Yatta-ihhuitl delivered the final blow. Blood Raven fell, her lifeless body pecked on by an unkindness of ravens. The witch-doctor danced around it and a violent scream pierced the necropolis' musty air. A spirit arose.
'Ahhhh, Moreina. You never mentioned you were a Rogue', he said, recognizing the features of the ghost. 'You never asked! That night at The Rising Sun... I hoped I would never see you again,' she cried. 'I need more answers still.' 'Even in death you question me about those soulstones of yours? You know more of them than I', she said. 'That old storyteller, though...' 'This is not the time for stories, my raven.' 'Oh. It has come to this, has it? If there is no other way', said the spirit in anticipation of the inevitable, 'so be it. But I implore you, for the sake of our... time together, take care of our dead.' 'I shall.'
He then devoured her. Moreina's thoughts, feelings and experiences united with his own. She did have fond memories of him, after all. While the Souleater was used to such ordeals, he needed a short respite and decided to return to the encampment for a while.
As he appeared through the portal, Kashya spilled whatever she was drinking all over her armour, utterly shocked by his return. However, she quickly managed to shake off any hints of deep-rooted scorn doubt and commended on Yatta-ihhuitl's unbelievable feat.
She was so generous as to assign Blaise, a young Rogue archer whose looks made Kashya freak out with jealousy eyes were colder and sharper than her arrows, to accompany him.
'Nice to meet you, Blaise.' But Blaise said nothing, staring at him blankly, a mixture of fear and disgust shaking her frame. 'I like this girl already,' he said.
Once Yatta-ihhuitl restocked his supplies, they both set off to explore the crypt and mausoleum beneath the Sisterhood's burial grounds, wherein the dead were walking alive.
With the burial grounds' excessive liveliness problems resolved, Yatta-ihhuitl considered his promise to Moreina fulfilled. But even with her blurred memories circulating within his mind, he still had far more questions than answers. The Souleater convened with Akara, so as to determine a course of action. Together they determined that, indeed, the storyteller of Tristram, an elderly teacher by the name of Deckard Cain, may have been the last descendant of the ancient Horadrim.
'I should have stayed a while and listened when I had the chance. Now, the old man is either dead or dying,' said Yatta-ihhuitl, who knew well of the fate that befell Tristram.
Akara, however, had a plan. A circle of cairn stones not far from the encampment could serve as a teleportation device allowing direct access to the village. However, the method of operating this device was long lost and the only way to reconstruct it required some sort of a manuscript etched into the bark of a sacred tree, which was to be found beyond a system of underground corridors. She proposed that he would go and fetch the thing, then pop in the portal and ask around, mayhap one of the corpses answers to the name Cain. While he had no intention of questioning Akara's reasoning, the witch-doctor was somewhat puzzled by the many weaknesses of her plan. He glanced at Blaise, whose eyes were devoid of an opinion. 'Riiiiight, let's do this, then,' he said and the two of them returned whence they came.
And there were many bodies flayed, items looted, dues collected as well as countless ravens cawing and arrows missing targets.
As soon as both the Souleater and his lovely companion Blaise began having serious thoughts about pursuing a career in speleology, they found the exit to the not-so-dark Dark Wood and the Tree of Inifuss in it.
'I've had enough fuss for now,' said Yatta-ihhuitl, opening a portal as he scrapped a scroll off the bark.
Akara was quick to figure out the workings of the cairn stones and their magic was unleashed.
To his surprise, Yatta-ihhuitl found Tristram largely unchanged since his last visit. Arguably, there may have been more flames and demons than he remembered. Deckard Cain was found not far from where he had seen him long ago, however. When his cage was lowered, the storyteller proved to be surprisingly alive and got very friendly.
The old man passed out while trying to hug the witch-doctor. Once Yatta-ihhuitl managed to peel Cain off his garments and push his unconscious body into a portal to safety, the exploration of Tristram resumed.
Other than Deckard's, familiar faces were scarce. Most of them were likely stripped off their skulls in the blaze, now indistinguishable among the many smouldering skeletons strewn across the place. Of the less disfigured acquaintances, Wirt and Griswold were still there. Curiously, the blacksmith awakened when pecked by a raven. He charged at Blaise and hurt her severely with his mighty blow. Yatta-ihhuitl quickly tossed her a healing potion and faced Griswold up-close to see the curse in his long-dead eyes.
Afraid and wounded, Blaise muttered 'Thank you' and with an effort shot a cold-enchanted arrow at the maddened blacksmith. It was not long before Griswold dropped lifeless, the many appliances he had been carrying making a metallic sound as they fell with him.
