Can't live on health potions alone you say... hmmm... Never thought of that. I guess. But it really sounds novel, and unpleasant. Those things have got to taste awful. Maybe she has the 'conjure food' spell that happened to be left off the Sorceress tree at the last minute.
And I guess I just like the idea of Waypoints being actual tangible things that anybody can use, so long as they've been to another of them to activate it in person. IE you can't go there unless you've been there already. Just like the game.
This would also work for Tyrael as well I suppose, unless he finds them like the new york subway, and using them would be slumming, and below him. This is making the waypoint a boon and a bane, although if you follow the game, he can only go through Pandemonium Fortress and Harrogath, unless he's been doing some scouting we don't know of.
And I like the idea that even though there's a waypoint (or three) there, one can't use the waypoints to Pandemonium fortress or Hell (a la act 4 D2) since the Worldstone went down. Waypoints are powerful magic, but they don't supercede the Worldstone. The Worldstone allows them to work across planes, and without it, they're limited to working in this world.
And as far as Tyrael the Villain? I never liked the pompous prick anyways ;-)
Something about forging Azurewrath and Shadowfang together and making him squeal like a stuck pig (with wings) ((hey pigs CAN fly)) really makes me smile. Plus I think the final battle scene would be amazing. Call Spielberg.
A narrative and a small collection of ideas to follow it up, in terms of gameplay:
It has been a year since the destruction of the prime evils and the shattering of the Worldstone. The aftermath of the terrible plot of the Fallen Archangel Tyrael has left the world in ruins, with the forces of Heaven and Hell powerless to fight his self-appointed reign over the mortal world. The story of Diablo's "defeat" beneath Tristram is well known, as are the adventures of the new Hero to defeat the Prime Evils since Diablo's reunion with his brothers. Such good news travels quickly, even as the Hero's continuing successes triumph his previous victories. Everything is known but the truth about how that new saga ended. The Hero did in fact destroy the demon princes Mephisto, Diablo, and Baal once and for all, with the assistance of the last Horadrim Deckard Cain and the Archangel Tyrael. In this, he succeeded in rescuing the mortal world from what would have been certain doom by the Demons' wills. However, the true treachery did not come from the Prime Evils, the betrayal of Heaven by Izual, or even by the Hero, as was the failure by his predecessor when the the Soulstone of Diablo corrupted him after he removed it from the once possessed body of Prince Albrecht under Tristram. Instead the betrayal of Heaven came from Archangel Tyrael himself, the longtime protector and guardian of mankind. Shortly after Baal corrupted the Worldstone, and the Hero defeated him in the Worldstone Keep, it was thought that Tyrael destroyed the tainted Worldstone to prevent the forces of Hell from spilling over and overwhelming the mortal realm. Unbeknownst however, to the Powers that Be in both Heaven and Hell, and long lost in the mortal realm, Tyrael became aware of one more effect that the destruction of the Worldstone would hold upon the planes. It is well known that while the forces of Heaven have been fairly "hands-off" in the affairs of the mortal world, Tyrael often interacted with Humanity throughout their history. Now, at the fruition of the plans requiring the patience that only an Archangel could have, the rest of the planes learn of the secret that Tyrael long ago both discovered and eradicated from all lore, hiding it from the knowledge of Heaven, Hell, and the mortal realm: The Worldstone, which through corruption could allow the forces of Hell to pour into the mortal realm, also governs the ability of Heaven to enter the world through its purity. Thus, through the destruction of the Worldstone, both Hell AND Heaven would be cut off from the mortal realm, leaving Tyrael, upon the destruction of the prime evils, to be the most powerful being in the mortal world, untouchable by those above or below. The damage being done, all that was left to do is to cleanse the world of those left who could possibly challenge his rule, namely the Hero that unwittingly did his part to defeat the Prime Evils, and the last of the Horadrim: Deckard Cain. He killed them, and everyone else in Harrogath while they were still trying to take cover from the earthquakes shaking the ground, and the fire falling from the