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
