12 — A Final Spring

Identity

WML ID	`12_A_Final_Spring`
Next scenario	`13_Peoples_in_Decline`
Map	`12_A_Final_Spring.map`, 47 × 47 hexes
Turns	39 / 36 / 33
Schedule	Default, plus local lighthouse schedule
Carryover	40%, early-finish bonus

Archetype	Final homeland defense / coalition battle
Story importance	Critical
WML complexity	Very high
AI complexity	Very high allied defense
Major unlocks	Ruby attack and merfolk recruitment

Story and dialogue

Several months pass while Jessene translates the Book and Haldric experiments with the Ruby. The scenario opens by turning the artifact from a plot object into a permanent attack, then immediately interrupts the experiment with news that the orcs have seized Southbay’s frontier.

Turn 4 reveals the larger antagonist: Lich-Lord Jevyan arrives with his Familiar and Addroran’s undead son, the Fool Prince. Jevyan announces his alliance with the orcs and senses the Ruby. Turn 5 brings Lord Typhon, whose earlier agreement with the elder prince becomes a new alliance with Haldric’s refugees. Merfolk recruitment is unlocked, linking sea travel, diplomacy, and roster progression.

Story beat	Mechanical consequence
Ruby translation completed	Haldric receives a permanent magical fire attack.
Orcs seize the frontier	Main objective becomes defeating all enemy leaders.
Jevyan reveals the Fool Prince	Personalizes the undead threat and establishes Jevyan as long-term antagonist.
Typhon renews the pact	Merman Fighter and Merman Hunter become recruitable.
Victory at Southbay	The fleet departs on the newly named Eldaric.

Map description

The 47 × 47 map is the campaign’s largest documented battlefield so far. Southbay’s city and harbor occupy the central-southern region, with northern bridge castles, a river defense, western coast and lighthouse, multiple galleons, roads to the Midlands and Clearwater, and broad eastern and northern frontier terrain.

Map element	Design role
Northern bridge castles	Give Addroran’s AI an exposed first defense line.
Southern riverbank	Provides a fallback line when the bridge is overwhelmed.
Main city walls	Remain defended in every allied-AI posture.
Harbor ships and “New Southbay” sign	Turn victory into an immediate evacuation plan.
Closed sewer trapdoor	Shows that the previous infiltration route has been sealed.
Lighthouse time area	Reuses the local illumination technique from Clearwater Port.

Objectives and sides

Victory	Defeat all enemy leaders.
Defeat	Death of Haldric, Jessene, King Addroran IX, or Lord Typhon if he has appeared; turns expire.
Carryover	40%, with early-finish bonus.

Side	Leader / roster	Gold and income	Role
1 — Haldric	Noble Commander; campaign roster	220 / 200 / 180	Human-controlled offensive force
2 — Southbay	King Addroran IX, Grand Knight; heavy loyalist roster	200; income 13	State-responsive allied city defense
3 — Orcs	Tan-Harak, Orcish Warlord	210 / 250 / 290; income 4 / 6 / 8	Night-aggressive land army
4 — Orcs	Tan-Hork, Orcish Warlord	210 / 250 / 290; income 4 / 6 / 8	Second land army
5 — Orcs	Tan-Gulo, Orcish Warlord; Naga and bats	120 / 180 / 200; income 2 / 3 / 4	Water-and-scout pressure
6 — Jevyan’s intelligence force	No recruit leader; hidden	No normal economy	Scripted Familiar, undead prince, and reinforcements

Permanent Ruby of Fire object

prestart attaches a silent, forever-duration object to Haldric:

Attack field	Value
Name	`ruby of fire`
Damage	14 × 4
Type and range	Fire, ranged
Special	Magical
Icon / projectile	`attacks/fireball.png` and core fireball missile frame
Sound	`fire.wav`

The opening animation immediately demonstrates the attack and provides comic feedback about wielding an unsocketed magical gemstone.

