Heroes of Might and Magic IV

Story

After the events of Heroes Chronicles: The Sword of Frost, Gelu, the leader of AvLee's Forest Guard and bearer of Armageddon's Blade, attacks Kilgor, the barbarian king of Krewlod, to capture and destroy the Sword of Frost. As foretold in a prophecy, when Armageddon's Blade and the Sword of Frost clash, a massive explosion (known as the Reckoning) occurs, destroying the world of Enroth. However, many inhabitants of the planet manage to escape through mysterious portals that appear during the Reckoning and lead them to another world called Axeoth - also the setting of Might and Magic IX. Among the refugees are many of the heroes from previous installments of the series, and many return to their old ways shortly after arriving in their new home. The story of Heroes of Might and Magic IV unfolds primarily through the game's six campaigns, each of which shows how the great kingdoms of one of Axeoth's continents came to be after the Reckoning and the arrival of the Enrothian refugees on Axeoth. Each of the campaigns focuses on a faction leader and tells how that leader came to the top. Unlike Heroes of Might and Magic III, all six campaigns are accessible from the beginning, and each unfolds as a standalone story. In the Haven campaign, The True Blade, Lysander, a loyal knight in the service of Queen Catherine Ironfist, rules over the nascent kingdom of Palaedra, inhabited mostly by refugees from the kingdom of Erathia. His rule, however, is challenged by a usurper named Sir Worton, who claims to be the sole surviving heir to the Gryphonheart dynasty. Many of Lysander's generals are drawn to Worton, forcing the prince to expose Worton as an impostor or lose control of his kingdom. At the beginning of the Stronghold campaign, Glory of Days Past, Waerjak, a barbarian chieftain, despairs over the changes that have come over the barbarian community. After Kilgor's death, his people have fallen into inter-factional strife and are in danger of wiping themselves out. Waerjak wants to return the barbarian kingdom to the more peaceful state it was in before Kilgor's ascension, and sets out to prove his strength and subdue his rivals. He is supported by his mentor Tarnum (the former protagonist of the Heroes Chronicles series). The game's Academy campaign, The Price of Peace, tells the story of Emilia Nighthaven, the farmer's daughter of an Enrothian glassblower. On Axeoth, she takes command of a community of frightened refugees and forges them into the Kingdom of Great Arcan. Queen Emilia's success, however, attracts the attention of Gavin Magnus, the immortal king of Bracada from Heroes of Might and Magic III and Might and Magic VII, and his ingenious servant Solmyr, who want to prevent Axeoth from suffering the same fate as Enroth (i.e., being destroyed) by magically stripping the entire population of their free will. In the Preserve campaign, Elwin and Shaera, Elwin, a simple elf from the elven kingdom of Aranorn (populated mostly by survivors from AvLee), is in love with Shaera, but their romance is threatened by Lord Harke, a powerful rival for Shaera's affections. Elwin's constant pursuit of his beloved plunges the region into an internal war, from which whoever emerges victorious will win not only Shaera's hand, but also the throne of Aranorn. Half-Dead, the Necropolis campaign, tells the story of Gauldoth Half-Dead, who is half-human, half-llich, and the victim of a necromantic spell that was supposed to save his life and went horribly wrong. Tired of feeding on the scraps of food he can steal from fearful villagers, Gauldoth combines the forces of surviving necromancers and demonic Kreegans from Enroth's ancient kingdoms of Deyja and Eeofol to form Nekross, a powerful and feared kingdom, but he is forced to act as protector for the living and the dead when a powerful being from another dimension appears, planning to end all life in the universe. A Pirate's Daughter, the game's Asylum campaign, introduces the only daughter of a famous pirate, Tawni Balfour. Tawni inherits her father's ship and crew after his unfortunate death. Tawni sails along the coasts of the Gold Sea and fights against dreaded pirates, sea monsters and mermaids. She wants to take over her father's title as the most feared pirate captain of Axeoth and must face her own shady past in the process.