Part 64: Inferno Campaign, Map Four, Part Three

Montbard appears again for one last fight outside the castle - defeating him ends the sidequest. I didn't get any conversation afterwards, and I'm not sure what happens on the Blood side, so who knows what happened to him.

Azzie... I'm feeling more powerful here every day.

You just imagine you are. Beware of the shadow magic... it plays dangerous tricks with your mind.



We need to take to the sea next - there's a shipyard just east of the upper one of the two southeastern towns (the one not named Baywatch). Aside from a few stat boosts, there's an island where we can find Darkness Elemental stack five. It's also a bit annoying since you might end up missing this one entirely if you don't know where to look, since you have no indicator of where the Elementals are and just have to explore every nook and cranny.



Our Pit Lords are becoming scarily powerful under Kiril's command. Nothing that beats the Sacred Kirin's Hailstorm Aura under Irina's command, but just about nothing does.

Azzie? Where are you? Ah, there! I couldn't find you. It's like my mind is getting... wider.

One common theme about the campaigns is that it is very much about claiming your own destiny - after all, it's a major component of the Tear/Blood choices. And with each separate campaign you could say that they did take charge of their lives, or found another purpose in life. Sandor found a home. Irina discovered another life to look out for besides her own, and claimed her revenge. Anastasysa reached her independence. Anton, while shaky, claimed his freedom fron the Celestial cycle and mastered his voices rather than getting tormented by them (though how much of that will progress beyond the game is anybody's guess).



Next, we'll need to go back to Montbard's castle, and head east. We'll do two things. First is to finally recruit all the Celestials that have been piling up in all our Haven castles and put them in Kiril's army. The second is to capture the last Fort here (there's also a Champion creature dwelling, a bit too late for us maybe).

The Inferno campaign, oddly, has the weakest claim of truly claiming one's own destiny, which is funny because it's the faction that places the most emphasis on it. Kiril constantly claims to want to control his own life back, but ultimately does little of that that we've seen - three maps he spends chasing Sarah and he doesn't really go anywhere as a result. The ending does feature, to some degree, Kiril claiming his own destiny, but well... I'll let you all see it for yourself.





Further east are two familiar faces, and... hey, why are you guys back at level 1? I didn't spend about 20 hours separately on each of you for nothing! Anton, you're not even on the right reputation!

Click here to listen to the conversation!


I'm on a mission to save the world.

There's been a lot of that going around lately.

Could you do me a favor? Give this to Ulah. Maybe she'll know some Orc shaman ritual that will send Toghrul back to Mother Earth. It's not safe for the family to have him returning home.

Recall that Kiril captured Toghrul's soul back at the end of Inferno Map One.

You've been busy. I've heard you're on your way to the Invisible Library.

And Anton swiftly deflects the whole 'hey, remember that whole Orc shaman thing? Yeah, I kinda banished her and her tribe. Whoops!' swiftly.

And I've got another demon to get rid of first.

If you're going after the Faceless, Kiril, you might want him with you.

Next.

Click here to listen to the conversation!


It looks to me like you've fallen for the angel. I thought you were going to kill her.

Well, she has been plotting to save the world.

I think I would have killed her all the same.

I still might. But she didn't have anything to do with Father's death or yours. She's just been following her Dragon, and I somehow got in the way.

Be careful, little brother. Falling in love with an angel is dangerous. We don't have wings.

Like there's a choice. You know the Griffin creed. Follow your heart!

<Personally, I'll keep my wings.>

Kiril, when you find that library, and I know you will, remember one thing. The Faceless don't give clear answers, they ask more questions. And you'll find you already know the answers.



Both of them leave, and we now have access to the penultimate Darkness Elemental stack.



Double the number of Champions means twice the effectiveness under Intimidation!

Kiril's is also the third campaign to feature revenge (though all the maps do to some extent). And while Irina and Anastasya eventually found theirs, Kiril never really does, and his comes off as the worst of the three as a result, not to mention repeating the whole 'REVENGE!' deal gets a bit tiresome over three campaigns.



For our last trek, we'll head back to Not-Baywatch, where there's a small strip of land over the water northeast of it.



