Posts from Adventure log. Auto-translated

Battle for Freedom

Yes, the plan to escape from the undead turned out to be not very good. After fleeing from them, we ended up in the hands of the Orcs. We were led to their Dungeon by trolls, the very ones who captured the main character. Now we are in a dungeon. But the strange thing is that the guards hardly watch over us, which means there is a chance to escape. Hmm, Dacian and a few other people are nowhere to be seen; they must have already escaped. Well, now it's my turn.
*Gweddri walked through a narrow tunnel to the north* - Oh, guys, glad to see you x)
Dacian: We're glad to see you too, man.
Gweddri: So, what are we going to do, old man?
Dacian: What else? Of course, we're going to escape, but we need to go southwest, because there are fewer guards and it's easier to get through. It's a pity that there are only five of us; the others are somewhere in the south.

Gathering their courage, the brave five headed down the tunnel, which eventually led them to the throne room, where the Orcish leader was. At that moment, the other soldiers were discovered! They were in the torture chamber, and each of them had 1 HP. When the guards were distracted by the five, they decided to escape, but unfortunately, there was still a guard there. This brute could kill anyone with one hit, so there would be no way to avoid casualties. First, I blocked his path with a pikeman so that he wouldn't reach my important fighters. On the next turn, I sent two ogres to their deaths. They managed to hit the guard once each, after which they died. I entrusted the finishing blow to a footman, who was close to leveling up. He got it, thereby restoring his HP. I immediately put him in the passage so that some nasty creature wouldn't climb into the room and kill all my soldiers. Meanwhile, the five fought with the leader's guards, and then they started on the main villain. After clearing the room, the squad moved on, but the path was blocked again. This time, in addition to the Orcs, there were also two trolls, and that's really bad. Dividing the party and sending the mage around, the other four remained in the main tunnel. At that time, the prisoners from the torture chamber recovered a little and began to leave the room. They were immediately attacked by guards in the form of assassins (the first one was the same) and began to poison my footmen. But they were not the only ones interested in preventing anyone from escaping. The squad of Orcs and trolls that blocked the main passage also began to act. Someone, like, headed to help the guards, but then changed their mind. In general, all this chaos helped me. The fire mage killed a troll, and then an Orc, whom he met on the bypass path. The other four dealt with the remaining scum. And, of course, the tortured ones got rid of their guardians. In the end, we reached the exit and left this terrible place.

Screenshot #1
The beginning of the journey
Tok escaped from prison and met the guys.

Screenshot #2
Arrival in the throne room

Screenshot #3
Exhausted soldiers

Screenshot #4
The guard is killed; our man guards the passage

Screenshot #5
Battle with the leader

Screenshot #6
The path to freedom (the last enemies have already been killed; I didn't take a screenshot of them).
Ovaek leveled up, by the way.

P.S. Yes, the map is more difficult than the others.
At first, I thought it would be bad with five people, because only the Fire Mage and Dacian (a good healer) were effective. The main character is mediocre, maybe like a tank, Ovaek is generally a weakling, and slow; and the Javelin Thrower is also not very strong. I thought it would be better to level up a swordsman or a pikeman; they are stronger in melee combat. But no, the Thrower showed himself... in some moments, throwing helped, because almost no one could retaliate (because there is no ranged attack), so the guy remained healthy and could tank.

Blow it up and run

After escaping the dungeon, we found ourselves south of where we had been. Without wasting time, we immediately headed south, as we knew the orcs were chasing us. When we reached the river, we realized that we wouldn't be able to escape, and besides, the orcs were getting closer and closer, almost surrounding us. Suddenly, a man appeared before us, who introduced himself as an Engineer. He suggested blowing up the bridge after we crossed the river, so the orcs couldn't catch up. We agreed. In return, he asked for protection. And so, we started moving towards the bridge. I hired some riders to protect us from the orcs, of which there were already many. We barely made it to the bridge and crossed it. As soon as the last soldier was on the other side of the river, the engineer immediately blew up the bridge.
We definitely won't go north anymore, but we can't go west either, as there are undead there, as well as in the south, in Vesnot (to be honest, I didn't understand where the undead are... either in the west, south, and throughout the country, or the invaders are in the country, I don't know =\). We also thought about going east, but we don't have any ships. In the end, we decided to go to Vesnot to help the king with some invaders (maybe undead, or maybe someone else). And Datsin said that he has some advice for the king and might know the undead army's weak point... (he couldn't say it right away, the jerk)

P.S. to be honest, the campaign is getting more and more intense. I'm tired of playing; I always end up killing someone important. Heh, and the scenario also says: kill all enemies or blow up the bridge. We chose the second option because we simply don't have enough days for the first (they only give 12), and there are 3 enemies, plus a strong army, and each turn they build new ones.

Screenshot #1
One side

Screenshot #2
The other side

Screenshot #3
We're running across the bridge. I bought a lot of riders at the beginning, but only 4 survived (the ones near the bridge). The green (poisoned) one and the wounded one nearby were killed, and the one in the house was surrounded and couldn't get out, so we had to blow up the bridge and leave him there x(

Chapter Eight. "Sinking into Darkness"

