10-11-2011, 10:33 AM
The story of Diablo1 was actually quite broad, but in the manual rather then in the game itself.
Long ago Mephisto, at some point, became aware that his daughter, Lilith, had formed an alliance with the Angel Inarius and that their union had resulted in the creation of Sanctuary and the Nephalem (humans). Mephisto and the other Prime Evils decided that, rather than turn Sanctuary into another battleground, they would infiltrate the new world and subvert the powers of the Nephalem for their own ends, hoping that they would tip the scales in Hell's favor. To this end, Mephisto sent his son, Lucion, to Sanctuary to found the Triune church to recruit followers for the Prime Evils.
After the Angels became aware of Sanctuary and battled the forces of the Burning Hells for control, the Nephalem and the Edyrem fought both sides to a standstill. Mephisto then met with the Angiris Council, and offered a truce, allowing the High Heavens and the Burning Hells an equal chance at humanity's souls, in exchange for Inarius.
Some time later, the four Lesser Evils - Azmodan, Belial, Duriel and Mephisto's (presumed) own granddaughter Andariel - rose up in rebellion and forced the Prime Evils out of Hell to Sanctuary in what came to be known as the Dark Exile. In response to the most evil of beings walking Sanctuary, the Arch Angel Tyrael rallied several of the disparate mage-clans into an alliance known as the Horadrim, and gave them the Soulstones to bind the Three forever.
The prime evils were defeated and Diablo's soulstone was interred deep under Tristram's cathedral. The soulstones proved to be imperfect though. Diablo's soulstone contacted Archbishop Lazarus and Lazarus switched sides. King Leoric was driven mad by the combined forces of Diablo's telepathic assault and Archbishop Lazarus' poisoned word. Leoric, a good and peaceful monarch, became warlike and turned into a tyrant. The people revolted and eventually his own bodyguard of knights killed Leoric to end the madness. In his dying words, Leoric cursed those who betrayed him. King Leoric later became the skeleton king.
Lazarus used this chaos to abduct Leoric's son, a prince whose name I don't recall. He then tricked the people of Tristram into following him into the cathedral to save him, but led them to be slaughtered. Leoric disappeared deeper into the cathedral.
Arkane and the caves are not relevant to the primary storyline as I recall.
Eventually a hero comes and descends into the cathedral to save the prince and to find out what is going on down there. He slays the mad skeleton king, Lazarus and Diablo, who inhabits the body of the prince because the soulstone has been planted in his forehead by Lazarus. The soulstone, being imperfect, is free to spread it's influence, so the hero sees no choice but to contain the spirit of Diablo in himself and he plants the soulstone in his forehead. Diablo 1 ends with the hero screaming in agony as he does so.
Diablo II starts with the story of the wanderer, who is Diablo 1's hero. The hero is losing the battle of wills against Diablo. Wherever he goes, evil follows in his wake as Diablo's presence calls for the forces of Hell to join him in ever growing strength. This also calls for the Lesser Evils; Duriel and Andariel, who remain behind to corrupt the land. The wanderer arrives at Tal Rasha's tomb, where Tal Rasha, leader of the Horadrim at the time, is interred. Tal Rasha long ago fought Baal together with the other Horadrim. In the battle to stop Baal, the soulstone intended to contain him was shattered by Baal, to prevent his imprisonment. Baal was defeated and Tal rasha took the largest shard of the soulstone and trapped Baal's spirit in it. He then jammed the shard into his chest, to imprison Baal in his own body. The Horadrim built the tombs, and Tyrael took Tal Rasha into one of them, to imprison Baal forever, as per Tal Rasha's wishes.
The Wanderer, by then fully controlled by Diablo, arrives at the tomb and wishes to free Baal. Tyrael appears to stop him and seems about to defeat the Wanderer, when Marius, the wanderer's companion, is tricked by Baal to pull Baal's soulstone shard out of Tal Rasha's chest. Tyrael witnesses this and telepatically orders Marius to go to Kurast where he will find the portal to hell opened before him (Tyrael can apparently see into the future). He orders Marius to go through that gate and to destroy the soulstone at Hell's forge. Marius flees, alone. Baal, now in control of Tal Rasha's body, much like Diablo is in control of the Wanderer's body, overpowers Tyrael together with Diablo by disarming him.
