This article was originally published here, and is reprinted with permission. A special thank you to CJ, for providing the information on Might and Magics 1-7.
BEGINNING STORY (not an actual game) - These beings known as the Ancients, though we are not yet sure what they are, have been "seeding" the galaxy with microcosms, which are small biospheres supporting life. The microcosms in the first 5 Might and Magics are all flat planets. We don't know why they did this.
The Ancients got into a really bad war with the demon race known as the Kreegans. A large part of the galaxy was cut off from the direct influence of the Ancients. It is in these worlds where the Might and Magic games occur. Many of these worlds had appointed "guardians", who were sent to guide those flat planets to their appointed place in the galaxy. One of the guardians was named Sheltem, who was the guardian of Terra. Sheltem has gone funny in the head. But Terra is very important to the Ancients, and they aren't taking any chances, so they send Corak to check things out. Corak is either an Ancient, or just a servant made by the Ancients, I don't know.
Corak got Sheltem and began taking him back home to check him out. Somehow in some way, Sheltem escapes and begins going on a rampage. Corak begins his quest to chase after Sheltem. Here begins the Might and Magic series.
Might and Magic: Secret of the Inner Sanctum - Sheltem lands on VARN (Vehicular Astropod Research Nacelle). He defeats the good King Alamar and masquerades in his palace. A group of adventurers, with hopes to uncover the secret behind the Inner Sanctum, accidentally discover Alamar is really Sheltem. Sheltem, realizing his cover was blown, escapes through a magic portal before anybody else finds out who he really is.
Might and Magic II: Gates to Another World - Sheltem escaped by a magic portal and has landed on CRON (Central Research Observational Nacelle). Sheltem has driven it off of its course and is hurling it towards the sun. While our adventurers are trying to stop CRON from being destroyed, Sheltem escapes again.
Might and Magic III: Isles of Terra - Sheltem has escaped back to Terra, where everything started. But our adventurers find out what he's doing behind the scenes and they drive him off course. Sheltem escapes (again) in a space shuttle. Corak goes after Sheltem in another shuttle. Our 8 adventurers take a third shuttle and follow Corak and Sheltem. Sheltem safely lands on XEEN (Xylonite Experimental Environment Nacelle). But Corak lands a lot less safely (I don't know exactly what happened to him). As for the party of 8 adventurers, they never landed! They are supposedly never to be seen again. (Please remember these adventurers because they will become very important as the story goes on.)
Might and Magic IV: Clouds of Xeen - A new party of adventurers is formed with a vision of peace to defeat a new undead calling himself Lord XEEN, dwelling in the Clouds of XEEN, a world in XEEN's sky. When our adventurers do defeat him, we see a vision from Sheltem saying "You may have defeated my lieutenant, but the Darkside of XEEN will always be mine. BWAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!".
Swords of XEEN - (This game was not created by 3DO. It was only distributed by them.) This doesn't have much to do with the whole story line. After Lord Xeen was defeated, the portal that he came from was discovered. A group of 6 adventurers travel through the portal, and find total chaos. This world has grown barren, and is slowly being conquered by an evil force. These 6 people must stop the world from being lost to an insane god.
Might and Magic V: The Darkside of Xeen - Sheltem is again masquerading as Alamar and is still driving planets into their suns. The Dragon Pharaoh summons our adventurers, and they have to perform many tasks to set things with the planets right again. The adventurers find Corak's shuttle. They find something called a "Soul Box". With this device, they can smuggle Corak's essence into Sheltem's castle without Sheltem knowing. When the adventurers finally get there, they release Corak, and the two confront each other. Sheltem has grown much bigger and stronger over time, and it seems that Sheltem will win. But Corak grabs Sheltem and activates his self-destruct mechanism, destroying them both. This ends the first story in the Might and Magic world. (World of XEEN is a combination of both Might and Magics IV & V in case you were wondering.)
Heroes of Might and Magic: A Strategic Quest - (I cannot find any detailed story to this. In this game there is someone named Lord Ironfist. This could be the same lord Ironfist from M&M1) We begin on a new planet, on the continent of Enroth. We see here a power struggle between 4 rulers. It is an all out war between Lord Ironfist of the knights, Lord Slayer of the barbarians, Queen Lamanda of the sorceresses, and Lord Alamar of the warlocks. (Note that in the game, you have a choice to play as either of the 4, but for storytelling's sake, we'll say you chose Lord Ironfist.) So now Lord Ironfist is the King of Enroth.
