There are multiple plot points of significant importance that could be utilized as grounds for an expansion, one of which was mentioned by some of our blue clad friends at blizzard.
1. Malthael, (former) Archangel of Wisdom, is still missing, there has been no indication of his death (or proof of life for that matter) it is possible that we may have to rescue or even fight him in the future.
2 Zoltan Kulle isn't dead (at least if I read the lore properly he is immortal) we just defeated him, and with the black soulstone now free of the Lords of Hell and still intact (watch the end cinematic very closely if you don't believe me), he is free to attempt to ensnare the souls of the archangels within it. this could also possibly tie in to Malthael's story.
3.Adria, she just sort of bailed, where is she, what is she doing, it can't be any good to have her wandering around Sanctuary.
4. Rescuing Leah, (could tie in to Adria) this one was kind of hinted at by blizzard so we will most likely get to it at some point, but this is potentially the least interesting option in my mind my only real guess to this one would be to take a page from Adria's book and tag her soul to be drawn into the Black Soulstone and revive her somehow that way (ala Diablo)
5. Salvation of the Barbarians, this one kind of excites me, if you have read any of the Book of Cain or the Diablo 3 booklet you know that the barbarian tribes are on the decline, some of them even turning into ravening beastmen or cannibals, we need to find the cause of this, you know other than their entire reason for living getting destroyed and all that.
6. Inarius. An Archangel and former member of the Angiris Council. He created Sanctuary with the demon Lilith, which upon being discovered, led the council to had him over to Mephisto as punishment. He's been constantly tortured in hell ever since. With no Prime or Lesser Evils around to rule, he could easily take up reins and have a serious grudge against both the High Heavens and Sanctuary (thanks Tinyhell)
I think it's going to revolve around Inarius. An Archangel and former member of the Angiris Council. He created Sanctuary with the demon Lilith, which upon being discovered, led the council to had him over to Mephisto as punishment. He's been constantly tortured in hell ever since. With no Prime or Lesser Evils around to rule, he could easily take up reins and have a serious grudge against both the High Heavens and Sanctuary.
I think it's going to revolve around Inarius. An Archangel and former member of the Angiris Council. He created Sanctuary with the demon Lilith, which upon being discovered, led the council to had him over to Mephisto as punishment. He's been constantly tortured in hell ever since. With no Prime or Lesser Evils around to rule, he could easily take up reins and have a serious grudge against both the High Heavens and Sanctuary.
Added to the original post, and now that I think about it this would tie in directly to the Enchantress' backstory as Inarus is her "Prophet" and would also open up the possibility of Follower specific expansions
Added to the original post, and now that I think about it this would tie in directly to the Enchantress' backstory as Inarus is her "Prophet" and would also open up the possibility of Follower specific expansions
Reminds me of the Jeweler's claims at being a god an attempting to find a specific Jewel to fight a demon called the Dergest.
Connection between that and the Black Soulstone?
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Be it through hallowed grounds or lands of sorrow
All in the Forger's wake is left bereft and fallow
Is the residuum worth the cost of destruction and maiming;
Or is the shaping a culling and exercise in taming?
The road's goal is the dark Origin of Being
But be wary through what thickets it winds.
-Excerpt from the Litany of Residuum;
As Translated by He Who Brings Order
Far more likely than any of these, is that Imperius will descend to the burning hells for revenge, and become the new Prime Evil of Wrath, as hinted in the cinematic, and in the game. He's becoming more and more irrational and bloodthirsty, and the Wrath short shows that his short temper is in part something Diablo desired.
He blames humanity for what happened to the heavens with Diablo, and wants to wipe them out. He also wants to destroy the burning hells. Its not unlikely he may make use of the black soulstone to do so.
Far more likely than any of these, is that Imperius will descend to the burning hells for revenge, and become the new Prime Evil of Wrath, as hinted in the cinematic, and in the game. He's becoming more and more irrational and bloodthirsty, and the Wrath short shows that his short temper is in part something Diablo desired.
He blames humanity for what happened to the heavens with Diablo, and wants to wipe them out. He also wants to destroy the burning hells. Its not unlikely he may make use of the black soulstone to do so.
This. Adria and Leah may or may not tie in, but I think we will have to defeat Imperius eventually.
All cool ideas (although I admit I'm least interested in Leah as well), but I'd be surprised if the Barbarian one happens, since the Lord of Destruction expansion for D2 was so focused on their homeland.
I'll also agree that Imperius has got to play a role, probably by getting worse and/or turning fully evil. A lot of the devs continually mentioned something along the lines of, "This is Diablo! Angels aren't always the good guys!" and I really thought we'd see more of that idea in D3. Sure, we saw some angels exchange words heatedly, and they weren't super fond of the Nephalem, but they've never actually tried to kill us in the game, or each other... yet.
