Talk:Timeline

Summary of campaign timing

This section is intended to have a quick summary with references of the key points in the timeline. This is for ease of reference when updating the timeline.

Legend

• Red: Explicit Dates
• Orange: Inferred Dates
• Purple: Conflicting Info. If there is conflicting info, we give first preference to official in-game sources and game manuals, then to Lost Lore () and Horn of the Abyss () second.
• Gray: Likely Errors are ignored.
• Teal: Current Best Guesses. These are only recorded if we can narrow it down to a short possible span of years.

Restoration of Erathia (1165-1167)

• Long Live the Queen (1165b (begins around March))
  • 11 June 1165: In the Might and Magic VII: For Blood and Honor manual (The Diaries of Archibald, Entry 1), Archibald states Catherine left 5 months ago to attend her father's funeral.
  • Long Live the Queen: Prologue states Seven weeks have passed since Catherine set sail from Enroth. Long Live the Queen occurs in 1165.
• Dungeons and Devils (1165b (Steadwick falls around May-June))
  • Story: Enacting Sandro's plan from Specter of Power, so Dungeons and Devils occurs after Specter of Power.
  • Groundbreaking: Prologue mentions an Enrothian fleet landing in Erathia (the events of Long Live the Queen>Homecoming), so Dungeons and Devils is concurrent with Long Live the Queen.
• Spoils of War (1165b)
  • Campaign prologue states Erathia is being invaded by Nighon, so Spoils of War is concurrent with Long Live the Queen.
• Liberation (1165c (Steadwick is liberated around September-October))
  • Steadwick's Liberation: Is about liberating Steadwick from Nighon/Eeofol. Since Steadwick fell to them in Dungeons and Devils>Steadwick's Fall, Liberation occurs after Dungeons and Devils.
  • World on Fire>Dead or Alive: Day 150 event discusses the recent liberation of Steadwick. Liberation is concurrent with World on Fire>Dead or Alive.
• Long Live the King (1165c)
  • A Gryphon's Heart: Prologue mentions Catherine is organizing the last stages of her war with Nighon and Eeofol, so Long Live the King is concurrent with Liberation.
• Song for the Father (1166-1167)
  • Story: Killing the Lich King Gryphonheart, who was created in Long Live the King, so Song for the Father occurs after Long Live the King.
  • 5 August 1167: In the Might and Magic VII: For Blood and Honor manual (The Diaries of Archibald, Entry 143), Archibald mentions the Lich King Gryphonheart is dead as if it were a recent event. Song for the Father likely ends in 1167.
• Seeds of Discontent (1167)
  • 5 August 1167: In the Might and Magic VII: For Blood and Honor manual (The Diaries of Archibald, Entry 143), Archibald forms a plan to foment a rebellion in the Contested lands. Seeds of Discontent occurs in or after 1167.
  • Campaign prologue: Mentions the invaders finally driven out of the Contested Lands, so Seeds of Discontent occurs after Song for the Father.
  • The Grail (campaign scenario) Prologue: Mentions needing independence soon before old hatreds return, so Seeds of Discontent occurs as early as possible.

