Correct my storyline understanding? D1 > D2 > D2LOD > D3 [Spoilers]

[sojourn]

Ahoy fellow lurkers, been some time since appearing here.

It's been a long while and I've forgotten the transition between the Diablo saga. So in preparation to D3, I'd like to review and look for others to fill me in on what I may have forgotten or got the wrong idea. I'm leaving out the subquests and focusing on the main events of the story, feel free to correct or add where needed. I'd like to get the record straight without having to play to both games attentively over again

Act 1 - D1
I do recall in a short summary, D1 was about the hero who returns to town (Odgen fills in this info, IIRC) who then lounges upon Tristram into the dungeon, in search for the Archbishop Lazarus who took a child with him.

- Something about the townspeople being tricked by Lazarus and led to the Butcher who slays many of them, few return alive.

Act 2
Hero progresses deeper into the Catacombs, finds tombs and stories on Arkane's Valor. I knew it was an armor, but what was the significance of Arkane's Valor?

- I think there was a narrative about the Hidden (creature group) too somewhere, not sure of this.

Act 3
Goes to Caves, I don't remember much backstory about the caves.

Act 4
Finds the entrance to hell, finds Sir Gourash, Lazarus, other super uniques (was there a plot related to these unique mobs?). Hero kills Lazarus, but Laz has already planted the soulstone (?) into the kid and Diablo is re-awakened, so hero slays Diablo.

Ending
Hero takes soulstone and puts into his head, sees/hears evil and becomes "The Wanderer".

D1 transitition D2
This is explained in D2 when Cain is rescued, the Hero from D1 becomes aloof, and "wanders" out of town a few days after celebration. Tristram becomes raided, pillaged.

Act 1 - D2 Classic
Andariel has corrupted the land of the Rogues/sisterhood, many of them became defiled minions. New hero ventures to rescue Cain, who gives some story. Hero2 crosses the land into the castle (which I'm still not sure why it is specifically a castle dungeon setting), goes into the catacombs and kills Andariel.

Act 2
Cain explains that the evil has moved east (I think?) Warriv takes hero east, learn about darkness spreading in the desert, find the horadric cube, staff of kings in maggot lair and viper amulet in valley of snakes was actually pieces for the Horadric staff. I don't remember much of the Horadrim story except about Tal-Rasha being corrupted, that they used to be a group of some sort that protected the land and was entrusted by Tyrael?

Anyway, hero makes staff, finds about the palace being corrupted with evil, finds evil summoner and kills him to find the true tomb of Tal Rasha.

Hero2 kills Duriel, who doesn't seem to have much backstory other than being an evil force. That releases Tyrael from his prison and the evil has moved to Kurast (?)

Act 3
There's that part where the wanderer (hero1 I think) walks out of the entrance and becomes a pack of monsters.

Think it's centered about finding the lost Khalim's pieces (Why was Kalim important anyway?) and transmuting them into the flail to break the compelling orb. Lots of the stuff around Kurast has been corrupted, those temples and high councils became evil or something like that.

Somewhere along this process is about finding out that Mephisto occupies the land, so the hero2 kills him. I still remember Mephisto always says "You're too late", think he implies that the hero2 was too late and that Diablo has already been ressurected.

Act 4
Hero2 defeats Izual, who talks about Tyrael being a fool. Hero2 shatters Mephisto's soulstone, kills Diablo's 3 lesser generals, defeats Diablo.

I'm not too clear on Tyrael's story at this point, something that Baal has gone further up the northlands (?)

Act 5 - D2LOD
Hero2 frees the barbarians, rescues Anya, Nithanlak got corrupted and gave some barbarian artifact to Baal, I think?

Hero2 has to go to the arreat summit, beat the 3 barbarians to enter the worldstone keep. Hero defeats Baal's minions, defeats Baal, Tyrael says it's too late and he has to destroy the worldstone because it was too corrupted (?)

That's as far as I can recall off the top of my head... any experts on the plots here, I know you are out there!

[Crusader]

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.

[LavCat]

Lazarus used this chaos to abduct Leoric's son, a prince whose name I don't recall.

Prince Albrecht.

[[wcip]Angel]

Well done, Crusader. You actually made me want to install D2 again.. :-)

[Mavfin]

Lazarus used this chaos to abduct Leoric's son, a prince whose name I don't recall.

Prince Albrecht.

I won't spoil the details (they're out there in forums/youtube if you want them), but in D3 you find out that Leoric had more than one son involved in the story...

Edit: I'm enjoying the spoilers I see, because, it's only a little piece of the game that we can see, so it's only a few little things you can find out. However, I won't post them here, beyond the above tidbit.