Valkyrie quest
The Valkyrie quest sees you fighting Lord Surtur for the Orb of Fate. For more information on the quest branch in general, see the quest article.
| Home level | The Temple of Light |
|---|---|
| Locate level | The Cave of Surtur |
| Goal level | Lord Surtur's Fortress |
| Leader | The Norn |
| Guardians | warriors |
| Nemesis | Lord Surtur |
| Quest artifact | The Orb of Fate |
Contents
Levels
Random monsters on this quest are generated with the following frequencies:
- 96/175 (55%) fire ant
- 24/175 (14%) random a
- 24/175 (14%) fire giant
- 6/175 (3%) random H
- 1/7 (14%) normal random monster
The Shrine of Destiny
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The two-way magic portal back to the Dungeons of Doom is at the marked point. The Norn occupies the building, with a chest next to her; there are eight warriors in the Shrine with her. Distributed in the marked spots are ten fire ants, with two fire giants towards the left side (one of them stands on the downstair and is not marked); there are also six fire traps randomly placed. The entire level is no-teleport and has undiggable walls and floor. Note that if a fire trap occurs on an ice square, triggering it will melt the ice, dumping you (or a luckless monster) into the water.
The pools of water and lava will not be in the exact spots shown; they are placed randomly. Occasionally, when the level generator traces a line of solid floor for the hero to walk on, this line will cut through one or more pools, leading to some odd shape.
Upper filler level
This is an ice-plain level, with five fire ants, a fire giant, and one random a; nine random objects; and seven random traps.
The Cave of Surtur
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The above core of the level is surrounded by empty ice plain, with the upstair off to the lower right; note that the only entrance to the cavern is at the left side. Randomly placed around the mapped area are seventeen fire ants, seven fire giants, two random H and one random a; fifteen random objects; four fire traps, and two other random traps. The level has undiggable walls and floor. Teleportation is permitted.
Lower filler level(s)
These are lava-plain levels, with three fire ants, three fire giants, and a random a; eleven random objects; five fire traps, and two other random traps.
The Fortress of Lord Surtur
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The above core of the level is surrounded by empty lava plain. Lord Surtur, with the Bell of Opening and the Orb of Fate, is at the center of the level; also in the mapped area are twelve fire giants (ten of which are in the marked locations), one random H, four fire ants and two random a; 14 random objects; four fire traps, three squeaky boards (two marked and one randomly placed), and two more random traps. The drawbridges sometimes start raised: the northern one half the time, and the southern one, independently, one eighth of the time.
Messages
Entry
First time:
You materialize at the base of a snowy hill. Atop the hill sits a place you know well, the Shrine of Destiny. You immediately realize that something here is very wrong! In places, the snow and ice have been melted into steaming pools of water. Fumaroles and pools of bubbling lava surround the hill. The stench of sulphur is carried through the air, and you <see|sense> creatures that should not be able to live in this environment moving towards you.
Next time:
Once again, you are near the abode of the Norn.
If already rejected twice due to bad alignment:
Again you materialize near the Norn's abode. You have a nagging feeling that this may be the last time you come here.
Quest guardians
If #chatting before the quest is complete:
"Hail, and well met, brave Valkyrie." "May <Tyr|Odin> guide your steps, <playername>." "The Norn weakens. Without the Orb of Fate, her foresight is dim." "You must hurry, <playername>, else Ragnarok may well come." "I would deal with this foul Lord Surtur myself, but the Norn forbids it."
If #chatting after the quest is complete:
"Hail, and well met, brave Valkyrie." "May <Tyr|Odin> guide your steps, <playername>." "The Norn told us you had succeeded!" "You recovered the Orb of Fate just in time, <playername>." "Hail <Tyr|Odin>, for delivering the Orb of Fate back to us."
Quest leader
When you first meet your quest leader:
"Ah, <playername>, my daughter. You have returned to the Shrine of Destiny at last. We are in dire need of your aid, but I must determine if you are yet ready for such an undertaking. "Let me read your fate..."
When you return, having been rejected due to lack of experience:
"Let me read the future for you now, <playername>, perhaps you have managed to change it enough..."
This message is not currently used:
"Again, I shall read your fate, my daughter. Let us both hope that you have made changes to become ready for this task..."