Amongst them was a small and yet-unfinished dagger with the name Gull crudely etched on its blade. To Yatta-ihhuitl's discerning eye, it was clear that Griswold was making it for Wirt, perhaps in a fit of fatherly worry. Though not magical, the dagger had something of Wirt's entrepreneurial spirit about it.
Oh my @God I really like the way you are writing about your playthrought. And that you are using names and terms from Diablo lore is a very nice touch.
Gull dagger. I can only say that Zaraki likes the thing very much.
If you are into item collecting and varied build choices, I just don't think any other ARPG from the isometric prospective has ever come close to offering what Diablo 2 does, and that also applies in terms of gameplay. The pretenders like Torchlight 2 and Titan Quest/Grim Dawn have such bizarre and uninteresting skills that are so incremental you can't even tell a difference when you've leveled them up. Path of Exile is uniformly excellent in it's design, but is also complex simply for complexities sake.
You can certainly argue Diablo 1 has a better aesthetic and more uniform theme, but in terms of gameplay, loot and the implementation of the skill tree, the competition isn't even in the same ballpark, and never has been. If only the first half of Act 3 didn't exist, the game would be pretty much perfect.
Zaraki arrived in his hometown, the city of Harrogath - one of the very few permanent establsihemnts of his kind. Immediately after coming out of Tyrael's portal, the barbarian ran to Malah the healer for some reliable informations. And things looked awful. Baal's armies destroying everything in their path. The city of Sescheron in ruins, king Kanai dead. The only reason Harrogath is still in such good shape is that the Elder Council managed to cast protective ward around the city. To perform this ancient magic, druidic in nature, the council member had to do it ouside of the city. Only Nihlathak made it back alive, and he has became much bitter and hostile than he has ever been. The fact that he was often argued with Anya, didn't help. Qual-Kehk's soldiers were to few in numbers, most of them either dead of captured by demons for not clear reasons, most likely for sacrifices.
The worst thing was that demon's catapults were still firing at the city. The protective ward cast around the city protected it from destruction, but if the siege is not going to be stopped then the city's fall was only a matter of time, since the protection won't last forever. Zaraki decided to act quickly, and consulted Qual-Kehk and Larzuk before heading off by himself. All he need to do to stop the siege would be killing Shenk the Overseer, a lasher type demon. Quel-Heck tried to stop Zaraki from heading by himself, but once he saw the barbarian running towards army of hell, he racalled few things about him. Or rather nicknames. "The one that can't be cut down", "the monster" and - most importantly - "One man army". And Zaraki truly was.
Neither ordinary demon troopers nor fire-casting imps were able to stop the barbarian
He finally reached Shenk the Overseer, surrounded by his army of demons. Zaraki recalled Quel-Kehk saying that the overseer without his minions is no one. But Zaraki's rage prevented him from using this bit of knowledge. The barbarian leaped to the lasher and started cutting the demon. Many more times than it was necessary.
To this day, nobody was sure what made the demon army flee. Overseer's death of Zaraki's bloodlust.
The barbarian pressed on to the nearest waypoint, and using it, he got back to Harrogath and told everyone of his deed. Larzuk offered to enhance Zaraki's equipment with a socket to put magical gems in, but our "hero" refused for now. It was decided, together with Cain and Quel-Kehk, that it would be best to stop Baal before he reaches the top of the mountain. While at it, Zaraki was to search for imprisoned barbarians and free them, if possible. Zaraki couldn't refuse such request.
And, sure enough, during his trip to Areat Plateau through Frigid Highlands, Zaraki found 3 groups of barbarian imprisoned in cages. Zaraki freed his comrades and killed all surrounding demons.
The barbarian met Eyeback the Unleashed, guarding the entrance to the plateau. The demon didn't live for very long.
Zaraki then cut his way in berserk rage through the plateu until he found a waypoint. He decided to report to Quel-Kehk about his progress. The old warrior was grateful for Zaraki's help and gave away the Ort, Ral and Tal runes he originally intended to put into his shield. Meanwhile, Malah had some concerns...
Anya, the daughter of one of the Elders, has gone missing after rather huge argument with Nihlathak. This was bad, since the girl had access to the relic that would enable anyone to enter the inside of Arreat without the Rite of Passage. Not only Zaraki could have used this (if, by any chance, he would be forced to enter the mountain), but there was also the possibility that Baal could gain free access to the mountain as well. And that was bad. Zaraki agreed to look for Anya on his way up the mountain, but he also stated it would be simpler to kill Baal before he reaches to summit. With that, the Barbarian continued his hike.
And nobody noticed Nihlathak was gone...
