Editing Twisted Tunnels

{{campaign navigational box|hc=expanded|conquestoftheunderworld=expanded}}

{{scenario

| description    = Tarnum must defeat the Dungeon Overlords to continue to the next level.  As before, the game is lost if Tarnum is killed.  All Heroes will be limited to level 20, but Tarnum and two of his best Captains will carry over to the next scenario with all of their skills, spells and experience. 

| loss_hint      = {{H|Tarnum|image=Tarnum Knight|noname=}}

| allies        = {{red}}

| enemies        = {{blue}}{{green}}{{purple}}

| difficulty    = Hard

| bonus          = {{BonusPri|Power|1|loc=Tarnum}}{{BonusPri|Knowledge|1|loc=Tarnum}}

| carry          = {{Hn|Tarnum (Knight)|noname=}}<br>{{carry|2}}

| max_lvl        = 20

| Cmap          = [[File:Cmap hota 4.png|400px|xxx]]

== Prologue ==

{{cvid|AB CD-Heroes3-DATA-Heroes3 vid-H3ABab8-smk-H3ABab8|src=HC-02|thumbtime=0:02|float=left}}

{{town|Neutral|noname=}} Unnamed male historian: Finally, [[Tarnum]] learned the name of the enemy who kidnapped [[Rion Gryphonheart]]'s soul from Paradise.  However, this seemed a small victory next to finally facing his greatest crime and accepting his role as the Immortal Hero.

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{{TErow| 1 |Day 1|Queen Allison wanted to join in the combat, but I convinced her to start small.  So, she remained behind on the level above chasing down the creatures still lurking in the dark.  It will give her an opportunity to test her leadership skills as well as her sword, and assure me that she's unlikely to get herself killed.<p>Unfortunately, the vanguard unit I sent to this level has reported that they've had trouble controlling the area around the town they started.  Their captain was killed in combat with one of the Overlords just two days ago.  I can tell from their message that the men are afraid.  They need my help.}}

{{TErow| 5 |Day 5|This place is a maze, even worse than the other levels I have encountered.  Our enemies swarm about like cockroaches, scattering when we approach and swarming in behind to wreak havoc in the lands we already control.  This is not the kind of war I am used to fighting.}}

{{TErow| 9 |Day 9|Queen Allison's campaign against the stragglers is going well.  In fact, she's almost finished.  She has asked me when I will be finished here.  Good question.  There just isn't enough manpower to secure every tunnel, so I keep circling back and forth just to protect our Castle.  Rather than answering her letter, I think I need to do some serious exploring.}}

{{TErow| 14 |Day 14|This is my confession.  My recent nightmares have brought back the memories of my crimes, but they never showed me my greatest crime, so I write it now.  I haven't thought about it in a long time, and since there is no one here I can talk to without ruining my mission, I must put it to ink and parchment.<p>I murdered my best friend, my wisest advisor.  I murdered Hardac.}}

{{TErow| 19 |Day 19|It's hard to write this confession, so I do it a little at a time.<p>I realize now that Hardac had been thinking about what's best for our people.  He had seen the direction my war of hatred was going and knew it would ultimately bring great pain to our people.  Morale was low, and the men wanted to see their beloved families.  But he was still my friend.  He warned me that the captains were prepared to get rid of me even if they had to challenge me to a duel to the death.  And I knew that I couldn't beat them all.}}

{{TErow| 24 |Day 24|My confession continues.<p>I don't know what I was thinking when I approached the chained Wizard.  He was to be publicly executed the next day, upon my orders.  In exchange for his life though, he provided me with the poison I needed.  Odorless and tasteless, it would slip easily by the sharp senses of any man.  I couldn't take a chance the Wizard would talk, so I tested it on him first.}}

{{TErow| 29 |Day 29|Writing these words in my confession must've caused last nights nightmares.  So my story continues here.<p>I pretended to heed Hardac's warning about my captains.  They were displeased with the direction of the war, and I was prepared to placate them.  That morning, I announced our war was over - we were returning home.  The men cheered, and Hardac and the other captains seemed genuinely surprised.<p>Then we had a victory feast before we started our journey home, and at the beginning of the feast I shared my cup of ale with each of my captains.  When the cup came back to me, I pretended to spill its contents.  But by then the poison was already taking effect.  I won't go into the horrible details, but they all died before my eyes, choking and cursing my name with their last breath.<p>The next morning, I told my army that the Wizards had poisoned the captains - the war began again.}}

