1. TWEAKED: Eyvind's kills (14), Nid's (2, that joins at Rank 2) and Sigbjorn's (14), just to make promotions in Banner Saga 2 easier and more consistent. FIXED(ENG): Several typos in the dialogues (for a detailed list, ordered by file edited, look here ) and in the descriptions (string.json.
2. A banner with the strange device, Excelsior! There is a Lancashire version or parody, Uppards, written by Marriott Edgar one hundred years later in 1941. James Thurber (1894–1961) illustrated the poem in Fables for Our Time and Famous Poems Illustrated in 1945.

We learn late in Banner Saga 2 that the Varl were surrounded and massacred including King Jorundr. I was personally disappointed Stoic chose to make that choice meaningless. That is why Hakon is now the Varl King and the few hundred he has with him are regarded as the last of the Varl. The Banner Saga Cheats and Cheat Codes, Xbox One. Unlock by getting permission to destroy a varl landmark. Bridge of Spirits releasing on PS5 on August 24.

Part 34: Day 78: Defense of Einartoft (Day 2)

Once again, onto the bridge.
You approach the bridge, which gets a raised eyebrow from Fasolt, who is lugging a dead warrior over his shoulder. 'Back for more?' he says. Glancing out onto the bridge, you can tell that they've lost ground on the bridge since yesterday.
Removing bodies avoids a fight for today, but it also increases caravan morale. Our morale is already good, and we need Renown, so we're here to fight.
'You know the drill,' Fasolt tells you as you prepare yourself for another perilous fight. You're starting to wonder what the point of risking your life is if there's no progress to be seen.
Ekkill is taking a break today, on account of his injuries.
Enemy forces: A Sun Slinger, two Inferno Slingers, a Vicious Grunt, an Enraged Grunt, and a Scourge.
Lots of small units with dangerous skills. I'm going to try and rush them down.
That WAS the plan, at least, but Fasolt can't reach the enemy, and the Scourge is acting first. I advance to one tile short of his movement range.
When he advances, Krumr rushes in to knock his Strength down, while remaining positioned one tile out of the upcoming Grunt's movement range.
Once the grunt advances, Tryggvi rushes in to punish it - at 8 Strength, it'll be running Deflect chances on everyone in my army.
For his trouble, Tryg is repaid with a Sunstrike, preventing him from dipping into Willpower next turn.
This isn't a great fight for Oddleif - ranged enemies are tough to predict. Still, she can put out some good Armor damage.
Tryggvi's aggressive charge is being met with a lot of damage. I'm not convinced he'll make it through this fight.
This isn't even Rook going all out. All hail the Farthingjörd.
I can't even use Mend to mitigate this because he's at full Armor.
A full-power Arc Lightning cuts the enemy power nearly in half. I took the screencap a moment too soon - that Grunt gets hit too, for 6 damage.
I could have killed the Scourge here, but now it's one of the weakest units on the map, and it's about to act, so why not?
Scourge goes to summon. I don't intend to let it finish.
Krumr is my main Varl Facesmasher right now, and he's doing an admirable job of it.
Vicious grunts are dangerous regardless of their Strength.
Tryggvi may or may not survive the battle, but at least he got a kill in.
Oddleif finishes off the Scourge before it can summon reinforcements. An Inferno slinger drops bombs on Krumr.

The Banner Saga Destroy Bridges

THIS is Rook going all out.
Although I fucked up his positioning, so he's about to get hit by that bomb. Oops!
The other Inferno slinger makes it worse by dropping another salvo of bombs under his feet.
The enemies are too spread out for Arc Lightning to really be useful here, but dropping that grunt down from 11 Strength is a turn well spent. Instead of bashing Tryg or Rook, it drops by to harass Krumr.
Fasolt's goal here is to push the Sunslinger away while keeping it alive - that way, Krumr will have time to escape bomb range.
And this is exactly how I was hoping he wouldn't react. The Sunslinger moves back into position, boxing Krumr in.
But he can still do something! Screencap lost, but Krumr kills the second Inferno Slinger, reducing the impending damage from two bomb salvos to one.
Still, ow.
And then Krumr goes down.
Tryggvi gets another kill!
Rook loses another 3 Armor!
I need to start Pillage as soon as possible, but there's also the extremely real threat of Rook dying.
I'm amazed that he went for more bomb slinging instead of, you know, dropping Rook in a single attack.
I don't intend to let him recover from that mistake.
Eyvind Mends Rook back up to stable condition.
Just barely stable.
Fasolt kills the Inferno Slinger in a single blow, beginning Pillage.
Tryggvi ends it.
+8 Renown
You'd swear the fighting is getting more vicious and dangerous. Again you let the next line of varl push into battle when you don't dare to risk it anymore.
'Come back tomorrow if you're looking for more,' says Fasolt. You sleep poorly, Eyvind's suggestion to collapse the bridge repeating in your mind.
Fasolt Promotes, gaining two more points of Strength. The rest is spent on supplies.
The battle for Einartoft has entered its third day.
Will we leave, destroy the bridge, or continue to fight?
Voting will last for 24 hours.