Zaraki remembered that the way to the top was through two ice caverns. He managed to find Crystaline Passage, guarded by large monster called Thresh Socket
. The inside of the cavern was cold as death for majority of humans on this planet, but Zaraki was the barbarian, raised in the north. Neither thick air nor low temperature managed to bring him any discomfort. After slaying many monsters, Succubi among them, the barbarian found himself lost and thus arrived at the Frozen River. Hoping he somehow find the entrance to the Glacial Trail - and to exit to Frozen Tundra - he kept going forward, slaying abomination and undead, full of rage. Barbarian noticed something very unexpected - Anya! She was almost completely frozen in place, surrounded by the frozen abominations, with Frozenstein as their leader. Zaraki rushed to Anya's help and slew Frozenstein's minions as if they were not ferocious beasts, but weak as children. Soon, the main beast fell as well, but not without giving Zaraki some good fight. Finally, the barbarian had the opportunity to talk to Anya.
It was Nihlathak who did this to her. That damn traitor! If she was to be saved, Malah's aid was required. Using town portal, Zaraki immediately contacted Malah and brought Anya the potion that would defrost her and bring back her strength. The girl drunk the potion and, together with Zaraki, she teleported back town.
Malah gave Zaraki a scroll that, after being read, would boost the barbarian already considerable resistances to elements. Anya then explained to Zaraki what was going on, and it was no good. Evidently, the former Elder, like utter coward and idiot he was, made a deal with the Lord of Destruction: the sacred relic, which would enable Baal to reach inside the mountain and it's secret while being unchallenged by the Ancient Ones, for the security of the Harrogath. As if Lord of Destruction would spare anything! And what Harrogath meant, if the rest of the world would literally be overrun by Hell? Zaraki decided to head to the ancient temple, where the traitor was apparently hiding. He won't live for long, definitely.
Diablo was very annoying because always moves, he never stays in one place. Si the Valkyrie was not very effective. But in the end, Kaelis was victorious, and once again, Kaelis was rewarded with nice drops.
That's cute. When Zaraki will deal with Diablo on nightmare difficulty with about 200% magic find bonus, I'll show you how typical item drops like this looks.
Nihlathak will pay dearly for this treachery. Using the portal opened by Anya, Zaraki arrived at the temple, the coward's hiding place. Soon, the corspes around Zaraki rise up. So, Nihlathak set up an ambush. So cute.
Among the monsters, there was Pindleskin who somehow seemed familiar to the barbarian. Whatever. It was just some rotten flesh holding a sword.
It seemed like the traitor really made a deal with Baal, given that some demons were her to protect Nihlathak from intruders, such as Zaraki. They couldn't do much, though. And finally, Zaraki has found the necromancer. The barbarian leaped above his demonic minions and attacked the traitor, showing no mercy. Nihlathak tried to defend himself with Arctic Breath, but it didn't do him any good. He was cut down, and his soul and body has been taken to Hell, where it should be. The only thing that bothered Zaraki was that he couldn't spit on the traitor's corpse.
Anya offered to personalize one of the barbarian's items. Zaraki choosed his plate boots he found during his.... "walk" at tundra.
Now, it couldn't be helped. The Relic was already given to Baal, meaning Zaraki needed to hurry and reach the Arreat Summit and pass the Rite of Passage - fighting the Ancient Ones, to be exact. Anya told the Barbarian how to navigate through the caverns and the barbarian was ready to go. It was only matter of time until Zaraki found his way to the Frozen Tundra
Zaraki's main enemies were Enslaved and Demonic Creatures, who were casting fire and often reading a top of Crush Beasts. But it was nothing. What surprised the barbarian was that some of Bul'Khatos' children were still fighting against demons, so far from Harrogath.
Eventually, Zaraki found the Ancient's Way and soon arrived at the Arreat Summit.
There was no time to lose. Zaraki entered the Worldstone's Keep.
The Barbarian was in much hurry. Baal was already inside, meaning the time was short. It was outside of Zaraki's character to ignore some slower enemies and just rush through deeper levels of the Keep, but it was necessary. If the world is going to be destroyed by Baal and his army, there won't be anyone to fight against, after all.
When Zaraki found the lowest levels of the Keep, the light around him turner crimson red. That couldn't be good. Finally, the Barbarian found Throne of Destruction. Baal was sitting on his Throne, just before the portal to the Worldstone Chamber. The time for the final confrontation was near. The Lord of Destruction, however, laughed and refused to fight the Barbarian. He send his best minions instead. Five waves of them, to be exact.
The last wave consisted of the strongest demons Zaraki found against as of yet. They skin was that of iron, and they blows like of a maul. But Zaraki was cutting through iron before, so he have won that fight. Baal, however, used his time to get to the Worldstone Chamber. Zaraki followed him.
