"Arreat" -Prologue
By Alpha Draconis
"I have walked the Earth, always searching... For the one thing that would make me whole...."
"I shall have it!"
"My brothers shall not have died in vain..."
"And I will rule the world, unchallenged..."
-Baal (Diablo 2 Teaser, go see it, NOW!)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
My name is Taloth, youngest son in the Barbarian Clan of Thunder, cousin to the famous barbarian warrior known as the Hammer. My family has guarded the gates to the Barbarian highlands for centuries, with countless other families, warriors, and the odd mage, or druid wanderer. Qual-Kekh, the clan's current master at arms, stays with many of the warriors deep in the icy lands, near Mount Arreat, and he hardly visits our outpost, in the Valley of the Wolf. For generations our clan, and countless other clans, have guarded the large mountain, known as Mount Arreat. Only a selected few of the Clan, such as the leader, the Elders, and the finest warriors, know the secret of the mountain. No one at our outpost knows what the secret is, but we would defend the gate of Barbarian country with our lives.
And we did...
Nearly two months ago, while we guarded the gates, a lookout spotted a lone man walking, with the aid of a large war staff, walking in a steady motion towards our gate. He seemed like a tired mage, who looked as if he were one of the first warriors to fight Diablo, under the demonic monastery. He seemed harmless enough, so we lowered the gate. He walked in silently with demonic speed, giving one grunt in possibly thanks for lowering the gate. He had hardly walked through the gates when the lookout, rung the war bell. I can still remember running up the stairs to the battlements, and seeing the oncoming masses of demonic entities. Vicious, armoured creature brandishing whips, axes, spears, and other effective (and vicious) weapons. As well, primal beasts ran throughout the ranks of reanimated undead monsters; decayed beyond anything, with the acrid, smell of death wafting from the monstrosities.
The warriors, archers, and the rest of the camp ran to defend the gate, as the wave of monster flowed through the now open gate. I could see over the battlements and make out one figure amidst the flurry. There was no doubt in my mind that this was the remaining prime evil, the last monster that had not been banished from our world of Sanctuary... Baal.
I was child, only eleven. What could I do?
I did do the one thing any person in my predicament would do... I ran.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
After several hours the sounds of battle that carried across the winds to the remote cave I hid in, abruptly stopped. A dark, and foreboding silence followed. Then the army marched on. I still waited. My family and friends had all been slain. For what? I did not know, but I knew whatever they were after, must be the Barbarian secret of Arreat. If I knew my outpost, the lookouts would have taken the horses, with any luck they would warn the other tribes, but they would be no match for the evils. The only ones who could do it were the Courageous Five, The Necromancer, the Puppetmaster, The Sorceress Ice Angel, the Fearless Amazon, Phoenix, the Zakurum Paladin, the Minister, with his fabled Holy Water Sprinkler, and finally my own cousin, the barbarian known as the Hammer, who wields our clan's ancient hammer passed down to him by blood pact. Those five would be able to defeat Baal, but... The Puppetmaster and my cousin split apart from the team, and supposedly joined up with another Amazon. The new teams did not meet after that, until the final battle with the dark lord. That is all that our section of Sanctuary has heard about the Holy warriors.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Later I returned to our outpost. They were all dead. I silently shed several tears, as I wandered the wrecked fortress. I had only one choice and that would be to find Mount Arreat and learn it secrets. The demons had left the smith intact, and I donned the finer armour, and boots, unsheathed my own Katana, and set off... To find my fate, and my destiny...
What do you think? It may be awhile before another part is finished.
-Alpha Draconis
By Alpha Draconis
"I have walked the Earth, always searching... For the one thing that would make me whole...."
"I shall have it!"
"My brothers shall not have died in vain..."
"And I will rule the world, unchallenged..."
-Baal (Diablo 2 Teaser, go see it, NOW!)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
My name is Taloth, youngest son in the Barbarian Clan of Thunder, cousin to the famous barbarian warrior known as the Hammer. My family has guarded the gates to the Barbarian highlands for centuries, with countless other families, warriors, and the odd mage, or druid wanderer. Qual-Kekh, the clan's current master at arms, stays with many of the warriors deep in the icy lands, near Mount Arreat, and he hardly visits our outpost, in the Valley of the Wolf. For generations our clan, and countless other clans, have guarded the large mountain, known as Mount Arreat. Only a selected few of the Clan, such as the leader, the Elders, and the finest warriors, know the secret of the mountain. No one at our outpost knows what the secret is, but we would defend the gate of Barbarian country with our lives.
And we did...
Nearly two months ago, while we guarded the gates, a lookout spotted a lone man walking, with the aid of a large war staff, walking in a steady motion towards our gate. He seemed like a tired mage, who looked as if he were one of the first warriors to fight Diablo, under the demonic monastery. He seemed harmless enough, so we lowered the gate. He walked in silently with demonic speed, giving one grunt in possibly thanks for lowering the gate. He had hardly walked through the gates when the lookout, rung the war bell. I can still remember running up the stairs to the battlements, and seeing the oncoming masses of demonic entities. Vicious, armoured creature brandishing whips, axes, spears, and other effective (and vicious) weapons. As well, primal beasts ran throughout the ranks of reanimated undead monsters; decayed beyond anything, with the acrid, smell of death wafting from the monstrosities.
The warriors, archers, and the rest of the camp ran to defend the gate, as the wave of monster flowed through the now open gate. I could see over the battlements and make out one figure amidst the flurry. There was no doubt in my mind that this was the remaining prime evil, the last monster that had not been banished from our world of Sanctuary... Baal.
I was child, only eleven. What could I do?
I did do the one thing any person in my predicament would do... I ran.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
After several hours the sounds of battle that carried across the winds to the remote cave I hid in, abruptly stopped. A dark, and foreboding silence followed. Then the army marched on. I still waited. My family and friends had all been slain. For what? I did not know, but I knew whatever they were after, must be the Barbarian secret of Arreat. If I knew my outpost, the lookouts would have taken the horses, with any luck they would warn the other tribes, but they would be no match for the evils. The only ones who could do it were the Courageous Five, The Necromancer, the Puppetmaster, The Sorceress Ice Angel, the Fearless Amazon, Phoenix, the Zakurum Paladin, the Minister, with his fabled Holy Water Sprinkler, and finally my own cousin, the barbarian known as the Hammer, who wields our clan's ancient hammer passed down to him by blood pact. Those five would be able to defeat Baal, but... The Puppetmaster and my cousin split apart from the team, and supposedly joined up with another Amazon. The new teams did not meet after that, until the final battle with the dark lord. That is all that our section of Sanctuary has heard about the Holy warriors.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Later I returned to our outpost. They were all dead. I silently shed several tears, as I wandered the wrecked fortress. I had only one choice and that would be to find Mount Arreat and learn it secrets. The demons had left the smith intact, and I donned the finer armour, and boots, unsheathed my own Katana, and set off... To find my fate, and my destiny...
What do you think? It may be awhile before another part is finished.
-Alpha Draconis