A fight against invading trolls

This is a ritual which can only be attempted at the marriage of Beren the Tall to Redalda. Unlike other rituals, there is no corresponding in-game myth.

At this point, the game has effectively been won. But this ritual may determine whether it is an unalloyed triumph or a more bittersweet victory...

## Benefits

The game ends directly after this ritual's completion, so you will not see any benefit from this ritual in *Ride Like the Wind*. However, you may earn a divine blessing to pass on to the descendants of your clan. Presumably this blessing will be carried over to later games.

Depending on your actions and choices, Orlanth may promise to reward your descendants for continuing on the path of unity, fighting Chaos or fighting trolls. Alternately, he may promise to help them survive, that Ernalda will aid them during Earth season, or that they will wield Death.

## Questers

Your questers are decided for you: your hero Beren and his bride, the Ram priestess Redalda. However, their stats, as well as other factors such as clan magic, Sacred Time ritual allocation, and more, can still affect the success of their choices and the ritual as a whole.

## Walkthrough

What path you should take through the ritual depends on what blessing you seek to gain.

* Orlanth will reward your descendants for continuing on the path of unity if you have Redalda **heal the wounded earth** in the first stage (having Beren **grant relief to the dead Sun may also work**), then **persuade the trolls to help fight the Chaos monster** in the third stage, and finally ask that your descendants be **blessed as bringers of unity.**
* Orlanth will reward your descendants for fighting trolls if you **attack the trolls** in the first stage (either option should work) and then ask Orlanth to **bless your descendants as fighters against trolls** in the fourth stage.
* If you wish Orlanth to help your descendants survive, ask to be **remembered as fierce survivors** in the fourth stage.
* If you wish your descendants to wield Death, ask to be **remembered as pitiless warriors** in the fourth stage.
* To gain Ernalda's aid in Earth season, have Redalda **heal the earth** in the first stage, then ask to be **remembered as healers of the Earth** in the fourth stage.

## Dialogue

The ritual force of the wedding ceremony allows Beren to sheathe his horse in a mantle of flame. Redalda climbs behind him and holds on as he rides the sky. She directs him to a faraway place where rock mantles the earth. From it a legion of trolls bursts, escaping the light of Yelm, who was slain by Orlanth and fell into the Underworld. The trolls howl for vengeance.

1. Beren grants relief to the dead sun.
*Tests Beren: Magic vs. Divine. Ritual magic aids this choice.*
2. Beren looses burning arrows at the trolls.
*Tests Beren: Combat vs. Skirmish. War magic aids this choice. Clans whose ancestral enemies are the trolls have a bonus on this choice.*
3. Beren strikes trolls with his flaming sword.
*Tests Beren: Combat vs. Skirmish. War magic aids this choice. Clans whose ancestral enemies are the trolls have a bonus on this choice.*
4. Redalda heals the wounded earth.
*Tests Redalda: Magic vs. Divine. Health magic aids this choice. You may get a bonus if Nyalda was your first god rather than Yelm.*

Orlanth, god of the Rams, appears to fight the troll horde. His thunder rumbles in Beren's bones. "What are you doing here, son of the sun? Have you come to avenge your father? I slew him for imposing his rule on the free. Shall I send you to attend him, in his Underworld crypt?"

1. "He is my husband," Redalda says. "As Vingkot's father, you are kin to my people, to me, and now to him. And kin may not slay kin."
*Tests Redalda: Lore vs. Skepticism. Harmony magic aids this choice. Checks whether Beren aided the dying sun.*
2. "He will show us how to ride," Redalda says, "a trick we will need to fight our coming foes."
*Tests Redalda: WedCultures (probably Diplomacy + Lore) vs. Foreignness. Diplomacy magic aids choice.*
3. "By murdering Yelm, you broke the world," Beren says. "Even your people cannot live without a sun to shine on them."
*Tests Beren: Mythology (probably Lore + Magic) vs. Resentment. Ritual magic aids choice. Success will have Orlanth ask Beren, as Elmal, for his fealty. Failure, or refusal, annoys Orlanth.*
4. "Riders and Rams are both human," Beren says, "and all humans must band together against darkness."
*Tests Beren: WedCultures (probably Diplomacy + Lore) vs. Foreignness. Diplomacy magic aids choice. Checks whether Beren aided the dying sun.*

A vast and terrible monster erupts from the hole left by the fleeing trolls. Orlanth cries out in surprise, not knowing what manner of being he now faces.

1. Beren conjures a shield of flame and tosses it to Orlanth.
*Tests Beren: Magic vs. Divine. Ritual magic helps. Bonus if Chaos is your clan's ancestral enemy.*
2. Beren fights at Orlanth's side.
*Tests Beren: Combat vs. Duel. War magic helps. Bonus if Chaos is your ancestral enemy. Success will mollify Orlanth if he was annoyed earlier.*
3. Redalda persuades the trolls to unite with humans against this greater threat.
*Tests Redalda: WedCultures (probably Diplomacy + Lore) vs. Foreignness. Diplomacy magic aids this choice. Clans whose ancestral enemies are the trolls suffer a penalty. Attacking the trolls earlier also makes this choice harder, perhaps impossible.*
4. Redalda summons earth-shaking beasts to help fight it.
*Tests Redalda: Magic vs. Divine. Ritual magic aids choice. Nyalda being your first god may grant a bonus.*

"My husband has aided you, Storm Chieftain," Redalda says. "Will you now bestow a blessing upon our descendants?" Orlanth, the creature's ichor still dripping from his mustache, said, "What do you ask of me?"

1. "Bless our descendants as fighters against trolls."  *Requires attacking the trolls in the first stage.*
2. "Bless our descendants as bringers of unity." *Requires cooperating with the trolls against the Chaos monster.*
3. "Bless our descendants as fighters against Chaos."
4. "Bless our descendants as fierce survivors."
5. "Bless our descendants as pitiless warriors."
6. "Recognize us as healers of the earth." *Requires Redalda to successfully heal the earth in the first stage.*
*All choices test Redalda: Bargaining vs. Selling. Diplomacy magic also helps all choices.*

Rituals