Undertheburningsuns - Revision history

Seansy: /* The Rebellion */

2025-06-12T20:51:13Z

‎The Rebellion

Seansy: /* Free the Mermen */

2025-06-12T20:47:35Z

‎Free the Mermen

Seansy: /* Out Of The Frying Pan */

2025-06-12T20:36:52Z

‎Out Of The Frying Pan

Seansy: /* A Subterranean Struggle */

2025-06-12T20:32:44Z

‎A Subterranean Struggle

Seansy: /* In the Domain of the Dwarves */

2025-06-12T20:30:54Z

‎In the Domain of the Dwarves

Seansy: /* Out Of The Frying Pan */

2025-06-10T04:19:19Z

‎Out Of The Frying Pan

Seansy: /* In the Domain of the Dwarves */

2025-06-10T04:06:16Z

‎In the Domain of the Dwarves

Seansy: /* Descending Into Darkness */

2025-06-10T03:58:39Z

‎Descending Into Darkness

Seansy: /* Descending Into Darkness */

2025-06-06T15:16:09Z

‎Descending Into Darkness

Seansy: /* A Stirring in the Night */

2025-06-06T15:08:36Z

‎A Stirring in the Night

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 ===The Rebellion===
-After the Dark Lady is newly invigorated by the sacrifice, the apparition of Eloh appears to (and appeals to) one of your elves.  He expresses his faith in the apparition, and challenges you for leadership of the elves.  You'll have to fight him for supremacy, and you won't be able to recruit new troops until this is over.  Zhul will be torn between her admiration of Kaleh and Eloh.  She will go to Eloh and sell Kaleh's goodness.  The apparition rebuffs Zhul and petrifies her.  If you don't have any other healers you might wish to recall some before making the long trek East.  The rebel base is the northeast island.  This was inaccessible to non-swimmers, but the merfolk will show you some Shallow Water paths to the island.  If you're feeling shorthanded, you can wait offshore (backed up by a healer, of course) and hammer the defenders in the water.  They seem quite eager to rush out to you.  It might take a little longer this way, though.
+After the Dark Lady is newly invigorated by the sacrifice, the apparition of Eloh appears to (and appeals to) one of your elves.  He expresses his faith in the apparition and challenges you for leadership of the elves.  You'll have to fight him for supremacy, and you won't be able to recruit new troops until this is over.  Zhul will be torn between her admiration of Kaleh and Eloh.  She will go to Eloh and sell Kaleh's goodness.  The apparition rebuffs Zhul and petrifies her.  If you don't have any other healers you might wish to recall some before making the long trek East.  The rebel base is the northeast island.  This was inaccessible to non-swimmers, but the merfolk will show you some Shallow Water paths to the island.  If you're feeling shorthanded, you can wait offshore (backed up by a healer, of course) and hammer the defenders in the water.  They seem quite eager to rush out to you.  It might take a little longer this way, though. [Seansy Nightmare: I tried doing this and the enemy just shifted to head south across the shallow water to take my villages. I used the merfolk to kill the units in the south using the terrain advantage and pushed through with my elves through the other side. You may take some losses in the water due to the mutual terrain disadvantage.]
-As you approach the island, some Crab Men will appear and attempt to eat you.  They're not terribly tough, but they're in their natural element and you're not.  As insurance, have the ranged attack merfolk provide a screen in the deep water around you.  The melee attack merfolk could perhaps approach the island from the north side.  There is a river that goes right to where Eloh is standing.  Four successful hits from Merman Warrior can do it...
+As you approach the island, some Crab Men will appear and attempt to eat you.  They're not terribly tough, but they're in their natural element and you're not.  As insurance, have the ranged attack merfolk provide a screen in the deep water around you.  The melee attack merfolk could perhaps approach the island from the north side.  There is a river that goes right to where Eloh is standing.  Four successful hits from Merman Warrior can do it... A couple of Sun Sylphs could also support them in the assassination attempt.