When you are expelled from the quest for having failed the alignment test seven times:
"No, <playername>. Your fate is sealed. I must cast about for another champion. Begone from my presence, and never return. Know this, that you shall never succeed in this life, and Valhalla is denied to you."
When being rejected due to lack of experience:
"I see you and Lord Surtur fighting, <playername>. But you are not prepared and shall die at Lord Surtur's hand if you proceed. No. This will not do. Go back out into the world, and grow more experienced at the ways of war. Only when you have returned a Warrior will you be able to defeat Lord Surtur."
When being rejected due to having worse than pious alignment:
"NO! This is terrible. I see you becoming an ally of Lord Surtur, and leading his armies in the final great battles. This must not come to pass! You have strayed from the <lawful|neutral> path. You must purge yourself, and return here only when you have regained a state of purity."
When finally assigned the quest:
"It is not clear, <playername>, for my sight is limited without the Orb of Fate. But it is now likely that you can defeat Lord Surtur, and recover the Orb of Fate. "A short time ago, Lord Surtur and his minions attacked this place. They opened the huge volcanic vents you <see|sense> about the hill, and attacked. I knew that this was to come to pass, and had asked <Tyr|Odin> for a group of warriors to help defend this place. The few you <see|sense> here are the mightiest of Valhalla's own, and are all that are left of one hundred <Tyr|Odin> sent. "Despite the great and glorious battle we fought, Lord Surtur managed at last to steal the Orb of Fate. This has upset the balance of the universe, and unless the Orb of Fate is returned into my care, Lord Surtur may start Ragnarok. "You must find the entrance to the cave of Surtur. Travel downward from there and you will find Lord Surtur's lair. Defeat him and return the Orb of Fate to me."
Encouragement
If you subsequently chat to your quest leader, you are encouraged:
"Go with the blessings of <Tyr|Odin>." "Call upon <Tyr|Odin> when you are in need." "Use the Orb of Fate if you can. It will protect you." "Magical cold is very effective against Lord Surtur." "To face Lord Surtur, you will need to be immune to fire." "May <Tyr|Odin> strengthen your sword-arm." "It becomes more likely that Ragnarok will come with every passing moment. You must hurry, <playername>." "If Lord Surtur can master the Orb of Fate, he will be powerful enough to face <Tyr|Odin> far earlier than is fated. This must not be!" "Remember your training, <playername>. You can succeed."
Locate and goal levels
When first entering the locate level:
The ice and snow gives way to a valley floor. You <see|sense> ahead of you a huge round hill surrounded by pools of lava. This then is the entrance to the cave of Surtur. It looks like you're not going to get in without a fight though.
When returning:
Once again, you stand before the entrance to the cave of Surtur.
When first entering the goal level:
Through clouds of sulphurous gasses, you <see|sense> a rock palisade surrounded with a moat of bubbling lava. You remember the description from something that the Norn said. This is the lair of Lord Surtur.
When returning:
Once again, you stand in sight of Lord Surtur's lair.
Quest nemesis
When first encountering the quest nemesis:
"So! The Norn has finally sent a Valkyrie to challenge me! "I thought that mastering the Orb of Fate would enable me to challenge <Tyr|Odin>, but it has shown me that first I must kill you! So come, little sister. Once I defeat you, I can at last begin the final battle with <Tyr|Odin>."
Upon further meetings:
"Again you challenge me, <currentrank>. Good. I will kill you now."
And on the 4th and subsequent meetings:
"Have you not learned yet? You cannot defeat Lord Surtur!"
When you have the Orb of Fate, but Lord Surtur is still alive:
"I will kill you, Valkyrie, and wrest the Orb of Fate from your mangled hands."
Discouragement
Lord Surtur will occasionally utter maledictions:
"I am your death, Valkyrie." "You cannot prevail, <currentrank>. I have foreseen your every move." "With you out of the way, Valhalla will be mine for the taking." "I killed scores of <Tyr|Odin>'s best when I took the Orb of Fate. "Do you really think that one Valkyrie can stand against me?" "Who bears the souls of Valkyries to Valhalla, <currentrank>?" "No, <Tyr|Odin> cannot help you here." "Some instrument of <Tyr|Odin> you are, <playername>. You are a weakling!" "Never have I seen a Valkyrie so clumsy in battle." "You die now, little sister." "Your body I destroy now, your soul when my hordes overrun Valhalla!"
