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| This section's canonical status is questionable. It may contain non-canon, quasi-canon or fanmade material, and does not represent official Might and Magic lore. |
The leaked initial map of Ashan, later substantially revised
The Beta Ashan was the initial concept of the world of Ashan as introduced in Heroes of Might and Magic V. Created by Ubisoft, it bears several marked differences to the final incarnation of Ashan, many of them geographical.
Its existence was revealed when its map was leaked and widely publicised on the Ubisoft forums.[1] The leaked map is perhaps more well-known than its official equivalent, and on several occasions it has been mistaken for the canonical version, with its elements often utilised in fan efforts.
Ubisoft's community developer, Noémie Verpeaux, has explained that the map was developed for use in an unannounced Might and Magic project which has since been discontinued, though may still have some bearing on the current world in later games.[2]
Comparison with Ashan
The Beta Ashan appeared to be either a reimagining or future version of Axeoth, as Palaedra was present in its geography. While the general landmass is not dissimilar to the canonical Ashan, the majority of locations are marked with different names, and the central continent appears to have been sundered by a cataclysm at The Doom Sea. Some fans hence speculated the map was represenative of Ashan post-Dark Messiah - the evil ending of this game featured a large-scale burst of power localised at Stonehelm. However, these speculations have been disproven.
Grimheim, Irollan, Heresh and the Holy Griffin Empire all appear for the first time in Beta Ashan's map. However, among the capital cities shown on the map, only Al-Safir is retained in the final version. Tam Avlee is a clear reference to AvLee, and Kreegar obviously relates to the Kreegans. These aspects from the original universe do not appear in the present Ashan.
A noteworthy similarity is the presence of the three moons. Two are named Doomstar and Silvria in the map, but are not canonical.
Geography
Locations transferred to Ashan
Unused regions
- Al-Shazzar (replaced by the Seven Cities)
- Challoth
- Kreegar (replaced by Sheogh)
- Khotan (replaced by Ranaar)
- Lost Palaedra
- The Blight
- The Broken Lands
- The Claw
- The Golden Steppe
- The Isle of Wrath
- The Plains of Woe
- The Shrouded South
- The Unknown East
- Thyssus
Unused cities
- Carlevor (replaced by Talonguard)
- Chaga-Dai
- Lagesh
- Nessus (replaced by Ur-Hekal)
- Tam Avlee (replaced by Shataqua, then by Syris Thalla)
Unused miscellany
- Doomstar
- Silvria
- The Doom Sea