Mission 8 - The Summons

The Summons

Story mission
Mission	8
Chapter	2: The Age of Ash
Played	7th (before Mission 7)
Map	Forest, Medium
In the demo	No
Estimated time	50-75 min (estimate)
Starting resources	800 Wood, 800 Food, 300 Stone, 400 Gold
Teaches	Escorting at scale, defending a camp at night with no walls
Objectives
Story spoilers: Mission 8 Assemble the escort. Escort the scholars along the road. Make camp for the night. Hold the camp against the night attack. Walk the scholars to the capital's gate. Attend the King's audience. The road home.
Campaign
Previous	Mission 6 - What the Winter Left
Next	Mission 7 - The First Spark

Story text not final: this mission's in-game text is a placeholder that will change. This page describes the mission from the developer's design and its objectives as built, and does not quote it.

The Summons is Mission 8 of the Story campaign, in Chapter 2, The Age of Ash. In the game it is played seventh, after What the Winter Left and before The First Spark. The kingdom summons Hale and the Captain to explain what happened on the field, and you lead the escort that takes the scholars on the long road to the capital.

Overview

• The longest mission so far: a march, a fight on the road, a camp, a night attack, and an audience at the end.
• You start with the town and a standing army of about twenty soldiers.
• Mage buildings and units are hidden, because in the order the game plays them the first mages have not arrived yet.

Story

Story spoilers: Mission 8

This box is closed until you open it.

Story text not final.

The town is rebuilt, and the army with it. The kingdom has summoned Hale and the Captain to explain what was found on the battlefield that day. Hale's distaste for the rulers is plain in his voice, and he stays cordial anyway. He puts the Captain in charge of assembling an escort to get the scholars to the capital safely.

The road is long. The column is attacked in daylight. That night they make camp, with tents, a fire and a pot of food over it, and are ambushed in the dark: the hardest fight of the mission, with no walls and no town behind them, only the terrain and the formation. The march itself is written light. The soldiers and scholars trade banter on the way, the way comrades do on a long trip, and it is the campaign's comic relief between two of its darkest missions.

The next day they reach the capital: a grand city ringed with armies, siege engines, walls and towers, the first time the Captain has seen power on that scale. In the courtyard, before the King and his guards, the scholars lay out their theories, and the King shows his hand: greed. He wants the Pillars' power for himself, and he keeps three of the five scholars behind to teach his own scholars everything they know about the stones, about magic, and how to harness it. The column goes home with two of its five scholars.

Objectives

Story spoilers: Mission 8

This box is closed until you open it.

1. Assemble the escort. Five scholars appear on the road leaving town. Bring twelve or more units to the road marker beside them.
2. The road. The scholars walk the road on their own; keep soldiers flanking the column. About 40 seconds in, six Swordsmen strike from one side of the road and four Shortbowmen from the other. The step completes when no enemy has been near your forces for eight seconds and the scholars reach the campsite.
3. Camp. A checkpoint is saved. The screen fades, night falls, and the camp stands when it returns: tents, a fire, the scholars seated round it. Wait about a minute while the camp settles.
4. The night. A checkpoint is saved. Protect the scholars at the campfire. About 40 seconds in, eight Swordsmen and five Spearmen attack; about 85 seconds in, six Shortbowmen and three Knights follow. The step completes after ten seconds with no enemy near your forces.
5. The capital. A checkpoint is saved. The screen fades to morning, and the capital comes into view. Walk the scholars to its gate.
6. The audience. The scene moves to the courtyard inside the walls. Watch the audience; three scholars stay behind when it ends.
7. The road home. A fade, then evening back in town. The mission is complete a few seconds later.

Losing scholars: losing one scholar brings a warning. If all five fall, the mission ends in defeat.

Characters met

Story spoilers: Mission 8

This box is closed until you open it.

• Commander Aldric Hale.
• The scholars, five of them.
• The King, with two guards, in his courtyard. He speaks in his own voice.
• Attackers on the road and at the camp.

Notes

Story spoilers: Mission 8

This box is closed until you open it.

• Play order: the developer moved this mission ahead of The First Spark so that the story flows properly. Its mission number was not changed. (What the Winter Left ends with a letter from the king that Hale has not yet opened.)
• The camp is a scene, not a building: it appears during the fade and cannot be built or placed.
• The King and his guards cannot be selected or given orders, and they do not fight.

Campaign

← Previous (as played): Mission 6 - What the Winter Left · Next (as played): Mission 7 - The First Spark →