Breaking Some Ice

The Storm Horns hold a few very challenging and intriguing quests.  One of these quests is called A Break in the Ice.  The quest giver is another member of the Harpers in Eveningstar, Renton Finne.  With the news of the Netherese gathering a large force of monsters to serve them as well as some conspiracy that of a future attack, and coupled with the disappearance of Oriphaun Huntsilver, the Harpers have been sending agents out all over to thwart the plans of the Netherese.  Renton has heard that a major placer in the monstrous army that the Netherese has been forming by the name of Rungnir, a high ranking frost giant, has become disgruntled with the Netherese.  It is hoped that this powerful frost giant can be swayed to turn against the Netherese and that the frost giant and spark some type of monstrous revolt.  Renton has asked you to infiltrated the glacier where the Netherese appear to be operating and to persuade Rungnir to help defeat them.

Erd preparing to explore a very large glacier in the Storm Horns.

Now one thing I learned the hard way about this particular quest, is that it is located deep within the Storm Horns.  Getting to this quest is rather irritating, more irritating than running to the quest the Chains of Flame in the Sands of Menechtarun.  The first time I tried to complete this quest, I had spent so much time getting to it/finding it that once I did find it I could only explore about half of the quest before I needed to log out.  I quickly discovered that this wasn’t going to be an afternoon run for me, but more like a weekend run.

Erdrique traveling through the Storm Horns to find the entrance to the glacier.

It is apparent that the Netherese have spent a good deal in here.

The quest is indeed in a glacier high up in the mountains.  The Netherese are conducting a massive expedition into this glacier as they appear to be looking for some type of artifact.  You can tell that they have spent quite a bit of time in this glacier as the halls that have been excavated are very large and spacious.  They are also full of the monstrous army: orcs, frost giants, and gnolls.

Erdrique prepping to explore the rest of this glacier.

The quest is broken into three general segments.  The first segment is your trek through the glacier defeating the members of the monstrous army as you try to find Rungnir but find a powerful Netherese caster instead.  The second segment then starts from the points when the Netherese caster drops the floor from out under you and finally find Rungnir and gather this “trappings” for battle.  And the third segment is following Rungnir to the end fight and then defeating Tharno and then defeating Rungnir himself has he betrays you and decides he just wants out of everything.

Erd already doesn’t like Tharno, even before he gets drop down a deep chasm.

Erdrique looking back up the chasm he just fell through thanks to Tharno.

The quest layout is pretty straight forward but the map does cover multiple layers or levels which can cause some confusion.  There are also a few options to knock out.  I don’t really remember many traps.  Looking for the trappings can sometimes be a little frustrating because you can pass one up and never find it.  One of the optional objectives is to find all of Rungnir’s trappings, I was only able to find five of them (I believe there are 6 in total).  Besides fighting the monstrous army, you can also come across some air elementals (not sure why they are inside a glacier), winter wolves, and ice elementals.

How do these gnolls stay warm?

Now this looks more like the native fauna for a glacier.

The graphics and obstacles (large draw bridges) in the quest are nicely done.  I could almost feel the cold while taking Erdrique (Level 23 Rogue/Primal Avatar) through here.  Overall, I found the quest quite fun and interesting to make my way through.

Erdrique and his hirelings making their way through the glacier.

The caverns in this glacier are quite large.

If you haven’t tried it yet, check it out!!  Thanks for reading everybody and happy hunting in the Storm Horns.