armies into battle. The Thief works best alone, being able to steal money and spy. The Thief can even kidnap other heroes, ransoming them for money and artifacts. The Mage is very weak with low hit points, but can use spells which can change the entire battle in his army's favor, summoning great monsters or raining down fire and lightning from behind the front lines. There are over 160 different spells and they are different for each faction. These spells are divided into four types: "offensive", "defensive", "overland" and "general knowledge". There are over 90 different artifacts as well to discover and collect. The game includes a single-player mode and limited multiplayer features on LAN and the Internet as well. Story The game takes place in the land of Urak. The people of this world worship one of eight religions. Each religion has an opposite in the circle of life and the people of those faiths are bitter enemies. The atmosphere of the game is high fantasy, loosely inspired by the works of Tolkien, as well as Dungeons and Dragons. Balkoth, the lord of Death, has embarked on a campaign to destroy all other faiths in honor of the dark god Golgoth. The other lords scramble to expand their ranks to defend themselves against this dark threat but also to once and for all destroy their lifelong nemesis. Each faith has its own weaknesses and strengths. One of these considerations is that each faith's polar opposite (e.g., Chaos vs. Order, Fire vs. Water) begins the game extremely hostile to its counterpart. Diplomacy is possible between these factions but difficult. However, all faiths (other than Death itself, which strives for global conquest) have the same ultimate goal: to defeat Death. LifeReferred to as the "Elddren", the followers of life are elves who fight with oaken staves and bows. Their structures are carved out of trees with white bark and golden leaves and they are at home in the woods. Their land is a distinct vibrant green. Life has the strongest archers in the game, but suffer from weak melee fighters. Eventually they can summon Pegasus riders and the mighty phoenix. DeathThe Dark Elves who follow Golgoth. They inhabit the swamps and marshes of Urak and are feared for their potent necromancy, spear-throwers and cavalry. They have very few weaknesses, the greatest one being that that other faiths are initially hostile toward