Mephisto was the first Prime Evil to be captured, and his stone was buried in a vault beneath the Temple of Light in Kurast. A third of the Horadrim stayed to guard this tomb until the remaining two Brothers were captured. Mephisto finally managed to overcome the powers of the imprisoning Soulstone enough to influence and corrupt the local priesthood, known as the Zakarum. The demon then had the High Council work spells to shatter the Soulstone into seven shards, breaking the mystic seal and freeing the Lord of Hatred. Mephisto drove the six smaller shards into the left palms of six High Council members, who were then charged with bringing him nourishment in the form of human sacrifices while running their temple. The largest stone pierced the hand of the Que-Hegan Sankekur, the highest divine authority of the Zakarum faith. It was this body that the demon used as his manifestation on the mortal plane, warping the mortal’s form into an approximation of his true visage. For years, the corrupted religious leaders of the Zakarum kept Mephisto supplied with information and misguided followers to carry out his plans of conquest. He eventually met up with Diablo and the freshly-liberated Baal, and the Three renewed their plan to corrupt humanity and opened the portal to Hell. Marius was witness to the opening of the portal and the Wanderer's form being changed to Diablo's true form. Marius could not find the courage to enter the portal as Tyrael had instructed and fled. He was interred at an asylum, where Baal found him, took the soulstone and killed Marius. Baal now was back to great strength with his power in the soulstone available to him.
The hero came to Kurast, following the Wanderer's trail of destruction and defeated the council and Mephisto and claimed his soulstone. He then followed Diablo into Hell to end it once and for all. He defeated the corrupted angel Izual and defeated Diablo, claiming his soulstone as well. He then went to Hellforge and destroyed the soulstones of Diablo and Mephisto, banishing their spirits from Sanctuary and back to Hell. Tyrael then asked the hero to stop Baal and sent him to the Barbarian's homeland, mount Arreat. The Barbarians long ago were entrusted with guarding the Worldstone, the only thing stopping Heaven and Hell from waging full scale war in Sanctuary. The barbarians stalled Baal's army for a while, and the hero arrives with the war still in full swing. In the meanwhile Nihlathak betrays the barbarians, and gives the rite of passage to Baal in exchange for great power. Baal entered the worldstone keep using the rite, preventing him from being challenged by the three Ancients. The hero, following him, does not have this luxery and must prove himself worthy by defeating the three ancients before he can enter as well. Finally the hero confronts Baal and destroys him. Tyrael arrives and tells the hero he is too late, and the corruption of the worldstone has begun. To stop this Tyrael destroys the Worldstone.
Long ago Mephisto, at some point, became aware that his daughter, Lilith, had formed an alliance with the Angel Inarius and that their union had resulted in the creation of Sanctuary and the Nephalem (humans). Mephisto and the other Prime Evils decided that, rather than turn Sanctuary into another battleground, they would infiltrate the new world and subvert the powers of the Nephalem for their own ends, hoping that they would tip the scales in Hell's favor. To this end, Mephisto sent his son, Lucion, to Sanctuary to found the Triune church to recruit followers for the Prime Evils.
After the Angels became aware of Sanctuary and battled the forces of the Burning Hells for control, the Nephalem and the Edyrem fought both sides to a standstill. Mephisto then met with the Angiris Council, and offered a truce, allowing the High Heavens and the Burning Hells an equal chance at humanity's souls, in exchange for Inarius.
Some time later, the four Lesser Evils - Azmodan, Belial, Duriel and Mephisto's (presumed) own granddaughter Andariel - rose up in rebellion and forced the Prime Evils out of Hell to Sanctuary in what came to be known as the Dark Exile. In response to the most evil of beings walking Sanctuary, the Arch Angel Tyrael rallied several of the disparate mage-clans into an alliance known as the Horadrim, and gave them the Soulstones to bind the Three forever.
The prime evils were defeated and Diablo's soulstone was interred deep under Tristram's cathedral. The soulstones proved to be imperfect though. Diablo's soulstone contacted Archbishop Lazarus and Lazarus switched sides. King Leoric was driven mad by the combined forces of Diablo's telepathic assault and Archbishop Lazarus' poisoned word. Leoric, a good and peaceful monarch, became warlike and turned into a tyrant. The people revolted and eventually his own bodyguard of knights killed Leoric to end the madness. In his dying words, Leoric cursed those who betrayed him. King Leoric later became the skeleton king.
Lazarus used this chaos to abduct Leoric's son, a prince whose name I don't recall. He then tricked the people of Tristram into following him into the cathedral to save him, but led them to be slaughtered. Leoric disappeared deeper into the cathedral.
Arkane and the caves are not relevant to the primary storyline as I recall.
Eventually a hero comes and descends into the cathedral to save the prince and to find out what is going on down there. He slays the mad skeleton king, Lazarus and Diablo, who inhabits the body of the prince because the soulstone has been planted in his forehead by Lazarus. The soulstone, being imperfect, is free to spread it's influence, so the hero sees no choice but to contain the spirit of Diablo in himself and he plants the soulstone in his forehead. Diablo 1 ends with the hero screaming in agony as he does so.
