Shades of Darkness is a standalone expansion for Heroes of Might & Magic: Heroes VI, originally due at the end of this month but recently delayed until May 3, by which point you’ll have completely forgotten about all of the delicious lore contained in the development diary below. It’s extraordinary stuff and quite possibly the most dramatic video of its type in existence. If the repeated use of an angry minotaur’s axe-blows as a sort of punctuation doesn’t get your blood pumping then the earnest enunciation of the finer points of Dark Elf history surely will: “The Mother of Trees, Brythigga, sacred to the elves and home of the royal dwelling was treacherously burned to the ground.”

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