Myth (series)

A promotional screen from Myth II: Soulblighter. Units shown: Berserks, Dwarves, Warlocks, Brigands, Bowmen (off-screen) and Mauls.

Myth is a series of real-time tactics computer games. The games are:

• Myth: The Fallen Lords
• Myth II: Soulblighter
• Myth III: The Wolf Age

Myth and Myth II were developed and self-published by Bungie Software between 1997 and 1999. As a result of Bungie's sale to Microsoft in 2000, the company lost the franchise rights to Take 2 Interactive.^[1] Myth III: The Wolf Age was developed by MumboJumbo and released by Take Two in 2001; it received generally good reviews, though many cited a number of bugs in the initial release.^[2][3]

The Myth games are categorized as real-time tactics, representing a departure from established real-time strategy titles such as Warcraft and Command & Conquer; resource retrieval and unit construction were entirely removed to focus on squad- and soldier-level tactics. Some have argued that this has given the game a far greater sense of realism than its contemporaries.^[4] Reviewers have cited the series' (at the time) revolutionary use of 3D environments, its use of weather effects, and its realistic physics engines as reasons for this. To many, Myth set the standard for the type of strategy that the Total War series of games made popular.

Release dates

• Myth: The Fallen Lords - 1997
• Myth II: Soulblighter - 1998
• Myth II: Chimera - 1999
• Myth: The Total Codex - 1999 ^†
• Myth II: Worlds - 2001 ^†
• Green Berets - Powered by Myth II - 2001 ^†
• Myth III: The Wolf Age - December 2001

^† The above marked were not new titles in the Myth series, but rather releases of user created content bundled with the games.

Gameplay

General

Players control small forces made up of a number of different units possessing their own strengths and weaknesses. In the single player game, these were limited to units representing 'The Light', but multiplayer allowed players to control units from both sides of the conflict.

Unlike many other strategy games available at the time of its release, Myth's combat does not focus on the collection of resources and the building of armies. In contrast to the "meat grinder" style of some games, it is possible for a skilled player to defeat a much larger force with few or no casualties. This is largely due to the advanced physics engine the game employs. Physically modelled environments, unit interactions, and diverse unit behaviours combine to create a gameplay experience in which realistic battlefield interactions can and do occur.

Myth employs a sophisticated physics engine which greatly affects gameplay. Nearly all objects on the map, even the remains of dead units, are potential projectiles. These objects react with one another, units on the map, and terrain with nearly all expected physical behaviour, including rolling, bouncing, and crashing. Projectiles, including those fired by ranged units, have no guarantee of hitting any target; they are merely propelled in the directions instructed by the physics engine, based on the actions of the players. Arrows may miss their targets due to a small degree of simulated aiming error that becomes significant at long range, or the target may simply move out of the way before the arrow reaches them. This aiming error may cause the arrow to hit the attacker’s own melee unit instead, causing the same amount of damage as friendly fire is a permanent aspect of the game at all times.

Unit formations are tactically important in Myth, since the game simulates a real battlefield accurately enough for maneuvers such as flanking and encirclement to be effective. When placed together in formation, units can provide an effective defensive front, block an enemy force’s escape route, or exploit bad positioning of an enemy force by surrounding it. Since healing is a rare ability, units do not regenerate health, and there is no way to construct new units, hit and run skirmishes are effective and unit conservation is essential. In light of this, each point of damage can be significant.

Terrain and environmental factors are also important. Rain or standing water will put out some fire- and explosive-based attacks. Archers on high ground are able to shoot farther than those on level ground. Most units will flinch when damaged, interrupting actions such as movement and attacks. This has many strategic implications: for example, if two or three melee units gang up to attack one enemy melee unit, it may flinch too frequently to have a chance to attack or escape.

Each unit has a name and gains individual experience for each kill it makes, with some monstrous units being worth more experience than smaller units. Experience increases attack rate and accuracy, as well as (for units with shields) the probability of blocking an attack. All else being equal, an experienced army will destroy a comparable force of fresh units.

Blood permanently stains the terrain and bodies do not decay. This blood-ground-smear gives battles in Myth a gritty, gory, unsanitized feel. The events of battles can be deduced from battlefield detritus, which is important in multiplayer free-for-all games and some single-player missions. Explosions and fire also scorch the landscape, and any blast may launch any debris outward, damaging any units it hits.

Multiplayer

In multiplayer, the player starts with an army and may usually customize it by trading units, using point values that approximate the value of the units. Proper selection of units is an enormous strategy itself, given the goal of each multi-player game. For example: if the goal of the game is to stand guard a flag as long as possible (as it is with King of the Hill), customizing your army with only ranged units would not be wise because there would be no melee to guard the flag. Such considerations make Myth all the more realistic because of the constant amount of strategic choices.

Games generally are either "free-for-all" or FFA, where each player has his own army and competes with everyone else, or "Team," where each army is controlled by a group of players with a captain who disperses units for his teammates to control. There are many different kinds of multiplayer games, ranging from simple "Body Count" to more complicated games involving flags, balls, or animals.

Solo

In the single player campaign, the player starts the mission with an army and must use it to accomplish specific goals. These goals range from defending a location, reaching a certain point on the map, escorting a unit safely, or destroying an object of strategic significance. In rare cases it is possible for the player to acquire new units to bolster his forces, although this is the exception rather than the rule.

The focus of the Myth series' solo campaigns is on a smaller force out-maneuvering and out-thinking a much larger enemy force. For this reason, the importance of terrain and unit formation is particularly important. Using high ground to further the range of archers; creating bottle necks; and whittling down an enemy with hit and run tactics all become crucial strategies in the single player game.

Units in the solo campaign acquire 'experience' with each kill they make. As they acquire experience, units become more resilient, attack faster, and deal more damage. In Myth: The Fallen Lords units would retain this experience until killed or until a unit of their type did not appear in a given scenario. In Myth II: Soulblighter and Myth III: The Wolf Age, units would retain experience until killed. Therefore, with careful management, it becomes possible for a player to create an army of heroes from the inexperienced soldiers they began play with.

Storyline

In the world of Myth, the forces of Light and Dark rule the world successively in a thousand-year cycle which has repeated since before recorded history. Every cycle climaxes in the arrival of The Leveler, whose approach (and fall) is heralded by an ominous comet that appears in the sky every thousand years. The Leveler inhabits the body of the hero who defeated him in the previous cycle—thus the hero who saves the civilization is doomed to destroy it.