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i would choose my own religion and worship my own spirit, but if he ever preached to me i wouldn't want to hear it. i'd drop him, a forgotten god, languishing in shame; and then if i hit stormy seas, i'd have myself to blame.
From what I noticed in-game and from some out of game sources, if they are going to only have two expansions:
X1 - Save the Princess!
New classes: Templar Knight and Necromancer? Druid? (Templar Knight uses angelic runeblades/angelic spears and perhaps is like Paladin mixed with Javazon with some angel-ish powers. Necro is of course our old Necro with some improvements and refinements, same with Druid.)
Starts in Kingsport/Westmarch. You arrive on a ship or however, Kormac runs off on his own to challenge his Templars, Eireena possibly goes after him. You end up in a big battle with the Thieves' Guild. Finish that up, pay off the Merchant Guild, free his brother, pursue Kormac.
Battle your way into the Templar stronghold, demand answers. Reveal who and for what reason the Templars were given plans for angelic weaponry and set up to fight off an angel invasion.
King of Westmarch is revealed to be under demonic influence, hence his not sending reinforcements to battle an 'imaginary' enemy in Act III. Demon turns out to be one of Azmodan's Sin Lieutenants, new motive to destroy them all. Greed, Envy, Wrath, Pride, and Sloth remain to be seen.
At some point Leah plotline brought back into play. Seek out Cult of Rathma for assistance saving her. Journeying through the "Unformed Land" results in a history of the Leoric bloodline, revealing why that one family in particular seems to have such an affinity to Diablo. Lachdanan's spirit aids you in order to help Leah, fulfilling his promise to 'repay the (D1 hero) from beyond the grave if he could,' from a certain point of view. Spirits of the Warrior, Rogue, and Sorceror, perhaps, help you defeat some kind of boss in here. Lazarus?
Leah finally saved, brought back. Has a 'Uncle Deckard! I now know what you meant!' moment regarding her greater purpose. Adria has of course recovered the Black Soulstone, fight her and claim it. At some point Tyrael is killed, soul stored in the BS, leading to..
X2 - The End of Days
New classes: Assassin, Vizjerei, 'Dark Wanderer' (Assassin is of course based on D2 assassin with some tweaks, Vizjerei is more focused on elemental magic compared to the wizard's arcane, and 'Dark Wanderer' is a demonic power user)
…And, at the End of Days, Wisdom shall be lost
as Justice falls upon the world of men.
Valor shall turn to Wrath-
and all Hope will be swallowed by Despair.
Death, at last, shall spread its wings over all-
as Fate lies shattered forever.
So, either this prophecy occurred in the game and we take it at face value, that yes Malthael is gone, Tyrael fell, Imperius is mad as, no pun intended, hell, Auriel was attacked by Rakanoth, Lord of Despair, Diablo/the battles resulted in a lot of deaths, and the pre-determined fate that the angels would lose was shattered by the Nephalem hero.
Or, we may have only been led to believe these events occurred, and it was all a set-up for the future story. Tyrael the mortal abandoned Justice (claiming it had been met that day, despite himself saying only by destroying the Soulstone would the evils be destroyed) and took up Wisdom.
Hmm, a mortal is now Wisdom, which is going to be 'lost' when this whole prophecy kicks in, and Justice may 'fall' upon the world of men, meaning the Nephalem have to mete out future Justice since there isn't an Aspect of it at the moment.
Valor goes Wrath mode and wants to destroy the nephalem before they destroy the angels, especially since they were able to defeat the Prime Evil when he could not. Imperius' actions cause Auriel to lose hope, leading to despair. Archangel Malthael returns as the Aspect of Death and joins Imperius' crusade perhaps. Ithereal ends up 'shattered' and sent to their version of the Abyss for trying to stop Imperius.
Either way works I suppose for what might come next.
That prophecy is, according to Deckard Cain himself in-game, a warning about an 'ultimate invasion' of Sanctuary by the Hells.
The Prophecy of the End Days is contained within the Horadric tomes I inherited from my ancestor Jered Cain.
It is a warning to those who could interpret it regarding Hell's ultimate invasion of our world, written by many different people throughout history in many different lands.
Now, we know Diablo, Baal, and Mephisto all still had their armies since they were invading the Heavens. As far as I can recall, we only fought Belial and Azmodan's forces in Sanctuary. So, either all these ancient prophets (and who/whatever was giving them this vision) didn't account for random Nephalem to completely stop this 'ultimate invasion,' or the invasion has yet to come.