Efter the fight, the archangel Tyrael has appeared. The Lord of Destruction was dead, but the Eye of Anu - or, more commonly known as Worldstone - was already corrupted by Baal, meaning the gateways between this world and Hell could disappear, and the two worlds merging together. That would be the end of Sanctuary, which would led further to Hell's victory in the Eternal Conflict. Tyrael made a decision - the Worldstone was to be destroyed for the greater good.
At least, that way the utter destruction of the world was prevented.
--- "But my homeland paid the price" said the barbarian Nephalem, who was sitting before me, his firm gaze sticking to mine. "Yes" I replied "And that's why the even of Baal's defeat was named 'The Eve of Destruction'... Worldstone has exploded, and mount Arreat alongside it... "Most of my homeland was reduced to nothing" the Barbarian said quietly, but without the grudge in his voice. "Regrettably. And here's where Zaraki's title came from. "Destroyer" "I know that" the Nephalem replied with hint of anger in his voice "Don' you think it's unfair? He wanted to protect his homeland" I asked uncertainly, looking at his Axe. That man was current champion of mankind and angels alike, the slayer of The Prime evil, but I knew better than to invoke his wrath. Especially since I knew he had the witch to hunt. "Yes..." he answered slowly "But you don't know what happened with him after that. He became one of them.... But at the same time, alone." "Them?" "The Unlcean" the Nephalem stated dryly. That's a terrible information. The Unclean were barbarians who, after the Worldstone's destruction, succumbed to madness and started to eat human flesh. So, Zaraki ended up as one of them... but he was alone, did I heard that right? That would mean even The Unclean were wary of him. "Now, I know who I'm up against...." the might warrior continued, and then gave me a somehow warm smile.... for barbarian warrior, at least "... thank you. I guess I'll hunt the madman before I'll track down the witch" with that, he has raised up and exited the tent.
I wondered when - and if - I will ever see this man again. It's not like, with angels on our side, anything serious is going to happen in the Sanctuary. In the Westmarch, for example.
---
Ok, I finished normal difficulty. Now, some words from me: - After reached Pindleskin, I've trained Zaraki from lvl 31 to 38. With about 200% magic find, so he he became much stronger and I managed to find better loot - like Goblin's Toe. - I'm going to keep playing as Zaraki through next difficulty levels but I'm not going to describe it in such role-playish way. Repeating the same plot would be tiring, stupid and pointless. - Berserk-oriented Barbarian is a lot of fun. And I also learned that I overestimated the value of "defense" statistic on armor pieces. It turned out to be less important than life/mana and resistances. I think it would turn out to be true even on later difficulty levels, where even very high values of defense are not so effective. - Thank you for everyone who managed to read through all of Zaraki's chapters so far.
Repeating the same plot would be tiring, stupid and pointless.
Challenge accepted! I will write about the same plot thrice, lightly, cleverly and very much to the point. But, admittedly, this is something I originally had in mind when I designed Yatta-ihhuitl's character concept. The fact that he 'eats' souls is... well, not really a coincidence
However, before I can continue with his story, I need to create something like a Diablo II: Enhanced Edition, with a few DLC companions and sh*t... mod. Might take me a few days.
Yo are free to do so. I don't see the point, but if you are ok with it, do it (in theory, I could do something like "destroying the Worldstone will repeat the cycle" or something like that, but come on...)
I wanted Zaraki's story to have the beginning and the end. And his end, like Aidan's/Warrior's from D1 was ultimately a bad one. Isendra, had she lived act 2, would have different ending, thou.
Yo are free to do so. I don't see the point, but if you are ok with it, do it (in theory, I could do something like "destroying the Worldstone will repeat the cycle" or something like that, but come on...)
I wanted Zaraki's story to have the beginning and the end. And his end, like Aidan's/Warrior's from D1 was ultimately a bad one. Isendra, had she lived act 2, would have different ending, thou.
The end was pretty cool! Good luck in Nightmare and Hell.
Here's a little sneak-peak of what I'm doing right now...
Joneleth continues his search for power. He found this nice looking axe:
Sadly, it has no use for a necromancer. He eliminated Coldworm:
and managed to cube-shape an useful ring:
Joneleth got the headpiece of the horadric staff from the viper's temple without difficulty, ended the eclipse and went to the palace to solve other problems.
He reached the arcane sanctuary through a portal in the palace, where he experimented with the confusion curse and some skeleton mages:
Also, here is where Joneleth' search for power ended as well:
R.I.P. Joneleth!
As you can see, i could prevent this intimidating death simply by pressing the 4 button. Well, that was too difficult for me.
