Will there be artefacts in the game, like the ones in Heroes of Might & Magic?
Yes, there will be artefacts; however, they are not going to be like the ones used in HoMM at all. In Etherlords, artefacts contain spells that can be used in combat one or more times. Artefacts will contain both spells typical to a particular race, and spells that are otherwise inaccessible to all races.