Cheats in this campaign are not disabled, but they aren't supported. If you cheat and encounter any bugs because of that, I won't fix that. There are no known major issues so far, this is just an ordinary announcement.

Tips

Some tips from Kasrkin, the Chief Development Tester of this campaign, for the harder chapters.

Tips

Chapter Seven

-Send Zairmak immediately to the circle of power, he'll die but you can just revive him.
-There is a base to your immediate south do whatever it takes to kill it: bait units away, spam necrolytes for lightning, castle target w/e just make sure they're dead.
-Take the southern goldmine once they're dead.
-Send peons to the ruined Imperial Army base for the goldmine but don't build a hall yet, building a hall will instigate an AI attack. Build the hall as you attack the plateau base or after it's destroyed.
-Attacking the plateau is simple enough, they don't have much in terms of defense but make sure you have a significant amount of units still alive after the castle is destroyed.
-Have peons right behind your force as you'll need to build quickly, have them build a wall of towers... not kidding a wall of towers on the cliffs leading down to the citadel. Turn the plateau into your new central base it'll be your home for a while as you try to make headway into the citadel.
-Watch out for flyers attacking the plateau they'll be coming from the south-east. (Dwarf base) Gryphons and coptors watch the skies!
-That being said don't destroy the castle until you're ready, meaning be prepared for a counter-attack to come charging out the gates.
-You're going to be attacked constantly by elves, dwarves, and the knights so leave a few units behind to help with elites and heroes. The towers can't do all of it on their own.
-Now we get to the hard stuff, the entrance hall needs to be cleared but there are units there that aren't a part of the attacking waves along with an archmage hero. This probably won't be cleared before another wave comes so good luck, that's all I can offer.
-Start to bring some peons behind your force for this next part.
-Once the entrance hall is cleared make a beeline to the east, the dwarves are here, don't engage the towers or catapults along the way just run to the base.
-Get in there and punch those walking midget beards, I recommend going to the castle first and torching it until it's well done. This will cut a few dwarf units out of the equation since they like their elite units. (Bear riders, gryphons, flying machines)
-Kill those unit buildings now, it'll take a while the base is one of the bigger ones.
-As you're doing this build your own barracks, totems, towers, etc.
-At the southernmost section of the base there is a group of farms don't destroy them, I'll bring them up again when they're relevant. For now just leave them be.
-Time to attack the first Knight base. The plan is simple.... KILL THAT PALADIN THEN TEAR DOWN THAT CASTLE.
-The first base is simple enough just gotta be mindful of the waves and the elf hero's starfall use soul burn when she comes by.
-Same plan as before get in there and build.
-Be careful with the elf base to the south it's right next to the main Kome base so reinforcements will be there quickly to assist those damn knife ears.
-Raze the castle, slap the elf hero, time for the industrial revolution again.
-Attack the last base and kill whatever forces they send out at your army, as they're attacking have some units destroy those farms in the back of the dwarf base, they're directly linked to the last Kome faction's population. So you'll have a short amount of -not giant waves- happening.
-Focus on unit production buildings as the castle is all the way in the back, don't forget about altars as well. Do this until completion.
Sit back and enjoy the cutscene.

Author's Notes

Some of my thoughts and plans. (includes spoilers)

Plans

Kasrkin Mode

This is a mode that will be added later. It's supposed to be an additional difficulty for all, who think that Hard is too easy.
The name comes from Kasrkin (who would have guessed that?) who tested the campaign. The idea came when he said that Had was too easy.
I'm not COMPLETELY sure how it will look like later, but it's planned to make the campaign really hard.

