>>723069205
Nobody, they're not mentioned in any previous HoMM title.
However they replaced academy sadly.
There was no need to replace academy tbqh considering they were one of the very few factions which nobody had an issue with and even in heroes 7(never mind H5) they had the most mechanics and were one of the the more fun factions to play.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tx6R3YgmK0s