Having defeated The Edler and started in on crypts in the local swamp biomes, we began to feel the need, even more so than before, to find Haldor, the trader who sets up shop somewhere in Valheim and who sells the Megingjord, a belt slot item that adds 150 lbs to a players carrying capacity.
Having carried scap iron out of a crypt, across a swamp, to a forward base, 15-18 units at a time due to weight restrictions, this was starting to feel like a big deal.
Another crypt to clear and loot
We had been looking for Haldor for a while now, but our explorations had failed to locate him… or any one of his incarnations. He apparently has multiple spawn point on any given world, you just have to get close to him for him to show up on your map. So we started to make exploration a priority, with Fergorin heading north and I heading west from our main base. But it was Boogerfart, Crowbar’s son who finally found the trader as he explored south.
And once one person finds Haldor his little money bag appears on everybody’s game map.
The bag appears
However, Boogerfart hadn’t brought materials with him in order to make a portal. So the next thing on the agenda was to sail down there and get a portal set up. He was closest to our southern base, named Dieppe, the one in the black forest with the persistent troll visitors. I built a portal at our main base and tagged it “Trader,” grabbed the materials to make another portal, then took the portal to Dieppe and sailed from there around the island and south towards Haldor.
Sailing southward
It looks nice and easy on the map, but most of the water on the west side of the first island was uncharted for me… I had to go that way as the prevailing wind was going to fight me going the other way around. You go with the wind when you can and hope it changes when you need it to.
The trip was fine during the day. It wasn’t even so bad when the fog rolled in as I reached the southern tip of the island. But night was also falling and you can navigate okay in fog or at night, but in night and fog… not so much. I took a while getting around the islands in that thick soup, hitting the shore a few times before I could even see it.
I could see the troll standing on the shore before I hit it. I turned the boat hard and opened up the sails with the wind to get out of that. The troll waded out waist deep and smacked the boat for a big chunk of damage, but I got away.
Eventually I wound my way through the shallows into a little bay close by Haldor, jumping ashore on his island. It was still night and in a black forest biome, so there were greys all over to fight. I had to clear out the shore before I could finally make my way to the camp.
Howdy Haldor!
Once there I setup the portal, then harvested some more wood and built a palisade fence corridor from the portal to the safety of the magic bubble that surrounds Haldor’s camp and keeps the bads at bay. Then I settled down and checked out his list of goods. The Megingjord belt rang in at 950 coins, which seemed quite pricey.
The shopping list
That done, I took the portal back to see what we had for coins. We had nearly 900 in the main base, and had squirreled away another 800 or so at Dieppe, largely based on looting fallen trolls. But we had also been storing amber, amber pearls, and rubies, loot from burial chambers, which you can sell to Haldor for some coin.
I collected up a bunch of that and too the portal back to Haldor. Selling that off raised almost 1,500 gold in addition. I took 950 off the top of that and bought myself a belt. Boogerfart had already purchased one out of coin he had been gathering, which left us with resources to buy two more, and closing in on a third. (And there was still more loot to sell lying around.)
Unna at Haldor’s camp for another belt
I put the belt to good use later in the evening by emptying out another swamp crypt and hauling back 150 scrap iron from the effort. Being able to make trips back and forth carrying a full stack of 30 scrap iron is a bit of a game changer.
Of course, first I had to sail the boat back to Dieppe, which was an adventure on its own. I decided to once again go with the wind and explore around the edge of another island… you can see my path on the map… finding another swamp area adjacent to some meadows, which will make a likely new base for us in the future. Of course, the locals took their shots at me if I got too close, and there was a sea serpent incident.
A sea serpent attacks
There I am, trying to get to shore, into the wind, as the serpent attacks. I made it, but the serpent swam off before I could kill him with my bow.
With Haldor finally found, we can now all get that carrying upgrade. Once we have that set for everybody, then I will see about collecting some coin for the fishing pole and some bait. Another source of food would be handy.
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