So, if the second interpretation of the prophecy is true, that would leave a very fractured Angiris Council, the perfect time for an 'ultimate invasion' of Sanctuary by the Hells to corrupt and 'use them as weapons,' which Tyrael says in a dialogue was the demons' goal. Meanwhile, Imperius was also planning an invasion, and thus three forces meet on the fields of Sanctuary: angels, demons, and nephalem.
The Wrath animation has Deckard Cain talking about how he fears the angel-demon war will soon engulf Sanctuary. and that the 'wrath of angels' cannot be quenched.
You also have the Templar order having been established by someone/thing to fight off angels.
There was also that Book of Cain interview, where 'Angels in Diablo are as nice as angels in our world' got an immediate 'Nnooo.' answer. 'I am afraid of Imperius' was also answered with a 'yes'
The lore in the D2 manuals is mostly about a 'final battle between men and demons' occuring in the future.
And, perhaps one of the biggest things, the Black Soulstone specifically being mentioned that it can hold demons and angels.
I think there may be some more hints towards the 'ultimate showdown' on Sanctuary, but I don't remember them at the moment.
So, there's these huge invasions going down, the Prime Evils possess Nephalem in order to get enough powers to re-form the Tathamet dragon. In any case, somehow this thing comes back.(The CE artbook has some art of Tathamet and Anu, it's in the first area after the classes I think if you have it, the opposing page has some really weird things, too) Leah realizes her true purpose is to bring back Anu to fight the dragon, does so using black soulstone/witch powers/family legacy. Big final battle with Anu and Tathamet duking it out while you run around on Tath and fight the various heads, things go boom, stage set for Diablo 4/'Domain of Diablo'
Some other things that may play a part:
Covetous Shen's Dirgest gem: Very likely this is going to be involved in some form, possibly as a boss you get to fight, depending on what it really is.
Scoundrel Relic: Said to be about the size of a fist and scarlet, possibly the same thing as Shen's gem? Or the heart of someone/thing? Don't remember enough about it.
Lilith/Inarius: Big role in the creation of Sanctuary, seems like we should see more of them. The above Book of Cain interview confirms that Inarius is still in Hell prior to the events of D3 at least.
Druids: Their Diablo 2: LoD lore says: "They created a new culture and language, cutting themselves off from their Barbarian cousins and their ways, vowing not to return to the Steppes of Mt. Arreat until the time of the Uileloscadh Mór, the final battle between the men of the world and the demons of the Burning Hells.
They have done this because they believe themselves to be the world’s last line of defense when the time of the great conflict comes, a time they believe is at hand."
Diablo 2 Heroes: That above Book of Cain interview confirms to us that 'Not all of them' are alive. If this ultimate invasion goes down, you can bet they will be involved, either helping us or corrupted like the original Diablo heroes.
Those giant things in 'eternal torture' in Act III: These things are pretty messed up, they have their hands nailed to their shoulders etc. The following lore mentions Inarius' followers 'shar(ing) an even darker fate' (darker than death). Maybe this is mentioned in the books, but those giant things look like they have attachments for wings on their back, might the 'even darker fate' involve being trapped in some giant, eternally tortured, body?
UPDATE: Had an epiphany a bit ago, remember in D2 how Izual was, you guessed it, trapped in a demon's body? If these are what happened to those Inarius followers, well, there you go. http://d3db.com/lore...anctuary-part-4
In the end, Lilith was banished and Inarius was given over to the demons, who have tortured him in the Hells ever since. Most of Inarius's followers were killed; those who remained shared an even darker fate. Despite the tragedy, I believe the nephalem may yet play a part in resolving the Eternal Conflict.
The colossal golgor is merely a colossal myth! In folklore, they are sons of an infamous demon who smashed half of Hell in anger after the Prime Evils were defeated during the "Dark Exile." Why, if I had a gold coin for each of these tales, I would be a wealthy man indeed!
The grotesques may seem slow and senseless, but they hide many dangers within their hideously malformed bodies. A set of spikes lurks beneath the monsters' flesh, and foul parasites nest within them. It is said that these horrors themselves are constructed by a greater evil... a darkness that I cannot even fathom.
The mallet lords are brutal overseers second only to the seven Evils themselves. The mallet demons rule the seething outer reaches of the Hells that surround the central realms, and have long refused to join any of the Lesser Evils' armies. Surely the destruction would be unthinkable if such a thing ever came to pass.
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Non nobis, Domine, non nobis sed nomini tuo da gloriam.
Admittedly I'm not deeply invested in the Diablo lore because D3 is the first game I truly played. That said, and flame me/correct me if this is way off base, but this is what I see happening.
