- "After Captain Swift killed my father, I often thought of the day when we would meet. I'd smile, clap my hand on his shoulder, and offer to buy him a drink. We'd tell stories about our greatest battles, and I would convince him to tell me about the day he bested Black Balfour. Oh! Things never happen the way you picture them."
- ―Tawni Balfour —
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Bloody Cove is the second scenario in the A Pirate's Daughter campaign in Heroes of Might and Magic IV.
Information[]
Within minutes, Tawni's new shipyards are reduced to burning lumber by a sneak attack. Her fleet is crippled. Even her flagship, the Feral Vixen, is no longer seaworthy. Tawni soon learns the same pirate who killed her father orchestrated the attack to keep her from controlling the Strait of Storms. So, Tawni sets out to find Captain Swift's legendary hideout, Bloody Cove, for a little retribution.OffBck
Tawni Balfour was woken up in the middle of the night as Captain Swift sent his men to blow up her docks with Demon Fire to stop her from controlling the Strait of Storms. Tawni had hoped to ask the powerful pirate to join her fleet, but this attack gave her no choice but to kill him. Leaving Arnoc the Hairless in charge of her towns, she ordered Eight-Fingers Oba and Pete Girly to travel south with her so that they could search for the Bloody Cove, Captain Swift's secret hideout.
While trying to find the location of the cove, Tawni thought back to her childhood as the daughter of a barmaid in Nighon, and how impressed she'd been the first time she'd met her father, the legendary and dangerous pirate Black Balfour. He'd given her his dagger to protect herself, and she'd decided to follow in his footsteps. As she grew older, she joined a pirate vessel, and eventually met up with her father. He told her he already had a full crew, but she decided to sneak aboard anyway. When he found her, he tossed her in the sea, far from shore, where she had to thread water for days without any hope of rescue. When she was near death, he sailed back to pick her up. He handed her the dagger he'd given her and told her that he still had a full crew, so with her last strength, she threw the dagger at the nearest man. The man dropped to the deck, and Tawni became a member of her father's crew.
After a long search, she eventually located the cove, where she found Captain Swift and his men aboard his ship, the Assassin. With superior numbers and tactics, she managed to kill them all.
Walkthrough[]
Tawni and Pete Girly start in the northeastern part of the map. They have a few creatures in the nearby garrisons, but no town. The blue enemy has one Asylum east of them, and another on the northwestern island. The green enemy has one Asylum west of Tawni and Pete and one on the southern part of the map. The purple enemy has two Asylums near the center of the map. In addition, there are two neutral Asylums: One on the blue player's island, and one on the ring-shaped island in the southwestern part of the map.
Tawni and Pete should capture the towns to the east and to the west, and then go south and capture the purple player's towns. After heading south and taking out the green town, they can go west and capture the shipyard. After sailing north and reaching the blue player's island, they can attack and remove the last enemy player from the map.
After sailing to the small island in the southwestern corner of the map, Tawni must fight the hydras to gain access to the purple keymaster's tent. The purple one-way portal near the tent will take her to the southeastern part of the mainland. Tawni can only pass through the quest gate if she has already defeated the blue, green, and purple players.
Sailing north, she must go through the purple border gate on the eastern island and defeat the black dragons guarding the blue tent. In the northeastern corner of the map, there's a blue chain blocking access to a whirlpool guarded by sea monsters. Once the monsters are defeated, Tawni can go through the whirlpool and face Captain Swift, who is hiding on a ship in the center of the ring-shaped island. Note that he has a large army of black dragons, evil eyes, bandits and pirates, so she should be well prepared for a fight.
Towns[]
Eight Asylums; Bloody Cove
Strategy[]
If Tawni found the Steadfast Shield in the previous scenario, it will also carry over to the next scenario.
Near the starting point, there's a Breastplate of Regeneration guarded by hydras. It's too heavily defended for Tawni and Pete Girly to get it right away, but once they have more powerful creatures, they should pick it up.
The green one-way portal near the southern green town will take Tawni to the ring-shaped island, where she can capture the town of Bloody Cove. The blue one-way portal near the town will lead back to the mainland, half-way between the northern green town and the western purple town.
On their way towards the blue player's island, Tawni and Pete will sail past an island with the Logbook of the Master Sailor. This artifact will make seatravel faster.