Armageddon's Blade

• Armageddon's Blade (campaign) (Sometime between 1167-1171 )
  • Catherine's Charge: Prologue mentions Restoration Wars are over, so Armageddon's Blade (campaign) begins no earlier than 1167.
  • Catherine's Charge: Day 51 mentions it is the first day of the Festival of Life, so Armageddon's Blade (campaign) is concurrent with Festival of Life.
  • Catherine's Charge: Day 90 mentions "In the long months since [Catherine] left Enroth". This must be an understatement as it should have been ~2-6 years by this point.
  • Lost Manuscripts: 01-02-1172: Catherine and Roland leave for Enroth. As they wanted to get to their son ASAP, Armageddon's Blade (campaign) concludes in 1171.
• Dragon's Blood
  • Lost Manuscripts: 01-26-1172: Mutare is seen as a dragon, so Dragon's Blood occurs before 1171.
  • A Seer in Homecoming (HotA) mentions that Ordwald is dead and Mutare is in power, so Dragon's Blood occurs before Homecoming (HotA).
• Dragon Slayer (Sometime between 1167-1171 )
  • Crystal Dragons Day 1: Mentioned that the Festival of Life happened "Approximately 30 or so years ago". As it occurs every 30 years, this puts Dragon Slayer roughly concurrent with Festival of Life.
• Festival of Life (Sometime between 1167-1171 )
  • Lost Manuscripts: 03-15-1172: Kilgor is directing Krewlod attacks, so is likely king. Festival of Life occurs before 1172.
• Playing with Fire (Sometime between 1167-1171 )
  • Story: The antagonist is a reanimated Haart Lich. Since Lord Haart was killed in the epilogue of Song for the Father>For King and Country, Playing with Fire occurs after Song for the Father.
  • Farming Towns: Day 20 mentions the Erathians can't help due to being "...attacked by hideous beasts wielding powerful weaponry." and defending from these "demonic beasts". This is likely a reference to Armageddon's Blade, so Playing with Fire is concurrent with Armageddon's Blade (campaign).
  • March of the Undead: Day 30 mentions that the Festival of Life has started and Day 75 that Kilgor has won it, so Playing with Fire is concurrent with Festival of Life.
• Foolhardy Waywardness (1165a (sometime between January-March))
  • Hurry Up and Wait: Epilogue puts Sir Christian on Queen Catherine's ship on her way to Erathia for her father's funeral, so Foolhardy Waywardness ends at most a few weeks before Long Live the Queen.

Shadow of Death

• New Beginning (1156)
  • Clearing the Border: Prologue states that it has been a year since Archibald was defeated, thus ending the Succession Wars. This means New Beginning occurs in 1156.
• Elixir of Life
  • Unholy Alliance>Search for a Killer: Story mentions Lord Falorel has been killed. Gelu worked for Lord Falorel in Elixir of Life, so Elixir of Life occurs before Unholy Alliance.
• Hack and Slash (1156)
  • Campaign prologue mentions Crag Hack is newly arrived from Enroth (continent)
• Birth of a Barbarian
  • Story: Yog is invited to Krewlod by Duke Boragus. Boragus ruled from ~1141-1171
  • Unholy Alliance>Harvest: Event text describes Yog as a Barbarian, so Birth of a Barbarian occurs before Unholy Alliance.
• Rise of the Necromancer (1157a)
  • Target: Day 1 mentions that Sandro has the Armor of the Damned, so Rise of the Necromancer occurs after Hack and Slash
  • Target: Day 1 mentions that Sandro has the Cloak of the Undead King, so Rise of the Necromancer occurs after New Beginning
  • Conflicting Info: Target: Sandro encounters Shalongrarg (a pit fiend). Pit Fiends arrived to Antagarich on the Night of Shooting Stars, so Rise of the Necromancer must occur no earlier than 1161
    • NOTE: If pit fiends are present on Antagarich prior to the Night of Shooting Stars, we can ignore this. Maybe some survived the Conquest of the Underworld?
  • Master: Story mentions Vidomina, an ex-wizard lover of Yog, now an apprentice to Sandro, so Rise of the Necromancer occurs after Birth of a Barbarian.
  • Duke Alarice: Epilogue show Finneas being honored by the king of Deyja. Finneas becomes king of Deyja in Unholy Alliance, so Rise of the Necromancer occurs before Unholy Alliance.
• Unholy Alliance (1157b)
  • Gathering the Legion: Day 1 mentions that Crag Hack has spent "days and weeks searching for Sandro after his betrayal". This means Unholy Alliance occurs shortly after Hack and Slash
  • Search for a Killer: Story mentions Lord Falorel has been killed. Gelu worked for Lord Falorel in Elixir of Life, so Unholy Alliance occurs after Elixir of Life.
  • Final Peace: Prologue implies that Gem went to go see Lord Fayette shortly after being tricked by Sandro in New Beginning, only to find him dead. Lord Fayette was killed while investigating the death of Lord Falorel, so Unholy Alliance occurs shortly after New Beginning.
• Specter of Power (1164)
  • Poison Fit for a King: Story mentions that Sandro has lost to Crag Hack, Yog, Gelu and Gem, so Specter of Power occurs after Unholy Alliance.
  • Campaign story is preparing to assassinate King Nicolas Gryphonheart and invade Erathia with Nighon/Eeofol, so Specter of Power occurs shortly before Long Live the Queen