Diablo II starts with the story of the wanderer, who is Diablo 1's hero. The hero is losing the battle of wills against Diablo. Wherever he goes, evil follows in his wake as Diablo's presence calls for the forces of Hell to join him in ever growing strength. This also calls for the Lesser Evils; Duriel and Andariel, who remain behind to corrupt the land. The wanderer arrives at Tal Rasha's tomb, where Tal Rasha, leader of the Horadrim at the time, is interred. Tal Rasha long ago fought Baal together with the other Horadrim. In the battle to stop Baal, the soulstone intended to contain him was shattered by Baal, to prevent his imprisonment. Baal was defeated and Tal rasha took the largest shard of the soulstone and trapped Baal's spirit in it. He then jammed the shard into his chest, to imprison Baal in his own body. The Horadrim built the tombs, and Tyrael took Tal Rasha into one of them, to imprison Baal forever, as per Tal Rasha's wishes.
The Wanderer, by then fully controlled by Diablo, arrives at the tomb and wishes to free Baal. Tyrael appears to stop him and seems about to defeat the Wanderer, when Marius, the wanderer's companion, is tricked by Baal to pull Baal's soulstone shard out of Tal Rasha's chest. Tyrael witnesses this and telepatically orders Marius to go to Kurast where he will find the portal to hell opened before him (Tyrael can apparently see into the future). He orders Marius to go through that gate and to destroy the soulstone at Hell's forge. Marius flees, alone. Baal, now in control of Tal Rasha's body, much like Diablo is in control of the Wanderer's body, overpowers Tyrael together with Diablo by disarming him.
Mephisto was the first Prime Evil to be captured, and his stone was buried in a vault beneath the Temple of Light in Kurast. A third of the Horadrim stayed to guard this tomb until the remaining two Brothers were captured. Mephisto finally managed to overcome the powers of the imprisoning Soulstone enough to influence and corrupt the local priesthood, known as the Zakarum. The demon then had the High Council work spells to shatter the Soulstone into seven shards, breaking the mystic seal and freeing the Lord of Hatred. Mephisto drove the six smaller shards into the left palms of six High Council members, who were then charged with bringing him nourishment in the form of human sacrifices while running their temple. The largest stone pierced the hand of the Que-Hegan Sankekur, the highest divine authority of the Zakarum faith. It was this body that the demon used as his manifestation on the mortal plane, warping the mortal’s form into an approximation of his true visage. For years, the corrupted religious leaders of the Zakarum kept Mephisto supplied with information and misguided followers to carry out his plans of conquest. He eventually met up with Diablo and the freshly-liberated Baal, and the Three renewed their plan to corrupt humanity and opened the portal to Hell. Marius was witness to the opening of the portal and the Wanderer's form being changed to Diablo's true form. Marius could not find the courage to enter the portal as Tyrael had instructed and fled. He was interred at an asylum, where Baal found him, took the soulstone and killed Marius. Baal now was back to great strength with his power in the soulstone available to him.
The hero came to Kurast, following the Wanderer's trail of destruction and defeated the council and Mephisto and claimed his soulstone. He then followed Diablo into Hell to end it once and for all. He defeated the corrupted angel Izual and defeated Diablo, claiming his soulstone as well. He then went to Hellforge and destroyed the soulstones of Diablo and Mephisto, banishing their spirits from Sanctuary and back to Hell. Tyrael then asked the hero to stop Baal and sent him to the Barbarian's homeland, mount Arreat. The Barbarians long ago were entrusted with guarding the Worldstone, the only thing stopping Heaven and Hell from waging full scale war in Sanctuary. The barbarians stalled Baal's army for a while, and the hero arrives with the war still in full swing. In the meanwhile Nihlathak betrays the barbarians, and gives the rite of passage to Baal in exchange for great power. Baal entered the worldstone keep using the rite, preventing him from being challenged by the three Ancients. The hero, following him, does not have this luxery and must prove himself worthy by defeating the three ancients before he can enter as well. Finally the hero confronts Baal and destroys him. Tyrael arrives and tells the hero he is too late, and the corruption of the worldstone has begun. To stop this Tyrael destroys the Worldstone.
Former www.diablo2.com webmaster.
When in deadly danger,
When beset by doubt,
Run in little circles,
Wave your arms and shout.
When in deadly danger,
When beset by doubt,
Run in little circles,
Wave your arms and shout.