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[PhrozenDragon]

1. The Cosmology of Diablo
2. The Cosmology of Diablo: Worlds
3. The Cosmology of Diablo: Angels and Demons
4. The Cosmology of Diablo: The Worldstone

  
Have you ever gone into the Lore and Storyline forum here? I'm sure you have at one point, and when you did, you might have searched for answers to the most pressing questions you had regarding Diablo: What happened to Inarius at the end of the Sin War? Why did Tyrael destroy the Worldstone? What will the Necromancers do in D3? What order should I read the Diablo books in?

All questions valid enough to merit an answer to be sure, but a bit limited in scope, focused in the game and the near future. True, you might have found deeper discussions in there as well, regarding the nature of the soulstones and the relations between demons and angels. But what of the truly large questions, not just how a specific aspect of the world worked, but how the world itself worked? Perhaps you have never considered them.

Allow me then to enlighten you all, for I present to you the cosmology of Diablo. Through a series of analytical posts, I will try to assert the structure and purpose of the entirety of creation in the world of Diablo. To my aid I will use a multitude of quotes and passages from the Sin War Novels, the latest and most encompassing piece of lore released regarding Diablo. This first post will deal with the beginning and general world order of the Universe. My next posts will deal more with the nature of the worlds, the structures of Heaven and Hell, the Worldstone and it's function, and eventually a speculative post about the end of all things, with whatever might present itself in between.

Remember that this is purely a hypothetical line of reasoning. It's as good as dead certain we'll never see any of the following theories actualized or proved in any games or novels. I even doubt that Blizzard has an planned cosmogony or eschatology for either Sanctuary or the world of Diablo itself. Nevertheless, the information we have from the games and books certainly allows us to theorize about the matter.

(If you do not wish to read any spoilers from the the Sin War Novels Birthright, Scales of the Serpent and The Veiled Prophet, I advise you not to read the rest of the post.)

Things  to know
The Beginning
The Eternal War
Summary
Next Time

Things to know
Before continuing, there are certain facts about the Diablo Universe that one needs to know before understanding my line of reasoning in this post.

Sanctuary: Strictly refers to the "mortal world" which is the main the setting for all the games and books. This does not include Heaven, Hell, the Void, Trag'Ouls realm or any other worlds that might exist.

Heaven and Hell: Refers to the High Heavens and the Burning Hells only.

Other Worlds: There is indirect evidence that Sanctuary is not simply one of three worlds, but that there are many more worlds beyond those we know of. This will be further explained below.

The Universe: Refers to everything that exists, all worlds.

The Beginning
We must of course start at the beginning, and if there is no beginning there can be no end. So, first question: is there a beginning? Although it may appear a stupid question at first glance, it is a valid question and must be asked.

First, let's look at the Universe as a whole.

Scales of the Serpent, page 192 said:

“What is ‘he,’ you want to ask?” Rathma gestured at the ever-shifting form. “Even Trag’Oul does not
entirely know. He has existed since just after the beginning of creation, although not quite as we
sense him now.”
No…that came later…Whenever the dragon spoke, the scales flowed and shifted, constantly displaying other lives, other times. That came with the finding of the Shards…with the molding of Sanctuary by the renegade angels and demons…

Notice Rathma's choice of words. He doesn't say beginning of Sanctuary, or beginning of the world, but beginning of creation, signifying that Trag'Oul comes from the very start, but also that there was a creation to speak of.

If we instead merely look at Sanctuary however, it becomes a much more interesting question and one specific to the Diablo Universe. And naturally, there is a beginning to Sanctuary:

Birthright, page 3 said:

The world was young, then, and only a few knew it as Sanctuary or knew that not only did angels and demons exist, but some   of them had caused Sanctuary to be in the first place.

The above is from the prologue of Birthright, and comes from the writings of a fictional character named Kalan, most likely someone similar to Abd al-Hazir. But while this text seems to suggest that Sanctuary was caused, i.e created in the sense of a total creation from nothing, it must be taken with a grain of salt considering that it written by a human hand. What he perceives thinks to have happened is not necessarily what has happened.

