Elvin said:

---

I don't think anything changed, vampires and liches still are created through namtaru blood. Namtaru statues can also be seen in dark messiah and clash of heroes that are set before and after H5 so I guess that was just Nival taking an artistic licence for a more classic necro or the spidery concept was not fully developed at the time.

---

Marzhin said:

---

About Sandro I guess it really depends who writes him. When I wrote Danse Macabre I tried to make sure his quest could be seen as something "good" from a certain point of view, or at least justifiable, although his methods and manipulative ways would always be questionable at best. I felt the Sandro of Ashan should have higher goals than just conquer the world. Although there's always the question of how much you can trust the story told in Danse Macabre, considering it is Sandro himself who is telling it (for instance he clearly made Belketh look like a pompous and arrogant fool, while in truth Belketh is a more nuanced character.)

The writer of the Necro campaign of Shades of Darkness made Sandro a crazier and more sinister character. I'm happy to see it hasn't killed the debate about whether Sandro's goals are "good" or "evil"

Trivia: the Dungeon campaign originally had a slightly different ending. Sandro and Kha-Beleth were striking a deal and Sandro was erasing Raelag's memories so that Kha-Beleth could make him his pet. While that wasn't part of the original backstory of that character defined when H5 was in development, it seemed fitting and I thought it would have made a cool hook for Vein's campaign.
But after discussing with the other writers we decided there was nothing Sandro could gain from allying with Kha-Beleth, and Kha-Beleth would certainly not agree with Sandro's goals. So no alliance between Ashan's biggest schemers

---

Marzhin said:

---

The writer of the Necro campaign of Shades of Darkness made Sandro a crazier and more sinister character. I'm happy to see it hasn't killed the debate about whether Sandro's goals are "good" or "evil"

---

DoubleDeck said:

---

Before Ashan, (H1-4) Sandro was portrayed as an evil conqueror, though adopts a more diplomatic (if no less superior) attitude to the world in later titles following his failure to seize Erathia.

---

Maurice said:

---

DoubleDeck said:

---

Before Ashan, (H1-4) Sandro was portrayed as an evil conqueror, though adopts a more diplomatic (if no less superior) attitude to the world in later titles following his failure to seize Erathia.

---

I always thought those were disjunct. In other words, the "Ashan" Sandro is a different person from the "Erathian" Sandro. The heroes that re-appear on Ashan (Crag Hack is another one) are just a tribute to those original Heroes from the older titles.

---

Heligrin said:

---

Greetings. Maybe I post this in the wrong topic, but there is something I would like to clarify about Netherlord's fate.

http://www.celestialheavens.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=336540#336540
In this post Marzhin mentioned that Cyrus wasn't alone when he fought Sandro. So, who was that mysterious ally? Was it Vein? Zakera? Or someone else?

---

Marzhin said:

---

(Some would argue the Sandro that appears in Heroes 1 and 2 is also a different Sandro, since his appearance in those two games is mostly retconned by Shadow of Death ).

---

Marzhin said:

---

Elvin said:

---

I don't think anything changed, vampires and liches still are created through namtaru blood. Namtaru statues can also be seen in dark messiah and clash of heroes that are set before and after H5 so I guess that was just Nival taking an artistic licence for a more classic necro or the spidery concept was not fully developed at the time.

---

There is actually a story about that, and hopefully we'll tell it one day You already know that by the time of Clash of Heroes, Ludmilla is ruling Heresh, and she's clearly not as religious as her predecessors (she has no problem allying with Lord Bloodcrown's demons after all.) After her death, Sandro takes over Heresh, and the Spider Cultists have to go into hiding. After Markal was destroyed by Godric, Findan and Zehir during Heroes V, Arantir comes back into the picture and restores the Spider faith.

Now the real question is, where is the Mother Namtaru during these events?

About Sandro I guess it really depends who writes him. When I wrote Danse Macabre I tried to make sure his quest could be seen as something "good" from a certain point of view, or at least justifiable, although his methods and manipulative ways would always be questionable at best. I felt the Sandro of Ashan should have higher goals than just conquer the world. Although there's always the question of how much you can trust the story told in Danse Macabre, considering it is Sandro himself who is telling it (for instance he clearly made Belketh look like a pompous and arrogant fool, while in truth Belketh is a more nuanced character.)

The writer of the Necro campaign of Shades of Darkness made Sandro a crazier and more sinister character. I'm happy to see it hasn't killed the debate about whether Sandro's goals are "good" or "evil"

Trivia: the Dungeon campaign originally had a slightly different ending. Sandro and Kha-Beleth were striking a deal and Sandro was erasing Raelag's memories so that Kha-Beleth could make him his pet. While that wasn't part of the original backstory of that character defined when H5 was in development, it seemed fitting and I thought it would have made a cool hook for Vein's campaign.
But after discussing with the other writers we decided there was nothing Sandro could gain from allying with Kha-Beleth, and Kha-Beleth would certainly not agree with Sandro's goals. So no alliance between Ashan's biggest schemers

---

Marzhin said:

---

As said on Celestial Heavens, the fall of Sandro is a story yet to be told. You'll have to be patient

(sorry for the double post, I couldn't locate the "edit post" function)

---

IbnWaliBarad said:

---

I was reading that Sandro's spirit apparently survived his confrontation with Cyrus and still haunts some tower somewhere. Is this true? When was it mentioned. Could this mean this isn't over even in post heroes 5 timeline?

---

frostymuaddib said:

---

I have a lore question that bothers me for quite some time. Is Belketh undead, or is he just an Angel (still alive) who uses necromancy?

---