My bud is withering here. It lacks water and sun, for we are underground! I cannot imagine how those vile dwarves live in such places. It's hot, dry, and completely bald children are running around. Could the powers behind the corruption of the north truly be hidden here?.. At least I don't feel as bad as that pagan in a fur coat. He huffs and puffs, fanning himself with scrolls. A pathetic sight. Stupid caves. Nothing helps, not even refreshing rain. All moisture dries up instantly! Blast furnaces, bald children, fire elementals, strange things. The pop says they are mechanical golems. How does he know everything? We had to struggle with them. One of them chopped my head off. Luckily, thanks to the father, I managed to regenerate it back. They beat the dust out of me and chipped away pieces of stone when I tried to fight them on equal terms. Fortunately, they couldn't fit through the narrow doorway. It was so funny when we threw various junk at them, and they brandished axes, knives, scythes, and saws, but couldn't even dodge! Luckily, we defeated them. They rusted from the water and succumbed easily to blows. And one simply tripped over a bald child and tumbled from the bridge into the abyss. One must be more careful.
A tall tower stood in the center. Great idea. You can survey the endless expanses of the cave from the embrasures. Or you can shoot at us from there. And with those damn children, too. They filled their caps with stones and threw them at us. How stupid it looked! Was it funny to them or what? We lost about twenty minutes chasing them across the rugged terrain. The Ranger almost sprained his leg! In the end, he caught one and gave him a good kicking. I was told later that they are little cave people. As if such a theory sounds any better.
We peeked into the tower as well. Rubbing his magic staff, our analyst released some gas in there and tossed in a spark. Well, we went in, examined the bodies, and found nothing interesting. A strange girl arrived. Strange because she had hair. She said she would take food to her comrades. What food? What other comrades?..
We visited many fascinating places. For example, a cesspool. I don't know why. Everyone just wanted to see something. Also some kind of street. The windows and doors of the houses were boarded up with planks. Somewhere there, the leader suddenly jumped up and started digging through a pile of trash. He found a half-decomposed corpse with a piece of iron. He began waving it around, scattering dirt in all directions. He says—"none of you will be able to hold this Great Sword; it is for a Paladin!". Not surprising. No one was particularly eager to touch this thing smeared with something and full of rot. Well, pests don't cling to paladins. His business, of course. He tried to prove something to us and charged at some unfortunate monster with it. He pummeled it for about three minutes and then shouted that since the monster wasn't evil, the weapon wouldn't reveal its magical power. I think he's completely lost it.
The place, in general, is quite something. Some ugly mushrooms shrieked without stopping. Only manual calming helped. I had never seen such things before. A mushroom hunter was found there too. He lived in a greenhouse. He grew some herbs and mushrooms. He brewed some solutions. I don't know for what. I don't think they can be taken without harming one's psyche. Those same children, with gouged-out eyes, did the growing for him. He screamed that we had allegedly come to kill him. His pupils were so dilated that his eyes looked black. And what about us? Said and done. Later the clergy justified it by saying it was for a badge. What badge?.. I don't even know what we are doing here or what we are looking for.
We met many more interesting and crazed people. For example, priests of Ilmater who were handing out slaps to the undead around them. No one in our group likes undead. We turned them into fertilizer. Maybe something will grow besides hallucinogens. There they finally realized they had nothing left to do. They began thanking us for the rescue. Pfft. And then there was a pompous staircase. LOCKED. It's not so hard to imagine, after all the places we've been, what a locked staircase might look like. The warriors rummaged around and stuck in all those badges they had been carrying with them for some reason. And we were able to use the steps. And there—who would you think? The esteemed Brother Pokvelin, whom we'd been searching for since Kuldahar. He mumbled something, shaking his fists, but quickly shut up when he got a cobblestone in the eye. Various creatures crawled out from everywhere, and a terrible mess ensued. All I could do was cast one tornado after another into the crowd, not really caring if it hit enemies or friends. And then I turned into a stone boulder and went to crush skulls. I got so caught up that I didn't notice everything around me go dark and paralysis seized my body.

Devised by Laika, the forest maiden.


To be honest, almost all of it happened just like that. This dungeon is so confusing, so dark and full of various freaks, that only one desire arises—to get out of there as quickly as possible! It's like a madhouse, but without windows or electricity. Apathy sets in.
Briefly on the plot: We ran through these caves, killed enemy spawn and their leaders (one mage was a very cool psycho, he made a clone and I actually liked his laboratory, pity I didn't screenshot him), from whom we collected badges, found some decent gear, and finally reached the main boss (I only found out there that this guy was the main boss\ damn, I thought someone cooler would be there.. idk, I was a bit disappointed and even let down). Although he isn't just a priest; rather, he wasn't one at all. He only changed his appearance and tricked people into following him. In reality, he was a dark elf (by skin), although I'm not entirely sure about this either, because he is too strong; he probably has patrons or indeed was something more than an ordinary DE. So, we went up the stairs and came face to face with him. After five minutes of chatter, we entered battle. Yes, it was hard for us, because a lot of folk crawled out from the shadows and not the weakest ones, so we had to sweat\ When the enemy was practically defeated, something happened... *Loken won't like this, but whatever* Basically, the main villain's amulet lit up and blinded all of us with a bright flash...

screen №1
This is just as we entered from the street and immediately got our asses kicked, more than once

screen №2
Patience and hard work... and buffs, of course.

screen №3
this looks like a cesspool, or maybe not.. though that's not the point, the beetles are

screen №4
this is an abandoned city in which blind minotaurs run around
Also, heavies were bursting out of houses and walls with explosions!

screen №5
this is the same level as in the first screen (3rd and 4th screens are already a level lower, there are several). Indeed yes, bandits from the shadows attacked us

screen №6
this is a neighboring little cave, there was a passage near the tower and bald children
killing elementals that were summoned by... I don't remember who

screen №7
this is the prev. location with salamanders. We caught one and put it on the rails, waited for the train, but nothing\ then the dwarf went to get the cart and we pushed it ourselves

screen №8
One of the leaders, or rather one of them) is an elf girl, and pillars guard her. There are many of these strong idiots there

screen №9
I don't remember where we got here from, some locations have two entrances etc. Basically, priests of Ilmater whose minds were clouded sat here. IDK what they were doing there, probably summoning undead, because there was a lot of it

screen №10
This is a mushroom glade, full of mushrooms obviously, as well as all kinds of creatures (judge by the corpses). There we met two bald children. Father and son. They are both prisoners, like all the dwarves in this dungeon, moreover, all the dwarves have their tongues torn out, and some have no eyes. But the father's is all intact, which cannot be said for his son\ Well, he's just a sculptor and was ordered to make a statue, and the son helps him sort of.