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 Out of the frying pan, into hot water!  Let's break this down into parts for each objective:
 ===Free the Mermen===
-If you click too rapidly through the introductory text you will miss some crucial details: Namely that your enemies lie to the northwest, and that you're looking for ''five'' merfolk.  It's worthwhile to get them all, as each will become a loyal troop once freed from the cage.  The humans are Loyalist factioned in three tribes.  They are not the mysterious 'Iron Council', just followers.  The leader is a third level commander while the other two are second level lieutenants.  Depending on the level of difficulty, you could be seeing things like Shock Troopers, Swordsmen and Cavaliers.  Probably about three keeps worth should be good.  If you wipe out all the bad guys before the sacrifice, but don't free all five merfolk, your troops will just wander idly until the time of the sacrifice.  Freeing the fifth mermaid starts the rebellion, thus potentially saving a few turns for the end of scenario bonus.
+If you click too rapidly through the introductory text you will miss some crucial details: Namely that your enemies lie to the northwest, and that you're looking for ''five'' merfolk.  It's worthwhile to get them all, as each will become a loyal troop once freed from the cage.  The humans are Loyalist factions in three tribes.  They are not the mysterious 'Iron Council', just followers.  The leader is a third level commander while the other two are second level lieutenants.  Depending on the level of difficulty, you could be seeing things like Shock Troopers, Swordsmen and Cavaliers. If you got a large early finish bonus on the previous scenario you can recruit 2-3 keeps worth of units. If you have the minimum amount, you should recruit some level 2 units that are close to leveling up. If you recall only 1 keep worth of units your upkeep will be low enough that you can save up enough gold to comfortably complete the next scenario without any early finish bonus necessary. [Seansy Nightmare: I recalled 2 Sun Singers, a Tauroch Vanguard, a Shaman, a Flanker and the loyal Dust Devil, all a few exp from leveling up.] If you wipe out all the bad guys before the sacrifice, but don't free all five merfolk, your troops will just wander idly until the time of the sacrifice.  Freeing the fifth mermaid starts the rebellion, thus potentially saving a few turns for the end of scenario bonus.
-It's easy to miss the the fifth Mermaid, as she is hidden in the small cave just north of the eastmost humans' keep.  This is in deep water, so the land lubbers won't be able to help.  Have the Mermaid Priestess and another Merman approach the island from the East side.  The cage there holds a Mermaid Enchantress and is guarded by a few Walking Corpses/Souless.  The other large island in the Northwest is closed off, you won't be able to get there yet.  If it isn't obvious, use your freed merpeople very sparingly on land.  Unless the humans are standing on the shore, or otherwise making themselves easy targets, just park your finny allies in the water.  Sometimes they can jump on a village to prevent a wounded bad guy from getting a rest.  If you have dealt with all the humans before turn 16, don't just stand around.  Start shifting all the elves where they will next be needed next: the east side of the mainland and the eastmost island.  Dwarves, Trolls, and Golems move slowly enough that they probably won't make it to the rebels before the rebellion is over.  May as well leave them on the North-West island [the village at 20,23 is a good location] in readiness for the third objective, possibly accompanied by any of your elves with a move of 5.
+It's easy to miss the fifth Mermaid, as she is hidden in the small cave just north of the eastmost humans' keep.  This is in deep water, so the land lubbers won't be able to help.  Have the Mermaid Priestess and another Merman approach the island from the East side.  The cage there holds a Mermaid Enchantress and is guarded by a few Walking Corpses/Souless.  The other large island in the Northwest is closed off, you won't be able to get there yet.  If it isn't obvious, use your freed merpeople very sparingly on land.  Unless the humans are standing on the shore, or otherwise making themselves easy targets, just park your finny allies in the water.  Sometimes they can jump on a village to prevent a wounded bad guy from getting a rest.  If you have dealt with all the humans before turn 16, don't just stand around.  Start shifting all the elves where they will next be needed next: the east side of the mainland and the eastmost island.  Dwarves, Trolls, and Golems move slowly enough that they probably won't make it to the rebels before the rebellion is over.  May as well leave them on the North-West island [the village at 20,23 is a good location] in readiness for the third objective, possibly accompanied by any of your elves with a move of 5.
 On turn 16, any merpeople still caught will be pan-fried in a little butter as an offering to the Dark Lady.  This is performed by a briefly seen Necromancer named Hekuba.  He is a member of the Iron Council.  Or is that an Iron Chef?  Should any leaders of the Loyalists still remain, they will depart to prepare 'Plan B'.  Sigh.  It was so much easier to get to them on the mainland.  If they are all dead, the Iron Council will then begin 'Plan C'.
 ===The Rebellion===
 After the Dark Lady is newly invigorated by the sacrifice, the apparition of Eloh appears to (and appeals to) one of your elves.  He expresses his faith in the apparition, and challenges you for leadership of the elves.  You'll have to fight him for supremacy, and you won't be able to recruit new troops until this is over.  Zhul will be torn between her admiration of Kaleh and Eloh.  She will go to Eloh and sell Kaleh's goodness.  The apparition rebuffs Zhul and petrifies her.  If you don't have any other healers you might wish to recall some before making the long trek East.  The rebel base is the northeast island.  This was inaccessible to non-swimmers, but the merfolk will show you some Shallow Water paths to the island.  If you're feeling shorthanded, you can wait offshore (backed up by a healer, of course) and hammer the defenders in the water.  They seem quite eager to rush out to you.  It might take a little longer this way, though.