Horn of the Abyss

• Under the Jolly Roger
  • Pirates and Palms Day 2: Patris' history lesson puts this after 1162 (and maybe even after 1164).
• Terror of the Seas (Sometime between 1167-1171 )
  • Prisoner of Doom: Day 1 mentions that the Festival of Life is currently running/just ended, so Terror of the Seas occurs immediately after Festival of Life.
  • Evenmorn: Continues Jeremy's story from Under the Jolly Roger, so Terror of the Seas occurs after Under the Jolly Roger.
• Horn of the Abyss (campaign) (Sometime between 1167-1171 )
  • The story is a direct continuation of Terror of the Seas, so Horn of the Abyss (campaign) occurs after Terror of the Seas.
  • Treachery Day 12 mentions "...strange cities with golden-domed castles have begun appearing out of thin air all across the continent." (which are the Confluxes appearing during Armageddon's Blade (campaign)). That puts Horn of the Abyss (campaign) concurrent with Armageddon's Blade (campaign).
• Forged in Fire (1161-1170 )
  • World on Fire (1161 )
    • Story: This scenario tells the story of the Night of Shooting Stars, so World on Fire occurs in 1161
  • Beyond the Horizon (1161 )
    • Day 14 event says "Three weeks have passed since we left Eeofol." (World on Fire), so Beyond the Horizon occurs in 1161
  • Dead or Alive (1165)
    • Day 30 event discusses the recent fall of Steadwick. Dead or Alive is concurrent with Dungeons and Devils>Steadwick's Fall
    • Day 150 event discusses the recent liberation of Steadwick. Dead or Alive is concurrent with Liberation>Steadwick's Liberation
  • Tomb Raiders (1169 )
    • Day 1: "Four years have passed since we defeated Dargem’s pirates." (aka Dead or Alive), so Tomb Raiders occurs in 1169.
  • Deus Ex Machina (Likely 1170 )
    • Tomb Raiders: The event text when finding Henrietta says she has been gone "all these months"
    • Day 14: Mentions the artifact Henrietta found at the conclusion of Tomb Raiders is back in Burton, so Deus Ex Machina occurs after Tomb Raiders.
  • Tarred and Feathered (1170 )
    • Based on scenario order, Tarred and Feathered occurs after Deus Ex Machina and before New Order.
  • New Order (1170 )
    • Day 4: mentions "...not a year had passed..." since they worked with their betrayers (the beginning of Tarred and Feathered), so New Order occurs less than a year after the start of Tarred and Feathered.
    • A Seer mentions " Only a year ago, I was helping Frederick on his quest for Agar's lab" (i.e. Tomb Raiders), so New Order occurs a year after Tomb Raiders.
  • Homecoming (HotA) (1170 )
    • Story: Coincides with Armageddon's Blade (campaign)>Oblivion's Edge, so Homecoming (HotA) is concurrent with Armageddon's Blade (campaign).
    • Day 4: Henrietta discusses everything that happened "over the past nine years" with a Halfling who never left Eeofol, so Homecoming (HotA) occurs 9 years after World on Fire.