The Hell Forge provided the Perfect Diamond, 3 of which put into a shield would improve resistances better than the "Ancients' Pledge" runeworld.
Xzar had some troubles with Oblivion Knights (mages) - Dim Vision didn't work on them.
Xzar was only of the 28th level, and he couldn't think about facing Diablo without Poison Nova. So he went on demon hunting, during which some nifty items were found, as long as new Tal and Ral runes. It showed that one shouldn't be afraid to put runes into mundane items - new runes can always be found.
At last, Xzar was ready to face Diablo. Poison Nova provided amazingly-looking screenshots:
But more importantly, Poison Nova was an effective tool (especially with Lower Resist curse). Diablo fell at last:
Unfortunately, the loot was of no use for Xzar (the amulet gave +1 to druid abilities, the breast plate was repeatable).
But I guess it doesn't mean much. Now Xzar can annihilate hordes of enemies by spawning Poison Nova. Act V, here Xzar comes!
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ACT 1, Chapter II: Of Graves And Caves
Your time has passed, Blood Raven.Yatta-ihhuitl delivered the final blow. Blood Raven fell, her lifeless body pecked on by an unkindness of ravens. The witch-doctor danced around it and a violent scream pierced the necropolis' musty air. A spirit arose.
'Ahhhh, Moreina. You never mentioned you were a Rogue', he said, recognizing the features of the ghost.
'You never asked! That night at The Rising Sun... I hoped I would never see you again,' she cried.
'I need more answers still.'
'Even in death you question me about those soulstones of yours? You know more of them than I', she said. 'That old storyteller, though...'
'This is not the time for stories, my raven.'
'Oh. It has come to this, has it? If there is no other way', said the spirit in anticipation of the inevitable, 'so be it. But I implore you, for the sake of our... time together, take care of our dead.'
'I shall.'
He then devoured her. Moreina's thoughts, feelings and experiences united with his own. She did have fond memories of him, after all. While the Souleater was used to such ordeals, he needed a short respite and decided to return to the encampment for a while.
As he appeared through the portal, Kashya spilled whatever she was drinking all over her armour, utterly shocked by his return. However, she quickly managed to shake off any hints of
deep-rooted scorndoubt and commended on Yatta-ihhuitl's unbelievable feat.She was so generous as to assign Blaise, a young Rogue archer whose
looks made Kashya freak out with jealousyeyes were colder and sharper than her arrows, to accompany him.'Nice to meet you, Blaise.'
But Blaise said nothing, staring at him blankly, a mixture of fear and disgust shaking her frame.
'I like this girl already,' he said.
Once Yatta-ihhuitl restocked his supplies, they both set off to explore the crypt and mausoleum beneath the Sisterhood's burial grounds, wherein the dead were walking alive.
With the burial grounds' excessive liveliness problems resolved, Yatta-ihhuitl considered his promise to Moreina fulfilled. But even with her blurred memories circulating within his mind, he still had far more questions than answers.
The Souleater convened with Akara, so as to determine a course of action. Together they determined that, indeed, the storyteller of Tristram, an elderly teacher by the name of Deckard Cain, may have been the last descendant of the ancient Horadrim.
'I should have stayed a while and listened when I had the chance. Now, the old man is either dead or dying,' said Yatta-ihhuitl, who knew well of the fate that befell Tristram.
Akara, however, had a plan. A circle of cairn stones not far from the encampment could serve as a teleportation device allowing direct access to the village. However, the method of operating this device was long lost and the only way to reconstruct it required some sort of a manuscript etched into the bark of a sacred tree, which was to be found beyond a system of underground corridors. She proposed that he would go and fetch the thing, then pop in the portal and ask around, mayhap one of the corpses answers to the name Cain.
While he had no intention of questioning Akara's reasoning, the witch-doctor was somewhat puzzled by the many weaknesses of her plan. He glanced at Blaise, whose eyes were devoid of an opinion. 'Riiiiight, let's do this, then,' he said and the two of them returned whence they came.
And there were many bodies flayed, items looted, dues collected as well as countless ravens cawing and arrows missing targets.
As soon as both the Souleater and his lovely companion Blaise began having serious thoughts about pursuing a career in speleology, they found the exit to the not-so-dark Dark Wood and the Tree of Inifuss in it.
'I've had enough fuss for now,' said Yatta-ihhuitl, opening a portal as he scrapped a scroll off the bark.
Akara was quick to figure out the workings of the cairn stones and their magic was unleashed.
To his surprise, Yatta-ihhuitl found Tristram largely unchanged since his last visit. Arguably, there may have been more flames and demons than he remembered. Deckard Cain was found not far from where he had seen him long ago, however. When his cage was lowered, the storyteller proved to be surprisingly alive and got very friendly.
