Menelag is the Wizard Lord of the Free City of Stonehelm as well as Leanna's uncle and teacher in Dark Messiah of Might and Magic.
Biography[]
Expedition[]
He led a 10 years expedition to locate his lifetime obsession: The Skull of Shadows, and managed to find it at a savage island, hidden deep within a ruined Shantiri temple.
Menelag and his crew began to excavate the temple and its surroundings, harried by the protective and territorial hostile Redskull Orc Clan, and still succeeded in reaching the crypt where the Skull is waiting.
However, they were barred from it by an impassable stone door.
The only way to open that door is to power the temple back online, using an Ancient artifact, the Shantiri Crystal.
Sareth's involvement[]
Sareth, under the guidance of his teacher Phenrig, acquires the Shantiri Crystal from a Shantiri ruin after fighting his way through some Black Guards mercenaries hired by the Necromancers.
Back home, Phenrig congratulates Sareth and tasks him with delivering the Crystal to Menelag in Stonehelm.
As Sareth reaches Stonehelm, the city gets attacked by the Necromancers who are still after the Shantiri Crystal however he assists in the city's defense and defeats the invasion after killing an undead cyclop who was leading the charge, earning the city's admiration.
Then he reaches Menelag's mansion where Leanna is waiting for him and introduces herself as Menelag's niece and pupil before leading Sareth to her uncle who welcomes him with a feast and can't wait to resume his expedition now that he got the Shantiri Crystal that he needed.
Menelag claims that he doesn't care if Arantir destroys Stonehelm as his expedition will "seal his doom", however Leanna worries about Arantir being the Dark Messiah, which annoys her uncle who sends her to sleep as she needs to be well-rested to lead the expedition tomorrow.
Then Leanna gets up from the dinner table and kisses her uncle's head before heading out while Sareth starts to follow her, much to Xana's exasperation, however Menelag warns him to stay away from her because he knows who Sareth truly is as opposite to her, then when Sareth gets confused, he understands that Phenrig has kept Sareth in ignorance of his origins and states that "this is probably for the best" then he sends Sareth to bed while mocking him being a "hero".
Death[]
The Necromancers attack Menelag's mansion during the night, capture Leanna and interrogate Menelag until Sareth reaches them and his arrival distracts the necromancer who was interrogating Menelag long enough for Menelag to kill him, however the ghoul which was holding Leanna then strikes him, steals the Shantiri Crystal and runs away to the city's rooftops.
As Leanna is sobbing and hugging him, he apologizes to her for having involved her "into this" and dies in her arms.