The land of Atla is brimming over with a myriad of different races. From giants to trolls, from dragons to minotaurs, from humans to sea monsters, they all share the same world. They have their own separate leaders (or tyrants) and customs, but the main factor that keeps everything from errupting into chaos is magic. Magic runs rampant through the world, but only those specially trained in 'the Art' can control it. These people are known as sorcerers, mages, wizards, magicians, and conjurors. They come from many races and many backgrounds, but they all have one thing in common: the sworn protection of the Hammer of the Gods. This weapon, forged before time began, was used to mold the very world of Atla. After its completion, the Hammer was hidden away in a secret location, never to be used again. It is said that it could level empiresand raise mountains in a single strike. After many millenia, the legend of the hammer slipped from peoples' minds, and nearly all but the gods disregarded it as a child's tale. But there were always some willing to risk their reputation,
their career, their very life to find this holy weapon. Many attempts were made to retrieve the hammer; all failed. But if it ever got into the wrong hands...
Enter Agamemnon. You are a jack-of-all-trades, selling your services to people in need. You left your simple village far to the south and decided to travel the world for a taste of adventure. Roam the countryside at your will and assist people you meet on your journeys. May Poseidon be with you. Good luck!
Academy of the Blue Flame [Guild]: This Academy is reknowned throughout Atla as the finest school for sorcerors. Admission is costly, however, as the student must first find an artifact of arcane magic and deliver into the hands of the head of the academy - currently Kormis of the Blue Flame. It is located in Midgville.
Atla: Atla is a world full of magic. It is inhabited by numerous races of creatures, and is presided over by a pantheon of gods. The main God of Light is Poseidon; his arch enemy is Hades, God of Darkness.
Bitther: This is a strange man of mysterious origins. He claims to be a prophet for a new god of Atla. This has yet to be seen, as there has been no evidence of this 'new god', and Bitther refuses to tell anyone the god's name. Bitther preaches peace instead of violence and power, but he has taken no action against either.
Black Scimitars [Guild]: This band of rogues is infamous throughout Atla for their skill at thievery and deceit. They are always ready to accept new members into the profession, as long as the members realize that if they are ever caught red handed, the Scimitars will not ackowledge their membership. They may even assassinate said thief, so their thieving secrets are not passed on to others. They are currently at war with another band of the thieves; the Black Gauntlet. The Black Gauntlet is said to believe in the one True God, whomever that really is. The Black Scimitars' camp is out in the country, between Corandun and Usyblot.
Circe: Circe is an extremely talented sorceress. When she was brought into the Academy of the Blue Flame for training, it was prophecied that she would lead the world into a new era of sorcery. Sadly, this was not to be. Circe knew she was more smart, strong, and talented than her classmates. She grew to resent them and worked her way up to become leader of the Shadow Mages. But Hades sensed her resentment and arrogance and used them to his advantage. He seduced her to his cause with promises of even more power. But she grew to hate him, too, and left the realm of Atla to create a lair in another plane of space. No one really knows now if Circe is allied with Hades or not, but the Shadow Mages say it as a certainty. Immediately after Circe left the Shadow Mages, the Mages erased her name from all their records and denied her connection with the Shadow Mages altogether. It is said the only way to gain access to her lair is to venture through the mythical Adamant Gate - if said Gate exists at all...
Corandun: Corandun is the political heart of Atla. It is the most 'civilized' city, with a true government center, graveyard, and so on. Many quests can be obtained in Corandun and the surrounding area.
Hippolyta: Hippolyta is the leader of the Shadow Mages. She is an extremely powerful mage, and was always contesting Circe for power when Circe led the Shadow Mages. Recently, Hippolyta has been making trips to the north to help the Shadow Mage contingent there, for they have been frequently harrassed by giants of the region.
Manwar Desert: An incredibly hot and arid desert in the middle region of Atla, home to many beasts - not all of which are friendly. The only village anywhere in the Manwar Desert is Usyblot.