Backgrounds

Rebirth

Rebirth

It was a clear night. The wind was picking up, making the leaves rustle while the light of the moon revealed everything on the ground. Everything, especially the remains of those who were fighting at this place days ago. Betrayed by their own king, these brave soldiers of humanity were sent to their deaths because their king became paranoid.
King Uras the Fifth of Rendar, the richest realm of the Seven Kingdoms, called "Defender of Mankind". He sent two thousand soldiers to their deaths because he thought that their leader was plotting against him, because his advisors told him to get rid of him, because this one leader, who was more loyal than the whole council of the king, was more popular than he himself. The moonlight showed who this "Defender of Mankind" really was: A murderer, a madman. A traitor.
The troops had hold their position for several days before they were overwhelmed by the Demons who inhabited this place. Demons, the most wicked and vile creatures that ever existed. There has been no month without a battle against these creatures, no week without waiting for them to attack, no day without being reminded of their trickery and their evil sorcery. They say, a single Demon might be capable of destroying a whole village if not opposed by true warriors. But what are the Demons compared to the schemes of humanity? The intrigues of mankind are already destroying the whole race from the inside, even without the Demons attacking the Kingdoms. The next real invasion of any other race would destroy humanity easily at its current state. Luckily, for the survivors of the clashes that take place before that happens, it might still take centuries before the next real invasion occurs. The Demons have a strange way of acting and the other races have other problems to deal with. Humanity is lucky. That's the only reason why it still exists.
A heavy breath. One of the fighters has survived the battle, heavily wounded. He can feel as life forsakes his body and as he slowly leaves this plane of existence. Only thanks to him and the healers, the soldiers managed to survive that long in this god-forsaken place. He looks around at his fallen comrades, feeling both endless shame and rage at the same time. When that big Demon's strike hit him, he realized that he had been a fool.
The king whose orders he obeyed, let him run into death. The man knew that the king became obsessed with the thought that he was to be replaced, but he didn’t think that it would make him even consider such actions. He was too blind to see what his king had become. That's at least what he wished to be the reason. Actually, he knew the truth: He didn't WANT TO see it! He didn't want to believe that the fear of the king would get the better of him. This was the punishment. Death. Ironic that it wasn't too long ago that he saved the life of the king himself. Now, so many had to die because of the madness of this king. The man had known these soldiers for years, he fought at their side countless times. Now, thanks to the king, they were dead. The man wouldn't have been surprised if some evil god with a twisted sense of humor was laughing right now, while watching him, suffering the pain and waiting for the end.
No, it wouldn't end like this! The man wouldn't ALLOW himself to die just like that! He would return to his king, spit in his face and kill him the most slow and painful way he could think of! This "Defender of Mankind" would suffer for the betrayal of his own kind! His family and advisors would be annihilated, just like the king annihilated all the soldiers here for his mere envy! No one would be able to escape revenge!
The man gathered the tiny bit of magic that still remained in his body and tried to give himself the power to stand up. He didn't care about the consequences, he just wanted to stand up and take revenge! He screamed in pure rage and bitterness. The magic exploded. The man could feel the life abandon his life, leaving him for good, but he was still there. He could feel new strength, his might returning to him, making him even more powerful than he was before. The man stood up, slowly walking away from this place of death. The king shall regret the day, he decided to betray his own kind. For from now on, his time would be over.

For days, the man walked through the forests and mountains that separated him from his target. He knew every route in the Seven Kingdoms, but no one was supposed to see him. Most likely, they already heard that his men were slain and thought him being dead. The king might even have celebrated this day with one of his concubines. He was everything but faithful. His wife was either too ignorant to see it or just looked the other way, not wanting to feel the agony of being cheated. It didn’t matter. Soon, she'd be dead along with her husband and the bastards who dare calling themselves advisors while they're actually just trying to gain more power. Sadly, this was how politics work. It would never change, but the man didn’t care anymore. He wanted to take care of those who wanted his death. Everything else didn't matter at all.
It was a dark, windy night when the man reached side entrance of the capital city. Three men were guarding it. The king, in all his wisdom, had decided that everyone who tried to enter the capital after midnight, was to be granted no entrance. If they still tried to enter, though, the soldiers were allowed to execute them. According to their banners, the guards were part of the king's personal army. That meant that they were more than ready to just kill anyone trying to enter. They were cruel bastards, but effective in battle. Making them guards instead of sending them to fight in the first line was just another proof of the king's stupidity and another reason why the people hated their king.
After the man left the forest and entered the street to continue his way, it didn't take the guards too long to notice them and prepare for a fight. They could be heard laughing, most likely already looking forward killing someone. The hood of the man hid his face, disabling them to see who he actually was. Just a few more steps and the man would've passed the gate, but the men surrounded him.
"See what we got here, boys. Some old fella trying to get through the gate." laughed the guy in front of the man, who also blocked the path to the gate.
"Never heard of the rules of the king, old man? No one is allowed to enter the cities after midnight. Midnight passed one hour ago, we are allowed to kill you right now. If I were you, I'd be begging for mercy!" another one said. The third man grinned and grabbed the hood of the man.
"Let us see your face before we kill you. Just so we know whose ugly face will never be seen again." he claimed. Then he removed the hood and fell to the ground, screaming both shocked and scared of what he just saw. It must've been the most terrifying thing he has ever seen in his whole life, a living nightmare.
"By the gods, what-" One move with the hand and both he and the first guard turned into ice. Another move. The ice melted in mere seconds. The second guard was about to beg for mercy – the man wondered if that simple minded moron was even capable of understanding the irony of this – but the man just moved his hand again and the guard exploded from the inside. Then he placed his hood back and entered the city. The few in the city, who were still not asleep, didn’t care about the sounds. They got used to the screams of those who were slain by the guards. The man continued his journey, unaffected by the gruesome deaths of these guards, and entered the dirty streets of the city.
No one minded the hooded man who was wandering through the streets, the few people who were still up were either had something illegal in mind, were too busy with their own business or just left the brothels and taverns and were on their way home. No one cared about one more hooded figure in the night.
It didn't take him long to arrive at the royal palace of the king. The man knew the palace like no one else – not even the king knew about all the secret passages that lead inside. The man only had to touch the stone walls. They still reacted to his touch, they opened and revealed the secret way. Only the man could open this secret door. He entered and the walls closed behind him again, as if the secret gate never had been there.

