Verhoffin is an important figure in the backstory to Might and Magic IX. Verhoffin was a powerful mage who lived in Axeoth about five hundred years before the Reckoning. He built a large tower to study magic in, and declared that the tower and the surrounding area was his property, and independent of the powerful Ursanian Empire. The rulers of the Empire were not happy with this, and the assassin Nazrim was eventually sent to dispose of him. Nazrim spent years preparing for his task, but in the end, he failed. In response to the attempt, Verhoffin cast a spell that laid waste to half the Empire, eventually bringing about its downfall. The event was named the Great Cataclysm, and was considered one of the worst disasters in Axeoth's history.