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-The first cavern will have your exit blocked by three of your opponents, be they Dwarf or Troll.  Next is a scattering of Giant Ants.  They don't put up much of a fight.  The exit is the North West tunnel.  The following cavern is populated by three humans who decide  to attack you.  The tunnel behind them is also flooding, so you need to make haste to the western tunnel.  The next cavern is marked by a magical warding [looks like clouds] that blocks passage except through the red rune 'gate'.  It won't hurt to step onto the rune, but upon leaving it the lead character will be burned for 25%-35% of their total hit points while both gates disappear.  Also, a variety mix of undead will suddenly appear in the chamber.  Some of them will gather around around the entrance chokehold, so you'll need skirmish ability to effectively assist the now lonely lead character.  If you have Grog, best to send him in first, as he can heal up the damage by the time the battle is over.  Also, his impact weapon is best used against the skeletons in the back of the room.  The same goes for Rogrimir, naturally, but he'll need healing afterward.
+The first cavern will have your exit blocked by three of your opponents, be they Dwarf or Troll.  Next is a scattering of Giant Ants.  They don't put up much of a fight.  The exit is the North West tunnel.  The following cavern is populated by three humans who decide to attack you.  The tunnel behind them is also flooding, so you need to make haste to the western tunnel.  The next cavern is marked by a magical warding [looks like clouds] that blocks passage except through the red rune 'gate'.  It won't hurt to step onto the rune, but upon leaving it the lead character will be burned for 25%-35% of their total hit points while both gates disappear.  Also, a variety mix of undead will suddenly appear in the chamber.  Some of them will gather around around the entrance chokehold, so you'll need skirmish ability to effectively assist the now lonely lead character.  If you have Grog, best to send him in first, as he can heal up the damage by the time the battle is over.  Also, his impact weapon is best used against the skeletons in the back of the room.  The same goes for Rogrimir, naturally, but he'll need healing afterward.
-There is a secret door at 24,49 that will lead you around the red rune room.  It has more water there, though [not to mention the Soulless], so it's another opportunity to have good troops drowned.  The cavern where this tunnel connects back behind the red runed room has two blue runes that will heal whomever steps upon them to 100%, but not cure poison.  They are also only good for a few uses, so probably just use it to heal Zhul and your badly bruised ally.
+There is a secret door at 24,49 that will lead you around the red rune room.  It has more water there, though [not to mention the Soulless, 5 Sea Serpents on Hard], so it's another opportunity to have good troops drowned.  The cavern where this tunnel connects back behind the red runed room has two blue runes that will heal whomever steps upon them to 100%, but not cure poison.  They are also only good for a few uses, so probably just use it to heal Zhul and your badly bruised ally.
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-Besides, there is a goody to be had this way: North of the skeletons is the lab area.  You'll find the secret door at 17,36.  Inside, you'll find a red rune blocking the way, then two more further up.  Stepping upon the first rune causes the character to suffer the usual 25%-35% damage PLUS poison.  Then the other two runes are covered by angry monsters [failed experiments].  Both are first level.  Behind them is a Frankenstein-style monster trapped in a ring of fire.  If you Skirmish past the two, you can break the ring to release the second level Flesh Golem.  It will fight for you.  You have to be careful, as its Berserk fighting style can be a double edged weapon.  Nonetheless, it can be useful to have another Chaotic fighter on your side.
+Besides, there is a goody to be had this way: North of the skeletons is the lab area.  You'll find the secret door at 17,36.  Inside, you'll find a red rune blocking the way, then two more further up.  Stepping upon the first rune causes the character to suffer the usual 25%-35% damage PLUS poison.  Then the other two runes are covered by angry monsters [failed experiments].  Both are first level.  Behind them is a Frankenstein-style monster trapped in a ring of fire.  If you Skirmish past the two, you can break the ring to release the second level Flesh Golem.  It will fight for you.  You have to be careful, as its Berserk fighting style can be a double-edged weapon.  Nonetheless, it can be useful to have another Chaotic fighter on your side.
