Summer gives way to fall, Eldaric fortifies the frontier, and the orc invasion reaches Stormvale. The opening scene immediately reframes the campaign: the human kingdom can no longer defend its home, the only escape is the southern pass, and the Wesfolk occupy that pass.
The scenario’s climax is not merely the Wesfolk leader’s defeat. Haldric must decide whether to accept her surrender and skills or reject her. Accepting creates Lady Outlaw as a loyal hero and grants access to outlaw recruits. Rejecting grants an immediate gold reward while allowing her to escape for later use. Eldaric then remains behind to cover the refugees’ retreat.
Dialogue phase
Function
Story panel
Compresses the passage of time and announces war.
Opening exchange
Defines the scenario as evacuation, not territorial defense.
Turn 14 reminder
Reasserts urgency before the deadline.
Surrender choice
Turns a defeated antagonist into a persistent party and roster decision.
Farewell
Removes the mentor and transfers leadership to Haldric.
Map description
The map is a 37 × 27 return to the Stormvale region, now configured as a four-side crisis. Orc leaders occupy northern and northeastern keeps, Haldric begins around the southeastern settlement, and the Wesfolk block the southern escape route. A central water system, bridges, roads, swamp, and mountain belts shape movement between these fronts.
Spatial element
Implementation effect
Two northern orc keeps
Creates a pincer and makes fighting both orc leaders optional but tempting.
Wesfolk southern keep
Places the victory target directly on the route of escape.
Player settlement near water
Creates a defensible home that the narrative says must be abandoned.
Mountain guards in the north
Visualizes Eldaric’s failing defensive line.
Orc home-entry trigger at x 26–30, y 13–15
Connects enemy movement into the settlement with bespoke dialogue.
Objectives and side economy
Type
Condition
Victory
Defeat the Wesfolk Leader with a side-1 unit.
Defeat
Death of Haldric or Eldaric; orcs kill the Wesfolk Leader; turns expire.
Optional reward
Each orc leader killed by side 1 yields 75 gold.
Side
Leader / roster
Gold
Income and AI
1 — Stormvale
Haldric, Noble Fighter; campaign recruit state carried forward
Income 6 / 9 / 12; passive leader; highly aggressive at night
4 — Orcs
Tan-Erang, Orcish Warrior
160 / 200 / 240
Income 4 / 6 / 8; highly aggressive at night
Implementation note. The player side does not redefine recruit= in this scenario. The campaign relies on the carried side state, then conditionally extends it with outlaw recruits if the surrender is accepted.
Special events and state transitions
Trigger
Behavior
prestart
Restores the Wesfolk leader’s experience, creates difficulty-scaled Wesfolk guardians, recalls Eldaric, creates three loyal northern guards, and installs objectives.
start
Explains the collapse of the northern defense and the blocked southern pass.
Turn 14
Eldaric warns that only death remains in the valley.
Orc leader death by side 1
Applies LOOT 75 1.
Wesfolk last breath by side 1
Opens the accept/reject choice and then ends the scenario.
Wesfolk death by an orc side
Immediate defeat because the escape route is lost.
Orc enters home trigger area
Haldric grieves; Eldaric insists on retreat.
victory
Removes Eldaric, clears temporary storage, and prepares escaped Lady Outlaw state if necessary.
The Lady Outlaw decision
Choice
Immediate result
Persistent result
Accept surrender
Wesfolk leader is recreated on side 1 as loyal hero Lady Outlaw.
have_lady=1; Thief, Thug, Poacher, and Footpad become recruitable.
Reject surrender
She vanishes; player gains 300 / 250 / 200 gold.
have_lady=0; her converted state is prepared in lady_store for later campaign logic.
Local macro: NORTH_GUARD
The scenario defines a short helper macro to create named loyal guards. On Easy they are Shock Troopers; on Normal and Hard they are Heavy Infantrymen. Parameters supply coordinates, ID, display name, and a second trait.
#define NORTH_GUARD X Y ID_STRING NAME_STRING SECOND_TRAIT_WML
[unit]
type=(difficulty-dependent heavy infantry)
side=1
id={ID_STRING}
x={X}
y={Y}
[modifications]
{TRAIT_LOYAL}
{SECOND_TRAIT_WML}
[/modifications]
[/unit]
#enddef
This is a good example of a scenario-local abstraction: it removes repetition without promoting a one-off pattern into the campaign-wide utility layer.
AI analysis
AI technique
Purpose
Wesfolk low aggression, high caution, defensive grouping
Keeps the objective force concentrated around the escape route.
Passive Wesfolk leader
Reduces the chance that the target abandons the southern position.
Orc night-only aggressive facet
Makes time of day alter strategic pressure without custom Lua.
Difficulty-scaled income and gold
Increases sustained recruitment pressure on higher difficulties.
Optional loot
Tempts the player to fight the flanking armies despite the evacuation deadline.
Orcish leaders and recruits; outlaw recruits; heavy infantry guards
Core
Battle factions
Lessons for authors
Design interpretation. The scenario creates urgency through objective competition rather than a special countdown mechanic: the player must reach the Wesfolk before the orcs do, while optional loot rewards risky counterattacks.
Pattern
Why it matters
Objective can be “stolen” by a third faction
Transforms a standard leader kill into a race.
Choice bundles story, unit, roster, and economy effects
Makes the decision mechanically legible and memorable.
Mentor exits after the choice
Marks the protagonist’s transition into command.
Scenario-local helper macro
Reduces repetition without polluting global namespace.
Night aggression facet
Uses core AI configuration to create behavioral rhythm.