|
| Thread: Gnome's HOMM VII idea. |  This thread is pages long: 1 2 3 4 5 6 · «PREV / NEXT» |
|
Avirosb
Promising
Legendary Hero
No longer on vacation
|
posted September 15, 2011 08:06 PM |
|
Edited by Avirosb at 20:06, 15 Sep 2011.
|
Hiya, bixie, hope you heal/have healed fast.
gnomes, I don't know if you mind theoretical lawsuits in regards to theoretical factions,
but I'm fairly sure the word bloodletter is copyrighted by Games Workshop.
|
|
bixie
Promising
Legendary Hero
my common sense is tingling!
|
|
posted September 16, 2011 12:06 AM |
|
|
yep, blood letter is.
maybe something like "Havoc", "Maimer" or "Dreadkin".
only problem is that we don't know what the unit looks like, and so can't make educated as for good names.
____________
Love, Laugh, Learn, Live.
|
|
gnomes2169
Honorable
Undefeatable Hero
Duke of the Glade
|
|
posted September 16, 2011 01:41 AM |
|
|
Part five, Campaigns
As there is a unique sub-faction system to this game, I am going to have choices affect the story line itself ever so slightly. Haven will be the first and most major choice, splitting off into actually different outcomes and stories, while the Renegades will be influenced most by the choices you made for previous campaign stories.
Each campaign will have between 5-9 parts to it and will have two or more main heroes that are present only in the campaign.
Haven
Cut scene: The scene fades into a smoke filled sky, lit red with the fires of the village that burns below. Slowly, picking up speed as we go along, we see a group of armored soldiers patrolling the streets, with a man who wears a sun over his chest leading the procession. This man is Ceril. One of the king's captains, he has signs of his rank around his body, and wears a cape of gold. Ceril is a man with a kind, and somehow sad, face, who glances at the destruction around him with some kind of bitterness. The patrol comes around on a group of men and women dangling from trees, peasants from their garb. The bitter look on Ceril's face disappears with a snarl, "Cut them down." He commands one of his soldiers.
"But, sir, it is the law of the land that traitors will hang for-" The man begins to protest.
"I said cut. Them. Down!" Ceril turns on the man and the procession stops, "They were defending their homes, their friends, their families from an invader, they fought with honor and the fought with courage I find that some of you lack! Because of these things, I could not give a damn about what the king's orders are!" With a much lower voice, Ceril adds, "Especially when they border on madness..."
A gasp can be heard from his troops, "Sir, are you saying that..."
Ceril raises a hand and the soldier stops talking, "I don't know what I'm saying right now, I'm just bitter is all. Please, just cut them down and give them a proper burial." He looks to the bodies again and slowly shakes his head, "No one deserves to be crow's food."
Two soldiers break from the procession as it starts up again. when they are far enough up the hill, one asks the other, "What was that about?"
The other hesitates, "I hear that Captain Ceril was born in this village. I think that he feels responsible for what happened here." They cut down the first body, who's facial features are remarkably like Ceril's, "Of course, it's the king's fault you know, him and the rebels themselves. King gave the proclamation, and they decided to rebel anyway. Nothing we could have done about it, we're just simple soldiers."
The other soldier looks up from the body suddenly, "Hey, doesn't the captain have a twin brother?"
Looking down at the corpse, the other soldier cuts down another rebel, "Had a twin brother." Both of them look down for a second, "Come on, let's get this done before nightfall."
The scene fades out on them cutting down another body and the crows flying off.
Mission 1: Introduction to the Haven armies.
-Player faction: Haven - Empire
-Player color: White
-Enemy faction: Neutral creatures, Haven - Dominion
-Enemy color: None, Red
-victory conditions: Defeat Cassius, Capture the town of Westmark.
-Defeat conditions: Loose Ceril.
-Starting bonus: 30 Blood hounds, 14 Pikemen or 10 wood/ ore.
-Hero level cap: 6
-Scenario introduction: "Ah, Captain. I trust this letter finds you well. With your most recent string of successes, I have decided to give you a matter most pressing. You see, there is a rebel faction called the dominion rising on our southern borders under the flag of a man named Cassius Asipos. I want you to put down this rebellion and bring its leader to me. Do this, and I will finally give you all that is owed to you." - King Cornelius
-Scenario description: A basic tutorial. It teaches you how to take a town right at the beginning, what resources are and how you gain more of them, and how to develop your town (for the purpose of this level, the Dominion tree is locked). You can build all of your cores and hire neutral creatures (mostly peasants) from a few habitations near your starting town. there are a few side quests, though it is a small level over all. This is the very first level and very easy. Cassius only has a small group of mercenaries and war dogs at his disposal, and the town has no troops besides hunters and peasants. Both are easily defeated. Hero max level is 6.
-Scenario conclusion: "You have defeated me here, yes, but I am only one of many men that seeks the downfall of the king. Please, you must understand that this rebellion is happening not because we want power, but because the king is mad! You of all people must know this. What I was trying to do here today was rally all of our factions at once... something that I lack the power or influence to do. But you... Ceril, the kingdom knows that you do not agree with the King. Please, I ask you to lead us. You know that that man has to be stopped..."
Ceril looks down on Cassius as if on a bug, and walks away. Later that night, he walks to the prison tossing a ring of keys in his hands and opens the door. Cassius looks up from his bed and smiles. "So you decided to join us after all?"
"I don't know that yet," he tells the rebel leader, "but the king must be stopped somehow. He's too corrupt to let live any longer."
At this point, the player decides whether he/ she wants to play Leading the Dominion forces or the Empire forces. This decision decides the path of Ceril and the theme of the remaining campaigns. For Haven, there will be a level "A" (the Empire) and "B" (the Dominion)
Choice A: Death of a King (Empire path)
Mission 2A: Find your own friends.
-Player faction: Haven - Empire.
-Player color: White.
-Enemy factions: Neutral, Haven - Empire, Preserve - Fae.
-Enemy colors: None, Blue, Green.
-Ally factions: Haven - Dominion, Preserve - High elves.
-Ally colors: Grey, Gold.
-Victory conditions: Capture Iron Hold (mountain fortress), gain assistance of the elves (their town becomes yours), defeat the Empire "Corrections force."
-Defeat conditions: Loose Ceril or Ordela, Cassius's town is captured and he is defeated.
-Starting bonus: Ally Dominion forces have +4 Witchunters, You start with the Heartseaker (Bow, weapon, no range penalty, +4 attack for shooters), You start with 7 Griffins.
-Hero level cap: 12
-Scenario introduction: "Cassius, I may be in rebellion against the Empire, but I do not want to lead your bands of mercenaries, though they are plentiful and they are skilled, I do not trust them to be loyal to the Empire when all is said and done. They are too... volatile. Instead, I will seek the help of the elves, who's land has been time and again encroached upon on the King's orders and the help of other soldiers who know of the King's madness. I only hope that both will listen to me." - Ceril
"Tell you what brother, since you're helping us, I'm going to help you. While you go about rounding up your allies, I'll keep the Empire off of your back. Maybe round up some men of my own." - Cassius
-Scenario description: this is one of the more interesting scenarios, more because of all the enemies and allies themselves than the difficulty or the length. In fact, it's mostly interesting because of the elven allies that you have. They only join your side after you give them the Heartseeker item set, which you can only complete by either capturing the Hold (which at the start only your allies can do), defeating the Dragon Utopia (good luck) or just starting with the Heartseaker bow. All the other parts are just guarded by moderately-powered neutral stacks of humans and orcs. You can still only purchase cores at this point, but you can recruit stacks of griffins at random intervals, and when you collect and give the artifacts to the Preserve faction, the hero of you allies and their town are under your control. Ordelia is a hero that will stay until the end of the game. Until the elves are on your side, you and Cassius are split by the forest. Once your forces are connected, you can march on Iron Hold. It is only lightly defended. the difficult part comes when a rather impressive force of Empire troops appears near bye and comes to reclaim it. With a bit of planning, you can easily defeat them while staying stationed in your town. This scenario would be a bit of a challenge to new players, but veterans who know what they are doing should be fine.
-Scenario conclusion: "After our victory at Iron Hold, Cassius left us to go unify the Dominion forces to the north. We promised to meet again in a few months time. Meanwhile, I need to figure out how to get the King's troops to see reason. But how?" - Ceril's journal
Mission 3A: Prove yourself
-Player factions: Haven - Empire, Preserve - High elves.
-Player color: White.
-Enemy factions: Neutral, Haven - Empire, Preserve - Fae.
-Enemy colors: None, blue, red.
-Victory conditions: Obtain an alliance with the Griffins and capture the three enemy towns in this level.
-Defeat conditions: Loose Ceril or Ordela.
-Starting bonus: 8 griffins (Ceril), Sharpshooter's bow (Ordela), +2 attack/ defense for both heroes (permanent).
-Hero level cap: 16
-Scenario introduction: "If I am to overthrow the king, I will need to weaken his support and gain the trust of our people. With everything he has done within the last decade, he has already paved the first step for me in a road of gold. But how am I, once a weapon for the king, supposed to convince the people that I am no longer a villain? How do I get them to trust me? If I can convince the Griffins to abandon the royal line that they have long served, perhaps I will stand a chance... but how?" -Ceril
"I wish that I could support my knight and his armies fully, but the Fae will have none of it. If I am to ride with my full force and fight with Ceril and secure a future for our people, and these wild ones force my hand, I will have to show them no mercy, no matter how my instincts rebel against the idea." -Ordela
-Scenario description: This scenario starts out with you having two griffins in Ceril's army and a few druids in Ordela's. Factions are separated by forests, mountains and a lake, though they do eventually meet at the enemy stronghold. With Ordela, you have a simple task, wipe out the Fae town when the objective appears (Around week two, when one of their three heroes challenges her decision). This battle is moderately challenging even though you can hire elite units since you are still somewhat new to the faction and the enemy starts out almost equal in total army power to you (though their town has no tavern, so if you defeat the wandering heroes then the AI is left with only their town defender and his small-ish garrison.)
On Ceril's end, you can hire all of the elites except the griffin, that will come later. First, you have to journey into the mountains and find a congregation of griffins. A hero is standing there, a man who looks like your stereotypical hermit. His name is somewhat unpronounceable in the common tongue, being a griffin call, but he calls himself Tim. Tim is connected to the griffins and speaks for them. They reveal that their flight is one of the great flights from the time of Isabel's rule and that for years they have wanted to throw down the king. Because of their flight's overuse in current campaigns they were not strong enough to pose a threat, but just in case the king has their children trapped as prisoners in a near bye town. If you are able to free them, then the griffins will pledge themselves fully to your cause.
