Marcus Finch

A professor and colleague of Xanthor at the University of Erathia. He serves as a narrator for several legendary accounts of events around Antagarich during the events of Heroes of Might and Magic III.

Stories

• Geography
• Queen Catherine
• Kreegan reference
• Necromancy origin
• The Inferno
• The Rampart
• Parallel world

Parallel world

The following is a short story that was written by a New World Computing employee and published on the now-defunct fansite "The Nether Gods".

"*cough!* *cough!* Oh, thank goodness I'm finally in the right place. I think I've been stuck in some sort of "parallel world" for the last week. It was all very strange - filled with people who looked just like you, but acted very differently. I thought I was going mad when I spotted Guthwulf in the middle of the University building a dollhouse out StormMaster's supply of, what did he call them… nukes? It was dreadful, I barely made it out through a portal before he blew up the place, and I've been portal hopping ever since!

Well, now that I appear to be back in reality, I can only hope that some of the things I have seen in the last week are not happening here as well. You see, my last hop took me to a Gremlin skyship (believe me, they were just as surprised as I was) that was on a sulfur gathering expedition to the Eeofol volcanic range. After I told them my tale of what had happened, they said they might be able to return me to the correct world, and began to work on opening a portal. While I waited, I decided to take in some of the scenery, especially since I had never actually seen Eeofol, either before or after the Kreegans arrived.

I was amazed by what I saw. Instead of admiring the stark scenery of the many volcanic ranges, I saw a massive army gathered below! I informed the Gremlins, who seemed unconcerned, saying that this army had been gathering for nearly two months. I had never seen so many of the Inferno creatures in one place, and I became so frightened I had to look away. I laid down on the deck of the skyship, choosing instead to watch the smoke from the ship's furnace swirl around the twin balloons that held us aloft.

Perhaps an hour later, one of the Gremlins approached me to say that they were almost ready with the portal. He took me to the back of the skyship where half a dozen of his shipmates were working some bizarre machine with dozens of moving parts and gears. They told me to get ready, and one of them took hold of a long lever that looked like some sort of switch. The machine buzzed and whirred, and as the Gremlin threw the switch there was a blinding flash of light but… no portal.

Not sure what had gone wrong, the Gremlins began looking around, convinced that a portal should have appeared. Finally a shout of "I found it!" at the back of the skyship got our attention, and I realized that the Gremlin who had spotted it was pointing over the railing behind us. With a gulp, I approached and cautiously looked over the rail. There, nearly twenty feet below us, was a flat, black square, slowly floating along behind us.

I flatly refused to jump. One of them said, "okay, if that's the way you want it." When I told them it was, they surrounded me, picked me up, and threw me off the ship. I suppose I should be glad their aim was true, yes?

Regardless, I'm home now, and I must send word to King Gryphonheart. I only hope that what I saw in that other world is not going on in this one as well!"

-Finch"