Victory
When picking up your quest artifact:
As you pick up the Orb of Fate, your mind is suddenly filled with images, and you perceive all of the possibilities of each potential choice you could make. As you begin to control and channel your thoughts, you realize that you must return the Orb of Fate to The Norn immediately.
When killing the nemesis:
A look of surprise and horror appears on Lord Surtur's face.
No!!! The Orb of Fate has lied to me! I have been misled!
Suddenly, Lord Surtur grasps his head and screams in agony, then dies.
When returning to your quest leader:
As you approach, The Norn rises and touches the Orb of Fate. "You may take the Orb of Fate with you, <playername>. I have removed from it the power to foretell the future, for that power no mortal should have. Its other abilities, however, you have at your disposal. "You must now begin in <Tyr|Odin>'s name to search for the Amulet of Yendor. May your steps be guided by <Tyr|Odin>, my daughter."
When subsequently throwing the Orb of Fate to the Norn:
"Careful, <playername>! The Orb of Fate might break, and that would be a tragic loss. You are its keeper now, and the time has come to resume your search for the Amulet. The Dungeons of Doom await your return through the magic portal that brought you here."
Post-quest
When talking to the Norn after the quest:
"Greetings, <playername>. I have not been able to pay as much attention to your search for the Amulet as I have wished. How do you fare?"
When talking to the Norn after getting the Amulet:
"Excellent, <playername>. I see you have recovered the Amulet! "You must take the Amulet to the Great Temple of <Tyr|Odin>, on the Astral plane. There you must offer the Amulet to <Tyr|Odin>. "Go now, my daughter. I cannot tell you your fate, as the power of the Amulet interferes with mine. I hope for your success."
Strategy
In general, the Valkyrie quest is one of the harder quests. Do be careful of the Titans. Only 75% of Valkyrie quests are completed, making it the third hardest quest by role. However, the nemesis, Lord Surtur, is not particularly dangerous. In fact, some would say the lava and drawbridges are the real quest nemeses: as of this writing, deaths to "dissolved in molten lava", "crushed to death by a collapsing drawbridge", "burned by molten lava", and "crushed to death by an exploding drawbridge" in the Valkyrie quest level combined had claimed 5.6 times more lives on NAO than Lord Surtur (a total of 420 versus 75).
Excalibur or Mjollnir and a somewhat negative armor class should be plenty to kill Surtur easily. As for the drawbridges, you can avoid the risk of getting blown up by waking Lord Surtur up without crossing them. If you can clear out some of the fire giants, a wand of striking or magic missile will wake him up (don't stand on the drawbridge if using striking, of course); alternatively, sometimes just hanging out in his line of sight and fighting some monsters will work as well.
The only other thing you really want is fire resistance; this will prevent you from dying instantly if you do step into lava, prevent the loss of HP from stepping on a fire trap, and prevent damage from being hit by fiery monsters. The fire ants and fire giants on the first level should allow you to gain fire resistance if you don't already have it.
The quest artifact is the Orb of Fate, one of the better artifacts. When combined with the difficulty of the quest in general, the value of the quest artifact means that whether or not this quest is completed early or late is left to the player's discretion.
If you have a tinning kit, it is a good idea to kill and tin all the giants you can for the strength increase.
Lava
To avoid dissolving in lava, it is best to bring a ring of levitation (or levitation boots or fireproof water walking boots) along and wear them when on any of the levels containing lava (removing them only to pick up objects and go down levels in the case of levitation). It's not a bad idea to wear levitation or water walking on the ice levels as well, as a fire trap could potentially melt the ice and plunge you into the water. If you don't have levitation, however, you can probably still do the quest; you'll just have to step carefully. (Occasionally you will find that the staircase on the goal level is completely surrounded by lava, in which case you'll have to turn around if you don't have levitation.)
If you do fall into lava, provided you have fire resistance, you can still save yourself by zapping a wand of cold down (>) to freeze the lava and then moving out. Keep in mind that trying to walk out may take a long time; teleportation, if available, is usually a better idea. However, most monsters on the Valkyrie quest respect Elbereth. Digging yourself out is safe only if there are no other adjacent lava squares.
This page is based on a spoiler by Dylan O'Donnell. The original license is:
Redistribution, copying, and editing of these spoilers, with or without modification, are permitted provided that the following conditions are met:
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