So you go, and you conquer this small garrison, consisting mostly of cores but led by a decently powerful hero. You should be able to take them with minimal losses. When you take the town, a small cut-scene takes place where Ceril looks frantically for the griffin young only to find the enemy hero standing in a dungeon holding pen filled with dead or dying baby griffins. Tim shows up a day later with an army of fifty griffins under his command and Ceril, duty bound, reveals what has happened, throwing the enemy hero down for judgement. In a rage, the griffins tear him apart on the spot, and Tim swears vengeance for their flight's young. The griffins swear to follow you, with Tim as their representative, and you gain control of them. With on of your three forces you march on the last enemy stronghold in the area, which is another holding pen, and butcher its defenders before they have time to kill the last of the griffin young. Because of you actions, the griffin flight is forever in your debt, and the high elves are now able to stand with you. You have won.
-Scenario conclusion: "When I saw Ordela again today, I felt a great weight fall from my shoulders. I don't know why, but just the fact that she had been able to come made me feel... better. Like everything was right, and I was doing what I was supposed to do. Every time over the next few weeks we parted, I felt hollow, I doubted every action I committed, but when she returned I could feel new life and determination rise up in me. I would walk through Sheogh for that woman, but I don't think that she knows it. Gah, re-reading my words, I must sound like some love-struck fool. Foolishness, I should go to bed. Tomorrow, Tim is going to introduce me to a sister-flight of the griffins who have joined us, and we are going to help them in much the same way we helped our flight. Hopefully, we will be able to bring about the end of this war quickly. I do not know if I can stand this butchers work too much longer, and I do not know how I can make up for the pain I must be causing my people. Damn, but can I live up to their expectations? How can I make up for the pain I caused them? I am expected to be a hero, but how can I become one with everything that I have done?
I should get some sleep, such thoughts tire me and tomorrow will be a busy day." - Ceril
Mission 4A: Savior or destroyer?
-Player factions: Haven - Empire, Preserve - High elves.
-Player color: White.
-Enemy faction: Neutral, Haven - Empire.
-Enemy color: None, blue.
-Ally faction: Haven - Dominion.
-Ally color: Black.
-Victory conditions: Capture all enemy towns, obtain the aid of the angels, and defeat Cassius in two months.
-Defeat conditions: Lose Ceril or Ordela.
-Starting bonus: 14 griffins (Ceril), 28 Great eagles (Ordela), +4 to all stats for both heroes (permanent)
-Level cap: 20
-Scenario introduction: "I have been watching him for a while, this knight named Ceril. This rebel and traitor. This man that men follow and respect. Whenever I see him, I feel stronger, safe, protected from those who would harm me. And I see a king who is growing into his full rights, a good, kind man who cares for his people more than himself. He might not realize it, and his men might be blind to this slow but steady transformation themselves, but Ceril has an air about him. When he commands, men strive to please him, they work to see that the task he trusted them is done. Even some of my elven brothers follow his orders, without ever realizing that they have done so. I have found myself following his orders on occasion, though for some reason, most seem to be requests for meal and asking me how I feel or how I am doing. I do not know this soon-to-be king's game, but I wish the oaf would just ask me already. Can't he see that I love him as well, or does his duty blind him?" -Ordela
"Dear diary, I have noticed that when we have meals or strategy meetings that Ordela will give me the oddest of looks. I think she might know about the emotions I have for her, but the blasted woman is so hard to read! If she were human, I do not think that it would be any easier! Sometimes she seems to be happy when I'm close to her, and at others she seems insulted to be approached. The sovereign take it all, but I don't know what to make of this anymore. Something less confusing had popped up though, Cassius sent word that he and the "Dominion forces," I'm guessing that this would be his army, are going to arrive within the week. I hope that with their assistance we can break this siege on Helsgrind and move on to the capitol itself. Also, a priest has been seen talking to himself for the longest time, and says that in a while we are going to receive a heavenly visit. Whatever that means, he said that we must take the fortress before they arrive. Everything could hinge on this task, and I agree. Besides the capitol itself, Helsgrind is the most powerful stronghold the king still has. It must fall before reinforcements arrive in two months, or we will fail." - Ceril
-Scenario description: This scenario is a decently challenging one, made harder by the almost ludicrous time limit. It is also a massive shocker mission, one that will surprise anyone who plays through it the first time.
The scenario starts with Ceril and Ordela stationed next to one another in the bottom-right corner of the screen. It will take you most of the time limit to clear the way with your main heroes to get to Helsgrind, but it should be possible. Cassius will attack their city time and again, weakening it for you so that when you arrive with both (yes, both) of Ceril and Ordela you can defeat its guard. No matter which you choose, the garrison has enough men and firepower to severely cut the army of whatever hero attacks it, and the day after I suggest moving whatever hero it is that took the town with whatever rags of any army remain as far away as possible and moving your full-strength hero in. "Why?" you may ask, well here is the reason. Without provocation or reason, Cassius attacks the town with the largest collection of Dominion creatures he has amassed while it is under your control. This battle may take new players a few tries to complete, so an auto-save happens right before the battle begins. When you finally manage to defeat him, which is easier for Ordela, since her creatures prey on the Dominion's one weakness, speed, Cassius gives you his reason for attacking you.
Ceril has become too much of a threat to the Dominion, who will not see another king, no matter how benevolent he might be, take away their newly gained power. As he rides off, Cassius cries, "We are free men! Free m-!" before an elven archer fires one arrow and the traitor's voice is silenced. These quickly shifting events culminate in the final cut scene, as Ceril hears a voice call his name. Still in shock from both Cassius's betrayal and death, the knight turns and sees the priest standing there, with an angel by his side. the angel speaks again in its musical voice, "Are you Ceril, the one who challenges the mad king?"
"Yes." Cerils voice is hollow, while his face is shocked. The angel plants its glowing blade in the ground and falls on one knee.
"I pledge my services, loyalty and life to you, Ceril, soon to be king." The angel rises and unfurls its wings, "Your pure heart and intentions show your true lineage, Griffonheart, and it has drawn me and my silver legion to your cause." From the courtyard, a blue pulsing light shines through the windows. Ceril runs out and stops as if struck. In the courtyard, a quickly growing army of Elrath's servants turn to bow to him and swear fealty. the arch-angel from before, what else could it be?, tells him, "All five hundred strong."
Ordela and Tim catch Ceril as he falls backwards in a faint.
-Scenario conclusion: "ANGELS?! Angels fight with me? How can I possibly be this lucky, and how could I possibly fail now? True, the angel Johnathan assured me that the king has his own angels who stand beside him, but Elrath has sent these beings to stand beside me. Me. And they call me a KING! How could this day possibly become better? Oh, I know, perhaps I'll just confess my feelings for Ordela and she'll tell me that she feels the same way! Haha, I think that I'm lucky enough for that to actually work! About the only thing that went wrong was Cassius's backstab and death, but that pails in comparison to what I have, and what I might have... Alright, here goes nothing!" - Ceril
"Dear diary, the fool finally asked how I felt about him. Or rather, he announced to all of the world that he loved me and didn't seem to care for any custom or rule that he had just broken and after that he demanded to know if I had any feelings for him as well. I think that he might be a little drunk on success and a bit of shock. Ceril is lucky that I do share his feelings, otherwise he would have made a complete fool of himself today after his greatest success and would never have lived it down. Today I was showered with gifts and praise. I've never seen my knight so happy, and though sometimes it is a bit frightening it is a welcome change. Unfortunately, I think that it is only temporary. Cassius led only a small fraction of the total Dominion forces, and the King is still in power, with all of his remaining armies gathered to fight us in the last leg of this campaign. Since my lover isn't worrying yet, I'll do so for both of us. Will we be able to defeat them? Will we survive this two sided war? For both our sake, I hope so. I hope so. I never want this dream to end." - Ordela
Mission 5A: Rise Griffonheart!
-Player factions: Haven - Empire, Preserve - High elves.
-Player color: White.
-Enemy factions: Neutral, Haven - empire, Haven - Dominion, Preserve - Fae, Barbarians - Conquerors.
-Enemy colors: None, blue, (Black, yellow, red), green, brown.
-Victory conditions: Capture Telius (the empire's main city, home of the king), defeat two of the Dominion players, wipe out the last of the Fae in this kingdom.
-Defeat conditions: Lose Ceril, or Ordela.
-Starting bonus: All heroes have +2 Champion creatures, all heroes gain 4 to all of their stats, +10 to all starting resources.
-Level cap: 30
-Scenario introduction: "For months all of the factions of this war have waited, hoping someone else will start the last leg of this final confrontation. Each day, I hang a spy and receive reports of men deserting my army, just to be replaced by deserters from other armies. Every day, my men entrench themselves farther and farther, becoming more complacent and sloppy, eating off of a land that cannot support their mass. Well, no more! I'm done waiting for action that is never going to come, I am done letting the king abuse his people, and I am done letting these rebels that call themselves a sovereign nation run around doing whatever they please. If Cassius's people want a war, then they shall have one. I will overthrow the king, and anyone or anything that stands in my way will fall as well, be they men or gods. I will see that justice and joy return to these lands, and I will make a safe home for my new family. We march tonight." -Ceril
-Scenario description: By now I hope that you have mastered your two factions, because this level will push you until you find what you really are ready for. To state it more simply, this level requires allot of planning, and is just bloody hard. Fortunately, your enemies are almost all set against one another from the get-go. Unfortunately, the Barbarians have to go through you to attack the others, and they Fae will exclusively attack your elven cities. I suggest you have Ordela take care of them by week three, otherwise they will be an exceedingly painful tooth to pull.
When you are attacked the first time by the Barbarians, it is a fight where you command the Arch-Angel Jonathan. Or more, it is a string of fights where Barbarian heroes will continuously spawn until Jonathan's rather small army is defeated. On the beginning of your next turn, Ceril learns about this turn of events and is left speechless, how could anything have defeated an angel, and what are these dragon-men? Where did they come from? That is not revealed in this story line. If you actually manage to defeat the Barbarian forces, more of their heroes spawn and another cut scene plays where Tim goes out to draw their attention away while you take care of what you came here to do. Despite the fact that you lose a very useful hero, I suggest that you take the Dragonites out. It eliminates one of your most powerful foes and gives you busloads of resources, artifacts and experience. The two Barbarian towns are never captured, you destroy them when you take them.
