There was only one restart. Start — Shakti with a ring of +1 attack/defense, boots recovered from behind a horde of thieves, 1000 at home. On day 2, I see a GO lot of bears, the second road is blocked by a lot of gr. elves, bad... On day 3, I build Medusas, buy everything out, and hit the elves; if the losses are big, I'll take a restart. But a few Harpies and morale for the Troglodytes help — lost 2 Medusas and a few Troglodytes, but got a native secondary on day 3 :) Recovered a couple of Dwarf maidens, found an external dwelling of Manticores. End of week result: Shakti level 8, external dwelling of cats, cats at home, Citadel and Portal, secondary — Portal, all cats bought. Nowhere to go nearby except GO and two Metro exits (Portal near home, but far), all money goes to cats — Shakti is leveling. 123 — first Metro exit cleared — into Swamp, a Dragon Utopia visible, decided not to go in yet, recovered a University from under a lot of gr. Wasps, just in time leveled to 10 (lost three cats, regretted not bringing meat along). 124 — second exit cleared — into Lava, clearly a treasure zone — Pandora's Box and Naga Bank. End of week result: Shakti level 12, Castle at home, secondary — 2000. 13 cats in hand is good, but no cover and no mana — wiped on 131, built Mana Vortex and went back into the treasure zone. 132 — Conservatory for 4 Angels, 133 — Pendant of +3 morale/luck and Pandora's Box for 5k experience, 134 — Book of Air. End of week result: Shakti level 21, 20-22-11-16. A wagon of money from the Dragon Utopia allowed buying everything; on 141 I build another Vortex at home, Shakti gathers everything and crushes 50 bears. Just got to the surface, red's scouts there — found his Castle with Air Scouting, I jump in that direction, but the road winds so much I had to march for another 2 turns, picking up another Hive along the way. 143 — final battle in the Castle:
Shakti level 22, 22-23-11-16. 4 Angels, 33 Scorpicores, 19 Wyverns, and some small units. Lots of morale and luck.
Valeska level 12, 8-9-6-7. A stack of Champions, Zealots, and the rest of the Castle army could not hold off the thick flyers, who Stormed into the Castle. Thanks for the game.
P.S. To avoid any misunderstandings, I am posting saves for each day (this is a bit costly for me due to EGPRS, but the truth is more valuable). If there are any questions, ask.