the previous chapter, Sareth may visit the sanctuary in order to purge Xana from his body. If Sareth proceeds with the cleansing, he loses the ability to transform into a demon, but gains the ability to use powerful holy weapons. If Sareth is unable or unwilling to undergo the cleansing ritual, nothing will change. Whatever the case, the choice determines which endings the player may receive. In the ancient necropolis over which Stonehelm was built, Sareth is eventually reunited with Leanna. If the player left her behind in the spider pit, she appears as a Lich, who Sareth then destroys. If Sareth saved her, but did not cleanse himself, she will attack him. If Leanna was rescued and Sareth cleansed himself, she will join Sareth in the final chapter. Sareth then makes his way through the necropolis and eventually catches up with Arantir as he is about to perform the ritual. When Sareth attacks Arantir, he summons his Avatar of Death, also seen in Heroes V: Tribes of the East (the dragon in Dark Messiah does resemble a pao kai but it is still uncertain as to what the dragon really is). Sareth fights off the Dragon, which forces Arantir to perform a resummoning, during which Arantir is vulnerable. Eventually Arantir is defeated, leaving Sareth to make his final decision for the Skull. The player may use the Skull to lock his father away forever, or destroy the Skull and free his father. Each option offers a different ending. The ensuing cut scene will vary slightly depending on whether it is Leanna or Xana that accompanies Sareth at the end of the game, giving the game a total of four different endings. Development Critical praise of Arkane's previous game, Arx Fatalis, gave the opportunity for them to work with Valve to develop a new title on their Source engine, and Raphaël Colantonio opted to make a sequel, Arx Fatalis 2. However, the poor sales of the first game made it difficult to find a publisher. They were approached by Ubisoft and asked to apply the Arx Fatalis game engine to their Might and Magic. This became Dark Messiah of Might and Magic. It refined the first-person melee combat of Arx Fatalis with a lesser emphasis on role-playing elements. German censorship Despite having received a "no youth release" rating from the USK, Ubisoft announced that the two German versions of Dark