Plucking the Quill

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Plucking the Quill was a virtual representation of one of Eivor Varinsdottir's genetic memories, relived by Layla Hassan in 2020 through the Portable Animus HR-8.5.

Description

After assassinating The Gallows, Eivor went to The Nun's Minster to report to Goodwin and begin her search for The Quill.

Dialogue

After The Gallows' assassination, Eivor headed back to Goodwin at the Nun's Minster. As she passed through the city's streets, she overheard more citizens discussing the passing of the bishop Ealhferth.

• Anglo-Saxon Man: Heaven will swallow the smoke of Ealhferth's pyre.
• Anglo-Saxon Woman 1: Very poetic. But he's going to be buried in the grounds of the Minister.
• Anglo-Saxon Man: Ah, now we can always pay our respects!
• Anglo-Saxon Woman 1: If you say so.

Elsewhere, Eivor overhead another woman.

• Anglo-Saxon Woman 2: Do you believe in souls? A part of us that lives on with God after we die? Bishop Ealhferth's passing has made me wonder.

At the minster, Eivor caught sight of King Alfred talking with the young Anglo-Saxon girl who appeared at the town square execution eariler.

• King Aelfred: A cheerful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones. Does Magister Bata not teach you the scriptures?
• Anglo-Saxon Girl 1: Magister Bata is a horse's dangles.

The young girl ran off as Eivor walked towards Alfred and Goodwin.

• King Aelfred: And here is the axe I used to swat a fly.
• Eivor: You have ventured from your burrow.
• King Aelfred: And you have plunged my city into chaos. I had hoped you would use the lessons of your subtler gods.
• Eivor: We have no subtle gods.
• Goodwin: If The Gallows is truly dead, perhaps we can allow cautious revelry?

I did only what you askedDo this yourself, thenI will take my reward and go

• Eivor: I did only what I agreed to, Aelfred. If your crown now weighs heavy, I would gladly take it from you.

• Eivor: Sweep your own hearth, Aelfred, if you do not like my broom.

• Eivor: It may be I should take my Danegeld now. Leave you to the snakes that remain?

King Aelfred sighed as he walked off to kneel and pray.

• King Aelfred: Forgive my outburst. God sowed in me a passion, but English prose is an instrument long out of tune.
• Goodwin: We all want better for our people, don't we, Eivor? Yours and ours?

Eivor nodded and looked to Alfred.

• Eivor: The Quill remains. What do we know?
• King Aelfred: The decay of learning has been gentle in Wessex. We enjoy the office of wise men, but we have neglected the study of wisdom.
• Goodwin: The Quill preys on this lapse.

Eivor, King Aelfred and Goodwin discuss The Quill

Presented the Quill's manifesto to GoodwinFound the manifesto laterDid not find the manifesto

• Eivor: Did you discover more from the writings I found?
• Goodwin: I did. The Quill is calling the children of Wincestre to arms.

Eivor pulled a copy of The Quill's manifesto, titled 'A Disputation of Tutelage,' having discovered it somewhere in Wincestre after her discussion with Goodwin. She presented it to the reeve.

• Eivor: Read this. The Quill wields cutting words that call all the children of Wincestre to arms.

Goodwin presented a copy of The Quill's manifesto, titled 'A Disputation of Tutelage,' having discovered it somewhere in Wincestre. He handed it to Eivor and she read it.

• Eivor: Someone disagrees with your reforms, Aelfred. And he's calling the children to arms.

• Goodwin: Now we know why so many children scurry through the streets. Feral and untutored.
• Eivor: I can talk to some, see where they lead me.
• Goodwin: Good. Find me at the ale-house when you're done. And try not to scare the piss from any of them.

Eivor simply smirked at Aelfred in response.

• Eivor: We Norse are the monsters of your Saxon mother's bedtime tales. I promise nothing.

Eivor approaching the little girl who was hiding in a corner

Aelfred grimaced at her indignantly. As he and Goodwin left the minster, Eivor noticed the presence of the little girl from earlier.

