So, where we left off in our last Valheim adventures was the long search to find the runestone that would point us to the location of the next boss, Moder. We explored mountain after mountain after mountain with no luck until we exhausted all the mountain biomes that we’d brushed up against during our earlier travels.

We had to set out to see to find new islands with mountains, all the while trying to avoid the plains as much as possible – which isn’t always easy as these biomes often fall next to each other. Despite finding another larger mountain biome on the next new island, we didn’t find the Moder runestone… and instead found the runestone for the next boss!

It’s been a couple of weekends of play that we’ve been on the search, so when this past weekend rolled around, I looked at what we’d uncovered on our map and made a suggestion. Since we were going to be sailing to find new locations anyhow, and we don’t know the location of Moder, why not sail towards the next boss since we do know that location and see if we can find mountains around there to search? That way, we’re making some sort of progress that we can use later.

That’s what we did.

It was quite a sail from the known lands to the south east, but we made it down to the island very near where Yagluth resides. Along the way, we found two Leviathans side by side, so made a quick stop for chitin.

We also had a humorous moment where we became hunted while out on the waters. This usually means a wolf pack is coming to attack on that location, but seeing we were in the ocean, we just sailed away from the spot, and it wasn’t very effective. The event still remains on our map, however.

When we finally got down to the Yagluth island, we did run across some mountain biome. So, just as before, we tossed up a quick outpost (we’ve been building them into the side of the mountains lately) and a portal for quick access.

Guess what we found?

Not one… but TWO runestones for Moder in those mountains!

Seeing that Syn and I split up a bit, we also found them at just about the same time in the same sort of structure – tucked up under the stairs in those tall stone towers.

That’s just painful irony right there. But at least we knew where to finally find Moder.

Though on the map, this looks like quite a distance, it turned out to only be a day’s sail from the closest Outpost. Luckily, we haven’t had any more run-ins with the serpent, either.

So, we made the trip to Moder Island, built a little outpost in the side of the mountain fairly close to her altar and got ready for the fight. I knew from briefly reading on her mechanics what we were looking at – this is the first and probably last boss fight that I read up on before we went in. But I’m glad I had a little guidance because she could have easily been fatal otherwise.

We had a few close calls during the fight, and it was especially irritating when wolves and drakes started to interfere. But having two people working on her – one to keep her distracted while both players worked down her health – was a huge help.

We took her down on the first try and retrieved her tears — which allowed us to make some new crafting stations back at the base! And, of course, gave us a new trophy to hang.

We only had a few pieces of black iron from our short ventures into the plains. And crafting the first ingots using the new blast furnace didn’t open up as much as I’d hoped in terms of gear. Just a couple of shields. So we’re missing some components somewhere that we haven’t discovered yet to make progress.

We then went back to Yagluth Island where there were plains near our little mountain outpost, but we got too close to an enemy village and they ganged up on us pretty fast. After that death, we had to consider how we were going to approach this.

So far, what we know is that the little Fulings drop the iron. You might be able to get it another way, too, but that’s all we’ve found so far. I have a thought about what the missing component might be seeing we were also given a spinning wheel station to make so…

Doing some more exploration on Yagluth Island, we found that the landmass is large and there’s a lot of biome variety there. In fact, we found an extensive meadows including a large deserted village. We’ve found smaller villages, or farms, of course. But this one had large buildings that looked like meeting halls – even had a raven throne!

We had to clear the draugr out of the buildings – interesting – is that what became of the inhabitants that once lived there? But once we did, it made for a great starting point for a new base on Yagluth Island.

Thus far, we’ve built several outposts, but no real major bases. Since this is at the foot of the mountain, Syn wants to bring down some wolves to tame and see if they can be a help to us in the plains.

So while I expected to be raiding the plains at this point, instead, we’re setting up a new base!

This one puts us close to all biomes, though, which will likely be helpful going forward. Plus, it was just a really cool find to begin with.

That’s where we stand as of this weekend. Setting up a new base and getting ready to explore the plains next time!

Oh, yeah, and several times now lately, we’ve caught Odin creeping on us. I’ve never been fast enough to get a picture, but it’s a little unnerving to see him watching us from the shore as we sail by…