Imperius hates humans and yet it was humans that saved Heaven. He's also not terribly happy with Tyrael because he voted for saving humanity. I feel that by the end of D3's storyline Imperius will have betrayed Heaven and sought a way to destroy humanity despite the Council's vote. Further, Tyrael has just become the Angel of Wisdom, meaning that there is no Angel of Justice. Tyrael has the knowledge needed to defeat Imperius and as you follow your way through the expansions your character eventually confronts and defeats humanity's last remaining dissident. Through this story your character becomes the new Angel of Justice.
This is my thoughts. If it's FOS for whatever reason I'd like to know. Again, this is just what I believe will happen based on only the events of D3 (the only game I know).
things I think will take part on the expansion:
The order of the templar, the scoundrel and the thieves guild and the enchantress prophet (probably Inarius) and Dirgest gem (the one Shen talks about) as minor quests.
And as main quests, guiding the storyline:
Inarius, Malthael and Adria
how they can combine all this things? only blizzard knows.
Pyrrhic, I like your thoughts. That said, here are somethings that I think might happen:
The enchantress never found her Angelic prophet. It is possible the angel died. I think, given the Angel knew enough to see a need for the enchantress, and that Fate said it wasn't him, this is Maltheal. Part of the expansion could revolve around him having pulled together a new group. Alternatly, we may have to find him, through help of the enchantress because the Angiris council is unbalanced. Without Valor, wisdom is suicidal bravoda, Hope is being ignorant of the truth, fate is pessimistic and prone to inaction, and justice is tyrannical. If Tyreal is properly able to fufill the roll as Wisdom, then, without Justice, Valor becomes tyrannical and sensless slaughter, Fate is cruel, and Hope and Wisdom and powerless.
The Templar said his order may be building angelic weapons. They could only have gotten this from Angels. It wasn't Tyreal. The order is also very brave, but, as the name suggests, Knights Templar. Who else fits that bill? Imperius. I think he may be behind that order, working to snuff out Hell's influence, and doing so in a way that A) probably precludes a human from gaining their full Nephalem powers, and is completely contemptous of human life. Again, both of these things seem to fit Imperius more then any of the other angels. It could be a demon (probably in Mephisto's lineage, as they tend to enjoy creating "holy" orders) but I don't think they would use Angelic weapons.
What I want in the expansion, more than anything, is more Shen. The dude rocked. I also hope his gem has nothing to do with the soulstones (unless it's a prototype of Kulle's BS). I also hope he's a follower. I want his stories full time!
we're forgetting about Inarius and lilith, they were rogue angels and demons and they messed things up to begin with, so maybe they are the bosses in the expansion.
Pyrrhic, I like your thoughts. That said, here are somethings that I think might happen:
The enchantress never found her Angelic prophet. It is possible the angel died. I think, given the Angel knew enough to see a need for the enchantress, and that Fate said it wasn't him, this is Maltheal. Part of the expansion could revolve around him having pulled together a new group. Alternatly, we may have to find him, through help of the enchantress because the Angiris council is unbalanced. Without Valor, wisdom is suicidal bravoda, Hope is being ignorant of the truth, fate is pessimistic and prone to inaction, and justice is tyrannical. If Tyreal is properly able to fufill the roll as Wisdom, then, without Justice, Valor becomes tyrannical and sensless slaughter, Fate is cruel, and Hope and Wisdom and powerless.
The Templar said his order may be building angelic weapons. They could only have gotten this from Angels. It wasn't Tyreal. The order is also very brave, but, as the name suggests, Knights Templar. Who else fits that bill? Imperius. I think he may be behind that order, working to snuff out Hell's influence, and doing so in a way that A) probably precludes a human from gaining their full Nephalem powers, and is completely contemptous of human life. Again, both of these things seem to fit Imperius more then any of the other angels. It could be a demon (probably in Mephisto's lineage, as they tend to enjoy creating "holy" orders) but I don't think they would use Angelic weapons.
What I want in the expansion, more than anything, is more Shen. The dude rocked. I also hope his gem has nothing to do with the soulstones (unless it's a prototype of Kulle's BS). I also hope he's a follower. I want his stories full time!
Inarius is the prophet, this is confirmed in the Book of Cain. He is the angel that created Sanctuary and is currently enjoying eternal torture in the burning hells.
Also I am fairly certain that the Templars are an organization creaed by Inarius when he was worried that the High Heavens might obliterate all of Sanctuary, thus he would have given them the knowledge to make the angelic weapons.
Pyrrhic, I like your thoughts. That said, here are somethings that I think might happen:
The enchantress never found her Angelic prophet. It is possible the angel died. I think, given the Angel knew enough to see a need for the enchantress, and that Fate said it wasn't him, this is Maltheal. Part of the expansion could revolve around him having pulled together a new group. Alternatly, we may have to find him, through help of the enchantress because the Angiris council is unbalanced. Without Valor, wisdom is suicidal bravoda, Hope is being ignorant of the truth, fate is pessimistic and prone to inaction, and justice is tyrannical. If Tyreal is properly able to fufill the roll as Wisdom, then, without Justice, Valor becomes tyrannical and sensless slaughter, Fate is cruel, and Hope and Wisdom and powerless.