screen №11
Hm, there were 4 exits or entrances from the glade, idk. Anyway, through one of them we got into a house. There were mostly bandits, but also important persons.
Here we're just hitting bandits

screen №12
And this is some knight\ Loken attacked him, but I didn't want to x(

screen №13
Here we are already fighting a dwarf, and before that we let a thief go, for whom the girl from the 1st floor asked) She said he was good and had nothing to do with this, it's all the main villain. Anyway, we let them both go.. they were DEs I think

screen №14
and HERE is the final room and the Villain, surrounded by animals and monsters[br][/br]
screen №15
The battle is in full swing. The scrub hasn't entered the fight yet (at the top in a red robe)

screen №16
Here it's a total brawl, you can't even see who is hitting whom etc.\ idk how we managed to survive and keep healing.. only replayed 1-2 times

Blow It Up and Run 2

Yes, I've already played this map and provided feedback, but the thing is, the next scenario forced me to replay this map. Basically, the first time, I bought riders to use them as a living shield and quickly complete the map. But as it turned out, in the next map, I couldn't recruit any of the old units that I hadn't hired specifically to keep them alive, and also to save money. So, it turned out that besides the heroes and 4 riders from the previous map, I had no one left. This didn't appeal to me because I didn't want to lose so many upgraded units, and I didn't know how to continue playing. So, I reloaded the map with the bridge and completed it, but this time I bought back all my veteran units and defended with them. In general, it was easier than the first time, and I also upgraded some of them, but I ended up with no money. We'll see what happens next...

Screenshot 1
This is us defending

Screenshot 2
We crossed the bridge, and the engineer is preparing to blow it up.

Chapter Nine. "Ice and Flame"
Final (main storyline).


Notes of a Ranger.
Wind. A northern, cold wind blows against my face. A frosty freshness that I missed so much in those caves. How pleasant it is to breathe this clean air. My eyes are closed, but I feel that it is all over. There are no screams, no sounds of fireball explosions or the clashing of swords; only the howling of the wind breaks the silence. Snowflakes fall on my face and, melting, stream down my cheeks. I open my eyes and see a dark sky dropping snowflakes upon the earth. Looking around, I saw my comrades lying on the snow, and around us stood houses bound in ice. They had literally frozen, turning into icicles. The Temple of Tempus stood out particularly among them—or rather, an icy tower that now stood in its place. Yes, we have returned to East Harbor. But how? What happened in Poquelin's lair?
When everyone woke up, we decided to look around and headed along the street. Unfortunately, before us appeared only the destroyed houses of the villagers, as if a hurricane had passed through here. But we were not in peace for long; suddenly, a cyclops emerged from the darkness, several times taller than I. And then another appeared, and another. In total, we killed about a dozen cyclopes. After crossing the entire town, by the bridge, we discovered something like a palisade where people were kept. These were local residents whom the cyclopes had taken prisoner. We freed them and asked what had happened here. The High Priest Everard said that a blizzard had struck the town and ice began to rise from underground, piercing through the houses, and giants came from the mountains. They killed those who tried to resist and locked the rest in a pen, where they had been held. He also revealed that Poquelin is in the tower and has planned something terrible. We had tried to enter it before, but there was no entrance. The priest told us about a special spell that must be cast to enter the tower.
Having clarified all the details, we set off for the tower. Approaching it, the mage cast the spell, and the outlines of a door began to appear on the icy surface. When the door fully manifested, we opened it and stepped inside. From the inside, the temple looked the same as before, except that the walls were covered in ice and icy blocks protruded from the floor. On the second floor, there was a bedroom where we rested for a bit and prepared for battle. Climbing to the third floor, we found ourselves in a small room with many mirrors and a throne standing in the middle. Here we met Pomab, the town merchant. People said he had been taken to the tower and no one had seen him since. At first, we were glad to see him, but as it turned out, this was not the real Pomab, but his double. He attacked us with his guards. We fought them for quite a long time, as the fake Pomab was a decent mage—although the real one was a mage too—and also those magic knights of his who refused to die. We didn't understand why they kept getting back up, but when we dealt with the mage, those pieces of iron collapsed on their own and didn't rise again. After killing the clone, we climbed higher. This room was even smaller. In it, we found a magic mirror that transported us to a round hall. Poquelin awaited us there. He said that with the help of an amulet, he intended to open the gates to the abyss—the plane of demons—and summon them to seize the entire north. And just as he began his ritual, Everard suddenly appeared; he was invisible and jumped into the portal, thereby sealing it with himself and interrupting the ritual. Poquelin flew into a rage. Then the golems standing in the hall attacked us, and Poquelin took on his true form. He turned out to be a demon, almost as tall as a cyclops. A horned creature with a tail, a fanged maw, red skin, and two huge cleavers in his hands. In addition to immense strength and powerful magic, he could teleport, leaving searing clumps of flame behind. But our team proved stronger than this red scoundrel, and evil was defeated!

screenshot №1
in the town, fighting a cyclops

screenshot №2
fighting again) you can see the state of the houses after the villains' raid. I'm afraid the state budget won't cover the repairs[br][/br]
screenshot №3
this is us in the temple, first floor) priest Everard is standing with us
we entered, and he's already standing there, although he told us how to get in, I think\ maybe someone else told us

screenshot №4
bedroom
I saw more

screenshot №5
Battle with the fake Pomab (pomad-ka)). He created doubles, damn it, and I turned one into stone

screenshot №6
We blew the first fight, as well as the following ones, but eventually we defeated him)

screenshot №7
room with the portal mirror

screenshot №8
And here is the main demon. See the round thingy in the wall? that's the portal he activated, but it failed..
He also said that he teleported us out of the cave himself, because he wanted this guy)) excuses, he almost died, plain and simple

screenshot №9
one more screen. Almost killed my ranger, had to move them back\ There are also a bunch of traps in this circle, wherever you step—it's hell
By the way, the golems attacked immediately, and only then did we chat with the guy

PS I took a lot of screenshots, but for some reason only two were saved x(

So that's pretty much it) the main plot ends here, wait for the add-on.