When you manage to take care of the two distraction factions, (reloading and making sure to suffer as few casualties as possible) you can now turn your gaze to the task of defeating the massive armies of humans, who have been fighting each other and periodically sending heroes to harass you. Ceril is closer to the Empire cities and will gain the most advantage from taking them, since they allow him to build his forces after each battle while weakening the enemy. Ordela is closer to the Dominion forces and has an easier time fighting this sub-faction because of elven speed. By carefully advancing and entrenching on both sides, you should be able to knock out all of the Empire cities and defeat the required amount of Dominion teams with a bit of a struggle. When you are ready and have built up too large of a force by half, attack Telius. When you eventually win, you have cleared this campaign and move on to the Dungeon story.
-Scenario conclusion: "We broke the courtyard forces on the third day of the siege, and I, with a small group, cut a path to the castle itself. It was a foolish act in hindsight, the elves were coming to help us finish this war, but I wanted to see the look on the king's face when he knew that he was defeated, I wanted to see his last glimmer of hope for mercy die that day, I wanted that monster to know that he would not escape justice! I would have tried him, put him before a court and had him executed for his crimes. I would have laid his crimes to rest and given the people the revenge they desired so much.
The dastard took that away from us. When we broke into the throne room, we found the king laying in his chair, dead. An empty bottle lay shattered on the floor next to him, and his emaciated frame was locked in a convulsion. Either he killed himself, or the king was murdered by someone else, either way the job is done. This war is over, or this part of it at least. though I shattered the Dominion forces, they are by no means defeated. they are splintered into armies and factions that stand firmly against us still, I do not think we can stop them yet, even if we tried. My people need to have time to rebuild, to heal the wounds caused by this war and its late propagator. We need time to fill in new roles and to grieve for those that were lost. And I need to figure out how the hell I'm supposed to rule these people with Tim and Jonathan, two of my greatest advisers and friends, killed by those dragon-whatevers. They gave their lives to protect me and our people, though they were under no obligation or need. How do I make their sacrifice matter?
Looking back on what I've written, I see that I'm just trying to stall again. I don't know why I'm so nervous, damn it all, I've stared down death hundreds of times in the last year without blinking, why does one simple ceremony terrify my this much? It's even a common ritual, how could anyone go through it if it was this way every time? No, something must be wrong with me, I must be loosing my edge or nerve or something. there is no reason for me to be afraid of this. And yet... I am. I have so many doubts and fears these days, but I guess now that I am not afraid to face them. Funny, a year ago I would have quivered in my boots if someone had told me that the king was displeased with me. Now I am the king. I have grown so much in the last few months that my head still spins, but I'm not afraid anymore. Hah, I'm not afraid!
The priest is calling for me, it is time to face my future with my chin held high, and the woman I love by my side." - Ceril
Final cut scene for Death of a King (Option A): Ceril, in ceremonial garb and white is standing by the priest, shifting nervously from foot to foot and glancing down at the church doors. The priest raises an eyebrow, but wisely says nothing, he just keeps humming a ceremonial song to Elrath. Ceril turns to the priest of a second, looking like he is going to ask something but the look the priest gives him makes Ceril close his mouth. After a second, the knight lifts his foot to step down from the stage when the door opens and Ordela strides in, accompanied by two plainly dressed elves. She is simply stunning. Ceril looks at her with his mouth dropped until she stands next to him. With one hand on his face, she whispers, "I'm sorry to keep you waiting."
A grin breaks out over Ceril's face, "No apologies are needed, love."
The drone of the priest speaking fades in a flash of white, and the last thing that is seen is Ceril and Ordela holding one another's hands.
~Fin
____________
Yeah in the 18th century, two inventions suggested a method of measurement. One won and the other stayed in America.
-Ghost destroying Fred
|
|
Avirosb
Promising
Legendary Hero
No longer on vacation
|
|
posted September 16, 2011 01:53 AM |
|
|
|
I don't think it will be a problem unless the bloodletter is demonic in appearance.
|
|
gnomes2169
Honorable
Undefeatable Hero
Duke of the Glade
|
|
posted September 16, 2011 02:03 AM |
|
|
Choice B: Rise of the Dominion
This option opens up after you have completed the Haven campaign once, and it is far more difficult than the other both in challenge and story. This is the thread that shows just how much the decision of one man in the wrong place at the right time can mess quite a bit up. Also, it gives you some experience with the Dominion troops and how to lead them. This option will affect certain levels down the road, and open up/ close some scenarios and paths entirely. The end of the game itself is no less fulfilling, but the Haven campaign will become quite a bit more depressing, especially with option A ending on such a positive note.
Enjoy.
Scenario 2B: Stand together...
-Player faction: Haven - Dominion.
-Player color: White.
-Enemy faction: Neutral, Haven - Empire.
-Enemy color: None, Blue.
-Ally faction: Haven - Dominion.
-Ally color: Black.
-Victory conditions: Bring Cassius to the ally hero: Nassir.
-Defeat conditions: Lose Cassius or Ceril, Nassir's city is taken before you find him.
-Starting bonus: 4 Witch hunters, Paladin's blade (+4 attack and +2 defense, carries over), 24 Mercenaries.
-Level cap: 16
-Scenario introduction: "I left with Cassius in the dead of night. I'm afraid that if I had not done so, my men would have followed me. I will not be the cause for their death warrants. After three days, Cassius and I finally found what we were looking for, a camp filled with mercenaries and rebels, all ready to move out on the hour. I asked Cassius what we were going to do, and do you know what he told me? "I was hoping that you would think of that." Well, I thought about it for a while, and in the morning I came back with my idea.
"There is no way this small force can take on the Empire." I said over breakfast, some hard bread and water, "You mentioned that there are other rebels? Where are they?"
Cassius's response was just a smile." - Ceril
-Scenario description: The other path's beginning, and a very different story shall come from it. A very different story indeed. So, this mission is rather simple, right? you have two heroes who run around and try to find Nassir, or the ally town, and recruit him. Well, look at that level cap again. It is 4 levels higher than the path A option for a reason. To get to Nassir, you have to obey the orders of a group of men who reveal themselves to you after the second week. Among their orders are the eradication of a group of refugees (spies and traitors, as your benefactors call them), the destruction of a bandit group (comprising of orcs and humans) and the defeat and sacking of the Empire town. Nassir's location then becomes accessible, to you, and you only have to bring Cassius to him to end the scenario. Well, after a final battle with an Empire army at least that basically ambushes Cassius before he talks to Nassir.
This mission is of moderate difficulty, since I will assume that you somewhat know what you are doing since the only way to unlock this path is to beat the game once. I suggest making sure both of your heroes hit the level cap, they are going to need it next level. And on that last note, you have achieved victory. Congratulations.
-Scenario conclusion: The cut scene comes in with Ceril marching forward with death in his eyes. Cassius is advancing with him uncertainly, flashing between nervous and annoyed. A few witch hunters and mercenaries watch them pass, sharpening well used weapons and going about their business. Ceril spares no attention for them as he marches into the leader's tent. Before anything else is said, Ceril hisses low and dangerously, "Why them?"
Nassir, not worried or surprised, looks up from his maps and asks, "Why who?"
"the bandits I can understand, same with the empire garrison, both were too powerful and too much of a threat to let them stand, but the refugee camp?!" Ceril's fsit slamming on the table causes Cassius to jump, "I have nothing but your word that they were a threat to you! So why them? Why?!"
Nassir looks down at the ground that he is no longer touching and claps Ceril's arm. "Put me down and I'll tell you, 'right?" Ceril glares and drops the well-dressed rebel leader, who rights his collar. "'Right. Well, to put it simply I needed to know that you both were loyal, and that you would not show mercy to Empire sympathizers." He pauses and looks back to the table, "I needed to be sure before I gave you my men and my life that you could do what had to be done. I'm sorry for having to put you through that, trust me, but I had to be sure."
Ceril stands there for a second, still and cold, before he marches out of the tent. Cassius sighs and begins to apologize for everything that just happened and the scene fades...
Scenario 3B: Champions of the Free
-Player faction: Haven - Dominion.
-Player color: White.
-Enemy factions" Neutral, Haven - Empire, Stronghold - Kingdom.
-enemy colors: None, Blue, Brown.
-Victory conditions: Drive off the orcs, defeat all Empire forces, kill all Empire sympathizer.
-Defeat conditions: Lose Cassius or Ceril.
-Starting bonus: 4 Champions for each hero, +6 attack and defense for both heroes (Permanent), Amulet of life (Ceril, carries over, +2 health to all creatures).
-Level cap: 22
-Scenario introduction: "So they will meet us here once we have secured the area, that's what Tomas and his troops said?" Ceril pours a glass of a hard wine, taking a sip and grimacing, "By everything you have told me, it seems that 'General' Tom has forces just as powerful as our own. Why won't he help us if he is so eager to join us?"
Nassir leans back in his chair, "Because he, and many other leaders of the rebellion, have heard about your... outburst. As much as it shows your 'Good' character, it also shows that you are weak at least," Nassir quickly raises his hand and stutters, "in their eyes it makes you weak. I hold no such illusions any more, but you don't have to earn my trust, you have to earn theirs." Ceril swirls his wine and looks down at the map again, "And to do that, you will have to prove your strength and loyalty to our cause." Nassir continues, calm and collected again.
Ceril stares at the map for a while longer, before tossing back the last of his wine and silently leaving the strategy tent. Cassius is right outside, apparently waiting for Ceril. "Ah, hello brother, how did-?" Cassius begins to ask.
Ceril cuts him off sharply with a whisper, "Watch that man. I do not trust him farther than I could kick him." Cassius blinks, then nods in agreement and understanding. Ceril gives him a sad smile, "Thank you, my friend. You at least I can trust." Cassius winces, but then throws an arm around Ceril's shoulder.
"Of course buddy. Otherwise, what are friends for? I'll keep an eye," One of Cassius's golden eyes drifts towards the tent but not the other (sort of a cross or chameleon-like eye movement), "on our reluctant ally."
Ceril raises an eyebrow and laughs. "How do you do things like that?"
Cassius winks, and his eye is back to normal, "Trade secret."