The apparent problem with Inarius creating the world is that he is not the most powerful being; the other archangels of the Angiris Council, and the Three, are by all accounts his equals or even superiors in terms of power. Why then do the angels and demons not create another world instead of warring over one? Why is Sanctuary so important to conquer? There are several possible explanations to this.

One is that the other high angels and demons can indeed create new worlds, but they cannot fill it with what actually makes Sanctuary important: humans, the Nephalem. Although how one could create an entire world from scratch with physical laws, matter and all plants/animals, but not humans, seems strange. Even supposing that were the case however, why not create a new world in the perfect image of Sanctuary, steal a few humans from the original, then place them in your copy and have them reproduce? Much simpler than fighting with the other side for control of a defiant world.

A second position that seems more plausible is that neither Angel nor Demon can create a new Sanctuary on their own, but by combining their powers they can achieve something much greater. The nephalem, children of both angel and demon, have the potential to become more powerful than their parents, as is first mentioned by Lilith:

Birthright, page 196 said:

Obviously aware of this, she continued to talk as if all was well between them, as if he was happy to know that he had lain with a monster. “What you have called a gift, my love, is that and much more! You…all humans…are the spawn of our coupling! From demon and angel came the nephalem, greater than anything ever created in the cosmos! The force I stirred within you, the force which I found begging to be released, is nothing less than your birthright!

Inarius then thinks the same though:

The Veiled Prophet, page 78 said:

Inarius frowned. The reason for his frown had as much to do with the cause of Gamuel’s doom as the servant’s inadequacy. Lilith’s pawn had done the unthinkable. That meant that Inarius would have to alter his entire strategy. The danger he had always believed the nephalem — or edyrem, as these called themselves — to be had come to pass.

If this is because of the mingling of angel and demon blood, which seems to be the only possible explanation, then it stands to reason that the powers of angels and demons compliment each others. Thus, working together, perhaps they could have made something like Sanctuary.

This explanation seems more credible, as it is unlikely an angel and a demon of Inarius' and Lilith's strength would have cooperated in creating a second world by spawning new humans. The problem here however is that there seems to be a host of other worlds somewhere that remain unknown to any angelic or demonic force, thus could not possibly have been created by either.

The Veiled Prophet, page 96 said:

Filled with an unaccustomed anger, he [Trag'Oul] confronted the voices. This is my burden! This is my duty! You have no say in this, none of you!
There was a moment of silence, and then, together, they responded, But   we do…this goes beyond Sanctuary now. Beyond all of us who stand   sentinel.
The dragon grew wary. How so? How can that be?
As ever, they answered as one, and, as before, their words struck him as nothing else could. Because the war is coming to Sanctuary, and if you interfere with what the Balance demands, it and all existence may  be
forfeit.
...
The eternal war was coming to Sanctuary…and he had just been   forbidden to do anything about it.

This leaves little doubt that there are other worlds besides that of Sanctuary, and it also shows that Trag'Oul is linked to Sanctuary, while remaining unknown to Inarius, in fact to any angelic or demonic entity.

Thus we come to the third and most plausible explanation, that Sanctuary was not actually created by Inarius and Lilith at all. This is supported by the improbability of the above two scenarios, as well as a slew of quotes:

Birthright, page 122 said:

The one [Lilith] with whom he would help forge a world, a place known to his band of rebels as Sanctuary.

The Scales of the Serpent, page 38 said:

So many, in fact, that the angel, Inarius, had finally spurned the eternal war between the High Heavens and their monstrous foes and set about finding a place for himself far from  the struggle.

