"Don't dismiss Arantir too lightly. There are rumors that he might be the Dark Messiah."
—Leanna worries about Arantir during the feast to welcome Sareth in Menelag's mansion. [src]
High Lord Arantir is a scholar, Necromancer, and ruler of Heresh, and the primary antagonist of Dark Messiah of Might and Magic. An unconventional death mage, he claims to be the chief servant of the Spider of Asha, and seeks only to combat Urgash and his demonic children, with a willingness to cooperate with other factions when the need arises.
Biography[]
The lords of Heresh are a cold, grim, and fanatic group. To climb high in their ranks requires not only talent, but also relentless dedication to the cause of their god, the spider-aspect of Asha. Arantir has risen high indeed, and counts as one of the greatest ever to live - or unlive - among them. Intense in his beliefs and dedicated to the worship of his goddess and the destruction of her demonic enemies, Arantir is a formidable leader.OffBck
A fervent disciple of Asha, Arantir claims he is several centuries old, though was not memorably active until the later events of Queen Isabel's War. A scholar of demonic lore, he emerged following the death of Necrolord Markal, and proceeded to conquer over half of the territories of Heresh, challenging and destroying four of his fellow Necromancers. Quickly asserting himself as a fiercely competent tactician as well as an accomplished spellcaster, he soon caught the attention of Lord Giovanni, an ambitious rival Necrolord with dreams of grandeur.
Posing as a loyal vassal, Giovanni had his apprentice Ornella slay Lord Malfroy and take the northwestern city of Iluma Nadin as a gift to Arantir. When Arantir arrived to claim it, Giovanni presented him Ornella as well, requesting that he transform her into a Vampire through the Kiss of the Spider Goddess. Agreeing, Arantir teleported the three to Asha's Web and performed the ritual. As he completed the process, Giovanni, seizing his chance, rushed toward Arantir and attacked him from behind. However, Arantir retorted with a spell, killing Giovanni as Ornella watched. She was quick to swear fealty to Arantir, and he had her sent to Nar-Ankar to "purge her spirit further in the crucible of the Goddess".
Learning of Demon cultists in the Silver Cities, Arantir journeyed with Ornella to the northwest. There, capturing the demonist cultists' headquarters, he interrogated one of their members, who told him of Orlando - the hierophant of the cult of Urgash - and sought the wisdom of a Blind Brother, who spoke of the prophecies of the Demon Messiah and events yet to occur. Paying this knowledge little heed, Arantir pressed on to the lands of the Bull Duchy, where Giovanni had already prepared his own assault on Orlando's forces. He met Kujin and she recognized him as one of her omens. They made an alliance and proceeded with their tasks. Arantir assaulted the Griffin Empire and killed Orlando in the holy city of Flammschrein, but had to sacrifice four of his most powerful acolytes, including Ornella, in order to lift the magic barrier protecting the city. Inside the cathedral of the Red Church, he found the imprisoned spirit of Isabel Greyhound. Having learned that the Demon Messiah was already born from her, he sent the Empress's soul back to her body and began his travels in the search for the Skull of Shadows, in order to prevent the Demon Messiah from using it to break the walls of Sheogh.
He attacks the Free City of Stonehelm to get the Shantiri Crystal, killing the Mage Lord Menelag and stealing his boat before Sareth gets both the Crystal and the boat back from him while he is busy focusing his power to open a gate from Stonehelm to Nar-Heresh.
He then pursues Sareth and Leanna to the Spider Temple Island in a race to get the Skull of Shadows and captures Leanna as she gets in his way between him and Sareth, prompting him to express his disappointment at Leanna as "she has potential but alas she chose the wrong side".
He later ambushes Sareth from behind after Sareth was granted the Skull of Shadows from Asha through her Spider Goddess Statue, stealing the artifact, claiming that "The Skull of Shadows is not for the like of a demon spawn such as Sareth because the Seventh Dragon did not sacrifice himself so that some demon bastard could undo all his labor!" before adding that "He does this for the sake of all of Ashan!" and impaling Sareth onto the Spider Goddess Statue before leaving proclaiming that "The Prophecy of the Dark Messiah ends here!".
He finally takes the Skull of Shadows into the necropolis under Stonehelm in order to prepare a ritual to sacrifice all of the city's inhabitants to fix the flaw introduced by Sar-Shazzar into Sar-Elam's barrier between Ashan and Sheogh.
However, he gets interrupted by a vengeful Sareth and summons a bone dragon to protect him since he drained his own power into the preparation of the ritual, to no avail as Sareth finally kills him for good and chooses by himself how to use the Skull of Shadows.
Gameplay[]
Abilities[]
| Hero Trait | |
|---|---|
|
Avatar Of Death |
| The Hero can summon a mysterious creature upon the battlefield to fight on his side. The creature's power depends on the Hero's level. If this creature dies, the Hero will lose all his Mana points.OffBck | |
| Skills | |||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Basic Necromancy | ||
|
Basic Summoning Magic | ||
|
Basic Dark Magic |
Scenarios[]
The Will of Asha[]
- Last Soul Standing: Giovanni comes to Arantir and has Ornella become Arantir's student. However, Arantir was aware Giovanni would betray him and had him killed.
- The Grim Crusade: Arantir needs to learn from the cultists in the Silver Cities of the conspiracy.
- The Bull's Wake: Arantir joins Ornella to cleanse the Bull Duchy from demons.
- Beasts and Bones: Arantir and Ornella go to cross the land to Flammschrein
- Heart of Darkness: Arantir has to attack Flammschrein and dispel the demon taint inside the city.
To Honour Our Fathers[]
- Mother Earth's Wisdom: Arantir reports to Kujin demons are among the men of the Griffin Empire.
Appearances[]
Arantir was introduced in Dark Messiah of Might and Magic then got added into the later prequel Tribes of the East.
Gallery[]
| Necropolis heroes in Heroes V |
|---|
| Arantir · Deirdre · Giovanni · Kaspar · Lucretia · Markal · Naadir · Nicolai · Ornella · Orson · Raven · Vladimir · Zoltan |
