Heroes of Might and Magic V

Story

There are six factions in the game: Haven, Inferno, Necropolis, Dungeon, Sylvan and Academy. Haven Campaign Haven is a faction populated by humans and ruled by religious warlords. The Holy Griffin Empire promotes "law and order" and belief in Elrath, the Dragon of Light, as their primary goals. Because of their military tradition, they have the ability to train their soldiers and promote them from one level to the next. They are the main characters in the game's campaign missions. Their main heroes are the young queen Isabel and the loyal Godric, the king's uncle and supreme general of the Griffin Empire. An unexpected demon invasion interrupts the wedding of King Nicolai of the Griffin Empire and Lady Isabel, and soon the forces of the Griffin Empire are at war with the demons of Sheogh. While Nicolai is on the front lines, Isabel is sent with the Abbess Beatrice to the Summer Palace, where they are guarded by Godric, the king's uncle. Isabel persuades Godric to let her go to war instead of waiting. Godric is to go to the Silver Cities to ask the archmage Cyrus for help, while Beatrice is to go to Irollan to get help from the elf king Alaron. Eventually Isabel raises an army, but when Beatrice returns to lead them to meet the elven reinforcements, she reveals that she is Biara: a succubus and assistant to the demon lord Agrael. (In fact, Biara had the original Beatrice killed and took her form when she learned that Nicolai had sent Isabel to the Summer Palace). Apparently, she did not visit King Alaron at all, and the meeting was a trap by Agrael, who captures Isabel. Isabel escapes Agrael with Godric's help (Godric has failed to ask Cyrus for help, but returns himself), but they are too late to prevent Agrael from killing Nicolai, who proclaims Isabel queen in his place with his last breath. Inferno Campaign The Inferno is a dark realm of demons from the underworld known as Sheogh. The faction uses "gating", a method of calling additional, albeit temporary, reinforcements to the battlefield. The demons are the main antagonists in the game and are led by Urgash, the Dragon of Chaos, and their evil overlord, the demon sovereign Kha-Beleth. They have their infernal abode on the Lava Field. They are the protagonists of the second act of the campaign, where they are led by the ambitious and ruthless Agrael. Although Nicolai is dead, Agrael has failed in his mission to capture Isabel and is trying to escape from the wrath of Kha-Beleth, the demon lord, and the furious Godric. Intending to overthrow Kha-Beleth, he decides to capture the Heart of the Griffin that Nicolai had used in their battle, but the Demon Lord sends one of his servants, Veyer. When Agrael reaches the mausoleum and defeats Veyer, he is met by a mysterious elven apparition, Tieru, who reveals to him that the Demon Lord is trying to summon an apocalyptic demon messiah. He instructs Agrael to meet him on the Dragon Mist Islands, which can only be reached via the elven land of Irollan. After a long march and battles with the elves, Agrael meets Tieru, who tells him of the War of Darkness in which Kha-Beleth was banished, as well as the Demon Messiah's connections to Isabel. Agrael admits that he questioned Kha-Beleth's plans because he fell in love with Isabel, and Tieru tells him that he must be cleansed of demonic corruption with the Rite of True Nature. Agrael agrees, and during the ritual Biara tries to steal the heart, but is sent back to Sheogh. Necropolis Campaign The Necropolis faction was once a secret cult that flourished in the dark underworld of the Empire and the Silver Cities. It is dominated by corrupted sorcerers who worship a twisted spider version of Asha, the Dragon of Order, and seek to find in death the eternal peace and beauty denied them in life. They can use the dark magic of necromancy to resurrect slain enemies and fill their own ranks with shambling corpses. The hero of the Necropolis campaign is the crafty and cunning Markal. Meanwhile, Isabel's position as queen in the Griffin Empire is challenged by Archbishop Randall and other local rulers, who incite a civil war. A mysterious necromancer, Markal, appears and assists Isabel in her fight against the rebels. Markal turns out to be a former advisor to Nicolai's mother, Queen Fiona, and offers to help Isabel revive her dead husband with the vampire robe. Although Isabel trusts him and helps him gather the pieces of the robe, Godric is less credulous and warns Isabel that Markal was banished years ago for his necromancy and treachery. Isabel ignores him, and as she and Markal collect the artifacts, she destroys previous alliances with the elves and the wizards, whose leader Cyrus is killed by Markal for one of the artifacts. When Godric can bear it no longer, he keeps the last artifact and barricades himself in the wizard city of Hikm. Markal takes revenge by kidnapping his daughter Freyda as blackmail,