The Year of Burning Stone
--Mill Contest Release--
by David Wellington
naraoia@earthlink.net


I: Welcome, and thanks for downloading my scenario.  YOBS comprises five all-new solo levels for Myth II including a number of new units (all based on original collections).  YOBS is designed to be an expansion on part of the Myth storyline, falling several decades before the beginning of the Great War.  This is the story of how the Heron Guard became Journeymen, and how they came to fight for the West.

First, a couple of disclaimers:

The entire content of the YOBS plugin is copyright 1998 in whole or in part by Bungie Software and was created using their level editors, Fear and Loathing.  Also used were Adobe Photoshop 5.0 and Vodis excellent Amber.  The avatara unit was ported by Ferian and the Sitting God model was ported by KillSwitch.  If you want to use the unit or the model you should contact them, not me.  The new music was created by Michael King.  The Heron Flag and Heron Statue scenery items in Misericorde and the YOBS pregame collections are my original creations.  If, for some reason, you want to use them feel free.

Secondly: The plot of YOBS, the contents of this document, and any text in the game is my personal interpretation of events referred to in the games Myth: The Fallen Lords and Myth: Soulblighter.  While I have made every effort to be accurate I cannot guarantee that something in this scenario wont contradict official Bungie information and therefore all of my ideas should be taken with a grain of salt.  This scenario is in no way endorsed or approved by Bungie or any employee thereof.


HOW TO USE THE PLUGIN:

Well, you put it in your plugin folder.  The first level should appear the next time you start the game--itll be in green, at the bottom of the list of available levels.

NOTES ON USE:

There are five levels in this campaign, as per Mill contest rules, but youll see a sixth one if you squint hard enough.  Aftermath isnt a real level, its just a way for me to get an epilogue in there since as far as I can tell its impossible to trigger the internal game epilogue without killing Soulblighter.  There is an easter egg on that level (theyre everywhere!) but its very hard to get and even then it doesnt qualify as a real level.  If any of the Mill contest judges are reading this, PLEASE DONT DISQUALIFY ME.  The whole point of Aftermath was to complete the story in an organic way, not to pad my entry with an extra level!

Turn on fog if you can.  Ive used it on two levels, and its especially nice on the first level (Muirthemne after the Rain).  The levels work just fine without fog, but youll miss a part of the experience.

These levels were definitely not meant for multiplayer use, and if you try youll run into some problems--notably, the costs for the new and modified units are not set up properly.  If you feel like extracting the tags and monkeying with them until they work, have at it--just let me know what youre doing (Im curious by nature).

Finally, difficulty levels are not really supported (there are a couple of places where I left nasty little surprises for Legendary folk, and of course the monsters hit harder at the higher difficulty levels, but thats it).  Some of the levels are hard enough as is--you dont need fifty trow coming at you on New Years Day to feel like youre in trouble.  They get harder as you go along, but not so much that the average player cant get through them in a few tries--Im very tired of downloading levels which it takes me six months to solve, because theyve been set up to be unfair.  So Ive made mine relatively easy.  If you get bored playing them, feel free to extract them and add trow to your liking.


Okay, now on with the new stuff (contains spoilers):

The Year of Burning Stone begins just after the destruction of Muirthemne, when the last of the Heron Guards returned to the palace only to find the Emperor dead and their honor gone.  This is the story of how they went from being shamed warriors to the healers of Myth: TFL.  Along the way youll learn a little about the history of the Cath Bruig Empire, how the Deceiver went wrong and why Journeymen carry shovels, among other mysteries.  Hopefully the game will speak for itself.  There are a few new units in the levels:

Bloats: They look like blue wights surrounded by red clouds, and theyll drive you nuts if you try to attack them directly.  The undead remains of drowned sailors, their skin is so rubbery that swords and shovels just bounce off of them.  Healing them works, and an attack that does enough damage with one hit (most explosions will do) will kill them.  They dont blow up like normal wights, but in some ways theyre worse.  Infested with countless diseases and swollen with contagion, they weaken anyone they get close to--and they have a tendency to get very, very close.

Bright Century Heron Guard: This is the last of the bunch that drove back the Myrkridia.  He hones his swords with a diamond for a whetstone--older, stronger, and faster than Eight Coyote Comet, he would make a formidable ally.  Unless someone else gets to him first...

Cu Roi, Avatara: Before he was one of the Nine he was one of the most powerful Avatara of Madrigal.  His primary attack is a sword swing.  His special ability is the cyclone dream, which lets him throw tornadoes at his enemies.  Its no dispersal dream but itll come in handy.