sky over Mount Arreat. Then travelling from city to city, through all the bastions and strongholds of humanity, Tyrael presented himself as the Ruler of all things, slaying with his mighty blade anyone who opposed, and laying waste to entire kingdoms whose king refused to take a knee. Furthermore, gone from this land are the cities of Lut Gholein, Harrogath, and Kurast. It appears that the influence of the latest Hero, and the Artifacts he uncovered and left there in his journeys left the populations of those cities too much a threat to Tyrael's budding rule. This is the truth of what has caused the earth to go through its throes of agony, and the doors of heaven to close. Well, almost the truth. There was one survivor of Tyrael's wrath in Harrogath. When mortal blood started covering Tyrael's blade, and brimstone started falling from the skies above Mount Arreat, the only place I could take cover was through the portal to Nihlathak's Temple, which closed behind me before the Great Betrayer could pursue. Picking up whatever I could find to arm myself, I fought for hours through what remained of the undead within, until I located the waypoint deep within the halls of the temple. Upon returning to Harrogath, and feeling the earth quake and seeing fire fall from the sky, I saw an image that will forever be burned into my memory, like an etching in stone: Tyrael, standing over Deckard Cain's body, laughing triumphantly, blood still dripping down his sword. It looked as if the battle between them had been immense, turning Harrogath into a wasteland of rubble and fire. Having only emerged from the Waypoint for a moment, I immediately retreated again before Tyrael could spot me, and weathered the the rest of the initial armageddon from the shelter of Nihlathak's dark keep, doing what I could to keep what remained of his undead army at bay. Luckily the last Hero dispatched all but the rarest of creatures which remained hidden in the the halls of Nihlathak’s fortress. I survived for weeks on health potions alone, peeking out of what waypoints I knew of, looking for some semblance of safety or sanity, until I finally found it safe to reemerge in what appeared to be a rogue camp, somewhat worse for wear, some two weeks later. After making brief introductions to the paranoid and wary lot I found there, I wandered a short distance away from the tents and carts tended to by unfamiliar faces. There I located a number of recent graves, marked with the names of Akara, Kashya, and Charsi, among others who had fallen here, presumably to Tyrael's wrath. These proud women clearly would never submit to his rule, and were most likely slain simply because they were familiar with the Hero and Cain, and any could hold with them some of the secrets that could eventually prove dangerous to Tyrael. After a time of searching, I can sadly declare with some confidence, that I, Anya am the only survivor in the mortal plane to have seen either Deckard Cain or the Hero with my own eyes. Should Tyrael ever see me with his, I will surely be slain by his sword. Those who remained in the old rogue camp listened to my story, and immediately joined me in my resolve to recover the world from its new twisted Lord. That brings us to the present, the first anniversary of the Great Betrayal, as it has become known. Tyrael the Betrayer now rules from the remains of Worldstone Keep, with his many human and demon slaves toiling constantly to rebuild its defenses to his tastes. He is even leaving the Ancients on Arreat Summit to guard the entrance to his new throne, twisting the purpose of their oaths and spirits for his own uses. He has conscripted an army of demons to enforce his law, and much like the humans, anyone who denies his will is destroyed by his blade, so his forces are growing rapidly. The rest of the world hasn't fared too much better than the Keep either. Famine and Plague are not uncommon now since the worldstone twisted the land, and even more depressing are the depths of depravity and violence societies of man have come to in order to attain the necessities of life. Moreover, the larger shards of the corrupted Worldstone that the explosion of the Keep scattered about the world are still acting as tiny gateways to Hell, allowing smaller demons to sneak through. Soon these tiny hordes will be of the power and numbers that existed during the height of Baal's power. Something desperately needs to be done, and a plan is slowly being formulated to thwart Tyreal, however without the wisdom of Deckard Cain and the rest, even I, having survived through all this find it difficult not to call it impossible.