Horrors of the Swamps

Our journey led us to a place that was once a plain, but now it is a stinking swamp, teeming with undead. A thick fog envelops this area, so we had to slow down and carefully tread on this cursed land. From the thickets, skeletons, phantoms, and vile ghouls attack us constantly. But the cavalry is on alert and always ready to defend.
We reached a lake, in the center of which a sunken fort was visible. We tried to approach closer, but suddenly a dracolich (or maybe a skeletal sea serpent, I don't know) emerged from the water and attacked us. Fortunately, the soldiers stuck together and were able to repel the vile creature. After defeating the serpent, we continued our journey...

Screenshot #1
Ghoul ambush

Screenshot #2
Spotted the serpent

Screenshot #3
Killing the serpent

P.S. I completed the map with 4 different knights (one of them a hero), two mages (also heroes), and a large ogre.

Chapter Ten. "Island of the Fallen"
addon

Ho-ho-ho! So much mead flowed down the thick dwarf's mustache! Although, of course, that amount is nothing compared to what settled in his stomach! For a whole week we celebrated the victory over the demonic spawn. People were rebuilding their homes, burying the dead, and clearing debris from the roads, but none of that concerned us, for the tavern had survived! We sang, danced, and made merry with the other lucky souls whom we ourselves had rescued. But all good things must come to an end, and the bald paladin dragged us back on the road again, signing new contracts with us. I cannot say that this upset me much, because adventures pay well, and I was getting tired of drinking anyway.
We set off for Kuldahar, where some unfinished business remained. The Barbarian shaman was still there, and he was very pleased with our success. He briefly explained the essence of the matter: the barbarian tribes, united by a new chief, intend to grind the Ten Cities into powder and reclaim the north.
After a bracing journey through the air, we arrived in a small town located closest to the barbarian camp. An interesting town. True, in the first ten minutes we nearly committed infanticide, but oh well. In the tavern, we met an alcoholic bard who reeked of vomit and rice vodka from ten meters away. While retching, he told us a sad story about how he made a perilous journey to the North in search of the Ice Rose, where he eventually drank himself into oblivion. There were less pleasant people there as well, whom I cannot bring myself to describe.
But back to business. The shaman led us to the barbarian camp and we, as a diplomatic delegation, were granted an audience with the chief. The chief, naturally, turned out to be either stupid or cunning; he called us murderers and banished the shaman who brought us somewhere to their Sacred-Island-of-Exile-and-Tombs-With-Ancestral-Spirits. Fortunately, we managed to talk our way out of it by pressing their religious dogmas and fear of god—our leader is good at sophisticated lying. He doesn't really look like a paladin at all; for some reason, he even painted his armor black and drew a fiery eye on the shoulder guard. Generally speaking, they have all become very strange. The dwarf talks to himself, the ranger disappears somewhere for several hours at night, and the elf has an expression on his face as if he sat on a hedgehog. Well, that is actually explainable, considering the blast-grass I've been slipping into his food.
Either way, we set off for this misty island, brazenly making use of a boat and the steering skills of a local fisherman, Young Ned, despite his feeble objections—after all, we are indirectly responsible for the shaman. What a place, I tell you! Ghouls! Spirits! Psychopaths and murderers, monsters and corpse-eaters! Huge, fat, smelly, worm-ridden rotting dead things reaching for my throat, into which you can fire a dozen arrows and they won't even flinch! In short, we were amazed by such audacity and barely fought our way through those crowds. The sand boiled under our feet, snow evaporated and immediately fell as precipitation, freezing in mid-air into razor-sharp icicles that ripped through the rotting bodies of restless zombies, and the soil was drenched in streams of blood, including our own. Beneath the surface of the island, we found dark, musty tunnels packed to the brim with creatures. There were some there whose same scream threw us into shock, slashing the body with wounds as if by sword strokes. In the end, we found the tomb of that very chief, who claimed that the spirit of their great warlord had entered his deceased body. The same one, by the way, who once sealed that portal for which we shed blood in East Haven. After searching the sarcophagus and analyzing the disturbances in astral space, the mage declared that everything said by the chief was a blatant lie, proven, among other things, by an amulet dropped nearby. I don't know how he figured it out, but I didn't trust the bastard from the start.
Fortunately, we soon found the exiled shaman as well. After gossiping about all these exciting topics, we teleported back to the town with him and agreed on a cunning plan. He kills the guards and penetrates the camp using his evil sorcery, while we head to the other end of the continent to meet the Prophetess, who will decipher for us the true nature of the spirit that entered the chief's body.
Nothing new.

Kristy's testimony.


So that's basically how we got to the addon) now I'll describe everything by screenshots

screenshot №1
We are in a new land. The shaman teleported us here and then ran away

screenshot №2
This is a temple where I found a cache and tried to rob it. Naturally, there was a trap there, so the range died, then I resurrected him. We found a magic sling in the cache, gave it to the mage)
The screenshot shows the process of resurrecting the ranger

screenshot №3
This is the house of the local "sheriff", the forest guard. He told us that three hunter brothers came to town and are setting traps, killing animals, etc. He tried to talk to them, but they don't listen to him.
He also mentioned that a wolf attacked him, which he took as a punishment from the Forest God, who in his opinion grew angry because he cannot protect the animals. The forester miraculously stayed alive.

screenshot №4
We are in the tavern. There we met a Bard who told us his sad love story. I'll try to summarize it briefly: Once upon a time there was a bard in some kingdom. And he heard that the king was summoning all poets, minstrels, and bards to his castle. Either he was holding a contest for the best story, ballad, or just because, I don't remember. Our bard lived in the castle for some time, came up with a story, and began to sing. Suddenly, during the song, he saw a princess looking at him. She immediately captured his heart. He began to try and sing even better to make an impression. In the end, the king was satisfied and the bard stayed at their court (or just lived there, idk). From this meeting, he began to communicate with the princess; they walked in the forest, talked, and eventually fell in love. But the thing was that the princess had a fiancé and she was supposed to marry him. And when the wedding day came, the princess declared before everyone that she loved the bard and wanted to marry for love. Naturally, the fiancé didn't like this; he began to protest. The king was calmer, although he also looked at his daughter with indignation. The restless fiancé decided to be tricky and proposed a trial to the king that the bard must complete in order to stay with his beloved. The goal of the trial was an ice rose, which the bard had to find and bring to the king. Enchanted by love, the minstrel gathered his things and set off on the search. For several years he wandered the north in search of the rose but could not find it. Only later did he realize that this was a trick to separate him from the princess. So he stayed in this village (where we met him), sitting in the tavern and drowning his pain in drink.

