The Reckoning

• HoMM IV intro

A cataclysmic event that rendered the planet of Enroth uninhabitable. On February 10th, 1177 AS¹, a massive explosion is created by the clash of Gelu's Armageddon's Blade and Kilgor's Sword of Frost, which in turn starts a chain of thousands of earthquakes and volcano eruptions. However, Corak² opens portals to Axeoth and many people escape from the dying world, sometimes helped by Angels, Dragons or Ravenwood.

Dogwoggle (one of Kilgor's generals) tried (and failed) to prevent the Reckoning by swapping the Sword of Frost with a replica.

The woman's name was Ravenwood, and she appeared to me at the same time she appeared to General Kendal.  Six days later the Sword of Frost and Armageddon's Blade crossed on a field of combat.  That is all we know, anyone who was within a hundred miles died instantly in the blast.  The rest of the world simply began to fall apart.  Earthquakes and fires raged across the land, and we knew it was going to break apart the world.  Seconds after the first shockwave hit, portals began to open.  We poured through them, dragging what supplies and people we could.  Many did not survive long enough to reach the portals, and I was one of the last through.  What I saw in the three hours will never leave my mind.

Earthquakes shook the planet, huge cracks opening in the ground, swallowing cities and town whole.  Archangels swooped from the heavens to rescue all they could, but were often killed by flying rocks.  Lava spewed forth from the ground, melting and burning everything in its path.  Thousands died before they could even think of moving to a portal.  Hundreds died helping others to the portal or trying to save their precious belongings.  Never again will I attach any importance to a material object.  Too many people wasted their lives on useless things.  Just as I thought no more could be saved I saw her.  She moved through the lava and shaking ground as if it were nothing, pulling people to safety and shoving them through portals, she closed them as the lava threatened to pour through into the new land.  Ravenwood pushed me into the portal and said, "Kendal is dead, you must lead the people now."  I have not seen her since, nor did anyone ever find General Kendal.

-- Lysander's account of The Reckoning from General Kendal's Diary 

Lysander's account of The Reckoning

This account is taken from the Lost Manuscripts:

Some say it was the Day of Undoing, or when the earth stood still. From my stand point the earth was doing everything but standing still. For the rest of my life, I will always remember that day with utmost clarity. Even in feeble-minded old age, shall I be able to draw each detail of the day when our civilization faced extinction.

It was early morning and we had just begun to break camp. Hunting down Kilgor the Barbarian was a full time job, and took a lot of men to overcome his forces. The bloodthirsty barbarian had been waging war on us for over two years now and all of us were tiring of it. He was a problem I was afraid none of us could solve. To make matters worse a strange woman had visited me three nights ago. She spoke of two swords, Armageddon's Blade and the Sword of Frost. If the two should meet on the field of combat then the world would end. Gelu, the half-crazed Ranger and Captain of the Forest Guard has carried Armageddon's Blade for some time now, but the Sword of Frost was only recently found by Kilgor. The two are sure to collide in battle. I had no idea how soon it would be.

From the north came a blinding flash, more brilliant than anything we had ever witnessed, beautiful and deadly at the same time. It was white in the center, but soon darkened to a bloody red fringe. Instinctively I ducked as the light came towards me. Those with the same instincts survived the initial blast, the others did not. We heard the blast moments later, a deafening scream of a thousand creatures dying. Barely able to pick myself off the ground I noticed a shimmering not a few feet away from me. Dozens of portals opened up. She had spoke the truth and I was glad to have listened to her words.

"If the two blades meet on the battlefield then the world will be made uninhabitable. The seas will boil, the land will heave and split open. Mountains will spew lava and all life as you know it will end. I have prepared for this event. If it occurs then you must tell your men to go through the portals I will open. They will be open as long as possible, but I cannot risk another world for those who move too slowly. Anyone who is left here, will most certainly die. Heed my words, for I speak the truth. Good luck." She had vanished right after her speech, giving me no time for questions. There was something about her intense manners that prompted me to prepare the men. I was fortunate, they did not panic when told about this. A despair fell over the camp as they wondered about family and friends back home. It was truly a dismal few days.

We had little choice. Pushing frightened animals and villagers through the portals was difficult work indeed. Children seemed to be constantly running off looking for a favored toy or pet. We scurried everywhere, looking for refugees and precious supplies. All the while the ground violently shook, throwing us to the ground unable to do little more than pray that we would survive. When the ground did not split under our feet or shake us to the bones we did our best at rescuing as many as humanly possible. Then the portals began to close. At first I couldn't figure out why, but it became readily evident as to the reason. Flaming rocks fell from the sky, and if one was going to hit a portal, it closed. That's when everyone panicked. It seemed almost impossible to become more chaotic, but it did. People trampled others to get through a portal, and we worked desperately to get everyone through. Supplies were dumped as they were no longer important. To some the wagons of personal belongings were not to be left behind and they died for their stupidity.

It was the lava that finally drove us all through the portals. It rolled slowly over the ground, burning and devouring everything in its path. Those who didn't make it through a portal perished instantly as the lava consumed them. I soon found myself too far from safety when a figure caught my eye. Dragons swooped down and began to pick up stranded people and drop them through portals in the air. My turn to be rescued came moments before a wave of lava claimed my life. Looking up I saw her, the woman who warned us. She was flying dragonback, instructing them herself. I thanked her silently as I was dropped forty feet into soft grass.