-The next room beyond either the Training Room or sleeping area is the sacrificial altar.  Setting foot in here conjures 2 60hp third-level fire demons the next turn (3 demons on Nightmare).  Bring out your Cold Blade and whatever ranged weapons you have handy. Note that every time you step on the tiled floor around the altar you are given the chance to pull a lever.  Do not pull the lever until all your people are in this room and ready to leave.  Pulling the lever opens two secret passages behind the Altar.  The eastern is your exit; the western is flooded.  Six turns after you pull the lever, the entire temple area will be Deep Water. You may need to finesse your troops to all rush in to the exit before the demons appear, otherwise you will get ZoC locked for your units and die to their 15x4 melee fire attacks before you can kill them. If you can manage that, you can fight them 2v1 at the end of the exit 1 at a time instead of all at once.
+The next room beyond either the Training Room or sleeping area is the sacrificial altar.  Setting foot in here conjures 2 60hp third-level fire demons the next turn (3 demons on Nightmare).  Bring out your Cold Blade and whatever ranged weapons you have handy. Note that every time you step on the tiled floor around the altar you are given the chance to pull a lever.  Do not pull the lever until all your people are in this room and ready to leave.  Pulling the lever opens two secret passages behind the Altar.  The eastern is your exit; the western is flooded.  Six turns after you pull the lever, the entire temple area will be Deep Water. You may need to finesse your troops to all rush into the exit before the demons appear, otherwise your units will get ZoC locked and die to their 15x4 melee fire attacks before you can kill them. If you can manage that, you can fight them 2v1 at the end of the exit 1 at a time instead of all at once.
-The exit goes through a Crypt area that is guarded by a Spider Lich.  It is tough, but vulnerable to Fire and impact damage; you should still have both.  After you leave the Crypt, you will again be stopped by: the ever mysterious Cloaked Assassin.  This time you are able to capture him and get his whole sad story.  I think it was about turn 30 or so that I got my people past the dangers of the raging waters.  Woo-hoo!: you've made it out into the sand again, and are ready for some real fighting!!  Fortunately there's a rather haughty group of humans who seem to think your people are meant to be sacrificed to their 'Dark Lady'. This encounter will only trigger after a unit enters the line of hexes starting from (25,21) down to (25,28), so feel free to amass your units behind the "starting line" before triggering the event to get a head start on claiming villages and getting your troops in position to fight the enemies.
+The exit goes through a Crypt area that is guarded by a Spider Lich.  It is tough, but vulnerable to Fire and impact damage; you should still have both.  After you leave the Crypt, you will again be stopped by: the ever mysterious Cloaked Assassin.  This time you are able to capture him and get his whole sad story.  I think it was about turn 30 or so that I got my people past the dangers of the raging waters.  Woo-hoo!: you've made it out into the sand again and are ready for some real fighting!!  Fortunately, there's a rather haughty group of humans who seem to think your people are meant to be sacrificed to their 'Dark Lady'. This encounter will only trigger after a unit enters the line of hexes starting from (25,21) down to (25,28), so feel free to amass your units behind the "starting line" before triggering the event to get a head start on claiming villages and getting your troops in position to fight the enemies.
+You probably need to spend all your gold. If you do, you will need to either kill Durstrag relatively quickly for an early finish bonus or drag it out to give level 2 units enough experience, so they are close to leveling for the next scenario. Figure the opposition is 20-something in Sergeant Durstrag's tribe plus five messengers and periodic visits by vengeful undead. These will mostly just bother your troops who are near the South end of the valley.  Don't bother looking for the messenger; it isn't on the map yet.  At some point, a messenger will materialize just East of the oasis.  After taking him out, you only have a half dozen or so turns to finish off Sergeant Durstrag or another messenger will be created, along with his escorts. Don't forget the chest of gold just South of your Keep.  If the battle goes on long enough, the flood waters will eventually come out of the side of mountain on the West end of the valley and make a new river.
 == Blood is Thicker than Water ==

