi arrive, flying to the castle using flying brooms. They cast a shield and hold off Elise and Jess while we perform the ritual and cleanse the Vala and the tree. The magic wave that happens then dispels the shield. Elise is about to kill Pi and Holdsworth, but Sive saves them, and uses her magic to teleport them away from the castle. Cutscene: they fall into the ocean with the island in sight and start to swim back. à We talk with Sive. She thanks us for saving her people and her forest from the corruption. You unlock the Vala reputation quests: cleaning up the castle, cleansing the forest and the animals, races. Once you are at max reputation, Sive gives you the quest to look for a legendary horse of the forest. This is the 3rd free magic horse grind: you are tasked to go into the Morrinweald to look for the horse, find hoofprints, find their favorite places, gather special grasses they eat, etc. Once you complete the rep, you get a free horse: Nightshade, the Vala magic horse. You get 100 SC for finishing the phase.

TO BE CONTINUED!

THE OTHER PARTS:

SSO Rewritten 1st Part: Winterdale https://www.tumblr.com/starshinedragon/736955792328146944/sso-winterdale-fan-written-main-storyline?source=share

SSO Rewritten 3rd Part: Summerplains https://www.tumblr.com/starshinedragon/726343248992419840/sso-rewritten-full-story-series-summerplains?source=share

[starshinedragon]

PANDORIAN LANGUAGE I.

In this post: 1. History of the runes in SSL and SSO 2. Constructing the language 3. Place in the story

1. HISTORY OF PANDORIAN RUNES IN SSL AND SSO SSL stone circle map: 10 pillars, but the runestones weren’t uniform in length and a lot of them were mirrored or reversed with the same sequence of runes. -> orange: 1. and 3. are the same.  7. and 6. are also, but reversed and shortened -> green: 2. is the same as 8. but mirrored, minus the uppermost symbol, 4. is reversed -> violet: 9. and 10. are the same, 5. is reversed

SSO stone circle map: The base rune (star, sun, moon, lighting) has been mirrored. Still 10 pillars, now they are 8 characters long each. We have 3 different sequences with none reversed or mirrored, so we will mainly use these runes for the alphabet. -> pink: 1, 3, 9, basically the same as green -> yellow: 2, 4, 6, same as orange -> blue: 5, 7, 8 and 10, basically the same as violet with little changes

Other SSO runestones : -> The ones next to the Sleeping Willow are two broken parts of the runestone yellow and one big chunk of pink. -> The narrow, older looking 8 character stones are the same as pink. -> The wider, 5 character stones are using symbols from pink, yellow and blue, but mirrored and reversed. -> The triangle runestone next to Fort Pinta is newer, made by a new artist, who only vaguely looked at the old runes. It uses some of the same symbols, but there are also 2 futhark runes in there (Gebo and Wunjo) which can’t be found on any other stones. Also the shape of the stone is unlike the other megaliths. Thus we assume that this was not done by someone who knows the proper Pandorian magic language (probably the early norse settlers of Jorvik meddled with it). It still reacts to MC’s presence, because it is made of stones from Pandoria.

Pandorian magic: -> Pandorians (like Ydris) can use it like sorcerers, with hand gestures and whatever they like. -> Non-Pandorians have to use materials from Pandoria (usually rocks) and carve the correct magic language on them to make magic happen. -> Jorvik has a lot of Pandoric stones from the meteor shower that happened in the past (because of the war

2. CONSTRUCTING THE LANGUAGE -> In the war with Garnok in Pandoria, when the aetherians came to help against him, the language of magic and of the resistance to evil became Pandorian. -> We assume, that aetherian and umbrasyan names are spelled in Pandorian. Thus the Pandorian words we have, that are gonna be used as a basis of the language are  the names Aideen (English spelling)- Ēyden (phonetic Pandorian), Pandoria – Pandōria, Fripp- Fripp, Garnok- Garnok.

Some grammar: -> Word order: SVO (Subject – Verb – Object), just like English and Swedish -> No conjugation -> Writing goes down in a coloumn -> The language is very melodic, with little to no harsh sounds.

-> RUNIC ALPHABET BASED ON the symbols on the runestones:

Different from English sounds: A (ɒ), E (ɛ), Ā (aː), Ē (eː), Ī (i:), Ō (o:), Ū (u:).

3. PLACE IN THE STORY -> Most runestones in their current state have no function to deter the forces of evil and act as defence. In SSO Rewritten, we have the Life Warden tree named Astral Crown protecting the Secret Stone Circle (SSC) from the forces of evil, preventing them from entering (except through a portal), so the runestones of SSC also have no function in this state (they are just ceremonial aka pretty).

-> SSO Rewritten: In Springvalley Phase 1- “Resurrection”, we get access to all of Pandoria and cleanse it, we farm the max reputation with the Pandoria faction led by Ydris. In Phase 2- “The Violet Fog” is the first time we meet Elise, when she chases MC through Jorvik. MC flees into the SSC, where Astral Crown stops Elise from entering it.

