Disclaimer : Obviously not mine, but the ten year love/hate affair with the game is.

Rating : The game is rated MA, so the fic will have to follow with a M for violence and graphic gore.

Author's Note : Almost done with the next chapter as well, so that one might be up soon.

Act I – The Sightless Eye

Quest IV – The Forgotten Tower

THE evening after the seven of them rescued Deckard Cain, and the Sage told them what had befallen the town of Tristram mere weeks after the seeming triumph of it's hero, was spent quietly up until the full onset of nightfall.

What had started out as a series of favors for the displaced Rogues had the signs of turning into the very event that each of their different cultures had warned against and prepared their warriors or mages diligently for. Now faced with the very purpose they had been trained and raised for centuries to combat, each of them had their own concerns and doubts to deal with.

Sitting around the dying fire pit near midnight, which was hissing and spitting in the tail end of that evening's lingering rainstorm, they tended to the minor chores each of them had for either their equipment or abilities while they thought about the Last of the Horadrim's words.

Pausing in the act of sharpening the tips of her javelins, the Amazon looked around at the individuals she now found herself with. She didn't know them all that well, but the weight of heavy thought hung over the group in a noticeable pall. "The old man's words may not herald the death knell of our way of life. This may just be another upsurge of Evil that happens from time to time."

"What stone do you live underneath?" Eying her expression moodily, the Necromancer shut the moldy tome he had taken from the Stony Field and sat it on his bended knee. "Any mention of even one of the Prime Evils is cause enough to become concerned. The Great Cycle of Being, and the balance between the living and the dead, has already been perverted enough, for the dead now walk the lands as mockeries of what they once were in life. I shudder to think about what the addition of the three Prime Evils would do to this world."

"We don't even know if it really is the return of Diablo." She argued; jabbing the tip of the javelin she had been holding into the ground next to her boots. "After all, Deckard said that hero defeated him."

"Cain said that the hero of Tristram held his silence about what happened in the catacombs beneath the church, but that he seemed victorious when he finally emerged, so drawing any conclusions about what really happened needs to wait until we find this Dark Wanderer for ourselves." The Sorceress placed her finger in the tome of history she was reading to the Druid and looked up at the quarreling two sitting across from each other. "The Rogues say that he has already passed through their Monastery to the East, so that means if we want any answers about what is going on, we need to follow quickly."

The Paladin set his sword and his whetstone down, looking over at his fellows. "What do you all make of this, then? This sighting of the Dark Wanderer, the fall of Tristram, and the exile of the Rogues. What do you see setting all this misfortune in motion?"

"My Order has already declared that the time of Emergence is at hand, when the Evil in Hell rises up and challenges Heaven's might in contest of the mortal realm." Slipping a strip of cloth between the pages to hold their place, the brunette spell caster frowned over to the holy knight as she set the book in her lap. "That is the reason why I am here and not back in my home jungle with my murdered mentor. A number of us Sorceresses have been sent out to deal with the minions of evil, wherever or whatever they may be."

The lycan next to her blinked at her, and then cast a quick glance over to the Barbarian, who was pretending to ignore the conversation in favor of honing his axes. "The Druids of Scosglen, my own mentors and teachers, are not sure yet if it is time of Uileloscadh Mór, the final battle between the men of the world and the demons of the Burning Hells. I, and a number of my brothers, were sent out to gather what knowledge we might find to verify this to the elders." Kicking out his legs, the amber haired wild mage settled himself on the ground to see the others better, stirring up his pack of spirit wolves to mill closer to the fire pit. "What of your order, Knight?"

Frowning thoughtfully, the dark skinned warrior stared into the dying fire. "I do not know. Some of my fellow knights and I left the Church of Zakarum when they decreed a bloody Inquisition during the Times of Trouble. Wholesale slaughter of those that did not wish to convert to the Church was... unpalatable to us. We have cut ourselves off from any information the main branch of the Church sends out to it's other knights and priests. What they make of this, I may never know."

"What I find interesting, is that each of our cultures have a different name for the same event." Retrieving the javelin from the ground, the Amazon bent back to her task. "My own people call it the Dark Exile, but I am not convinced it is happening at this very moment. You may be right, spell slinger. We should find this Wanderer before we pin a name to this upsurge of Evil in our world."

Raising a dark eyebrow at the new handle from the blond warrior, the Sorceress shrugged and opened the tome in her lap once more.

At dawn's break the next day, the Barbarian and the Paladin visited Charsi, who was very happy to see them. As the Rogue's blacksmith repaired their armor, she posed a bargain to them. "When I fled the Monastery, I left behind the Horadric Malus, my enchanted smithing hammer. If you can retrieve it for me, I'll use its magic to strengthen your equipment."

The holy knight nodded as he took back his shield that the Barbarian woman held out to him. "We are bound to the Monastery at any road, I can at least promise you to look for it."

Charsi smiled her thanks as she looked over the wild warrior's studded leather armor. "The Monastery can confuse even those who know it well. Stay alert in there."