← Older revision		Revision as of 20:32, 12 June 2025
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	You're in a tunnel headed East. Soon you will see a squad of Giant Ants in front of you, while a Cave Spider tries to sneak up behind you. If you flee the Spider, stalactites will crush and kill it. Eventually you find yourself in a great chamber where Dwarves and Trolls are doing battle. You are forced to choose which side to ally with, and then you will be required to eliminate the other side. Your choice will stay with you for a few more scenarios, as the campaign forks after this. Fortunately, there is a keep right in front of you, though the battle is currently raging in it.		You're in a tunnel headed East. Soon you will see a squad of Giant Ants in front of you, while a Cave Spider tries to sneak up behind you. If you flee the Spider, stalactites will crush and kill it. Eventually you find yourself in a great chamber where Dwarves and Trolls are doing battle. You are forced to choose which side to ally with, and then you will be required to eliminate the other side. Your choice will stay with you for a few more scenarios, as the campaign forks after this. Fortunately, there is a keep right in front of you, though the battle is currently raging in it.

		+	Trolls are the safer option to side with given their regeneration and chaotic nature underground, particularly on Hard difficulty.

	Soon after choosing sides [probably about the time you get your keep clear], your opponent will pull a sneak attack that nearly wipes out your allies. Most of the rest retreat. Three turns later, they make it up to you by giving some loyal troops to you. If you are allied with the Dwarves, the two tribes of Trolls are Southeast and Southwest from your keep. If you are allied with the Trolls, the two tribes of Dwarves are Northeast and Northwest from your keep.		Soon after choosing sides [probably about the time you get your keep clear], your opponent will pull a sneak attack that nearly wipes out your allies. Most of the rest retreat. Three turns later, they make it up to you by giving some loyal troops to you. If you are allied with the Dwarves, the two tribes of Trolls are Southeast and Southwest from your keep. If you are allied with the Trolls, the two tribes of Dwarves are Northeast and Northwest from your keep.

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 * '''Starting gold''': 235 / 190 / 135
-You start in a small keep. Move a unit to the West-most dirt hex.  At the end of the turn, Troll fire magic will make this wall an entrance to the Dwarven kingdom.  You will immediately see a small contingent of Dwarves in a fortress.  Since it costs no upkeep, you may as well recall all the Trolls that you've been given by your allies.  Recruit healers and quite a few expendable troops (the Dwarves aren't shy about using Berserkers!).
+You start in a small keep. Move a unit to the West-most dirt hex.  At the end of the turn, Troll fire magic will make this wall an entrance to the Dwarven kingdom.  You will immediately see a small contingent of Dwarves in a fortress.  Since it costs no upkeep, you may as well recall all the Trolls that you've been given by your allies. After that, recall your loyal dust devel and 1 Sun Sylph to get the Belt of Strength. As long as your Troll Whelps are Trolls or close to it that will allow you to get a large gold finish bonus for the next scenario while also farming some experience for Grog, Kaleh, and Nym.
 The area around the fortress has several tunnels.  Going clockwise from your current position, the South-East avenue only goes to the edge of the map.  South-West leads to a humorous scene of a Dwarven drill instructor berating his troops.  Bring two mid-level Trolls, preferably a mix of melee and ranged types to deal with these.  Past this will be a Troll being tortured by a Dwarf.  He pretty much rescues himself, but joins your party out of gratitude.  North-West is the exit going toward the objective.  North is a Dwarf guarding what will become a dead end.