=================
(Plan emerges in story only after first tiny worldstone shard is found by accident and returned to Anya)
The plan as it stands is a mere outline for now, based on hope and theory, but sometimes hope is enough to make the impossible possible. It is thought that if enough of the Worldstone Shards are assembled together and then purified to close their gates to Hell, and open their doors to Heaven, a Divine Army could be assembled to overthrow Tyrael and once again return the mortal realm to mortal rule. Now, we just need to locate enough Shards, and find someone with the courage and resolve to fight their way to them and bring them back to be assembled...
The first worldstone shard could be found by accident while the new level 1 adventurer shows up and his/her first task, for instance, cleaning out an infestation of fowl crows or some such that have squeezed their way out of a small worldstone shard.
Later Quests:
Acquire the assistance of the remaining Vizjerei, perform a task for them to (curry favor, show trust, prove worth, settle debt, whatever)
After enough stones are assembled, but cannot be purified (else they'd open directly to heaven, or they just can't purify them yet, or if they did they wouldn't BE ABLE to go back to hell), gates to random locations in hell refocused as man-sized gate to specific location in hell: pandemonium fortress. Interesting image though, a pile of glowing red stones in a new version of the rogue encampment, with a ring of rogues around it, continuously firing arrows at the little beasties that sneak through.
Travel to Hell Hell: Pandemonium Fortress (Halbu and Jamella still live) Recover Azurewrath (Pre-fallen Izual's Sword), and the dark blade Shadowfang so that Halbu can reforge the two (good sword and evil sword) together into a New neutral weapon (come up with name), that can break Tyreal's Sword (or armor, or defeat him, or whatever) Travel with Halbu to the Hellforge and protect him while he forges a weapon that can break Tyreal's Sword (or Armor)
Note: Baal was imprisoned in a soulstone in his act 2 prison (where we found Tyrael initially in D2), perhaps the stone (inert or otherwise) is still there if a soulstone is needed for whatever reason.
So as I see it...
Act 1: Rogue camp revisited
Acts later than 1: Pandemonium Fortress revisited, Quick stop into Tal Rasha's Tomb, Recruit surviving Visjerei that havn't been eliminated by Tyrael, etc etc
Just a few thoughts that I havn't put into Narrative. Comments welcomed, wanted, and appreciated, love, flame, whatever.
0
If anybody else has read it and has anythign to say I welcome all. I'm really interested in thoughts/comments/ideas.
0
And I guess I just like the idea of Waypoints being actual tangible things that anybody can use, so long as they've been to another of them to activate it in person. IE you can't go there unless you've been there already. Just like the game.
This would also work for Tyrael as well I suppose, unless he finds them like the new york subway, and using them would be slumming, and below him. This is making the waypoint a boon and a bane, although if you follow the game, he can only go through Pandemonium Fortress and Harrogath, unless he's been doing some scouting we don't know of.
And I like the idea that even though there's a waypoint (or three) there, one can't use the waypoints to Pandemonium fortress or Hell (a la act 4 D2) since the Worldstone went down. Waypoints are powerful magic, but they don't supercede the Worldstone. The Worldstone allows them to work across planes, and without it, they're limited to working in this world.
And as far as Tyrael the Villain? I never liked the pompous prick anyways ;-)
Something about forging Azurewrath and Shadowfang together and making him squeal like a stuck pig (with wings) ((hey pigs CAN fly)) really makes me smile. Plus I think the final battle scene would be amazing. Call Spielberg.
0
It has been a year since the destruction of the prime evils and the shattering of the Worldstone. The aftermath of the terrible plot of the Fallen Archangel Tyrael has left the world in ruins, with the forces of Heaven and Hell powerless to fight his self-appointed reign over the mortal world.
The story of Diablo's "defeat" beneath Tristram is well known, as are the adventures of the new Hero to defeat the Prime Evils since Diablo's reunion with his brothers. Such good news travels quickly, even as the Hero's continuing successes triumph his previous victories. Everything is known but the truth about how that new saga ended. The Hero did in fact destroy the demon princes Mephisto, Diablo, and Baal once and for all, with the assistance of the last Horadrim Deckard Cain and the Archangel Tyrael. In this, he succeeded in rescuing the mortal world from what would have been certain doom by the Demons' wills.
