Hmm. Hard to say. The Ancients themselves are Barbarians, both in lore and in in-game characters.
I would say it airs on the Barbarian side, as all barbarians and druids stream from one culture, a barbaric one.
Plus the Nephalem, do get a bit of a lore change with the Sin War Trilogy.
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-Humankind cannot gain anything without first giving something in return. To obtain, something of equal value must be lost. That is alchemy's First Law of Equivalent Exchange. In those days, we really believed that to be the world's one, and only, truth.
Actually, listening back to their speeches, the Nephalem in the game seem to fit in exactly with The Sin War Trilogy.
Quote from Anya »
"Many outsiders believe that the fantastic stories about our ancestors, the Ancients, are but fables. However, I believe that the Ancients were more than human -- that mankind has fallen from what it once was."
Quote from "QualKehk" »
"The Ancients are not our enemies. Remember that! They are our ancestors -- our gods."
Quote from The Ancients »
"We are the spirits of the Nephalem, the Ancient Ones. We have been chosen to guard sacred Mount Arreat, wherein the Worldstone rests. Few are worthy to stand in its presence; fewer still can comprehend its true purpose.
I meant since the Barbarian ancients were formerly humans of the world. Talic had a son or a daughter. Their biographies seem nothing like the descirption of the Nephalem.
Talic
Talic is from the Western Shores of the Barbarian Kingdom. At a young age, Talic had already mastered several of the barbarian skills. He was only 19 when he was called to serve the Ancients. Before his calling, he had only heard legends of Mt. Arreat. The Kae Huron mountain range, where lies Arreat, isn't even visible from warm waters he grew up around. One morning there was a knock at his door. It was the town elder and an old woman. They entered as his wife and young child sat at the table. The woman was introduced as Kala the Seer for Sescheron the capital city of the Barbarian Tribes. She came to bestow upon Talic the ultimate task of protecting the sacred gates to Mt. Arreat. His reward for accepting such service would be eternity atop the mountain. While it was an honor beyond comprehension to be chosen for such a role, he would never be able to return home, nor see any of his family again.
Talic rose from his chair, standing a head taller than the Seer, and told her fiercely "I won't go." He had refused. He told the Seer to choose another. Kala looked at him and said the choice was not hers to make. The Ancients had spoken to her of a young warrior in the West named Talic. That was who they wanted, that was who they chose. Talic stared long at the Seer. Then finally, he nodded slowly in agreement, turned to his wife and child, kissed them goodbye, and journeyed to Mt. Arreat
Madawc
No one is quite sure where Madawc is from, only that one day he walked out of the hills of Val Narian in the North, an axe in both hands, ready to battle. Those who were crazy enough to battle beside Madawc referred to him as the warrior prophet. He claimed he was cursed with visions from both past and present. He would often begin fights without provocation, claiming he sought justice for crimes not yet committed. Before every battle he would sit, trance like, staring up to the skies. Sometimes, when he would fall out of these trances, he would rise from wherever he was, and leave, not taking part in the waiting battle. Those that knew of Madawc’s trances began to believe he could tell the outcome of a battle even before it was fought. How else could the crazy old codger have survived for as long as he had? He became well known among the warriors of the Northern Lands because of his supposed gift. Men began to follow Madawc wherever he went, staying if he stayed, leaving when he left. He became something of a legend, a warrior prophet. However, one night as Madawc sat around the fire with some of his men, he stood up, dropped his pipe, and left. When one of the men stopped him and asked where he was going he said, "The Ancients have called me to guard Mt. Arreat. So, I must go." Pushing past the man, Madawc began his long trek south to the summit of Mt. Arreat.