-Scenario description: A slightly aggravating and more than moderately challenging level, Champion of the Free does deserve its name. Nassir's men are not the most loyal of soldiers to you in the beginning (characterized by dialogue boxes that pop up informing you of acts that directly contradict Ceril's orders) but after you seem to exhaust all forms of diplomacy and ways to keep your men alive, the boxes show more and more support for Ceril, until right before the end Nassir comes to complain that his men aren't following his orders any more.
On to the more frustrating parts. First off, a garrison of Orcs reveals themselves to you as warriors hired by the King. The fact that they talk first and that Ceril has fought besides these noble beings before leads Ceril to believe that he can use diplomacy to deal with them, and save his men's lives in the process. A messenger from Tomas tells him that his goal is admirable, but that after a week, if diplomacy does not work, Ceril is to remove the "Sub-humans" by force. the orcs are about to be convinced by the end of the week that the king is an evil, unworthy employer and they are about to leave without a fight when Nassir orders you to slay them all, and kills the ambassador when Ceril protests too much, leaving you with no choice but to take pointless casualties and fight the orcs. This marks the first strike against Nassir.
The Empire troops Ceril has no problems dealing with, at least not morally. the Empire towns have large and powerful garrisons led by some raw recruit heroes, so you will have the advantage in quality if not quantity. As an experienced player, you should be able to take them with minimal loss.
The hardest part of this level difficulty and morally, though, is when Tomas orders you to deal with all Empire sympathizer, in other words he orders the systematic destruction of five villages, each with a powerful garrison of neutral creatures. Once again, Ceril has to kill refugees, and it weighs heavily on his conscience. When you come to the farthest village, regardless of what order you attack the targets, it is revealed by a portion of Ceril's army, who comes from that village, that this town is not loyal in any way to the king. They beg for you to spare their families and Ceril not only allows their families to be spared, he orders that the attack be called off. Nassir marches up to him in a short series of dialogue boxes and commands Ceril to continue what was started. When Ceril refuses, rather strongly, Nassir orders the attack himself. A small handful of troops starts to walk forward, but stops and hesitates, Looking to Ceril for direction. Nassir leaves shortly after in outrage, promising payback and vowing to return. Only a small handful of Nassir's most loyal personal guard follow him when he leaves. Ceril does not show any of the other refugee camps mercy, burning them to the ground as ordered.
After, Tomas and his forces arrive. Tomas is a well-dressed man with a noble bearing who was once a cavalry commander under the King. He and Ceril served together before, though they hadn't gotten along very well. Tomas's measures had been to mild sometimes and too extreme others for Ceril to gain much respect for the man beyond admiration for Tomas's cavalry-leading genius. Unlike with Nassir, Tomas does not swear loyalty, but he enters into a pack of shared leadership with Ceril. Once the last dialogue box disappears, you have won this level.
-Campaign conclusion: Ceril is standing outside, looking at the stars outside a smoking ruin of a house. Though it has been many days since the house was destroyed, embers still burn and give off heat this cold night. Cassius walks up and stands beside him, silent.
without warning, Ceril says, "I want to make a pact with you." Cassius, caught a little off-guard, nods for him to continue, "If this thing we are doing becomes too bloody, if I cannot stand doing this any more, if they push me too far, I will leave this rebellion." Ceril's gaze does not shift from the sky, "I want you to promise that you will come with me."
Cassius looks down and considers for a time. "I promise you, brother," the mercenary says, "that I will leave if you do."
Ceril smiles another sad smile, "Thank you, Cassius."
Cassius turns and starts to walk away, "Well, I'd better start organizing the troops to move out. Got to get moving tomorrow you know." Ceril nods and for a while he stands alone on the hill. After a few seconds though, a woman walks up from the camp and stands next to him. "What are you doing, commander?"
Ceril looks back, confused for a second, and mumbles, "Thinking."
"'Tis a good night for it." The woman nods sagely, "But thinking all alone, that be a bad thing. I think 'tis a good thing that I found you here tonight. I have to think too."
Ceril rolls his eyes, but smiles genuinely. "You're welcome to think with me then, m'lady...?"
"Cassia, m'lord." She sits down and blinks her golden eyes, "Cassia." - End cutscene
Scenario 4B: Blood and Poison
-Player faction: Haven - Dominion.
-Player color: White.
-Enemy factions: Neutral, Haven - Empire, Preserve - Fae, Stronghold - Kingdom.
-Enemy colors: None, Blue, Green, Brown.
-Ally faction: Preserve - High elves.
-Ally color: Silver.
-Victory conditions: Reclaim all Preserve towns from the Stronghold and Haven forces. Claim the Fae towns. Slaughter the Orcs, and destroy the men who stand in the Dominion's way. Do this in four months.
-Defeat conditions: Lose Tomas, Ceril, Cassius or let Ordela (your ally in this mission) be defeated. Let the scenario last a week longer than four months.
-Starting bonus: 300 mercenaries (divided between your heroes), 3 Capitols (yes, three. You need the gold), +6 to all stats (permanent).
-Automatic bonus: Ceril gains the Paladin's armor (+4 defense, immunity to dark spells, carries over).
-Level cap: 28
-Scenario introduction: Ceril is climbing out of bed, pulling up his boots and lacing them when a petite hand touches his arm. He looks back and smiles at Cassia. She smiles back and gives his arm a gentle squeeze, "Do you have to go?"
He takes her hand and gives it a gentle kiss, looking at Cassia tenderly, "Well, if securing an alliance with the elves by reclaiming the land the Empire and those filthy demon-born have stolen from them isn't important enough, and the sun rising doesn't tell you to get out of bed, then the fact that your cousin, Cassius, will be here soon should be enough to scare both of us into readiness. I mean, he doesn't know about us, does he?" A gentle hand brushes her face, "I would hate to make him angry and destroy our friendship."
Cassia looks as if she is going to say something, but instead looks away, "Of course. You should go, Cassius will be here soon." As Ceril dons his vest and steps out of the commander's tent, he hears Cassia sigh, "Men."
He shakes his head and rolls his eyes, "Women."
-Scenario information: This level is just plain hard. seriously, finishing in the time limit is only made possible by the addition of Tomas, a single-scenario hero who makes your Champions stronger. Otherwise, there are too many enemies and way the hell to many towns for you to take in just four months and a week. Your heroes each fight different enemies, thought they all take Preserve towns from them. Tomas fights the Fae, Cassius wages war on the Orcs, and Ceril must fight the Empire's finest. Make a single mistake with any of them, and you can lose the level in a heartbeat.
Sometimes you will have to take risks and leaps of faith, though overall you should be able to take care of each of the hero's paths with careful planning and a jump-like siege pattern. Ordela should be able to handle the first few attacks on her town, but since all three enemies have access to her starting area she does not have a chance of lasting very long. Put pressure on your enemy right away to keep them off of her back, and she will help Ceril with the Empire (by far your most powerful enemy) by taking a few towns and, if she captures them before you, destroying a few refugee camps. With your other heroes, if Tomas and Cassius have not A)hit their level cap and B) defeated their enemies by month three, then you might be in trouble. When one or the other completely destroys their targets, have them converge on the empire and give Ordela and Ceril assistance. If you defeat them with a week to spare, then you have done everything perfectly. If you go down to the last day but still win, well, that's what the extra week is for. That's right, you have a week of cushioning for mistakes that you make. Don't make any if you can help it, because a week isn't very long in the grand scheme of things.
Once you take the last enemy town, you win. And then the most depressing cut scene of this campaign plays out.
-Scenario conclusion: Ceril and Cassuis walk into the clearing where Ordela and Tomas are sitting down and talking. The sun shines brightly, and a few birds fly around cheerfully. An elf-song is heard a few meters away in some trees. A few elven homes are seen in the distance, among the trees and gardens. Ceril is smiling, "We are finally doing something that I know is right." He whispers to Cassius. "Something beautiful and good." Cassius just nods, scanning the trees thoroughly, looking for something.
Tomas turns when they get close enough, "Ah, my allies! Might I introduce you to our friend, Ordela. I trust you were able to find this place well enough?" It's not really a question. "Good. Now, Ordela has offered the full support of her people to our cause in exchange for the lands her people once held, is that right?"
"Yes." The elven noble seems to be a little short of breath and clears her throat, "All we ask is that you return the lands that have... have separated us from our king and people for so... so..." Her face pale, Ordela falls towards the ground, only to be caught by Ceril and Cassius. She gasps, becoming more white before convulsing for a second and growing still. Tomas puts down his tea cup.
"I was wondering if I had poisoned her cup properly." Ceril gives him a look of pure shock. The elfsong has stopped, and somewhere close by a fire has started. Behind Tomas, a figure transforms from what appeared to be a large hound into a man. "So then, Vizen, you will march with us?"
The doppelganger's golden eyes drink in the sight of his dead foe, "Yes, I and the other Fae will stand beside you."
Cassius's grip on Ordela's arm becomes tighter, "Impossible. The Fae were destroyed, Tomas killed..." Suddenly, the deception fully hits. "But... why?"
"Why? Cassius," Tomas puts his cup down on the large stump, "I made a deal with our friend, Vizen, long before we even heard a word from the fool girl. He promised me his troops if I could deal with the infection here. So, I have taken care of the elves here, and now the Fae, who are far from dead, will stand with us against the King." He stands, "If you'll excuse me-"
"You cannot trust him." Cassius has set Ordela down gently, respectfully folding her arms and closing her eyes, "He hasn't even told you his real name, have you Vholke?" The doppelganger gives him a hard look, wondering.
"Cassius, what are you-" Tomas begins.
"Aha! I was wondering when you would turn up, sister." Vholke grins widely, golden eyes gleaming. "Now Cassia, I knew that you like to play dress up and be a man, but don't you think that it is time to stop playing games and grow up now?"
Cassius is standing with a stiffened back as Tomas and Ceril look between him and Vholke. Cassius sighs, and in a flash of light it is Cassia who stands there instead. "I know that I deceived you, Tomas," She says after Ceril and the cavalry commander cry out in shock, "But please, you must listen to me! My brother will only use you for his own ends, and he'll discard you if you prove to be useless. Please, don't do this!"
Tomas sneers at Cassia, "And I should trust you? How many months have you kept this secret of yours? How many years, 'Cassius?'" The sneer turns into a snarl and he walks away, "So Vholke, what shall we do next?"
Cassia looks to shout something after, drawing in breath, but she holds back whatever she was about to say. Instead, she turns her head to Ceril, "My knight, please, don't-"
Ceril takes one step away from here, horror on his face. "Why?"
