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Information about Inferno:
https://mmh7.ubi.com/en/blog/post/view/discover-inferno
Rough translation:
Hello, friends. As promised, today I will tell you what I know about the hellish dimension of Sheol and its chaotic inhabitants. I won't be able to read you quotes from one of my travels this time, as I have never been to Sheol, own course. But I have survived several Blood Moon Eclipses, so I have had a few opportunities to observe demons, sometimes even too closely for my taste.
So let us begin, shall we?
... What? Why are you looking at me so intently? Is there something on my face?
Oh, I see you first want to know about last night's experiment? Well, I am sad to say that it slightly got out of control, and as a result, my entire laboratory exploded. Good thing I am already Undead, don't you think? Nevertheless, I made some interesting discoveries that I need to investigate further. Anyway, back to the main topic...
About demons.
1. Sheol, the prison of demons.
Not very much is known about Sheol. Once, it was a real physical place located in the fiery core of Ashan. According to the oldest myths we inherited from the Shantiir, this is where Asha imprisoned her brother Urgash during the Wars of Creation. Despite Order's victory over Chaos, the confusion that prevailed during the subsequent Ancient Era allowed demons to establish themselves on the surface of the world. Hiding in uninhabited places, they slowly gathered their strength until they were in a position to launch a full-scale attack on the Elder races. As you all know, this ended when Sar-Elam, the Seventh Dragon, sacrificed his life to banish the demons along with their Progenitor Dragon and completely seal Sheol in a separate space.
Of course, the spiritual prison proved to be less absolute than he likely hoped. Every time Ashan's shadow eclipses the moon — what we call a Blood Moon Eclipse — the barriers of Sheol weaken, and demons find themselves able to re-enter the physical world. Although demons are relentlessly pulled back into their prison-dimension once these Eclipses end, some of them occasionally find ways to sustain themselves on our plane of existence. This generally involves consuming magical artifacts or dragon blood crystals in quantities that always attract attention — and once discovered, the cunning demon "gatecrasher" usually doesn't last long. Through a complex of heartbreaking rituals involving the demon's true name, a mage can temporarily summon a demon to Ashan; however, any benefit — the power of forbidden knowledge — that the mage desires is obtained at the cost of their very soul. But we will return to this specific point.
There has been a suggestion that some very powerful demons have mastered the ability to project their spirit beyond Sheol. If true, this would allow them to visit dreams and influence the minds of weak-willed members of the Elder races.
An ancient tome known as Gorada Raël gives some details about the appearance and climate of Sheol. Yes, I know that the original grimoire is a cursed and dangerous item, but the libraries of the Silver Cities' academies have abridged copies containing only the most harmless chapters with commentaries from famous demonologists. Here is what one such copy says about the demons' prison-dimension:
The dimension of demons is hot, to say the least. Rain of fire and ash falls on a regular basis, the skies are filled with noxious smoke, and the temperature ranges from uncomfortable to unbearable. Occasionally volcanoes erupt thick columns of steam, which sometimes spill over as warm rains, but this happens infrequently at best. There are no seasons in the demon dimension, nor is there any sun to mark the passage of days — there is only hellish light and heat.
Within this dimension of rivers of molten rock and volcanoes in eternal eruption, demons have established large cities of glowing iron, stone, and flesh. Demon cities are comparable to living, growing tumors.
During eclipses, passages between planes open in ancient volcanoes, most of which are located in the realm of dwarves, Grimheim.
Yes, this is something that would be said too rarely: however terrible demon invasions during Blood Moon Eclipses may be or have been, they could be much worse. The dwarves of Grimheim long ago identified the volcanic vents where the main "gates" of Sheol open and erected giant fortifications to prevent demons from breaking out. Obviously, the dwarves cannot seal every volcano in Ashan, but thanks to their efforts, instead of a relentless wave descending from the northern mountains and burning everything in its path, demons can enter Ashan only in scattered groups, which are "easier" to destroy.
2. Demon Hierarchy.
Conquer, loot, and rape the weak, laugh when you are wounded or tortured, indulge in selfish pleasures, sow panic and chaos, corrupt the righteous: this is how a demon would describe a beautiful day.
Every demon lives only to prowl for prey and destroy, and is quite capable of causing immense damage on its own. Forged together into a disciplined army, they would be almost unstoppable. Fortunately for their enemies, demons are creatures of Chaos and therefore not indifferent to anarchy.
There is only one form of hierarchy and obedience among demons. Following the principle "Might makes right," the strong command the weak, who in turn command those even weaker.
Nevertheless, under the absolute leadership of the one they call the Overlord, and who calls himself Kha-Beleth, demons become more disciplined, and that is a disturbing thought.
