The historical prologue establishes the Green Isle, the conflict between its kingdoms and the Wesfolk, Wesfolk necromancy, dangerous ocean routes, eastern lands, and the Southbay prince’s disastrous war. The playable scene then narrows to Haldric and King Eldaric confronting a raid.
The opening exchange introduces Haldric as eager but inexperienced, Eldaric as mentor and protector, and the raid as strategically suspicious. The Wesfolk leader’s surrender supplies the inciting revelation: the Lich-Lords opened gates to the orcish homeland, turning a local raid into an existential crisis.
Dialogue phase
Purpose
WML structure
Historical prologue
Worldbuilding and premise
Eleven [story][part] panels
Opening exchange
Characterization and mystery
start event
Turn reminders
Economy and urgency
Turn 5 and turn 20 events
Surrender scene
Reversal and setup for The Fall
Wesfolk Leader last breath
Map description
The 37 × 27 battlefield places the Wesfolk leader in a northern keep and Haldric in a southeastern keep. Roads, villages, water, swamp, forest, hills, and mountains expose the player to varied movement and defense without a separate tutorial mode.
Feature
Design function
Separated keeps
Creates a readable assault axis.
Road corridor
Offers an efficient route through rough ground.
Water and swamp
Discourage a single direct approach.
Scattered villages
Support the turn-5 economy reminder.
Hills and mountains
Introduce defensive terrain and path constraints.
Objectives, sides, and AI
Type
Condition
Victory
Defeat the Wesfolk Leader.
Defeat
Death of Prince Haldric or King Eldaric IV; turns expire.
Haldric receives 140/120/100 gold and recruits Bowman, Horseman, Mage, and Spearman. The enemy receives 140/160/180 gold and recruits Footpad, Poacher, Thief, and Thug. Its AI uses the normal engine behavior with NO_SCOUTS and a role-based recruitment pattern.
Events
Trigger
Effect
prestart
Creates King Eldaric and installs objectives.
start
Opening conversation.
side turn
Starts revelation.ogg.
Turn 5 / turn 20
Village-economy and urgency reminders.
Wesfolk Leader last breath
Reveals the orc invasion, stores the leader, and ends in victory.
Time over
Narratively connects defeat to spoiled crops and starvation.
Assets and units
Resource
Origin
Use
story/trow_intro_01.webp–09.webp, scenario panel, logo
Design interpretation. The scenario keeps the tactical goal conventional while concentrating novelty in setting, characters, and stakes. That reduces opening cognitive load.
Pattern
Reuse lesson
Simple goal, rich context
Introduce story complexity before objective complexity.
Mentor beside protagonist
Use a supporting hero to teach and add emotional stakes.
Contextual turn reminders
Make tutorial advice sound like character dialogue.
Last-breath revelation
Let victory uncover the larger crisis.
Asymmetric difficulty resources
Adjust turns and gold before writing separate AI logic.