Cassia looks down, silent. Ceril only stays for a few more seconds before he turns away in disgust and walks back to camp. Cassia is left alone.
Scenario 5B: A murderer's search
-Player faction: Haven - Dominion.
-Player color: White
-Enemy faction: Neutral.
-Enemy color: None.
-Victory conditions: Find Cassia.
-Defeat conditions: Lose Ceril
-Starting bonus: 5 Champions, Boots of the soldier (+8 move, +2 attack/ defense, carries over), 27 Witch hunters.
-Automatic bonus: +4 to all of Ceril's stats.
-Level cap: 32
-Scenario introduction: "It has been a week since anyone has seen Cassia. Vholke says that this is normal, that she will join or start a cause and then leave when she doesn't get her way... but I don't trust that snake any more than I would a live demon. Something must be wrong... and, well, I miss her. Elrath's truth be told, I miss that girl, even though she disguised herself as a man, even though she isn't human, even though she's a chameleon. I do not want to see any harm befall her, now or ever. What was it that made her leave? Did I drive her away? Was it Vholke? Tomas? All of us together?
I will find out why she left.
I will find her." - Ceril's journal
-Scenario description: Ok, so this level is almost too easy compared to the level before it. This is odd, since you have no towns on the entire map and the Dominion troops you start with leave you. In fact, Ceril is just a wandering hero with a rather stagnant army (which can be artificially grown with creature dwellings, none of them Haven or Dominion dwellings). You wander the decently large map looking for Cassia, who has taken refuge in a Sanctuary at the top of the map. To get there though, you need a rather large army. Why? Well, the Arch angel Boss named Jonathan who stands in your way might be the answer.
Clearing the map and using some sort of gold gathering item/ skill/ mine to hire all the creatures you can before the assault. Don't worry, Jonathan only has 500 angels in his army, and since he is a boss creature he is present on the field himself. But seriously, don't worry. Not if you have earth or dark magic, since all of those angels are in one stack you can use spells like blind and petrify while your armies fight Jonathan himself and eventually kill him. Before you fight, Jonathan reveals that for the longest time he thought that Ceril was a hero and a king who had not yet come to his full potential, but that his recent actions and the brutal way he has carried out his rebellion has only shown a bitter, evil man. Ceril and his allies are no better than the king, and they must be exterminated with the rest of the monsters. Unfortunately, Ceril cannot allow that and will not allow anything, angel or otherwise, to stand in his way or keep him from Cassia.
When Jonathan falls, you can freely move to the Sanctuary and then the mission is complete.
-Scenario conclusion: Ceril pushes open the a door to the sanctuary. In one hand he holds a bloody sword, in the other dangles a heavy-set golden cross. His armor is battered and cut, tarnished and parts of it seem to dangle by threads. Four of the angels outside of the sanctuary sheath their blades once he is within this holy place, the will not desecrate it by spilling anyone's blood. Cassia is kneeling at the altar, praying silently to Elrath and Sylanna. As Ceril approaches, she looks back. Clearly, Cassia is surprised. "What are you-? Ceril, why are you here?"
He looks at her, tired and bloodied, and asks, "Why?"
Cassia does not respond until he repeats himself. "I... I didn't want to lie to you anymore, Ceril. You were so pure and honest, I..." Pain flashes over Ceril's face when she says pure. "I admired your faith and strength. I... I couldn't deceive..."
Metal clatters to the ground as Ceril throws away his sword and embraces her. "No you fool girl, I don't care about that." A dull thump announces the cross landing on the floor beside his blade, "Why did you leave me? Why? Is it something I did?" His voice is becoming gravely and pain ridden, "Did I hurt you?"
Cassia gasps, throwing her arm around his waist, "No! No you could never hurt me Ceril. You're too gentle, too faithful to do that..."
"Am I?" Ceril makes distance between them, recent events haunt his face, "Jut a few minutes ago, I cut down an angel. A leader of the Silver Legion. He called me a monster before I... I..." He has turned his back to Cassia, "How can you say that I am good and kind and gentle, when one of Elrath's greatest servants was murdered by me? When I butcher innocents and when I only cause harm to those around me?" He falls to his knees, "How?"
Cassia's hand touches Ceril's shoulder, and she kneels in front of him. Her other hand turns his face to her, and she touches a trail of tears running down his cheeks, "Because you can still cry for what you have done." Her head rests on his shoulder, "Because you forgave me and came after me. How could you be a monster and still care?"
The scene fades as Ceril holds Cassia close and she strokes his head, humming a soft elven melody.
Scenario 6B: The last hero of Man.
-Player factions: Haven - Dominion, Preserve - Fae.
-Player color: White.
-Enemy factions: Neutral, Haven - Empire, Haven - Dominion, Preserve - Fae, Stronghold - Kingdom, Barbarians - Conquerors.
-Enemy colors: None, Blue, Black, Yellow, Brown, Red.
-Ally factions: Preserve - High elves, Preserve - Fae.
-Ally colors: Green, Teal.
-Victory conditions: Defeat Tomas and Vholke.
-Defeat conditions: Lose Ceril or Cassia.
-Starting bonus: A town for Ceril (Dominion), +10 to all hero stats, Seal of the Fae (Artifact, Cassia, permanent, every day 5 pixies and 1 doppelganger are spawned in Cassia's army).
-Scenario introduction: Ceril and Cassia are riding toward a Dominion camp when a small group of Dominion soldiers stops them. "Sir," one says, blocking Ceril's path, "I and my companions cannot allow you to go back."
Ceril gives the ma questioning glance, "What? Alex, you are one of my most loyal soldiers, so why do you stop me? Explain yourself."
"Tomas has declared you a traitor and deserter." None of the other soldiers move beyond some foot tapping. Alex holds out his hands, "We can't allow him to execute you, sir. Not after you saved our homes."
Ceril slides off his saddle and helps Cassia down, despite her eye roll. "What has he done since I've been away?"
Quickly, Alex rattles off a list of all the things Tomas has done, including the destruction of a good deal of the towns, cities and ports in between the capitol and the Dominion Stronghold. He tells of rumors that have Tomas practicing Necromacy under the tutelage of Vholke, and mentions that there are more, harder to prove crimes that Tomas is said to have done. "Now sir, will you leave willingly?"
For an answer, Ceril looks to the nearest camp. "How many of our former allies have heard of what you told me or lost family and friends to Tomas's greed?"
"A good deal sir." Alex stands there confused, "Why?"
"Because I'm going to tear that monster's heart out with their help." Ceril is cool, as if he were saying that it looked like it might rain. Alex jumps.
"Sir! They have orders to kill you on sight!" The soldier protests.
"So did you." Ceril walks toward the camp, "They will let me talk. Cassia," the rebel leader's closest companion raises her eyebrow, "I need you to talk to that unified elven army you were talking about. We're going to need all the help we can get." Somewhere far away, the peal of thunder can be heard. "Let's finish this."
-Scenario description: This last level is one worthy of a conclusion, and has a very strong story base to it. It is also pretty bleeding difficult. Emphasis on the bleeding.
Alright, to start out Ceril and the group of mercenaries and witch hunters he has gathered move towards the closest town at a pretty decent rate. Honestly, there is nothing to go to but a few well-defended mines, the one-way road doesn't allow for much freedom. Cassia is not on the map yet. Before you can actually get to the town, you have to take care of a certain special someone... Nassir. Apparently while you were away, Tomas hired him and gave the once-proud commander a garrison of troops. Ceril's garrison to be exact. From a text box, you gather that Nassir is not quite the man he once was. In fact, he is almost the opposite. Nassir is described as disheveled, nervous and missing one of his hands. Apparently, Tomas's methods had been too harsh even for him, and Nassir was... punished for his failure. This makes him almost desperate in his commands to kill Ceril. You should be able to defeat him, though you will have heavy losses. Nassir retreats after the battle, he is not dead or defeated. Not hardly.
Though it will look impossible, move on to the town itself next (it has a massive garrison, don't worry). When he rides to within a space of the town, a dialogue box opens up. It is told from Cassia's perspective as she rides to meet up with Ceril again, still alone. So the dialogue we get is this, "... You have been manipulated by Tomas, twisted, warped and used to fuel the ambitions of one man, to feed the fires of his greed! How many of you have sacrificed everything, your friends, family, homes, so that this man can become what we were going to destroy? How many of you have been used by this monster? Well no more! I am done being a pawn for evil men! I am done butchering innocents and losing who I am!" An armored fist raises in the air, "And I am done letting the Dominion stand as an example of how men can be used! Help me right this terrible wrong, and I swear to you that we will see the future we set out to create! Please," He is almost whispering now, with his voice raw, "help me." Nassir rides out with a small guard around him, stopping before Ceril.
"Can you do it?" The Dominion officer instinctively clutches a hand that isn't there anymore, "Can you stop Tomas?"
Ceril grabs one of Nassir's pauldrons, "If you and your men stand with me."
Nassir's one good hand claps Ceril's arm, "What are your orders, sir?"
At the end of the text box chain, Cassia tells you that in a few days time the elves will be ready to come to your aid. In the mean time, Ceril should make use of the element of surprise. It will take two weeks for the Dominion and its allies to realize that Ceril has returned in force. I recommend taking that huge garrison that you just received and conquering the closest towns before the hammer of the Fae and Dominion combined armies falls on you. And fall it will, with a busload of force. You need to weather these attacks out for two days, which is allot harder than it sounds. After that, only the Dominion and some random Stronghold/ Barbarian attacks should be pounding at you, since the Fae will become distracted by the surge of Preserve towns popping up to their right.
Cassia has one town and an impressive garrison in it, and she is surrounded by ally towns of both preserve varieties. Don't worry, these towns will mostly become yours. How is a good question... so you getting the towns may not be the most positive thing in the world, as you are basically stealing them back from Vholke's Fae heroes. The fact that you do get them, though, is very, very useful since it allows you to bolster your army strength.
On both fronts you will need to sit and build quite a bit, since the enemy has many, many more towns than you. Strangely enough, the King sends a message to Ceril sometime in the fifth week stating that he will not attack you if you do not attack him. Trust me, you do not want to fight his forces as well, since there are some of the only things keeping Tomas's armies from ripping out your throat. The barbarians help you to survive the early stages of the game as well, since they attack indiscriminately and your enemies have many, many more towns than you. Stronghold is there as an ally to the Empire, but they do not agree to pull any punches on you. There are dialogues between them and Ceril, but in the end you either beat them down until they agree to a cease-fire or you deal with their endless attacks as best you can.
