Last play session I was ready to start an alliance with AC Valhalla’s Soma. She was the Jariskona for Guthrum’s Viking army and would be a powerful ally to have in the region. My guess is these Assassin’s Creed Valhalla alliances I’m building will lead to some huge military conflict.
Finding AC Valhalla’s Soma
I found members of Soma’s army in ruins outside of Grantbridge. They told me the story of how they were ousted out of Grantbridge. Their leader Soma was to regroup in the swamps nearby.
I knew it wouldn’t be as easy as just simply asking for an alliance, but the mission threads that followed were longer than I thought.
Using a combo of the longboat and the raven, to get a birds eye view, I found some captive Vikings. After killing their captors, they let me know Soma was hiding out deeper in the swamp.
After finding her, Soma filled in more of the AC Valhalla story of how Grantbridge fell. Saxons came through the longhouse tunnel that only her inner circle knew about.
She was willing to to form an alliance after Grantbridge was retaken, but she needed some help finding her inner circle first. I like the multiple steps to the missions when they build towards a goal (like the alliance) without becoming tedious.
Rescuing Soma’s AC Valhalla Inner Circle
After lighting a beacon (bonfire on a tower) to guide Soma’s scattered army to her location, I was off to rescue her close advisors.
I found Birna surrounded by Saxons, while hiding in a hut. After killing them, I rescued her and she made here way to the beacon.
Lif was next and had already been captured by Saxon’s, but I made quick work of them. AC Valhalla made me feel powerful with all the Soma Viking help.
Galinn was last on the list and the most interesting. He was trapped atop a tower with packs of wolves below. I had to take those wolves out by arrow and axe before I could climb the tower to free him. This would be an important thing to remember later.
With her band back together, we were to turn our focus on taking back Grantebridge from the Saxons.
Taking Back Grantebridge
We all teamed up at the gate of Grantebridge. Soma confronted Wigmund, the lord that took control, while here troops setup explosive at the gate. After a quick chat, it was boom and we were in to fight.
I enjoyed the large scale fight with all the Saxons defending Grantebridge versus my crew and Soma’s army. Our combined force tore through them all.
We planned to confront Wigmund at the longhouse, but he had already escaped and left an oversized boss in his place. The big guy was tough, but there were too many of us for him to have a chance. I almost felt bad for the big guy.
Soma thanked me for my help and gave me the honor of blowing the horn to call her people back to Grantebridge. She also asked for help finding the traitor that helped the Saxons get into that longhouse and helped Wigmund escape.
As part of that process, I would help each of the advisors with tasks to track down Wigmund and use that as cover to get more info on each of them. A little spy craft was nice.
Finding Soma’s AC Valhalla Traitor
Longhouse Tunnel
Soma knew one of her advisors was a traitor, because of the secret tunnel in the longhouse that the Saxons used. Only they could have known about it. She let me to search the tunnel for clues and I found yellow paint markings that led to where a longboat once was.
On the way to the shoreline, I took a little tangent where I helped a cat lady find purpose for her cats. I did this by letting them loose on rats that a neighbor was having issues with. I even got to pet the cat, so 10 our of 10.
Galinn
Galinn had the task of pillaging a nearby settlement that was loyal to Wigmund. This required not only killing Saxon soldiers, but using the torches to burn down enough houses to fill up the progress bar.
Working with him allowed me to question how he joined Soma’s army. He had been near death and was obsessed by visions of glory with Soma. His loyalty seemed without question, but I did catch that he valued the visions above all.
Lif
Lif’s task was to kill a priest loyal to Wigmund at Walden. I started out wearing my disguise to try to sneak around, but Lif’s crew started fighting and my cover was pretty much blown.
I did get to sneak into the monastery in the confusion and knife the priest in the back. A letter nearby confirmed he was not exactly pious. My guess is there are plenty of corrupt priests in AC Valhalla even after these Soma missions.
Talking with Lif came me some incites into his love for shipbuilding and how he missed the chance to step up to lead when Soma was chosen. He claims to be completely loyal to her, but there was that chance his jealousy could have caused him to betray.
Birna
Birna simply wanted to raid Ravensburg and kill all men loyal to Wigmund. It was easy enough to slice and dice our way through them all. Again, I love how powerful the game can make you feel with all the Viking allies.
My conversations with Birna before and after the raid, led me to believe she is actually in love with Soma. She was not happy the feeling wasn’t mutual. Her love made me think she likely would not betray, but love can make people do dumb things. This thought put her as my top possible suspect, so far.
Completing all of the tasks led to a cutscene of a captured Wigmund soldier. The plan was to get him to talk, but Galinn was quick to kill him. All the other advisors gave him a suspicious look, so now he seemed he moved to the top of my list. I still was not 100% sure, though.
Next time in AC Valhalla, I’ll need to search for more evidence to find out who the real Soma traitor is, otherwise I’ll end up getting someone else killed. These missions bring me back to the investigations I did back in the Witcher 3, so I’m pretty happy with where this is going.