Part 36: Sanctuary Campaign, Map Three, Part Four

Northeast of where we humiliated Ruqav is the only Fort of this map. Nothing noteworthy about it, though there is an Arcane Library just east of it that nets us a nice +2 Magic Power.



Shalassa! ... That will not be easy. We'll have to drown them or take them apart one by one.

Heading towards the final of the four villages reveals this huge fleet of Necromancer ships. Oh no, not more fighting!



Despite reading as Modest, the battle is really easy. Being a Magic Hero is really nice sometimes.



I've done this map as a Might Irina before. It was a little harder, but it actually wasn't too bad, since you can gamble on spell scrolls (such as Teleport) from the Advanced Marketplaces.



But really, no sweat.

The kirin will speak of your deeds for many seasons to come, daimyo.

Four temples controlled. Alright, let's wreck some undead fools!

Click here to listen to the conversation!


I'll bring you eggs and bacon if you wish. There is a fleet of Undead out there, trying to harvest souls that rest in the coils of Shalassa-

Souls! Souls are the province of Asha, of the spirit world, not of those who walk Ashan...

Rise, then. Awaken! Bring down the wrath of Shalassa upon those who desecrate her waters!

Watch Hai Ryo do his work (YouTube via Polsy)


Now that is a thing of beauty. I wonder if I could get Hai Ryou to take a trip as far as Gerhart's castle?

The fleet of ships we saw earlier all but disappears, with only two left bobbing in the waters.



It's not a result of really bad lighting - for some reason, the Hai Ryo cinematic darkens the screen of the entire game, even if you go back to the main menu.

One reboot of the game later...



Much better. We now have a new objective to go across the ocean past the boats and fight Haffayad. We can also convert this final town to complete the sidequest of converting all towns on the main island, getting us +3 Might and Magic Power.



And we also hit the level cap for this map.



Before we go get Haffayad, there's a set piece hiding out here.



I'm running out of gold and crystal to buy all my creatures, even with the Tear of Asha. I'm trading in Wood and Ore for more resources, since I'm not using them as much anymore.



The two Captains still sitting out at sea just get a swift death.

Now, before this conversation, recall that Irina and Sandor fled the Griffin empire before the events of Anton's first map. In other words, Slava was still alive.

Click here to listen to the conversation1


Ha! Given enough time and enough ships, maybe. But the world moves a little faster than you do.

As with these souls, your family destroys all it touches. Anastasya has murdered your father and was executed for it by your brother Anton. I know you and your kind too well, Irina of the Griffin Duchy.

What? You're crazy. That doesn't sound at all like my... actually, it... Shalassa!

Is she referring to Anastasya, or Anton? I guess the whole killing members of your family doesn't surprise Irina for some reason.

Even if there is truth in your ravings, I can only save one nation at a time. Go tell your problems to my aunt.



Haffayad waits in his castle just a short trek across the ocean. Like Hiroshi, Haffayad will always have an army that's comparable to the size of yours. His army levels aren't nearly at the same level of Zounds of Cores, but it'd be a tough fight if I wasn't able to cheese him thanks to Irina being awesome.



As can be seen, his army is pretty comparable to ours. We just have an advantage of oh say... 60 Sacred Kirin. Haffayad is a Might Hero like Hiroshi, so we'll be taking loads of damage, and all his troops have an innate Life Drain ability thanks to his reputation.



Teleport blocks off Haffayad's most dangerous troops (his shooters). Most of Haffayad's creatures will start ganging up on our Kirin. Which is just fine, since our Priestesses' Waves of Renewal at this point are restoring thousands of health per turn.



The Retribution Aura line of spells are available under the Light spell tree. They return damage to enemies attacking the selected target in melee. The first tier just returns it to the attacker, the second tier upgrades it to cause the damage to all enemy creatures surrounding the attacked, and the third tier, which I have, causes damage to all enemy creatures on the map.



It works very well with the Mizu-Kami's Spirit Bond, as well as Honor III (which we first can use at level 15), which returns damage to attackers as well.



The fight is incredibly fast paced - I don't have time to resurrect everything, and Haffayad's troops do hit hard. If I hadn't had Teleport, I'd have lost a lot more. Notice how Haffayad still has most of his mana in the background - the battle was over in a matter of about six or seven rounds.

Click here to listen to the conversation!


Saaa. Irina, you have won a great victory, and gained glory in the eyes of the Eternal Empress.

But you have also heard the warnings. The Eternal Empress tels us that the Blind Brothers have been misled, and the Demons come early.

Zo. Let them come. The Naga are ready, and Irina will lead us to victory.

Katsue, Arashi. I must find out about this. I am caught in a web of responsbilities - to my fief, my family, to the world itself if the Demons come...

And do not forget that I carry a child. Heir to a duchy, no less.

Oh, right. The whole pregnant thing. We've heard... almost nothing about that. Any weird cravings lately, like Gerhart's blood?

Nn. We will follow you to the Griffin Duchy, even if we have to crash through the Wolf Duchy to get there... Irinaaaaa!

We must go and see what happened. Then we will know, and then we can act. Signal the troops. We ride the tides!



Oh wow. I hadn't even realized the map took this long - just over eight hours! This is just an example of how crazy long the later maps can get; I've just been cutting out a lot of the fat.