Recap / Battle for Wesnoth – Sceptre of Fire

Mainline in: 1.3.3 and after
Created by:
Year of events: 25—40 YW

Sometime after the establishment of the realm of Wesnoth, King Haldric the Second came to the dwarves of the northern mountains to make a deal: in order to contain and direct the pernicious influence of the Ruby of Fire, he commissions a work for the dwarves, a sceptre able to channel the Ruby's power and reduce its maddening effects. Hounded by renegade elves, the young dwarf Rugnur is about to undertake a quest which will lead him to the legendary runesmith Thursagan, to legend and to the creation of Wesnoth's symbol of royalty for years to come...

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This campaign contains examples of:

• 11th-Hour Superpower:
  • For the final two scenarios he's in on Easy difficulty, Thursagan inscribes a rune for Alanin granting him the ability to hide himself in villages and ignore control zones of enemies. (Note, this is from 1.16 onwards.)
  • Thursagan later creates the eponymous Sceptre of Fire and can wield its power for the final scenario.
• Artifact of Doom: The Ruby of Fire. Haldric II mentions how his father grew more and more paranoid and hostile thanks to the gemstone's influence, so he wants an enchanted artifact to reduce the gemstone's corrupting influence and allow anyone to better channel its powers. Unfortunately, the gem attracts renegade elves and slowly drives the leader of the dwarven outpost to paranoia and insanity.
• Beneath the Earth: Most of the scenarios take place in the depths of the dwarven lands and in far away mines. Cave scenarios are advantageous for dwarves, but also to your troll enemies.
• Call-Back: On the way to the caverns, the group meet a Dragon, who reveals himself as the brother of the one slain by Haldric the 1st several years before.
• Call-Forward: From 1.16 at least, since it mentions that Glidur, the evil renegade elf, is working for someone named Landar. In previous versions, the latter campaign was usually played before the Sceptre of Fire.
• Conflict Ball: Invoked by the Ruby: what could have been a difficult but doable negotiation with the Shortbeard Clan over the required gem-cutting tools ends up in an armed invasion and takeover of the Shortbeards' furnace, all becasue the Ruby made Rugnur's chief Durnstorn wrathful and greedy.
• Dwindling Party: By the time of the final level, Rugnur and his companions die one by one until only Thursagan survives long enough to cause a volcanic eruption that buries the entire cavern complex under a tsunami of molten rock, killing all elves and orcs after them. The only ones to live to the end of the campaign are Alanin (who split off earlier) and Krawg.
• Enemy Civil War:
  • In the ore-collecting scenario, the three tribes of Trolls and goblins in the caverns are hostile to each other, which can be exploited.
  • In the second to last scenario, the dragon and any wyrms it recruits are hostile to both the player and the elves.
  • In the final scenario, it's an everyone against everyone, so that you can focus on the main objective while the enemy forces battle each other, as long as you can get out of the crossfire in time.
• Escort Mission:
  • The very first mission has you getting Alanin and four caravans full of silver to the dwarven's keep while fighting off the elves trying to stop you.
  • In the third playable mission, you have to make sure that Rugnur, Alanin and Baglur reaches the northern end of the tunnel while fighting off goblins and orcs along the way.
  • Upon finding Thursagan's lair, you have to escort him back to the caves' entrance, fighting back wolves, ogres and trolls.
  • The fifth playale mission involves the use of the unique Dwarven Miners: you have to find the three veins of coal and gold on the map, then make sure that a Miner reaches the vein, picking up a load of gold ore and coal, and then return safe and sound to the castle.
  • The seventh mission has a double one: in order to win the scenario you must make sure that 1) Alanin manages to reach the escape point to the south and that 2) The vital dwarves make it to the tunnel's entrance to the northeast.
• Guest-Star Party Member: Durstorn, the chief of Rugnur's clan, joins for the scenario 6 (and seeing as how he is a level 3 Dwarvish Lord, he is immediately useful). At the beginning of scenario 7, he promptly grabs an Idiot Ball, runs out in the open trying to surrender, and is shot dead by Glildur (who also mocks him for thinking they would keep him alive).
• Hold the Line:
  • In Alanin's flight to the south, the scenario plays halfway between a race and such a mission: a group of high-level Elven Outriders are hot on his tail, but for each village he reach he receives the help of a bunch of soldiers, too weak to actually beat the elves, but still enough to prevent them from going after Alanin.
  • In "The Dragon", the final part of the scenario involves Rugnur's troops holding back the incoming enemies while giving Thursagan time to forge the Sceptre.
  • In a way, the final scenario involves the player holding out while trying to find the three tablets needed to cause a volcanic eruption.
• Killer Finale: After most of the campaign only have one main character death (Durstorn), the final scenario kills off all the main characters, except for Alanin and Krawg.
• Lethal Lava Land: The final two scenarios take place in a volcano, which becomes a game mechanic when the heroes decide to cause an eruption, allowing the lava hexes to expand and kill any units previously standing there.
• Recurring Boss: Glidur, the Big Bad of the campaign, will appear in five out of ten scenarios to personally hunt you down with his troops. Even if you somehow kill him in the first three appearences, he will make a getaway and the scenario will end sooner.
• Taking You with Me: In the final scenario, Thursagan and Rugnur do this to get rid of all the encroaching enemies and keep the Sceptre of Fire sealed.
• Time Skip: A fifteen year-long one between scenarios 6 and 7. That entire time the heroes were holding the line against Glildur's warband as Thursagan works on the Ruby of Fire.
• Token Human: Alanin the Dragoon, Haldric's envoy to deliver the Ruby and make sure that the Dwarves would make the Sceptre as agreed.
• Ultimate Blacksmith: In this campaign you get to see and play as Thursagan, the greatest Runesmith ever and the only person able to forge the Sceptre of Fire. From 1.16 onward, he can, if sitting in a keep, use his art to make empowering runes in exchange for money.