Diablo II: The Epic Behind the Game Disclaimer: I do not own Diablo II, I, or anything else that blizzard created. In fact, some of my dialog comes directly from the game, for accuracy purposes only. The Characters however are of my own design, directly from my chars on

Uhhh... no update ths week.
Seriously, guys.

Sooooooo.... Go back about your lives, citizens. Nothing to see here.

(Turns on X-Box and starts to play Fable and Halo again.)

I have returned, my master.

(Ramaon puts shotgun to the back of Robin's head.)

Okay... belaying what I just said... On with the show.

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Downtime: Raid.

(The following s an excerpt from the personal journal of Raid DeAlkirk )

Day 382 of Journey:

What have I gotten myself into?

When I left my home island of Philios, I had never suspected that my travels could lead me to such a dramatic and dangerous road. When I first began this, my life's journey, over a year ago, I had magned myself slaying monsters outside of a local village. Running off drunkards from the tavern to earn free room and board. Selling out my bow and skill to wealthy, paranoid merchants who traveled back and forth on the trading routes between Westmarch and Kingsport. I had pictured myself returning back to the Islands of my birth by this time, laden with gold and the spoils of battle against powerful adversaries both human and demonic. Then I would show those arrogant, self-righteous acolytes who wasted their days patrolling the jungles and hunting game that I was truly the finest of their class.

The plan had been such a simple one.

But now, everything has become so very complicated. Work in Kingsport was difficult enough to find for me. That is, any work that my pride would allow me to perform. With soldiers and male mercenaries plenty, the damn merchants never thought to hire a woman to guard their caravans or their lives. At first, I had thought that it was only the male dominate city of Kingsport that followed such low standards as to allow men an almost exclusive roll as warriors. Feeling that my chances of survival would be far better if I found a place more like home, I left out from Kingsport, traveling mostly alone and spending far more gold in the process than I had expected. But the vastness of Man's world was greater than anything that I realized before. The thought that there were entire continents run by men with entirely male armies had never been more than a silly childhood myth to me before. Now it seemed like there was nowhere outside of the islands that was truly safe from the rule of men or monster. Time and time again, I would come to a town where the sword rules over reason and the word of a woman was little better than the howl of a dog. Where daughters were prizes for farmers who impressed or bought the young girl's father with fancy gifts or dowries. Speaking to their newly captive wife as though they were merely servants to the husbands will.
Such men who thought to speak to me in such a manner were turned away quickly, of course. Usually missing teeth or nursing broken bones.

After a time, I began to realize that I would be gone from home longer than I had expected. I refused to return to my lands without the trophies and stories that were rightfully mine. I refused to let those nagging, second-string bow-women have their fun at my expense. I would find my fame and fortune in this hostile, man-ruled world. Then, rumor surfaced. Rumor of a dark force arising in the eastern land. It seemed that the King of Khanduras, the once great King Leoric, had gone stark raving mad, declaring war on his mighty neighbors for no reason and then leading a bloody massacre of his own people when his only son, Albrecht, turned up missing.

A kingdom in distress.
I could handle that.

Unfortunately, as I journeyed nearer and nearer to the town of Tristram, where Leoric's throne resided, the rumors changed, becoming more and more dark and grim with every telling. By the time I crossed the boarder between Westmarch and Khanduras, Leoric had already fallen at the hands of his own Champion, the paladin Lachdanan, and supposedly had brought a dark curse down upon his city. Demons came and attacked the township, taking many innocent lives wrecking everything. And in the bowls of the tower that Leoric had made his home, a ancient darkness had awakened, threatening to swallow everything in evil.

The more and more I heard, the more glory I expected when I would finally come to Tristram's rescue and proved once and for all that women were superior in the arts of war when compared to men. I would defeat this evil where the men of the Main Land had failed. And I would reap the rewards that would be gladly offered by the townspeople with both grace and humble superiority.

