Chapter Twelve

Checklists
These are listed in order of game appearance.

For visual support, refer to this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XHrbG95DoM8

Items

 * None

Monsters and Bosses

 * Vlad, the Vampire (Boss)
 * Grimnir, The Dark Lord (Boss)
 * Assatur, The King in Yellow (Boss)

Chapter Story
Chapter 12 - At the Mountains of Madness ''Still incapable of forming sentences in stressful situations, the wizards did battle with Fafnir -- and nearly killed him! Luckily I... ehm... Future Vlad intervened just in time. Now equipped with the power to draw Assatur into the corporeal realm, the wizards were finally ready to do battle with the mighty daemon himself!''

Vlad the Vampire
Fafnir sends you to the rock plateau just before you go up to combat Grimnir. Future Vlad will share some words with you about when to use the Corporealize Magick but he is interrupted by Present Vlad saying "Imposters! Didn't I take care of you once already?!" (remember Chapter Six Area 3?).

The Vlad you fight hasn't changed from before in Chapter Nine Area 7 when you defeated him in his castle. The only change is the battlefield, in which all weather effects can be called upon, including Thunder Bolts. This means you have some additional ways to defeat Vlad:
 * 1) Use two Thunder Bolts. Don't bother with wetting him, he has a water shield up remember?
 * 2) Fear him off the island platform.
 * 3) Damage him so that his health percentage is lower than yours, then Summon Death.
 * 4) Position some mines to knock him off-screen, winning the fight in one or two attacks.

After being defeated again, he retreats and prepares to send your past self (from the first Grimnir battle) back to Castle Aldrheim.

Grimnir, the Dark Lord
Proceed up the pathway to confront Grimnir again. You will arrive just in time to see future vlad teleport the player away from Grimnir.This time, he is very confused that you just disappeared, yet there you are. The incorporeal image of Assatur proceeds to heal Grimnir back to full health and disappears from sight. Grimnir will continue to fight you as before. Little has changed from the first time you fought him in Chapter Six Area 5, so deal with him however you did so before. The only difference is that he now makes two copies of himself rather than one. Which makes absolutely no difference since you are going to Nullify it anyway.

This battle though, you have access to the Corporealize Magick. When you get Grimnir down to low health, Assatur will show up behind him again just like in Chapter Six. Future Vlad will show up and wave his hands wildly and tell you "This is the signal!". Quickly cast Corporealize to draw Assatur into Midgård (press Escape, go into the Magicks menu and find the element combination for it if you really have to and didn't have it memorized). Do this quickly because Assatur will heal Grimnir back to full again and disappear if you do not do this fast enough. You will have to repeat the fight ad infinitum until you do it right.

If you do it right, Assatur will materialize into the corporeal plane in full color. He will prattle on about how you cannot possibly comprehend what you have just done, kills off Grimnir and proceeds to rip apart World's End to prepare for the final duel between you and him.

Assatur, the King in Yellow
You will find yourself on a narrow platform, with Assatur floating in front of you, preparing to cast his first spell (typically an energy barrage coming from two sides). If he does cast that spell, put up a bubble shield around you but do not boost it: his energy barrage will destroy the shield, but none will actually hit you. Move about 10 feet to the right, because one of his spells is the deadly Vortex, which he will only cast on the spot that you come in on (roughly in the middle of the island). Vortex will instantly suck you in and kill you if you don't move away from the spawn location.

In terms of strategy for defeating Assatur, he follows the conventions of most enemies. The battlefield allows for weather effect and Thunder Bolts. If you can wet him down, Thunder Bolts will make very short work of his health. If he uses any weather effects, typically Blizzard, Nullify them immediately, because he will either use the time to cast a new spell, or to heal himself. He can heal himself at 1,999-5,999 health per tick, quickly ruining any progress you made on him if you don't attack him belligerently. You will know he is using Vortex because he will put his staff in front of him as if he were using his energy barrage, but a white symbol will appear in front as well (it is similar to the one that appears over your wizard's head when you cast a weather effect). Immediately vacate the initial spawn area to avoid Vortex which is always cast there. Otherwise, chip away at his health, use a bubble shield to counter his energy barrage, and don't let up your offense when he's not actually attacking. If he uses Meteor Shower, you can either Nullify it, or use shield bubbles (recast them as they get destroyed).

