Act Three

Tyrael appeared in Heaven. The souls of the goodly humans stared momentarily, before continuing with their assigned tasks. The fight against Hell and the forces of evil was never ending, and required much work. Even the dead could not rest and bask in paradise.

He strode through the shining streets of gold and marble, until at last he found the building he wished. From the outside, it appeared to be a rather non-descript library, the architecture a sort of neo-classical Greek. Tyrael strode up the steps, furling his wings in as he stepped through the open doorway. He stopped to look around the shelves of books and scrolls, then headed for the back of the library.

He found Hadriel where he expected, sorting through tomes of demonic lore and tales of human magic. As the lesser angel looked up, Tyrael grabbed him by the collar and lifted him off his feet. Hadriel looked down at him almost with pity, and fluttered his wings briefly. "That's not very effective, you know."

Tyrael scowled, and tossed him down again. "I'm angry. What the hell happened to my plans? I had everything set up for a single hero to show up at the Rogue camp, drive out Andariel and catch Diablo before he reached Baal's tomb. Instead, I get that group of … of …"

Hadriel chuckled, leaning back in his chair and putting sandaled feet on the table. "Miscreants? Misfits? Oddballs? Rejects? Well, sorry to disappoint you, but Belial found out about your little hero first. That's what happened to him." Hadriel pointed at the table, and an illusion sprang into being. The warrior was there, hanging from a gibbet, every bone in his arms and legs broken. "I won't tell you all that they did to him, and I had to put together something really fast."

Tyrael scowled, his hand sweeping away the illusion. "So you grabbed whatever came to hand?"

The other angel scoffed. "Hardly. I drew up a table and rolled a die." As Tyrael's scowl deepened, he relented. "No, I looked around the world to see who was available. Despite their appearance, their skills complement them very well. And the fact that Belial was actively campaigning to destroy them helped as well."

Tyrael rocked back in surprise. "The Lord of Lies recognized them as a threat?"

Hadriel threw up his hands. "Gabriel has been working non-stop to make sure the forces of Hell don't get any reinforcements, either. They're on their own, but they seem to be more than capable of stopping Diablo and Baal."

Tyrael nodded. "Interesting …" He stepped forward, and put a hand on Hadriel's shoulder. "Sorry. I was just shocked to see such a misbegotten group walking into Tal Rasha's tomb."

Hadriel snickered. "Anytime, Tyrael." The senior angel quietly left the library, headed out into Heaven to continue his research into Diablo's plans.

The boat pulled up on the dock at Kurast, and the seven heroes quickly piled off. Jezebel fell to her knees and kissed the salty wood. "Please, dear angels in Heaven, never again put me out on the ocean!"

Garou laughed as Dogmeat flopped down beside the sorceress, whining and licking her face as she tried to squirm away. "I know he agrees with you," the druid joked as she tried to fend off the mutt.

Their banter stopped as a man approached. Though his clothing seemed rather well-worn, he carried himself with an aura that spoke of authority. He looked at them for a moment, then scowled. "Well?" he asked.

The group exchanged several confused glances. "Well what?" Rupert asked.

"Well, aren't you going to start unloading the boat now? You are the laborers, correct?" He looked down his nose at them.

Erris surged forward, but Tharos and Oksana were ready for her, grabbing her arms. "Let me at him, dangit! After being trapped on that rickety pile of driftwood, I'm ready for a fight!"

Rupert turned back to the man with a frown. "I don't know who you are, but we're not laborers. We're here with Deckard Cain to track down Diablo."

The man rocked back on his heels, and examined them all again. "My name is Hratli, and I am in charge of these docks, all that is left of glorious Kurast. I am afraid that even if we recover your bodies, we have nothing but a watery burial to offer you."

They once again had to hold Erris back, fuming. Rupert shrugged and tried to smile. "Don't worry about it. After facing down Andariel and Duriel, I think we stand a chance."

Hratli smiled a very thin smile. "If you say so. Well, if you need any equipment, my forge is on one of the more stable areas of the docks. Feel free to ask any of the other merchants around the docks as well." He turned away, and walked away across the creaking, salt-encrusted boards into the fog.