The Scales of the Serpent, page 38 said:

I FOUND MY SANCTUARY  AND NAMED IT THUS…

Notice the keywords forged and found, not created. It seems to suggest that Sanctuary was discovered rather than made, and only after then remodeled a bit by its new inhabitants; the Worldstone being such an example. What Sanctuary was before Inarius came there is unknown, but I think it reasonable to assume that it probably looked much like Earth would have done without humans. Hell certainly has no grass, animals, plants or similar, and it is unlikely that Heaven has either. Seeing as no angel or demon is omnipotent, it is not feasible to assume they could have created all those things without prior knowledge of them. Even humans, something definitely created by angel and demon, was only a mistake to begin with, and the result, how they eventually came to "function", seems to have been governed by some cosmic force (like genetics or some magical property intrinsic to the Universe) rather than the will of their parents.

Taking this last position also brings with it several benefits. First of all, it explains why no other world has been created; no one can. Second, it explains how it is that Trag'Oul remains unknown: he and the others were not created by Heaven or Hell, and are linked to their own worlds, most likely since whenever they were actually made. But this raises other concerns. It would seem that there is a large amount of other worlds out there, yet all somehow related to Heaven and Hell.

The Eternal War
This quote was shown in the earlier part of the post, but it is highly relevant, so I will show it again.

The Veiled Prophet, page 96 said:

Filled with an unaccustomed anger, he [Trag'Oul] confronted the voices.   This is my burden! This is my duty! You have no say in this, none of   you!
There was a moment of silence, and then, together, they responded, But    we do…this goes beyond Sanctuary now. Beyond all of us who stand    sentinel.
The dragon grew wary. How so? How can that be?
As ever, they answered as one, and, as before, their words struck him as   nothing else could. Because the war is coming to Sanctuary, and if you   interfere with what the Balance demands, it and all existence may   be forfeit. ...
The eternal war was coming to Sanctuary… and he had just been    forbidden to do anything about it.

Notice how the war is called eternal, which would seem to counterprove my earlier point that there was a beginning to both Heaven and Hell. It does not say however that it is the war that the Angiris and the Three are fighting that he is referring to. Oh the angels and demons may well be the carriers of the conflict, but not necessarily that they are the cause. The eternal war can refer to some conflict of order and good that is a factor of the Universe, eternal in the sense that it cannot be ended and has lasted since time began.

Interestingly enough, Trag'Oul is as we know not known to exist by either Heaven or Hell:

Quote

“You should understand better than that,” returned Lilith’s son [Rathma] bluntly. “Trag’Oul cannot be known to exist, neither by my dear parents nor the Burning Hells or High Heavens. For the greater good of all Sanctuary—and for its very survival—he must always be hidden from their sight in order to help make certain that the world remains in Balance.”

It is reasonable to conclude that, given that there appear to be other beings very similar to Trag'Oul, none of them are known to Heaven and Hell. Of course, Rathma could be wrong here, but Trag'Oul is never mentioned or even thought of by any angel or demon throughout the Sin War. Perhaps with the increase in Necromancers since then up to our time, the two forces have learned of the dragon in present times, but we know nothing of it if that's the case.

The "others" also mention the Balance, which is the path that necromancers follow. This quote from Trag'oul describes what it is:

The Scales of the Serpent, page 130 said:

The stars moved, briefly erasing any semblance to a beast. When they returned to their proper
positions, Trag’Oul replied, The Balance is the even distribution of Light and Dark. Its essence is most significant to Sanctuary, but it goes beyond, to all of creation. A world where Dark rules would burn itself up. A world where Light commands would eventually stagnate. If either gained enough
control of Sanctuary so that the other could not match it again, then that would be the end of all things…

The entire Universe is here then revealed to be dualistic in nature: not only are Heaven and Hell two forces that fight over Sanctuary, a random world, but they are the two driving forces of the Universe, the two powers against which all others, regardless of who they are or where they are, must stand. That is what the eternal war most likely amounts to. The Universe is not beyond time, but for as long as it exists, this war will be waged by both Heaven and Hell. This may not be a surprise; after all it is quite common knowledge that Heaven and Hell fight a great war. What is revealed however is that this war concerns all world, or at least all worlds that have watchers like Trag'Oul. It is impossible to say whether all worlds that do exist have such guardians, but many do it appears.

