The Elopement is the third scenario of the Prithviraj campaign in Age of Empires II HD: The Forgotten. This scenario depicts the elopement of Prithviraj with Sanyogita, daughter of Jaichand of Kannauj. Jaichand opposed the marriage between his daughter with Prithviraj due to rivalry between their Rajput clans, therefore he arranged a swayamvara for the daughter Sanyogita.
Prithviraj is set to sneak into Kannauj while the swayamvara is going on, having to either avoid or backstab some guards before reaching the palace to meet Sanyogita and smuggle themselves out of Kannauj. The worried King Jaichand sends an army after them, while Prithviraj and Sanyogita must safely reach Delhi in a carriage. On the way, the player must enter a tunnel to fight some bandits, loot some gold, and rescue a few soldiers, before exiting the tunnel and heading to Delhi. Then the player must prepare an army to break the siege on Delhi by destroying both of Jaichand's castles. The player must also visit some villages outside Delhi to get their help.
In the Definitive Edition, this scenario is replaced by Hand of a Princess.
Intro[]
Jaichand was still a formidable foe, even if he was forced to recognize Prithviraj as the strongest Raj. He found out about Sanyogita's meetings with Prithviraj, and promptly locked her up in his palace. To make matters worse, he invited the other princes and kings of the land to meet his daughter in a ceremony known as the Svayamvara so that she may choose to marry one of them. All, of course, except for my own king.
Well... Prithviraj was in attendance at the Svayamvara, at least a clay statue of him. Jaichand asked for the statue to be made, and I heard that he laughed when he placed his clay Prithviraj near the front of the palace. What happened next was astonishing: When time came for Sanyogita to choose her husband, she walked past all of the suitors and placed a wreath of garlands over the statue!
The headstrong princess allowed Prithviraj enough time to muster a small army and sneak into Jaichand's capital of Kannauj. Of all the plans that a king could make, sneaking into his enemy's city to steal a woman! Love is a funny thing and can cloud the judgement of even the most capable monarchs. The worst part? I did not feel for a second that my Raj would fail in his scheme, which, given the turn of events, may have been poor judgement on my part. Love clouds all!
Players[]
Player[]
- Player (
Indians): Controls Prithviraj (technically the renamed version of the Sheriff of Nottingham), and is set to enter the city to rescue Sanyogita out of her swayamvara by her father, Jaichand.
Allies[]
- Delhi ( Indians): Located in the northwest of the map, being one of Prithviraj's twin capitals. This player also acts as a placeholder to possess the player's units whenever they are not allowed to be used. Prithviraj is to bring Sanyogita back to the castle in Delhi and take over almost the entire city except the Gates and a few buildings. There is a dock outside which will be given to the player. At the east gate, there is an Aqueduct waiting to be completed by the player.
- Indian villages ( Indians): Ccattered across the northern area of the map. There is one near the south gate of Delhi, where the villagers would request to be brought to their new homes in their east. Another village halfway of the river would request to build a tower The Accursed Tower to protect them from Jaichand's ships. The trader near the lake would request to bring their Trade Cart to the market in Delhi. A camel trainer in the west offers to provide the Imperial Camel Rider upgrade with 300 gold. A lumberjack in the southwest would ask for two Camel Riders to help carry his logs. A spearman nearby would ask to save his mother from the wolves outside her cabin.
Enemies[]
- Bandits ( Indians): Positioned across the northeastern area of the entire map. They have a secret tunnel to travel between Delhi and Kannauj, and the player is adviced to use this tunnel while bringing Prithviraj and Sanyogita back to Delhi. The entrance is at the eastern corner of the map, while the exit is at the northern corner of the map. The player will loot some gold after killing the bandits in the tunnel.
- Raja Jaichand ( Indians): The king of Kannauj, the father of Sanyogita who opposed her marriage with Prithviraj, and the main enemy of the player. In the beginning of the game, this player's diplomatic stance towards the player is 'ally' until Prithviraj is caught red-handed. He has two bases in the central area of the map, and the player is to destroy each of the castles at both sides to win the game. He also have guards in Kannauj - "Red Guards" in the outer area, "Elite Red Guards" in the inner area, and "Royal Guards" in the garden outside the palace. Prithviraj is supposed to backstab the Red Guards, while avoiding the Elite Red Guards and the Royal Guards to take out Sanyogita. His forces is made up of elephant archers, skirmishers, crossbowmen, Camel Riders etc.
Ally → enemy, potential ally again[]
- Kannauj ( Indians): The capital of Jaichand's kingdom, located in the south of the map. Once Jaichand discovered that his daughter, Sanyogita, has been 'kidnapped', he would order the army of Kannauj to chase after Prithviraj's troops (therefore diplomacy switched). However, if the player successfully nab all the five relics from the temple of Kannauj and place them into the temple of Delhi, Kannauj will pledge for peace with the player.
Storyline and gameplay[]
Prithviraj starts outside Kannauj as an infantry hero (technically the renamed version of Sheriff of Nottingham), and is set to enter the city to rescue Sanyogita out of her swayamvara by her father, Jaichand. As the player brings Prithviraj to the gate, he bribes the guard to let him in. The gatekeeper advices to avoid from being detected by the "Red Guards" in the city. (If Prithviraj is being detected by any of the red units in the city, the player "Raja Jaichand" will become enemies with the player and starts attacking Prithviraj)
There are four Red Guards patrolling near the gate, and other Red Guards standing still all over the city. (The Red Guards are actually Men-at-Arms) Prithviraj should go behind a stationery Red Guard and backstab him (striking him once would instantly kill him) while avoiding the marching guards. If Prithviraj goes in front of any of these guards and being within their line of sight, they would immediately start attacking him.