screenshot №5
This is us already on the island, killing undead

screenshot №6
These fat creatures are very hardy and strong[br][/br]
screenshot №7
Slashed its belly with a sword and guts are on the ground

screenshot №8
Necromancer's tower. Sells and buys items
pity it wasn't screenshotted from inside[br][/br]
screenshot №9
Here animals attacked us, also strong

screenshot №10
Night hunt for ghouls

screenshot №11
Summoned a zombie who goes first (meat forward), and behind him the ranger with a bow)

screenshot №12
Entered a small cave, and there's a bunch of dead things. Some are fast, others hardy and strong, some are occasionally strong

screenshot №13
The first time it didn't work as usual, had to reload, get buffed, and throw spells.

screenshot №14
Once again in search of the spawn of darkness

screenshot №15
And this is the tomb where we found the amulet) I asked Lok if I could kill the ghost guards alone and indeed I did, even with the loss of the range (resurrected him right on the screenshot).

screenshot №16
Oh, yes. There we also met a strange spirit who turned into armor after a conversation. At first, we put it on and immediately died. But when we talked to him differently, he turned into armor that didn't kill upon wearing. The spirit said that one would be able to talk to him, i.e., sort of summon him from the armor... Anyway, I put the armor on the ranger and tried to talk to the spirit, but this bastard tricked us\ The ranger was torn to pieces and a huge something appeared in his place, which you can see on the screenshot. I have no idea who it is; he has the "blur" spell on him, so nothing can be seen.
The range is just unlucky, dies often

screenshot №17
This is us preparing to sail away from the island. If you look closely, you'll see the boatman

screenshot №18
We returned to town and met a werewolf. He attacked us and then ran away. Talking to the residents, we found out that one of the hunter brothers was killed by a wolf. To get full information, we went to the brothers' house. Inside we found one of them (idk where the other one is, we never found him... maybe he died too, or maybe he bolted). He told us that he and his brother were hunting and suddenly a wolf attacked them. The beast instantly killed the brother, then attacked this one, but he managed to defend himself and the wolf ran away. He also said that he suspects the sheriff of this. Without thinking long, we went to the sheriff, but he wasn't home\ Well, we went to the tavern, spent the night there, and the next day went back to the forester. This time he was already home. We talked to him and found out that he had become a werewolf after being attacked by a wolf. The forester was very upset about this; he didn't even know himself. But we helped him. We went to the tavern owner, who once belonged to some brotherhood and was a wizard. He gave us an amulet that suppresses the process of turning into a beast. We gave it to the sheriff and everything seems to have settled.

screenshot №19
Standing by the tavern

Chapter Eleven. "The March to the Heart of Winter"