Summary
To summarize.

1. The Universe is not eternal, it had a point of creation.
2. Sanctuary was not created completely by angels and demons, but merely discovered and shaped by them.
3. There are other worlds like Sanctuary, with guardians similar to Trag'Oul, all linked to the conflict between Heaven and Hell. The angelic and demonic forces seem to be unaware of these guardians.
4. The war between Heaven and Hell not only concerns Sanctuary, but other worlds as well, perhaps all other worlds.

Next Time
Next time I will deal with the nature of all worlds, how they correlate, and where the Void and Abyss fit into it all.

(Image courtesy of Jetrall)

Edited by PhrozenDragon, 29 May 2011 - 11:55 AM.
Added link to cosmology 2-4

[Airandius]

Cool story bro, and I mean it. Not offending.

I never knew Sanctuary was just formed by the angels and demons. Nor did I know there were more worlds.
Omg, do I sniff a MMORPG possibility? Or an expansion where you go to these other worlds?
(I sure hope they don't maken an mmorpg.

[Eldritch]

About 'finding' Sanctuary:

I've been involved with a lot of game settings that tell of the world being discovered by the Creator, who then populates it. I've always wondered: is there a mythological precedent for this, or is it an original trope of RPGs?

[Airandius]

Eldritch said:

About 'finding' Sanctuary:

I've been involved with a lot of game settings that tell of the world being discovered by the Creator, who then populates it. I've always wondered: is there a mythological precedent for this, or is it an original trope of RPGs?

Compare it to America. That's where I think the main idea comes from.
Some dude explores and finds this land, then gives it a name and does stuff with it you and I will not discuss lol.
Anyway I'm hinting towards Columbus.

[Sixen]

I can't wait for the next installment, Phrozen; great read.

Something I'd like to hone in on is, Who exactly is Trag-Oul? If he's tied to this playing, hidden from Lilith and Inarius, then perhaps it is he who created it. Or rather, could have potentially, created it himself. We don't know how long angels and demons have existed for, do we? With that in mind, it could have been him that created the angels and demons themselves in order to keep this balance. I'd like to take a further look into who Trag'Oul is, exactly. He seems extremely mysterious, and he even has his own realm, which is odd.

[ScyberDragon]

I never even really paid attention to the lore of Sanctuary until fairly recently. I read through the sin wars trilogy and played the game through listening to every person's dialogue. It is amazing how Blizzard has created this entire "World" for two games that date over a decade.

Great job Phrozen on cluing us all in on the past of Sanctuary.

[PhrozenDragon]

Eldritch said:

I've been involved with a lot of game settings that tell of the world being discovered by the Creator, who then populates it. I've always wondered: is there a mythological precedent for this, or is it an original trope of RPGs?

Well I don't know all mythologies of the world, but if there is, then none of them would solve the apparent problem of the first cause: if the world was there, then belief in said deity doesn't solve the problem of where things come from. With the western tradition of an omnipotent creator, I think the idea of having gods shape worlds is two-fold. First, it allows for actually having gods in a mythology, but it also makes the gods fallible. Since they are not omnipotent, they can be part of various plots and happenings in a story without mucking it up with too much divine power.

That's my initial guess at least :)

Sixen said:

We don't know how long angels and demons have existed for, do we? With that in mind, it could have been him that created the angels and demons themselves in order to keep this balance.

That seems very much contradictory, since he is obviously fearful of the two sides and what they may do to Sanctuary. True, angels and demons fear humans, but the latter where created by mistake. The eternal war seems much too purposeful and unchangeable to have come up by mere chance creation of Trag'Ouls part.

Sixen said:

I'd like to take a further look into who Trag'Oul is, exactly. He seems extremely mysterious, and he even has his own realm, which is odd.

I could include him in the angel and demon post I think.