The Templar said his order may be building angelic weapons. They could only have gotten this from Angels. It wasn't Tyreal. The order is also very brave, but, as the name suggests, Knights Templar. Who else fits that bill? Imperius. I think he may be behind that order, working to snuff out Hell's influence, and doing so in a way that A) probably precludes a human from gaining their full Nephalem powers, and is completely contemptous of human life. Again, both of these things seem to fit Imperius more then any of the other angels. It could be a demon (probably in Mephisto's lineage, as they tend to enjoy creating "holy" orders) but I don't think they would use Angelic weapons.
What I want in the expansion, more than anything, is more Shen. The dude rocked. I also hope his gem has nothing to do with the soulstones (unless it's a prototype of Kulle's BS). I also hope he's a follower. I want his stories full time!
Inarius is the prophet, this is confirmed in the Book of Cain. He is the angel that created Sanctuary and is currently enjoying eternal torture in the burning hells.
Also I am fairly certain that the Templars are an organization creaed by Inarius when he was worried that the High Heavens might obliterate all of Sanctuary, thus he would have given them the knowledge to make the angelic weapons.
I don't think Inarius is the prophet of the Enchantress. All of Inarius's followers got wiped out sometime long before the sin wars, so it is unlikely he would have given anything of value to an angel that would reside in the HH. Further, he saw no use in mortals, and only formed his religion to counter the Triune. I doubt he would care enough to save some girls from death, or to bother preserving them for "future use.
I also doubt the Templar order is as old as the Sin Wars, and Inarius has been a little busy since then.
I don't think Inarius is the prophet of the Enchantress. All of Inarius's followers got wiped out sometime long before the sin wars, so it is unlikely he would have given anything of value to an angel that would reside in the HH. Further, he saw no use in mortals, and only formed his religion to counter the Triune. I doubt he would care enough to save some girls from death, or to bother preserving them for "future use.
I also doubt the Templar order is as old as the Sin Wars, and Inarius has been a little busy since then.
Quote from name= Book of Cain »
It is further stated that when Inarius learned of the Triune religion, he recognized the Prime Evils' deception immediately, and feared not only for his own safety but for that of his adopted children should Heaven become aware of humanity's existence
and so the texts tell us that Inarius created his own religion to counter the influence of the Triune. Taking on the mantle of the Prophet, Inarius founded a gospel based on the tenets of tolerance, cooperation, and unity. He disseminated this doctrine from his Cathedral of Light, gaining fame for his youthful physical perfection and spreading the church's influence through angelic powers of persuasion.
As is quite clearly stated there he was in fact quite fond of the human race also he takes the name of the Prophet and this is the lead up to the Sin War.
as for the templars that was something that i remembered hearing somewhere, though I can not verify I believe it was part of the templar conversation though I don't think that any names were mentioned and I just sort of assumed.
Most likely Adria, but I wouldn't be surprised if it's something like: Adria going after the Black Soulstone after it fell from Heaven (as was seen in the ending cinematic).
Leah's soul is most likely stuck inside the Black Soulstone as well, so we may be able to save her too. There were rumors sparked by the "leaked release schedule" for the next handful of years for Blizzard products, that suggest that Blizzard wants to do two D3 expansions. Perhaps in the second xpack we fight Imperius? In the animation they released at the 100% community site thingy, it showed that Imperius has some inner demons of his own, as well as not being quite in synch with the rest of the Angerous Council.
The Prophet was Inarius in disguise. This is taken from the Sin War Trilogy.
Do you have any evidence that it is Inarius, aside from Inarius called himself "The Prophet?" I ask because A) it just doesn't seem like something he would do and if it is him, it would have to be before the Sin Wars (as he's been in the Hells since), and in doing so, wouldn't he have been more upfront about him being the Prophet of the Light? It seems like it would be something the enchantress would mention. C) Why would any of the Angels know about his actions? None of his followers survived to the Sin Wars (Lillith killed them all), and I doubt he would have written that down for an Angel going through his palace to find after he'd been carted off to be tortured in the Burning Hells.
I agree, it COULD be Inarius (we don't know enough about timelines to say for sure if the Enchantress is before/after the Sin Wars), but I just don't think it is. My personal theory is that she was more from the Mage Clan Wars, as I thought that period was when humans not aligned with the Mephisto led Triune started summoning demons.
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1. Malthael, (former) Archangel of Wisdom, is still missing, there has been no indication of his death (or proof of life for that matter) it is possible that we may have to rescue or even fight him in the future.