Heroes of Might and Magic II: The Succession Wars - After ruling for many years, Morglin Ironfist has died of old age. He left two sons. Archibald was greedy, cruel, and power hungry. But Roland was good, honourable, and you would be proud to call him your king. By tradition, the choice of who would be the next king is up to the royal sire. Unfortunately, the sire died in a boating accident, his replacement fell out of a castle window, his replacement was killed by a dragon, and his replacement died of food poisoning. Archibald used these coincidental deaths to his advantage, and accused Roland of murdering them all. Roland abandoned his castle and went into hiding, where he would eventually declare war against his brother. With Roland out of his way, Archibald had a chance to "influence" the new sire (looking at the intro film, it looked like a bribe). So the sire chose Archibald, and he began a reign of terror in Enroth. Three years later, Roland declared war. (Again, you have a choice of playing for either side, but for storytelling purposes, let's say you chose Roland.) When Roland defeats Archibald, he turns Archibald to stone, and puts his statue in the library of Castle Ironfist.
(Note, the Heroes of Might and Magic II Expansion Pack (The Price of Loyalty), does not have anything to do with the story line, so I'll leave that out.)
Heroes of Might and Magic III has 2 add-ons, The Shadow of Death, and Armaggedon's Blade. The games occur at different times, so please pay attention to the titles to avoid confusion.
PRELUDE TO THE NEXT GAMES - For a little while, nothing happened. Roland has restored order to Enroth and everyone is happy. Roland receives a letter from Nicolas Gryphonheart, the king of Erathia, a country on a new continent called Antagarich. The note said he wished for his daughter, Catherine Gryphonheart to marry Roland. Roland accepted, and the two were married. This was the first time for many of the citizens of Enroth to hear about this new continent called Antagarich. Many heroes left Enroth to live in this new continent.
Heroes of Might and Magic III: The Shadow of Death - (This is a long story, but every detail is important.) One of the travelling heroes from Enroth was Sandro, a crazy power-hungry undead freak-of-nature necromancer. He wanted to rule all of Antagarich. He wanted to build 2 combination artifacts that would give him this power. The artifacts were the Cloak of the Undead King, and the Armor of the Damned.
Another hero was the Gem the sorceress, travelling to the country AvLee. Sandro disguised himself as a human, and called himself a wizard's apprentice. He convinced Gem he was performing anti-necromancy research, and needed three artifacts to study and destroy. Little did Gem know that these were the pieces to the Cloak of the Undead King. When Gem gives him the artifacts, Sandro runs off.
Another hero was the barbarian Crag Hack, who was travelling to the barbaric country of Krewlod. Sandro convinced Crag that he was looking for a number of artifacts that were stolen by evil people. These were the artifacts of the Armor of the Damned, which Sandro said him and his master would destroy. When Crag gets them, Sandro takes them all and runs off.
In the mean time, in another part of AvLee, Gelu is being trained for the forest guard. He had to find the pieces of the Elixir of Life, and he began working for Lord Faloral of AvLee.
Also, in the country of Bracada, a wizard named Yog has travelled to Krewlod to become a barbarian. To do this, Yog had to disperse the pieces to a sword known as the Angelic Alliance. (You'll find out why this is important a little later.)
Back with Sandro, he is travelling to the country of Deyja, the country run by necromancers. He defeated his old warlock master Ethric (In Heroes 1, Sandro was a warlock), and he made an ally, Finneas Vilmar. After making some accomplishments, Sandro made Finneas the new king of Deyja. With Sandro's artifacts, and Finneas' rule, they began invading the rest of the continent of Antagarich.
Gelu discovers that Lord Faloral was a vampire and he wanted the Elixir of Life to destroy it, not use it in defense. (It turns out that Lord Faloral was killed by Sandro and raised as a vampire, and was sent by Sandro to destroy the Elixir of Life). Gem discovers that Lord Fayette (another person of power in Avlee), has been killed and raised as vampire. Crag Hack and Yog have also been having problems with necromancers. The 4 heroes meet, and decide to investigate. They soon learn Sandro's true ambitions, and they decide to do something about it. Yog remembers the Angelic Alliance sword, and the heroes retrace its pieces, and build it. With the sword they steal Sandro's artifacts and destroy them.
But the story does not end here. Sandro still won't give it a rest. He comes up with a new plan. He convinces Lord Haart to poison King Gryphonheart, Catherine's father, who is the king of Erathia. With the king gone, Sandro continues his plan to conquer all of Erathia. After helping out the Kreegan race, the countries of Eofol and Nighon joined Sandro's cause. Sandro had to build a tunnel for the Kregans to use in their invasion. (This tunnel becomes important later on.) In the end, Finneas Vilmar (still the king of Deja), plays a trick on Sandro, which eventually gets Sandro thrown in prison, so Finneas can take all the credit for Sandro's idea. Nighon used the tunnel Sandro built to invade Erathia from underground, and Eofol also used this tunnel to invade from the east. Deyja invaded from the north.