The Barbarians are interesting, as they have dialogues in this path! They reveal their lust for battle and that they do not care what Ceril thinks of as "Right" and "Wrong," only for the honor of battling strong foes. Ceril, Tomas, the King, Vholke and Cassia are the strongest foes in this area, so this fragment of the scouting party split off to test their metal. This "Scouting party" is almost insanely powerful, but they do not last too long if you attack them as they weather attacks from the Dominion and Fae troops as well, and against all three of you there really isn't that much that can survive.
You will not be able to attack Tomas's ten inner cities until Vholke is defeated, and only Cassia can reach him. Apparently the doppelganger has created and is maintaining a barrier around the cities with sheer willpower, and while that thought may be scary, his armies and skills are more so. Somehow, Vholke gained dark magic and prime magic, so you have that to deal with as well as the legions he has at his disposal. After building for long enough, you will be able to take him and the town. Cassia does not kill her brother, but not for lack of trying. He escapes by turning into a great Raven and fleeing the battlefield. With his defeat, the way to the final battles opens. Throughout this story line until this point, rebels have been joining Ceril's army at certain days, drawn to his cause like moths to the flame. Some come from refugee camps that Ceril liberates (a side quest) and others from towns he saves (Main quest). With these forces and all the others you have accrued, attack Tomas himself.
Tomas apparently has all of the basic magic skills and some powerful physical abilities, and is the only hero in the game with the class "Black Guard". This class lowers moral, luck and defense of all creatures that fight him, while giving a bonus to all dark spells. When you win, the final cut scene of this scenario plays out, and you have completed the Haven campaign's second path.
-Scenario conclusion: Blades clash again and again, Ceril is finding it hard to keep up with Tomas's attacks, and it's no wonder that he is. Around Tomas's armor, an almost pulsating glow of magic empowers and protects him, making him faster, stronger and infinitely more powerful than Ceril could ever hope to be. Tomas laughs, "This is all you have? Pathetic!" He knocks Cerils blade away and backhands the knight, sending Ceril skidding across the floor. "Weren't you supposed to be the one who would kill me? Weren't you supposed to tear my black heart out of my soulless body?" He asks, taunting and patronizing at the same time. Tomas looks at the cross wrapped around Ceril's hand and scowls, "Where is your god, fool? Where is your power?"
Ceril pulls himself up on a wall, supporting himself is an ordeal and he is barely able to stand. Tomas's blade buries itself into the wall next to his head and a hand shoves Ceril into the wall. "Such a pathetic, imperfect being. How could something like you have ever even believed you could defeat a god like me in your wildest dreams." We finally see beyond the two combatants to get a view of the courtyard. It is littered with the bodies of men bearing Ceril's colors. Tomas grabs Ceril by the throat and pushes him up the wall, "But I'm not entirely without mercy or pity for you little insects. Before I kill you," Ceril is dropped and he falls on his hands and knees, gasping for breath, "I will give you time to pray, as a courtesy."
A whisper is heard, "Elrath, I have don terrible, horrible things to your people. I am a sinner and a murderer. I am not worthy of anyone's forgiveness or trust, least of all you. But please, I ask that you use me. Please, use me as your sword one more time." The prayer goes unheard by Tomas, who pulls his blade out of the wall.
"So then, you are done I assume? Fine." Tomas's hand raises as Ceril presses his palm to the glowing chest plate. When the cross on Ceril's palm is pressed to the armor, Tomas's magic disappears like so much smoke, causing him to stumble back. "How...?" Tomas's question is never asked, as a white light rises from beneath his chest plate. The light grows stronger, and Tomas throws his head back in a silent scream of agony. And then it grows stronger still, blotting out the once leader of the Dominion. And then, as quickly as it had come the light vanishes, leaving nothing behind.
Ceril falls and the scene fades to black.
Final message from Rise of the Dominion (option B): "When we found Ceril he was barely alive, and Tomas was nowhere to be found. It took almost a month for Ceril to recover, even with the aid of my magic and my care. It took him a day to even open his eyes and groan, let alone tell us what had happened. His story is little short of amazing, but since he is alive at least part of it has to be true. Elrath answered his prayer... I had not seen him at peace until he told us that. He finally realizes that he is forgiven, though he was too blind to see that his men had let his past go long before that day. He was too much of a fool to know that I had forgiven him as well. I just had to show him through certain, unmentionable, acts, and eventually the fool man got the picture.
The month of recovery seemed to go by at a snail's pace, but even from what could have been his death bed Ceril was leading the men who had trusted him with their lives. He united all the factions of the Dominion and set us to work rebuilding what had been destroyed during the final battles against Tomas. The King has not been defeated in that time, he and his legions presented us with a cold face and our borders are still hotly contested. Two days ago, Ceril wanted to leave and take back everything the dominion lost during the final battle, but I forced him to stay. He is not ready to ride a horse yet, let alone start a new war against the King's growing army. But that wouldn't have stopped the fool man, so I had to unbalance him instead. I asked him to marry me. Today I received my answer, 'What would a marriage give us that we don't already have?' Now if I want to get married I have to figure something out, because there really isn't very much having a formal ceremony would change between us.
Today, Ceril was officially recognized as the new leader of the free peoples of the Dominion. Or, he would have been if he hadn't refused the title. Instead he abolished the single chair of power and created a council. He says that this is the only way to represent the will of the people, so every faction within the Dominion sends a group of elected representatives to the council to decide the laws of the land and how to lead our people. Our people... the remaining elves and fae have joined the Dominion. Ceril is our ally and friend, one the king has never been. Maybe this beginning is what we need to repair the rift between us, and maybe that is only a dream. Time can only tell.
With love and my best regards,
-Cassia" - Cassia's letter to Leon, prince of the elves.
~Fin.
____________
Yeah in the 18th century, two inventions suggested a method of measurement. One won and the other stayed in America.
-Ghost destroying Fred
|
|
gnomes2169
Honorable
Undefeatable Hero
Duke of the Glade
|
|
posted September 17, 2011 05:57 AM |
|
|
Dungeon
You have completed one or the other Haven campaigns. Congratulations. Now you have unlocked dungeon option A/B (Both if you have gone through Rise of the Dominion and Death of a King) and are able to start a new type of quest. One that should be a welcome break from all the panzy "Goodness" of the Haven campaign. Well, mostly at least.
In option A, you have control of both the Beast masters and Malassa's disciples. You will switch back and forth between controlling one or the other but must complete both before progressing, and your bloody invasions will begin. Have fun. 
In option B, you also see the story of a Minotaur who is searching for answers and the dark elves. His doomed story is continued in the first expansion as well, so there. (Spoiler!)
Without further ado, the story:
Dungeon campaign: Priests of darkness
Mission 1.1: Matriarch
-Player faction: Dungeon - Disciples.
-Faction color: Purple.
-Enemy faction: Neutral, Dungeon - Neither.
-Enemy color: None, Orange.
-Victory conditions: Prove your dominion over the clans. (Defeat all enemy heroes)
-Defeat conditions: Lose Goritch-Kul.
-Starting bonus: 1 Minotaur lord, 2 Dark Witches, Umbral staff (+20% to the effect of all dark spells, carries over).
-Level cap: 6
-Scenario introduction: "Malassa speaks. She whispers that we must begin a conquest, a reckoning on all those who seek to keep us imprisoned in our underground jail! But our captors have become lax in their defense, letting their guard fall year after year until there is almost nothing left. Their insolence and weakness will be punished in due time.
First though, we must deal with the clans. We must unify them under our banner, and to do that we will have to put their leaders under our thumbs. Or we must put their heads on pikes. Either way, their people will bow to Malassa's dominion." - Goritch-Kul to Taruk
-Scenario description: A very basic introduction to the Dungeon faction and the Diciples of Malassa, you can build up to elite level creatures. This level is a giant, looping ring with the clans around it, you can take the left or right path and arrive back at your town without encountering any resistance beyond those section guards (there are five) who block your path and protect the neutral towns. This level is completely underground.
Victory should be easy enough, you only have to take four towns, which should fall like rain under your superior hero's spells and creatures. Once you take all of the towns four heroes attack your main city (Ygg-Chahl) and if your garrison is not powerful enough you will have to take it back. Once the last of these heroes fall you have achieved victory.
-Scenario conclusion: "Those that attacked the Holy City have been executed. The clans are united for our assault on the elves, how do you fare against the wild beasts mate? Are those heathens worth your trouble? And when will you be ready to launch our assault on the dwarves? Write to me when you know.
Immediately." - Goritch-Kul to Taruk in a private letter
Mission 1.2: Warlord
-Player faction: Dungeon - Beast Masters.
-Player color: Purple.
-Enemy faction: Neutral.
-Enemy color: None.
-Victory conditions: Claim all neutral habitations in two months.
-Defeat conditions: Lose Taruk.
-Starting bonus: Extra (random) hero, 5 Lizards, Warlord's horn (+2 moral, carries over).
-Level cap: 6
-Scenario introduction: "Hrph, the priests can do as they wish. It is not faith that will win this war we are about to wage, but slaves and warriors. The faster we can build our army wit the monsters and untaimed beasts of the deep, the more powerful we will become. We have been given a very strict time frame. Two months. This rich territory will provide plenty of fodder for our armies. Quickly too.
In the name of Malassa and your high lord Taruk, tame these beasts and prepare for the glory of war!"
-Scenario description: Pretty straightforward, this map is here to get you used to the might hero of Dungeon (Turak) and the Beastmasters sub-faction. Fortunately, the skill logistics is very common with Dungeon, as it will help you with this medium sized map. Also fortunately, Turak's hero ability gives your animal creatures and Minotaurs a minor bonus to initiative, speed and attack. This will be incredibly helpful in the last level for Turak, but for now it gives you an edge over neutral creeps, which cause the only problems for you.
On to the map itself! Of medium size, it is absolutely filled with creature generators and neutral creatures. You should have no trouble dealing with them, except for the stack of hydras that guard their creature generator. They are very difficult to defeat, but with the creatures you get from the rest of the generators you should be able to manage. There are some nice little scenes where you learn how single-minded the minotaurs are, but there is nothing earth shattering or moral like the Haven campaign... You should be able to win withing the time limit easily, with some room to spare.
-Scenario conclusion: "Hah, Warlord is what they call me now! And they are right to give me that title. With the legions of troops I now command, I will be able to sweep the dwarves from their last little pockets of resistance. Finally, we will be the supreme overlords of the darkened realms."