Heroes Chronicles

• Warlords of the Wasteland
  • This is the story of Tarnum before he dies and is resurrected by the Ancestors, so it is the first Tarnum scenario.
• Conquest of the Underworld
  • Story: This is the story of Tarnum's niece Allison, so it is the second Tarnum scenario.
  • Story: Tarnum is assigned this quest by the Ancestors, so Conquest of the Underworld occurs after Warlords of the Wasteland.
• Masters of the Elements
  • Story: Tarnum is assigned this quest by the Ancestors, so Masters of the Elements occurs after Warlords of the Wasteland.
  • (There is no further evidence for when this campaign occurs, so it was added in the order that Heroes Chronicles campaigns were released.)
• Clash of the Dragons (1173-1174 )
  • Lost Manuscripts: Mutare's offensive against AvLee occurs in 1173-1174. Mutare is killed in 1175
  • Dragon's Blood (campaign scenario): Story is fighting against Dragon Queen Mutare in AvLee, so Clash of the Dragons occurs after Dragon's Blood (in 1173 or 1174)
  • Dragon's Blood (campaign scenario): Epilogue says "...it wasn't long before the Ancestors called him away." This means Clash of the Dragons isn't the final Chronicles campaign.
  • Conflicting Info: The Dragontalker: Day 2 mentions Adrienne living in a hut in AvLee she built with Tarnum while they were lovers (maybe before 1167). She is busy fighting Haart Lich around 1167-1171 and is seen as a diplomat to Erathia on 03-15-1172 (assumingly immediately going on to fight Kilgor until the Reckoning (1177 )). The only way I can think of to reconcile this is fairly unbelievable - Maybe Adrienne likes to vacation in AvLee during breaks in fighting for Tatalia's survival?
• The World Tree
  • Story: Tarnum is assigned this quest by the Ancestors, so The World Tree occurs after Warlords of the Wasteland.
  • (There is no further evidence for when this campaign occurs, so it was added in the order that Heroes Chronicles campaigns were released.)
• The Fiery Moon
  • The story is a direct continuation of the story from The World Tree, so The Fiery Moon occurs after The World Tree
• Revolt of the Beastmasters
  • Story: This is the story of the founding of Tatalia.
  • Story: Tarnum is assigned this quest by the Ancestors, so Revolt of the Beastmasters occurs after Warlords of the Wasteland.
  • (There is no further evidence for when this campaign occurs, so it was added in the order that Heroes Chronicles campaigns were released.)
• The Sword of Frost (1176 )
  • Tarnum the Overlord: Day 1 mentions that he took over the Nighon forces in the power vacuum left by Mutare's death, so The Sword of Frost occurs after Clash of the Dragons.
    • Lost Manuscripts: 1175: Mutare is killed by Dracon, so The Sword of Frost occurs during or after 1175.
  • Tarnum the Overlord: Day 1 mentions that Gelu has Armageddon's Blade, so The Sword of Frost occurs after Armageddon's Blade (campaign).
  • A New Enemy: Prologue mentions " Kija, the wife of the brutal Barbarian King Kilgor", so The Sword of Frost occurs after Festival of Life.
  • The Protectors of the Sword: Epilogue mentions that Kija has acquired the Sword of Frost for Kilgor, which occurs shortly before The Reckoning.