The old man passed out while trying to hug the witch-doctor. Once Yatta-ihhuitl managed to peel Cain off his garments and push his unconscious body into a portal to safety, the exploration of Tristram resumed.
Other than Deckard's, familiar faces were scarce. Most of them were likely stripped off their skulls in the blaze, now indistinguishable among the many smouldering skeletons strewn across the place. Of the less disfigured acquaintances, Wirt and Griswold were still there. Curiously, the blacksmith awakened when pecked by a raven. He charged at Blaise and hurt her severely with his mighty blow. Yatta-ihhuitl quickly tossed her a healing potion and faced Griswold up-close to see the curse in his long-dead eyes.
Afraid and wounded, Blaise muttered 'Thank you' and with an effort shot a cold-enchanted arrow at the maddened blacksmith. It was not long before Griswold dropped lifeless, the many appliances he had been carrying making a metallic sound as they fell with him.
Amongst them was a small and yet-unfinished dagger with the name Gull crudely etched on its blade. To Yatta-ihhuitl's discerning eye, it was clear that Griswold was making it for Wirt, perhaps in a fit of fatherly worry. Though not magical, the dagger had something of Wirt's entrepreneurial spirit about it.
Yatta-ihhuitl knew how to put it to use.
To be continued...
Gull dagger. I can only say that Zaraki likes the thing very much.
You can certainly argue Diablo 1 has a better aesthetic and more uniform theme, but in terms of gameplay, loot and the implementation of the skill tree, the competition isn't even in the same ballpark, and never has been. If only the first half of Act 3 didn't exist, the game would be pretty much perfect.
Besieged homeland
Zaraki arrived in his hometown, the city of Harrogath - one of the very few permanent establsihemnts of his kind. Immediately after coming out of Tyrael's portal, the barbarian ran to Malah the healer for some reliable informations. And things looked awful. Baal's armies destroying everything in their path. The city of Sescheron in ruins, king Kanai dead. The only reason Harrogath is still in such good shape is that the Elder Council managed to cast protective ward around the city. To perform this ancient magic, druidic in nature, the council member had to do it ouside of the city. Only Nihlathak made it back alive, and he has became much bitter and hostile than he has ever been. The fact that he was often argued with Anya, didn't help. Qual-Kehk's soldiers were to few in numbers, most of them either dead of captured by demons for not clear reasons, most likely for sacrifices.
The worst thing was that demon's catapults were still firing at the city. The protective ward cast around the city protected it from destruction, but if the siege is not going to be stopped then the city's fall was only a matter of time, since the protection won't last forever. Zaraki decided to act quickly, and consulted Qual-Kehk and Larzuk before heading off by himself. All he need to do to stop the siege would be killing Shenk the Overseer, a lasher type demon. Quel-Heck tried to stop Zaraki from heading by himself, but once he saw the barbarian running towards army of hell, he racalled few things about him. Or rather nicknames. "The one that can't be cut down", "the monster" and - most importantly - "One man army". And Zaraki truly was.
Neither ordinary demon troopers nor fire-casting imps were able to stop the barbarian
He finally reached Shenk the Overseer, surrounded by his army of demons. Zaraki recalled Quel-Kehk saying that the overseer without his minions is no one. But Zaraki's rage prevented him from using this bit of knowledge. The barbarian leaped to the lasher and started cutting the demon. Many more times than it was necessary.
To this day, nobody was sure what made the demon army flee. Overseer's death of Zaraki's bloodlust.
The barbarian pressed on to the nearest waypoint, and using it, he got back to Harrogath and told everyone of his deed. Larzuk offered to enhance Zaraki's equipment with a socket to put magical gems in, but our "hero" refused for now. It was decided, together with Cain and Quel-Kehk, that it would be best to stop Baal before he reaches the top of the mountain. While at it, Zaraki was to search for imprisoned barbarians and free them, if possible. Zaraki couldn't refuse such request.
And, sure enough, during his trip to Areat Plateau through Frigid Highlands, Zaraki found 3 groups of barbarian imprisoned in cages. Zaraki freed his comrades and killed all surrounding demons.
The barbarian met Eyeback the Unleashed, guarding the entrance to the plateau. The demon didn't live for very long.
Zaraki then cut his way in berserk rage through the plateu until he found a waypoint. He decided to report to Quel-Kehk about his progress. The old warrior was grateful for Zaraki's help and gave away the Ort, Ral and Tal runes he originally intended to put into his shield. Meanwhile, Malah had some concerns...