The aftermath
Upon the defeat of Assatur, the ghostly figures of Vlad, a hooded mage, and Behold the Watcher will appear. Vlad will congratulate you on saving Midgård, and will tell you they are hosting a "Saved the World Party" back at Castle Aldrheim, and suggests you use the "Town Portal" Magick to come back. There is no Town Portal Magick, so let the credits roll.

Note, after the conversation with Vlad after defeating Assatur, you will automatically learn Vortex (completing "I put on my robe and wizard hat" achievement if you've acquired all the Magicks before here) and it will be available to you while you wait for the credits to finish. Very shortly into the credits, the last moose (Moose 12) will fall from the sky and land just to the left of where you initially spawned. Examine it to finish the "King's Quest" achievement.

You will return to the Adventure mode menu thereafter. with the character selection at Chapter 1. If you choose to start the adventure again from this same save slot, you will begin the entire adventure again from Chapter 1, but with all the Magicks you have discovered thus far along with your equipped weapons. The second playthrough has an increased number of enemies but not by much.

Overall Story Review
By now, you must be pretty confused at the whole story and wondering whether Vlad is a good or bad guy. Here's a nice diagram:

Chapter 1 (Castle Aldrheim) |                 v     Vlad sends you to help the King |                 v /> You hear an explosion --->  Chapter 7 |               |                             (Castle Aldrheim) |               |                                     | |                v                                     v |            Chapter 2                             Chapter 8 |       (Fornskogur Forest)                      (Járn Mines) |               |                                     | |                v                                     v |            Chapter 3                             Chapter 9 |        (Halödin Coast)                        (Myrkur Swamp) |               |                                     | |                v                                     v |          Airship battle -> Vlad jumps off the ship due to sensing |               |                     "a great disturbance in his town" |               |                                     | |                v                                     v |            Chapter 4 <--- Vlad defends his castle from "imposters" |           (Hávindr)               since the "real" heroes are in Havindr |               |                                     | |                v                                     v |            Chapter 5                            Chapter 10 |      (Khan's Stronghold)                       (Niflheim) |               |                                     | |                |                                     v |                |                                Chapter 11 |               |                           (Galdrhöll Mountains) |               |                                     | |                v                                     v |            Chapter 6                            Chapter 12 |         (World's End)                         (World's End) |               |                                     | |       Vlad stays behind to                           v |        protect your back --> Vlad fights "imposters" again since |               |                     "real" heroes are fighting Grimnir |               v                        |            | |     1st Fight with Grimnir           Vlad           | |               |                      loses          | |               v                        |            | |         Assatur appears \   | |               |                        |        |   | |                v                        |        |   | |     Vlad portals you back  <---/        v   v |       in time to save you                    Assatur heals Grimnir \/      |                     to full and disappears  <---\ v                            |                   | Vlad realizes the                      v                   | "imposters" are the ones       Fight continues with Grimnir    | he sent back in time and                  |                   | provides help from Chapter                  v                   | 7 to Chapter 12 by showing up          Assatur appears --/ in the past as Future Vlad                  | |                            v                          \--> Vlad gives signal to cast Corporealize |             |                                         |              v             Vlad returns to Castle  Image of Vlad appears and congratulates you

Also, note that the narrator for the entire Magicka saga is Vlad, as evidenced in the Chapter 12 audio narration at the start of the chapter:


 * Still incapable of forming sentences in stressful situations, the wizards did battle with Fafnir -- and nearly killed him! Luckily I... ehm... Future Vlad intervened just in time. Now equipped with the power to draw Assatur into the corporeal realm, the wizards were finally ready to do battle with the mighty daemon himself!

The Magicka game manual (download link can be found on the Steam store page, just a bit under the metacritic score (direct link)) is also wholly written from Vlad's point of view, where he tries to hide the fact that he is drinking bloo... errr tomato juice.