Online:Speaker Hialf

Speaker Hialf
Home Settlement	Shor's Stand
Location	Bear Hall, Whale Splash Inn, Sunport
Race	Nord	Gender	Male
Health	15,000 ~73,300 (before and after brawl fight)
Reaction	Friendly

Speaker Hialf

Speaker Hialf is a Nord and current leader of the Bear Hall found in Shor's Stand. As part of the Hall, he is responsible for the safety of the village. And in his capacity as a Speaker, he is a representative of the Shor's Stand as a whole.

Related QuestsEdit

• The Stubbornness of Nords: Please add a description for this quest

Quest-Related EventsEdit

On the outskirts of Shor's Stand, you can encounter Ysmair, a member of the Nord Cultural Exchange—who asks you to help his fellow envoy Britt the Bold, as her diplomatic overtures to the Speakers are not going well at all.

When you arrive in the town square, you will witness Britt being lambasted in front of a crowd of onlookers:

Speaker Frogirde: "Stick your Stirk Fellowship where the sun sets, mainlander!"

Britt the Bold: "But we can help each other. Rid Solstice of the Worm Cult threat!"

Speaker Hialf: "We have a bigger problem than the Worm Cult. Help with that or go away."

<Speakers Hialf, Frogirde and Sogrard all leave for the respective halls, leaving Britt alone among her belongings.>

Talking with Britt, you can learn about the situation and agree to help her with the assignment. She will suggest talking to Speaker Hialf first, as she believes helping him first will make it easier to convince him.

Once inside Bear Hall, you will find him questioning Gulruna and Larth:

Speaker Hialf: "Where is my daughter?"

Gulruna: "She went after the beast. We couldn't stop her."

Larth: "It destroyed a lot of trees. The beast is too powerful."

<Britt the Bold enters the conversation.>

Britt the Bold: "A beast? We could help with that!"

<Gulruna and Larth walk towards the door.>

You can then talk to Speaker Hialf and ask about the problems his village faces:

Nord Character :	Otherwise:
"A Nord? So long as you don't talk about returning to Solstheim or joining that fellowship, you're welcome to stay here. Make too much trouble though, and I won't hesitate to set the power of the Bear Hall upon you."[verification needed — see talk page]	"You're with that Cultural Exchange woman, right? Look, even if I wanted to talk the other speakers into listening to you, I can't. There are too many problems facing the village right now to lend our support to strangers from the mainland."

Problems? Like the beast?

"You overheard that? Necromancers—or whatever threat Britt spoke about—are tomorrow's problem. The beast is a threat to Shor's Stand right now. Good warriors nearly died trying to catch it.
The village is scared."

But if this beast wasn't a problem, you'd consider joining the Stirk Fellowship?

"I can't promise anything, but I'd have one less excuse not to consider it.
The beast hides out in the woods to the east. If you want to go after it, I'd start there. Given how much destruction it's caused, you should pick up its trail quickly."

What more can you tell me about the beast?

"It's strange. So many of the reports disagree on the details. Our villagers can tell you what they saw. Just ask politely.
If you decide to hunt the beast, please look for my daughter as well. I'd go myself, but I have to protect the village."

Once you have finished talking to Speaker Hialf:

Britt the Bold: "Meet in eastern woods, friend. Beast awaits!"

Speaker Hialf: "Stop the beast and I'll consider this alliance you spoke of. Just don't get yourselves killed."

Talking to Speaker Hialf again before leaving:

"Good luck to you both.
I wish I could help you more, but our resources are stretched thin. I have nothing to give to anyone from outside this village. The beast has taken it all."

Meeting with Britt in the forest, she reveals her plan to capture the beast instead and you begin tracking it by the trial of ashes it has left. You eventually find Jal, Speaker Hialf's daughter who recounts her experience. You soon catch sight of the beast on the trail leading upwards, and it is smaller than expected. After following it into the Glittering Cave, it is revealed to be a three-toed sloth wearing a Magicap. Britt is able to calm the sloth down while you take the hat.