Mission 1.3: Seeker of truth (Option B only)
-Player faction: Dungeon - Both (Wait, wut?).
-Player color: Grey.
-Enemy factions: Neutral, Haven - Empire, Haven - Dominion, Preserve - Fae, Preserve - High elves.
-Enemy colors: Black, Blue, White, Yellow, Green.
-Victory conditions: Get to the Empire library.
-Defeat conditions: Lose Kass, capture a town, kill Ceril or Cassia.
-Starting bonus: 60 Feral Shadows and 120 Cave bats, 17 Lizards and 25 Dark Witches, 2 Black Dragon and 4 Hydras.
-Level cap: 14
-Starting level: 6
-Scenario introduction: "There is one word that my people fear. A word that threatens the very core of our beliefs.
'Why?'
Why did we rebel? It is said that our treatment was worse under the rule of the dark elves, yet while I can't think of a better reason to rebel against a tyrant... I can't find that I can make myself believe the stories. We rebelled for freedom but, under the Warlords and Disciples of Malassa we might as well be slaves.
Our sect is a small, split off group from the rest of the dungeon factions, and as far as I know we are the only tribe that is unified as a society. We balance our Warlords and our priests to survive. Demons prowl our halls and sylvan extermination squads hunt us continually, threatening what little we have left.
I and some of the elder members of our clan have reviewed our histories, and some of us feel that there must be more. There just isn't enough there! We have to find what is missing... There must be more!
Who better to tell us than someone who witnessed events unfold? Rumor has it that a Dark Elf survived the purge, though it is unclear where. The seers of the surface might be able to help us discover where we can find it... though there will be a price. We will have to move quickly and as silently as we can, otherwise this mission is doomed before it begins."
-Scenario description: Welcome to the backstory, lore and morals scenario set! You can only play through Kass's story if your current game has Haven Campaign B completed. (Actually, (later on) there will be campaigns marked as Scenario Name A, and those will be locked to you if you do the Haven B campaigns.)
On to the map itself.
The map is divided into three nice areas. The Sylvan factions are in one, the Empire in another (Which covers about half the map) and Ceril with his Dominion forces are located in the third. The elves and Dominion are allied together, while the Empire just has absolute town domination. They will send heroes to fight each other almost constantly, so be sure that you don't get trapped in between two advancing armies. No one is allied with you. Your objective is to get to the Imperial Library which, lo and behold, is in the exact opposite corner of the massive map you are playing in. You start in the South-West corner, and have to get to the North East, cutting through first the Sylvan towns, then some dominion areas, and finally the Empire bases. The restriction of not being able to conqueror any towns is harsh, as there are many, many towns that you could claim. But if you did that, then this map would take forever.
You start at level six, with Master (lvl 4) Logistics, Graduate (lvl 2) Dark magic and Apprentice (lvl 1) Attack. Your force is rather large, but there is no way for you to restock your forces. Luckily, there are some things called sanctuaries that are incredibly helpful for survival. There will be a few simple side quests (for rather useful spells, troops and artifacts) and a main quest at seers huts in each area, slowly pointing you in the direction of the Great Library. You will hit your level cap. Very quickly. As you are told that you have to go into the Empire, Cassia and Ceril begin a massive Blitzkreig for the Empire capitol Fortress, conquering everything that gets in their way. If you move in their path, hanging back and dealing with some obnoxious Empire heroes, you should be able to get past with little hassle. (You can actually chose to fight the battle after you arrive at the Library as both Cassius and Cassia. The siege level has three layers of walls, insanely buffed towers and swarms of troops within them. In other words, it is a very, very entertaining and interesting challenge.)
Once you arrive at the Library, three Sylvan heroes descend the stairwell you started next to, and you have won this mission.
-Scenario conclusion: "We have learned what we needed... but our quest for knowledge came at a steep price. The forces we took from our underground home were sorely missed when the elves launched the largest extermination campaign they have ever sent. The Sylvan armies butchered our people, destroying our Council of elders and scattering the scraps of our clan that remained. I am the last one who can lead them. So I have gathered my people, and we march towards our final destination.
The Dark Elves had better pray that they have the answers I have given so much for."
Mission 2.1: Disciples of Darkness
-Player faction: Dungeon - Disciples
-Player color: Purple
-Enemy factions: Neutral, Sylvan - High Elves, Sylvan - Fae, Dragonites - Conquerors
-Enemy colors: None, Gold, Green, White
-Victory conditions: Capture 2/3 of all sylvan towns.
-Defeat conditions: Lose Goritch-Kul, let the Dragonites capture 1/3 of the towns.
-Starting bonus: +3 Knowledge and Spellpower, Tiara of Darkness (All Dungeon, Necropolis, Inferno and Tainted creatures gain 3 initiative and are 10% more likely to join. Carries over.),
-Level cap: 16
-Scenario introduction: "What reason do the surfacers give for their obsession with the light? Can they not see that it makes them weak? To their precious 'Sun' they are but mewling kittens, always craving its sight and dreading the night. They carry it with them always attempting to drive back the night even in caverns that never see the light of day. And when their precious light runs out, what can they do but tremble as the darkness claims them as its own? For always, the light falls to darkness, and the day shall forever die before the onslaught of the night.
Why should those that worship such weakness be allowed to live freely while we fight and claw to live in our underground prison? What reason can be given to make us obey the weak? If they wish to imprison us, let them try to drive us back into our caverns. If they wish to exterminate us, let them leave their lands of light and find us. We will be more than happy to show them the eternal embrace of night..."
-Scenario description: The second mission of the Disciples campaign is an interesting one, to be sure. you start in a cave with four towns. Now, here is a note about the cave, it actually is on the same level as every other enemy "Surface" town. There is actually a stairway that Goritch-Kul rides from that leads further down into the large cave system you were in for the 1.1 and 1.2 mission cycles. This staging area has only one entrance, and it actually does not allow you to have a LOS of the areas outside of the cave until you exit. Which should be rather easy for you to do, since the only barrier (a barricade) is easily overcome with your starting units.
Once you leave, you find yourself in a clearing that holds two sylvan towns. Once you capture these cities (which are rather underdeveloped), you interrogate the "Weakling" elven heroes that were defending them and your map is updated with the locations of sixteen other towns, all of them in groups of two.
A week after this, nine Barbarian heroes come seemingly out of nowhere (two appear next to your starting area and the other seven all appear on the far east) and they begin to attack towns as well. The thing is, whenever they capture a sylvan town, they instantly burn it to the ground. This bodes ill for Goritch-Kul. She wants to enslave the elves, not massacre them. Also since the Dragonite heroes attack you from the get-go, they do not appear to be friendly with you. She gives orders to destroy these lizards before they deal too much damage.
The elves will actually help you a little there. The High-Elven towns will send attacks to deal with you, while the Fae weaken and take out some of the Dragonite heroes so that you don't have to get your hands dirty. They will not be able to stop the assault entirely, but since the Dragonites hove no way to receive reinforcements these harrying assaults will make them less and less of a threat as time goes on. They all stick together, so when you arrive to deal with the three or four remaining heroes Goritch-Kul should have no problem dealing with them in one fell swoop.
After that, you know what to do by now. Take any non-destroyed enemy towns two at a time until you control your twelve and the mission is yours.
-Scenario conclusion: "With the dragon heathens taken care of, there should be no more distractions from our conquest. We have brought our enemy's attention to us, but there is much that must be done before we meet their full strength. This forest will burn and the elves will curse their faith in the light as we advance through the darkness, destroying everything they hold dear. We shall show them the power of the night, one woodland glade at a time..."
Mission 2.2: Disciples of War
-Player faction: Dungeon - Beast Masters
-Player color: Purple
-Enemy factions: Neutral, Fortress - Hall
-Enemy colors: None, Orange
-Victory conditions: Reinforce all 3 Barricades with 10 Hydras, 30 Lizards, 20 Minotaur Lords, 30 Medusa, 250 Bats, 80 Beholders and 90 Minotaurs.
-Defeat conditions: Lose Taruk
-Starting bonus: 5 Hydras, Medusa's head (Reduces the cooldown time for the Medusa's stare of stone ability by 1 round. Carries over.), +3 Attack and defense.
-Level cap: 16
-Scenario introduction: "The dwarves, while foolish to cling to their little stone throne, are very, very well entrenched in their underground strongholds. So well entrenched, in fact, that it would be suicide to try to dig them out. So if I cannot rip them out, I say let them eat the rocks of their mountain holes! A month or two will have them begging for the mercy of the executioner's axe.
If you can't beat them, starve them."
-Scenario description: Prepare to rush. To win this map, you have to start fast, and you have to hit them where it hurts.
Onto a general map description. You start in the dead north (Exactly the middle of the top edge) with three fully developed dungeon towns. So this should be an easy map, right?
You just like hearing me say wrong, don't you?
You must, repeat must rush and take the three closest Fortress towns by the first week, otherwise your enemy will outnumber you so badly that your hero's higher quality will not make up for it. There are about 12 dwarf towns on this level, along a path that makes a large, sideways "MN," (Which just happens to be the initials of my home state). This path has many side tunnels between the branches of the N that only dwarven heroes can use (apparently they are really small tunnels), so the last part of the map might be just as hard (if not harder) than the first because you will have to constantly reclaim lost territory.
The three garrisons that you have to reinforce are initially held by a rather large garrison. After a week or two of buildup, you should be able to take the first (On the first spike of the M), The second by week five (on the last spike of the M) and the third will be at the end of the N, and I would suggest waiting until the tenth week for that one. Each garrison is guarding a Palace (special towns that have three walls, like the one from Kass's level) with a near-infinite amount of Fortress troops. Do not attack them, you will never get the troop in this year.
Now, it might seem like it would be impossible to take all of these towns so quickly, and normally I would agree. Except your towns each produce an extra 50% of their weekly troops for free since (with the last level having so many troop generators) you have a vary nice amount of reserve troops that slowly trickle in to assist you.  Merry Christmas!
Once the last garrison is filled with the required troops, you win!
-Scenario conclusion: "Already our spies report that the dwarves begin to fall victim to starvation. This is good. Once the last of these three "Great" fortresses finally give up and die, the dwarves will be completely wiped off of the map. Sure, it wasn't an elegant or honorable victory, in fact honor has no part in this whole idea, but I would rather have a belly full of meat and ale than a dwarven axe in my neck.