Oksana finally let go of Erris' arm. "Please, don't go picking any fights until we're out into the jungle after Diablo, alright? You'll have plenty of demons to slay, I'm sure." The amazon scowled and huffed, but they all followed Cain as he departed the ship and started his way through the docks.

The main area of the docks looked to be a former stepped temple, sunken into the water. A tall figure rose out of the fog to confront them, dressed in red and black robes. They were held together with an elegant gold pin, and a staff at first hid his face from view. But he approached Rupert, and took him carefully by the arm. "Captain," he said in a flat, emotionless voice, "I must have a word with you."

Rupert looked up at him oddly. "What? I'm no captain."

Oksana stepped up and reached for his pointed ears. "Are those real?"

But the figure carefully moved out of her reach, and looked back at Rupert. "Don't worry Captain, we can talk again later." He moved back into the fog, and they heard him say "Highly illogical," as he vanished into the thick cover.

Tharos glanced at Garou. "Well?"

The druid shrugged. "Don't ask me. Doesn't strike me as unusual."

Oksana looked at him oddly. "He had pointed ears. And he talked oddly. You don't find that unusual?"

He shrugged again. "I've met worse, you know."

Erris growled at all of them. "Can we get on with it? I want to kill lots of demons to make me forget the month we just spent on the boat!"

Tharos chuckled dryly as they fumbled through the thick fog.

They emerged off the docks onto the marshy ground of the jungle not too far away. "You sure this is the right way?" Oksana asked.

Erris grinned darkly as she put an arrow to her bow. "This is fine. We can talk to the other merchants when I've had a chance to calm down and kill a few things first."

Ron Bars pointed ahead through the foggy day, and they rushed forward, weapons at the ready. Ahead of them in the gloom walked a cloaked figure, shrouded in darkness. Rupert called at the man to stop, and he hesitated only momentarily. With a wave of his hand, the figure vanished, and sickly lights sparkled through the fog like a collection of will-o'-the-wisps. But when the lights touched the marshy grass, they burst.

Demon worms sprang from the lights with a snarl, fanged mouths open and gaping for food. The worms were hardly a challenge to the heroes, but the distraction had cost them. The strange figure had vanished into the jungle and the fog.

Oksana looked around warily. "Maybe we should go back now?"

Even Erris didn't complain this time. They slowly backed into the city again, weapons at the ready the entire way.

Once safely behind the spiked barricades, they turned and tried a different walkway. Through the fog they could see the red glow of Hratli's forge, but Oksana let out a squeal and dashed away in another direction. "Natalya!"

The woman in question turned, her cape flaring, and gasped in surprise. They embraced each other fiercely, before Natalya pushed her away. "What are you doing here, girl? I thought they kicked you out just before I finished training."

Oksana grinned. "They did. I ended up near the Sisterhood of the Sightless Eye, helped my friends here fight off Andariel, faced down Duriel, and came here looking for Diablo and Baal."

"Baal? You mean Tal Rasha has escaped his tomb?" She drew in a long and nervous breath. "Aw, crap. I hope my next carrier pigeon gets through."

Rupert blinked as he heard that, walking up behind Oksana. "Carrier pigeon?"

Natalya seemed to choose her words carefully. "Yes, I'm here as a scout, to determine whether or not we should hire an army to put down the madness that engulfed the Council. It will likely take a great deal of effort, but Cain has said a few things that might help us."

Jezebel shook her head, slightly confused. "We leave for five minutes, and the whole town converses about everything behind our backs."

The elder assassin patted her consolingly. "Don't worry about it too much. If the lot of you actually faced down Andariel and Duriel, you certainly have my wishes for good luck in tracking down Diablo and Baal. The jungle has overtaken half the city in the last few years, but if you head southeast, you should be able to find something pointing you towards the capital."

"Well, thanks for the advice," Tharos said hurriedly. "We'd best talk with Cain ourselves, and head back out there." He led the group away, Oksana glaring harshly at him.

Garou spoke up first, however. "You want to find out what Cain told her about defeating Diablo and Baal?"

He nodded. "Not to mention, if the whole city has gone crazy, then Mephisto must be involved as well. Tyrael said this was where the soulstone was left for safe-keeping."

