To Rise and Decline is a quest in Beast of Winter.
Synopsis
According to Vatnir, a portal into the White Void has opened deep within the Dead Floe, fueling the iceberg's growth. While Vatnir wasn't certain why the Dead Floe is spreading, he suggested that the Watcher begin their search at the Vytmádh, an entrance to the Beyond hidden in a temple at the center of the icebound island.
Walkthrough
- After the introduction to the dracolich and the reveal that Vatnir is a lot more reasonable than initially seen, head out to climb the glacier. As you come out, the corpse of the dracolich pulls away and disappears into the clouds above the glacier, meaning you'll have to try to kill it again (and that the Watcher's usual kill-problems-until-they're-no-more approach might not be enough here). Head to the Outcrop on High (the location is at the northern end of Harbinger's Watch), then navigate to the Temple rope in the northeast.
- After sliding down, make your way down to the Temple through the caverns. Enter it and head further to witness the dracolich being sucked through the portal into the White Void. Interact with the portal to gain an audience with Rymrgand, who will state in no uncertain terms that he doesn't care if the Deadfire freezes over. However, since the dracolich's very existence is a bruise on the ego, the god will offer you a deal.
- Save before trying to spit in Rymrgand's face. It's worth it, even if you are frozen from the inside out.
- Otherwise, to access the Void through the Vydmath, you need to first agree to a favor - killing the Dracolich for Rymrgand - and then find his eye in the temple.
- To gain the artifact, head to the eastern cave from the lowest level and interact with the hoarfrost imp. It appears to be holding some small object, the Eye of Rymrgand.
- Examine the imp with 15 Perception, or 14 Survival, or both to learn that the imp is alive, but in some sort of hibernation. Aloth will chime in here if he's in the party.
- Examine the object in its hands, it's a sphere of solid ice pulsing with energy and cooling the frigid air around it. This is required for the subsequent options to allow you to take the sphere.
- Any attempts to take its "white ball" will make it come alive. This includes attempting to cast a fire magic spell (only if you have the wizard spells Fan of Flames and Ray of Fire, or the druid spells Firebug, Firebrand, and Burst of Summer Flame).
- Passing a Religion 7 check to warn the imp of the wrath of the Beast of Winter, and then a further Religion 14 check, The White that Wends culture, or History 12 check will cause the imp to give up the sphere in fear.
- Offer
20,000 to the imp, say that he can buy "so many balls" with the money. - Trade the Stone Idol found in Vatnir's secret room at the Watch, and then use Bluff 10 to say that it's the "Stone of Winter Dusk", and that it wards the bearer from Rymrgand's influence.
- Threatening the imp with an Intimidate 8 check (or simply attacking the imp) will cause it to awaken some rime constructs and attack.
- All other routes yield nothing (8,000, Bluff 15, Intellect 10, etc.)
- Afterwards, return to the portal and enter Rymrgand's domain.
Journal
| Quests/LAX02_01_Iceberg_Dungeon/LAX02_qst_critical_path_quest_02.quest | ||
|---|---|---|
| ID | Objectives | |
| 0 | To Rise and Decline | |
| 10000 | According to Vatnir, a portal into the White Void has opened deep within the Dead Floe, fueling the iceberg's growth.
If I'm to stop the spread of an endless winter, I should begin by locating this gateway into the Beyond. | |
| Alternate descriptions | ||
| 40001 | With his last breaths, High Harbinger Vatnir spoke of something called the Vytmádh, claiming that it would spread without end to consume the whole of the world. | |
| 1 | Locate the Vytmádh within the Dead Floe. | |
| 10001 | While Vatnir wasn't certain why the Dead Floe is spreading, he suggested that I begin my search at the Vytmádh, an entrance to the Beyond hidden in a temple at the center of the icebound island. | |
| 20000 | As I emerged from Harbingers' Retreat, the dragon I'd killed returned to life. It seemed to be carried to the top of the iceberg by some unnatural force. Perhaps the creature - or whatever plucked it from Harbingers' Watch - might know more about the Vytmádh. | |
| 20001 | While exploring the icebound temple, I witnessed a soul vision of people frozen here during some manner of attack. | |
| 20002 | Within the temple I saw another vision of souls lost to the attack on this place. They hoped to come to the aid of someone named Rynhaedr. | |
| 20003 | I found the dragon, only to see it dragged against its will into the white chill of the Vytmádh. | |
| 2 | Uncover the Eye of Rymrgand. | |
| 10002 | I communed with Rymrgand, and the dread god confirmed that the Vytmádh is the source of the expanding ice.
He warned me, however, that the portal would destroy me if I attempted to enter it without a relic known as his Eye. The Eye used to be held by the foremost guardian of this place, but she perished years ago when the dragon attacked. If I'm to have any hope of closing the Vytmádh, I'll need to locate the Eye of Rymrgand first. | |
| 20004 | I found a frozen corpse near the Vytmádh that seemed to have died holding an object of great power. | |
| 20005 | Whatever removed the object from the guardian's frozen corpse possess small, viciously sharp claws. | |
| 3 | Enter the Beyond via the Vytmádh. | |
| 10003 | I found the Eye of Rymrgand in the possession of an icy imp and recovered it. With the relic in hand, I can use the Vytmádh to cross into the Beyond. | |
| 5 | Locate the Vytmádh within the Dead Floe. | |
| 10005 | If I'm to keep the Dead Floe from spreading, I must seek out the Vytmádh mentioned by the Harbingers' leader. I should explore the rest of this iceberg in search of a way to stop it. | |
| 20000 | As I emerged from Harbingers' Retreat, the dragon I'd killed returned to life. It seemed to be carried to the top of the iceberg by some unnatural force. Perhaps the creature - or whatever plucked it from Harbingers' Watch - might know more about the Vytmádh. | |
| 20001 | While exploring the icebound temple, I witnessed a soul vision of people frozen here during some manner of attack. | |
| 20002 | Within the temple I saw another vision of souls lost to the attack on this place. They hoped to come to the aid of someone named Rynhaedr. | |
| 20003 | I found the dragon, only to see it dragged against its will into the white chill of the Vytmádh. | |
| End states | ||
|
30000 | I stepped through the Vytmádh and entered the Beyond. Now I must search it for the dragon preventing the portal from being sealed. |