I still remember the Second Eclipse, three centuries ago. Back then, demons were led by commanders — for lack of a better word — who called themselves Princes. Each Prince was a personal champion of one of the Demon Lords, the "Demon-Gods" whom Urgash created in mockery of the Dragon Gods. Aribban, the Prince of Hate, is especially well known in the Empire as the cause of Emperor Liam Falcon's death. Between Eclipses, it is believed that the Princes were occupied fighting each other in the name of their respective Lords, without any one of them being able to become significantly stronger than their rivals.
However, things seem to have changed. During the Third and Fourth Eclipses, demons fought in the name of Kha-Beleth, a single ruler to whom they showed almost zealous devotion. Uniting all demons under one banner is nothing short of an extraordinary feat. We must assume that Kha-Beleth is no ordinary demon and accept the fact that he has somehow managed to bring some form of Order to Chaos.
Scholars and mages have many theories, more or less far-fetched, about who or what this Overlord of Demons could be. Kha-Beleth has never been seen without his armor, so we do not even know what he actually looks like. Three things are known for certain: his power is significant, he is incredibly cunning, and undoubtedly, this is not the last time we will see him.
Now let us move into more... "esoteric" areas. But don't worry, I will try not to overcomplicate things.
Essentially, the laws of death and rebirth differ in Sheol. When one of Asha's creations dies, it is believed that its soul ascends to the moon — Asha's cocoon — where it is renewed, cleansed of memories and suffering, and sent back to be born anew. The souls of demons, on the other hand, are entirely controlled by Urgash.
When a demon dies, its essence is sent back to Sheol where it simply "respawns" as an imp with intact memory. Then it must work (and fight!) to regain its lost power and strength. Even more interesting: a member of the Elder races who chooses a deal with Urgash will also be reborn in Sheol after their death, either as an incubus or a succubus. It remains to be determined whether this happens because the subject sold their soul to Urgash, as in old tales, or because Asha rejected it for dealing with the forces of Chaos.
3. Hellish Armies.
As depraved and wild as they may be, demons also love self-preservation very much, perhaps because they fear the punishment they will receive upon returning to Sheol, or because they dread starting over from scratch again. If the mere frightening presence of their army is not enough, they will use every trick at their disposal — mind control, shape-shifting, fear spells, and so on. Ranged attacks and same-side attacks follow. Only when the enemy is sufficiently softened do the demonic forces charge into battle. If the demonic ranks maintain their discipline, they generally tear straight through everything that opposes them. If not, they turn into a predatory mob.
Demon weapons are serrated, studded with barbs and spikes to cause maximum pain and damage, and to make any wound they inflict much harder to treat. Their arrows are designed so that they cannot be pulled out, and their swords do more damage exiting than entering. But most demons don't even need weapons from the start: their bodies themselves are a nightmare of spikes, flame, claws, and teeth. Once in Ashan, the most powerful demons are capable of opening "gates" on their own, accelerating the arrival of their kin.
Being spawn of Chaos, demons come in all shapes and sizes, but this can generally be determined by which Lord originally spawned them. This has allowed demonologists to put together a preliminary classification of the demonic race. Predatory hellhounds, for example, are demons of gluttony. Terrible abyss demons — demons of hate. Nauseating spawners — demons of reproduction. And so on. The most powerful warriors of the hellish armies are known as Archdemons. Once the honorary guard of the Princes, they are now Kha-Beleth's lieutenants, ready to commit any atrocity to gain his favor. This change in loyalty shows that demons are, first and foremost, a pragmatic group.
This feels like a fitting conclusion to today's lecture. I hope that even though demonology is not my area of expertise, you still find this little revelation informative, perhaps even entertaining.
Now it is my turn to ask you something. I would like you to tell me why you were looking at me with such stunned eyes. I understand that I probably have some burn marks on my face after yesterday's explosion, but I cannot believe it deserves such bewildered looks. Could someone pass me a mirror? Thank you...
...
...
...
My God.
Added after 19 hours 21 minutes
Chat with developers:
https://mmh7.ubi.com/en/blog/post/view/let-s-play-chat-with-devs
Rough translation:
For the first time on Twitch and live for our community, our team will show our Might & Magic Heroes VII press demo on the official Ubisoft channel!
Julien Pirou (Lead Designer), aka Marzhin, and Xavier Penin (Lead Game Designer) will present the game to you, answer your questions, and chat with you about the latest news and upcoming features of Heroes VII (seven resources, flank attacks...). Join us to uncover exclusive ideas about the game and our team!
When will it be, you ask?
Thursday, October 16 at 6 PM CET on www.twitch.tv/ubisoft
(When is this for you?)