Might and Magic VI: The Mandate of Heaven - (In a sub-plot, there is a character named Lord Kilburn, this may or may not be the same Lord Kilburn from Might and Magic I. Also, Might and Magic I begins in a town called Sorpigal, and Might and Magic VI begins in a town called New Sorpigal.) Back in Enroth, Catherine has heard of her father's death, and has departed for Erathia to attend King Gryphonheart's funeral. The Ancients and the Kreegans have still been at war for 900 years. Their battles are headed towards Enroth and Antagarich (MM6 takes place in Enroth). The Kreegans have kidnapped Roland and took him to the demon kingdom of Eofol back in Antagarich. This leaves Roland and Catherine's young son Prince Nicolai in charge. A new group of adventurers discovers the cult of the temple of Baa are in league with the Kreegans. The oracle of Enroth tells us that we need to free the stoned Archibald, because he has a magic item that will teleport the Kreegan Queen's hive in north-western Enroth to the void while we destroy it, without destroying the world. We succeed in destroying the Enrothian Kreegans, but now Archibald is free. (It should also be noted that there is a place in Enroth called the Tomb of Ethric the Mad. This could be the same Ethric that Sandro killed in the Shadow of Death.)
Heroes of Might and Magic III: The Restoration of Erathia - (Note, it is believed that HoMM3 and MM6 occur at the same time.) In Erathia, things have gotten MUCH worse. The Kreegans from Eofol and Nighon have taken Steadwick, the Capital of Erathia. In the western part of Erathia, the Countries of Tatalia and Krewlod are using the Kreegan invasion to their advantage, and are taking lands in the west. However, when Tatalia and Krewlod soldiers meet, they break out in their own war. Catherine lands in Erathia and finds a NIGHTMARE. Erathia is being invaded literally in all directions! Catherine makes allies with the Angels of Angel Gate, and the griffins from Griffin Cliff. With her allies, she retakes Steadwick. With help from AvLee, they free Roland Ironfist, and with the help from Bracada, she pushes Tatalia and Krewlod back into their borders. She also takes over the tunnel Nighon used to invade Erathia. Unfortunately, while all this was happening, Deyja invaded King Gryphonheart's tomb, and raised him as an undead lich. They also freed Sandro from his prison. Deyja got rid of Finneas Vilmar, and replaced him with King Gryphonheart. But King Gryphonheart became too powerful, and Deyja did something nobody expected. They asked Erathia for help. Catherine reluctantly accepts, but in return the Deyjan lords told Catherine that it was Lord Haart who murdered King Gryphonheart. Catherine fights through Deyja, and brings Lord Haart to her undead father, and King Gryphonheart kills his traitor. Then Catherine kills her undead father, to give him his final peace.
After this, Archibald has travelled to Deyja to start his new reign.
Might and Magic VII: For Blood and Honor - Remember those eight adventurers from Might and Magic III, who never landed on XEEN? Well, they just crashed off the coast of Antagarich. Four of them are travelling to Bracada, where they hope to trade their technologies and build a portal back to the ancients. The other four are travelling to Deyja, where they are working with Archibald to build a "forge", a machine which will give them weapons powerful enough to dominate the world. You can choose to be with the good guys or bad guys. For the story, let's just say you went with the good guys. If you choose the good guys, you will build the portal back to the Ancients, where we learn more about them and the Kreegans.
HERE IS THE BEGINING TO MIGHT AND MAGIC 8, BUT MIGHT AND MAGIC 8 HAS NOT YET STARTED - The Ancients have a policy, saying that the Kreegans may not settle on any part of our galaxy. If they do, the people of the planet have a certain amount of time to get rid of the Kreegans before the Ancients take matters into their own hands. There are still Kreegans in the countries of Eofol and Nighon, and they have been there for too long. The Ancients have a servant named Escaton, the most powerful Planeswalker in the world. Escaton is asked to destroy the world because the Kreegans are still there. Escaton uses the elementals to destroy the world. But, they are peaceful when in order, so Escaton kidnaps the 4 elemental lords of earth, fire, air, and water, and puts them in horrible prisons where they start to die slow and painful deaths, bringing chaos in the elemental plains. Escaton travelled to the continent of Jadame, and summoned the Crystal Conflux, which opened portals to the 4 elemental plains. The elementals began coming out of the plains, and once they reach this crystal, all will be destroyed.
Heroes of Might and Magic III: Armageddon's Blade - Xenofex was an Eofol king that was defeated in Might and Magic VII. When he died, Lucifer Kreegan came to power. On the night he died, Xenofex sent Lucifer a message from beyond the grave, telling him to build Armageddon's Blade, a sword that will destroy all of Antagarich and Enroth, leaving only the Kreegans left, giving them the whole planet.