{{TErow| 34 |Day 34|I buried my confession beneath a rock in one of these tunnels.  I don't think I could find it again if I wanted to.  Unfortunately, writing my crimes down didn't make me feel any better.}}

{{TErow| 38 |Day 38|"Sir, we found this old woman locked in a cage in a Hellhound's den,"  one of my Pikemen says.  The woman is half-starved, middle-aged, but she doesn't appear frightened.<p>"How can we help you, lady?"<p>"My home is near here - take me there."<p>"You live in this place?" I say.  How could she possibly survive here?  "I could take you back to the surface."<p>"No!  This is my home.  If you take me there, I can give you the name of the one you seek - the Demon with the stolen soul."<p>Her hut isn't far.  It's a crumbling structure covered in a dank fungus, but the woman seems glad to be home.  She steps lively, bouncing around with an energy no woman her age should have.  Then she turns around.  She's young now, vibrant and beautiful.<p>"The beast you seek is Jorm," she says with seductive smile in my direction.  "He travels the lowest levels of the Underworld, but he has no home to speak of - it's how the scoundrel avoids his enemies.  Never anywhere for too long, so no one knows where to find him except maybe for Deezelisk,  the Duke of the Bottom.  He can point you to Jorm."}}

{{TErow| 42 |Day 42|No longer do we seem to be wandering aimlessly through these caverns.  No longer are we searching for the needle in the haystack.  We have an enemy, a Demon like the others - maybe more powerful, but a Demon nonetheless.<p>Duke Deezelisk worries me though.  He will certainly ask a price for disclosing the location of Jorm and Gryphonheart's soul, and I've grown suspicious of making deals with Demons.}}

{{TErow| 46 |Day 46|Queen Allison unexpectedly rides into the camp.<p>"Why haven't you answered any of my letters?" she says.  "I've been worried sick that you're dead!  Explain yourself, Sir Tarnum!"<p>Politely, I usher her into my tent.<p>"Apologies, my Queen, but I have been very busy.  I have good news though.  Your father's soul is being held by a Demon named Jorm.  Apparently, Jorm is too elusive to find on our own, so we must seek the help of another Demon named Duke Deezelisk."<p>"That is good news, but you should respond more promptly.  You will keep me well informed of your progress in the future, you understand?"  she responded stiffly.<p>I nodded.}}

{{TErow| 50 |Day 50|I am certain that Queen Allison is testing me, or at least testing my patience.  She has sent me a letter every day for the last four days.  She always asks the same questions about my progress, my troop numbers, my victories and my losses.  She watches over me like a mother hen!<p>And I thought when she returned to the level above that I would be left to my own devices.}}

{{TErow| 54 |Day 54|A letter arrives from Queen Allison after several days of silence.  I was beginning to worry.<p>"Dear Sir Tarnum,<p>I am truly sorry that I have not kept you posted about our daily activities, but we ran into a little snag here.  A group of Magogs have been taunting us with their hit-and-run ambushes, so I led a small force to hunt them down.  Well, I led the men straight into an ambush.  We were outnumbered and trapped in a cave for several days.  It was my error, and it cost several men their lives.<p>How do you do it?  How do you deal with the death of the soldiers under your command?<p>Queen Allison."}}

{{TErow| 58 |Day 58|I have learned through my contacts that Allison was grossly unprepared when she went Magog hunting, so I sit to compose a response.<p>"Dear Queen Allison,<p>If you want to kill yourself, put a blade in your heart - it's easier.  A leader doesn't go running off into the dark corners of the Underworld simply to prove how brave she is.  What were you thinking taking such a small escort?<p>If you insist on acting like a child, I shall treat you like one.  Do something like that again, and I will toss you over my knee and tan your hide.  You have lost the lives of many good men, and nearly lost the life of the Queen of Erathia.  Living with the losses of your soldiers is made easier when you know that you have done everything within your power to keep them alive, no matter the odds!<p>Sir Tarnum"}}

{{TErow| 62 |Day 62|Queen Allison's response to my harsh letter is simple.<p>"Sir Tarnum,<p>I am sorry.  I am so sorry!" she wrote.<p>Maybe I was a little too hard on her, but then a queen should know better.}}

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{{SorQrow|guard=1|loc=19, 0, 0|quest=Be:<br>{{H|Tarnum|image=Tarnum Knight|Knight}}</br>|prop=We've secured the Ambassador's Sash for Sir Tarnum, and Tarnum alone.  Only he shall pass.|prog=You don't look like Tarnum.|comp=Hail there Sir Tarnum!  Do you wish to pass?}}

[[Category:Campaign scenarios]]