They do not believe possessing the ability to use magic itself is a sin, but choosing to use it is an act of defilement, which is bad regardless of whether the intent behind the magic use is for good or evil.

This cult, like most cults, tends to have bizarre and extreme viewpoints. The people of Nortander are in the process of rebuilding from the war, the player is trying to atone for the sins of the father while the cult known as The Purity of Light is leading the witch hunt against mages who are already feeling the scorn of low popular opinion. In the eight year time period between the tutorial and beginning of the game proper, it’s learned that the son/daughter of Tahar (aka the player) was spared from execution by Noria during the wars and fights against the rebelling mages on the side of the Crown. This scenario is short and serves as a good tutorial for several different aspects of the game. The optional scenario is called Old Haalayash, which takes place before the main story where Noria is charged with dealing with some rebel mages and an ancient relic. When this section ends the player will be able to create their main character eight years in the future and the game starts to find its stride.

This introductory/tutorial portion lasts maybe an hour or two depending on the difficulty level and how much the player wants to explore. When beginning the main campaign, Noria is pursuing a traitorous mage by the name of Isamo Tahar. Both have the player control Sentenza Noria, commander of the Wolf Guard. The story begins in the events leading up to what will eventually be known as the Mage Wars and the creation of The Circle of Mages, sheding more light in what led to the disaster that set the stage for the original SpellForce. The game contains a couple prequels to itself in its own right one is mandatory and one is an optional scenario.

Those who wondered what Eo was like prior to this event will get their wish granted as SpellForce 3 takes place about 500 years before this event took place. Those familiar with SpellForce know that a ritual involving some magic users led to a cataclysmic event known as the Convocation, with the first game taking place recently after this event tore the world asunder and its sequel taking place a few centuries in the future. The SpellForce series has chosen to follow this path, which is not inherently bad by any stretch of the imagination since Dragon Warrior III and Castlevania III: Dracula’s Curse were both triumphant entries in their respective franchises and even hold up well today if one can forgive the 8-bit presentation of the Paleozoic era. Thanks to the likes of Dragon Warrior and Castlevania, making the third entry in a given series a prequel has become something of a normal convention in gaming.

Spellforce 3 character creation