• Eivor: I see you, child. Come.
• Anglo-Saxon Girl 1: The bad reeve, Selwyn. I saw you punish him in the square.
• Eivor: He hurt many people.

The young girl began to cry.

• Anglo-Saxon Girl 1: Yes. He hurt my mother to death, then took her good luck charm. Perhaps you found it? A little carved tree? It is all I have to remember her by.

I have money for you (115 silver)I found no charm

• Eivor: Such a sad story. Take this. Perhaps it will keep you off the streets and out of trouble.

• Eivor: I found no charm, lucky or otherwise.
• Anglo-Saxon Girl 1: A bit of silver then? For my troubles.
• Eivor: It wouldn't have the same value, would it?
• Anglo-Saxon Girl 1: You ugly Dane! May God curse you with boils on your face!

The young girl ran off from the minster as Eivor looked at Selwyn's Order medallion.

• Eivor: Spry little mouse. Will you lead me to your Quill?

Eivor tailed the girl through the streets. The girl ran to a street filled with children just inside the northeast gate. Eivor entered the area and questioned a boy who was stealing among the townsfolk.

• Eivor: You there, little cutpurse.
• Anglo-Saxon Boy 1: Keep your beak out, nosey. I'm starving!

Eivor caught sight of a crying boy being interrogated by a soldier.

• Anglo-Saxon Boy 2: Get off me, you oaf.
• Anglo-Saxon Soldier 1: Stop struggling and give back the apple.
• Anglo-Saxon Boy 2: Apple? I didn't scrobble nothing. Get your fat hands off me, cow-breath!

Eivor eliminated the guard and talked to the boy.

• Eivor: Stealing apples, eh?
• Anglo-Saxon Boy 2: Fruit don't feed a growing boy. Do you have any chicken?
• Eivor: I don't. But maybe you can tell me what you know of The Quill?
• Anglo-Saxon Boy 2: The Quill? God blind me, you're brave! Find Aelwyn and Wigbert. They see everything.

Aelwyn and Wigbert caught by the guards

Eivor saw two children, a boy and a girl, set fire to a haystack as two guards arrived.

• Anglo-Saxon Soldier 2: God's beard! You'll set Wincestre ablaze!
• Aelwyn: Roly-poly mutton man, you can't catch me!

Aelwny ran away as one of the guards chased after her. Then, Wigbert ran away as the other guard sighed and went after him.

• Anglo-Saxon Soldier 2: God help me, I'd rather be shoveling dung in Malvern again.

Eivor went after Aelwyn, who led Eivor to a house near a water mill and evaded the guard. Aelwyn stood tossing a ball up and down.

• Aelwyn: You again. You should mind your own beeswax.
• Eivor: Aelwyn, is it? You wield fire like a flaming Jotnar.
• Aelwyn: It was burning when I found it. Hot days like this, things just go whoosh!

Wigbert arrived to the same location.

• Aelwyn: Well?

Wigbert then noticed Eivor, shocked at her presence, and took a step back.

• Aelwyn: Oi! Wigbert, you great moon-calf!

Two thugs confronting the children

Aelwyn saw two thugs walking towards her and Wigbert.

• Female Anglo-Saxon Thug 1: Hand it over, Aelwyn! We saw your little shadow take it.

Eivor walked in front of the children and the thug.

• Female Anglo-Saxon Thug 1: What you looking at?

Something hog-uglyHow about some coin? (230)You want to die today? (Level 4 Charisma)

• Eivor: I'm not sure, looks like an old lady's been rolling in shit with all the other ugly sows. A hog in a dress maybe?

Eivor fought and killed the two thugs.

• Eivor: How about I pay you to scuttle off to the tavern and drink yourself senseless?
• Female Anglo-Saxon Thug: Deal. Better than running around after you grubby urchins.

Aelwyn and Wigbert smiled smugly at the thugs.

• Eivor: Turn around, walk away, and you keep your insides, inside.
• Female Anglo-Saxon Thug: Alright, alright. No harm meant. Stay out of trouble you grubmite.

Aelwyn bowed sarcastically at the woman's warning.