Midgeville: Midgeville is a town inhabited primarily by Dwarves, far up north. It is winter all year round here, and if not for the numerous trees in the area, the inhabitants of this village would never have the fuel to keep warm.
Paladins of the Scale [Guild]: Upholders of everything that is good and just, these holy Paladins have sworn their life to protecting the weak, and destroying the minions of Hades. Their especially hated enemy is the Dragon, from which they got their name. The Paladins' fortress is located in Usyblot.
Passage of Giants: This series of gullies and valleys west of Mideville is home to giants of all kinds. It is said that those who go in there are either brave, foolish, or ( most commonly) a fatal mixture of both. On average, only one per every 30 venturers into the Passage ever comes out.
Sect of the Leaf [Guild]: This sect seeks peace with nature. Basically druids, they love all things natural, and hate any who would try to harm Mother Nature. They have a close relationship with the Ice Guardian - the Guardian of Nature in the north. New druids of the Leaf often make pilgrimages to the Ice Guardian before they are fully accepted into the sect. The Sect of the Leaf is based in Corandun.
Shadow Mages: These mages have all sworn their life to guarding the Hammer of the Gods and keeping it out of the hands of those who might abuse its power. They are the said to be the most powerful mages in Atla. The head of the Shadow Mages is currently Hippolyta.
Shadow Mage fortress: The Shadow Mage fortress is located far into the Manwar desert. It is protected by an army of magically enhanced Colossi, and serves as a bastion of magic in Atla. The Hammer of the Gods is said to rest somewhere within that fortress, but only very important persons may enter.
Theris: This Anubite Warlord is just this side of evil. He slays only when needed, but takes great joy out of it when he does. His fiery volcano domain is off-limits to all but Anubites; all others who enter his end up dead - or wishing they were. Theris worships no god but himself, as he is quite self-centered. His most prized possession is a rare pet chimera. No scholar has yet had the gaul to contemplate how Theris could tame one - probably no one even wants to know, for their own sanity's sake.
Usyblot: The only village existing in the Manwar Desert. It's existance hangs on the end of a thread, sustaining itself by using sorcerors to make it rain over their crops. Usyblot is home to many activities just this side of legal, such as fighting in arenas, and some on the other side. Watch your step in this town, as you never know who might try to pick your pocket!
To install this scenario, unzip the folder to some location or other and copy both the '.scn' and 'bak' files to the 'scenario' folder in your Age of Mythology game.
IMPORTANT NOTE #1: You may want to print out this readme file for easier reference during the game.
IMPORTANT NOTE #2: Some people may have trouble getting unit dialogue for quests, upgrades etc. Try selecting the unit and waiting 3 or 4 seconds. If dialogue still does not appear, deselect the unit and dialogue should appear.
IMPORTANT NOTE #3: Try walking over to the Usyblot temple if you want to continue the plot.
IMPORTANT NOTE #4: If any player offers to surrender during gameplay, just ignore it.
1. People or creatures surrounded by a column of light will give you quests. Click on them to recieve your quest, and click on them once more when you have returned from the completed quest.
2. Quests will earn you gold, which you can use towards upgrading yourself, or hiring mercenaries.
3. Once you have enough money, click on a mercenary to buy him or her. Mercenaries (also surrounded by a column of light) can be found at the temple (300 gold to hire) and the Corandun government center (600 gold to hire). They can be found in all three major cities of northern Atla (Corandun,Usyblot,and Midgeville).
4. To upgrade yourself, simply go to the nearest Dwarven forge and click on any of the three Dwarven blacksmiths there. Upgrades come in threes. Each upgrade combo costs 500 gold. Upgrades in Corandun (the city you start in) are:
a) If you click on the Einherjar: you will get the 'Copper Weapons/Bronze Weapons/Iron Weapons combo' upgrade.
b) If you click on the Hero of Ragnarok: you will get the 'Bronze Mail/Copper Mail/Iron Mail combo' upgrade.
c) If you click on the Hersir: you will get the 'Bacchanalia/Aegis Shield/Oracle' combo upgrade.