However, the true treachery did not come from the Prime Evils, the betrayal of Heaven by Izual, or even by the Hero, as was the failure by his predecessor when the the Soulstone of Diablo corrupted him after he removed it from the once possessed body of Prince Albrecht under Tristram. Instead the betrayal of Heaven came from Archangel Tyrael himself, the longtime protector and guardian of mankind. Shortly after Baal corrupted the Worldstone, and the Hero defeated him in the Worldstone Keep, it was thought that Tyrael destroyed the tainted Worldstone to prevent the forces of Hell from spilling over and overwhelming the mortal realm.
Unbeknownst however, to the Powers that Be in both Heaven and Hell, and long lost in the mortal realm, Tyrael became aware of one more effect that the destruction of the Worldstone would hold upon the planes. It is well known that while the forces of Heaven have been fairly "hands-off" in the affairs of the mortal world, Tyrael often interacted with Humanity throughout their history. Now, at the fruition of the plans requiring the patience that only an Archangel could have, the rest of the planes learn of the secret that Tyrael long ago both discovered and eradicated from all lore, hiding it from the knowledge of Heaven, Hell, and the mortal realm: The Worldstone, which through corruption could allow the forces of Hell to pour into the mortal realm, also governs the ability of Heaven to enter the world through its purity. Thus, through the destruction of the Worldstone, both Hell AND Heaven would be cut off from the mortal realm, leaving Tyrael, upon the destruction of the prime evils, to be the most powerful being in the mortal world, untouchable by those above or below.
The damage being done, all that was left to do is to cleanse the world of those left who could possibly challenge his rule, namely the Hero that unwittingly did his part to defeat the Prime Evils, and the last of the Horadrim: Deckard Cain. He killed them, and everyone else in Harrogath while they were still trying to take cover from the earthquakes shaking the ground, and the fire falling from the sky over Mount Arreat.
Then travelling from city to city, through all the bastions and strongholds of humanity, Tyrael presented himself as the Ruler of all things, slaying with his mighty blade anyone who opposed, and laying waste to entire kingdoms whose king refused to take a knee. Furthermore, gone from this land are the cities of Lut Gholein, Harrogath, and Kurast. It appears that the influence of the latest Hero, and the Artifacts he uncovered and left there in his journeys left the populations of those cities too much a threat to Tyrael's budding rule.
This is the truth of what has caused the earth to go through its throes of agony, and the doors of heaven to close. Well, almost the truth. There was one survivor of Tyrael's wrath in Harrogath. When mortal blood started covering Tyrael's blade, and brimstone started falling from the skies above Mount Arreat, the only place I could take cover was through the portal to Nihlathak's Temple, which closed behind me before the Great Betrayer could pursue.
Picking up whatever I could find to arm myself, I fought for hours through what remained of the undead within, until I located the waypoint deep within the halls of the temple. Upon returning to Harrogath, and feeling the earth quake and seeing fire fall from the sky, I saw an image that will forever be burned into my memory, like an etching in stone: Tyrael, standing over Deckard Cain's body, laughing triumphantly, blood still dripping down his sword. It looked as if the battle between them had been immense, turning Harrogath into a wasteland of rubble and fire. Having only emerged from the Waypoint for a moment, I immediately retreated again before Tyrael could spot me, and weathered the the rest of the initial armageddon from the shelter of Nihlathak's dark keep, doing what I could to keep what remained of his undead army at bay. Luckily the last Hero dispatched all but the rarest of creatures which remained hidden in the the halls of Nihlathak’s fortress. I survived for weeks on health potions alone, peeking out of what waypoints I knew of, looking for some semblance of safety or sanity, until I finally found it safe to reemerge in what appeared to be a rogue camp, somewhat worse for wear, some two weeks later.
After making brief introductions to the paranoid and wary lot I found there, I wandered a short distance away from the tents and carts tended to by unfamiliar faces. There I located a number of recent graves, marked with the names of Akara, Kashya, and Charsi, among others who had fallen here, presumably to Tyrael's wrath. These proud women clearly would never submit to his rule, and were most likely slain simply because they were familiar with the Hero and Cain, and any could hold with them some of the secrets that could eventually prove dangerous to Tyrael.
