I wish the whole game turned out to be a carefully orchestrated illusion where you really did go to those places, but what you saw was different, and you were the one who killed Cane, and you were the one who Injured Imperius, and you fought at the wall and defeated Azmodan, as an unknowing agent of Belial. That would make the mess we're left with brilliant.
Everything you see is what they want you to see. Everything you do is what they want you to do. Everything you think you know, is a lie. Nephalem, you are indoctrinated.
That would explain why the big evils and their goons have suddenly developed holo-com technology to broadcast their plans at the Nephalem hero. ("Oh, uh I totally saw this dude using an amulet, so I stole it, yeah, that's what I did.")
Hmm, the Wizard thinks some book had them as this hero of Prophecy. The Demon Hunter had their family killed and a group of hate-filled killers recruited them. The Witch Doctor was sent on his quest by the spirits? I don't remember the Barb/Monk pre-story, I think the Barb was looking for the ultimate challenge or something.
Expansion starts with a cinematic of Deckard Cain and the surviving Diablo 2 heroes ripping you out of a demonic torture chamber. "By the Light, what have those fiends done to you? At last, I was able to decode some of the ancient Horadrim prophecies, which led us to you, but I fear I may have been too late. Dead? No, my friend, I can assure you I am quite alive! However, if we do not act swiftly, I am afraid we shall all be headed for the Unformed Lands! "
You stagger forward, eyes set on an open doorway with sunlight pouring in in the distance. The sounds of battle echo off the caverns walls. You fall to your knee, a tired-looking Amazon and sullen Druid support you as you shuffle towards the exit. The camera pans out over a devastated wasteland down below, a horrendous battle is waging. The rivers run dark with the blood of the fallen, the bodies of angels, demons, and men, litter the ground as far as your eyes can see. In the skies, the angels and winged demons clash in a beautiful display of aerobatics and death. The poor souls that are wounded and sent earthward in this deadly aerial battle are torn apart by the frenzied forces on the ground.
You stagger back from the doorway, a bright light shines behind you and you feel an armored hand grip your shoulder. The Archangel Tyrael, Aspect of Justice, looks at you with the black void that is his face, "Nephalem, I do not know what lies the demons have been feeding you, but we haven't much time. The final battle is upon us, whoever triumphs on this day shall be the victor of the Eternal Conflict. Come, Nephalem, the hour of your true destiny is at hand."
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Non nobis, Domine, non nobis sed nomini tuo da gloriam.
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.
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Everything you see is what they want you to see. Everything you do is what they want you to do. Everything you think you know, is a lie. Nephalem, you are indoctrinated.
That would explain why the big evils and their goons have suddenly developed holo-com technology to broadcast their plans at the Nephalem hero. ("Oh, uh I totally saw this dude using an amulet, so I stole it, yeah, that's what I did.")
Hmm, the Wizard thinks some book had them as this hero of Prophecy. The Demon Hunter had their family killed and a group of hate-filled killers recruited them. The Witch Doctor was sent on his quest by the spirits? I don't remember the Barb/Monk pre-story, I think the Barb was looking for the ultimate challenge or something.
Expansion starts with a cinematic of Deckard Cain and the surviving Diablo 2 heroes ripping you out of a demonic torture chamber. "By the Light, what have those fiends done to you? At last, I was able to decode some of the ancient Horadrim prophecies, which led us to you, but I fear I may have been too late. Dead? No, my friend, I can assure you I am quite alive! However, if we do not act swiftly, I am afraid we shall all be headed for the Unformed Lands! "
You stagger forward, eyes set on an open doorway with sunlight pouring in in the distance. The sounds of battle echo off the caverns walls. You fall to your knee, a tired-looking Amazon and sullen Druid support you as you shuffle towards the exit. The camera pans out over a devastated wasteland down below, a horrendous battle is waging. The rivers run dark with the blood of the fallen, the bodies of angels, demons, and men, litter the ground as far as your eyes can see. In the skies, the angels and winged demons clash in a beautiful display of aerobatics and death. The poor souls that are wounded and sent earthward in this deadly aerial battle are torn apart by the frenzied forces on the ground.
You stagger back from the doorway, a bright light shines behind you and you feel an armored hand grip your shoulder. The Archangel Tyrael, Aspect of Justice, looks at you with the black void that is his face, "Nephalem, I do not know what lies the demons have been feeding you, but we haven't much time. The final battle is upon us, whoever triumphs on this day shall be the victor of the Eternal Conflict. Come, Nephalem, the hour of your true destiny is at hand."
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