The Scholar and the Sunstone

The Scholar and the Sunstone was a virtual representation of one of Eivor Varinsdottir's genetic memories, relived by Basim Ibn Ishaq in 2020 through the Portable Animus HR-8.5, in which a vision of one of Odin's memories could be seen.
==Description==
Havi traveled to Hreidmar Palace to find the dwarven scholar Einar.
==Dialogue==
Havi arrived at the main road towards Hreidmar Palace.
*Havi: The height of this mountain displeases me. If this were Asgard, I would have had my people flatten long it ago.
Havi started to climb the mountain to the palace.
*Havi: They'll need to dedicate an entire saga to this climb alone, the size of this mountain... Best I don't slip and break my neck. That would not do. Ragnarök will have come and gone by the time I reach the peak... I wonder, who will bring the final twilight upon us?
Havi made it to the palace and searched the premises for the entrance.
*Glod: Answer me, you sniveling, useless bastard!
*Havi: What's this now? Could this be the son of Surtr?
*Glod: You defy the almighty Surtr? I will tear you apart, Einar.
*Einar: No! No, there is no defiance! I am loyal to your father, I swear!
*Glod: What did you say?
*Einar: Urk! Glod, p-p-please...
*Glod: Excuses, scholar! Pathetic! Make the relic work!
*Einar: I... I am trying, lord. Please.
*Glod: Trying? Trying?! You are failing! Are you so eager to die?
*Einar: N-no... I will not, will not fail you... but, but I cannot revive the relic without the—
Havi searched further to get inside the palace.
*Muspel Warrior 1: I saw claw marks in Glod's chamber, like he's been bedding a troll or something.
Havi soon found an inscription on a stone structure near the palace.
Havi found the door towards Glod and Einar. As he entered, Havi stealthily watched as Glod dragged Einar.
*Glod: You have failed me for the last time!
*Einar: You don't understand! Urgh!
*Glod: Now it lies dormant. Useless. The only means to awaken it—
*Einar: I've searched everywhere! B-b-but Ivaldi's records are a mess! Rest assured, I will—
Einar paused when he saw Havi had teleported to the rafters above to eavesdrop. Glod quickly noticed as well, and Einar attempted to distract him when he saw the giant's attention shift.
*Einar: The purpose of—
*Gldd: The only purpose it has served is drawing out vermin.
Havi quickly attacked, but Glod pushed him back and threw Einar on top of him. Glod soon opened a blue portal behind him while taunting Havi with the relic. Once Havi stood up, Glod used his strength to break the floor beneath him and Einar.
*Einar: No no no no!
Havi and Einar fell through the floor immediately, dropping into the palace's mess hall below where Muspel warriors dined. Havi landed on a table, while Einar landed on him. The Muspels, angry at their meals being interrupted by intruders, readied for a fight.
*Havi: Gentlemen. Ladies.
Havi immediately fought with the Muspel warriors.
*Einar: Gah! Oh, my leg...!
Havi killed all the Muspels and then spoke with Einar.
*Einar: Agh. Damn it all... mmph!
*Havi: Tell me, where did the son of Surtr take the relic?
*Einar: I don't... I can't... just... look! Who are you?
*Havi: I am Havi of Asgard. I hold your fate in my hands. Answer me, before the room is swarmed and I leave you to the Muspels.
*Einar: No, no! I can help you. You saw through the portal Glod opened, yes? You saw the vault? I can get you inside. I can!
*Havi: I am listening. Best you are swift.
*Einar: The vault, it's sealed with an ancient magic. But I can get you inside.
*Havi: You can help me get the relic?
*Einar: Yes, yes, but that is not the prize. It is what happens within the vault that can truly shape our fates!
*Havi: They will be upon us soon... Can you walk?
*Einar: I-I don't think so.
Havi huffed in irritation.
*Havi: Very well.
Havi lifted Einar over his shoulder.
*Havi: Time to move.
*Einar: Great. Great!
Havi carried Einar outside.
*Havi: You said you could be of aid. Tell me how, traitor.
*Einar: Would you stop calling me that! I may well have worked for the Muspels, but that does not make me a traitor!
*Havi: You wrestle with reason like a rabbit wrestles a boar. I can see through lies before you even think of them, traitor.
*Einar: Oh, piss off.
Havi started to descale the mountain while carrying Einar.