It took the man mere minutes to reach the king’s quarters. He knew this place all too well. He used to wander through these passages almost every week for years. He knew every candle, every guardian, every door, everyone and everything inside this palace. Another move with his arm and the door opened silently, allowing the man to enter. The room was filled with gold, almost everything was made out of it. Even the bed. The man could see that someone lied in the bed, but it was only one person – the queen. The first target. One move would be enough to make her suffer the same fate as the guards, but the man wanted to take revenge and suffer like he did. Some movements and magic surrounded her. She woke up, most likely feeling how her feet started to ache. She looked at the man with horror. He didn't wear his hood anymore and she looked into his dead eyes. She tried to say something, but she couldn't talk anymore. The man had used his magic to silence her. She wouldn't be able to scream as the ache became real pain. She wasn't able to scream when the pain became even worse. Little, summoned insects fed upon her body, eating it from the feet up to her stomach. She still tried to scream when the insects reached her head. The magic also didn’t allow her to die and made her feel through every second of her torment. This was nothing but a tiny bit of the pain the man had to go through. He watched every second of her torment and felt nothing. No happiness, no pleasure, just nothing. It took hours until it ended and the man was quite sure that, very close to the end, the queen realized who he was. In the end, the summoned insects disappeared after they had eaten all flesh, all bones, nothing was left, no trace that she had ever even existed. The man left, unmoved by the cruelty he just commited. He felt no guilt. She was among those who were responsible for his betrayal, there could've been no doubt about it.
The advisors shared a similar fate as the queen, they died, one after another. In the end, only the king himself remained. The man knew exactly where to find the "Defender of Mankind". The quest rooms, one particular guest room. The man could hear laugher, the king had more pleasure in bedding his most exotic guest than his wife. Soon, all three would be united again - in death. He entered the room the same way he entered the others. Nine people had died tonight, soon it’d be eleven. The man closed the door behind him and then broke the king and his lover apart with his magic. They looked at him, both confused and shocked. The king of Rendar and his "company" – the elven queen. It was rumoured that, soon, she'd allow her daughter to take over so she could enjoy her immortal life without ruling the Elven Kingdom. That day would come sooner than she thought. She was a vile woman who only used the Humans to fight her battles for her. The man had many good friends among the Elves, her daughter was said to be more popular than her mother but not to be trusted. The man had met her once. He didn't like her back then. Only time would show, but tonight, the Elves would lose their queen and the people of Rendar would lose their king. The man rose his hand to gather his magic and then pointed at her. A loud crushing. An ice meteor had fell from the sky – it landed directly on the elf and crushed her body completely. The king stared at her, not believing what he just saw. He tried to call the guards, but he was silenced by the same spell the man used on his wife.
This king would die a slow, gruesome death, he would suffer the same pain as the man did. First, the man entangled the king in this bed. Then, he froze the arms of the king while also burning them at the same, creating a magical symbiosis that was both effective and really painful. The king tried to scream but the spell prevented him from doing so. The man removed the insects once they were done eating the feet and used dark magic to make the king feel pain from both the inside and the outside. Feeling endless waves of pain, the king didn’t realize how his blood became corrupted by the dark magic – he was too busy fighting the pain. He had no chance. The man opened his mouth and an unnatural, strange sound, that made the king look at him filled with even more fear than pain, was the last thing, the king would ever hear. His blood began to burn in black flames, slowly killing the king in agony. The deed had been done.
The king and everyone else responsible for the betrayal of the soldiers were dead. Still, the man felt nothing. He left the palace the same way he entered it and also left the city. In a few hours, the people would realize that their king is dead and since he didn't have any heirs, chaos would reign for the next few years. It didn't matter. Nothing mattered anymore. The man disappeared in the forest and, for the first time since days without rest, he stayed at one place. His journey was over, but the man somehow knew that his story wasn't over. This thought was confirmed sooner than he had expected.
"I've been watching your progress with great interest. We should meet, in person." A voice said inside his mind.
"Who are you?" asked the man, his voice sounded strange, not human at all.
"My name is Aridon, I am the guardian of this world. Come to me, Rahandir Drakeskull, and hear me out. You won't regret it."