Historical context

A thousand years before the events of Myth, the world of Myth was plagued by the Myrkridia, a savage race of wolf-like beings. They devoured entire armies and erased cities from the face of the world. So many died at their hands that the Myrkridia created enormous platforms crafted of skulls as monuments to their massacres. After keeping the world in fear for hundreds of years, most of the Myrkridia were imprisoned in an artifact called the Tain by a great hero, Connacht, who then hunted the survivors to extinction. Not stopping there, Connacht turned his eyes to the Trow civilization. These ancient giants had, since the dawn of time, terrorized neighboring races. The Trow enslaved their lesser brethren, the Oghres, and forced them to build their iron citadels. Around the time of Connacht, the Oghres rebelled against the Trow, and the rebellion ended with the extermination of the Oghres and the decline of the Trow civilization. Connacht, knowing the threat the Trow would eventually pose to humanity, took advantage of their weakened state and melted the iron cities of the Trow into the ice of the north, entombing the giants in molten metal. During this time, he also imprisoned the Watcher, an evil and powerful necromancer, beneath the Cloudspine mountain range. Most importantly, he defeated Mjarin, the current incarnation of the Leveler, and thus ushered in a new age of peace and prosperity. Connacht eventually became the emperor of the Cath Bruig Empire, the greatest of the human civilizations.

Connacht ruled the Cath Bruig Empire at the start of its golden age. During this time, he systematically destroyed or hid every major magical artifact he could get his hands on. At the end of his reign, Connacht vanished into the unknown eastern lands. No one knew for certain what happened to him - whether he had died, or lived on through magical means. What is certain, though, is that at some point, Connacht was possessed by the spirit of the Leveler. Thus, Connacht became Balor. With the knowledge of Connacht in his possession, Balor freed the Watcher from his prison and enslaved him. He then enslaved Damas, who had once been a lieutenant of Connacht, but had since become a corrupt and evil immortal. Damas became known as Soulblighter. Sometime in this time frame, Balor also enslaved Myrdred the Deceiver, as well as the sorceress Shiver, previously known as Ravanna. Balor then freed the Trow from their iron prisons, and forced them into his service. The Ghôls, subservient to the Trow, also rallied to his side with the promise of destoying their ancient dwarven foes once and for all. Balor then bade his time, slowly gathering his forces, waiting until the end of the cycle to strike. Three hundred years before the events of Myth, Balor turned the Myrmidon race away from the light with a promise of immortality. Around 200 years later, he finally struck against the Cath Bruig Empire. Balor's strength was so overwhelming that the current cycle looked to be the final one. The only race powerful enough to stand up to the embodiment of the Leveler, the Trow, was now in his service. Combining these forces with the undead armies he could raise, the final victory of Balor seemed imminent. He would finally succeed in scouring all life from the face of the world.

Fifty years before the events of Myth, the capital of the Cath Bruig Empire, Muirthemne, was sacked and destroyed by Balor and his lieutenants, now known as the Fallen Lords. The once-fertile farmlands surrounding the city became a desert known as the Barrier. All human civilization east of the Cloudspine mountain range, from the Twelve Duns to Gower, and south to the borders of Forest Heart, was eradicated. Simultaneously, the Dwarven city of Myrgard was captured by the Ghôls (with the assistance of the Fallen Lords) and the Dwarven city of Stoneheim entombed itself rather than face a similar fate. The entire surviving Dwarven population became refugees in the lands west of the Cloudspine, known as the Province. With the lone exception of Forest Heart, the entire world east of the Cloudspine was now controlled by Balor. Thirty-three years later, the Fallen Lords crossed the Cloudspine into the Province and began laying waste to the cities therein. Covenant, the capital of the Province, fell two decades later, and the last southern city of Tyr was sacked and destroyed a decade after that, leaving only the free cities of the north to stand against Balor.

Myth: The Fallen Lords

The basic storyline of Myth involves a war between the human civilization of the world and entities known as the Fallen Lords, a group of seven Warlord sorcerer-generals that arose to drag civilization into ruins. The game opens in the seventeenth year of the Province's war against the Fallen Lords, a war humanity is losing. The principal western cities, Scales, Covenant and Tyr, were razed during the war, and only the free cities of Madrigal, Willow and Tandem still stand against the Fallen Lords. The armies of the west are led by The Nine, a group of nine sorcerer-generals called Avatara. The known members of the Nine include the leader Alric (the former King of the Southern Provinces), Cu Roi, Rabican, Murgen and Maeldun. They've recently found a living severed head buried in the Barrier, which they believe can turn the tide of the war with the Fallen Lords. The Fallen Lords are six powerful wizards enslaved by Balor. The known ones include Soulblighter (Damas), The Deceiver (Myrdred), The Watcher (probably Bahl'al), and Shiver (Ravanna) - the names of the other two are not revealed in the series. Their leader is Balor, previously the hero Connacht, now the Leveler. The Head claims to be an ancient enemy of Balor's, and the Nine intend to use the intelligence it provides to their strategic advantage.

The Legion represents the elite within the armies of the west, and the gameplay centers around the actions of the Legion. It begins in the village of Crow's Bridge, where a small detachment of the Legion has remained behind to guard a bridge at the request of the locals. After repulsing an attack on the town, they move on to the Town of Otter Ferry where they ready to cross the Meander. However the Mayor of that town sought to betray them in the hopes that he would be spared once the Dark sacked Madrigal. After dealing with the traitorous human, the Legion moves on to flank the army of Shiver, which is laying siege to the free city of Madrigal. With every major city in the Southern Provinces destroyed, the free city of Madrigal is the headquarters of the Nine, so its fall would effectively end the war. The Legion scores its first notable victory as they completely destroy Shiver and her whole armies, saving Madrigal - on the first night of this battle, Shiver is unexpectedly slain in a Dream Duel with the Avatara Rabican, a victory owed to the advice of the Head (who alerted them about Shiver's exaggerated vanity, a point exploited by Rabican).

The Nine take advantage of this momentum and attempt to recover the Total Codex, a book that contains the past, present and future within its pages, from the ruins of the historical city of Covenant. After doing so and escaping the army of The Watcher by fleeing in an underground tunnel, the Legion heads east, in the plain of Scales, to meet up with the Avatara Maeldun and his southern garrison. They learn that the combined armies of the north are en route in an attempt to hold Seven Gates and Bagrada, the middle and southern passes of the Cloudspine mountain range respectively, against the army of The Deceiver, who is preparing to cross the range to replace Shiver's forces in the west. They need only hold out for a few days, until snow covers the passes. First, though, they destroy a World Knot (a means of magical transport) behind their lines, which would have allowed The Deceiver to send his forces directly into their lines. They succeed, and though the army of The Watcher remains behind their lines, if they can keep The Deceiver at bay until winter, they will be able to turn and hunt him down. After they successfully hold the passes, they prepare for a violent winter.

Around this time, the Avatara Alric is captured by The Deceiver while searching for a fabled suit of enchanted armor in The Barrier, on advice of The Head. His eastern army is annihilated. Alric realizes that he had been deliberately sent into a trap. However, the army of the west knows nothing of this. They send a small group of heroes east over the mountains in a balloon, and they are able to free Alric. Around this time, the Legion goes to Silvermines in search of the Arm of The Watcher, lost when Balor freed him from captivity. The Deceiver has a force in Silvermines searching for the arm as well, for he and The Watcher were old enemies before Balor bound them to his will. The Watcher was generally acknowledged to be the second or third most powerful sorcerer in living memory, and when Tyr fell he and The Deceiver fought a Dream Duel, which The Watcher barely survived.