Lucifer sends Xeron to find its pieces, and bring them to Khazandar, who will build it for them. Catherine learns of his plans, and invades. Catherine attacks Eofol from the south west, and Gelu of AvLee's Forest Guard from the north. Both Catherine and Gelu noticed these strange new towns where elementals are summoned (Note this might be a coincidence, or it could be caused by Escaton's crystal. I don't know.) These new towns are called Confluxes, and their heroes all say they were summoned by the elemental gods (They might mean the Ancients) to destroy the Kreegans.
Xeron finds the pieces to Armageddon's Blade, and is travelling back to Eofol. Roland Ironfist closes the western border of Eofol, which finally gives Erathia and AvLee a chance to invade. Gelu, Roland, and Catherine steal Armageddon's Blade, with this, Roland and Catherine quit their jobs as king and Queen of Erathia, and with Gelu and the new Conflux armies, destroy the Kreegans of Antagarich, and take Eofol. Catherine gives Armageddon's Blade to Gelu, and he disappears into the woods with it and nobody has seen him since (hmm.....). Roland and Catherine depart for Enroth and the Confluxes are beginning to disappear.
Might and Magic VIII: Day of the Destroyer - The Kreegans have been destroyed, and Escaton is not allowed to undo what he has already done. Now this gives us somewhat of a problem. One MAJOR problem. Because even though the Kreegans are gone, the elementals are still headed towards the crystal! You have been chosen by the dark elves of Alvar in Jadame to do what you can to stop the cataclysm. You form an alliance between three major parts of Jadame, with their help, you should be able to stop this cataclysm.
Roland and Catherine Ironfist, along with a powerful magician named Xanthor are being blocked by a Regnan Pirate fleet. When you sink the fleet, Xanthor tells you to travel to the elemental plains and find the hearts of the elements. Xanthor builds a key which gives you entry into Escaton's Crystal, where you are teleported to the Plane between Plains, where you free the elemental lords from their prisons, saving their lives. The elemental lords don't use the crystal to destroy the world, but to destroy Escaton. They destroy the Crystal, closing the portals to the elemental plains, saving the world and destroying Escaton. In the end we see a vision from Escaton saying "Tell them I have failed." (He might mean the Ancients.) Roland and Catherine Ironfist continue back to Enroth, and the Ironfist dynasty is back on track.
Might and Magic the Book: The Sea of Mist - (Though this does not have to do with the main story line, there are a few characters from the Heroes games in it, and it looks like the events in this book occur sometime after Heroes 3, but it's unknown as to actually when.) A boy only 6 years old by the name of Praz has been trained by the demoniac Nymus (Nymus is in Heroes 3.) Praz finished her training, and got the suffix "El" to the end of his name, making his new name Praz-El. El is an earned name showing that this person is, or has been well trained by a demon (Nymus was a demon). Praz was sent to Sarrone. Praz knew nothing of his family, until he was invited to a land called Murlank, where all would be explained. Before he could go there, he must stop 2 people across the Sea of Mist, who have discovered the power of the gods, and are growing to be invincible. The Sea of Mist is ruled by a demon named Sendark, and he can summon thousands of zombies from the deadly sea in the blink of an eye. In the end, Praz-El defeats the 2 evil gods-to-be, and continues to Murlank.
NEXT (though this itself is not a game), the new king of Krewlod, Kilgor, has grown very greedy, ruthless, and power-hungry. He basically declares war on the entire world, because he wants it to be his. In his travels he finds something called the "Sword of Frost". Kilgor's armies eventually find Gelu, who still has with him Armageddon's Blade. As the two armies fight, Gelu and Kilgor dash at each other, and they swing the two swords at each other, and when the two swords clash, BOOM! The world is immediately covered in fire, and many people die instantly, including Kilgor and Gelu. But, before it's too late, survivors open a portal to a new world called Axeoth, where the survivors of Enroth, Antagarich, and Jadame will have to form the new world.
Heroes of Might and Magic IV - By this time, the survivors have been settling themselves in over many long and laborious years. But conflicts are beginning to arise. A civil war breaks out between the new Elven country, which could destroy everything they worked so hard on to rebuild. Surviving barbarians are battling each other, which could possibly bring an end to the barbarian race. Erathia's new home breaks out in war as an impostor claiming to be the last of the Gryphonhearts tries to steal the throne. A female pirate attempts to take entire bodies of water and rule them all. And the once-great king Gavin Magnus has gone insane, and Emilia Nighthaven, Solymr, and General Tharj must stop him before he enslaves the world.
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