All items are located behind animated creatures. There are 2 creatures: one from the Fortress and one from the Dungeon, but there might be a small problem if the enemy hero has taken the artifacts.
That's exactly what happened to me (i.e., I couldn't find one artifact, I don't remember which one). Well, I thought, that's it... I'll have to start over. But no, the mission can be completed perfectly well without this secondary quest.