They succeed in recovering the Arm, but suddenly the great volcano of Tharsis overlooking Seven Gates erupts, melting all the snow in the pass, allowing the forces of The Deceiver to cross the Cloudspine. At the same time, The Watcher surprises Rabican's army from behind and crushes it, seemingly slaying the Avatara and scattering survivors around the mountain range. After this, The Watcher's forces press forward and tear through the army of The Deceiver, moving east of the Cloudspine and away from the army of the Province. Maeldun positions his army to retake the passes of Seven Gates in an attempt to close the pass to the Fallen Lords. In this he is successful, both holding the pass and managing to kill one of The Deceiver's shades, Scaripant, who was trapped by the rising waters. The seventeenth year of the war ends.

The following spring, the Avataras Cu Roi and Murgen take the rested and reinforced Legion over the Cloudspine and into Forest Heart in an attempt to regain the support of the Forest Giants, who mysteriously withdrew their support of the west thirteen years earlier, leading to the fall of the Southern Provinces. In a stunning surprise attack, Soulblighter's army falls upon the Legion and Soulblighter himself traps the Legion within the Tain, a magical artifact used by the hero Connacht a thousand years earlier to trap and exterminate the Myrkridia, a species that had nearly hunted humanity to extinction during the previous cycle. The Tain is small enough to hold in the hand, yet contains a pocket universe of limitless capacity. Trapped within, the Myrkridia cannibalized each other until the last of them starved to death. The Legion came across a skull platform 30 feet high and 100 feet across topped with a battle standard, evidence that the Myrkridia had indeed been in this place. Murgen searches for a way to free the 4000 men trapped within, and eventually he finds it, and shattered the Tain. Soulblighter flees, startled by the unexpected destruction of the powerful artifact.

Cu Roi and Murgen do not survive the destruction of the Tain, thus leaving only three survivors out of the Nine^[5] and many of the Legion are lost as well. Messengers inform them that Maeldun has lost the important mountain pass of Bagrada (and was presumably killed in the process) and that The Deceiver has crossed the Cloudspine at the northern pass known as Stair of Grief - though he is no more mentioned for the rest of the story. They learn of a civil war erupting in the west as soldiers rise up unexpectedly in support of The Head as the four surviving Avatara of the Nine attempted to destroy it. The war has taken a terrible turn for the worse with so many Avatara dying. However, the fate of Alric becomes known to the Legion as he joins them. A small group of Dwarves, led by Balin the Pathfinder, leaves the Legion at this point and sneaks into Myrgard in an attempt to slaughter as many of the occupying Ghôls as possible. Impossibly, they are able to destroy the Ghôl Godhead during their attack, securing their place in legend and retaking their homeland, killing the thousands of Ghôls occupying the city.

At this point, Alric convinces the surviving members of the Legion to head north through the Dire Marsh towards the fortress of Balor. Their small force can do nothing to save Willow, Tandem, and Madrigral from the armies about to lay siege to them, but they could win a more important victory instead. During his captivity and interrogation, Alric has learned by chance that the Fallen all drew their power from Balor. If Balor were to fall, all of the armies of the Dark would collapse, leaving only the Fallen Lords themselves to contend with (it's strongly speculated that The Deceiver himself may have passed on Balor's secret to Alric). And so they move north, and with The Watcher in front of them and Soulblighter behind them, Alric performs a daring feint, attacking Soulblighter's army, and then suddenly turning north to attack The Watcher himself using arrows tipped with bone fragments from his own lost Arm. The feint is a success, and The Watcher is slain, turned to stone by the arrows and then shattered, scattering his army and clearing the way ahead. As they pass out of the Dire Marsh, they approach the abandoned Trow city of Rhi'Anon, in which Balor's fortress is located. After securing a bridge within, the Legion passes into the city, Alric now in possession of one of the five legendary Eblis Stones, an extremely powerful magical artifact. The beserk who delivered it, having come all the way from Willow, refuses to talk about events in the west, hinting on the terrible situation back home.

Alric orders the 2200 survivors of the Legion to attack the fortress of Balor in a suicidal feint. A half-million undead stand between them and the fortress. Alric then prepares to take 100 picked men through a World Knot to a spot directly on top of Balor's fortress. With Balor's forces distracted by the Legion's suicidal charge, Alric believes that this small force could sneak up on Balor and assassinate him. During the nights leading up to this moment, the great comet that had been growing brighter and brighter in the sky has become brighter than the moon and is visible by day. As he departs, Alric informs the Legion that Madrigal, the last city in the West, has fallen.

Alric plants a Myrkridian battle standard, retrieved from within the Tain, outside the fortress in an attempt to draw out Balor. Alric believes that this will work because Balor trapped the Myrkridia within the Tain a thousand years earlier. The men, thinking that the hero Connacht had done this, ask Alric how could that be. Alric reveals to them that Balor and Connacht were the same person. The legendary hero of the Wind Age, King of Muirthemne and emperor of the Cath Bruig Empire has returned as the greatest evil of their world. One of Connacht's notable acts after he was reborn as Balor was to destroy the city of Muirthemne, laying waste to the Cath Bruig Empire, the greatest empire the world had ever known.

The plan works. Balor is drawn from his fortress, enraged at the sight of the Myrkridian battle standard. Alric takes the opportunity to strike at Balor, immobilizing him with one of the Five Eblis Stones, leaving Balor vulnerable to the swords of the Legion. They decapitate him, and plan to take his head to the Great Devoid, a bottomless pit created by the Ancient Callieach, an extinct race of powerful magic users. Only by doing this would Balor finally be destroyed. It is believed that by throwing Balor's head into the Great Devoid, the spirit of the Leveler itself would be destroyed, not merely its mortal form. The thirty survivors of the Legion, magically transported to the Great Devoid by Alric, are ambushed by Soulblighter as they carry the head toward the pit, but despite their losses they are successful. Balor is destroyed, and the Fallen are rendered powerless, the undead armies collapsing. Soulblighter flees the Great Devoid, having failed his master. The Deceiver is pursued to the Stair of Grief by the remnants of the armies of the west after his army suddenly collapses around him, and he is trapped inside the Dramus River, separated from his scepter, using all his magical power just to stay alive. The Dramus then froze solid around him, as the heat from the eruption of Tharsis faded, forming Angurvadal Glacier. The Deceiver would remain in this condition for more than sixty years. Balor, Shiver, The Watcher and The Deceiver had all been destroyed or imprisoned. Soulblighter had vanished in the form of a murder of crows, not to be seen again for six decades. The fate of the last two Fallen Lords was not known, though they never again raised their heads.