Afterward, you can return to the Bear Hall where you find Jal and Speaker Hialf talking:

Speaker Hialf: "I don't care what you were doing! What if you died out there?"

Jal: "I am not a coward, father. I do not run when things get dangerous!"

Talk to Speaker Hialf to tell him the news:

"My daughter returned from the beast hunt, which is a weight off my shoulders. But where's Britt? Where's the beast?
Tell me what happened."

Britt and I took care of your beast problem.

"How? You aren't injured. You aren't horrifically burned to a crisp. Are you really stronger than the best warriors of the Bear House?
Well, what sort of creature was it? What beast can an emissary of the Fellowship hunt down that we cannot?"

It was a sloth wearing an enchanted hat.

"A sloth in an enchanted hat? I'll need to see that to believe it. But if you're telling the truth, you've earned my support. You'd best talk to Speaker Frogirde next. She's polite enough to listen. Which is more than I can say about Speaker Sogrard."

After this, Britt will arrive with the Beast and Merchant Katul in tow:

Merchant Katul: "My magicap! I thought it was lost forever!"

<The Beast crawls forward, following Britt.>

Britt the Bold: "Here you go, proof of your fearsomest beast! Now, I would like word with friend."

Speaker Hjalf: "A sloth? We were terrorized by a sloth?"

Talking to Speaker Hialf before talking to Britt:

"I said I'd have to see this sloth to believe your story and here it is. Ugh. The other speakers will never let me hear the end of this.
A sloth in an enchanted hat caused so much fear and destruction. Unbelievable."

You can then leave for the Hall of Feathers and talk to Speaker Frogirde. Talking with her, accuses Britt and you of not bothering to learn about Shor's Stand history or culture. She will then challenge you both to prove you are willing to learn and partake in Shor's Stand's culture. After going through the books you found, Britt will decide to recreate the Together Stew from the recipe and hold a feast for the Speakers.

After making the Together Stew, you can serve it to the speakers sitting outside the Whale Splash Inn. Talking to Speaker Hialf before serving him:

"Food is the best part of any celebration. Don't tell Frogirde I said that, though! She puts so much effort into the music."

Upon serving the stew:

<Speaker Hialf begins to eat.>

Speaker Hialf: "Potatoes? Out of season? I want a second bowl!"

Once you have served the three Speakers, you can talk to Speaker Frogirde to see if you passed her challenge. She explains that the Together Stew is meant for harvest festivals, but she can see the earnestness and willingness to learn in its creation. The Hall of Feathers now agrees to support the Fellowship, and she will hand you the book The Founding of Shor's Stand, saying it will help with Speaker Sogrard's challenge.

Afterwards, Speakers Hialf and Frogirde will talk to each other:

Speaker Hialf: "See Frogirde? I told you this ambassador was different."

Speaker Frogirde: "It's the wrong season for a harvest feast. But, their effort is commendable."

Britt the Bold: "It worked? Our feast worked?"

Talking to Hialf before Speaker Sogrard:

"Sogrard can speak for himself. I won't disrespect him by telling you anything you should not say.
Also, he's sitting right there."

When you talk to Speaker Sogrard, he will explain his position regarding the Stirk Fellowship and then challenges Britt to give a speech that convinces him and she needs to incorporate the village's founding story into it.

If you talk to Hialf before Britt:

"I heard what Sogrard said. If this is the challenge he placed before you, I can't help you. You have to do this one on your own."

When you talk to Britt, she will ask you to read the book you were given, and discreetly prompt her when she falters during her speech. If you talk to Speaker Hialf before Britt starts the speech, he will encourage you:

"I see what Sogrard's plan is. Don't worry, I'm sure you'll find the information you need."

If you talk to Hialf during Britt speech, he will think she is doing well, all things considered:

"It's a little unsteady, but for an improvised speech, she's doing well."

Once Britt's speech is done, Speaker Sogrard says he needs to speak and the Britt and the Speakers head into the inn. Britt will want to talk to you first, and suggests that you and her start a brawl to cement their alliance the Nord way.