Part 35: Day 79: Defense of Einartoft (Day 3)

On the third day, we fight.
Shit.
Right after I sunk all that Renown into him, too.
You snap back to attention when you realize nearly the entire army of varl are staring in your direction. Iver walks past, shuffling slowly with an enormous axe in his remaining hand. He heads toward the bridge.
'Iver!' you yell, but he doesn't reply, plunging his axe into the nearest dredge before kicking it over the side of the bridge. 'Come on!' he screams at the black horde. Cursing, you rush to his side in battle.
Krumr's in bad shape, and Fasolt's dead. On the other hand, Iver's back in action.
Our foes are a Stoneguard, a Stoneguard Defender, two Enraged Grunts, a Slag Slinger Veteran, and a Slag Slinger Marksman.
Let's go.
Losing one arm hasn't done much to stop Iver being badass. What it has done, though, is unspend all of his promotion points - I can redistribute them after this battle, but for now, he's effectively Rank 1. Most troubling is his 1 Exertion.
Wearing down strength is very important right now. Iver's my only real tank, and he only has 12 Armor - and a lot of these enemies have high Break.
Ekkill can't reach any enemies this turn, but he can double shield wall with Tryggvi and Iver. Iver and Ekkill are now both up to 13 Armor.
As predicted, the enemy is going to be piling on Armor damage at Iver.
This is embarrassing, but I actually forgot to position Oddleif at the start of this fight, so she's way off in the corner.
Unlike Iver and Ekkill, Tryggvi is a fairly vulnerable target at a mere 10 Armor.
Now, my army is facing off against a 16-Armor monster here.
Which is why I brought Rook along.
Just like yesterday, the enemy seems to be focusing on Tryggvi. He's my weakest team member, I suppose.
Eyvind gets a very solid lightning strike in. That's a lot of enemy power shut down.
No enemy has especially high Strength on this team, so I don't mind getting early kills. Let's rush these bastards down!
Tryggvi Impales a Grunt, pushing it away and hurting it enough that it can't easily get past his Armor, while also positioning himself so that the Stoneguard can't get to him on its turn.
Following that up, Ekkill Barkley slams it with Guts, doing 1 damage for the initial hit, 1 damage for the space he pushes it, and 1 damage from Impale. An excellent combo.
Oh good, Tryggvi is in even more danger than he already was.
Oddleif reaches the front line, sending a shockwave of Armor damage through that cluster of dredge. Tryggvi takes another single point of Strength damage, dropping him to 7/5.
Rook continues to do what Rook does, although that was the last of his Willpower.
Okay, as much as I'd love to keep throwing down lightning, Tryggvi is in need of rescuing. Eyvind uses his next turn bringing him back up to 9 Armor.
In moving into attack position, the Grunt takes another point of damage from Impale. Quite a well-spent action, that was.
Iver doesn't quite seal the kill. He could have, if his Exertion was up to snuff.
Okay, this is sort of fine, I think. Ekkill doesn't really need Strength.
Tryggvi burns his last point of will for another Impale. Unfortunately, a slinger moves into position behind the target, meaning it can't be moved. Oh, well.
So instead of using Guts again, Ekkill just cuts the Stoneguard's Strength in half.
Tryggvi is down to 1 Strength. I don't think I can save him.
Oddleif cuts down the last enemy with meaningful Strength numbers.
A lucky break for Tryggvi!
Rook takes out the enemy who can reach Tryggvi, and the enemy turn instead goes to the Stoneguard, who cracks Ekkill's Armor a little.
Killing everything that can reach Tryg as fast as I can here.
Lucky break number 2!
Another one down, another Stoneguard turn wasted poking at Ekkill.
Tryg scores a kill with Impale. Now, if he can get lucky with one more deflect...
...and he doesn't have to! The enemy wastes its last turn as the pillage begins.
No casualties!
'Enough of this,' groans Iver, who seems to have snapped out of his daze. 'This is getting us nowhere!' You follow as he climbs the stairs and throws open the doors of the great hall.
You swear you catch a note of trepidation in the king's voice.
Again, this? I'll be damned if that bridge falls during my reign!
You'll let our whole race die?
We'll all be gone someday, Yngvar. I need not tell you. There are no more varl being made tomorrow... or a thousand years from now. We are it. And I will not destroy what we have made! Would you leave no trace of us when we are gone? As if we never existed?!
I know this, but yours is one voice of many. I know that the varl are equal. The days of kendr are over. I ask these varl, all there is left in the world, to follow me, and live another day. Who do you think they will choose?
The weight of the air in the great hall becomes so thick it nearly suffocates you. The silence continues for ages.
Go on. Take the mender, destroy the bridge. Do it and leave. Take whoever would join you, and do not return to my city. The alliance of man and varl is through.
Iver is almost out the door before Jorundr has finished his sentence.

The Banner Saga Story

The Banner Saga Switch

Before long, the masonry is a shattered mess and begins to give under its own weight. Varl and dredge alike race to escape the collapse. When the dust clears, there's a gulf between you and the furious dredge. They won't be crossing this way.
'You've gotten what you wanted,' says Jorundr. 'Now leave. If I ever see man or mender again it will be too soon.'
Eyvind tells you, 'Juno will be waiting in Sigrholm.' Despite the end of the immediate threat, many varl choose to join Iver instead of following Jorundr. You depart with a long caravan at your heels.