The fact that the Leveler did not return after these events^{[citation needed]}, in spite of the fact that the world was due a thousand years of darkness, suggests that he had indeed been destroyed, and that the cycle had been broken. This would make Alric possibly the greatest hero of the Myth world. Although his feats are generally not as great as Connacht's, he was able to defeat the Leveler and end the cycle, something Connacht himself was powerless to stop.

Following the events of the game, the remains of the Legion limp home, and they and other survivors begin the long process of rebuilding their cities. Having reclaimed his throne, Alric is able to act as both King and Avatara and aided the people, allowing the cities of Scales, Covenant, Tyr, Madrigal, Tandem, and Willow to be rebuilt. The Province recovers, and the scars of war begin to heal. Ever after, in honour of the original Legion's sacrifice, the armies of the west are all known as Legions. The fir'bolg returned to their forest homeland and the dwarves rebuilt Myrgard to its former glory. Sixty years pass, and the armies of the west are well-trained and large. The Legions constantly patrol the Province, vigilantly watching for the return of the undead and dealing with bandits and criminals as they do so. Alric remains King; his powers as an Avatara allow him to remain active, despite his advanced age.

However, this peace was not to last.

Myth II: Soulblighter

Sixty years had passed since the end of the great war and Balor's defeat. A single patrol of the Legion goes to investigate reports of grave robbing near the town of Willow Creek and is barely able to save a handful of people from a horde of undead ghasts. The patrol learns that a group of brigands had kidnapped a number of people and taken them to a nearby Cemetery. After rescuing them from the brigands and moving on to the village of Tallow, they learn the brigands had been bringing bodies to a nearby castle ruled by the Baron Kildaer. The commander of the Legion, Crüniac, orders an attack on the keep. The night before the assault, the Legion witnesses an army of 1,000 Thrall leave the castle, heading for Tallow. The next morning, they siege the castle with the help of a Dwarven Pathfinder, Jari, and execute the Baron for his crimes. after completing their mission, they soon learn Tallow and every other city north of Forest Heart has been razed by the undead and the undead are returning to retake the keep. Crüniac orders the men to set fire to the keep, and retreat. "Leave it for the torches lads, and make haste for Gonen". It is also around this time that the narrator is given a journal of a soldier who fought during the Great War, which turns out to be the journal of the narrator of Myth: The Fallen Lords.

The undead army pursues the Legion all the way to Gonen's Bridge before the Legion blows it up, cutting off the undead army's pursuit. During the withdrawal, Crüniac is killed by Soulblighter himself. Sergeant Garrick determines the Legion must reach Madrigal and King Alric. In order to do, so they must cross the Cloudspine and repair a World Knot destroyed in the Great War sixty years ago. After repairing the World Knot, the Legion crosses the province and in a matter of moments stands in the city of Madrigal. Garrick recounts the events to King Alric, who immediately orders the entire Seventh Legion through the World Knot with instructions to hunt down and destroy Soulblighter's army. Alric surmises that Soulblighter is searching for The Summoner, a man "who would resurrect the Myrkridia and visit horrors on the world without equal in history or myth", according to the Total Codex. The Legion is sent to Covenant to retrieve the Total Codex. There they encounter and escape from Soulblighter's troops who also were in search of the same book.

Three weeks later, it becomes apparent Soulblighter has evaded the Seventh Legion. Scales, Covenant, and Tyr have all been destroyed once again, and Soulblighter's army marches on Madrigal itself. Alric orders the Legion north to Tandem as he oversees the evacuation of Madrigal. During his withdrawal, an army of Myrkridia fall upon the city and it becomes apparent Soulblighter has found The Summoner. During the evacuation, Alric is taunted by the now living Shiver. She had been resurrected by Soulblighter using Tramist's Mirror and now serves as a general in his army. After fortifying himself at White Falls, Alric sends an elite group from the Legion through the Ermine Forest in search of The Deceiver. Alric believes this former Fallen Lord could be convinced to fight against Soulblighter, as there had never been anything keeping them allied before except the overwhelming power of Balor. They meet up with Twelve Motion Jewelled Skull, a journeyman who had been part of the force that defeated The Deceiver at The Stair of Grief, who guides them to where The Deceiver's scepter is buried. Soulblighter sends an army to intercept the Legion, including hulking bovine savages called Mauls who hail from The Blind Steppes but the Legion ambushes and destroys most of it. A small group of men retrieve The Deceiver's scepter and track down his body to Angurvedal Glaicer, evading both Soulblighter's army and the Warlocks of the Scholomance, allies of The Deceiver.

When revived, The Deceiver swears loyalty to Alric, bringing with him the Warlocks of the Scholomance. He leads the Legion to the Twelve Duns in search of the Trow where he enlists their support for one year. The detachment meets up with the rest of the Legion at the outer walls of Muirthemne, accompanied by a cadre of Trow. Despite successfully repelling Shiver's army with the assistance of Baelden and the Seventh Legion, White Falls fell to an army of Myrkridia a week later, and Tandem's fall was inevitable. Alric orders a change in the course of action, commanding the recapture of Muirthemne. He reveals his plan to be the revival of the Cath Bruig Empire. By claiming the Ibis crown, he would gain enormous magical power and would be able to send forth an empowered army to crush Soulblighter. After much perilous searching, The Ibis Crown is found alongside the legendary blade Balmung, and Alric is crowned Emperor. At the ceremony, the journeymen cast off their robes and gold tiles of penance and swore fealty to Alric. From the old journeymen, the Heron Guard, bodyguards to the emperor and elite soldiers of the empire, were reborn. Given a new chance to defend the homeland they once lost, the Heron Guard fights off a massive Myrkridian assault on Muirthemne. The Legion meanwhile went south to Forest Heart with The Deceiver in search of a fragment of the old shattered Tain. The Legion finds and enters the Tain shard and are able to assassinate The Summoner, who had been resurrecting the Myrkridian race for Soulblighter from within. The Legion's victory there ensured Soulblighter's army was now cut off from reinforcements.

In a seemingly hasty and ill-planned move, The Deceiver and his detachment of the Legion are captured when they suddenly appear in the middle of Soulblighter's base camp (presumably after travelling through the Tain shard). The shade Phelot, ostensibly aligned with Soulblighter, mysteriously frees several captive soldiers and they are able to free The Deceiver, who swiftly attacks Soulblighter. Overwhelmed by The Deceiver's sorcery, Soulblighter attempts to flee by transforming into a murder of crows. In pursuit, The Deceiver is able to kill one of the crows, a crucial piece of Soulblighter's form. Now in possession of "a part of the murder", The Deceiver claims he has crippled Soulblighter, robbing him of much of his power and his ability to flee again in the same manner. Soon after, a detachment of the Legion repels an attack on Lesotho Dam that would have flooded the valley below and killed Alric and the rest of the Legion. Meanwhile, The Deceiver goes to warn the emperor as Alric directly engages Soulblighter's main army.