Subscribe to the Ubisoft channel on Twitch now if you don't want to miss a second of our live show!
https://mmh7.ubi.com/en/blog/post/view/discover-inferno
Rough translation:
Hello, friends. As promised, today I will tell you what I know about the hellish dimension of Sheol and its chaotic inhabitants. I won't be able to read you quotes from one of my travels this time, as I have never been to Sheol, own course. But I have survived several Blood Moon Eclipses, so I have had a few opportunities to observe demons, sometimes even too closely for my taste.
So let us begin, shall we?
... What? Why are you looking at me so intently? Is there something on my face?
Oh, I see you first want to know about last night's experiment? Well, I am sad to say that it slightly got out of control, and as a result, my entire laboratory exploded. Good thing I am already Undead, don't you think? Nevertheless, I made some interesting discoveries that I need to investigate further. Anyway, back to the main topic...
About demons.
1. Sheol, the prison of demons.
Not very much is known about Sheol. Once, it was a real physical place located in the fiery core of Ashan. According to the oldest myths we inherited from the Shantiir, this is where Asha imprisoned her brother Urgash during the Wars of Creation. Despite Order's victory over Chaos, the confusion that prevailed during the subsequent Ancient Era allowed demons to establish themselves on the surface of the world. Hiding in uninhabited places, they slowly gathered their strength until they were in a position to launch a full-scale attack on the Elder races. As you all know, this ended when Sar-Elam, the Seventh Dragon, sacrificed his life to banish the demons along with their Progenitor Dragon and completely seal Sheol in a separate space.
Of course, the spiritual prison proved to be less absolute than he likely hoped. Every time Ashan's shadow eclipses the moon — what we call a Blood Moon Eclipse — the barriers of Sheol weaken, and demons find themselves able to re-enter the physical world. Although demons are relentlessly pulled back into their prison-dimension once these Eclipses end, some of them occasionally find ways to sustain themselves on our plane of existence. This generally involves consuming magical artifacts or dragon blood crystals in quantities that always attract attention — and once discovered, the cunning demon "gatecrasher" usually doesn't last long. Through a complex of heartbreaking rituals involving the demon's true name, a mage can temporarily summon a demon to Ashan; however, any benefit — the power of forbidden knowledge — that the mage desires is obtained at the cost of their very soul. But we will return to this specific point.
There has been a suggestion that some very powerful demons have mastered the ability to project their spirit beyond Sheol. If true, this would allow them to visit dreams and influence the minds of weak-willed members of the Elder races.
An ancient tome known as Gorada Raël gives some details about the appearance and climate of Sheol. Yes, I know that the original grimoire is a cursed and dangerous item, but the libraries of the Silver Cities' academies have abridged copies containing only the most harmless chapters with commentaries from famous demonologists. Here is what one such copy says about the demons' prison-dimension:
The dimension of demons is hot, to say the least. Rain of fire and ash falls on a regular basis, the skies are filled with noxious smoke, and the temperature ranges from uncomfortable to unbearable. Occasionally volcanoes erupt thick columns of steam, which sometimes spill over as warm rains, but this happens infrequently at best. There are no seasons in the demon dimension, nor is there any sun to mark the passage of days — there is only hellish light and heat.
Within this dimension of rivers of molten rock and volcanoes in eternal eruption, demons have established large cities of glowing iron, stone, and flesh. Demon cities are comparable to living, growing tumors.
During eclipses, passages between planes open in ancient volcanoes, most of which are located in the realm of dwarves, Grimheim.
Yes, this is something that would be said too rarely: however terrible demon invasions during Blood Moon Eclipses may be or have been, they could be much worse. The dwarves of Grimheim long ago identified the volcanic vents where the main "gates" of Sheol open and erected giant fortifications to prevent demons from breaking out. Obviously, the dwarves cannot seal every volcano in Ashan, but thanks to their efforts, instead of a relentless wave descending from the northern mountains and burning everything in its path, demons can enter Ashan only in scattered groups, which are "easier" to destroy.
2. Demon Hierarchy.
Conquer, loot, and rape the weak, laugh when you are wounded or tortured, indulge in selfish pleasures, sow panic and chaos, corrupt the righteous: this is how a demon would describe a beautiful day.
Every demon lives only to prowl for prey and destroy, and is quite capable of causing immense damage on its own. Forged together into a disciplined army, they would be almost unstoppable. Fortunately for their enemies, demons are creatures of Chaos and therefore not indifferent to anarchy.
There is only one form of hierarchy and obedience among demons. Following the principle "Might makes right," the strong command the weak, who in turn command those even weaker.
Nevertheless, under the absolute leadership of the one they call the Overlord, and who calls himself Kha-Beleth, demons become more disciplined, and that is a disturbing thought.