This victory calls for celebration, if I do say so myself."
Mission 2.3 B: Promises and Answers
-Player faction: Dungeon - Both
-Player color: Grey
-Enemy factions: Neutral, Dark elves (H5 Dungeon, minus the minotaurs and hydras)
-Enemy colors: None, Purple
-Victory conditions: Find Eurina
-Defeat conditions: Lose Kass
-Starting bonus: Cloak of the Darklord (+2 to all stats for Dungeon, Necropolis, Tainted or Inferno heroes, carries over.), 4 Black Dragons and 8 Hydras, +4 Knowledge and Attack.
-Level cap: 24
-Scenario introduction: "We have finally arrived at the cave that rumor holds contains Dark Elves. Whether these rumors hold to be true, or if we lost our home and lives for nothing, remains to be seen.
If they are here, then these cave-dwelling sylvan have allot to answer for. Why do I get the feeling that my words are more true then I can know?"
-Scenario description: No towns this level. (Awwwww...) You'll just have to do with your rather powerful army. The first few monsters you encounter are just some Dungeon and Neutral creatures (Beholders, cave bats, Mummies, etc). Nothing too interesting. Then, you find some map-specific creatures. Mostly Scouts, blood maidens and Raiders, but sometimes there will be a back dragon or three in a neutral army. After enough encounters, you will be running low on troops. The final battle (Which will come after about six or so weeks of searching if you have capped out your logistics skill) will be a bit more than just a challenge. In fact, you might want to save before it. Your final enemy army is lead by none other than Eurina herself, and she is the special class "Herald of Destruction." Her Direct Damage spells can, in fact, harm your magic immune dragons.
Once you defeat her, you get a nice little cutscene where she reveals the real reason for the minotaur rebellion and you win the map.
Cutscene content:
Eurina is brought forward, born in the hands of two large Minotaur guards through a battlefield with the burning corpses of elves and Minotaurs alike. She is set before Kass and forced to kneel. Time has not been kind to the features of the once-youthful coven mistress, her face is wrinkled and leathery, her hair is all but gone and her eyes are a milky white, absolutely blind. And yet, the fact that she lives at all is a miracle. No other being besides the Gods has lived longer than her, and they are immortal.
Kass gives her a good long look before he begins.
Kass: Blah, blah, blah, ANSWERS
Eurina: Blah, blah, blah, Knew this day would come.
Kass: *Empty threat*
Eurina sighs, shaking her aged head, "That isn't needed, I am ready to confess my sin." She sits down, becoming perfectly still. "I, and the rest of my coven, with the assistance of the Lord Warlock Realag, have brought about the slow decay of Malassa, Queen of Darkness."
Kass's jaw drops open. "You mean-"
"Because of us, because of me, the Dragon Goddess will die. Do you want to know the reason?" She gives him a questioning look as Kass is still recoiling in shock.
-Scenario conclusion: "I can understand now why we almost exterminated the Dark Elves. For their barbaric treatment of our people and their own, they deserved no less. For their blasphemy... for even thinking of striking the Mistress of Darkness, they deserve eradication ten times over.
For suggesting that Malassa was, and still is, allied with Kal Beleth... That... that deserves a punishment beyond all description. The very memory of their existance deserves to be expunged from history. And yet... what if that crone told me the truth? What then?
I have her imprisoned in her own dungeon, yet she acts as if she still controls everything around her. Why is that? Where does her confidence come from? I... I must learn more. So I'll let her live... for now."
Mission 3.1: Everything burns
-Player faction: Dungeon - Disciples
-Player color: Purple
-Enemy factions: Neutral, Sylvan - High Elves, Sylvan - Fae
-Enemy colors: None, Gold, Green
-Victory conditions: Defeat all enemies, destroy at least 10 Sacred Groves.
-Defeat conditions: Lose Goritch-Kul, let the Elves ward off 8 of their Sacred groves.
-Starting bonus: 2 extra heroes (Random), Capitol & +2 to all stats, Armor of Shadows (+6 defense, makes all Dark spells cast by wearer permanent and grants immunity to hostile dark spells).
-Level cap: 30
-Scenario introduction: ""
-Scenario description:
-Scenario conclusion: ""
Mission 3.2: Butcher of Children
-Player faction: Dungeon - Beast Masters
-Player color: Purple
-Enemy factions: Neutral, Fortress - Hall
-Enemy colors: None, Orange
-Victory conditions: Kill the Mountain King and all of his stewards.
-Defeat conditions: Lose Taruk
-Starting bonus: 10 Hydras, Grim vigil (Helmet, -2 enemy moral/ luck and -3 enemy initiative), +4 attack and defense.
-Level cap: 30
-Scenario introduction: ""
-Scenario description:
-Scenario conclusion: ""
Mission 3.3 B: Whispers of the End
-Player faction: Dungeon - Both
-Player color: Grey
-Enemy factions: Neutral, Haven - Dominion, Sylvan - Fae, Stronghold - Kingdom, Demon Lord (Boss creature)
-Enemy colors: None, Black, Green, Brown, Red
-Victory conditions: Destroy the Demon Lord
-Defeat conditions: Lose Kass
-Starting bonus: (You get all of them this level) Ring of Fate (+4 luck, -4 enemy luck), Seal of living darkness (+40% to the effects of Dark spells, necklace), +6 to all stats.
-Level cap: 32
-Scenario introduction: ""
-Scenario description:
-Scenario conclusion: ""
Preserve
Barbarian
Stronghold
Stronghold
Academy
Fortress
Necropolis
Renegades
Expansion 1:
Tainted
Barbarian
Tainted
Renegade
Combined
Expansion 2:
Inferno
Preserve
Dungeon
Haven
Necropolis
Inferno
____________
Yeah in the 18th century, two inventions suggested a method of measurement. One won and the other stayed in America.
-Ghost destroying Fred
|
|
gnomes2169
Honorable
Undefeatable Hero
Duke of the Glade
|
|
posted September 18, 2011 06:41 AM |
|
|
There we go, lat three added in. Now, just a quick question. Which should I do next? Creatures and abilities or the campaigns?
____________
Yeah in the 18th century, two inventions suggested a method of measurement. One won and the other stayed in America.
-Ghost destroying Fred
|
|
Jiriki9
Honorable
Undefeatable Hero
Altar Dweller
|
|
posted September 18, 2011 01:45 PM |
|
|
|
I'd go for creatures and abilities to keep the suspence towards the campaigns
|
|
gnomes2169
Honorable
Undefeatable Hero
Duke of the Glade
|
|
posted September 19, 2011 01:46 AM |
|
|
Alright, Haven has been created. Good idea Mr. 9... plus it gives me more time to plan out the entire campaign.
____________
Yeah in the 18th century, two inventions suggested a method of measurement. One won and the other stayed in America.
-Ghost destroying Fred
|
|
Jiriki9
Honorable
Undefeatable Hero
Altar Dweller
|
|
posted September 19, 2011 04:05 PM |
|
|
Like 'em haven units the division between Empire and Dominion seems fitting as well!
|
|
gnomes2169
Honorable
Undefeatable Hero
Duke of the Glade
|
|
posted September 24, 2011 04:28 AM |
|
|
Dungeon is finished.
____________
Yeah in the 18th century, two inventions suggested a method of measurement. One won and the other stayed in America.
-Ghost destroying Fred
|
|
Jiriki9
Honorable
Undefeatable Hero
Altar Dweller
|
|
posted September 24, 2011 03:12 PM |
|
|
|
Like 'em. The generally low growth fits the faction good, the lack of dark elves does it good as well, there are many old creatures and yet some nice additions also, the hydra abilities seem very nice though I think with the average growth it could be a bit strong...
|
|
gnomes2169
Honorable
Undefeatable Hero
Duke of the Glade
|
|
posted September 25, 2011 01:20 AM |
|
|
Low = 1 (no matter what)
Average = 1, 2 after the creature generation boosters are created.
____________
Yeah in the 18th century, two inventions suggested a method of measurement. One won and the other stayed in America.
-Ghost destroying Fred
|
|
Jiriki9
Honorable
Undefeatable Hero
Altar Dweller
|
|
posted September 25, 2011 09:35 AM |
|
|
ah, ok.
what's gonna come next?
____________
ICTC announced
|
|
gnomes2169
Honorable
Undefeatable Hero
Duke of the Glade
|
|
posted September 25, 2011 07:29 PM |
|
|
Preserve, of course! Or should I do Barbarians? Hmm, decisions decisions...
____________
Yeah in the 18th century, two inventions suggested a method of measurement. One won and the other stayed in America.
-Ghost destroying Fred
|
|
gnomes2169
Honorable
Undefeatable Hero
Duke of the Glade
|
|
posted September 28, 2011 06:15 AM |
|
|
Preserve lineup completed. Comments for the thread lurkers. or are you going to wait for them all to be done? 
____________
Yeah in the 18th century, two inventions suggested a method of measurement. One won and the other stayed in America.
-Ghost destroying Fred
|
|
Avirosb
Promising
Legendary Hero
No longer on vacation
|
|
posted September 28, 2011 08:40 AM |
|
|
Are you gonna do dwellings too?
The H6 ones are pretty lame. Adds flavor, you know?
|
|
Jiriki9
Honorable
Undefeatable Hero
Altar Dweller
|
|
posted September 28, 2011 12:11 PM |
|
|
|
I simply love your preserve very great
|
|
gnomes2169
Honorable
Undefeatable Hero
Duke of the Glade
|
|
posted September 29, 2011 12:46 AM |
|
|
Quote:
Are you gonna do dwellings too?
The H6 ones are pretty lame. Adds flavor, you know?
OH DEAR JESUS GOD! *Shudders* I... I guess that I could... *shudders* I did so once before. (Remember the Sliver faction?) So I can do this, but it will be pain. 
____________
Yeah in the 18th century, two inventions suggested a method of measurement. One won and the other stayed in America.
-Ghost destroying Fred
|
|
gnomes2169
Honorable
Undefeatable Hero
Duke of the Glade
|
|
posted September 29, 2011 01:36 AM |
|
|
I've decided that I'm going to make two expansions, complete with their own sub-set of campaigns. ((My gosh Gnomsey, aren't we feeling a bit creative today?)) So yeah, just thought you'd like to know what I added to the OP. 
____________
Yeah in the 18th century, two inventions suggested a method of measurement. One won and the other stayed in America.
-Ghost destroying Fred
|
| |
|
|