• Aelwyn: Ha! That showed them!
• Eivor: Trouble seems to follow you.
• Aelwyn: And I wriggle out of it like a slippery eel. Why are you following me?

What did you steal?I am looking for The QuillWhat are you up to?

• Eivor: What is so important that you risk his little neck for it?
• Aelwyn: Keep your sticky beak out of our business.
• Aelwyn: Whose business? The Quill's?

• Eivor: I'm looking for The Quill. So I am asking you, his little worker bees.

• Eivor: Setting fires, stealing things is a fearful day's work. Aren't you supposed to be in lessons?
• Aelwyn: You don't need book learning when you're street shrewd. That gets you real places.
• Eivor: Or gets you noticed, by The Quill for example. Does he pay you well to do his dirty work?

• Aelwyn: Us? Working for The Quill? Shows what you know.
• Eivor: Is that so?
• Aelwyn: I am innocent as a lamb.

If Eivor killed the thugsIf Eivor paid off the thugsIf Eivor scared off the thugs

• Aelwyn: They were The Quill's thugs, and you killed them. Wouldn't want to be in your boots.

• Aelwyn: They were The Quill's ninnypops. Smart stuff to throw coin at them, they will be too squiffed to bother you now.

• Aelwyn: Those were The Quill's meatmops, and you sent them scurrying off with their tails between their legs.

• Eivor: It sounds like you owe me your life.
• Aelwyn: This one's brave and strong. Might be able to help us.
• Eivor: So you're not working for The Quill?
• Aelwyn: We steal to stay alive and out of The Quill's clutches.

Eivor speaking to the two children about The Quill

Eivor knelt down.

• Eivor: But you know where I can find him.
• Aelwyn: They come up from the sewers like rats.

Aelwyn looked to Wigbert.

• Aelwyn: Go on, give her what you took. Maybe she can save us?

Wigbert walked up to Eivor and gave her the key he stole.

• Aelwyn: Good luck, Dane. Try not to get maimed and all that.

As she left the children, Eivor uncovered the location and true identity of The Quill, Hilda. Eivor headed towards a secret passage towards the underground sewers of Wincestre, finding a few rats around the entrance.

• Eivor: I should watch out for a mousetrap.

Eivor finding enslaved children within the sewers

Along the entrance of this passage, Eivor found a bunch of children loitering in the sewers. One of the girls spoke aloud.

• Anglo-Saxon Girl 3: I like the pretty things, but Magister Bata says stealing is wrong.

Eivor spoke to the girl.

• Anglo-Saxon Girl 3: I'm going to marry King Aelfred, and he's going to whisk me away from this toil.

Eivor talked to a child sitting on the ground.

• Anglo-Saxon Girl 4: Everyone died and left me alone on the streets.

Eivor spoke with a child with his knees to his chest.

• Anglo-Saxon Boy 4: I didn't get nothin' today.

Eivor found and spoke with a child a distance away from the rest.

• Anglo-Saxon Boy 5: There's never enough food. I'm always starving.

Eivor in the inner cellar

Eivor found her way through the sewer corridors and found a large empty chamber. Sliding down into a little sewer stream, Eivor climbed out and walked to the empty table in the corridor. Eivor looked around and saw nothing but food on the table. Suddenly, Eivor looked up to hear Aelwyn.

• Aelwyn: That's her! Dimwit Dane! Dimwit Dane! Didn't guess The Quill's a she!
• Hilda: Now, now, Aelwyn. Few have the wit that you and I possess. Most see the world in simpler terms, where we are the weaker sex.
• Eivor: A brood mare who preys on innocents, and you brag about strength.
• Hilda: How little you know. Defend your mistress!

Eivor turned around to fend off the ambush as Hilda readied her crossbow at Eivor. Eivor dispatched the guards that attacked her close up while dodging Hilda's crossbow bolts. She inspected a note scribbled on a desk in the corner.

Tattered Confession

Let it be known that I wrote the Psalms that King Aelfred claims. For all his so-called learning and piety, he could not find the poetry to speak to his God. So he gave me some pretty coin. My tongue is most like a writer's feather that writes with speed. And I tell all who will, I am his words.