I never got the chance. Less than two days away from Tristram, after weeks of travel in lush forest and grassy plain, word reached the caravan with which I was traveling that it had been Diablo, The Lord of Terror who had been wrecking havoc on Tristram. The details of the story were sketchy at best and no two renditions were alike. Apparently, the Exiled Evil had attempted to retake control of Hell by using some sort of magic to suck the world into it. I didn't and still don't understand why this would help him or why he would even bother when so much of the mortal world is screwed up like it is. But, in the end, it seemed pointless as a small group of heroes traveled down into the lowest levels of the Catacombs that I didn't even know were part of the tower and fought with Diablo twice. First at his level below the city, and then again above it after they brought the tower crashing down on the stupid demons head.

I lost the biggest chance of my life to become a world-renowned hero. The Slayer of Terror. I lost the chance to bath in the adoration of thousands, all because I was late to the party.

In the end, I avoided the town altogether. It was pointless now to go and try to start up my reputation as a warrior in a city that no longer needed saving.

A month later, I had no gold left, every last coin that I had brought from my home, spent on food and travel expenses. How embarrassing.

The only ray of hope in this vast disappointment appeared when I heard that among the group of heroes there had been a heroin who belonged to a society of warrior archers who dwelt in the mountain pass. At last, a place where my skill and prowess as a woman warrior could be respected (and perhaps hired). So I joined at last with Warriv's caravan as it moved closer each day to the Rogue's Mountain Monastery. The shock was great when we arrived to discover that the Monastery was under siege by a powerful enemy beyond the Rogue's power (or even mine) to repel. The Demon Queen Andariel had come, her corrupting presence spilling out into the Sisters of the Sightless Eye and devastating them as no other enemy could. Friend turned to foe and lifetime companions into hated enemies until, at last, we in the caravan were forced into a cold and brutal retreat from the stone walls of the monastery.

So few good women in this world of men. And yet here they were being slaughtered like cattle. With my own limited resources, I could do nothing that was truly remarkable. The meager restitution offered to those mercenaries that helped in the patrols or scouting expeditions hardly made up for the danger and almost certain death that awaited most of the Sisters and their hired companions. So when I heard that there was gold to be made in the wilderness outside of the Rogue's Monastery, I did not hesitate. Boldly, I struck out alone to make my fortune back again. I sought out the dark tower of which I had been told. Supposedly, the tower had once been home to a vile, dark countess who had sacrificed innocent virgins, bathing in their blood with the belief that the pure life's water would keep her young and beautiful forever. It was said that, even though the countesses fortune had been split among a small group of intervening Zakarum priest during the First Conversions, that much of the gold had been hidden away in the cursed vaults below the crumbling tower.
I found the fortune that i sought, but not before Preen found me. He had been though some ordeal that had disturbed him greatly and had apparently taken the lives of his former Zakarum companions. In my personal opinion, I don't think that Preen knew what he was really doing here in the western lands. He seemed to need a purpose, some reason for being at the time, and I think that he thought he could protect me. True he was a useful distraction when the undead Countess and her hand maidens.

After that we returned to the Rogue encampment, our renown for the task we had completed hardly affected the rogues and merchants who did not even bother to greet us on our return. I suppose that they had other things on their minds.

Mine and Preen's faithful encounter with Tozam started us into the current madness which I now find myself. Battling demons and numerous monsters that I had not expected to be so close to had I continued on my own. Also, with the present company I keep, I can not help but wonder what affect we will have on this world.

My companions, while more numerous than I would like, have proven to be most useful (and more importantly, more generous) than any warriors or mercenaries with whom I have ever worked before. Now, don't get me wrong of course, I hardly need all of them to make my way, especially the men who seem to pride themselves on being my protector. Still they are quite handy to have around when the battle comes to close quarters.

Preen was the first of my companions that I met, having all but appointed himself as my 'guardian' after some sort of horrific battle on the Blood Moor left him alone and seeking a new purpose. Up until recently, he has remained tolerable, if somewhat annoying. Lately though, it's as if all he can do is complain about Natalie's brother, Elric. Elric…. I'll get to later.

Tozam I like. He is both a fierce fighter and a compassionate friend, qualities that I have missed most dearly since my departure from my homeland. Strong and skilled, he would fetch quite a fair dowry as a husband.

