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facts about D1 - Puma - 03-23-2004
I am writing a fanfic on D1
I'm expanding a history of Diablo(a bit! a tiny bit!) and I'd like to know:
1.whether or not it was possible for Westmarch to have its own paladins;if yes,what could be the possible name for their leader;
2.were there WOODS near Tristram;
3.can wolves become "man's best friends";
4.were there CARAVANS in Tristram; when; what happened during them (possibly)
That's all for now.
Thank you in advance.
facts about D1 - LemmingofGlory - 03-23-2004
Quote:1.whether or not it was possible for Westmarch to have its own paladins;if yes,what could be the possible name for their leader;
Traditionally, Paladins are holy warriors. It's certainly possible to invent a sect of Paladins that sprouted up from Westmarch, but you'd need to decide whether they:
1) Follow the "Religion of Light" (the religion of Leoric, D2 Paladins, and, generally, Tristram)
OR
2) Follow some other religion, which you could make up.
Quote:2.were there WOODS near Tristram;
Probably.
Quote:3.can wolves become "man's best friends";
D2 allows it.
Quote:4.were there CARAVANS in Tristram; when; what happened during them (possibly)
Trade caravans traveled to Tristram, yes. I suspect they came regularly, but I don't recall when/if they stopped. When they were at Tristram, they traded and possibly booked passage to other stops on their trade route.
[o: *LEMMING* :o]
facts about D1 - silented - 03-23-2004
This is my opinion on the mythos of diablo. Nothing in Diablo 2 ever happened. That game completely lacks the atmosphere of the original (though some of the short movies still have some). I guess you could say that my stance on Diablo 2 is similar to the one Star Wars fans have toward the phantom menece.
For a little bit of insight play through the quests in singleplayer and talk to the townsfolk a lot. Some of the things they say might give some insight into what the world outside of tristram is like. The magic rock quest comes to mind, in it Griswold talks about the trade caravans some and the 'dark riders' that have been around the countryside since the evils began. It's been awhile since i played through singleplayer though.
Addition: Also read the diablo manual.
facts about D1 - Trucidation - 03-23-2004
Quote:4.were there CARAVANS in Tristram; when; what happened during them (possibly)
Here's what Griswold has to say: "While I have to practically smuggle in the metals and tools I need from caravans that skirt the edges of our damned town"
So it seems like caravans don't stop in Tristram any more, but the townsfolk still have access to those that go near.
I suggest you listen to the random NPC gossip -- They have some useful tidbits about what's going on in Tristram. The easiest way to do this would be to extract all the NPC speeches from the mpq file.
-Trucidation
facts about D1 - SanKaiShen - 03-24-2004
Hello lurkers,
For the caravans, here is a sentence from Ogden :
Quote:The caravan stopped here to take on some supplies for their journey to the east. I sold them quite an array of fresh fruits and some excellent sweetbreads that Garda has just finished baking. Shame what happened to them...
So I suppose they have stopped at the inn :)
facts about D1 - NiteFox - 03-24-2004
LemmingofGlory,Mar 23 2004, 08:13 PM Wrote:Spirit wolves. Unless I'm missing a piece of town NPC gossip.Quote:3.can wolves become "man's best friends";D2 allows it.
But I suppose that many of the more outlandish hunters and mercenaries did domesticate (or keep barely restrained) wolves for attack dogs and trackers. It's possible.
facts about D1 - Puma - 03-24-2004
Thank you very much.Your info really helped a lot.As for referring to d1-i cant-no psx,no pc at home
Now,as I'm expanding further,more questions arise:
1.What could be the distance between Westmarch and Khanduras for one man without a horse?
2.Zhar the mad-what is his prehistory-where did he come from?
3.Could an unprepared girl of about 20-21 wield a mace? If not-club? If not,how could she kill a skeleton with a bow?
4.What was(if was) the name of the queen(if leoric had one)?
5.Who helped wirt outta the labyrinth-ogden,cain or gris?
and 6.where can i get qualitative d1 fics to compare my art?
Again,thank you in advance :unsure:
facts about D1 - Tal - 03-24-2004
Puma,Mar 24 2004, 11:33 AM Wrote:Thank you very much.Your info really helped a lot.As for referring to d1-i cant-no psx,no pc at home3. Depends on the situation but I would definitely say the first two over the latter. The bow is a much harder weapon to master than people realize.