*Havi: Carrying dwarves is fast becoming a habit.
*Einar: What?
*Havi: Never mind.
Havi reached the midpoint of the mountain path down.
*Einar: Just get me off this accursed rock. Oh, for crying out loud...! I'm going to die on this bloody rock...
Havi neared the bottom of the mountain.
*Einar: Could you please just focus on the matter at hand!
Havi was spotted by Muspel guards.
*Havi: The Muspels are afoot.
*Einar: This day gets better and better!
Havi set Einar down.
*Havi: Don't die.
*Einar: Then do not increase my chances! Oi!
Havi walked some distance away from Einar.
*Einar: Havi! What are you playing at?
Havi returned and defeated the Muspels, then picked up Einar once again.
*Havi: Let's go.
*Einar: I was better off with Glod, wasn't I...?
*Havi: Let us find somewhere fit for a discussion.
Havi reached the bottom of the mountain path.
*Havi: We will be safe enough here.
*Einar: Are you mad? This close to the mountain? Surely the Muspels will find us.
*Havi: Then you'd best tell me what I need to know. Quickly.
Havi placed Einar down and spoke with him.
*Einar: Listen to me! We can't stay here.
*Havi: I need answers, now, traitor.
*Einar: Do not call me that! I had my reasons! Not that you'd understand such an abstract concept as 'reason,' you mad, spiteful half-blind—
Havi put an axe to Einar's throat.
*Havi: Choose your next words carefully. They may be your last.
*Einar: They have my boy. The Muspels. I only did what I did to save him, you see?
Havi let Einar go.
*Havi: You save him, I'll do anything you ask. I'll... I'll damn well walk you into Glod's vault myself.
*Tyra: Stop!
Tyra and Fritjof walked and met with Havi and Einar.
*Einar: My... my boy...
Einar walked towards his son.
*Einar: Oh my boy. What have they done to you?
Fritjof pushed his father away.
*Fritjof: Get off me. She wanted your life spared, not me, you backstabbing stack of shit.
*Havi: Silence! Baldr would never dare speak to me in such a way. You've lost your eyes. You want to lose your tongue as well? Three dwarves is three more than I'd planning on rescuing. Can any of you fight? Of course not. So, I must find other uses for you.
Havi turned to Einar.
*Havi: You. Owe. Me.
Einar turned towards Fritjof and Tyra.
*Einar: We have much to discuss. But... we need to get this one into the Vault of the Ancients.
*Fritjof: Are you...? Do you have any idea what you're saying? To do that... you'd need...
*Einar: A Sunstone, yes? And very precisely augmented. Lad, if this is what it takes to drive out the Muspels...
*Fritjof: Then it must be done. Alright.
Einar turned back to Havi.
*Einar: There is a Sunstone that watches over Onarthorp. Bring it to me, at Hvergelmir Mylna, and I shall forge that which we need.
*Havi: Must I do everything? Very well.
Havi spoke with Tyra.
*Tyra: (Nothing but trouble, you are.)
*Havi: Wise words, indeed.
Havi spoke with Einar again.
*Einar: The Sunstone watches over Onarthorp. A small market town, long abandoned. I'll meet you at Hvergelmir Mylna, and we shall forge the Sunstone into a new form.
*Havi: I watch. You forge. I will bring you the Sunstone.
Havi spoke with Fritjof.
*Fritjof: My sight, I... I think it's returning. I... I can't believe I told you to kill my father.
*Havi: Everything he did was all for you, you ungrateful cur.
*Fritjof: That doesn't change the fact that he did those things though, does it?
*Havi: Enough lip, or I'll take your sight for good. I have practice in tearing out eyeballs.
Havi left to find the Sunstone. Havi soon arrived at Onarthorp.
*Havi: This looks to be the place. Dull as dishwater but... safe, once. A simpler life... One that has been denied to me, thanks to Loki. Not to mention my own occasional foolishness. Only one thing watches over this tiny village. That statue.
Havi found an ode to the abandoned village.
Havi soon found the statue and climbed to the top, only to find no Sunstone.
*Havi: Nothing. But whatever stone was here has been carefully removed. No scratches nor scorches. So it was not taken by Muspel hands. When I was a child, my brothers and I would rob the fairies. Such innocent times. I remember how the fairies sometimes got wind of our approach, and would try to hide their treasures. Fairies, dwarves. They all think alike... I must search the nooks and crannies of this village. Leave no stone unturned.
