I'm playing through Heroes 3's campaigns and on the previous scenario I had 2 pieces of Charm of Mana and a Pendant of Life on my main hero at the end. I explored the map, acquired all items but I was not able to get past a border guard at the bottom right corner (he wanted The Speculum).
The artifacts mentioned above however are rewards beyond previous border guards so I don't get it. Why don't they appear when I progress onto the next scenario? And where can I find the Speculum?
Unfortunately, this campaign has some bugs in it. The way it is supposed to work is that the quest artifacts obtained in the first scenario allow you obtain different quest artifacts in the second scenario. This second set of quest artifacts (specifically, the Speculum) allow you to access other areas in the final scenarios. Essentially you are given a bonus in later scenarios for taking the time to fully explore the early scenarios.
However, every time I have played this campaign, I end up with exactly what you described - my hero always starts with 2 of one item (though in my case it was the Badge of Courage) and the Pendant of Life. And no matter what I do, when I obtain the Speculum in the second scenario, it never moves on to the next scenario. My starting hero always has the exact same three artifacts. :(
