- "How can the Elven Court choose my beloved for such a deadly mission? It's absurd, especially when so many veterans have already volunteered for the task - my own father among them. As for Elwin, he turned pale as a summer cloud when Lord Harke asked him to face the white tigers alone. Oh, return to me, my beloved! I cannot lose you now!"
- ―Shaera —
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Mark of the Tiger is the second scenario in the Elwin and Shaera campaign in Heroes of Might and Magic IV.
Information[]
There must be dozens of elves more qualified, but the Elven Court selects Elwin for an important mission to seek an alliance with the wise white tigers. Unknown to Elwin, this has all been arranged by the powerful Lord Harke in an attempt to remove him from Shaera's presence and set him up to fail, or possibly die.OffBck
Tasked with helping the white tigers with their "greatest tragedy", Elwin kills all the tiger-eating trolls in the region. He then learns that the real problem is the necromancer Worllarc, who drains the life from the tiger's cubs while they're still in the womb.
Strategy[]
On this map, there are several teal stacks of white tigers. They rarely move and never attack Elwin, and he shouldn't attack them either - doing so is an instant loss.
Heading east from his starting Preserve, Elwin comes across a group of orange trolls, and is tasked with slaying the orange player's stacks of trolls, all of which are located around the map, behind quest gates that only Elwin and his creatures can pass. He will also receive the falcon Breeze, an off-handed item that will increase his scouting radius by two. The nearby quest hut will increase his Nature Magic skill for fifteen wood, but if he already has master level or higher, the wood will be wasted.
There are two paths from here: through the two-way portal to the east, he will reach the south-eastern landmass, with two Asylums to capture - one blue and one neutral. There's also a stack of orange trolls.
To the north is another stack of trolls, and a two-way portal leading west. From here, he can head north-west, to another stack of trolls, and a green Preserve. South of this is a blue Stronghold (next to which is another stack of trolls), and a neutral Preserve. If he keeps heading south, he'll find a neutral and a green Preserve, and the leader of the trolls, the Troll Lord. He's behind a quest tower that only Elwin can open, and only one all orange stacks have been defeated.
After he defeats the Troll Lord, the nearby tiger den will inform him that the real problem is the necromancer Worllarc, who lives underground and drains the life from the unborn tiger cubs. Gathering his forces, Elwin heads underground and defeats this menace.