2 Zoltan Kulle isn't dead (at least if I read the lore properly he is immortal) we just defeated him, and with the black soulstone now free of the Lords of Hell and still intact (watch the end cinematic very closely if you don't believe me), he is free to attempt to ensnare the souls of the archangels within it. this could also possibly tie in to Malthael's story.
3.Adria, she just sort of bailed, where is she, what is she doing, it can't be any good to have her wandering around Sanctuary.
4. Rescuing Leah, (could tie in to Adria) this one was kind of hinted at by blizzard so we will most likely get to it at some point, but this is potentially the least interesting option in my mind my only real guess to this one would be to take a page from Adria's book and tag her soul to be drawn into the Black Soulstone and revive her somehow that way (ala Diablo)
5. Salvation of the Barbarians, this one kind of excites me, if you have read any of the Book of Cain or the Diablo 3 booklet you know that the barbarian tribes are on the decline, some of them even turning into ravening beastmen or cannibals, we need to find the cause of this, you know other than their entire reason for living getting destroyed and all that.
6. Inarius. An Archangel and former member of the Angiris Council. He created Sanctuary with the demon Lilith, which upon being discovered, led the council to had him over to Mephisto as punishment. He's been constantly tortured in hell ever since. With no Prime or Lesser Evils around to rule, he could easily take up reins and have a serious grudge against both the High Heavens and Sanctuary (thanks Tinyhell)
My Deviantart
Added to the original post, and now that I think about it this would tie in directly to the Enchantress' backstory as Inarus is her "Prophet" and would also open up the possibility of Follower specific expansions
My Deviantart
Connection between that and the Black Soulstone?
All in the Forger's wake is left bereft and fallow-Excerpt from the Litany of Residuum;
As Translated by He Who Brings Order
He blames humanity for what happened to the heavens with Diablo, and wants to wipe them out. He also wants to destroy the burning hells. Its not unlikely he may make use of the black soulstone to do so.
This. Adria and Leah may or may not tie in, but I think we will have to defeat Imperius eventually.
I'll also agree that Imperius has got to play a role, probably by getting worse and/or turning fully evil. A lot of the devs continually mentioned something along the lines of, "This is Diablo! Angels aren't always the good guys!" and I really thought we'd see more of that idea in D3. Sure, we saw some angels exchange words heatedly, and they weren't super fond of the Nephalem, but they've never actually tried to kill us in the game, or each other... yet.
X1 - Save the Princess!
New classes: Templar Knight and Necromancer? Druid? (Templar Knight uses angelic runeblades/angelic spears and perhaps is like Paladin mixed with Javazon with some angel-ish powers. Necro is of course our old Necro with some improvements and refinements, same with Druid.)
Starts in Kingsport/Westmarch. You arrive on a ship or however, Kormac runs off on his own to challenge his Templars, Eireena possibly goes after him. You end up in a big battle with the Thieves' Guild. Finish that up, pay off the Merchant Guild, free his brother, pursue Kormac.
Battle your way into the Templar stronghold, demand answers. Reveal who and for what reason the Templars were given plans for angelic weaponry and set up to fight off an angel invasion.
King of Westmarch is revealed to be under demonic influence, hence his not sending reinforcements to battle an 'imaginary' enemy in Act III. Demon turns out to be one of Azmodan's Sin Lieutenants, new motive to destroy them all. Greed, Envy, Wrath, Pride, and Sloth remain to be seen.
At some point Leah plotline brought back into play. Seek out Cult of Rathma for assistance saving her. Journeying through the "Unformed Land" results in a history of the Leoric bloodline, revealing why that one family in particular seems to have such an affinity to Diablo. Lachdanan's spirit aids you in order to help Leah, fulfilling his promise to 'repay the (D1 hero) from beyond the grave if he could,' from a certain point of view. Spirits of the Warrior, Rogue, and Sorceror, perhaps, help you defeat some kind of boss in here. Lazarus?
Leah finally saved, brought back. Has a 'Uncle Deckard! I now know what you meant!' moment regarding her greater purpose. Adria has of course recovered the Black Soulstone, fight her and claim it. At some point Tyrael is killed, soul stored in the BS, leading to..
X2 - The End of Days
New classes: Assassin, Vizjerei, 'Dark Wanderer' (Assassin is of course based on D2 assassin with some tweaks, Vizjerei is more focused on elemental magic compared to the wizard's arcane, and 'Dark Wanderer' is a demonic power user)
…And, at the End of Days, Wisdom shall be lost
as Justice falls upon the world of men.
Valor shall turn to Wrath-
and all Hope will be swallowed by Despair.