I still remember the Second Eclipse, three centuries ago. Back then, demons were led by commanders — for lack of a better word — who called themselves Princes. Each Prince was a personal champion of one of the Demon Lords, the "Demon-Gods" whom Urgash created in mockery of the Dragon Gods. Aribban, the Prince of Hate, is especially well known in the Empire as the cause of Emperor Liam Falcon's death. Between Eclipses, it is believed that the Princes were occupied fighting each other in the name of their respective Lords, without any one of them being able to become significantly stronger than their rivals.
However, things seem to have changed. During the Third and Fourth Eclipses, demons fought in the name of Kha-Beleth, a single ruler to whom they showed almost zealous devotion. Uniting all demons under one banner is nothing short of an extraordinary feat. We must assume that Kha-Beleth is no ordinary demon and accept the fact that he has somehow managed to bring some form of Order to Chaos.
Scholars and mages have many theories, more or less far-fetched, about who or what this Overlord of Demons could be. Kha-Beleth has never been seen without his armor, so we do not even know what he actually looks like. Three things are known for certain: his power is significant, he is incredibly cunning, and undoubtedly, this is not the last time we will see him.
Now let us move into more... "esoteric" areas. But don't worry, I will try not to overcomplicate things.
Essentially, the laws of death and rebirth differ in Sheol. When one of Asha's creations dies, it is believed that its soul ascends to the moon — Asha's cocoon — where it is renewed, cleansed of memories and suffering, and sent back to be born anew. The souls of demons, on the other hand, are entirely controlled by Urgash.
When a demon dies, its essence is sent back to Sheol where it simply "respawns" as an imp with intact memory. Then it must work (and fight!) to regain its lost power and strength. Even more interesting: a member of the Elder races who chooses a deal with Urgash will also be reborn in Sheol after their death, either as an incubus or a succubus. It remains to be determined whether this happens because the subject sold their soul to Urgash, as in old tales, or because Asha rejected it for dealing with the forces of Chaos.
3. Hellish Armies.
As depraved and wild as they may be, demons also love self-preservation very much, perhaps because they fear the punishment they will receive upon returning to Sheol, or because they dread starting over from scratch again. If the mere frightening presence of their army is not enough, they will use every trick at their disposal — mind control, shape-shifting, fear spells, and so on. Ranged attacks and same-side attacks follow. Only when the enemy is sufficiently softened do the demonic forces charge into battle. If the demonic ranks maintain their discipline, they generally tear straight through everything that opposes them. If not, they turn into a predatory mob.
Demon weapons are serrated, studded with barbs and spikes to cause maximum pain and damage, and to make any wound they inflict much harder to treat. Their arrows are designed so that they cannot be pulled out, and their swords do more damage exiting than entering. But most demons don't even need weapons from the start: their bodies themselves are a nightmare of spikes, flame, claws, and teeth. Once in Ashan, the most powerful demons are capable of opening "gates" on their own, accelerating the arrival of their kin.
Being spawn of Chaos, demons come in all shapes and sizes, but this can generally be determined by which Lord originally spawned them. This has allowed demonologists to put together a preliminary classification of the demonic race. Predatory hellhounds, for example, are demons of gluttony. Terrible abyss demons — demons of hate. Nauseating spawners — demons of reproduction. And so on. The most powerful warriors of the hellish armies are known as Archdemons. Once the honorary guard of the Princes, they are now Kha-Beleth's lieutenants, ready to commit any atrocity to gain his favor. This change in loyalty shows that demons are, first and foremost, a pragmatic group.
This feels like a fitting conclusion to today's lecture. I hope that even though demonology is not my area of expertise, you still find this little revelation informative, perhaps even entertaining.
Now it is my turn to ask you something. I would like you to tell me why you were looking at me with such stunned eyes. I understand that I probably have some burn marks on my face after yesterday's explosion, but I cannot believe it deserves such bewildered looks. Could someone pass me a mirror? Thank you...
...
...
...
My God.
Added after 19 hours 21 minutes
Chat with developers:
https://mmh7.ubi.com/en/blog/post/view/let-s-play-chat-with-devs
Rough translation:
For the first time on Twitch and live for our community, our team will show our Might & Magic Heroes VII press demo on the official Ubisoft channel!
Julien Pirou (Lead Designer), aka Marzhin, and Xavier Penin (Lead Game Designer) will present the game to you, answer your questions, and chat with you about the latest news and upcoming features of Heroes VII (seven resources, flank attacks...). Join us to uncover exclusive ideas about the game and our team!
When will it be, you ask?
Thursday, October 16 at 6 PM CET on www.twitch.tv/ubisoft
(When is this for you?)
Subscribe to the Ubisoft channel on Twitch now if you don't want to miss a second of our live show!