First Contact

First Contact
Scenario information
Size	Medium
Difficulty	Intermediate
Type	Campaign
Level cap	18th level
Campaign	A Matter of Life and Death
Initial heroes	Alita Eventide, Allenvale
Objectives	Meet with the Informant who knows where the Ring of Light and Cloak of Darkness are located.
Loss condition	Lose all towns and armies.
Lore
Factions	Alita Eventide Hand of Light
Player identity	Alita Eventide
Next scenario	The Hidden Hand
Maps
Surface map

"Already familiar with the magics of Life and Death, the group decided that Alita Eventide should go in search of the Ring of Light and Cloak of Darkness, as the powers of the two objects alone would be formidable should the others fail in their quests. Beginning her search in the kingdom of Darashann, where a fanatical cult called the Hand of Light holds sway, Alita must make contact with an agent who knows the location of the artifacts she seeks."

First Contact is the first scenario in the A Matter of Life and Death campaign in The Gathering Storm.

"Alita Eventide begins her quest in the kingdom of Darashann where a fanatical group called the Hand of Light holds sway. She must make contact with an agent who knows the location of the artifacts she seeks."

After reuniting with Allenvale, an old friend, Alita Eventide combats the Hand of Light cult, eventually locating her informant.

Walkthrough

South of Alita's initial position, there's a blue gate she can't get through yet. Heading east will bring her to a neutral Necropolis, providing her with income and troops. There's another further south, and south of that, the hero Allenvale can be found. He's a first-level Knight that will follow her to the next scenarios, trapped behind a quest tower that only Alita can open.

West of the southern Necropolis, there's a quest hut promising five mercury, gems, sulfur, and crystal, and 8000 gold, for a Dwarven Hammer and Dwarven Shield, both of which can be found south of the quest hut.

The orange player's lands are protected by green gates, and there are two ways to bypass them. One is by going far to the south, where a group of griffins block the path. The other is by going through the red player's garrison, taking out the two neutral towns (which may have been claimed by the time Alita reaches them), and heading south. This path avoids the griffins, and Alita can also eliminate the red player by taking their town and armies. The blue Keymaster's Tent can be found here.

Then, Alita and Allenvale must move along the southern edge of the map, and then pass a gate that both of them need to be present to get through. To the north is the orange player's starting town, next to which is the green Keymaster's Tent. Eliminating the orange player should not be hard.

Behind the town there's a two-way portal, blocked by a quest gate that will let Alita and Allenvale through, but no other heroes or creatures. Passing through, they will be attacked by a small group of bandits, after which they can reach the final quest hut and finish the scenario.