A subterranean tunnel is here. There's also a final Shrine of the Seventh Dragon there, if you feel like levelling Xana for whatever reason (considering the luck she's had lately, she might as well get something out of this).



The seventh and final Darkness Elemental stack. With that, let's move forward through the tunnels.

Click here to listen to the conversation!

How Elrathian to consult me before destroying my soul.

I thought you deserved the right to know. We should discuss it at least.

A soul who's lived for centuries doesn't have time for idle pleasures, and a Prince of Destruction does not plead. He destroys or is destroyed.

In another life, Azzie... I would have loved to be your enemy.

Ha, I would have burned your armies down like so many fields of wheat!

Oh Azzie. He really does not care, doesn't he?



Up we go.

Now, I have a strong beef with the last bit of this campaign. What it means for Xana, Azkaal and more importantly Kiril. I can see the writers' reasons for doing so in regards to Kiril, but I ultimately think it's poor writing. But you'll have to watch things unfold from here, I'll refrain from commenting on the rest of this map's plot.

Click here to listen to the conversation!


So now you go and blow yourself up to save the world? Is that how you're going to get your life back?

Oh, I'll be back. With a whole new life for all of us.

And what about Sarah?

I'm just following my heart. If I can house two souls, I can certainly love two women.

I'll make her life miserable.

I'm counting on it.



The portal here doesn't activate till all the Darkness Elemental stacks are defeated.

As is customary, here's the final look at Kiril's stats.



He's got strong, well rounded stats, and excellent Morale and Destiny as well. He doesn't have as much Might Power as Anton, but he's doing pretty well for himself. At this point you'll likely have two sets to choose from (Warlord and Trickster), so it's ultimately up to one to choose - the Warlord set offers more Might Power, and the Trickster set has extremely potent -Morale/Destiny/Initiative effects and provides more Destiny.



At this point, having discovered the Invisible Libary, Kiril gets his Necklace of Tears, and we can convert everything again without fear. But at this point, we're almost at the end.

Click here to listen to the conversation!




Open your mind. Accept your brothers and sisters. You have earned your place among us. Share, and be one with all there is to know.

Raaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!

What knowledge do you seek?

I just want my life back. I want my name out of your library. I want to write my own destiny.

We are many, and the Library is all of us. If you destroy this place we will be unbound and all of Ashan consumed in war. But here we are one, and the balance is maintained.

Damned if I do... and damned if I don't. I've got a better idea...



The final fight features, as you may or may not expect, Elementals of every flavour.



The final fight can actually be challenging for a normal army, as the Elementals synergize surprisngly well togeter. Air Elementals hit multiple targets, and Water Elementals stop your creatures in their tracks while their attacks Soak them up to take more damage from Air attacks. Darkness and Light elementals attack without retaliation, and either dispel your buffs or Time Stasis your creatures (Light Elementals also heal all other elementals when retaliating). Earth is tanky, and Fire hits harder at close range (when you're likely focusing on the other more annoying elements), and burns melee attackers as well as exploding for some intense damage when they're dying.

Luckily for us, we have plenty of Champions. If we'd come in with only Pit Lords it wouldn't be enough, but with some Celestials thrown into the mix we can easily take them on before Intimidation runs out (at this point, a Tears Kiril would have it running for 8 to 9 turns). The only challenge would be healing off the Fire Elementals' damage shields when striking and killing them - Drain Life is a helpful option, as is Seal of Power when gating in Pit Lords. With Intimidation up, it's strictly a damage race to knock them out, as all their nastiest work is rendered helpless.



I lose a few Celestials from attacking Fire Elementals, but that's it.

Click here to listen to the conversation!


To hell with them all. Let them keep their wars. Instead of taking sides I brought the Library down to Sheogh. It's neither destroyed nor fully operational. As for the rest of my life - it looks like it will consist of winters in Sheogh and summers on some island in the Jade sea with the woman of my heart's desire. Now that's my idea of destiny!

Welcome home, Demonlord Kiril! I've got plans for you.



And thus ends the main campaign for all five Heroes. There's more Heroes to come, though, so stay tuned!