Dark Heart and Mind

Dark Heart and Mind

I sat in the corner and sighed. I had no idea how long it had been since they threw me in this prison. I was alone for hours. Sometimes, the guards passed by, but they wouldn't dare say a word. I didn't know why, but they only looked at me, grim expressions in their faces. They despised me, they couldn't understand that I wasn't one of them. I've never been one of them. I was raised far away from them, by an Orc as an Orc among Orcs who couldn't accept me either. Only the one who raised me, the one I even called father, and the one I called brother really accepted me. Others tolerated my presence, but I never got anything from them without fighting for it – but that was a common thing among Orcs. I was happy that I had so many opportunities to prove my worth. I had forgotten everything that was before.
My orcish foster father said that he'd unite the Orcs one day. That he'd create a future for his people that would make them get the life they deserved. While pillaging was part of the culture, it shouldn't be the limit. He wanted to see the Orcs in their own kingdom, he kept telling me. I loved listening to him and discussing his plans with him. He also insisted that I'd have a respected position in that future. I had forgotten so much.
I was more than happy to fulfil every single order he had for me. It wasn't the first time he sent me to infiltrate the Empire, not the first time I got information for him since the Humans always believed that I was one of them. However, on the last mission, they caught me. I still have no idea how they could have found us, but they had. The Imperial knights rushed the camp we had built just a few hours ago and killed everyone inside, excluding me. I managed to escape while the Orcs sacrificed themselves for me. In the end, it was in vain. I reached a Human village and tried to get through unnoticed. While doing so, I overheard many talks between the Humans. Before, I had never really cared about their small-talk, I was only interested in the things I knew. I realized that the Humans and the Orcs weren't so different.
However, before I could start to ponder about this, the knights found me. They had noticed me when I escaped and rode after me. This time, there was no escape, no battle. They caught me. There was a mage in brown clothes who accompanied them. He just had to wave his hand and I couldn't move anymore. I was helpless, when they enchained me. The mage had a short talk with one of the knights before he and half of the knights were on their way. The knights said, there was someone who wanted to talk with me.
I was thinking about this capture, when I suddenly heard noises and looked up. From far away, I could see light. A tall figure, bearing a torch, was coming my way. I could already hear the heavy armor from afar. When he came closer, I noticed the dark armor he was wearing and knew who it was. It was the very person I had been brought to after the knight captured me. I had never seen anyone else with this armor. It was black with some golden ornaments on it, but that wasn't all of it. Being a magic user myself, I could FEEL the magic of this armor. Dark magic. He put the torch aside and looked at me. The torch allowed me to see his face. It was completely cold. He didn't say a single word, he just looked at me.
"What is it?!” I asked him. I wasn't scared of him – unlike the Imperials. I had heard several tales about him, claiming that he was the most intimidating, living Human. But I was no Imperial, I grew up among Orcs. Orcs don't fear their enemies. He didn't reply. Instead, however, he opened my cell and entered. From this close, I could see how tall he was. Had he been an Orc, he would still be tall in comparison to others. Even taller than my foster father.
"You have only a limited amount of time until the Orcs will be here, Imperial. You should run, you cannot hope to have the power to withstand them!” I told him after some time of silence. When I said "power”, he seemed to be amused. He smiled. He claimed that I had no idea about TRUE power, that I was naïve to trust on others. He came closer and as much as I tried to deny it, his presence started to intimidate me. I blamed some spell of his armor. He removed his helmet and came closer until his face was almost touching mine. I could've tried to use this opportunity to try and kill him to escape, but I couldn't do it. I had to listen to what he told me next, what he whispered in my ear. I had to listen to the dark and sinister secrets, that he told me. My eyes widened, the longer I listened to him,the less horrified and the more fascinated I was by this secrets. It didn't take long until I LONGED FOR knowing more. He whispered of things, unable to describe. I forgot everything I had known, he was filling my mind with things so monstrous and so wunderful at the same time, I couldn't have dreamt of. He talked for hours and the more I listened to him, the more obsessed I became with learning more. More knowledge, more power, there was nothing else I could think about. I completely forgot everything else. It didn't matter anymore that I was imprisoned, it didn't matter that he should've been my enemy, I just wanted power and knowledge, no matter how dangerous it was, I WANTED it. When he stopped talking, I begged him to continue. He told me, that he would tell me more next time we met, but also that he had to go now. Then, he just left.
I knew that he had changed me. He had darkened my thoughts by simply talking with me. Sometimes, I could still hear his whispers afterwards.
The moment he left, I forsake all the plans Rangul had. There was only one thing left in my mind: Power. I longed for it. It was like an addiction and I wanted to see it satisfied. I would find my own ways of gaining power and then seek him out again.

 

You're absolutely right.

Why? Orange is good to see on the Hive. That's why I decided it to be the color of Arkain.

edit:
I had to update the campaign because the loading screens of the last chapter and the epilogue have been bugged.

 

Yes, it is.

Well, you should've started playing earlier.

 

So, you want to choose if you can even choose?

Before anyone gets "canon" the wrong way: This doesn't mean that your decisions will be for naught in the Second Books. It just means that this is what happens if you play one of the other races' books.