Lava and Swords
The third field report on Queen Maldaria.
Sir,
I have learned that precise crack troops are not the only thing that Queen Maldaria has in common with her son Prince Elien. She also uses her Summoning Stone to burn her opponents, but in her own way. She uses lava from the heart of the volcano, rather than the fire that surrounds it as Elien seems to prefer.
First, she can use her Stone to "summon", after a fashion, lava to one of her walls! It flows out from the wall in all directions and damages anyone next to it. This is obviously more of a defensive tactic, and she must be careful not to harm her own forces with it, and it cannot help but do some damage to the wall itself. But it can be very harmful at the right times.
Even worse, she can also summon lava directly onto a unit. My Fire Archer friend tells me that it takes her more effort to do this than it takes Elien to burn units with fire, and she does it less often, but it is potentially more deadly. (I am glad I earned his trust, for he is an observant fellow.)
I have also learned about the other champions that accompany the Queen. One of them is named Kaebeeros, and he is about as tough a fighter as Duke Ramazall, though not as consistently precise, thank goodness. But he does somehow seem to grow stronger with time, rather than weaker, eventually rivalling the Queen in ferocity. My friend says that his strength is tied to the power of the volcano in some way, but I don't grasp how that works.
Something I do understand quite well is the final champion Fanessa. She is an expert Fencer, which is pretty frightening -- I hope I never have to fight her. With run-of-the-mill Fencers you have a chance of dispatching them before they can riposte and wound you in return, but Fanessa is so good that she is sure to get several extra wounds in on whoever attacks her.
The more I have learned about Queen Maldaria and her forces, the more respect I have for them. If I were an opponent, I would hate fighting practically every one of her units.