The new Runestone Questline takes place in the end of Phase 2, after Elise, but before we enter Spring Valley in Phase 3.

-> MC gets a message, that Fripp wants to meet you in the SSC. He tells you that you all have to prepare for the war to come, Elise is going to be a tough enemy. The druids have to bolster their defences the best they can, and the first step is to strengthen the SSC. The runestones around the circle only had ceremonial purposes, but now you have to make them into proper magic runes, that will protect the place. You should go talk to Ydris about how to use the Pandorian language as a magic weapon.

-> Linda comes with you. MC and Linda meet Ydris, he sends you all over the renewed Pandoria to look at runestones. You get a new page in your notebook labelled Pandorian language. You have to collect the drawings on all of the runestones in Pandoria. After you find one, you go to Ydris, who tells you the meaning (+pandorian phonetic). Once you collected all of the runestones and meanings, you unlock the last page, which is the Pandorian runic and phonetic alphabet.

-> MC and Linda return to SSC, where Fripp, the druids and other SRs are already waiting for them. Talk about which runes should be used where. MC has to choose the correct runes to be carved in the 10 stones.

-> For the SSC, they decide to remake the runestones with the help of Conrad. MC is tasked to meet him, offer the job and bring Conrad to SSC. He will work on the project for 10 day (a day for each of the stones). You have to complete the quest he gives you each day for him to finish a stone. Those will be simple, fun, fetching quests: he needs a special carving tool from Stonecutter’s Vault, needs you to check out a stone in Pandoria again to make sure the shape of the rune is correct, wants a dessert from Aideen’s plaza, etc. You get the stuff he wants and he will get to work. The next day, your first quest is to use your magic to activate the runestone he made the previous day. After that you get the usual fetch quest, get him his stuff, he gets to work, next day you activate the runestne, and so on.

-> While this is going on, MC will also be going around Jorvik, looking for all the old, not working runestones. You will need to carve them into one of the Pandorian words you learned. For each quest, you need to grab the carving tools and find the runestone. Once you click it, it will give you a pop up menu IN PANDORIAN about what you want to carve. Using your notebook you have to choose the correct thing to carve- For example, it will give you the runic options for “leaf”, “blue”, “defence” and “laughter”. If you choose the wrong one, you get a funny punishment: if you choose blue, the stone turns blue, if you choose leaf, a bush grows around the stone, and if you choose laughter, MC will keep laughing. You have to choose defence (after you figured out the correct rune combination). You replace every not working runestone in Jorvik this way with a useful inscription, which keeps evil forces away from the area.

-> After 10 days, Conrad is done. When you return to SSC, you activate the last runestone and the whole circle flares up with magic. Astral Crown awakens and thanks you for waking her by giving her enough power and helping her protect the Circle.

-> You get the usual item + lots of money reward PLUS since this is the end of the Springvalley - Phase 2 questline, you also get 100 SC, just like in the end of each of the phases in SSO Rewritten.

[starshinedragon]

SSO: SUMMERPLAINS (full unofficial map)

Points of access:

1. Suncrown Bridge: we first access the Summerplains by rebuilding the bridge. The first place we go to is Coyote's ranch and we first get to explore the western part of SP.

2. Claymore Gate: opening it much later, after being introduced to Claymore village and exploring the eastern part.

NEW FACTIONS: -> Coyote’s Cowboys: cattle and horse ranch. Dailies similar to Starshine ranch: herd the animals back, race. Also Coyote is Herman's brother and he visits during some quests. -> Snake Bite: village and stables, cross-country races going up and down the hills, into the Aspen woods. -> Fort Sylvia: shore area, races on the beach. Port and some docks. Mr Wetton’s Black Light Night Club in a little valley next to Fort Sylvia. Lisa and her band (Brittany, Kevin, Kyomi) perform here twice a day. --Claymore manor: Eventing place. Arenas for dressage, showjump and vast cross-country races. The owners are the stuck-up Claymores, but the staff is nice and you do dailies for them. --Lone Star cowboys: help them with their animals, explore the canyon, race.

LOCATIONS:

1. Northhills area: Fort Sylvia, Aspen Woods, The Great Clering, Tomahawk Hill, Snake bite, Cod Point, Bear Totem village.

2. Southplains area: Wild Horse Plains, Coyote’s Cattle ranch, Coyote’s Reining Arena, Rocky Gorge and Horseshoe forest.

3. Claymore area: The witches of old Jorvik hid in the Old Morass (like Pi in her swamp) performing rituals under the Life Warden Tree there, which is called the Elder Witchwood. The Claymore family has been on the side of evil for a long time now. Filthy rich, one of the original investors in Dark Core, back when the company was called Deep Core.

4. Lone Star area: desert-y area, because of magic reasons (just like Dino valley and Winterdale are always cold). The Rainshadow mountains also stop the area from getting a lot of rain. Red Fox Semidesert, Thunderbird peak: sage bushes, cacti, grasses, reddish sand. The Lone star canyon is a series of valleys between the red mountains. The Cowboys camp out next to watering holes. Some Native Americans camping out in Thunderbird peak.