Video games - Might and Magic II: Gates To Another World

Home > Listing Index > Video games > Might and Magic II: Gates To Another World

	Video games - Might and Magic II: Gates To Another World

Might and Magic II: Gates to Another World is the sequel to the game Might and Magic: The Secret Of The Inner Sanctum.

Background

After the events of Might and Magic 1, the adventurers who helped Corak defeat Sheltem on VARN take the "Gates to Another World" located in VARN to the land of CRON. The land of CRON is facing many problems brought on by the encroachment of Sheltem and once again the adventurers must travel through CRON, the four elemental planes and even through time to help Corak stop Sheltem from flinging CRON into its sun.

While in many ways Might and Magic 2 is a fancier version of the original, the improved graphics help greatly with navigation, and the interface added several functions that facilitated gameplay, such as a "delay" selector which allowed for faster or slower response times, and a spinning cursor when input was required (the lack of this in the original could be rather frustrating).

Story

I, Corak the Mysterious, authored this history of the world called CRON.

Ages ago, the four elemental lords convented the void that separated their domains. While the other three bickered, Acwalander the Water King flooded the void with a vast sea. The center was thus his rule. The other Elemental Lords watched from their corners, and grew jealous, each think that they should rule the center. Two of them, Shalwend the Air Tyrant and Pyrannaste the Monarch, invaded the sea, but they did not attack together; just as they sought to defeat Acwalandar, they also sought to defeat each other. They were no alliances possible between them, and their battle seemed endless.

Then the Earth Emperor Gralkor the Cruel and his minions struck, and the war turned in their favor. However, the elemental lords allied against him and hatched a scheme: Water would soak them in a great flood; then Fire would bake them to dust; and finally, Air would lift them up and scatter them, breaking their power forever.

But Gralkor foresaw this, and his minions merged to form a great continent. Water could soak it, but not sink it. Fire could crack it, but not crumble it. Air could carry it away as dust, but the dust returned to the greater mass. Gralkor could not be defeated. He assumed supreme power and Air, Fire, and Water were forced to bow to him. Where the elements mixed, the world of Cron appeared.

Gralkor's continent became the surface of Cron. Soon, other beings appeared, humanoid beings known as Humans. Elves, Gnomes, and Dwarves. They appeared weak, but possessed unexpected power. Water beaded on their skin, air swirled past them, fire burned them but their burns healed, and they farmed and mined the earth. But the humanoids' greatest power was the power of magic, which they used to make Cron their own. Only then did Gralkor recognize their might.

Gralkor fought back, but the humanoids' spells destroyed his minions. To defeat Gralkor himself, the most powerful humanoid spellcasters met on the Isle of the Ancients and created and Orb of Power and four talons to hold it, one talon for each element. When the talons and Orb were combined, they could dominate or destroy any elemental. Gralkor saw this, and knew he must strike.

But tests were necessary to perfect the Orb and Talons, yet Gralkor unleashed his fury before they could even begin. Cron's greatest warriors and sorcerers died in the first attack. Only one minor priceling was left to complete the tests. His name was Kalohn; he mastered the Orb and Talons, and pledged to overthrow Gralkor. So he scaled Cron's tallest peak, and challenged the elemental lords. The battle that followed leveled the summit where Kalohn stood; in its place is the fatal plane still called the Dead Zone. But the power of the Orb overcame the elementals, sealing them in the world's corners behind mighty barriers. Kalohn placed a talon in each elemental zone, but kept the orb against the elementals' return.

With the elemental forces banished, civilization began. Kalohn became King Kalohn the Conjurer, ruler of a golden age. People were happy and content. But banished Gralkor seethed over the elementals' defeat. His rage took shape as a creature of terrible wickedness, filled with the destructive power of fire Gralkor had extorted from Pyrannaste. The first and greatest dragon was thus born, and was sent forth to destroy first the king and then all of Cron.

Kalohn and the dragon met on the beautiful Savannah of Plenty. But the conjurer-king was old now, and had only the Orb, not the talons, for aid. Alas, it was not enough. Just as Kalohn called forth a great water shield, the dragon's fiery breath destroyed him. Yet the king's spell still took form, and water gushed forth in a great torrent, engulfing both the Savannah and the dragon. Unable to swim, he drowned.

Cron was saved from the dragon, but still suffers. The Savannah of Plenty is now the Quagmire of Doom, where the lost Orb is said still to rest. Lesser dragons entered through the weakened elemental barriers. Princess Lamanda, Kalohn's daughter, ascended the throne, but her rule is tenuous. A dark chaotic age has settled upon Cron. All that remain of past glories are tales of warriors and wizards, and the mournful lay of a tragic lord, King Kalohn the Vanquished.

[ Visit the complete Wikipedia entry for Might and Magic II: Gates To Another World ]

This page is based on the copyrighted Wikipedia article Might and Magic II: Gates To Another World; it is used under the GNU Free Documentation License. You may redistribute it, verbatim or modified, providing that you comply with the terms of the GFDL.

Searches on eBay