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-The next room beyond either the Training Room or sleeping area is the sacrificial altar.  Setting foot in here conjures two second-level fire demons the next turn.  Bring out your Cold Blade and whatever ranged weapons you have handy.  Note that every time you step on the tiled floor around the altar you are given the chance to pull a lever.  Do not pull the lever until all your people are in this room and ready to leave.  Pulling the lever opens two secret passages behind the Altar.  The eastern is your exit; the western is flooded.  Six turns after you pull the lever, the entire temple area will be Deep Water.
+The next room beyond either the Training Room or sleeping area is the sacrificial altar.  Setting foot in here conjures 2 60hp third-level fire demons the next turn (3 demons on Nightmare).  Bring out your Cold Blade and whatever ranged weapons you have handy. Note that every time you step on the tiled floor around the altar you are given the chance to pull a lever.  Do not pull the lever until all your people are in this room and ready to leave.  Pulling the lever opens two secret passages behind the Altar.  The eastern is your exit; the western is flooded.  Six turns after you pull the lever, the entire temple area will be Deep Water. You may need to finesse your troops to all rush in to the exit before the demons appear, otherwise you will get ZoC locked for your units and die to their 15x4 melee fire attacks before you can kill them. If you can manage that, you can fight them 2v1 at the end of the exit 1 at a time instead of all at once.
-The exit goes through a Crypt area that is guarded by a Spider Lich.  It is tough, but vulnerable to Fire and impact damage; you should still have both.  After you leave the Crypt, you will again be stopped by: the ever mysterious Cloaked Assassin.  This time you are able to capture him and get his whole sad story.  I think it was about turn 30 or so that i got my people past the dangers of the raging waters.  Woo-hoo!: you've made it out into the sand again, and are ready for some real fighting!!  Fortunately there's a rather haughty group of humans who seem to think your people are meant to be sacrificed to their 'Dark Lady'.
+The exit goes through a Crypt area that is guarded by a Spider Lich.  It is tough, but vulnerable to Fire and impact damage; you should still have both.  After you leave the Crypt, you will again be stopped by: the ever mysterious Cloaked Assassin.  This time you are able to capture him and get his whole sad story.  I think it was about turn 30 or so that I got my people past the dangers of the raging waters.  Woo-hoo!: you've made it out into the sand again, and are ready for some real fighting!!  Fortunately there's a rather haughty group of humans who seem to think your people are meant to be sacrificed to their 'Dark Lady'. This encounter will only trigger after a unit enters the line of hexes starting from (25,21) down to (25,28), so feel free to amass your units behind the "starting line" before triggering the event to get a head start on claiming villages and getting your troops in position to fight the enemies.
-By all means, start recalling troops to teach them a lesson.  You probably need to spend all your gold.  Figure the opposition is 20-something in Sergeant Durstrag's tribe plus five messengers and periodic visits by vengeful undead.  These will mostly just bother your troops who are near the South end of the valley.  Don't bother looking for the messenger; it isn't on the map yet.  At some point, a messenger will materialize just East of the oasis.  After taking him out, you only have a half dozen or so turns to finish off Sergeant Durstrag or another messenger will be created, along with his escorts.  Don't forget the chest of gold just South of your Keep.  If the battle goes on long enough, the flood waters will eventually come out of the side of mountain on the West end of the valley and make a new river.
+You probably need to spend all your gold.  Figure the opposition is 20-something in Sergeant Durstrag's tribe plus five messengers and periodic visits by vengeful undead.  These will mostly just bother your troops who are near the South end of the valley.  Don't bother looking for the messenger; it isn't on the map yet.  At some point, a messenger will materialize just East of the oasis.  After taking him out, you only have a half dozen or so turns to finish off Sergeant Durstrag or another messenger will be created, along with his escorts.  Don't forget the chest of gold just South of your Keep.  If the battle goes on long enough, the flood waters will eventually come out of the side of mountain on the West end of the valley and make a new river.
 == Blood is Thicker than Water ==