Now,as I'm expanding further,more questions arise:
1.What could be the distance between Westmarch and Khanduras for one man without a horse?
2.Zhar the mad-what is his prehistory-where did he come from?
3.Could an unprepared girl of about 20-21 wield a mace? If not-club? If not,how could she kill a skeleton with a bow?
4.What was(if was) the name of the queen(if leoric had one)?
5.Who helped wirt outta the labyrinth-ogden,cain or gris?
and 6.where can i get qualitative d1 fics to compare my art?
Again,thank you in advance :unsure:
5. I believe it was Griswald
facts about D1 - Obi2Kenobi - 03-24-2004
1. I would help you out, as there is a map of Sanctuary in the D2 manual, but I can't find mine. :( All I can find is that stupid Brady Games thing...<_<
2. He is just some mage that went insane. No history is given.
3. I think that she could be able to wield a club, just very clumsily.
4. Leoric had no queen.
5. Griswold brought him out.
facts about D1 - SanKaiShen - 03-25-2004
4. Leoric has a son, Albrecht, so he had a woman in his life :). But I don't know if she was a queen.
facts about D1 - Puma - 03-25-2004
Thanx you. Perhaps I'll even translate my clumsy work in English and give a link.
facts about D1 - Obi2Kenobi - 03-25-2004
I forgot about him... I think the queen might have died or something, though, as no one "took over" after he died, at least not one that I can remember.
facts about D1 - Nystul - 03-25-2004
You know, since finding the Prince is basically the Hero's main goal, you real ought not forget about him :P
facts about D1 - --Pete - 03-25-2004
Hi,
And for all these years I've just thought it was about finding GPOW and a Lightforge helm :)
--Pete
facts about D1 - Lord_Olf - 03-25-2004
finding Dreamflange Ring and... ah well... never mind... :-)
Take care,
Lord_Olf (who found a royal circlet two days ago and now has a very happy warrior)
facts about D1 - Attika - 03-28-2004
Greetings, Puma
Here are some tentative answers to some of your questions, as I interpret NPC conversation and re-read the D1 and D2 booklets.
1.whether or not it was possible for Westmarch to have its own paladins;if yes, what could be the possible name for their leader;
According to the D2 booklet: "...the Church selected a group of its most charismatic and devoted priests and sent them on a mission to proselytize the people of the West." Furthermore, ". . . once the Word had been spread to every major city of the West, the "Protectors of the Word" faded from public view." (referring to Paladins accompanying the first group of Priests and Monks journeying west). In the D2 map, there are only about eight cities and two ruins sites listed, and two of these cities (Duncraig and Kingsport) are in/near Westmarch, so again, more evidence the Paladins made it out that far.
When a second wave of conversion was sent west, it killed those it could not convert, upsetting a number of Paladins sworn to protect the innocent, and: "... so, these rebellious Paladins left their Zakarum brethren and ventured west." More Paladins even _further_ west then!
So, Westmarch could potentially a number of different types of Paladins present. The first wave could have settled there and intermarried and begun raising its own holy protectors. Or Paladins from the bloody second wave could have reached the same area. Or the Paladins who left their brethren and journeyed west could easily have made it out that far and then gone even further. Paladins, although not common, sound like they've spread throughout all of Westmarch.
For names, again it would depend. A Paladin wanting to declare his Eastern heritage might take a name reflecting Eastern manners of speech. Note some Eastern names of cities/names/events: Zakarum, Akarat, Que-Hegan, Sankekur, Kurast, Viz-jun. (A somewhat Middle-Eastern flavor.) Note also how nearly all the phonemes are either a consonant plus a vowel or a consonant-vowel--consonant combination. A name for such a leader might appear like that too.
If the Paladin is "home-grown" and has a name given to him from the locale in which he was born/raised, then the name should reflect this -- cities like Kingsport, Duncraig, and Tristram. The phonemes here are nearly all greater than three letters, and have many double-consonant blends: sp, cr, tr, ng. More a European sound to them.
Since in D2 the Paladins were originally trained by the Church, it would be unlikely that a different order of Paladins would have developed independently in Westmarch at the exact same time. Much more likely that a splinter sect developed from an Eastern Paladin that came through, converted, and then either settled, died, or left.
