Mission 9 - The Pillar Does Not Choose

The Pillar Does Not Choose

Story mission
Mission	9
Chapter	2: The Age of Ash
Played	9th
Map	Forest, Medium
In the demo	No
Estimated time	45-70 min (estimate)
Starting resources	800 Wood, 800 Food, 300 Stone, 400 Gold
Teaches	Using a Pillar for real: finding, reaching and charging it; retreating in order
Objectives
Story spoilers: Mission 9 Hold the line against a stronger enemy. Find the Pillar. Reach it with soldiers and mages. Charge it with your mages. Retreat to the hall. The camp that night.
Campaign
Previous	Mission 7 - The First Spark
Next	Mission 10 - The Long Winter

The Pillar Does Not Choose is the ninth mission of the Story campaign, in Chapter 2, The Age of Ash. It is a battle you cannot win by numbers, and the first mission in which you charge a Pillar yourself.

Overview

• You start with the town, its villagers, a standing army and the Wizards Training Grounds; six Fire Mages join at the start.
• Everything can be built and trained.
• The enemy is stronger than in any mission before it.

Story

Story spoilers: Mission 9

This box is closed until you open it.

The town is attacked by an army three times the size of its own, and the line gives ground. Then, out in the field, a Pillar rises, and the banners of the attacking army show the King's colours. The King who kept Ashmere's scholars has learned what he could from them, and he has come to wipe out the town because it knows about the stones and he fears it using them against him.

Hale orders the Captain to find the stone and wake it, as the only hope left. The army fights its way to the Pillar, and the mages charge it. The storm that breaks over the field guts the King's army, but not all of it, and it strikes whoever stands near the stone, on either side. Hale orders the retreat.

"It does not know whose side it is on." (Commander Hale)

The survivors of the King's army still outnumber what is left of the town's, and the Captain falls back. The Pillar has won a moment, not the battle.

That night, in a small camp with a few soldiers and villagers, Hale lies by the fire, mortally wounded. He comforts the Captain rather than the other way round. He gives the Captain the town and its people to look after: the people, not his rank. He asks the Captain not to let the day be forgotten. The Captain promises not to forget, and to avenge him. Then Hale dies.

Objectives

Story spoilers: Mission 9

This box is closed until you open it.

1. Hold the line. Six Fire Mages join you. Waves of the King's soldiers march on the hall: eight Kingdom Swordsmen about 30 seconds in, six Kingdom Knights at about 90 seconds, and eight Kingdom Longbowmen at about two and a half minutes. Give ground if you must; the enemy never targets your Town Hall. The step ends three minutes after it began.
2. Find and reach the Pillar. A checkpoint is saved, and the camera shows where the Pillar rises. Send a unit toward it until it is uncovered from the fog, then bring soldiers and mages to the stone.
3. Charge it. A checkpoint is saved. Keep your mages beside the Pillar, with soldiers around them. This Pillar needs far less charge than a skirmish Pillar: 12 mage-minutes, so six mages fill it in about two minutes. See Pillars.
4. Retreat. When the charge is full, a storm strikes around the stone for about 25 seconds. It hits every side, your own units included, so pull back. Select at least four units and bring them to the hall.
5. The camp. A checkpoint is saved. The screen fades to night, and the camp scene plays. The mission ends when it is over.

Characters met

Story spoilers: Mission 9

This box is closed until you open it.

• Commander Aldric Hale, in his last mission.
• The King's army. The King himself does not appear.
• The narrator, who sets the scene at the camp.

Notes

Story spoilers: Mission 9

This box is closed until you open it.

• Defeat by design. This mission cannot be won by fighting. Its story ends in a retreat: the Pillar breaks much of the King's army, the rest still outnumbers yours, and you fall back. Bringing four units back to the hall completes the mission and unlocks the next one. Its end card is titled The Pillar Does Not Choose rather than "Victory".
• This mission is the campaign's argument in miniature: a Pillar can turn a battle, but it is not a sure win, and it can cost you the field.
• The King's soldiers wear his colours. They are separate units from the ones you train; their numbers matched the Swordsman, Knight and Longbowman when they were added. See Units#Story-only units.
• After this mission the Captain is responsible for the town and its people. Hale gave the Captain the people, not his rank.

Campaign

← Previous (as played): Mission 7 - The First Spark · Next: Mission 10 - The Long Winter →