King Addroran’s allied AI

Side 2 is reset every turn. Unlike Clearwater’s four-state variable machine, this scenario derives its posture directly from unit positions:

Condition	Response
Northern bridge not overrun	Defend two northern castle positions and the main city walls.
At least five enemy units near the bridge, fewer than two Southbay units there, and no player units supporting it	Avoid the north and reposition toward weighted southern-riverbank goals.
All conditions	Always maintain weighted goal locations along the main wall.

The scenario also removes the leader_shares_keep candidate action, limits Addroran to one move, and gives him shallow-water movement cost 1 so he can reach a nearby healing oasis if poisoned.

Turn-based coalition events

Turn	Event	Mechanical effect
4	Jevyan, Familiar, and Fool Prince appear.	Creates scripted undead units; Normal/Hard add Chocobones, Hard adds Necrophages.
5	Lord Typhon arrives with two merfolk.	Typhon receives a permanent Storm Trident; Merman Fighter and Hunter recruitment unlocks.
30	Addroran urges haste.	Late-game deadline reminder.

Lord Typhon and the Storm Trident

Typhon is created as a Merman Warrior hero, then receives a permanent object copied from the core storm-trident implementation:

Attack	Value
Name	`storm trident`
Damage	14 × 2
Type / range	Fire, ranged
Special	Magical
Presentation	Lightning icon and three directional lightning animations

The object is embedded directly in the newly created hero rather than placed as a pickup, guaranteeing that Typhon always arrives with his signature weapon.

Jevyan’s scripted intelligence visit

Jevyan’s party does not behave like a conventional enemy leader. The hidden side exists for a scripted dramatic entrance:

Familiar flies in as a messenger and observer.
Jevyan Cloaked enters, speaks, and senses the Ruby.
The Fool Prince is shown as a Death Knight.
Jevyan leaves the map.
Revenant and Bone Shooter remain, with more undead on higher difficulties.
Familiar also departs.

This separates antagonist exposition from normal recruitment and pathfinding.

Special events

Trigger	Behavior
`prestart`	Places ships, lighthouse, signs, sealed sewer, recalls companions, grants Ruby attack, and installs objectives.
`start`	Demonstrates the Ruby and begins the frontier battle.
Turn 4	Jevyan intelligence scene and difficulty-scaled undead deployment.
Turn 5	Typhon alliance, two loyal merfolk, permanent trident, and recruit unlock.
Signpost movement	Displays Southbay, Clearwater, Midlands, Northrun, New Southbay, and sealed-sewer text; permits undo.
Addroran last breath	Immediate defeat.
Fool Prince dies	Addroran mourns his son.
Addroran attacks	Plays a Southbay battle cry.
Enemies defeated	Names the flagship Eldaric, confirms Jevyan’s threat, and ends with 40% carryover.
Time over	Jessene reports that enemy reserves have arrived.

Assets and reuse

Resource	Origin	Use
Haldric and Burin expression portraits; Addroran and Typhon portraits	Campaign	Ruby experiment, coalition dialogue, and hero identity
Jevyan, Familiar, and campaign-specific unit sprites	Campaign	Long-term antagonist intelligence scene
Fool Prince Death Knight portrait	Core/shared	Undead son reveal
Lighthouse, ships, trapdoor, signs, fireball and lightning art	Core/shared	Map staging and artifact attacks
`elvish-theme.ogg`, `undead_siege.ogg`, `battle.ogg`, `fire.wav`, lightning sounds	Core/shared	Score and magical attacks

Scenario WML · Map source · Artifact index · AI index

Lessons for campaign authors

Pattern	Reuse lesson
Translate an artifact across several scenarios before activating it	Delay mechanical payoff to make the item feel researched and consequential.
Permanent object on a hero	Add a new attack without creating another unit type or advancement branch.
Roster unlock through returning diplomacy	Make an earlier worldbuilding agreement produce a later recruit list.
Position-derived allied AI	A posture variable is unnecessary when current battlefield state is sufficient.
Script the villain’s visit separately from battle AI	Guarantee timing, dialogue, and exit while leaving a smaller combat consequence.

← 11 — Southbay in Winter 13 — Peoples in Decline →

Release 1.0.0. Source snapshot: Wesnoth 6ab3fc1, accessed July 12, 2026. This site has no external runtime dependencies and can be opened directly from disk.