(Also remember that King Leoric was a "deeply religious man" who brought LOTS of priests of Zakarum with him to Khanduras (pg. 67, Diablo manual) when he took over Tristram.)
2.were there WOODS near Tristram;
Pretty definite _yes_ here; on the map it shows Tristram near hilly terrain, near a water source (river) and opposite the side of the mountains separating the desert of Aranoch from Khanduras. The area around Tristram appears as fairly hilly terrain with water -- thus, you'd probably get trees, and thick forests would easily be possible. The area to the Northwest of Tristram appears more a floodplain, however, so forests in that direction wouldn't be as likely.
3.can wolves become "man's best friends";
Well, yes, sort of. Wolves raised in captivity can easily tolerate Man's presence. I visited a "wolf-park" which was raising said animals for return to the wild -- it had about 20 wolves. The people who worked on the site often entered and walked through the enclosured areas (acres upon acres!) and I saw one person carry in a deer carcass slung across his shoulders and the wolves scampered all about him but wouldn't even jump to get at it. He said this was because they "recognized" him as being higher in the social order than the rest of them, and so deferred to him. He also said he earned this by: 1.) never "playing" with the wolves, and 2.) never getting "down on all fours" with them, making his physical stature appear less than theirs.
I would think a wolf raised as a pup would be even more apt to "bond" with a human, and exhibit "domesticated" behavior.
HOWEVER, that said, I read somewhere that Wolf-Dog crosses make very bad pets. The resulting Wog or Dolf is still soemwhat wild, and if it sees something "prey-sized" running (say, a small child) then instinct kicks in regardless of how the animal was raised.
4.were there CARAVANS in Tristram; when; what happened during them (possibly)
Everyone else gave you the info there. I believe that the Magic Rock quest has to do with a caravan bound for the East and carrying a "piece of the heavens" that had fallen to Earth. The caravan got ambushed by cloaked riders on the road North of Tristram. Possible other caravans heard of this and either skirt Tristram now or avoid it entirely.
1.What could be the distance between Westmarch and Khanduras for one man without a horse?
Looking at the map on page 80 of the D2 manual there is no scale listed. However, the size of the mountain ranges and the desert they then create suggest that the map represents an area the size of Eastern and Central Europe or so. The distance from Westmarch to Khanduras might be around 300 to 400 miles (500 to 600 kilometers?). The area is mostly floodplains and coastal plains (flat, easy travel) and if your person can go sixteen miles a day he should be able to do it in twenty days no problem. But again, since there is no scale listed, you can just about make it whatever you want -- longer, shorter, whatever.
2.Zhar the mad-what is his prehistory-where did he come from?
Zhar is a real unknown. He could be a "good" Mage gone mad, or simply an evil Counselor vomited up from the bowels of the dungeon -- Jarulf's lists him as a Counselor, not an Advocate. However, since Zhar can cast Fireballs rather than the standard issue Firebolts of all other Counselors, this would suggest that he is a good Mage gone bad.
Also, you should really read all the quests that didn't make it into the final version of the game, especially reading The Warlock quest. This also suggests he might be a good mage gone bad.
You'll find them all here:
http://geocities.com/lemmingofglory/remove...ved.html#quests
3.Could an unprepared girl of about 20-21 wield a mace? If not-club? If not,how could she kill a skeleton with a bow?
The mace takes a strength of 16 to use. A Rogue _starts_ with 20 strength, so yes, an "unprepared girl of about 20-21" should easily be able to use a mace. A morningstar would probably be beyond her.
To kill a skel with a bow you could suggest the skeletal is very old, dry and brittle, and a shot to the chest simply shattered/disarticulated the creature. Or, as they say in the Hollywood zombie films, "Just shoot it in the head! That seems to kill it!"
4.What was(if was) the name of the queen(if leoric had one)?
Since Leo had a son who was a Prince, there must have been a recognized Queen. Since Diablo appears to take place in about medieval times, they probably had the same sanitation -- meaning very poor. Since the Queen is not mentioned at all, perhaps she died of disease (fever?) or during/after childbirth. Here's a quote from our own history: "During the 19th century, women in childbirth were dying at alarming rates in Europe and the United States. Up to 25% of women who delivered their babies in hospitals died from childbed fever (puerperal sepsis), later found to be caused by Streptococcus pyogenes bacteria." We probably can't expect much better sanitation in the world of Diablo, so perhaps the Queen died in childbirth.