As Prithviraj travels further, the player can find two pairs of "Elite Red Guards" (technically renamed Nordic Swordsmen), and it is at best to avoid them instead of killing them. This is because even though backstabbing also works on them, simply killing one of them would alert his partner and subsequently all the red units, and would immediately come and attack Prithviraj if within their line of sight.
Further south is the royal garden outside the palace, where Sanyogita is waiting for Prithviraj. Prithviraj should stay away from the Royal Guards, as backstabbing does not work on them. The most dangerous one in the garden is the Garden Elephant (an Elite War Elephant), which is impossible for Prithviraj alone to kill. Once Prithviraj meets Sanyogita at the palace, they should go and get the cart (renamed Emperor in a Barrel) outside the garden.
In case Prithviraj is detected by Jaichand's guards in Kannauj and being attacked, he can search for a Berry Bush nearby and eat it to replenish his health, just as the hunting quest in the first scenario.
Prithviraj must kill the guard (a Long Swordsman being taken over by the "Bandits" at this moment) before getting into the cart with Sanyogita. They are to leave Kannauj and reach the troops of Prithviraj outside the city, at best to avoid the red guards (if not detected yet). Prithviraj will get on his horse as his usual cavalry archer form, while Sanyogita will get into the carriage (a War Wagon). Both Prithviraj and Sanyogita's carriage must survive and reach the Castle in Delhi. At this moment, Kannauj will turn against the player and start chasing after the player's troops. According to the in-game instructions, the player is adviced to leave behind a few soldiers to fight off the Kannauj troops.
Though it is technically possible to reach Delhi by the shortest route, it is very dangerous to do so, as it would require passing through Jaichand's base in the middle of the map. Therefore, the player should instead travel to the east of the map and get into the cave, which leads into a tunnel where there are bandits hiding in it.
In the tunnel, the player can easily defeat the bandits, rescue a few captives for their military service, and plunder some gold from the bandits before exiting the tunnel. The tunnel exit is in the north of the map, and the player shal simply travel westward to Delhi, though might encounter a few enemies. As Prithviraj and Sanyogita (in the carriage) reaches the castle in Delhi, Prithviraj will ask Sanyogita to hide in the castle (she no longer exists as any form of unit from this point), and the player will take over the entire Delhi, except the castle, temple, market, University, barracks, and the Gates. Apart from the town center, mills, houses and lumber camp, the player will also take over the dock outside Delhi, behind an Indian village. The player shall start preparing to defeat Jaichand by destroying both of his castles, in order to win the game.
Though not compulsory, at least some of these side quests are very beneficial for the player.
There is an Aqueduct outside the east gate of Delhi, which is yet to be completed. However Jaichand's War Galleys keep producing non-stop and sail into the river and reach this aqueduct, which would prevent the construction of the aqueduct. Therefore, the player must destroy the fleet before the construction can be started. The player will probably need to build some Fire Ships and some towers to defeat the navy. Fulfilling a quest below would help. Once the player completes the aqueduct, the people will have constant water supply to cook, therefore the player will receive 300 food for every 300 seconds.
Helping local villages for their help in return[]
The player must approach each of the relevant military units to receive the quest.
In the west, there is a camel trainer who offers the player the Imperial Camel Rider upgrade, which the player is to pay him 300 gold by clicking on his Stable.
Further southeast of the camel stable, the player shall kill some Bears and Wolves before making a u-turn west and meet a lumberjack, who would ask for two Camel Riders so that they could help him carry the logs behind him. He will reward the player with 3000 wood.
Turning east of the lumberjack, there is a Spearman who would ask the player to help rescue his mother in the cabin by killing all the wolves around it. Once the wolves are slayed, the woman will come out and teach the player Herbal Medicine.
For the village at the player's dock, the Villagers will ask the player to bring them to their new home to the east (will be marked with a flag). The player shall build a Transport Ship at the dock and carry them there, and the player will receive 1,000 stone.
Further east, in the north of the new homes for the villagers mentioned above, where there is a dock, the villagers will ask the player to build them a tower, in order to protect against Jaichand's ships which come in non-stop. The foundation of The Accursed Tower is laid there, and once the player completes it, the village will give the player four Monks.
After crossing the bridge eastwards, there is a trader who will ask the player to bring the Trade Cart to the market in Delhi, so that it can be opened for trade (it is sealed with walls). This should remove the walls, or if the walls are given to the player instead, the player will have to manually delete the walls.
Dealing with enemies[]
There is a large gold mining area outside the west gate of Delhi, being held by Jaichand. The player may attempt to wrest control of it by destroying all the fire towers (one for standard level, four for moderate and hard level), which will subsequently destroy the gate and kill all the crossbowmen guards in it. However, whether the player succeeds in action, any attempt to invade the gold mine will provoke Jaichand's army to attack Delhi.
There are five relics in the temple of Kannauj, which by nabbing them all and garrison into the temple of Delhi will force Kannauj to make peace with the player.
Outro[]
Prithviraj had convinced himself that he could sneak into a heavily fortified city, steal his princess, run through enemy territory, and then defeat the princess' enraged father in combat. He convinced us all. That is how love works, and it spread throughout the twin cities of Delhi and Ajmer. Prithviraj and Sanyogita were destined to fall in love. However, there was another destiny to be fulfilled. Muhammad Ghori was coming.
Bugs[]
If the player selects the Aqueduct construction sites and presses "delete" the player will be given 20 stone and the construction site will re-appear. This essentially allows the player to get infinite stone from the moment they take control of the northern base. The stone can be used to build fortifications and defensive structures making the early defense of the game trivial as the enemy will not send in Trebuchets or Bombard Cannons, even on hard mode.