from Arandor's diary:
Eh, I remember complaining about the cold in East Harbor and its surroundings... What a fool I was; here is where the real cold is! I don't understand how people live here. Although why should I care, the main thing is to complete the mission and get out of this cursed north. And why did I think there were many interesting places here, full of secrets, ancient magic, and artifacts? This burial island disappointed me. Nothing but an old necromancer and a huge number of stinking corpses trying to eat you alive. But that was several days ago; now we are heading into the mountains. It's quite slippery here; I've already slipped about ten times. Luckily, I didn't fall. One lucky tumble would be enough to slide into an abyss.
There is so much wildlife here: trolls, salamanders, yetis, a giant, wolves. Not only is it dangerous to walk here, but we also have to fight these monsters. But that is nothing compared to what awaited us in the icy caves. I cannot even find the words to describe this filth. Huge worm-like creatures moving on eight little legs. These beasts turned out to be quite strong, and we had to put in maximum effort to break through them. One couldn't relax for a minute, as they could attack from any side. Their burrows were everywhere throughout the cave, and you never knew where the next parasite would appear. Often they attacked from behind while we were fighting other worms. Everyone fought as best they could. Swords sliced through them, guts spilled from their bellies, arrows pierced their bodies and blood sprayed like a fountain, and then I finished them off with spells, burning them, blasting them with fireballs, and all this filth flew in different directions, painting the cave walls the color of entrails.
At the end of this chaos, we met a blind dwarf. He lived in this cave, in a small room that had been set up as a forge. The dwarf told us the story of how he ended up here. All dwarves (smiths) at some period of their life feel that it is time to create a special thing that will be the main work of their lives. And so, our companion felt such a moment and went into the mountains to find material for the item. He didn't need steel, silver, or any other metal. He was looking for ice, which is plentiful here. On his journey, he met a seer who lived here. Naturally, he had heard of her and that it was better not to meet her. The smith looked at her and seemed to turn to stone. He couldn't move even when the witch gouged out his eyes with a dagger. So he remained living here, creating weapons and armor. Of course, we used his services and bought ice armor for Laika. Also, the paladin asked to help him create the weapon that was supposed to be the work of the smith's life. The dwarf offered several types of weapons; naturally, the paladin chose a halberd, which he received. Right, why leave such a weapon in the cave of a blind dwarf? Before leaving, we asked the smith to make an ice rose for our bard acquaintance. He readily agreed, and now we were ready to continue our journey. The dwarf wished us luck and advised us to be more careful, as the seer knows we are coming and has specifically hidden herself in these caves. He also asked not to harm her. Strange, she gouged out his eyes, and he protects her. Ah, yes, he also gave us a little thing that will help us reach her. He was the pleasantest dwarf I've ever seen.
So we climbed even deeper. It is much darker here, but I must note the beauty of these places. I didn't think ice could be so beautiful. Pity that some blocks come to life and try to kill us. What can you do; it's quite difficult to negotiate with golems. Having broken through the icy guards, we approached a door. Using the little thing (I don't remember what it was) given to us by the smith, we opened the door. Entering inside, we saw her—the frail body of a woman, more resembling a zombie. Her look was quite disgusting. At least she was wearing a cloak. Being our leader, the paladin approached her and began to speak. They chatted for a long time; in the end, this old woman gave us some mirror and told us to give it to the chief of the Barbarians. Supposedly it can help, though it's unclear how. As for herself, she didn't want to go, she was afraid. Well yes, of course, let others risk their lives. Taking the mirror, we left there and returned to the city.
Upon returning to the city, we immediately went to the tavern to gladden our friend. The bard was happy when we handed him the ice rose. I hope everything works out for him now and he wins back love. Luck should smile upon him; good guys are always lucky, unlike people like me.... Right, distracted again. We spent the night in the tavern, and the next morning we set off for the Barbarian camp. The guards did not obstruct us and let us through to speak with the chief. Seeing us, the leader of the Barbarians was a bit surprised, as we had been told not to return. The paladin didn't stand on ceremony for long and almost immediately offered the mirror as a gift. But this proved not so easy. At first, the chief refused to accept the mirror, citing his dislike for the benefits of civilization. In the end, we managed to convince him to look into the mirror. That's where the most interesting part began. Something strange started happening to the chief. And suddenly the seer appeared. They began talking about some spirits, long-forgotten stories and such, after which the chief launched a magic ball at her, and he himself fell dead. Those in the room only saw something like a spirit leaving the chief's body. At that same moment, a fight broke out. The worm tribe attacked the moose and bear tribes. My god, it was a slaughter. A crowd of Barbarians runs around the tent killing each other, and we get hit too. The main thing is you can't tell who is who. Having cleared the tent of enemies, we approached the witch. She told us that the spirit of an ancient worm (dragon) had possessed the chief's body and was trying to unite the Barbarians to attack ten cities. And the people of the worm tribe have long worshipped him and still serve him. They perform sacrifices on the island in honor of their Goddess. Perhaps the spirit headed exactly there. We must follow it and finally destroy this evil. After the seer's death, I took her cloak made of virgin hair. It fit me perfectly, but the smell from it was something else. When we went outside, we saw that the Barbarians were still fighting. We helped the bear tribe and the moose tribe defeat the worm tribe. Then we found our shaman acquaintance and told him that we need to get to the island and kill the worm. He agreed to help us and said that we would sail there with people from the salmon tribe, who are considered the best sailors among the Barbarians.
So the end of our journey through the north of Faerûn is approaching. Soon we will be able to leave this place. This certainly gladdens me, only my heart is not at peace; I have a bad feeling...

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Battle with salamanders. Loki is fighting up top; pieces of flesh are flying from his blows. And I'm below, being covered in ice from the salamander's aura

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Stumbled upon a camp. Found frozen bodies, apparently hobbits or dwarves, or maybe children :O

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burning wolves

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wolves deliver a counter-strike with their icy breath

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A giant came to avenge the wolves

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found another little giant corpse below) btw, somewhere in this same place we found the dwarf-smith's shield; he repaired it later and gave it to us, though it's worse than what I had, but still nice

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and here are the hairy Yetis

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another giant blocking our path and getting hit on the head

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a troll colony, you can't call it anything else

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time for the worms\

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cruel fights were had with them

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This is the forge and the dwarf

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next level of caves and golems
I'm being approached from behind)

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and here a golem froze my dwarf[br][/br]
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here is the seer, she's also a witch) you should have seen her in the intro (practically naked!), brrr

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And this is my range going crazy) Loken wanted to kill this witch to become a fallen paladin, but along with him, my ranger was becoming fallen, and I didn't want that at all) So I suggested trying to kill the range, then whack the witch, and then resurrect the range.. And so, I started killing the tracker with my mage, casting various spells, when suddenly, the range flew into a rage (became a berserker) and started slaughtering everyone. He quickly killed the mage, then killed Loken's thief-warrior and only then calmed down)) We thought it was something in the same vein or whatever, but then I saw that in the properties of the axe the range runs with (besides the two-hander, bow, and metal axe), there is a small chance that the owner becomes a berserker for some time... This isn't actually the first time the range started hitting everyone in sight) although in this case he didn't hit anyone else, only him, but still went crazy... idk basically)

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chief's tent
everyone is alive so far)

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the brawl started) The druidess seems to have summoned green giants, or maybe not

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this is already a slaughter outside)

+Bonus screenshots

#20
This is a map from the expansion, without the final location, which will be in the center, above the middle.
It's the island with the dragon.

#21
The house of the hunter brothers) although only one guy is left, even though there were only two of them in the house, the third was hanging out outside.

Meeting with the King

Finally, we reached the King's Castle. All that remains is to break through the undead that surrounds it. This wasn't too difficult, and we quickly found ourselves at the walls. The King greeted us and began to gather the council to devise a battle plan. The council included myself (Gweddry), Dacin, Owaek, the King, and the royal mage.
During the conversation, it turned out that a lich, who was once the King's court mage, leads the undead army. During the war with the dark forces, he transformed himself into a lich to stop them, and he succeeded. Many years have passed since then, and now the lich has returned to conquer the country.
We were thinking about how to try to trick the villain. But how? Unfortunately, we couldn't come to a decision. The royal guard interrupted us and reported that the castle was under attack! Well, let's try to hold out against the hordes of the undead...

screenshot #1
Heading to the castle, defeating the northern necromancer

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Western necromancer

screenshot #3
Southern necromancer

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Here we are at the castle

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The council

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The guard arrived)

Chapter Twelve. "Dragon Slayer"
Final. (for the add-on)