Upgrades in Usyblot (desert town) are:
a) If you click on the Einherjar: you will get the 'Burning Pitch/Sun Ray/Shafts of Plague' combo upgrade.
b) If you click on the Hero of Ragnarok: you will get the 'Bronze Shields/Copper Shields/Iron Shields' combo upgrade.
c) If you click on the Hersir: you will get the 'Hammer of the Gods/Meteroic Iron Mail/Dragonscale Shields' combo upgrade.
Upgrades in Midgeville (northern town) are:
a) If you click on the Einherjar: you will get the 'Medium Infantry/Heavy Infantry/Champion Infantry' combo upgrade.
b) If you click on the Hero of Ragnarok: you will get the 'Medium Archers/Heavy Archers/Champion Archers' combo upgrade.
c) If you click on the Hersir: you will get the 'Eyes in the Forest/Olympic Parentage' combo upgrade.
Once you have been upgraded by a specific Dwarven smith, you will receive no further upgrades from him.
5. Don't go for hard quests first. Wait until you have enough mercenaries, and then attempt them.
6. Locations imperative to quest completion will flash on the minimap when first given.
7. Click on road signs and blue flags if you are lost.
8. If any people from a quest die (ie. slaves you are escorting back to Corandun), you will lose the scenario.
9. If you find any shrines on your journeys, click on them - they might be worth your while!
10. Watch out for wild beasts and bandits in the Manwar Desert!
11. When playing the trivia game near Usyblot, click on the corresponding column and quickly deselect it when dialogue appears.
12. You might want to do some studying up on background information of units and cultures in the Age of Mythology encylopedia.
13. To travel between villages much more quickly, go to the desired village's twin god statues (Corandun - Zeus, Usyblot - Isis, Midgeville - Thor) and then enter into that village's corresponding portal. These portals are usually found on the outskirts of town.
14. Players note that they cannot reap rewards from Guild quests. Should they complete all the quests of a certain Guild, they will become a member of it. Only then will they recieve any special prize. These prizes are quite worth the effort! You can only join one Guild per game.
15. You can talk to any Guild to find out what they are like and what the first quest is. If you decide to join said guild, complete the quest. If you wish to join another Guild instead, simply do not complete the quest.
16. The game is now tiered according to difficulty. On higher difficulty, the enemy units will deal out more damage and be harder to destroy.
Quest Difficulty Table: The quests in 'Sorcery' are rated on a scale of 1 to 3. Some quests may be easy for some, and hard for other players, even with the same number of mercenaries depending on what (if any) upgrades they have. Therefore the following ratings are not etched in stone in any case. Quests that are rated 1 earn you 200 gold, quests rated 2 earn you 300 gold, and quests rated 3 earn you 400 gold.
1 = Easy ( can be easily accomplished with just Agamemnon and 1 mercenary)
2 = Moderate ( can be easily accomplished with Agamemnon and 2 mercenaries)
3 = Hard ( can be easily accomplished with Agamemnon and 3 or more mercenaries)
**Optional Quests**
'Arena' quest: 2
'Burning Forest' quest: 3
'Colossus' Boar' quest: 2
'Escaped Hydra' quest: 3
'Farm Giant' quest: 2
'Graveyard' quest: 1
'Hippo Cult' quest: 2
'Lost Relic' quest: 3
'Marooned Husbands' quest: 1
'Minotaur Bandits' quest: 3
'Museum Curator' quest: 2
'Polar Bear' quest: 2
'Scorpion Men' quest: 3
'Slave Rescue' quest: 3
'Walking Tree' quest: 2
'Trivia' quest: 1
'Troll Bandits' quest: 1
'Wolf' quest: 3
**Guild Quests**
NOTE: Players note that they cannot reap rewards of gold from Guild quests. Should they complete all the quests of a certain Guild, they will become a member of it. Only then will they recieve any special prize. These prizes are quite worth the effort! You can only join one Guild per game.
NOTE #2: You can talk to any Guild to find out what they are like and what the first quest is. If you decide to join said guild, complete the quest. If you wish to join another Guild instead, simply do not follow up on the quest.