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 <Big>Talking With Trolls</Big>
-This is mostly just dialog, though if you have kept Elyssa alive she will decide to stay and study the Trolls.  As a parting gift, she presents you with a flaming sword, and you can recruit/recall any unit to take it and deal out fire damage.  Too bad she'll be drowning soon.  The other bad news is that all of your loyal troops will also be staying down here when you go up into the outer world.  Only one Troll will volunteer to guide you.  If you saved the victim of Vengeful Dwarf, it'll be him.
+This is mostly just dialog, though if you have kept Elyssa alive she will decide to stay and study the Trolls.  As a parting gift, she presents you with a flaming sword, and you can recruit/recall any unit to take it and deal out fire damage. The gold doesn't carry over from this scenario so take advantage of this opportunity to recruit any new units to save gold on recall costs. You recruit costs increase a lot starting with the next scenario so this may effectively be your last chance to add new recruits to your recall list at a reasonable cost. Also, all of your loyal troops will also be staying down here when you go up into the outer world. Only one Troll will volunteer to guide you. If you saved the victim of Vengeful Dwarf, it'll be him.
 == Out Of The Frying Pan ==

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-The northern fork takes you over another bridge to the keep of Panok the Direwolf Rider.  He moves ridiculously fast, so you might have a hard time pinning him down.  His troops are mostly Goblins, so consider him to be a warmup for the tougher foes you'll face in the caverns.  Upon his death, he drops a ring that increases the max speed of the unit that picks it up by 1 and triggers the Naga and the Slayer. Nym is a solid choice for the ring to get her out early capturing villages and hitting enemies for the rest of the campaign.
+The northern fork takes you over another bridge to the keep of Panok the Direwolf Rider.  He moves ridiculously fast, so you might have a hard time pinning him down, but if you can lure him out of his keep to attack you early you can kill him before he recruits more troops. His troops are mostly Goblins, so consider him to be a warmup for the tougher foes you'll face in the caverns. Upon his death, he drops a ring that increases the max speed of the unit that picks it up by 1 and triggers the Naga and the Slayer. Nym is a solid choice for the ring to get her out early capturing villages and hitting enemies for the rest of the campaign.
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 Other findings:
 *If you follow the river where it enters the mountain, it will lead you to a Goblin Impaler guarding a treasure chest. You can also head east from the castle to reach the area too. Not exceptionally tough, but he will fight from solid ground while you stand in the water.  The chest contains 40 to 80 gold.
-*Continuing around the river, there is a passageway [coordinates 18,10] that ends in a pool. The pool is to the far bottom left from that starting point. You can also reach it from the western cave entrance too. If you step into the pool, you will find a glowing blade.  You may choose to either take it or leave it.  If you take it, that character's melee attack will now deal cold damage, but a monster will appear to block your escape.  It's only level one [and cute at that!], but again it will be on dry land while you will be starting in water.  It's kind of a long trip, so you'd be unlikely to finish it before the end of the scenario unless you send a Scout or other fast unit.  Alternately, if Nym didn't get the Holy Water, have her get it.
+*Continuing around the river, there is a passageway [coordinates 18,10] that ends in a pool [coordinates 12,17]. The pool is to the far bottom left from that starting point. You can also reach it from the western cave entrance too. If you step into the pool, you will find a glowing blade.  You may choose to either take it or leave it.  If you take it, that character's melee attack will now deal cold damage, but a monster will appear to block your escape.  It's only level one [and cute at that!], but again it will be on dry land while you will be starting in water.  It's kind of a long trip, so you'd be unlikely to finish it before the end of the scenario unless you send a Scout or other fast unit.  Alternately, if Nym didn't get the Holy Water, have her get it.
 == A Subterranean Struggle ==