Korlic
Korlic was raised in the Henknoc jungles on the southern end of the barbarian kingdom. While the land that these barbarians lived in was lush and full of life, it was also full of danger beyond belief. Korlic was the leader of the Henknoc, protecting his people from the beasts they lived among. As a child he had managed to tame one of the more vicious animals called a stalker. It was said that there must have been druid in his blood in order to perform such a task at such a young age. In his teens Korlic rescued a small child from a horde of giant spiders. The child turned out to be the son of a chieftain of an enemy tribe. Without thought or worry Korlic returned the boy home. While some say it was an act of stupidity, others say it was an act of courage. Which ever, it brought about an end to the conflicts between the two tribes. When the Ancients summoned Korlic it was through the tribe's Seer, his wife. She told him the Ancients had called upon him to protect that which must not fall, to protect Mt. Arreat. The honor was such that Korlic could not speak. Seeing this, his wife turned to the people of Henknoc and shouted, "My husband, your chief, has been chosen by the Ancients to guard sacred Mt. Arreat. In honor of this joyous occasion we shall celebrate until his departure." And they celebrated, for three days until Korlic left. On the final day, Korlic named his successor. He was the young boy, now a man, who Korlic had saved from the giant spiders so long ago. Korlic knew he would rule fairly and justly over both tribes. Finally, with all his worldly deeds complete, he ventured to the top of Arreat to begin his otherworldly quest of protecting the Worldstone for all eternity.
Just reading Talic's bio. It mentions ancients. Ancients Before Talic become one? Now they are definitely Nephalem.
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-Humankind cannot gain anything without first giving something in return. To obtain, something of equal value must be lost. That is alchemy's First Law of Equivalent Exchange. In those days, we really believed that to be the world's one, and only, truth.
I just figured that their 'nephalem' powers were awakened, in a similar way that Uldyssian's powers were. Except, Uldyssian called himself an Edyrem, but he is essencially the same thing as the Nephalem, just a different generation. I suppose it is the generation that makes all the difference... but still, its close enough. Its much easier for the Ancients to just call themselves Nephalem rather than try and explain that they are technically nephalem but not quite because they aren't the first generation, but they still have the same powers.
Oh yeah, and Nihlathak is just an Elder Barbarian. The Elders have spells and rituals that regular Barbarians do not. But he's not a Necromancer, he just somehow gained demonic spells. He seems to have made a deal with Baal fairly early on, because he was the only one that wasn't killed by Baal's minions when all the other Elders were. I'd say his deal gave him extra powers.
All of the Elders, save Nihlathak, sacrificed themselves to place a protective ward around Harrogath.
Quote from LoD Manual »
7th day of Montaht, Matins It seems that I am not the only one who cannot sleep. Qual-Kehk readies his men even now, as I ready myself. This morning, I shall propose that we perform one of the long-forbidden Druidic spells of warding. As Elders, we alone are capable of summoning such tremendous energies. Though the ward may drain us of vital magical reserves, if our land is to be saved we will do what we must.
Our people once considered the Druids brethren - but after the terrible Mage Wars, the druids were exiled to the harsh wilds beyond our homeland. Since then, our Elders have kept their fearsome Druidic powers a closely guarded secret.
The danger of unleashing such powers once again terrifies me. If done incorrectly, the warding spell could consume us all well before the arrival of Baal's army. However, I have studied the rites, and I am confident that I can cast the warding correctly with the Council's help. The ward will bar passage to any spawn of Hell - even Baal himself. I intend to place it around the entirety of Harrogath.
Casting the spell in this fashion requires that all seven Elders venture outside the protective walls of our city. The danger is great...We may all be killed. However, I see no alternative. I go now to take this matter before the assembled Council of Elders.
The first time i got to travel back to trist to save Cain i loved it. Now sometimes i wish i could leave him in his cage
My fave quest in d2 would have to be killing nithiliak in act 5( he has by far the coolest death) or Izzy as those plus 2 skills give ur char a little bit of needed help when u are playing solo and big d's coming up
From D1 my favourite Quest had to be killing the Wizard there Lazarus( i think ). Going through those weird teleportal type things. It was pretty epic!
opps diablo 2 only
sorry for offtopic
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Tyrael
A verbal mistake on a omnibus is a painful situation.
I must needs add -- my favorite being Prison of Ice -- the follow-up, with the Betrayal of Harrogath.
Rescuing Anya (given my favoritism towards Damsel-in-Distress scenarios) naturally lends itself to the need for especially gleeful vengeance upon Nihlathak's ass.
Yeah, Prison of Ice was really good too. It was basically the prelude to Betrayal at Harrogath. So it all kind of feels like one really long quest anyway.