Oksana fumed slightly less as they walked back across the rickety docks to where Cain stood. "So, what do we need to do?" Rupert asked.

The old sage regarded them carefully. "This is not going to be easy. If the three brothers are together here, and they likely are, then this battle will be like nothing you have ever encountered before."

They stood there and gave Cain condescending looks until he relented. "From what the townsfolk have said, one of the Council members did not fall under the reign of madness that engulfed the city. But Khalim was butchered by the others, and his body scattered around the city. Some of it is undoubtedly in the jungle that has overtaken the city so quickly."

Erris looked skeptical. "You want us to find the pieces of this dead guy?"

He nodded. "I believe that the angels have prevented the body parts from decaying. If you can find me the pieces of his body, I might be able to use the cube you found to recombine them into a weapon, that will show you where Mephisto's lair is."

Jezebel shivered. "Sounds creepy." Cain just gave her a sardonic smile. With a sigh, she hefted her staff, and turned back towards the entrance to the jungle. "Well, let's be off then. I hate this place already."

The others followed her, Rupert favoring his now-bruised shin.

They journeyed back into the forest, through the rapidly crumbling buildings past the edge of the docks. The land was wet and marshy, and their boots were quickly saturated with water. The fog did not lift at all, so they moved almost in their own little world. The trees and vines grew so dense in some places to be harder and thicker than a castle's stone walls.

They wandered almost aimlessly through the jungle for hours, fighting the midget-like Slayers that abounded. Occasionally, giant mosquitoes would zoom out of the fog as well, only to be felled by an arrow or a vicious axe swipe. Finally, as their progress was once again halted by a wall of trees, Erris screamed in frustration and outrage.

"What in the blazing hells is wrong with this place? There's less direction around here than there was in the rogue catacombs!" She paced as she ranted, finally kicking one of the trees.

The tree came alive under her foot, twisting around to regard her with beady, glowing eyes. Ron Bars roared, rushing in to protect her from a descending branch, and buried his axe deep into the tree. But the axe then stuck in place, held tightly by the sap.

Other trees started to move as well, breaking up the wall, as the behemoths turned to regard the insignificant humans that had interrupted their slumber. The heroes quickly retreated to form a circle, Dogmeat whining in the center. "Anything you can do, Garou? I mean, you're the druid here." Rupert looked at him hopefully.

The druid chuckled sardonically. "Yeah, aim for the eyes. That's about their only weak spot."

"Those eyes are ten feet above my head, in case you hadn't noticed." Rupert looked up as the moving trees slowly surrounded them.

Erris shrugged, aiming and firing an arrow. With a soft, whooshing sound, one of the trees collapsed, turning to ash as they watched. "Wow," she commented, fitting another arrow to the string.

But the trees moved faster then, one of them swinging a massive, barbed branch at the group. They all ducked, except Ron Bars. Instead, the barbarian swung his axe at the branch, and again the blade buried itself deeply. But the momentum from the branch smashed into him, picking him up and throwing him at another tree. They batted him around the group, before letting him drop at Jezebel's feet, battered and covered in lacerations from the barbed branches.

Erris fired two more arrows, but the last three trees had them hemmed in. Almost as one, they all lifted massive branches, poised to bring them crashing down and squash the intruders. But Oksana flicked her wrist three times, very quickly, sending inferno traps high into the branches. The traps deployed right away, setting the trees alight, even in the damp, foggy air. As the trees stumbled about, trying to put themselves out, Erris managed to pick them off quickly.

The group carefully picked themselves up, and prepared to continue their exploration. But as they started, Jezebel tripped over something, falling with a splat to the saturated grass. As Garou helped her up, he also picked up the small figurine she had tripped over. "Well, look at this little thing," he said as he held it aloft.

The green jade sparkled in the faint light, carved into the shape of some bird, wings outstretched. Jezebel ran a hand along one wing, admiring it. "What should we do with it?"

"Well, Meshif has quite a little collection of similar statuettes in his cabin." At her questioning glance, he chuckled and blushed. "I noticed them while we were drinking one night."

With a humph, Jezebel turned to follow the rest of the group deeper into the jungle.