- "Masquerading as a Knight turned out to be less difficult than Tarnum first thought. As he searched the first level for the elusive Boatman who could guide him deeper into the Underworld, Tarnum learned that the beliefs and practices of the Knights of Erathia have their roots in Barbarian culture."
- ―The Historian —
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The Boatman is the second scenario in Conquest of the Underworld.
Find the Orb of Inhibition in order to pay the Boatman for passage. Do not lose Tarnum. All Heroes will be limited to level twelve, but Tarnum and two of his best Captains will transfer to the next scenario with all of their spells, skills and experience.OffBck
As he heads deeper into the Underworld, Tarnum learns that he needs the Orb of Inhibition to proceed. The artifact is craftfully hidden, and the tunnels form a terrible maze, so he knows finding it will be hard.
Tarnum still communicates with queen Allison through letters, and she wishes to join his forces in the Underworld, as she doesn't want her soldiers to die for her father's soul if she's not there with them. Tarnum thinks that the soldiers will be inspired by her presence, and agrees that she should come, but has no intention of letting her anywhere near actual combat.
His barbarian upbringing leaves him ill-equipped to write long letters, and his advisors describe his scribblings as "unreadable", but gradually, he learns to copy the flowery language of the knights. He studies his allies, pondering about the differences between barbarians and knights. He feels less charitable towards them when they discuss barbarians and refer to the Barbarian Tyrant (Tarnum himself) as a "stupid savage".
When one of the scouts discovers where the Orb is kept, Tarnum tells him to rest, and that they'll speak later. Tarnum still feels ill-will to the man that killed him, and doesn't want to rescue him any time soon. After a few days, he speaks to the scout, and feels ashamed that he let Rion be tortured in the Underworld while he sulked.
When the camp is attacked by pit fiends in the middle of the night, Tarnum runs at them howling like an animal, and the startled pit fiends are soon driven back. One of the men jokes that Tarnum fights like a berserked barbarian.
Walkthrough[]
Tarnum and his two strongest heroes from the previous scenario start out in the northwest, with a Castle to the south. The purple, green, blue, and orange players have one Inferno each. The purple player is allied to Tarnum, and will attack the other players. The blue town is located underground, and the town can't attack anyone or be attacked.
The goal of the scenario is to attack the blue player's hero, Xyron, in the southeastern corner and take the Orb of Inhibition. In order to reach him, Tarnum must first go to the southwestern corner and trade fifty gogs for a Surcoat of Counterpoise. The quest guard near the purple player's town will trade the surcoat for access to the red keymaster's tent. In the northwestern corner, he can trade 5843 gold for the Shackles of War. In the southeastern corner, the seer's hut will give him an archangel for the shackles.
When Tarnum has the archangel and the password from the red keymaster's tent, he can open the border guard and quest guard leading to Xyron.
Towns[]
Strategy[]
The green and orange player starts with few forces, and taking them out early will make the scavenger hunt less difficult.
In the southwestern corner, any tenth-level hero can open the path to a Forsaken Palace and hire devils. East of the purple player's town, they can trade three devils for access to a hill fort.
South of the green Inferno, Tarnum can trade a Helm of Chaos for +5 knowledge.
Keep the archangel alive - losing it will mean losing the scenario.
Tarnum and his two strongest heroes will carry over to the next map, as will the Helm of Heavenly Enlightenment, which can be found in the southwestern corner, next to the seer's hut where he finds the Surcoat of Counterpoise.