After a time of searching, I can sadly declare with some confidence, that I, Anya am the only survivor in the mortal plane to have seen either Deckard Cain or the Hero with my own eyes. Should Tyrael ever see me with his, I will surely be slain by his sword.
Those who remained in the old rogue camp listened to my story, and immediately joined me in my resolve to recover the world from its new twisted Lord.
That brings us to the present, the first anniversary of the Great Betrayal, as it has become known. Tyrael the Betrayer now rules from the remains of Worldstone Keep, with his many human and demon slaves toiling constantly to rebuild its defenses to his tastes. He is even leaving the Ancients on Arreat Summit to guard the entrance to his new throne, twisting the purpose of their oaths and spirits for his own uses. He has conscripted an army of demons to enforce his law, and much like the humans, anyone who denies his will is destroyed by his blade, so his forces are growing rapidly.
The rest of the world hasn't fared too much better than the Keep either. Famine and Plague are not uncommon now since the worldstone twisted the land, and even more depressing are the depths of depravity and violence societies of man have come to in order to attain the necessities of life. Moreover, the larger shards of the corrupted Worldstone that the explosion of the Keep scattered about the world are still acting as tiny gateways to Hell, allowing smaller demons to sneak through. Soon these tiny hordes will be of the power and numbers that existed during the height of Baal's power. Something desperately needs to be done, and a plan is slowly being formulated to thwart Tyreal, however without the wisdom of Deckard Cain and the rest, even I, having survived through all this find it difficult not to call it impossible.
=================
(Plan emerges in story only after first tiny worldstone shard is found by accident and returned to Anya)
The plan as it stands is a mere outline for now, based on hope and theory, but sometimes hope is enough to make the impossible possible. It is thought that if enough of the Worldstone Shards are assembled together and then purified to close their gates to Hell, and open their doors to Heaven, a Divine Army could be assembled to overthrow Tyrael and once again return the mortal realm to mortal rule. Now, we just need to locate enough Shards, and find someone with the courage and resolve to fight their way to them and bring them back to be assembled...
The first worldstone shard could be found by accident while the new level 1 adventurer shows up and his/her first task, for instance, cleaning out an infestation of fowl crows or some such that have squeezed their way out of a small worldstone shard.
Later Quests:
Acquire the assistance of the remaining Vizjerei, perform a task for them to (curry favor, show trust, prove worth, settle debt, whatever)
After enough stones are assembled, but cannot be purified (else they'd open directly to heaven, or they just can't purify them yet, or if they did they wouldn't BE ABLE to go back to hell), gates to random locations in hell refocused as man-sized gate to specific location in hell: pandemonium fortress. Interesting image though, a pile of glowing red stones in a new version of the rogue encampment, with a ring of rogues around it, continuously firing arrows at the little beasties that sneak through.
Travel to Hell
Hell: Pandemonium Fortress (Halbu and Jamella still live)
Recover Azurewrath (Pre-fallen Izual's Sword), and the dark blade Shadowfang so that Halbu can reforge the two (good sword and evil sword) together into a New neutral weapon (come up with name), that can break Tyreal's Sword (or armor, or defeat him, or whatever)
Travel with Halbu to the Hellforge and protect him while he forges a weapon that can break Tyreal's Sword (or Armor)
Note: Baal was imprisoned in a soulstone in his act 2 prison (where we found Tyrael initially in D2), perhaps the stone (inert or otherwise) is still there if a soulstone is needed for whatever reason.
So as I see it...
Act 1: Rogue camp revisited
Acts later than 1: Pandemonium Fortress revisited, Quick stop into Tal Rasha's Tomb, Recruit surviving Visjerei that havn't been eliminated by Tyrael, etc etc
Just a few thoughts that I havn't put into Narrative. Comments welcomed, wanted, and appreciated, love, flame, whatever.