The Amazones is the third scenario of the El Dorado campaign in Age of Empires II HD: The Forgotten.
Intro[]
December, 1541 - It is hot and humid. It has also been weeks since we last heard from Gonzalo Pizarro. We elected Orellana to be the leader of this expedition. He, in turn, says our first priority is survival. What good is gold and glory in the face of our Lord? The men must live. The people of the Imara say that a massive sea is at the mouth of the river. Orellana believes this to be the Atlantico, and he has ordered the construction of a second brigantine that will allow us to divide the men and carry enough supplies to sail south, around this continent, and back north towards New Castille.
February, 1542 - Today I held the hand of another of my comrades as he met with our creator. Yet the men die of poisoned arrows and fever, but not starvation. Our plan has worked successfully. We sail some distance, then stop and search, and repeat. So far, the Indians have gladly traded with us. Eventually, the villages turned to towns, with large temples of wood upon massive hills made of dirt and stone. One of the kings, who called himself Aparria, welcomed us to his capital, though it was not El Dorado. It was there that we built our second brigantine, El Victoria.
May, 1542 - King Aparria warned us that it would be much harder once we left his kingdom. His orderly roads and outposts turn to massive wetlands and marshes that melt into the great river. We were also told about the supreme peoples here: their men and women fight together in battle. I told Don Orellana about this today and he smirked, recalling the Greek tales of the Amazon warrior women. We see monuments far inland, and the men are tortured by the idea one of them could be a palace covered in gold. One huge structure looms ahead in the distance, seemingly in the middle of the river... could it be our fabled city?
Players[]
Allies[]
- Native Trading Post (Incas) :This player consists of a Trade Workshop, some Houses and a Merchant. The merchant though, will tell you how to get past the Amazones, who were hostile to you at the early parts of the game. And giving you an objective to do good deeds toward the Amazones in order to please them so that the give you access in order to sail across.
- Spanish (Incas): This player's only purpose was to serve as a placeholder for your units at the beginning of this scenario.
- Manco Inca Yupanqui (Incas): This player has a Monk and a Monastery, if approached, the Monk will tell you that he want to exact revenge, giving you a choice to do bad deeds to the Amazones in order to threaten them so that they give you access to sail across.
Neutral[]
The following players' stance towards the player is 'ally', and the player may attack them without resistance.
- Amazone Suppliers (Incas) are a group of people that you could plunder (by killing their villager) or click on them to negotiate, some require you to complete a quest in order to get food.
- Fishermen (Incas) are a group of people that you can negotiate for food (by clicking the villager) or plunder them (by killing the villager) in order to get some food.
Enemy → ally[]
- Amazones (Incas) is the strongest player in this scenario and has a large base in the centre of the map, which is guarded by Watch Towers, Amazon Archers, Amazon Warriors and Kamayuks. They also have a few canoes that guard the river and sometimes patrol in to the jungle, too. Once you do all the necessary deeds, they will be allied and give you access to sail across, which was needed to win the scenario.
Enemy[]
- Amazone Patrols (Incas): This player consists of Amazon Warriors, Amazon Archers and some Kamayuks. Their task is to patrol the map. Unlike the Amazones, they will not change their stance with the player throughout the game.
Strategy[]
Francisco de Orellana and his expedition team are now in two Transport Ships, namely "San Pedro" and "Victoria". While the troops are running short of food, they learn that the Amazon River is heavily guarded by female warriors known as "Amazones". Therefore, they must turn back and land on the southern shore in search for food, while figuring out a way to get pass the Amazones.
Throughout this scenario the player's food supply will drop gradually as the troops eat it - the more surviving troops, the faster the food drops. If the player ever runs out of food, units begin taking damage. Thus, finding supplies of food is a constant theme of this mission.
The player must first kill all the Villagers at the village where the troops land, in order to obtain 75 food. Then the player must continue seeking for food elsewhere. Note that reaching many of the locations requires traveling by transport to the other side of the river - there are not enough sites to achieve victory on only the starting side. Following the advice given in the scenario, the player can indeed choose to "split up" into multiple groups to pursue multiple objectives simultaneously, thus potentially preserving food supply by making the smaller groups more vulnerable to native attacks.
If the player approaches the native trading post, the merchant (a petard) suggests treating the other native villagers kindly, each kindness then counting as a "good deed". If the player approaches the Temple in the west, the blind priest (a Monk) requests the player to avenge his lost eyes, each such act then counting as an "evil deed". The player must accumulate either 6 "good deeds" or 6 "evil deeds" to persuade the Amazones to open up the river and let the player pass through. Each deed performed is marked with a flag at the western corner of the map. A "good deed" places a red sun flag on the right hand side of the ground, while an "evil deed" places a blue flag on the left hand side of the ground.
The player must click on the merchant and the blind priest to talk to them. Once the blind priest is selected and he had made his request, he disappears and all the four Turkeys are be given to the player and get slaughtered immediately giving extra food. Besides these four turkeys, any turkey found by the player is slaughtered as well. Each slaughtered turkey gives the player 5 food (tribute from Gaia).
There are a few shrines, which are actually a Relic and a Berry Bush. Clicking on the relic means plundering food, therefore counted as an "evil deed". Clicking on the berry bush means "leaving it alone" therefore a "good deed".
Meanwhile there are various people around to interact with - fishermen and suppliers. If the player chooses to go for a good deed, the player must click on the relevant person to deal with him/her. Simply clicking on fishermen at fishing villages would get food immediately, while dealing with the green villages ("Amazone Suppliers") would require fulfilling quests which would reward the player with food in return. Whenever there is a chief (in purple - "Temple"), click on him.
The chief of the green village in the south of the Amazones' river pass requests the player bring their Trade Cart to the mining site in the southeast. The female villager to the north of the village where the player landed, requests the player bring back her lost Llama, which is just nearby in the north. The trader (a male villager) to the east of the llama farm offers to buy one transport ship from the player with 100 food. If the player gives him both of the transport ships, one of them is returned to the player. The hunter at the Barracks in the north requests help killing the Jaguar nearby. The village in the east requests help investigating on the volcano in the south of them, which has been destroying their crops, therefore they must figure out a way to calm down the volcano. The player can travel to the volcano, and destroy the boulder (labelled as a "yurt" that belongs to the green player).
Along the way, the player may encounter resistance by both red canoes and gray Amazone patrols (mainly Amazon Warriors or Amazon Archers). The player should be aware that in this scenario, the player's units are set to "no attack stance" by default (so that they won't auto-attack the fishermen etc when deciding whether to do good deeds), therefore if the player is unable to avoid fighting the Amazones (though it is officially advised by in-game instruction to avoid), the player must either attack them manually, or set to "aggressive" or "defensive" mode).
As long as the Amazones agree to open up and let the player pass through the river, they become "allies" with the player, and the player may safely sail through the pass to the east of the river (marked with a blue flag) and Orellana should get down there. Once Orellana debarks on the island at the blue flag, the scenario is considered won.
Outro[]
June, 1542 - The stories were true, and we fought the terrifying women warriors in the shadow of their huge temple. It easily rivaled Coricancha in New Castille. A stray sling stone smashed my face. The Lord took my eye, but he gave us hope as we leave Amazonia. The Amazones were not the rulers of El Dorado, though. I should urge the men to stop thinking of cities of gold or cinnamon, and instead ask them to think of cities of food paved with tortas, with walls of jamon, and rivers of gazpacho. The only way to Cuidad de Alimento now is through the Atlantic.