…We fight our way through crowds of enemies. My loyal blade cuts through the spawns of evil like a hot knife through butter. It cares nothing for thick hides, armor, or the monsters' insensitivity to pain. We advance quickly. Some Barbarians set up camp on the shore; others form a strike group with us.
We enter the cave. Soon I will grip this creature's throat with my own hands and strangle it until its unholy spirit departs for the Abyss.
…At first, it was dark. Now it is brighter than day—the mage knows his craft. The Barbarians stayed behind to "clear the bridgehead." Cowardly bastards. Overgrown troglodytes whose smell could wake the dead.
And there are plenty of dead here. Undead everywhere. Their flesh is frozen, and their bones are iced over—such creatures are hard to destroy, but we don't care. We push forward on sheer rage. Once, in the heat of battle, the tunnel above us collapsed, burying the cleric who was bringing up the rear. A few seconds later, those ice boulders flew apart, and the dwarf burst out like a whirlwind, swearing in ways I couldn't even imagine. He was furious—he grabbed a boulder and smashed several creatures to pieces with it, trampling their remains.
…I do not know how deep this cave goes. We have been descending underground for about an hour. Besides the undead and monsters, we have begun encountering some kind of reptiles. I don't care who I kill. We discovered a huge dragon skeleton somewhere inside. Fortunately, this one was truly dead. It had long since frozen into the floor and was almost indistinguishable from it in color or structure.
...A reptile with an undead escort was near some passage. They were in no hurry to attack us. The creature began to hiss, apparently attempting to speak. I fired three consecrated bolts from my crossbow straight from the hip, without aiming, before its hissing could take the form of any lying words. The passage led to a massive segmented hall, packed to capacity with numerous traps. But nothing can stop us now. These reptiles attack us from all sides, but they are insignificant. They aren't even a match for the undead from Burial Island: several treacherously attacked us from behind, emerging from a secret door, but the mage beat them to death with his feet and staff.
In the center of the hall is a statue depicting some hideous creature. This place must be put to the torch and razed to the ground. Tyr is my witness—we have an excellent team. The sorcerer unleashed half his ammunition into this abode of filth, turning it into an oven; the same-sex druid hurled lightning, tore up the floor of the unholy Temple with boulders, rent the earth from which unknown spawns extended their tentacles, and entwined everything in plants. These rooms became the most unpleasant place in Faerûn, and the only exit was the passage we blocked, which the priest guarded with protective symbols. There, along with the ranger and a scout who had become proficient in martial arts—whom I personally trained during the journey—we took a convenient position with ranged weapons ready. No one escaped. A few creatures that managed to reach the bottleneck were swept away by our fire. The smoke is clearing. We enter.
…Corpses of all sorts of nightmarish spawns are everywhere. There aren't even dozens here—hundreds. A couple of times I noticed some still twitching and finished them off. We need to leave; the stench here is terrible. In one part of the hall, there are small gates. Each of us literally feels the evil emanating from within physically. This is what we seek. We prepared ourselves. The dwarf prayed. The mage shrouded us in some kind of spell. I drank from several carefully kept vials and kicked the gates off their hinges. We burst inside only to behold a huge, snarling, disgusting dragon. It looked unusual. Overly bony. And it was enveloped not by heat, but by cold. We had a brief conversation. The cursed creature told us its boring plan of how it devoured the souls of its newborn brood so that their bodies could serve as new shells after it left the body of the Barbarian chief, having finished destroying the Ten Cities of the north. Among other things, it had to kill its mate, who was upset by such a terrible act. We saw exactly his skeleton. It tried to make us pity it with stories of how the younger races expand, build cities, develop industry, and fight among themselves on new lands, while it has to huddle far in the north with the Barbarians, where they were all pushed out by civilization. It is also very angry at us for pursuing it to its own lair, disrupting the war plan, and slaughtering many of its slaves; therefore, it must finish us off. Laughing right in its disgusting face, we attacked.
It was a hard fight. Its hide, flesh, ice—or whatever it consisted of—was very difficult to pierce, so we shot at the head. The warrior ran out of ammunition and went into melee combat, shielding us and our magical artillery from the surge of the last reptilian creatures. The druid healed wounds, and the priest… He fell, struck down by a monstrous blow. My hand remained steady and my mind focused, but it affected the ranger severely. I had never seen him so mad before. He cast off his cloak and helmet, drew a two-hander from behind his back, and lunged straight at the dragon, slashing its neck in a leap. I would never have thought such a trick was even possible. Supporting our partner with fire, we finally managed to slay the creature, whose unholy spirit left the body and entered a huge, ornate gemstone embedded in the cave wall. Its phylactery did not save it, and a terrible agonizing howl shook the cave walls when the stone shattered into pieces under the blow of the warrior's hammer.
…Evil is defeated, once again. But this brings me no joy. I am very tired. We are taking the priest's body with us to bury it under the Great Oak, in an oasis of warmth amidst the icy expanses. I do not know how we will get out of here. The exit has long been blocked. We will try to find a new one…

Final entry.

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arrived at the dragon's island and immediately ran to clear it) some ichthyandrs attacked us

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and this is the burning of trolls, this is how we finish them off

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here is the entrance to the Dungeon) heh, you wouldn't say it's a cave by looking at it, although inside it is one
A Golem hit my mage and almost killed him, little brat( idk why he attacked, seemed to be standing quietly, probably an unstable type

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as always, just walked in and they immediately throw themselves into our arms

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advancing down the corridor. Undead are fighting for me, while the guys stand aside
by the way, the archers sometimes have fire arrows, which is very good since all the wildlife here is ice-based

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Going further. The sword rose above the little dragon's head

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here you can see a dying and falling Yeti, as well as blood spurting from it) that's how I slashed him :cool:
above, undead are mocking a troll

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This is the next level already.
Troll-thugs are sitting here discussing something among themselves) or maybe they're submitting stool for analysis

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still in the same place, they won't let us rest

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Burning a water elemental

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Dangerous crossing. We reached the "graveyard" guarded by skeletons

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here is the "graveyard" itself) just about everyone is here