Killing diablo. The entire river of flame and chaos sanctuary got me hard.
Specially the first time through. U break the first seal and nothing happens....u run to the next seal and break it and bam! u are flooded with baddies. I think i just about crapped my pants first time through in single player. Then a whole 10 min later u actually get to fight diablo and the "not even Death can save you from me" is a whole nother story
My favorite quest would probably be the ancients quest. The scene is pretty cool and after you kill them you can look over the edge and see the town underneath you.
Yeah, I second Act I for the same reasons as Explorer. Also, the Arcane Sanctuary... As it is, I love the place, but could you imagine it in brilliant new shiny graphics and sound quality? Sorry, almost based that on the level and not the quest. I generally love any sorcery-sided quest, I'm a sucker for casters.
I don't think there was any quest I thought was very well made, or that I enjoyed much for it's story or whatever...
Everything in the game just seemed like made up attempts to have the person do random stuff, either to help him to his goal, or completely on the side... nothing of any real quality, like in Baldur's gate. The quests are all "kill this, find these, go here". No real depth, hence I don't think anything was special.
I really liked fighting the weaponsmith and forgemaster though, since they had cool voices (well they also die fast :))
...Of course the butcher was better.
I loved all the movies for the game though (except LoDs weren't too good. Like the intro was cool, but it wasn't like it had any plot to it or intrigue or anything, as the original had)
While not a huge fan of the arcane sanctuary(don't like the real skinny passages) i like getting into the true tal rasha's tomb, in the classic diablo dungeon style(aka indoors) and placing the staff to open up the passage. Cue Indiana Jones theme.
If u asked me...I would surely say that my personal favourite is the quest to obtain the horadric cube...that quest was so damn long and interesting.... and my 2nd favourite is surely the quest to save deckard cain....that quest just felt sooooooooo classic....the exploding cow......tristram..... evil griswold....and the peg leg....................but I really think that all of the quest in act 3 were soo tedious......and confusing..... I never really liked act 3
Regarding the Cain Quest... I never realized until this past weekend that the cows exploded.
That one right by the portal scared the bejeebus outta me (I jumped), 'cuz I wasn't expecting it.
I could have sworn I'd clicked on that thing before...
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I would say it airs on the Barbarian side, as all barbarians and druids stream from one culture, a barbaric one.
Plus the Nephalem, do get a bit of a lore change with the Sin War Trilogy.
Talic
Talic is from the Western Shores of the Barbarian Kingdom. At a young age, Talic had already mastered several of the barbarian skills. He was only 19 when he was called to serve the Ancients. Before his calling, he had only heard legends of Mt. Arreat. The Kae Huron mountain range, where lies Arreat, isn't even visible from warm waters he grew up around. One morning there was a knock at his door. It was the town elder and an old woman. They entered as his wife and young child sat at the table. The woman was introduced as Kala the Seer for Sescheron the capital city of the Barbarian Tribes. She came to bestow upon Talic the ultimate task of protecting the sacred gates to Mt. Arreat. His reward for accepting such service would be eternity atop the mountain. While it was an honor beyond comprehension to be chosen for such a role, he would never be able to return home, nor see any of his family again.
Talic rose from his chair, standing a head taller than the Seer, and told her fiercely "I won't go." He had refused. He told the Seer to choose another. Kala looked at him and said the choice was not hers to make. The Ancients had spoken to her of a young warrior in the West named Talic. That was who they wanted, that was who they chose. Talic stared long at the Seer. Then finally, he nodded slowly in agreement, turned to his wife and child, kissed them goodbye, and journeyed to Mt. Arreat
Madawc
No one is quite sure where Madawc is from, only that one day he walked out of the hills of Val Narian in the North, an axe in both hands, ready to battle. Those who were crazy enough to battle beside Madawc referred to him as the warrior prophet. He claimed he was cursed with visions from both past and present. He would often begin fights without provocation, claiming he sought justice for crimes not yet committed. Before every battle he would sit, trance like, staring up to the skies. Sometimes, when he would fall out of these trances, he would rise from wherever he was, and leave, not taking part in the waiting battle. Those that knew of Madawc’s trances began to believe he could tell the outcome of a battle even before it was fought. How else could the crazy old codger have survived for as long as he had? He became well known among the warriors of the Northern Lands because of his supposed gift. Men began to follow Madawc wherever he went, staying if he stayed, leaving when he left. He became something of a legend, a warrior prophet. However, one night as Madawc sat around the fire with some of his men, he stood up, dropped his pipe, and left. When one of the men stopped him and asked where he was going he said, "The Ancients have called me to guard Mt. Arreat. So, I must go." Pushing past the man, Madawc began his long trek south to the summit of Mt. Arreat.