[Shatterer]

This was a brilliant read. I haven't read all the books but rather picked up some clues here and there about the world of Sanctuary. It's cool to learn about all the little details I've missed out on.

[Huck]

Very good read. I hope Diablo 3 will help unveil more of the creation of Sanctuary, as well as Trag'Oul's purpose. But I'm mostly interested in the conclusion of the Three's exile in Sanctuary.

[Nacho_ijp]

Quote

greater than anything ever created in the cosmos!

I wonder... grater than the guardians?? O_O that could have some cool consequences for the importance of sanctuary and everything for that matter...

Quote

If either gained enough
control of Sanctuary so that the other could not match it again, then that would be the end of all things…

that sounds like sanctuary is like the center of the universe!! like the las bastion of balance or something...


Great post phrozen!!! but I have one question.... what image??? :P

[godsend1989]

For me is just a funny hack and slash, your taking this shit to seriously, diablo never been a strong story based game only if u never red a book.
Anyway nice article.

Edited by godsend1989, 07 March 2010 - 01:26 AM.

[Huck]

You should probably read a few more books, yourself, godsend.

[Jetrall]

godsend1989 said:

For me is just a funny hack and slash, your taking this shit to seriously, diablo never been a strong story based game only if u never red a book.
Anyway nice article.

Diablo is a highly story-based game that happens to also be hack-and-slash. That's why there's a bunch of books that go along with it. That's like saying Metal Gear Solid isn't a story-based game because it's also a combat game.

[Atrumentis]

Nice article, Phrozen, we appreciate your vast effort!

Kalan is actually Mendeln's new name. It means 'Teacher' in Trag'Oul language (while Rathma means student).

Also, I think you may be looking at words like 'find' and 'found' too closely. Its like me saying "I made a cubby house and now I have found my safeplace". Ehh I dunno.

[Tikuto]

That was a very very intersting read even though I have not read the Sin War or delved much into Dioablo world as much as I'd like to.
In fact  I think you boost economy by these posts lol. I'm considering buying the Sin War now.

[PhrozenDragon]

Nacho_ijp said:

that sounds like sanctuary is like the center of the universe!! like the las bastion of balance or something...

It might very well be, what with the nephalem and all. It seems likely that, although there are other worlds, Sanctuary is important specifically because humanity is there.

Nacho_ijp said:

Great post phrozen!!! but I have one question.... what image??? :P

Damn, I totally forgot it was uploaded in my private pics. Does it work now?

Atrumentis said:

Kalan is actually Mendeln's new name. It means 'Teacher' in Trag'Oul language (while Rathma means student).

Urgh, you're right, it's at the end of the Veiled Prophet. Well that complicates things. Though...

Atrumentis said:

Also, I think you may be looking at words like 'find' and 'found' too closely. Its like me saying "I made a cubby house and now I have found my safeplace". Ehh I dunno.

Perhaps Kalan means that Sanctuary before Inarius and Lilith came there, it wasn't Sanctuary. It was the same place, same ground and whatnot, but not the same world until the angels and demons shaped it.

As for reading too much into found, you could be right. The term might not be used in it's most literal sense, but if we assume that Inarius did create it from scratch, then we are back at the original problem of vast powers of creation that angels and demons simply do not display, and the question of where all the other worlds come from.

[Shatterer]

I can see it and it is awesome. Beautiful piece of work ^_^

[Nekrodrac]

I see it too. Cool.

Man, our good old Lizard knows his stuff.
Respect.

Edited by Nekrodrac, 07 March 2010 - 01:59 PM.

[godsend1989]

i guess u never played planescape torment.

[Zhar]

Tikuto said:

That was a very very intersting read even though I have not read the Sin War or delved much into Dioablo world as much as I'd like to.
In fact I think you boost economy by these posts lol. I'm considering buying the Sin War now.

I'm in the same boat, and I think Phrozen may have convinced me to throw as much money as is needed at buying the books :(.
.. Damn you.

Great article mate, but I've already told you this :D.