Speaker Hialf
Home Settlement	Shor's Stand
Location	Whale Splash Inn
Race	Nord	Gender	Male
Health	~73,300	Difficulty
Reaction	Hostile	Class	Marsh Warrior

Inside the Whale Splash Inn, Britt throws the first punch and the Speakers lay out the ground rules for the brawl. After you deal with the participants that want to fight you, the Speaker trio at the opposite end of the hall will want to get in on the action:

<Speaker Hialf uses his maul and smashes the bench he was sitting on.>

Speaker Hialf: "We sat out too long. Let's join the fun."

Once you have defeated Speaker Hialf, he will become non-hostile and heads outside:

Speaker Hialf: "No more for me, I yield."

When all three of the Speakers are defeated, you can follow Britt outside, where you can find her and the Speakers togther:

Speaker Hialf: "Oh what excellent fighting!"

Britt the Bold: "There you are! Speaker Sogrard wants your ear, not mine. Still smarting from my fanciest footwork, I guess!"

Talking to Hialf before Speaker Sogrard:

"Don't worry about the villagers you beat in the brawl. They walked away from that fight. Any injuries they sustained are lessons for another day. Especially the ones who jumped from the rafters.
I can't thank you enough for that. It was incredible!"'

Talking to Speaker Sogrard, he admits the Britt rose to the occasion and that she reminded him that their people have always independent and will not be ordered by anyone. So the Speakers will go to Sunport first, and send for their warriors when they are needed. Talking to Speaker Hialf before Britt:

"You convinced Speakers Sogrard and Frogirde to accept the word of an outsider. If I knew you were capable of performing miracles, I would have tasked you with something more difficult than defeating the beast."

Talking to Speaker Hialf again before completing the quest, he will already be considering what he needs to do before leaving:

"So, we're going to Sunport then.
I'll leave Jal in charge of the Bear Hall. As much I don't want to admit it, she proved herself during the beast hunt. Even if she didn't succeed, she was more willing to protect the village than my other warriors."

After the quest is completed, there will be a brief exchange you can listen in on:

Speaker Hialf: "All right. Who's ready to chase the Worm Cult from our shores?"

Britt the Bold: "That's the spirit! The Worm Cultists don't stand a chance!"

<Britt the Bold goes and sits on a nearby bench.>

Before you leave you can talk to Speaker Hialf once more:

"I thought the best way to protect this village was by staying here, but you showed me that the Bear Hall can't do everything alone.
With our assistance, the Stirk Fellowship's power, and Sunport's support, Shor's Stand will be safe from any threat."

Who will protect the village while you're gone?

"My daughter. She may be young, but the beast proved how passionate she is about keeping this village safe. She'll do a fine job in my absence.
But it's not like I'm going far. If any threat is too great, we can get back here right away."

Skills and AbilitiesEdit

Quick Strike

A basic melee attack dealing low physical damage.

Heavy Attack

A charged melee attack that deals moderate physical damage and staggers. This can be blocked to set the warrior off-balance instead.

Choking Vine

The warrior stands firmly upon the ground and channels an ability that sends out a cluster of vines at their target, indicated by a red rectangle. If the target is caught, they are trapped by the vines and dealt continuous low physical damage until the ability runs out or they dodge roll to break the vines.

Vine Whip

When standing outside of melee range, the warrior uses a Nature's Grasp-like ability which pulls them to their target and deals low magic damage.

Earth Balm/Healing Roots

When wounded, the warrior reaches down to the ground as vines begin to wrap around them, healing them. This can be interrupted to set the warrior off-balance.

DialogueEdit

After helping out at Shor's Stand, you can meet Speaker Hialf outside the Cathedral of the Three Queens in Sunport. Talk with him to see how he's doing:

"The Fighters Guild let me sit in on one of their sparring sessions. The style of fighting is so different from what we practice in Shor's Stand.
There's so much to take in and learn here. It's exhilarating!"