Two days later, The Deceiver and five heroes head into the ravines south of Silvermine in search of Shiver. They battle their way through her forces and encounter an army of Myrkridia led by Phelot and Shiver. Phelot reveals himself to be a thrall of The Deceiver and uses Dispersal Dreams on the Myrkridian army, obliterating it. The Deceiver engages Shiver in a climatic Dream Duel, where the former wins but Shiver still manages to launch a treacherous final-resource attack against The Deceiver. As the result, both Fallen Lords completely annihilated each other, leaving only Soulblighter to be dealt with.

That same day, Alric pushes Soulblighter's army to the foot of Tharsis. Soulblighter is cornered and in his crippled state cannot escape. After a duel with Alric, he is unable to find an advantage and flees up into the volcano of Tharsis. It becomes apparent that Soulblighter's plan is to destroy Tharsis and shatter the Cloudspine mountain range, cracking open the entire world. "Soulblighter, like Balor before him, seeks not to conquer but to destroy; to be master of the unthinking dead and their blasted lands", according to the narrator. The survivors of the Legion and Alric enter the volcano and track down Soulblighter. Alric interrupts the harmful spell and hurls Soulblighter into the lava, killing him in a definite way and ending the threat to the world.

Myth III: The Wolf Age

Myth III: The Wolf Age is set 1000 years before Myth and tells the tale of Connacht the Wolf, a barbarian warrior from the lands of Gower and his rise to power during the Wind Age, an era of savagery during which the Myrkridia ran freely across the land, almost totally annihilating humanity. No-one who had ever fought the Myrkridia had survived, and with nobody to stop them the Myrkridia spread throughout the land. Only two human civilisations still remained; the isolated, barbarian lands of Gower to the East and the great city of Llancarfan.

The Leveler returns once again, using the body of Tireces The Immortal, the person who killed him a millennium ago and names himself Moagim The Faceless Terror. Moagim begins to raise an army, including the colossal Trow, as well as Bahl'al, the most adept Necromancer in all the land to crush the last remaining parts of humanity.

During a final stand at the oldest settlement in Gower, Yursgrad, a young warrior named Connacht and the men of Gower manage to beat back the Myrkridia for the first time. Inspired by this feat, the clans of Gower unite for a common cause and a unified nation of Gower was born. Connacht and the clansman fought back against the Myrkridia, as well as destroying many of their nests and push them back into the Dire Marsh from which they came. He is heralded as a hero and is ordered to travel to Llancarfan to see the emperor when Word of his feats reached the empire of the Cath Bruig. On the way he saves the life of the Damas, captain of the Heron Guard of Llancarfan. Damas pledges his life to Connacht.

Connacht is placed in charge of a group of Llancarfan soldiers, to train them to fight the Myrkridia. After they defeated a Myrkridian pack-mage causing havoc in the Downs, they discover that Moagim is the one behind this. Emperor Lietrim sent Connacht and the army to defeat Moagim at his encampment near the Twelve Duns but were almost wiped out when Moagim counterattacked with his army of undead, Myrkridia and the Trow and their Oghre slaves (how he had earned their allegiance is unknown).

Myrdred, an avatara who was sent as an advisor to Connacht, suggested that they find should Mazzarin, the most powerful avatara to have ever lived, and persuade him to help them.

After a few weeks of scrying ancient tomes and manuscripts, Myrdred found a message in one tome, "I will go to a place where life is old and the world is as it was in the beginning". Only one place fit this description: Forest Heart. So Connacht, Damas, Myrdred, and a Myrmidon warrior amazon named Ravanna (who insisted she accompany them) made their way to Forest Heart. After a few weeks of searching, they found Mazzarin's crypt and navigated their way through its hidden dangers before approaching him. As a shade, Mazzarin showed no interest in their cause, as he was no longer tied to the balance of light and dark. When Connacht told him that Bahl'al was helping Moagim, Mazzarin became enraged and decided to transfer all his knowledge of the Total Codex into Connacht's mind, giving him knowledge of things long forgotten and events yet to come. The last thing he said to Myrdred was "... and disciple, let The Watcher know who has aided you in his defeat."

Upon returning to Llancarfan, Connacht went to the Smiths of Muirthemne and spoke to the forgemaster Traval about a device that can imprison whole groups of foes. Traval said they could make this device, but they needed the "Unkarak Tomen" the Dwarf tome of building from Myrgard. Unfortunately, word had been sent of a huge hoard of Ghols laying siege to Myrgard. Connacht told the Emperor about this and was granted a small army to assist the dwarves. Before leaving for Myrgard, Connacht was told by Lietrim that he was putting a great deal of faith in him, and if he fails then the loss of troops would be the downfall of Llancarfen. Connacht answered simply, "I cannot fail, it is already written".

Soon Connacht and his army reached the Badlands. Despite the long trek and scorching heat, they found the bulk of the Ghol hoard and managed to destroy the majority of it. Meanwhile the dwarves were fighting off an assault by the Ghols and the casualties were great. They had run out of explosives and were nearly overrun, when Connacht and his forces flanked the Ghols and their combined forces wiped out the horde. The few Ghols that remained swore eternal revenge upon the dwarves.

In honor of this aid, the dwarves formed an alliance with the Cath Bruig empire, and Connacht retrieved the Tomen and delivered it to Traval, Much to the forgemaster's surprise. After months of hard work and nearly disastrous accidents, the "Tain" was completed. With the artifact in hand, Connacht and his army went to the Dire Marsh to put an end to the Myrkridia forever. They were able to imprison whole legions of the beasts, and soon they came to the Black Spire where the (supposed) leader of the Myrkridia, Thalor The Black, resided. Much to their surprise, the Tain had no effect on the enemies near the spire because of Thalor's artifact, the "Eye of Thalor", which granted him immortal life and protection from spells. With no other option, Connacht led a small group of soldiers inside the spire and destroyed the Eye of Thalor, rendering him and his minions vulnerable. The remaining Myrkridia were then hunted down and killed or imprisoned.

Shortly after this victory, Moagim, enraged that his precious Myrkridia were defeated, attacked Llancarfen. Despite having to deal with The Watcher's undead hordes and the Trow, Llancarfen repelled the forces of the dark. But strangely, Moagim didn't seem to show any fatigue during the siege. Despite being struck several times with arrows from the battlements, he simply pulled them out of him like they were minor annoyances. Observing the battle from afar through a spy glass, Connacht caught a glimpse of a small ornate scepter in Moagim's hand. In a flash of memory, Connacht realized that the scepter was a Rod of the Calleiach.

The rod was a legendary device that can make its wielder immortal. After a brief meeting, the Avatara Sardonnac volunteered to take a small elite force via World Knot to Moagim's camp to destroy the rod. Upon arriving they fought their way into the camp and located the rod. Although Sardonnac did manage to destroy it, the backlash of magical energy from its destruction killed him instantly.