She eventually started after Hilda, who sheathed her crossbow and fled out of the sewers.

• Hilda: Ealhferth, may your roof shield me.

They emerged from the sewers onto the grounds of the Wincestre Seminary. While Eivor gave chase, she discerned what Hilda meant.

• Eivor: Ealhferth's roof? Does she flee to the bishop's house?

If Eivor did not catch up to her in time, she reached the relative safety of the Bishop's Residence and roused the guard.

• Hilda: ''Keep your wits. The Dane wants my blood.
  Do not leave my side!
  Guards, protect me!

Eivor infiltrated the residence and made her way to Hilda. Surrounded by guards, Hilda regained her bravado and began goading Eivor into an open confrontation.

• Hilda: Show yourself, murderer!
  Show yourself, shadow-walker.
  This heathen will kill us all.
  Come then, you rabid hound.

Eivor assassinating Hilda

Eivor fought as many guards as she needed to and assassinated Hilda. In the Memory Corridor, Hilda, standing around shadows of her "saved" children, spoke aloud and sat down.

• Hilda: Come child. Whisper what you've learned, and Mother will give you a treat.

Eivor and a ghostly Odin walked towards her.

• Eivor: Coward. Using children to spy and steal for your Order.

Hilda, holding a feather to her face, responded as she walked toward one running child and smiled.

• Hilda: To educate them! Give me a child until he is seven, and I will give you the man... or woman.

Hilda stood up.

• Hilda: But what use are letters when a child can only write his name in pig shit? Or wisdom in a woman when she cannot wield it beyond her hearth?

Hilda looked fondly at a shadowy representation of Aelwyn.

• Hilda: I taught little Aelwyn so much more, saved her from a life less worthy. She will find enlightenment in The Order, just as I did.

Hilda turned towards Eivor.

• Hilda: If I could save them all, I would.

Eivor walked towards her as the children's shades ran off.

• Eivor: But you can't. You've corrupted too many to save too few.

With the children having disappeared, Hilda shouted back at Eivor.

Hilda in the Memory Corridor

• Hilda: My Order is the only way forward. It can quench our thirst for knowledge, if only Aelfred's slave-faith is defeated.

Hilda whispered in Eivor's ear.

• Hilda: And what would you sacrifice for infinite knowledge?

Odin walked beside Eivor and stated his own opinion.

• Odin: An immeasurable gift. Why refuse it?

Hilda walked back, with the children behind her again as Eivor responded.

• Eivor: Not their innocence.

Hilda turned her head and closed her eyes in grief as the shadows of children disappeared. On opening her eyes and still seeing no children, Hilda responded to Eivor.

• Hilda: A pity.

Hilda held the quill to her neck.

• Hilda: Non requiescet in pace. (They shall not rest in peace.)

Hilda slit her throat with the quill. Her spirit immediately vanished, and her Order medallion immediately fell as Eivor went to pick it up. After her death, Eivor reminded herself where to meet Goodwin.

• Eivor: Goodwin said to meet him at an ale-house nearby.

Outcome

Eivor found and assassinated The Quill, thus ending her exploitation of children as spies and thieves, in Wincestre. Eivor headed back to Goodwin to report the news.

Behind the scenes

Even if the player decides to portray Eivor as male, Aelwyn will still exclaim "That's her!" upon Eivor entering Hilda's trap.

This memory shares a commonality with the memory "Assassination (Talal)" in the 2007 video game Assassin's Creed. Like Talal in Jerusalem, Hilda worked as the leader of criminal enterprise within her city, although she ran a spy and theft network while Talal ran a slavery workshop. However, both targets believed they were saving their victims-child orphans and slaves, respectively-from the lives they had before.

Gallery

• 
  King Aelfred and Goodwin with a young girl in The Nun's Minster
• 
  Aelwyn and Wigbert watched as they set a hay stack on fire
• 
  Eivor finding the entrance into The Quill's lair
• 
  Aelwyn standing with Hilda
• 
  Hilda surrounded by the "shadows" of the children

References

• Assassin's Creed: Valhalla