- "The torments of the Underworld are visited upon those who dwell there, which is why so many of its inhabitants are insane. After months in this dark land, Tarnum and his men began to succumb to the ghosts of their past, but none worse than the Immortal Hero."
- ―The Historian —
Listen (file info)
Truth Within Nightmares is the third scenario in Conquest of the Underworld.
Tarnum must kill Sandro to get the key to the next level. All Heroes are limited to level 18, but Tarnum and two of his best Captains will transfer over to the next scenario. The Sword of Judgement will also carry over to the next scenario.OffBck
Tarnum learns that he must face the necromancer Sandro to reach the next level of the Underworld. But the necromancer dwells in the deepest, most vile parts of the caverns, and will not be easy to reach.
Queen Allison has moved into the castle, managing income and resources while Tarnum takes care of the fighting. Both Tarnum and her troops are impressed by the way she remains bold and proud in the macabre surroundings.
In the infernal plains, the armies of Erathia are plagued by nightmares, but none even remotely as bad as Tarnum, who relives his crimes every night, watching as his soldiers slaughter the innocent, how he enslaved and sacrificed the Mudlanders, and seeing his army destroyed by an avalanche after the Siege of the Wallpeaks. He has trouble sleeping, and eventually stops trying, wandering around in a fog, unable to think clearly and barely controlling his rage.
Troubled by his outbursts, queen Allison decides to relieve him of his command and taking control of his forces herself, but he laughs in her face. She has little combat experience, and he thinks she would only get her men killed if she tried leading them into battle. "Go stitch a tapestry or something," he tells her. "Let a real murderer take care of the battles. It's what I'm good at."
A physical altercation occurs, but queen Allison doesn't relieve him of his command, or his head, as many of her troops respect him, and the soldiers would likely start fighting amongst themselves instead of fighting the enemy. Tarnum gives as few orders as possible, trying to keep his head low.
Through his dreams, Tarnum learns that Allison is his niece, and that her father saved Tarnum's sister from the bloodthirsty horde of barbarians he led. Tarnum apologizes to Allison for his actions, and struggles harder than ever to free the man who saved his sister, but doesn't tell Allison about their kinship, as that would raise too many questions, and he needs her trust to succeed.
Walkthrough[]
Tarnum and his two heroes start out with a Castle in the southeast. The purple and orange players have two Necropolises each, with one of the purple Necropolises located underground. The blue player has an unreachable Necropolis underground. The goal of the scenario is to defeat the blue hero Sandro, located in an underground chamber.
By heading north, Tarnum can visit the green keymaster's tent. Further north, the part splits, and he can head east to defeat the purple player, or west to take on the orange player.
In the southwestern corner, there's a two-way portal behind a green border guard. The portal leads to another two-way portal, which leads to Sandro.
Towns[]
- Two Castles
- Five Necropolises
Strategy[]
The orange and purple players will constantly harass Tarnum and his troops, and should be defeated as early as possible. Luckily, none of them start out with large forces.
In the northeastern corner, there's a two-way portal. By entering it, Tarnum can find a neutral Castle protected by bone dragons, a subterranean gate, and a two-way portal leading underground. This will allow him to take out the purple player's Necropolis.
North of the castle, there's a quest guard that will allow access to a Hut of the Magi if a hero has reached level thirteen. In the northwestern part of the map, a seer's hut will give +6 knowledge for an Hourglass of the Evil Hour, which can be found in the northeastern corner.
Near the neutral castle, a seer's hut will refill 150 spell points in return for an Orb of Inhibition, which can be found in the northwest, protected by efreet sultans. The hero's total spell points will not be affected.
In the central area of the southern part of the map, a seer's hut will give 10 000 experience for the Ambassador's Sash.
Tarnum starts with the Helm of Heavenly Enlightenment, and can find the Sword of Judgement far to the north, protected by a group of manticores. Both artifacts will carry over, eventually allowing him to assemble the Angelic Alliance.
