Posts from What happens in such a situation?

Hello everyone!

I'll describe the situation in the game, and then I have a couple of questions.
Basically, it was a battle between two main heroes; my opponent was playing as a Mage. I had a stronger army, but summoning Fire Elementals and having a lot of mana made a difference. In the end, I had some troops left on the battlefield, I killed his native units, but stacks of summoned Elementals remained. I had to pay a ransom, which I did. What happens next: my hero with his troops remains on the map at the site of the battle. The opponent's hero ends up in his tavern. Unfortunately, I captured his Castle and missed the save, hence a few questions:

1. If all enemy units except the summoned ones are killed, and my hero remains on the map after paying the ransom with the remaining troops, what will happen if I simply retreat? Will the hero without troops return to the tavern?
2. Since I paid a ransom, meaning I lost the battle, I didn't receive the opponent's artifacts and scrolls, but where did they go? Will they reappear with his hero after he's bought back from the tavern, or are they gone for good?

I would be grateful for your answers.

1) After paying the ransom, your hero should have ended up in the tavern, and your opponent's hero should also end up in the tavern. A save file is needed; it's strange that after paying the ransom, the hero remained on the map.
2) Your opponent's artifacts remain with his hero.

I also thought the hero should have ended up in the tavern. Unfortunately, the autosave was overwritten. By the way, the game version was the latest HotA. Thank you for your response!