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Dealings with the guards

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Yes indeed, an aura of cold emanates from the corpses, binding our heroes.
By the way, if you look at the panel, you'll see a blue sword) my mage summoned it using a spell. Pretty decent damage from it, considering the mage is a terrible fighter overall. Plus, the sword hits from a distance! (though I'm not entirely sure about that)

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This is the corpse of the main dragoness's husband) I'm looting his stomach, or rather, the guy he ate

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The hubby's head and a guardian; we didn't even fight her, just passed by

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here is the ichthyandrs' Temple) Look how Kristi swung her hammer

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golem-guards, standing like dummies and blocking the way

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melee combat wasn't very successful, so we decided to choose ranged tactics) That always works

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Shootout with the last of the ichthyandrs)

screenshot #21
Turns out, the main boss was there, lying around in blue)
I'm exploring the area, scouting, and finishing off the enemies

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Here's the main villain – the dragon, with its guard.
I called for reinforcements, and they helped hold off its ichthyanders)

screenshot #23
Another dragoness) We mostly shot her down, and then finished her off. I was casting fire spells as a mage, and the dwarf also had a fire spell, but only for 2 uses, so I used a fire wand, which did about the same damage as the spell. I didn't get to use it much, though, because this creature killed the cleric x( by the way, maybe his fire attacks were the reason she attacked him... although, I don't know, she seems to have an area-of-effect attack and hits everyone at once, and the dwarf was just unlucky)

screenshot #24
The end of the battle, we won) Then we finished off the crystal, where the dragoness's soul had moved
"they're deciding how to carve up the carcass"

screenshot #25
Actually, this screenshot shouldn't be here, haha) After the victory, we returned to Kul'dahar, where I resurrected the dwarf. Although we don't have anything to do there, because we've completed the main storyline, but we're playing the expansion from a save, because...
In short, if you're going to play, don't finish the main storyline, first complete the expansion (when it becomes possible), and then finish the main storyline. Why? Because after completing the main storyline, the game ends and you can no longer play, only load a save, but after completing the expansion, you can return to the main storyline map and finish it) It's a pity we didn't know that


That's all. We've completed Icewind Dale.

Siege

We climbed the tower and saw that the enemy was trying to surround us. They had placed three camps: in the north, east, and west. We had two outposts in the north and one in the south, each commanded by a captain, and a main fort in the center. I sent my soldiers to the west and left a couple of units at the eastern walls. The northern outposts were holding back the necromancer in the north, and the southern one was trying to hold back the eastern one. I dealt with the enemies faster than the others, although I received some help from comrades from neighboring outposts. Unfortunately, things were worse in the north. Even together, two squads were losing their positions, so I had to send part of the troops there. In the east, the enemy had become more active and began an active offensive; before that, they had been a bit slow, and the resistance was quite good. I had to transfer the wounded soldiers from the west to the eastern borders to help the southern captain hold back the attack. While maneuvers were being carried out in the south, fierce battles were taking place in the north. After the lich was killed, it became easier, but phantoms still posed a threat, and the allied squads were defeated. Dacian went to the captain of the northwestern outpost, but unfortunately, he didn't make it in time to help him. The captain was killed. The same fate could have awaited the northeastern captain, but the paladin managed to come to his aid, and the danger passed. While the soldiers were finishing off the enemies in the north, the wounded were in the fortress. Yes, I was afraid to let them out of the gates because the eastern enemy army was quite impressive and was moving in a dense formation, which increased its power. The southern captain was trying to hold back the undead in every way, but when there were almost no soldiers left, he himself went into battle and died. Fortunately, the enemies dispersed a little, and the lich went north; several undead fought with the remnants of the southern outpost, and the rest went to the fortress. I had to retreat a little because the enemies were still stronger. With great difficulty, I managed to repel them and not lose anyone. Then, the northern troops blocked the lich's path and killed him. After that, an enemy messenger immediately appeared and announced that their leader was summoning Gweddry to a duel (6x6). I can accept it, or I can refuse. If I accept, there is no guarantee that I will not be deceived, but if I refuse, the war, in which we have almost no chance, will continue...

P.S. I did watch both options, and the choice is obvious) In the duel, we fight 6 on 6, not counting the main character; the best units will be there. If I refuse, I will have to fight 7 enemies! That's 7 forts, and each hires who knows how many undead, and I'm also in the center. Yes, I'll have to duel.

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Northern border

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Eastern border

Screenshot #3
Western border

Screenshot #4
This is already the end, when I had to retreat and defend myself right in the castle) There's the lich running around at the top

Duel

After some thought, I decided to accept the duel. Besides, we have no chance in a regular battle, but at least there's some hope this way. So, we went out into the field, each with a squad of 6. The enemy's team consisted entirely of mages, while I summoned a paladin (because of the bonus against undead), an infantryman (because the guy with the mace is effective against skeletons and liches), a lancer (because he has good spear damage, although he wasn't very useful here, as these monstrosities are more resistant to piercing), a hussar (because he has a lot of HP and decent melee damage), as well as Dacian (the only healer, although the paladin can also heal a bit) and a light mage (who is effective against undead) and a fire mage (because he's strong, and fire is more effective against undead). When we approached the enemy, three more suddenly emerged from the ground! This vile undead summoned more helpers, including a death knight, an archer, and a poisonous ghoul. We killed one necromancer, and then we had to retreat and regroup. Fortunately, we managed to separate them, and the newly risen corpses ran towards the cavalry, while the rest ran towards the mages and infantry. The cavalry easily defeated the corpses 3 on 3, and it was harder against the mages, although the battle was 4 on 4, but I still defeated them. Then we caught up with Mal-Ravanal (the main enemy, a lich) and killed him. Before that, he summoned corpses again, but they didn't have time to help him; the paladin easily dealt with them in the daylight!
After the victory over the enemy, the king received us and promised a reward, although only Gweddry (me) and Owaek received it.
This is where the story ends, and with it, the campaign...

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Heading to the meeting point)

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Vile reinforcements

Screenshot #3
Cornered