Death, at last, shall spread its wings over all-
as Fate lies shattered forever.
So, either this prophecy occurred in the game and we take it at face value, that yes Malthael is gone, Tyrael fell, Imperius is mad as, no pun intended, hell, Auriel was attacked by Rakanoth, Lord of Despair, Diablo/the battles resulted in a lot of deaths, and the pre-determined fate that the angels would lose was shattered by the Nephalem hero.
Or, we may have only been led to believe these events occurred, and it was all a set-up for the future story. Tyrael the mortal abandoned Justice (claiming it had been met that day, despite himself saying only by destroying the Soulstone would the evils be destroyed) and took up Wisdom.
Hmm, a mortal is now Wisdom, which is going to be 'lost' when this whole prophecy kicks in, and Justice may 'fall' upon the world of men, meaning the Nephalem have to mete out future Justice since there isn't an Aspect of it at the moment.
Valor goes Wrath mode and wants to destroy the nephalem before they destroy the angels, especially since they were able to defeat the Prime Evil when he could not. Imperius' actions cause Auriel to lose hope, leading to despair. Archangel Malthael returns as the Aspect of Death and joins Imperius' crusade perhaps. Ithereal ends up 'shattered' and sent to their version of the Abyss for trying to stop Imperius.
Either way works I suppose for what might come next.
That prophecy is, according to Deckard Cain himself in-game, a warning about an 'ultimate invasion' of Sanctuary by the Hells.
Now, we know Diablo, Baal, and Mephisto all still had their armies since they were invading the Heavens. As far as I can recall, we only fought Belial and Azmodan's forces in Sanctuary. So, either all these ancient prophets (and who/whatever was giving them this vision) didn't account for random Nephalem to completely stop this 'ultimate invasion,' or the invasion has yet to come.
So, if the second interpretation of the prophecy is true, that would leave a very fractured Angiris Council, the perfect time for an 'ultimate invasion' of Sanctuary by the Hells to corrupt and 'use them as weapons,' which Tyrael says in a dialogue was the demons' goal. Meanwhile, Imperius was also planning an invasion, and thus three forces meet on the fields of Sanctuary: angels, demons, and nephalem.
The Wrath animation has Deckard Cain talking about how he fears the angel-demon war will soon engulf Sanctuary. and that the 'wrath of angels' cannot be quenched.
You also have the Templar order having been established by someone/thing to fight off angels.
There was also that Book of Cain interview, where 'Angels in Diablo are as nice as angels in our world' got an immediate 'Nnooo.' answer. 'I am afraid of Imperius' was also answered with a 'yes'
The lore in the D2 manuals is mostly about a 'final battle between men and demons' occuring in the future.
And, perhaps one of the biggest things, the Black Soulstone specifically being mentioned that it can hold demons and angels.
I think there may be some more hints towards the 'ultimate showdown' on Sanctuary, but I don't remember them at the moment.
So, there's these huge invasions going down, the Prime Evils possess Nephalem in order to get enough powers to re-form the Tathamet dragon. In any case, somehow this thing comes back.(The CE artbook has some art of Tathamet and Anu, it's in the first area after the classes I think if you have it, the opposing page has some really weird things, too) Leah realizes her true purpose is to bring back Anu to fight the dragon, does so using black soulstone/witch powers/family legacy. Big final battle with Anu and Tathamet duking it out while you run around on Tath and fight the various heads, things go boom, stage set for Diablo 4/'Domain of Diablo'
Some other things that may play a part:
Covetous Shen's Dirgest gem: Very likely this is going to be involved in some form, possibly as a boss you get to fight, depending on what it really is.
Scoundrel Relic: Said to be about the size of a fist and scarlet, possibly the same thing as Shen's gem? Or the heart of someone/thing? Don't remember enough about it.
Lilith/Inarius: Big role in the creation of Sanctuary, seems like we should see more of them. The above Book of Cain interview confirms that Inarius is still in Hell prior to the events of D3 at least.
Druids: Their Diablo 2: LoD lore says: "They created a new culture and language, cutting themselves off from their Barbarian cousins and their ways, vowing not to return to the Steppes of Mt. Arreat until the time of the Uileloscadh Mór, the final battle between the men of the world and the demons of the Burning Hells.
They have done this because they believe themselves to be the world’s last line of defense when the time of the great conflict comes, a time they believe is at hand."
Diablo 2 Heroes: That above Book of Cain interview confirms to us that 'Not all of them' are alive. If this ultimate invasion goes down, you can bet they will be involved, either helping us or corrupted like the original Diablo heroes.
Those giant things in 'eternal torture' in Act III: These things are pretty messed up, they have their hands nailed to their shoulders etc. The following lore mentions Inarius' followers 'shar(ing) an even darker fate' (darker than death). Maybe this is mentioned in the books, but those giant things look like they have attachments for wings on their back, might the 'even darker fate' involve being trapped in some giant, eternally tortured, body?