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-The northern fork takes you over another bridge to the keep of Panok the Direwolf Rider.  He moves ridiculously fast, so you might have a hard time pinning him down.  His troops are mostly Goblins, so consider him to be a warmup for the tougher foes you'll face in the caverns.  Upon his death, he drops a ring and possibly triggers the Naga and the Slayer.
+The northern fork takes you over another bridge to the keep of Panok the Direwolf Rider.  He moves ridiculously fast, so you might have a hard time pinning him down.  His troops are mostly Goblins, so consider him to be a warmup for the tougher foes you'll face in the caverns.  Upon his death, he drops a ring that increases the max speed of the unit that picks it up by 1 and triggers the Naga and the Slayer. Nym is a solid choice for the ring to get her out early capturing villages and hitting enemies for the rest of the campaign.
-From here, there are two roads: the North, and the West.  Both lead to tunnels into the mountains, and each ends in the keep of an Orcish Warlord [Orcish Warrior on Easy].  The exit tunnel could randomly be behind either keep.  Though the two keeps are linked by paths inside the mountain, it might be quicker overall to leave Kaleh outside until you determine whether he needs to go East or West.  You could either split your troops and tackle the entrances separately, or send the whole bunch down the closest hole.  In that case, expect a pitched battle as the furthest Orc reinforces the nearest.
+From here, there are two roads: the North, and the West.  Both lead to tunnels into the mountains, and each ends in the keep of an Orcish Warlord [Orcish Warrior on Easy].  The exit tunnel could randomly be behind either keep.  Though the two keeps are linked by paths inside the mountain, it might be quicker overall to leave Kaleh outside until you determine whether he needs to go East or West.  You could either split your troops and tackle the entrances separately, or send the whole bunch down the closest hole.  In that case, expect a pitched battle as the furthest Orc reinforces the nearest. Given how many narrow chokepoints are in the caves splitting up your forces will ensure you make progress faster to avoid running out of turns, particularly on the Hardest difficulty.
-The turn after Kaleh first enters either cavern, he will be pursued by a Cloaked Figure/Dark Assassin.  It doesn't matter if Kaleh is surrounded, the Assassin will temporarily displace any Elf or Orc that is in his way when he appears.  Other findings:
+The turn after Kaleh first enters either cavern, he will be pursued by a Cloaked Figure/Dark Assassin. It will appear nearest to Kaleh without displacing another unit.
-*If you follow the river where it enters the mountain, it will lead you to a Goblin Impaler guarding a treasure chest.  Not exceptionally tough, but he will fight from solid ground while you stand in the water.  The chest contains 40 to 80 gold.
-*Continuing around the river, there is a passageway [coordinates 18,10] that ends in a pool.  If you step into the pool, you will find a glowing blade.  You may choose to either take it or leave it.  If you take it, that character's melee attack will now deal cold damage, but a monster will appear to block your escape.  It's only level one [and cute at that!], but again it will be on dry land while you will be starting in water.  It's kind of a long trip, so you'd be unlikely to finish it before the end of the scenario unless you send a Scout or other fast unit.  Alternately, if Nym didn't get the Holy Water, have her get it.
+Other findings:
 == A Subterranean Struggle ==

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 If you plan on disposing of the Undead leaders, try moving in earlier rather than later, even at the price of unit losses, because both leaders make 20 gold per turn before any income from villages, and will often recruit a pair of units per turn. Keep in mind that voodoo ceremony Garak undertook before this battle: If you keep him in good health, he can repeat his attack on an enemy target again and again: The Lich is where you should send him, since its melee is much weaker than the Death Knight's.
-On Hard, you're more likely to be on the defensive throughout the scenario - requiring some good luck, as well judicious use of slowing and leadership. If any of your Archers have leveled-up to be Desert Rangers, their Backstab ability may also come in handy.
+On Hard, you're more likely to be on the defensive throughout the scenario - requiring some good luck, as well judicious use of slowing and leadership.
 On turn 7, a contingent of Orcs - a patrol? - moves down the path from the Northwestern outcropping. These are certainly easier to deal with - you can properly stab them; but that doesn't make their weapons sting any less. Make sure and keep your terrain benefit by sticking to the sand. Their leader, Ganthos, has no keep - but he does have an income; so if you let him, he will sneak down the Western edge of the map and use your own keep while his minions ravage the encampment. Finally, note that the Orcs are quite willing to attack the Undead, not just your own units, and may do so if a lot of the Death Knight (Northeast leader)'s minions remain.