This quest begins immediately after Bloody Path to Peace. After the death of Ceolbert at the hands of King Rhodri, Ivarr is eager to exact vengeance. Mount up and follow him to Caustow Castle. Along the way, Ivarr will tell the tale of how he got his facial scar.

When you reach the walls of the castle, some time will pass during which a camp is established. After the brief scene, speak with Ivarr in his tent.

When you speak to Ivarr, you’ll have the option to begin the assault now, or postpone if you have things to do.

Assault on Caustow Castle¶

Destroy the First Gate¶

The first phase of the assault will involve escorting the oil cart to the gates of the castle. As you do, you may need to leave the cart occasionally to fight off Briton soldiers. You should also look out for the incoming arrow volleys, indicated by a red aura encircling the cart. You can usually continue pushing the cart beyond this, but whenever it is stationary you should brace to block the arrows. Once the cart is at the gate, wait for your allies to step back and then interact with the cart to ignite the oil. You’ll then need to run out of the way before the red circle fully enlarges, at which point the oil cart will explode and destroy the gates.

Destroy the Second Gate¶

Once the first gate is destroyed, enter the castle and head to the second gate to the southwest. You can kill a few Briton soldiers along the way if you want, but this isn’t necessary. You can destroy the second gate by picking up fire pots at either side of it, and throwing them at the gate. Alternatively, place a few of them at the front of the gate and then shoot one to set off a chain explosion. In reality, you should only need one fire pot to destroy the gate. Once you’re through the second gate, you’ll have a large fight on your hands before you can proceed to the next objective. There will be a lot of soldiers to defeat here, and you’ll need to be careful to avoid arrow volleys indicated by red circles on the ground.

Lower the Drawbridge¶

Once you’ve killed enough soldiers beyond the second gate, run to the drawbridge and shoot the links on either side to force it to lower. You’ll need to position yourself far to the left and right of the drawbridge to be able to see and shoot the links, as shown above. When the drawbridge falls, you’ll need to kill three guards and then force the keep door open. When you enter the keep, a cutscene will play during which Ivarr fights King Rhodri. When the fight is done, you’ll need to decide how King Rhodri should die. It doesn’t matter what you choose here. At the end of the conversation, you can choose to go with Ivarr now or wait until a more convenient time to meet him later.

Carry King Rhodri to Manstone Rock¶

When you’re ready, pick up King Rhodri and carry him to your horse, or any horse nearby. Place him on the back of the horse and follow Ivarr to the overlook known as Manstone Rock. If Ivarr doesn’t move initially when on horseback, just head east away from the keep. He will eventually follow, but you may need to stay close at first to trigger his movements.

Follow Ivarr along the road until he dismounts, then follow him up the steps to Manstone Rock. Here, Ivarr will perform a Blood Eagle on King Rhodri, while Eivor speaks with Odin. Once Ivarr has had his way, he’ll reveal that he was the one who killed Ceolbert, forcing Eivor to fight him.

Boss Fight - Ivarr¶

The fight with Ivarr, despite his fame, will be much like any other boss fight. The major difference here is that Ivarr has the fastest reflexes you are likely to have seen so far. As a result, the skill Brush with Death will be extremely useful, allowing you to dodge and slow time enough to consider your next move. Most attempts to hit Ivarr with a basic attack will be easily dodged, so you’ll have to mix things up a bit.

Ivarr’s basic attack will involve a number of swift blows with his axes. He’ll sometimes follow this up with an unblockable / unparryable attack, marked by a red rune aura, so be sure to move out of the range of this with a dodge or roll. You’ll find Ivarr’s weak points on his right leg and his left arm. Be sure to hit these to make him vulnerable to a stun attack, which will take a large chunk of his health early on in the fight.

When Ivarr is standing still, he will brush off most arrows easily, but he will be vulnerable as he’s charging you. During a charge, he’ll move from left to right very swiftly, then continue head on. Don’t bother trying to shoot at him until he’s performed these movements, unless you get lucky with an arrow you’ll find it difficult to hit him. The best time to shoot is immediately after he’s moved left once and right once, but you’ll have only a brief moment to land a hit before he reaches you at this point.

If you create some distance between yourself and Ivarr, he will sometimes throw some axes at you. These are easily avoided with a simple dodge, but you should still be prepared for them whenever there’s a reasonable distance between you.

When Ivarr has around a quarter of his health left, he’ll sit down and ask to speak with Eivor. This is a trap, so be ready to block, parry, or dodge at any moment. The initial attack will be followed by a red rune aura attack, so you’ll need to dodge or roll to escape this. During this last quarter of Ivarr’s health, he will become much more aggressive and attack much more frequently. This is a good time to use your high damage abilities to offset this assault. Aside from the increased attack speed, there will be no new attacks during this phase.

When the fight ends, you’ll have to decide whether to send Ivarr to Valhalla or not. It doesn’t matter what you choose here, so just go with whatever feels right to you based on how your interpret Ivarr’s actions.

Speak to Deorlaf & Ubba¶

Now that you’ve dealt with Ivarr, it’s time to return to Deorlaf and inform him about all that has transpired. You’ll find him in the longhouse at Quatford, far to the northeast. When you meet with Deorlaf you’ll also find Ubba at his side.

You’ll need to make a decision here which will have consequences later on: tell Ubba that Ivarr died well, that he died badly, or that he wanted death. Although this is a matter of interpretation, each option will have the following consequences during the settlement quest Reap What Was Sown:

If you gave Ivarr his axe¶

• Ivarr died badly: In a later quest, Ubba will be angry that you lied to him
• Ivarr died well: In a later quest, Ubba will be grateful that you were honest with him
• Ivarr wanted death: Ubba will be grateful, as this option results in Eivor telling Ubba that Ivarr wanted to be sent to Valhalla, and Eivor sent him there

If you refused Ivarr his axe¶

• Ivarr died badly: In a later quest, Ubba will be grateful that you were honest with him
• Ivarr died well: In a later quest, Ubba will be angry that you lied to him
• Ivarr wanted death: Ubba will be angry, as this option results in Eivor telling Ubba that Ivarr wanted to be sent to Valhalla, and Eivor sent him there (which in the context of Eivor not giving Ivarr his axe, is a lie)

A cutscene will begin after your decision, and the quest will end.