Other Important Events

• The Silence (0)
  • The Antagarich calendar uses BS (Before the Silence) and AS (After the Silence), so by definition, this occurs at 0
• Succession Wars>Second War of Enrothian Succession (???-1155)
  • • 11 June 1165: In the Might and Magic VII: For Blood and Honor manual (The Diaries of Archibald, Entry 1), Archibald states that he was a stone statue for the last 10 years. As this event ended Heroes of Might and Magic II: The Succession Wars, the Succession Wars must have ended in 1155.
    • Conflicting Info: Queen Catherine: "in May of 1154 King Gryphonheart made arrangements for the marriage of Catherine to King Roland Ironfist of Enroth, who had earlier that year defeated his brother, Archibald...", so the Succession Wars must have ended in 1154.
• Night of Shooting Stars (1161 )
  • The Night of Shooting Stars is the Kreegan invasion of Enroth.
  • Error (ignore): Roland's letters from the Might and Magic VI: The Mandate of Heaven manual describe the Night of Shooting Stars (likely erroneously) as occurring in 1152.
  • Kreegan#Kreegan reference: August 6th, 1164: This letter states that about 3 years ago, the Kreegans invaded Eeofol, so this occurs in 1161.
• The Reckoning (1177 )
  • Lost Manuscripts: The Reckoning occurs in 1177

Useful unsorted data

• Armageddon's Blade (campaign)>Return of the King: Day 33 mentions Roland was imprisoned for seven years. He was captured just after the Night of Shooting Stars (Might and Magic VI: The Mandate of Heaven) and freed in Might and Magic VII: For Blood and Honor.
• Unholy Alliance>Agents of Vengeance: Day 9 mentions "Ethric said it had been decades Sandro was his apprentice."
• Unholy Alliance>Agents of Vengeance: Day 25 mentions Gem once met Yog in Enroth (nation).

Lore Timing Discussions

Dargem

• I agree that Terror of the Seas and Horn of the Abyss should be moved - they confuse people as to the order of the HotA campaigns themselves (Horn fo the Abyss obviously occurs later). It would also be great to replace the image for an interactive map, such as the one used for the Main Menu, with links to appropriate campaigns.
• There's another issue of placement of the Cove campaigns - in Terror of the Seas Dargem is alive and well, while he is killed in Dead or Alive. I think this suggests a rather obvious timeline for the two. - Csaros (talk) 10:15, 21 February 2024 (UTC)
• Epilogue of Terror of the Seas (Dargem feasibly lives through this):

Unnamed narrator: The defenders of the Regnan fortress shivered, and Casmetra and Jeremy hurried in. Dargem let the captive be and grabbed the Horn. He ran to the highest tower. While Jeremy was helping his brother untie the ropes, Casmetra yelled powerfully:

"Give the Horn back immediately!"

With a scared face, Dargem yelled back:

"Never! You betrayed me and left me alone! Now I know what to do!"

Taking the artifact in both hands, Dargem was just about to blow the Horn, when with a piercing "STOP!!!" Casmetra threw a magical spell at him. A huge magical explosion followed, and the shock wave destroyed half of a fortress, creating something like a whirlpool underneath it.

The only thing that Jeremy remembered was how he tried to get to higher ground desperately, and how Casmetra yelled:

"Idiot! We will be dragged into another plane of existence because of you!"

Hours, or maybe weeks after that, Jeremy found himself on a sea shore. Where is Bidley? And what happened to the Horn? May this be the end of the legend of the Horn of the Abyss?

• Epilogue of Dead or Alive (Quite obviously Boyd killed him, and if you look at the cinematic it seems almost ridiculous to think otherwise): - Csaros (talk)

Henrietta: The chase… Sword in my hand… and the barely visible path between the lifeless hills ahead. I’m racing on, barely ever getting a glimpse of the map, and the silent skeleton rides by my side. Suddenly, I wake up, shaking off the nightmare that kept tormenting me for days, in the dreams and beyond. When we pinned down that worm, Dargem, I left Boyd and him to set their scores alone. Should I expect for a second restless dead man to come to my dreams tonight? Well, just two is not that bad. After fleeing from Eeofol, I was seeing thousands of them…

• See also the "diary pages" from In Search of the Horn, Dargem has been stuck in a labyrinth for a while, at the behest of his "mistress", before his appearance in the Terror of the Seas campaign.
• By the way, one more piece of evidence for chronology: the Day 12 message in Treachery:

More troubling news: war has broken out again between Erathia and Eeofol. Also, strange cities with golden-domed castles have begun appearing out of thin air all across the continent. Casmetra thinks it is an invasion by elemental lords. One of these cities appeared in the northern region of the archipelago. They've probably been attracted by the power of the Horn of the Abyss and hope to acquire it.