Anya, the daughter of one of the Elders, has gone missing after rather huge argument with Nihlathak. This was bad, since the girl had access to the relic that would enable anyone to enter the inside of Arreat without the Rite of Passage. Not only Zaraki could have used this (if, by any chance, he would be forced to enter the mountain), but there was also the possibility that Baal could gain free access to the mountain as well. And that was bad. Zaraki agreed to look for Anya on his way up the mountain, but he also stated it would be simpler to kill Baal before he reaches to summit. With that, the Barbarian continued his hike.
And nobody noticed Nihlathak was gone...
Zaraki remembered that the way to the top was through two ice caverns. He managed to find Crystaline Passage, guarded by large monster called Thresh Socket
It was Nihlathak who did this to her. That damn traitor! If she was to be saved, Malah's aid was required. Using town portal, Zaraki immediately contacted Malah and brought Anya the potion that would defrost her and bring back her strength. The girl drunk the potion and, together with Zaraki, she teleported back town.
Malah gave Zaraki a scroll that, after being read, would boost the barbarian already considerable resistances to elements. Anya then explained to Zaraki what was going on, and it was no good. Evidently, the former Elder, like utter coward and idiot he was, made a deal with the Lord of Destruction: the sacred relic, which would enable Baal to reach inside the mountain and it's secret while being unchallenged by the Ancient Ones, for the security of the Harrogath. As if Lord of Destruction would spare anything! And what Harrogath meant, if the rest of the world would literally be overrun by Hell? Zaraki decided to head to the ancient temple, where the traitor was apparently hiding. He won't live for long, definitely.
The Eve of Destruction
Nihlathak will pay dearly for this treachery. Using the portal opened by Anya, Zaraki arrived at the temple, the coward's hiding place. Soon, the corspes around Zaraki rise up. So, Nihlathak set up an ambush. So cute.
Among the monsters, there was Pindleskin who somehow seemed familiar to the barbarian. Whatever. It was just some rotten flesh holding a sword.
It seemed like the traitor really made a deal with Baal, given that some demons were her to protect Nihlathak from intruders, such as Zaraki. They couldn't do much, though. And finally, Zaraki has found the necromancer. The barbarian leaped above his demonic minions and attacked the traitor, showing no mercy. Nihlathak tried to defend himself with Arctic Breath, but it didn't do him any good. He was cut down, and his soul and body has been taken to Hell, where it should be. The only thing that bothered Zaraki was that he couldn't spit on the traitor's corpse.
Anya offered to personalize one of the barbarian's items. Zaraki choosed his plate boots he found during his.... "walk" at tundra.
Now, it couldn't be helped. The Relic was already given to Baal, meaning Zaraki needed to hurry and reach the Arreat Summit and pass the Rite of Passage - fighting the Ancient Ones, to be exact. Anya told the Barbarian how to navigate through the caverns and the barbarian was ready to go. It was only matter of time until Zaraki found his way to the Frozen Tundra
Zaraki's main enemies were Enslaved and Demonic Creatures, who were casting fire and often reading a top of Crush Beasts. But it was nothing. What surprised the barbarian was that some of Bul'Khatos' children were still fighting against demons, so far from Harrogath.
Eventually, Zaraki found the Ancient's Way and soon arrived at the Arreat Summit.
There was no time to lose. Zaraki entered the Worldstone's Keep.
The Barbarian was in much hurry. Baal was already inside, meaning the time was short. It was outside of Zaraki's character to ignore some slower enemies and just rush through deeper levels of the Keep, but it was necessary. If the world is going to be destroyed by Baal and his army, there won't be anyone to fight against, after all.
When Zaraki found the lowest levels of the Keep, the light around him turner crimson red. That couldn't be good. Finally, the Barbarian found Throne of Destruction. Baal was sitting on his Throne, just before the portal to the Worldstone Chamber. The time for the final confrontation was near. The Lord of Destruction, however, laughed and refused to fight the Barbarian. He send his best minions instead. Five waves of them, to be exact.
The last wave consisted of the strongest demons Zaraki found against as of yet. They skin was that of iron, and they blows like of a maul. But Zaraki was cutting through iron before, so he have won that fight. Baal, however, used his time to get to the Worldstone Chamber. Zaraki followed him.
Efter the fight, the archangel Tyrael has appeared. The Lord of Destruction was dead, but the Eye of Anu - or, more commonly known as Worldstone - was already corrupted by Baal, meaning the gateways between this world and Hell could disappear, and the two worlds merging together. That would be the end of Sanctuary, which would led further to Hell's victory in the Eternal Conflict. Tyrael made a decision - the Worldstone was to be destroyed for the greater good.
At least, that way the utter destruction of the world was prevented.
---
"But my homeland paid the price" said the barbarian Nephalem, who was sitting before me, his firm gaze sticking to mine.
