"Vengeance is a pure emotion, no matter what those self-righteous priests say. If someone wrongs you, and you just turn the other cheek, that hatred sits in the bottom of your stomach like an infection. Soon, it begins to rot and stink, and then gangrene sets in. Now, if you put a knife in the back of the source of your hatred, that's like cleaning the wound." -Tawni Balfour
Bay of Maids is the fourth scenario in the A Pirate's Daughter campaign in Heroes of Might and Magic IV.
Information[]
Tawni sets out to conquer the Bay of Maids, where an extensive forest would supply plenty of resources to build her southern fleet. But one of her trusted commanders betrays her. First Mate Pete Girly takes over Rumport and sails south with her own ships, determined to kill Tawni and her supporters when they are at their weakest.OffBck
To look for more lumber, Tawni sets sail towards the south, avoiding sea critters as she goes. Taking a few of her men, she goes to scout ahead for a while, but when she returns to her starting point, her ship - The Feral Vixen - has disappeared.
Walkthrough[]
Tawni and Cyrca start in the eastern part of the western island. While going through the swamp, Tawni's second mate, Jim Journey, gets killed in a trap after leading the men through the dense forests. Oba points out that traps mean men are around, and are a danger to them.
To start off, the player can secure the town east of the starting point, having some medusa and nightmares as defenses. Next, the player can take their hero through the portal, warping the heroes to the northern part of the island, near the second town, which also has a number of forces. The portal is guarded by black dragons, while the town itself has a garrison of 8 hydra and 2 black dragons, and the city itself is guarded by pirates. Notably, most of the towns on the map cannot build the statuary garden, only the labyrinth structure.
While continuing on, Tawni starts wondering about Oba's motivations, since he is a man in his age. Oba admits that he would like to be a fisherman after retiring, even though he is a strong, mighty pirate. Tawni questions him about his life as a pirate, to which Oba responds that he is killing pirates to avenge his family - his parents, brother, wife and child - who have been killed by pirates. Moreover, he mentions that instead of joining a proper army - like Erathia, Bracada or Nighon - he found that joining pirates was the way to kill more pirates than any other way. Tawni realizes that he is right: firstly he hesitated attacking merchants, secondly if he had his own ship, many bandits would plot to kill him for killing so many pirates. Finally, she sees it was why being Black Balfour's First Mate also meant to be anonymous, having his captain take all the blame. She also takes comfort that he'd never betray his crewmates, and would very much like his vengeance to attack others.
Minding that there is a two-way portal to the north, and a one-way portal to the south, the heroes have to take the underground tunnels next. The caves in the north-east and east contain creature dwellings for trolls and medusa. The medusa caves (four in total) can only be accessed if Cyrca is in the army, and contain a one-way portal to the starting town.
One day, the group gets visited by Hoff - messenger of the ship, Ravager. Bearing bad news, he kicks a bag, showing the severed head of Arnoc the Hairless. He explains that an order came from Tawni to have Arnoc return to the Rumport. Tawni denies having made such an order, to which Hoff tells that it was actually an ambush, set up by Pete Girly, who quickly killed Arnoc and severed his head. Lastly, Hoff mentions that Pete asked of him to tell Tawni to "never forget the mark she gave to him". Tawni realizes that Pete is still angry for her hitting his face, and now is seizing the moment to take everything she has conquered. Tawni swears she will make him pay, and kills Hoff, thinking he could also be a spy. Oba swears allegiance to Tawni, who cannot wait to cut off Pete's head.
The heroes have to take the underground tunnel south of the first town, taking a ship in the watery tunnels to reach the other side. The tunnels have a northern endpoint, where a group of medusa are located, guarding the green keymaster's tent. Only Cyrca and medusae can pass in this cave (without Tawni), to which Cyrca confronts the medusa queen. The latter is displeased that Cyrca is a half-medusa, to which Cyrca blasts away her magic powers to kill her, and has to confront the rest of the medusa.
With the keymaster's tent visited, the heroes have to go to the western part of the tunnel and exit to the surface, where the third Asylum town is located. If the enemy hero has not taken the one-way portal, they will await at the town, defending it. Around the area are two more underground entrances, which contain more medusa dwellings, as well as an Armor of Order and Shield of Order artifacts. The second town is located to the north-east, past the green border gate. The town contains the shipyard, which Tawni and Cyrca can take to the north and capture the last two Asylum towns. The last town cannot be accessed, due to the quest guard prohibiting the orange player from coming in. Instead, the forces should take the ship and sail west The quest gate barring further entry can be unlocked if, shortly to the south, the teal player - 300 mermaids - are slain.
Closing in to Pete in a semi-circle, Tawni has to confront three of her ships sent by the traitor. These include a lot of creatures: hundreds of pirates, over a hundred evil eyes, minotaurs and trolls, as well as a strong number of efreet, hydras and black dragons. Oba believes that these ships don't have any cargo, to which Tawni feels gratitude for promoting him as her First Mate. She doubts that the enemy can be bribed, for all of these creatures must hate her - which makes her glad to eliminate these enemies of hers.
After the three ships are destroyed, Tawni has to set sail and unlock the final gate, where the sailors dub her as "Pirate Queen of the Gold Sea". Upon seeing the final ship, the Ravager, Tawni and her forces close in to the ship, giving it chase and even shooting out cannons and ballistae, before ramming to the ship. Pete Girly is a significantly stronger opponent, due to a script adding some experience points each day, possibly making him even stronger than the level cap permits, though he still retains all of his skills from the previous scenario. Pete has 300 pirates, 200 evil eyes and minotaurs, as well as 100 hydra, to which Tawni should be well-prepared to face.
After the army is destroyed, Tawni confronts Pete, who is still vengeful towards her for scarring his face. His first move is to use a whip, which he lashes out on Tawni, scarring her face. He then uses the whip to strangle her, to which Tawni cuts the whip with her sword. After parrying with Pete, she pretends to fall down. Pete goes in to swing his sword, but Tawni uses the rest of the whip around his legs to make him fall down instead. Tawni uses this moment to scar his other part of the face, making him scream before she slays him.
Towns[]
- Seven Asylums
Strategy[]
The player should focus on capturing the first two towns, as a starting point. The enemy forces can use the teleporters to attack the cities, so a viable option would be for one hero to remain behind and the other to continue exploring, bearing in mind that the green keymaster's tent needs to be visited (and only by Cyrca) to advance ahead. Once the final town is captured, the player can recruit forces to overwhelm the quest guard, preventing the blue player from coming out. The player can develop their heroes as they wish, and amass the army to defeat Pete Girly in the north.