Back in Llancarfen, Connacht and Myrdred came up with a tactical plan that could help win the war. To free the Oghre slaves from the Trow and incite their rebellion. This was met with some sceptisim and objections from others as no race had ever fought against the Trow and won, not even the Forest Giants nor even the God-like Callieach from ages past. With a small army at their command, they traveled to a temple complex and Myrdred casted a Release Dream upon the Oghres, breaking the hold that the Trow had on them. The Oghres then turned upon their Trow masters, utterly destroying many of their cities in the weeks that followed. It wasn't long before the Trow withdrew their support of Moagim in order to deal with the rebellion.

A few days later, Connacht returned to visit Traval and his smiths described to him another artifact that the Callieach called a "Sun Hammer". Initially, Traval claimed this was beyond his skill but then Connacht presented to him a Callieach heartstone which was retrieved from the remains of Moagim's rod. Traval's smiths were amazed - it was the very thing they need to create the Sun Hammer, but even with this power source, it would still take months to make.

During the Oghre rebellion, Moagim laid siege to the land around Llancarfan, and soon he decimated the Twelve Duns. Ravanna was shocked, as she was planning to return to the Twelve Duns alone, but her growing feelings towards Damas had stopped her. With Damas and a small team of troops, she traveled back to the Twelve Duns to rescue any survivors. Upon their return, Damas was court-martialed, but Connacht and Ravanna testified that even though he had disobeyed orders, Damas had saved thousands of refugees, not to mention over a hundred fighters. Upon hearing this, the emperor opted for leniency.

Meanwhile Connacht went to meet the smiths of Muirthemne as he received word that the Sun Hammer was completed. However, when he got to their forge complex he saw that a group of fanatics called the Spider Cult was attacking the forge. Luckily, Connacht arrived with a small squad of gaurdsmen and managed to save Traval and a few smiths from death. To his horror, the Cult had stolen the Tain and the Sun Hammer. Connacht immediately rallied several hundred soldiers and laid siege to the Spider Cult's temple. What no-one noticed was that Traval and the remaining smiths infiltrated and killed off hundreds of cultists, giant spiders and even their spider god Syrkrosh and imprisoning her within the reclaimed Tain. At dawn Connacht and his forces attacked the temple but were stunned when they encountered no resistance. Not even any bodies were found. He made his way to the temple's vault and found the Tain and Sun Hammer along with a note written by Traval revealing how this whole mess happened. Apparently when constructing the Tain, Srykrosh came to this world from hers. During the near dangerous accidents from building the Tain, the smiths were the ones responsible for bringing her into the world and so felt honor-bound to defeat it. They felt the Spider God was attuned to them and could step back into this world as long as they were here, so they imprisoned themselves within the Tain too.

During this incident, the Trow had forced the Oghres into the valley of the Red Seal where a month-long battle ensued. The Oghres fought valiantly but the Trow mercilessly annihilated them until the very earth was littered with their corpses and not a single Oghre remained alive. When the Trow looked upon this slaughter, they realized the cowardice with which they had fought. Only now did they understand what the Forest Giants had told them long ago - they had corrupted the Soul of Iron, the substance their goddess Nyx had gifted them to protect their race, only to have it turned to the use of genocide again and again. The Ogres were merely the last race for that to befall at the hands of the ironclad Trow. From that moment on they swore never to use iron again, that "iron would be a tool best left for the younger races".

The Trow had learned the humans were the catalyst for the Oghre uprising and turned their focus back on Llancarfan. On the way to the Trow lands, Connacht's armies fought their way out of an ambush by The Watcher. Connacht knew they had somehow been betrayed for The Watcher to have known their location. When they arrived at the Trow cities, they noticed that none of the Trow wore their iron armor and that the Trow temples were being used as a staging area for The Watcher's undead. Using the Sun Hammer, Connacht proceeded to melt the Trow temples and cities, trapping the Trow inside a prison of molten iron. The Sun Hammer did not work on one important Trow city because of an artifact called the Heartstone of Nyx that protected it. The Sun Hammer had gotten the attention of the Trow inside who stormed out to destroy the Llancarfan army. Myrdred cast a spell that froze the Trow attackers in mid-stride and held it long enough for a group of heroes to enter the city through a World Knot to sacrifice themselves in order destroy the Heartstone that protected the city.

Connacht returned in great triumph and gathered the Llancarfan armies to defeat Moagim once and for all. Emperor Leitrim pleaded Connacht to let him lead his people in this greatest hour. On the way, the Llancarfan army was attacked by Bahl'al (The Watcher)'s armies. In an incredible dream duel, Myrdred defeated The Watcher. The armies continued to pursue Moagim and prevent him from escaping into the Province. In the night Moagim snuck in to the encampment and killed Emperor Leitrim in a sword fight and took his crown before sending waves of minions to attack the encampment. After the battle, Connacht and Damas led a group of unwounded, highly-skilled fighters to assault Moagim. Connacht and Moagim squared off in an epic axe-versus-sword fight in which Connacht killed Moagim.

Leading his wounded troops down the snowy pass, Connacht was encountered by Mjarin, the late Emperor's advisor, who Connacht had by then realized was the actual Leveler^{[citation needed]}. Moagim Reborn was merely a puppet of Mjarin's and Myrdred was, in fact, an agent of Mjarin's. Myrdred had foolishly obtained the powers the Leveler had to offer while thinking he could save the empire at the same time, and had not meant for the Emperor to perish. Connacht then branded Myrdred "The Deceiver" and banished him for his crimes. After denying Mjarin's offer to fight as one of his generals, Connacht and a group of men fought through Warlocks and other soldiers loyal to Mjarin, and made it past Mjarin's terrible fire magics for Connacht to get close enough to behead the Leveler, Mjarin. The head refused to die and continued to curse Connacht. The head was buried (which would later be dug up in the events of Myth: The Fallen Lords) and Connacht became the Emperor of Llancarfan, upon his coronation he bestowed 3 commands: first, the city of Llancarfen was to be renamed Muirthemne in honour of the brave dwarven smiths who sacrificed themselves to save it; second, in honour of the northmen who died fighting Moagim they were interred in the Mausoliam of Clovis where the first emperor was buried; third, the mountain pass where Emperor Leitrim fell to Moagim was to be renamed The Stair of Grief. Years later Connacht called in Damas and told him to destroy the artifacts of power (and hide the undestructable ones from him) and revealed that he knew, from the Total Codex, that he would return from the dead as the next Leveler and bring in the new age of darkness. He did not want the entity of the Leveler to have access to the items of power when the time would come where he would come back to life as Balor.

After a long reign as emperor, Connacht left Muirthemne and traveled back to his birthplace, Gower, to see how his people had prospered now they were free of the Dark. And from there, as the legend says, the great hero Connacht disappeared into the unknown east, not to be seen again for a thousand years.

Characters

Legendary figures

Bahl'al: The sorcerer Bahl'al was the first human to discover the Dream of Unlife in the flooded Trow city of Si'anwon. Thrall are known as "Children of Bahl'al" in deference to this achievement. It is believed that he eventually became known as "The Watcher". "Bahl'al descended to the flooded, rusting halls of Si'anwon and under the sea there took no breath for nine days, searching the ruined palaces and temples of the Trow for the Dream of Unlife".