5.Who helped wirt outta the labyrinth-ogden,cain or gris?
Griswold.
and 6.where can i get qualitative d1 fics to compare my art?
Fanfic:
http://realmsbeyond.net/diablo/tales.html
http://pub180.ezboard.com/fthedsfcommunityfrm1 (surf the back pages)
http://members.shaw.ca/Taibo/3.htm#4
and
http://members.shaw.ca/Taibo/5.htm
http://geocities.com/lemmingofglory/Stories.html
http://www.bloodoffold.netfirms.com/tales.html
check the removed quests here:
http://geocities.com/lemmingofglory/remove...ved.html#quests
Good luck with your efforts.
Attika
facts about D1 - Rhydderch Hael - 03-29-2004
Westmarch does indeed have Paladins. It was the Paladins of Westmarch who fought against King Leoric's warriors of Khanduras when mad King Leoric attacked Westmarch. The Paladins of Westmarch kicked the Khanduran warriors' asses big-time: the Warrior you play in D1 is a survivor of the Khanduran army who weathered the failed campaign against Westmarch, to return home to Tristram for a little fun below the church.
And that's canon, as written in the D1 game literature, as I recall.
As in my own fanfic concepts, I resolved the Westmarch/Zakarum thing by seeing the Zakarum not so much as a Church, but an administrated Empire that is governed by a Church. Westmarch happens to be the most distant (and hence, most independently-minded) province of the Empire, much like Britain during the reign of the Roman Empire. As Zakarum crumbles (and does so in the Time of Troubles), the outermost provinces begin to splinter awayâ Westmarch being the most prominent. Hence, the Paladins of Westmarch, while still technically part of the now-corrupted Church of Light, have not fallen to Mephisto's Compelling Orb (and don't join their brother Zealots and Faithfuls and whatnot in Kurast) by their very lack of faith in the established Empire.
The end of one chapter in my fanfic (the close of Act IV) is punctuated by the actual collapse of the Zakarum Empire. Once word gets out that the Temple City of Travincal has been lain waste, all the provinces of the Empire fracture and vie for independence (or the control of the other provinces). Rule is consolidated to local capitals and short wars are made to further combine splintered nations into alliances and annexed territory. The now-independent Kingdom of Westmarch does soldier on with a reincarnation of the Church known as the Church of the Western Light.
facts about D1 - Rhydderch Hael - 03-29-2004
As to the 20-year old girl whacking skellies with a stick, I'd say it'd work, and work easy. May even work better if she used a staff.
One way to go around explaining skeletons (and the 'killing' of them) is that they are actually spirits or ghosts that require a physical body to manipulate in order to do things in the material world. They make use of dessicated skeletons because human bones resonate with a spiritual energy that binds easily to the evil spirit's force. The bones of a person long dead, after all, were bathed in the presence of a human sould for the duration of that person's life, so the bones are "soaked" in spiritual energy that still remains. that's why these evil ghosts cannot take the form of, say, the rocks or tiles of the dungeon floor. They need to bind to the bones of a person in order to do anything, like a grotesque puppet.
Subsequently, if you damage or destroy the human semblence (by smashing the face or overall form of the skeleton with something big), the evil spirit loses bond to the bones, and the skeleton falls as if it were nothing more than a bunch of sticks.
In addition, this logic applies to how a Necromancer from D2 recruits his army.
Zombies are another deal completely, this form of Undead working in a different manner than skeletons. Zombies are the re-animated bodies of the deceased. Brought back to air of life, but trapped in a body of decay, fueled by hatred.
Most importantly, and I hope I've illustrated to you: the need for some hard-and-fast rules of the story's world is not as important as carrying out your own personal style of writing. Sometimes, I feel, it would be much better if one made up their own elements to the Diablo story rather than sticking hard to the 'rules' already set down by another person. Don't be timid and afraid that you'll step on some peoples' toes if you make your story a little different than how plays in the gameâ more people may appreciate the stylized difference rather than have a story that is a play-for-play copy of what they get when they boot up the game.