"Yes" I replied "And that's why the even of Baal's defeat was named 'The Eve of Destruction'... Worldstone has exploded, and mount Arreat alongside it...
"Most of my homeland was reduced to nothing" the Barbarian said quietly, but without the grudge in his voice.
"Regrettably. And here's where Zaraki's title came from. "Destroyer"
"I know that" the Nephalem replied with hint of anger in his voice
"Don' you think it's unfair? He wanted to protect his homeland" I asked uncertainly, looking at his Axe. That man was current champion of mankind and angels alike, the slayer of The Prime evil, but I knew better than to invoke his wrath. Especially since I knew he had the witch to hunt.
"Yes..." he answered slowly "But you don't know what happened with him after that. He became one of them.... But at the same time, alone."
"Them?"
"The Unlcean" the Nephalem stated dryly. That's a terrible information. The Unclean were barbarians who, after the Worldstone's destruction, succumbed to madness and started to eat human flesh. So, Zaraki ended up as one of them... but he was alone, did I heard that right? That would mean even The Unclean were wary of him. "Now, I know who I'm up against...." the might warrior continued, and then gave me a somehow warm smile.... for barbarian warrior, at least "... thank you. I guess I'll hunt the madman before I'll track down the witch" with that, he has raised up and exited the tent.
I wondered when - and if - I will ever see this man again. It's not like, with angels on our side, anything serious is going to happen in the Sanctuary. In the Westmarch, for example.
---
Ok, I finished normal difficulty. Now, some words from me:
- After reached Pindleskin, I've trained Zaraki from lvl 31 to 38. With about 200% magic find, so he he became much stronger and I managed to find better loot - like Goblin's Toe.
- I'm going to keep playing as Zaraki through next difficulty levels but I'm not going to describe it in such role-playish way. Repeating the same plot would be tiring, stupid and pointless.
- Berserk-oriented Barbarian is a lot of fun. And I also learned that I overestimated the value of "defense" statistic on armor pieces. It turned out to be less important than life/mana and resistances. I think it would turn out to be true even on later difficulty levels, where even very high values of defense are not so effective.
- Thank you for everyone who managed to read through all of Zaraki's chapters so far.
KenpachiAwesome!But, admittedly, this is something I originally had in mind when I designed Yatta-ihhuitl's character concept. The fact that he 'eats' souls is... well, not really a coincidence
However, before I can continue with his story, I need to create something like a
Diablo II: Enhanced Edition, with a few DLC companions and sh*t...mod. Might take me a few days.(in theory, I could do something like "destroying the Worldstone will repeat the cycle" or something like that, but come on...)I wanted Zaraki's story to have the beginning and the end. And his end, like Aidan's/Warrior's from D1 was ultimately a bad one. Isendra, had she lived act 2, would have different ending, thou. I wonder how many people connected character's name with specific attitude
Good luck in Nightmare and Hell.
He found this nice looking axe:
He eliminated Coldworm:
and managed to cube-shape an useful ring:
Joneleth got the headpiece of the horadric staff from the viper's temple without difficulty, ended the eclipse and went to the palace to solve other problems.
He reached the arcane sanctuary through a portal in the palace, where he experimented with the confusion curse and some skeleton mages:
Also, here is where Joneleth' search for power ended as well:
R.I.P. Joneleth!
As you can see, i could prevent this intimidating death simply by pressing the 4 button. Well, that was too difficult for me.
Now, who is that handsome guy talking with Warriv?
He is Retso Tnert, a mighty paladin on his way to exterminate the evil from these tortured lands!
R.I.P for Joneleth.
Yay! A continuation
Hephasto the Armorer couldn't resist Decrepify.
The Hell Forge provided the Perfect Diamond, 3 of which put into a shield would improve resistances better than the "Ancients' Pledge" runeworld.
Xzar had some troubles with Oblivion Knights (mages) - Dim Vision didn't work on them.
Xzar was only of the 28th level, and he couldn't think about facing Diablo without Poison Nova. So he went on demon hunting, during which some nifty items were found, as long as new Tal and Ral runes. It showed that one shouldn't be afraid to put runes into mundane items - new runes can always be found.
At last, Xzar was ready to face Diablo. Poison Nova provided amazingly-looking screenshots:
But more importantly, Poison Nova was an effective tool (especially with Lower Resist curse). Diablo fell at last:
Unfortunately, the loot was of no use for Xzar (the amulet gave +1 to druid abilities, the breast plate was repeatable).
But I guess it doesn't mean much. Now Xzar can annihilate hordes of enemies by spawning Poison Nova. Act V, here Xzar comes!