Please Read Through ALL Of This Document Before Playing The Level Dread Swamp The Heroes of Might and Magic 2 level, story, and artwork that you received in this .zip file were all created by Adrian McCanna. Don’t pirate games, don’t steal the artwork, and don’t yell at me because I did the artwork on a PC. (Several artists that I know receive a lot of hate mail from other computer users who use a different system which they believe is superior… Because if you do yell at me, or pirate anything, then a demon from the innermost circle of hell will rise up, drop the carcass of it’s last meal, and send itself hurtling through hell, screaming and salivating as it’s 3-inch nails click against each other, while it searches the very strands of time for the pulsating rhythm of your heartbeat. Thanks!) Explanations Mission 1 in the Evorin Campaign The Dread Swamp Explanation of artwork: (All artwork is taken from a first-person view.) Dread.jpg This is Mikyn, at the start of the adventure, taking a look at the swamps, from his island. End.jpg This is Mikyn, at the end of the adventure, using the spell fireblast, on the last remaining necromancer on the isle. Explanation of story: Nothing much happens in the story, mainly because I’m explaining some things about how the world of Heroes of Might and Magic 2 should work, if it was to constrain itself to the rules of the computer game. (I.E. The explanation of how they communicate with their castles and towns from so far away.) So, enjoy! Notice: I need some feedback on this level, the artwork, and the story. I want to know what you, the user, wants to see more of. Do you want more cooperative missions, close-ups of castles and creatures from the game in the artwork, combat to take place in the story? Let me know at: PredaconX@aol.com You can also visit my website, which has a large collection of 3D artwork that I’ve done, mostly in the Science Fiction genre. The website is at: http://members.aol.com/PredaconX/main.htm I’m planning on making this a campaign, with several more missions, each one very, very different, and adhering to the plot. Hopefully you’ll like this level, as events are intertwined. (I.E. You find a bottle with a message in it from a sailor, and the sailor says that the dead on the shore are beckoning to him. You then discover that the enemies hero is named Dead Sailor, so you know what happened to the sailor who wrote the message.) Mercenary Liotho’s Beginning By Adrian McCanna The Mercenary named Liotho paused and sighed, running his hands through his hair as he surveyed the creatures in front of him. He was standing in the courtyard of his town, which the inhabitants called the Mercenary Outpost, and rightfully so, for he was the controller of this town. He walked over to an engineer who was sipping water from the well, and tapped him on the shoulder. The engineer turned, and smiled, offering him a sip of the water. Liotho shook his head, and spoke. “I need this town upgraded into a castle. If I’m to accomplish Lord Rythin’s orders, I must have stronger troops than this.” He pointed at the assembled lot of Peasants. They were walking around, shuffling their feet, and talking with one another about crops. Liotho sighed. “They are the weakest and slowest troops that I’ve ever had the chance to work with, and this band here,’ he motioned to the pikemen, swordsmen, and archers that he had brought with him from the mainland, ‘won’t last me long enough to complete this mission. I need more troops, and I need them soon.” The engineer sighed deeply, and said, “Very well. I need access to lumber, ore, and gold. It won’t come cheap, but it’s going to be better than having an open stretch of ground for protection in these lands.” He turned and surveyed the surrounding swamplands, the roar of the ocean sounding in his ears, for the town was on the coast. The engineer turned back to Liotho and pointed at a large nest that was on top of a thatched hut. “While you’re out there, fighting whatever it is that the crown wishes you to, you can use these,’ He motioned to a peasant, who brought over a bird from the nest, ‘to give us your orders while you are away. They’re carrier pigeons, and all you need to do is to write out your orders, wrap it around his leg, seal it with this,’ He indicated a small jar of wax, ‘and let it go. It will travel back here and we will complete your orders, including building new structures, recruiting troops, and hiring whatever heroes are unlucky enough to be in this dismal land.” He quirked an eyebrow as he looked at Liotho. “You can write, can’t you?” Liotho waved off the engineer, replying, “Of course I can, I’m not a peasant… But what am I to do when I run out of these carrier pigeons?” The engineer motioned to a mage that was busy repairing a broken axle from his wagon. The mage walked over to the Mercenary, and spoke with the engineer for a moment. Then he turned to the Mercenary Liotho, pulling a piece of paper out of his robes. He handed it to him. “Just recite these words, then the name of the town or castle that you wish to convey your orders to, and you will be placed in contact to the Captain, Engineer, or resident Mage there, who will in turn carry out you’re bidding. It’s a more permanent solution than the carrier pigeons, but also more expensive.” He held out his hand for pay, and the Engineer dutifully doled out the required gold. Liotho turned back to the engineer. “Begin construction immediately. I should be back in a few days.” He motioned to his troops, and they assembled. They began to walk down the road, when suddenly the wards that the engineer had ordered placed around the town began humming, sounding loudest from the East. (Wards, for those of you that don’t know, are a sort of magical alarm system. They can be set off by different things, depending upon the author and the story, but in this one they are set off by large amounts of magic.) Liotho paused, and shook his head, troubled. “I didn’t want to be battling magic in this dark land, but with all the magicians around, it’s no surprise.” He called out to his troops to follow him into the East, to the source of the disruption. The engineer watched him for a moment, then turned to issue orders to his workers. Meanwhile, another pair of eyes watched, but magically, from afar. The Wizard Mikyn’s Beginning Mikyn sighed as the scrying pool rippled, ending his watching of the Mercenary. Mikyn began to reconsider his reasons for being here, and whether or not a Mercenary would welcome his help, and, more importantly, whether or not Lord Rythin would reward him with spells and political power for helping on this mission. Lord Rythin didn’t know of Mikyn, but it was unusual for Wizards to help others out of their own will, as they were usually caught up in studying spells for long, long periods of time. If he learned that the wizard had helped on this mission, then perhaps he would send him and the mercenary together to the new continent, if the succeeded. Mikyn was almost salivating at the thought of being the first wizard from this land onto the newly-discovered continent, Evorin. He sat up, motioning his troops to being the march away from this small town. The land here was unfit for creating a castle, and he needed one if he was to be of any use in this land. Mikyn could see the swamplands from where he was, on one of the beautiful islands, a sharp contrast to the dead woods of the swamp. He motioned to his troops, and cast a small spell that augmented his voice, loud enough for all of his troops to hear. “Now we move on to these other islands, to explore them, defeating whatever creatures we find upon them, until we reach a castle fit for me, where I can recruit more of your kind. Now, let us go, and conquer all that threatens the rule of the crown, in the name of Archibald!” He motioned, and the spell cut off, leaving his voice normal again. To himself, as he and his troops moved towards a boat that was on the shore, he muttered, “And let me learn enough spells to become the next great Wizard Riveos, as long as I am spared his fate…” Steel Golems creaked as they walked, and his Rocs flew in circles above the ground-based armies below, while halflings ran through the brush to either side of the road. Mikyn considered what he knew of Riveos, a magic-user of great power, but one who had disappeared while experimenting with transports to the Demon Realms. The screams of his servants and troops had been heard for miles around after he opened a gateway, which was soon shut down, by, some mused, his death at the hands of the unspeakable creatures that resided within the Demon Realm. Mikyn wished for the power of Riveos, but certainly would never experiment with teleporting himself to other realms… He shook his head and marched on, content that soon he would have enough troops and knowledge to combat the evil that he felt emanating from the swamps to the East.