Connacht: The great hero of the Wind Age, Connacht exterminated the Myrkridia, entombed the Trow, imprisoned the Watcher, and drove Moagim from the world. He was the emperor of the Cath Bruig Empire at the start of a golden age he ushered in. Centuries after his presumed death he returned as Balor, his body and soul now a vessel for The Leveler.

The Leveler: The Leveler is a transient evil divinity that wishes to destroy all life in the world. The Leveler appears at the end of an age of peace to destroy all civilization, ushering in an age of darkness and death. At the end of that period, he is defeated by a hero, who brings another age of peace. The Leveler's diabolic spirit does not die when his body is destroyed, and he returns a thousand years after his death, usually using the body and soul of the hero who defeated him. Each time he is killed, he grows more powerful. This cycle has repeated at least four times throughout the history of the world of Myth. His incarnations according to the various games (which are not in complete agreement) include Sorangath The Flayed, Moagim The Faceless Terror, Mjarin, and Balor.

Mazzarin: The greatest Avatara in history, he was slain by The Watcher and an army of Thrall during the Wind Age. In the mission "The Watcher" he was seen resurrected as a Shade and was compelled to serve The Watcher. "Of all the Avatara in the Four Ages there is no doubt that Mazzarin was the most powerful and his death the most salient victory of the Dark during the Wind Age." As a Shade of The Watcher, Mazzarin collapsed the Shrine of Nyx on Sinis, a Shade of The Deceiver, during a rivalry-induced battle between The Watcher's forces and The Deceiver's forces after the Battle of Tyr against Alric and his forces. According to Myth III he held the complete knowledge of the Total Codex in his mind which he passed on to Connacht to aid in the battle against Moagim.

Moagim The Faceless Terror: An incarnation of The Leveler, Moagim brought an end to the Age of Reason, and ushered in the Wind Age. Moagim was driven from the world by Connacht at the end of the Wind Age. Moagim had once been the hero Tireces. During the Wind Age Moagim returned as "Moagim Reborn."

Tireces The Immortal: A hero of ages past, Tireces defeated The Leveler incarnated as Sorangath The Flayed and ushered in the Age of Reason. He was fated to return as Moagim a thousand years later to undo this golden age.

Syrkrosh The Spider God: From a far off world, she and her children hunted every inhabitant of that world to extinction. However, the creation of the Tain brought her into our world.

The Nine

Alric: The leader of the Nine, Alric was also the former king of the Southern Provinces. When the city of Covenant was destroyed during his adolescence, he and his family managed to escape. He trained as an Avatara and eventually took command of the war effort. Alric was responsible for the death of Balor, ending the Great War. (Myth) He then ruled as king from Madrigal until the return of Soulblighter sixty years later. Unable to defeat Soulblighter with his armies alone, he enlisted the aid of The Deceiver and claimed the throne of the ruined Cath Bruig Empire. As an emperor, he used his increased magical power (owed to the Ibis Crown) to engage Soulblighter's forces. He was eventually successful, and he killed Soulblighter in the great volcano of Tharsis. Alric is said to have broken the cycle of The Leveler incarnation and thus it is not certain if he will become the new Leveler or not. (Myth II)

Cu Roi: An Avatara of the Nine, he and Murgen led an expedition into Forest Heart in an effort to regain the allegiance of the Forest Giants. He was trapped in the Tain by Soulblighter, and did not survive the destruction of the magical artifact.

Maeldun: Commander of the southern garrison and an Avatara of the Nine, Maeldun held the pass of Bagrada and retook the pass of Seven Gates after Rabican's army was crushed by The Watcher. The next year he lost Bagrada, and presumably his life.

Murgen: An Avatara of the Nine, he and Cu Roi led an expedition into Forest Heart in an effort to regain the allegiance of the Forest Giants. He was trapped in the Tain by Soulblighter, but was able to find an exit. He destroyed the Tain from within, freeing the Legion trapped inside. He was killed along with Cu Roi in the process.

Rabican: One of the most distinguished Avatara of the Nine, Rabican is noted for slaying the Fallen Lord Shiver in a Dream Duel during the siege of Madrigal. It is assumed that Rabican was killed when his army was attacked from behind at Seven Gates, encircled and crushed by The Watcher.

The Fallen Lords

Balor: The most recent incarnation of the Leveler, Balor was by far the most powerful. Having previously been the hero Connacht, Balor presumably possessed all of Connacht's knowledge. He freed the Trow and subjugated them. He corrupted the Myrmidons, and enslaved six powerful sorcerers to serve as his generals. They eventually became known as "The Fallen Lords", because most of them had once been heroes, but had fallen from the Light. The enslaved sorcerers included The Deceiver, Shiver, Soulblighter, and The Watcher (whom he freed from imprisonment). The other two are not named (or even known). Balor's forces destroyed the Cath Bruig Empire, and attempted to destroy the Province as well. He was defeated by Alric, and his head was thrown into the Great Devoid to ensure he will never rise again.

The Deceiver: An Avatara of the Wolf Age, Myrdred was perhaps one of the greatest sorcerers of all time and served as a lieutenant of Connacht. In Connacht's service he clashed with, and nearly destroyed, The Watcher. Also known as "The Source of 500 Poisons", Myrdred was named "The Deceiver" by Connacht when it was revealed he had betrayed Connacht to Moagim in exchange for arcane power (Myth III). When Connacht returned as Balor he was bent to Balor's will. He had an intense dislike of the other Fallen Lords, and clashed frequently with them, particularly The Watcher, due to their previous exchanges (Myth). The Deceiver was frozen in the Angurvadal Glacier for sixty years, but was revived by Alric and enlisted to battle against Soulblighter. He is regarded as a being of Furor Poeticus by the Trow, and they have great respect for him. He brought the Trow into the war on the side of Light. He was killed by a backlash of energy released when he killed Shiver (Myth II).

Shiver: Once a Myrmidon warrior named Ravanna in the service of Connacht (Myth III), Shiver was given the name by Balor when he enslaved her. She was killed by Rabican in a Dream Duel outside of Madrigal when Rabican exploited her weakness - vanity (Myth). Soulblighter resurrected her with Tramist's Mirror, and she led several armies in his name before she finally killed/was killed by The Deceiver (Myth II).

Soulblighter: Once known as Damas, Soulblighter had been a lieutenant of Connacht during the Wind Age. Soulblighter's fall from the Light began long before Connacht returned as Balor, as he studied the black arts in a hidden temple in the Untamed Lands to the east. Through human sacrifice and ritualistic self-mutilation, he gained immortality. Soulblighter also has the ability to transform into a murder (flock) of crows. When Connacht returned as Balor, he became Balor's second in command. He was unable to stop Balor's destruction at the Great Devoid (Myth). Sixty years later, he returned, leading a new army with the same destructive goals. Soulblighter was eventually killed by Alric. Also it was revealed in the epilogue that Soulblighter was not the Leveller (during Myth II storyline), but because Soulblighter tried to force the cycle of Light and Dark and failed, it is presumable that he broke the cycle. Of course this cannot be confirmed for another 940 years (Myth II).