Korlic
Korlic was raised in the Henknoc jungles on the southern end of the barbarian kingdom. While the land that these barbarians lived in was lush and full of life, it was also full of danger beyond belief. Korlic was the leader of the Henknoc, protecting his people from the beasts they lived among. As a child he had managed to tame one of the more vicious animals called a stalker. It was said that there must have been druid in his blood in order to perform such a task at such a young age. In his teens Korlic rescued a small child from a horde of giant spiders. The child turned out to be the son of a chieftain of an enemy tribe. Without thought or worry Korlic returned the boy home. While some say it was an act of stupidity, others say it was an act of courage. Which ever, it brought about an end to the conflicts between the two tribes. When the Ancients summoned Korlic it was through the tribe's Seer, his wife. She told him the Ancients had called upon him to protect that which must not fall, to protect Mt. Arreat. The honor was such that Korlic could not speak. Seeing this, his wife turned to the people of Henknoc and shouted, "My husband, your chief, has been chosen by the Ancients to guard sacred Mt. Arreat. In honor of this joyous occasion we shall celebrate until his departure." And they celebrated, for three days until Korlic left. On the final day, Korlic named his successor. He was the young boy, now a man, who Korlic had saved from the giant spiders so long ago. Korlic knew he would rule fairly and justly over both tribes. Finally, with all his worldly deeds complete, he ventured to the top of Arreat to begin his otherworldly quest of protecting the Worldstone for all eternity.
Just reading Talic's bio. It mentions ancients. Ancients Before Talic become one? Now they are definitely Nephalem.
Oh yeah, and Nihlathak is just an Elder Barbarian. The Elders have spells and rituals that regular Barbarians do not. But he's not a Necromancer, he just somehow gained demonic spells. He seems to have made a deal with Baal fairly early on, because he was the only one that wasn't killed by Baal's minions when all the other Elders were. I'd say his deal gave him extra powers.
My fave quest in d2 would have to be killing nithiliak in act 5( he has by far the coolest death) or Izzy as those plus 2 skills give ur char a little bit of needed help when u are playing solo and big d's coming up
opps diablo 2 only
sorry for offtopic
Siaynoq's Playthroughs
Rescuing Anya (given my favoritism towards Damsel-in-Distress scenarios) naturally lends itself to the need for especially gleeful vengeance upon Nihlathak's ass.
Siaynoq's Playthroughs
Specially the first time through. U break the first seal and nothing happens....u run to the next seal and break it and bam! u are flooded with baddies. I think i just about crapped my pants first time through in single player. Then a whole 10 min later u actually get to fight diablo and the "not even Death can save you from me" is a whole nother story
It's probably because you just start to play the game and you're all excited about everything.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zZRQEtAyiTM
You have to admit that he's good.
Everything in the game just seemed like made up attempts to have the person do random stuff, either to help him to his goal, or completely on the side... nothing of any real quality, like in Baldur's gate. The quests are all "kill this, find these, go here". No real depth, hence I don't think anything was special.
I really liked fighting the weaponsmith and forgemaster though, since they had cool voices (well they also die fast :))
...Of course the butcher was better.
I loved all the movies for the game though (except LoDs weren't too good. Like the intro was cool, but it wasn't like it had any plot to it or intrigue or anything, as the original had)
Regarding the Cain Quest... I never realized until this past weekend that the cows exploded.
That one right by the portal scared the bejeebus outta me (I jumped), 'cuz I wasn't expecting it.
I could have sworn I'd clicked on that thing before...