• • This places this mission, the last of the Terror of the Seas campaign, to be synchronous with Armageddon's Blade. So the Horn of the Abyss campaign must be synchronous with Armageddon's Blade too. Note that if we accept Dead or Alive to be the end of Dargem, that puts this mission to be after AB; considerably widening the time gap between missions 2 and 3 of the Forged in Fire campaign.
• So a quick Dargem timeline would be like this: navigator mage working for one of the Regnan pirate lords. Tasked with getting the Horn of the Abyss, gets stuck in the labyrinth, loses all his troops to traps and illusion, gets imprisoned by another pirate band, is freed by Bidley and co., makes a grab for the Horn, and is blasted off away. Tries to seize it by force with an combined pirate/warlock army, fails again. After these repeated failures at grabbing the Horn, resort to extorting and harassing refugees stuck in the Jadame wasteland, but fails at this as well.
• Alternatively, if Dargem somehow survives Boyd, then he harasses the refugees, gets his ass kicked, and is sent to a new assignment of hunting for the Horn. Where he also fails. This one might be actually easier to reconcile with the timeline as drawn so far.
  • The second option is easier to reconcile with other issues, sure, but there's no way Boyd doesn't kill Dargem. This is the entire characterization of that campaign chapter - Boyd wanting to take revenge on Dargem. Dead or Alive. That's why it's called this way. The AB{-ab} message in the Terror of the Seas does suggest its mostly correct placement (although slightly to the left of AB), so the only thing we can presume is that Dead or Alive occurs far, far after Beyond the Horizon. - Csaros (talk)
• Maybe we should ask the HotA team for clarification, since they wrote the stories of both campaigns. - Kastore (talk) gave us some info a while back... --Legate (talk) 16:49, 21 February 2024 (UTC)
• CONCLUSION: Treachery mentions "...strange cities with golden-domed castles have begun appearing out of thin air all across the continent." That puts Terror of the Seas concurrent with Armageddon's Blade (campaign). As Homecoming (HotA)'s story text is obviously concurrent with the end of Armageddon's Blade (campaign), I think we have to conclude that Dargem somehow survived his encounter with Boyd. --Legate (talk) 17:11, 26 March 2024 (UTC)
• In Might & Magic RPG games characters could be easily ressurected, if sent to a temple. Who knows that scoundrel Dargem. I though that at one point Jeremy would have to find and free him for a help and Dargem would complain how bad they treated him.--Archer (talk) 17:24, 15 April 2024 (UTC)

Tavin

Tavin appears in Armageddon's Blade (campaign), where his guerillas help Gelu so that he may free their homeland. This suggests that AB happens before Homecoming (HotA)?

• Tavin(Return of the King, A Blade in the Back, To Kill A Hero, Oblivion's Edge, Forged in Fire)
  • The HotA interpretation of Tavin sets up his guerilla basically right in World on Fire where he refuses to follow Henrietta in exile. So really all this suggests is that Armageddon's Blade follows World on Fire, which was already obvious.
  • CONCLUSION: The story text of Homecoming (HotA) is definitely concurrent with Oblivion's Edge. Having those two events on the same year makes sense.

Lore up to the Reckoning

We should probably make a page with this info...it is linked in several locations on this wiki.

• Jennifer Bullard - Lost manuscript files (Celestial Heavens)
  • This states that Mutare was killed on 07-17-1175.
  • Tarnum the Overlord day 1 event says that he took over the Nighon forces in the power vacuum left by Mutare's death.
  • So...Sword of Frost campaign happens from 1175 or 1176 to the early part of 1177? There is probably another clue nailing this down further in either the text of Sword of Frost or the lost manuscripts.