UPDATE: Had an epiphany a bit ago, remember in D2 how Izual was, you guessed it, trapped in a demon's body? If these are what happened to those Inarius followers, well, there you go.
http://d3db.com/lore...anctuary-part-4
http://d3db.com/lore/i/colossal-golgor
Could this demon be Dirgest? Or is it something we already know about from the books or something.
http://d3db.com/lore/i/grotesque
http://d3db.com/lore...he-mallet-lords
Imperius hates humans and yet it was humans that saved Heaven. He's also not terribly happy with Tyrael because he voted for saving humanity. I feel that by the end of D3's storyline Imperius will have betrayed Heaven and sought a way to destroy humanity despite the Council's vote. Further, Tyrael has just become the Angel of Wisdom, meaning that there is no Angel of Justice. Tyrael has the knowledge needed to defeat Imperius and as you follow your way through the expansions your character eventually confronts and defeats humanity's last remaining dissident. Through this story your character becomes the new Angel of Justice.
This is my thoughts. If it's FOS for whatever reason I'd like to know. Again, this is just what I believe will happen based on only the events of D3 (the only game I know).
The order of the templar, the scoundrel and the thieves guild and the enchantress prophet (probably Inarius) and Dirgest gem (the one Shen talks about) as minor quests.
And as main quests, guiding the storyline:
Inarius, Malthael and Adria
how they can combine all this things? only blizzard knows.
The enchantress never found her Angelic prophet. It is possible the angel died. I think, given the Angel knew enough to see a need for the enchantress, and that Fate said it wasn't him, this is Maltheal. Part of the expansion could revolve around him having pulled together a new group. Alternatly, we may have to find him, through help of the enchantress because the Angiris council is unbalanced. Without Valor, wisdom is suicidal bravoda, Hope is being ignorant of the truth, fate is pessimistic and prone to inaction, and justice is tyrannical. If Tyreal is properly able to fufill the roll as Wisdom, then, without Justice, Valor becomes tyrannical and sensless slaughter, Fate is cruel, and Hope and Wisdom and powerless.
The Templar said his order may be building angelic weapons. They could only have gotten this from Angels. It wasn't Tyreal. The order is also very brave, but, as the name suggests, Knights Templar. Who else fits that bill? Imperius. I think he may be behind that order, working to snuff out Hell's influence, and doing so in a way that A) probably precludes a human from gaining their full Nephalem powers, and
What I want in the expansion, more than anything, is more Shen. The dude rocked. I also hope his gem has nothing to do with the soulstones (unless it's a prototype of Kulle's BS). I also hope he's a follower. I want his stories full time!
Inarius is the prophet, this is confirmed in the Book of Cain. He is the angel that created Sanctuary and is currently enjoying eternal torture in the burning hells.
Also I am fairly certain that the Templars are an organization creaed by Inarius when he was worried that the High Heavens might obliterate all of Sanctuary, thus he would have given them the knowledge to make the angelic weapons.
My Deviantart
I don't think Inarius is the prophet of the Enchantress. All of Inarius's followers got wiped out sometime long before the sin wars, so it is unlikely he would have given anything of value to an angel that would reside in the HH. Further, he saw no use in mortals, and only formed his religion to counter the Triune. I doubt he would care enough to save some girls from death, or to bother preserving them for "future use.
I also doubt the Templar order is as old as the Sin Wars, and Inarius has been a little busy since then.
As is quite clearly stated there he was in fact quite fond of the human race also he takes the name of the Prophet and this is the lead up to the Sin War.
as for the templars that was something that i remembered hearing somewhere, though I can not verify I believe it was part of the templar conversation though I don't think that any names were mentioned and I just sort of assumed.
My Deviantart
Leah's soul is most likely stuck inside the Black Soulstone as well, so we may be able to save her too. There were rumors sparked by the "leaked release schedule" for the next handful of years for Blizzard products, that suggest that Blizzard wants to do two D3 expansions. Perhaps in the second xpack we fight Imperius? In the animation they released at the 100% community site thingy, it showed that Imperius has some inner demons of his own, as well as not being quite in synch with the rest of the Angerous Council.
Do you have any evidence that it is Inarius, aside from Inarius called himself "The Prophet?" I ask because A) it just doesn't seem like something he would do and
I agree, it COULD be Inarius (we don't know enough about timelines to say for sure if the Enchantress is before/after the Sin Wars), but I just don't think it is. My personal theory is that she was more from the Mage Clan Wars, as I thought that period was when humans not aligned with the Mephisto led Triune started summoning demons.