The Watcher: Believed to be the necromancer Bahl'al, The Watcher was an ancient evil. During the Wind Age, he slew Mazzarin, the greatest Avatara who ever lived. He was imprisoned beneath the Cloudspine mountains by Connacht sometime after this, possibly in retaliation for this crime (Myth III). When Balor later freed him from his imprisonment under the mountain, The Watcher lost his right arm at the elbow. The Watcher had an ancient rivalry with The Deceiver, having clashed with him several times. The Watcher was eventually defeated by The Legion with arrows tipped with shards of bone from his severed arm that The Legion had recovered at Silvermines (Myth). "...the seventh wave of Thrall stumbled and climbed over the slippery, piled dead and Mazzarin saw The Watcher with them and at last knew the number of his days".

Other characters

Mauriac: Mauriac was prince regent of Covenant during King Alric's adolescence. During the Great War, he and a small group of troops under his command joined the narrator's squad, while escaping from Covenant to the plain of Scales.

Balin: Balin the Pathfinder is the dwarf who led a band of fellow dwarves in relaiming their homeland from the Ghols and destroyed the Ghol's ancestral stone god-head.

Crüniac: A minor commander in the Legion, known more for his political ambitions than his tactical skills, he was responsible for uncovering Soulblighter's resurgence, though in doing so he was later slain by Soulblighter himself.

Garrick: Crüniac's first sergeant, he brought news of Soulblighter's plot to King Alric in Madrigal after Crüniac's death.

The Narrators: The identity of the narrators in the Myth series is never established. In each game, he is a soldier in the Legion, but his rank and classification is not known. The narrator is most likely an archer, but nothing is ever confirmed, and there are several competing theories of the identity of the narrator.^[6] The narrator in Myth II gains possession of the narrator of Myth's journal following the death of Crüniac, when Garrick gives it to him after finding it in Crüniac's belongings. The Journal was presumed to have been found in the Baron Kildaer's library.

The Summoner: A man of unknown origin who resurrected the Myrkridian race, his coming was foretold in the Total Codex, a magical tome containing the history, present, and future of the world of Myth. He is later killed by a force led by The Deceiver. "Against my better judgment, I opened the Codex last night to a random page and read about the life of a man not yet born, who would resurrect the Myrkridia and visit horrors on the world without equal in history or myth".

The Myth series of games (collectively: Myth: The Fallen Lords, Myth II: Soulblighter, and Myth III: The Wolf Age) are renowned for their open-ended and extensible gaming engines.

Myth development history

The Myth games have a long and twisting history. Created by one company, bought by another, and finally supported and enhanced by the user community, the story of its decade-plus development history is an anomaly in an environment where the shelf life of most games is measured in months.

The last official releases by Bungie Software for Myth: The Fallen Lords and Myth II: Soulblighter were in 1999 (Myth: The Total Codex). When Microsoft bought Bungie, Take2 traded their Bungie stock for the rights to the Myth franchise from Bungie. Take2 released several Myth related titles including Myth II: Worlds (including 2 CDs of fan-created add-ons), Myth II: Green Berets (conversion from medieval setting to a Vietnam era setting), and Myth III: The Wolf Age.

Myth 3: The Wolf Age was widely seen as an incomplete product rushed to market so not to miss out on December sales. This perception was supported by the fact that the development team had a total of 11 months to complete the project with not much support from Bungie, GoDGames or Take2. After severely updating the preexisting Myth 2 engine into an almost completely new Myth 3D engine, toolset, new assets, and storyline, Take2 laid off most of the Mumbo Jumbo development team during the final phase of development. During this time, the Dev team was also responsible for all marketing work and budget, press and general PR. The Dev team shipped the game and remained on board unpaid to release 2 patches to fix outstanding problems, the final one being v1.0.2.^{[citation needed]}

After Myth III was rushed into going gold, Take2 stopped all development and support for all three Myth games, but thanks to lead developer Andrew Meggs, a group of Myth fans who called themselves "Myth Developers" were given access to the source code by Take 2, and have taken it upon themselves to keep the series up to date. This group, and successor groups under other names, have continued to support and develop all three games without compensation. These groups have updated the software for the latest operating systems, fixed various bugs, and added various enhancements and features to both the games themselves and the mapmaking tools. Included is the port of the Myth: The Fallen Lords single player campaign to the Myth 2 engine. The current Myth development group is Project Magma.^[7]

On March 22, 2007, Take 2 made Myth II: Soulblighter version 1.5.1c and Myth III: The Wolf Age version 1.1 available on GameTap.

Third-party projects for Myth II

A battle scene from Myth II: Soulblighter, taken from the Blue and Grey mod.

Due to mapmaking tools released to the public by Bungie and additional tools created by fans - new maps, units, 3d objects, and other plugins were created for Myth II by the thousands. Some of the more famous modifications were released in some of the bundles of Myth released, most famously, Chimera. Chimera was jointly developed by Bungie and Badlands Games, and was released in the bundle Myth: The Total Codex, along with Myth: The Fallen Lords, and Myth II: Soublighter.

Tournaments and online servers

Myth II metaservers allow players to compete online. Bungie.net was the original Myth series server. The Myth: The Fallen Lords server closed in November 2001, and the Myth II: Soulblighter's server closed in March 2002. Bungie.net supported all versions of the first 2 Myth games. After Bungie.net closed, Bungie open sourced the online server code, and multiple other online severs popped up, the most famous being PlayMyth.net. PlayMyth.net was taken offline in 2007, leaving Mariusnet as the last online Myth server.

Graphics rendering

Myth: The Fallen Lords originally supported both software rendering and 3Dfx Glide hardware-acceleration upon its release. A final v1.3 upgrade patch added support for RRedline, the native rendering API of the Rendition Verite line of graphic cards. With Myth II, Bungie introduced larger screen resolutions and Direct3D (Windows) & RAVE (Mac OS) rendering.

References

1. ^ [1] IGN.com Retrieved on 15 May 2008.
2. ^ [2] Gamespot.com Retrieved on 15 May 2008
3. ^ [3] IGN.com Retrieved on 15 May 2008
4. ^ [4] gamerevolution.com Retrieved on 16 May 2008
5. ^ http://myth.bungie.org/legends/journal/j1-17_sons_myrgard.html
6. ^ http://myth.bungie.org/legends/delusions/narrator.html
7. ^ http://www.projectmagma.net/

External links

• Bungie Studios, original developers of Myth and Myth II
• Take 2 Games, developers of Myth III and current owners of the franchise
• Project Magma, current developers under Take 2's source release