We are rebuilding our kingdom, now called Iranese. General Kendal died valiantly, saving others. Most of our numbers were saved, but almost no material possessions were recovered. Spells, spell books and other valuable information has been forever lost to us. Our new home is along the shores of Brystol Sea, and we are trading with some of the other kingdoms along the sea. Much of the land is unexplored, but I am sure we will soon know all of the land quite well.

Dogwoggle's failed attempt to prevent the Reckoning

This account is taken from the Might & Magic: Heroes VII - Lost Tales of Axeoth: Every Dog Has His Day:

All right, Worton! I'll tell you my story, but only because you bought me those drinks. First, you've got to swear that you won't breathe a word of this to anyone.

Good. I'll hold you to that promise. Now, where do I begin? The beginning, I guess. Makes sense. It's hard to believe it's only been 2 years. I've been a commander in a lot of armies, but none as successful as the barbarian horde that raged over the land in the months before the Reckoning. It was nice to be on the winning side for once. I had wealth, victory, everything a man needs, and it was only going to get better. So why did I throw it all away?

I got a conscience.

Every day I looked into King Kilgor's eyes, I saw something that frightened me. We were all afraid of Kilgor. You walk on eggshells when you're around a man like that. But I truly believe when there was no longer any Elves or Erathians to kill that he would have turned on his own people - on me. So I decided to strike first.

Some might call me a traitor. I like to think that I'm a hero.

At this point in the war, everyone knew Kilgor was going to win. The Erathians were desperate. I didn't know how desperate they were until I met with an Erathian officer named Addran. Have you ever met Addran?

No. Well, he's one of those guys with a purpose. You know, the type that will die for a purpose. I've never understood that. Dying for gold, or a woman, now that that makes sense!

Anyway, Addran explained that Kilgor's famed Sword of Frost was destined to come in contact with another powerful weapon, and when that happened the world would be torn apart by the resulting explosion. I had planned on selling Kilgor's battle plan to the Erathians. I never thought I would be asked to save the world. Addran gave me a perfect replica of the Sword of Frost and told me that I was the only person who could get close enough to Kilgor to switch the two blades.

Yeah, a replica! It looked just like the real thing, I tell you. No one, not even Kilgor, would be able to tell the difference until it was too late. Now, quit interrupting me, Worton!

Stealing the Sword of Frost seemed simple enough considering the quantities of alcohol Kilgor and his kin drank each night. Slipping into their tent and switching the swords would be easy, so I took the job. And just think - I would be the man who saved the world. Everyone would know my name.

Instead, I lost the forgery before I could make the switch. We came to a river late in the day. Our enemy, the AvLee Elves, were somewhere on the other side. Ever eager to enter battle, Kilgor pushed us onward, fording the river that night so we could kill the Elves the next morning. Somewhere in all the commotion, the fake Sword of Frost slipped from where I had it tied to my gear.

I almost caught it. Almost. That thing sank like a rock - gone forever like the river swallowed it.

How would you like to be a man who could've saved the world and didn't because he couldn't tie a proper knot. Yeah, everyone was going to know my name all right! Just not in the way I hadd thought.

I think I was hoping the prophecy was wrong. I knew I couldn't steal the Sword of Frost without the fake. I had seen Kilgor torture people before. Not a pretty sight!

So, I ran. What else could I do?

It's a good thing I ran, too, because the explosion I saw the next morning was incredible! I guided my horse behind a nearby farmhouse just in time to avoid the blistering gale. My other mount, the one I had been saving to keep fresh in case I needed to flee pursuers, wasn't so lucky.

As I stood there next to the burning home, I stared in the direction of the explosion. There's no way a Kilgor survived that! His army, the Elven army - all of them had to be dead. And then I said to myself, "I guess I don't have to worry about being a deserter anymore." How can you desert from an army that doesn't exist?

Later, an Angel soared over me on his way no doubt to investigate the battlefield. The winged man spot me, swooped down, and landed next to my horse. No, I didn't reach for my sword. Do you think I'm stupid? I smiled real big and waved.

"Hi!" I said.

"You are fortunate to have survived the explosion," the Angel said.

"What explosion?" I said, meanwhile telling myself to be calm. There was no way this Angel knew I could've stopped all this destruction, but I kept wondering if he knew.

The winged man looked at me as if I had something hanging from my nose, and then he shrugged.

"I must be on my way," the Angel said, "but I thought I should warn you. This sad event has splintered the world to its heart. In just a few days, this land will not be fit for life, if it exists at all!"

You've got to hand it to those Angels. They sure are nice.

Anyway, he floated into the air with a single flap of his wings and shouted, "You should hurry to one of the portals. A benevolent force has given us all a second chance to a new world."

I looked around at the scorched landscape. He didn't have to tell me twice.

By the time I made it to the nearest portal, there were earthquakes about every hour and so much soot and smoke in the air the sky had gone black day and night.

I wasn't going to miss it.

But then, I didn't know what was on the other side of that portal either. I've never liked those things. Whatever magic was used to create them leave my stomach feeling like I ate some bad meat. And I always picture some mad wizard somewhere who thinks it's funny to place an exit portal at the bottom of the ocean or inside a volcano.

I guess, if the exit to the portal had been at the bottom of the ocean, I wouldn't be sitting here telling you this story, would I?

And then the first thing I did in this new world was do the chunky shout all over the ground.

Gallery

• Homm4 Intro with text

See Also:

• Day of Fire 
• Timeline