Cynewulf, the Shade Principality: One of Balors commanders, this guy is almost unkillable.  He also carries several dispersal dreams and does more damage than an ordinary shade.  His only weakness: hes so belligerent that hes easy to pick a fight with.

Eight Coyote Comet, the Journeyman Prophet: The main character of our story.  Originally he was named Dryden and was a famous warrior, the equal of Damas.  Connacht, the emperor of the time, took notice of his prowess and offered him a special commission.  To cement the bond between his fledgling empire and the Heron Guard, Connacht sent Dryden to become one of them.  Now, a thousand years later, Eight Coyote Comet (named so because at the time of his initiation the Comet of the Wolf Age was in the sky) is the oldest and strongest of the Heron Guard and the first man to take up the golden tiles and become a Journeyman.  Hes pretty good with a shovel (aim him at a bunch of thrall and watch that puppy fly!) and his healing ability has a wide area of effect--he can heal an entire team at once, or put down an entire squad of Soulless.  Hes also pretty tough, totally immune to paralysis and confusion because of his iron will... or something.  In all but one of the levels youll need to keep him alive at all costs--if you lose him, youll lose the game.

Hoccleve:  The only surviving Imperial Watchman, Hoccleve made it through the firestorm that destroyed Muirthemne by hiding under a fallen monument.  Now his sword is permanently aflame.  It does a good amount of damage and it can destroy scenery objects (special ability), which youll need to solve the level.  NOTE: in a serious pinch you can get by without him, but its tricky.  The Journeyman Hero can knock down a fence by healing it.  This is a bug, not a feature, and it will ruin your enjoyment of the game if you use it too much.  It will also give you dandruff.  SECOND NOTE: The armor he wears is standard dwarven issue, which is still in use today by the armies of the West.  Thats why he looks exactly like a Myth II warrior.  His surcoat is Muirthemne Green, however.

Hydromancers:  These arent your average warlocks.  Their attacks are water-based and deadly.  Primary: a guided tsunami.  Special Ability: a fountain of water hot enough to scald flesh off of bone.  Dont get close.

Imperial Bowmen: Remember the ghosts from the mausoleum level of Myth II?  Ever wonder how they got to be ghosts?  After using them you still might not know.  They shoot farther and faster than normal bowman and their special arrows stop enemies dead--sometimes literally.  Youll only get four of them, though, so use them wisely.

Journeymen:  A little tougher, a little faster and, oh, yeah: they can use their shovels to throw rocks at monsters, so like the BreUnor they have both a ranged and a melee attack.  These are the bulk of your forces, so learn their weaknesses and strengths early.

Journeyman Hero: Youll get one on the first level, another one on the second.  After that if you lose him hes gone for good.  You can use him on every level, though, if youre careful, and hes useful.  He cant throw rocks but his healing ability is a weakened version of Eight Coyote Comets, so huddle in close when you heal.

Myrdred: Greatest Avatara of the Wolf Age, Lieutenant of Connacht, hes one of the worlds greatest good guys.  So why is he suddenly attacking every heron guard he sees?  His powers are a bit different than you might remember.  His main attack is the binding dream.  His special ability allows him to throw shadows, making apparitions of himself appear out of the ground.  Theyre purely illusory but you might have trouble knowing which of him to attack.  Hint: its the one whos about to ruin your day.

Revenants:  It takes forty days of putrefaction to turn a man into a wight, but after two weeks theyre useful as weapons.  Revenants look like diseased peasants and they go boom real good--unfortunately, usually when youre standing next to them.  Luckily they dont do as much damage as wights.  Unluckily, they can take a lot more before they go off, too.

Servitors of Myrdred:  They look like peasants in white shirts, but brother, these aint no peasants.  They attack with razor-sharp claws and they can confuse from a distance.  One word of warning: they aint all there, if you know what I mean.  Theyre named after the most intelligent posters on the most intelligent forum on the net.  They had no idea what they were agreeing to when they said I could use their names.

Stonefaces:  Brown ghasts in yellow pants, but if you can see them youre in trouble.  These creatures travel underground and only come up to attack.  Not as bad as mahir, but close.

Turnskins:  These gelatinous little creatures are a real pain.  They tend to sneak up on you by killing one of your friends and wearing their face for a hat.  In their true forms they throw Kirby dots at you--get out of the way!  Nobody likes these guys, and I do mean nobody.

Usk, the Oneiromancer:  The last enemy youre likely to face.  He was a serial killer in old Muirthemne who happened to stumble on a runestone and discovered the long-lost knife dream.  Then he got recruited by Balor and given an army to play with.  On his own he can take out fifty thrall with minimal damage to himself.  Yes, I know he looks just like the summoner.  It was the only collection that fit.


Have fun!