Havi searched the houses and found the Sunstone, inside a box, within one of the houses. Havi also had to maneuver past the house's infested rats.
*Havi: There you are. Now, let us see what Einar can do with you.
Havi left the village and headed to Hvergelmir Mylna to find Einar. Havi soon found Einar on the outskirts, hiding.
*Einar: Havi!
Havi spoke with Einar.
*Einar: I was starting to worry you may have met with resistance.
*Havi: Those who resist me are not long for this world.
*Einar: Indeed. And we are not short of foes in the area, so I'd be glad for your company. Come, my workshop is close.
*Havi: Here, Einar, your Sunstone.
Havi and Einar started to go to the workshop.
*Havi: This is where you worked, before the Muspels invaded?
*Einar: One site of many, indeed. When the Muspels took Uldar, captured Fritjof, and my niece—
*Havi: Tyra?
*Einar: Yes. I returned to the city. Worked with the Sons of Ivaldi, but to no avail. So, I allowed myself to be captured. Offered my services to Glod.
*Havi: To rescue your son. There is more to you than meets the eye, Master Einar.
Havi and Einar entered into Einar's workshop.
*Einar: As you can see, it's been some time since I was last here. Now, if I may ask, what does the 'High One' of Asgard seek in Svartalfheim?
*Havi: My motive is not so different to your own. A son to rescue. To do so, I believe I need the relic, though to what end remains a mystery.
*Einar: I see. So you're not here to save dwarfkind?
*Havi: If butchering Muspels in my path aids your cause, then I will not deny you my gifts.
*Einar: You are most generous.
*Havi: It has been said, yes.
Einar tried to start his furnace but to no avail.
*Einar: Damn it all to Helheim.
*Havi: What? What is it?
Havi spoke with Einar.
*Einar: Havi, forgive me.
*Havi: What? Do you fail me, Einar?
*Einar: The Sunstone must endure incredible heat for me to render it into a new form. My instruments are no longer capable. I'm sorry.
*Havi: Give it to me. I have the means to endure any heat.
*Einar: Of course. When the process is complete, the Sunstone will shine brightly. Bring it to me then, and I shall finish what you have begun.
*Havi: Big words from one so small. It will be done.
Einar gave Havi the Sunstone and Havi left the workshop.
*Havi: Now, to subject myself to the kind of heat that would kill all but a Muspel.
Havi took the Sunstone, used his Hugr-Rip to activate the Power of Muspelheim, and stood in lava.
*Havi: This had better work. If this is an elaborate deception, Einar's death will be considerably more simple.
Havi started to heat up the Sunstone.
*Havi: Almost there. Just a little more...
The Sunstone was completely heated.
*Havi: It is done. The Sunstone radiates light and heat. Einar will know what to do next.
Havi quickly returned to Einar.
*Einar: How did you... Ah, I know better than to ask.
Havi handed the Sunstone back to Einar.
*Havi: Do you have what you need now?
*Einar: Yes, I believe so. Let me see... ah! Still hot.
*Havi: Will this work? Einar...?
*Einar: Sorry. Sorry. I just... I've only ever read about this in the ancient scriptures. I've never seen it with my own eyes.
*Havi: Can you get me into the vault or not?
*Einar: I believe so. But... Glod is no fool. He'll surely have made preparations.
*Havi: Let me worry about Glod.
*Einar: As you wish. Now, if all has gone to plan, Fritjof and Tyra will be in position by the time you arrive within Uldar's Old City, the great cavern at its heart.
*Havi: And you?
*Einar: I must catch my breath and calm my nerves, but I will join you there as soon as I can.
*Havi: See that you don't fail me.
*Einar: Have I thus far?
Havi looked at Einar sternly.
*Havi: I'll do as I have promised. The vault will be yours.
Havi left Einar as he headed towards the Old City.
==Outcome==
Havi rescued Einar from captivity under Glod, and upon being told that a Sunstone could help him against Surtr's forces, found and heated it into a new form in preparation to open the vault in the Old City.
==References==
*Assassin's Creed: Valhalla – Dawn of Ragnarök
Category:Memories of Eivor Varinsdottir
Category:Memories relived using the Animus HR-8.5