This morning I found in my inbox a playtested Heroes V map with a detailed readme and a series of screenshots I could use. As a token of my gratitude to the friendly mapmaker who made my job so easy, I hurried to publish the map immediately. So here is Ashes and Sands, by Zilonite and Signe, a couple in real life.

"Two striders, trying to catch their own luck amidst the anarchy of civil war between Wizards and Necromancers, overheard a strange story of a rich wizard, Isher the Eightfinger, who tried to conjure a phoenix to help defend his castle against incoming hordes of undead. Yet the spell went wrong and instead of one phoenix a whole tide of those fiery creatures entered the world, destroying all and everything on the path of their wings. As it is rumored that abandoned treasures of the wizard are still there, both striders decided to take a look on those places, which since those happenings acquired the name of the Land of Ashes and Sands. Albeit some other rumors say that those magnificent creatures of fire are still there, too..."

The map is suitable for competitive play as the mapmakers tried to achieve balance between different town types, yet it isn't a mirror-map. It can be completed fairly quickly, as the big battle can occur between week 4 and week 7. Give it a shot, and remember to rate the map once you have played it.