Cathim on the other hand, seems to be almost the exact opposite. Cynical and sarcastic, the magic user is also very intelligent, often asking the questions that no-one else thinks of. I doubt that any respectable woman of the Amazon Isles would think to marry him unless absolutely no men remained. So far, I don't know what to think of Durom the Druid. He seems the quiet, thoughtful type, but fights with strength and skill that nearly rivals Tozam's martial prowess. I often wonder what thoughts are stirring though his mind as we speak of these world shattering events.
Then there's Natalie and Kassyera, my sisters in arms. It is strange, but these two women seem like opposite sides of the same coin. While their lack of respect and blatant dislike for each other is apparent whenever the two come to blows, they also share a strange bond with Elric.

I am fairly convinced that Deckard Cain is a madman. He speaks in riddles half of the time and acts as though he understands something that we adventurers do not. And he very well may. This plan of his to track down Diablo in the east is daring, I'll give him that. However, it is rather vague. We are to find Diablo and do…What exactly? The Lord of Terror has already claimed a hero once. What can we do to make sure that he does not do so again. Elric…. Well… When I first realized what Elric was, I found myself strangely unmoved. Even though everything that I had ever learned about the demonic world and the creatures of hell told me that I should fear and destroy such a creature, I found him less dangerous than Preen to begin with. Even though Preen acts as though Elric is the source of all evil in the world, I am not so sure. The Half-Demon is strangely contradictory to himself, sometimes speaking of intelligent things and of peaceful subjects, and then exploding into violence in a moment's notice. Though I have not yet seen Elric's true form, I have the strangest feeling that it will not matter to see his true face. For, even knowing what I know realize beyond a shadow of a doubt to be the truth, I can not see Elric as anything except the informative young man that knew the history of my godess. Sooner or later, I am going to have to ask how he came by that story.

Well, they are calling us now. Deckard Cain has arranged for a final meeting before this 'operation' is to begin. I do hope that he has a plan for defeating the Demon Queen Andariel. From the little I saw back at the Rogue's monastery, I can only imagine the extent of her powers.

End of Entry

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(Robin sighs) okay okay, I know that there are a great deal of explaining for me to do. So, before anybody throws needles or tries to attack me again, please understand exactly what I've had to go though for the last month or so.

First there was Charley, a tough little hurricane that tore into the state of Flordia. While this didn't affect me directly, it did introduce a very unfortunate side-effect into my life.
Namely, my mother.

For a few weeks, which really seemed like a lifetime, I was all but forbidden to do anything that even slightly resembled having something to do with fantasy because the woman is convinced that Fantasy and Satanism go hand in hand...(Sigh) I know she gave birth to me, but for the love of god... I had to hide my laptop just because I have Diablo decals on it. And, for six straight sundays while hurricane after hurricane battered my mother's home state, I was forced to dress up and go the (shiver) church.... (Skin crawls). While this may not be so bad for a normal person, I have a strict policy against hypocrites and the sothern baptist church that my mother chose in her time staying with me was the worse of a bad situation.
After she finally left (hallijula) I finally managed to pass the only test which have consectuatvly faled n my lfe. Namely my drvng test. (MUWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA) Peoples that lve near me, and you know who you are, watch out. I am dangerous and I have a license to kill !

After that, I managed to put up the last chapter (which by the way, has now been revised for spelling and content errors) but was slghtly dstracted by wor wth the only thng that s truely more mportant than ths Fanfcton n my lfe. Gettng what I hope to be my first novel ready to send off to publishers. If you have questions, I will be sure to use this fiction to advertise any and all landmarks in it's hopeful acceptance and and publications.

Let's see, that's about it. Now that the story is ready for acceptance and publication I have nothing to really to keep me from updating more often. Due to the complication (namely the stupid job that i've had to take up for gas money) I will instead be posting every other Friday instead of every friday.

Sorry about making you all wait so long. But I hope to make it worth all of your wiles.
Well, time to get back to doing what I do best (Glues eyes open and starts to write while playing Halo with the other hand)

This is Robin "I promise I won't be late again" Shirewood, signing off.