The men bid the blacksmith goodbye and met up with the others near the way point of the Encampment, deciding where it was they wished to go. The Amazon stood near one of the Rogues' wagons, listening to the Necromancer and the Sorceress discuss the tome the pale mage had found, as the Druid looked over his animal and plant summons one last time and the Rogue Archer securely tied her quiver to her belt.

The two warriors approached the group in time to hear the female mage argue against some course of action. "... be that as it may, this tower is rumored to be located in the Black Marsh, a ways away from the Dark Woods, and that is as far as I've gone. Supposedly, there is another way point in the Marshes, and if we find it you are welcome to use it, but we need to clear out the Woods of the Evil that dwells there before we continue on. Secure our rear, or something like that."

The Priest of Rathma scowled at her. "I am not afraid of forging on ahead. You clear out the monsters that lurk in the forest, but I will find this dungeon of horrors and ensure the dead still sleep."

"Very well," The brunette spell caster shook her head at his stubbornness, "but be warned, the demons that inhabit the lands past the Passage are stronger than the ones that roam out here. Just be careful." She caught sight of the warriors and plastered on a pained smile. "Are you all ready?"

When all of them responded positively, the Sorceress knelt down in the middle of the stone platform. The six other adventurers stepped onto the stone, while the summoned creatures ringed around them, and the spell caster touched the circle that corresponded with the Dark Woods' way point.

(ooo000ooo)

Their arrival in the Dark Woods was met by an ambush of Vile Hunters, Lancers, and a pack of shaman-less Carver demons. Since the less combat capable had taken position within the stone platform and the warriors of the group had stayed on the outer ring of the way point, they were spared the crush of the onslaught, but still had to fight for any room at all to work whatever offense they were able to.

Although there was not a shaman aiding the small blue skinned demons to rise again, the fact the cowardly monsters ran when something was killed was a frustrating facet of the fight. The nimble demons would dodge out of the way after a few moments, one of the corrupted Rogues could close in within striking distance and score a few hits before being brought down, then whatever small demons that had returned to the fight would start running all over again.

When the skirmish was over, each of the seven still standing on the field sported injuries of various concerns. The surroundings looked clear, and they took that moment to look over what damage had been done.

"They must have been following us yesterday, and set this up just in case we returned the same way we left." Stated the Paladin with a wince, as the Sorceress was using a light healing potion to close up the gashes from one of the Vile Lancer's spears that struck his sword arm several times.

The Druid re-summoned his Poison Vine, as his last one had fallen under the axes of some of the Carver demons. "That may be, but that they would work together to stage such a thing is worrying." The half-wolf shook his furry head and looked over his spirit wolves that survived the fight. "And I thought the Leathdhiabhala within these lands were cause for concern."

"Leaf-what?" Finishing up with what she could to for the holy knight's injuries, the brunette spell caster handed off the rest of the potion and stood up, wiping the blood off on her leather armor. "What does that mean?"

Picking back up his double handed large ax, the lycan smirked at her, showing off his fangs. "Leathdhiabhala, the demonic corrupted wild children of nature. Like the Wendigo Brutes we fought last eve. Normally, Wendigos are peaceful creatures that shy away from human contact, but those three seemed... tortured to the point of madness."

"Akara said his name, the one we heard wail first, was Treehead Woodfist, and that he tended and guarded the Tree of Inifuss..."

The Sorceress trailed off as the Druid nodded sadly. "He was on the brink of a mindless rage, I highly doubt anything would have saved the creature from the demonic taint that he held within."

"So, they are torturing the inhabitants of the forests?" Kyoko shivered at the thought. She had seen the Wendigos when they were still peaceful creatures, and hated the idea of attacking and killing the gentle giants. "This corruption goes farther than just the Monastery..."

"Unfortunately." The Paladin discarded the small rounded bottle the potion had been held in, and picked his sword up again. "That means there is more work for us to be done here. Shall we spread out, or stick close?"

"Are we to clear out the rest of the Underground Passage as well?" Queried the Druid as he sniffed the fresh wind.

The Amazon handed off the number of arrows she had plucked out of the corpses to the Archer and shrugged. "I am ready for anything, and from the looks of it, anything seems to be in store for us."

"Well stated, lassie." Clapping the blond warrior on the back, the Barbarian looked over the warriors he traveled with. "I say split, we cover more ground that way."

"Three groups," suggested the female mage, "a ranged and a close combat individual to work in pairs. One would have an extra fighter, but I see no problem with that. We should meet back here at noon to see if we need to stay out longer, or if we should press on."

With little more than idle chatter lacing the rest of the conversation, the group split up. The Druid and the Barbarian headed north to the Underground Passage, arguing that the wolves counted as ranged fighters with the Paladin. The holy knight, the Rogue Archer, and the Sorceress headed east, towards where the Tree of Inifuss lay. Taking the west was the Amazon and the Necromancer. The two groups staying above ground agreed to circle the boundary wall to their respective lefts, to keep from simply following in the other's steps.

(ooo000ooo)

At noon, the five that remained above ground met back up at the way point as proposed.

They had encountered little beyond small pockets of demons, corrupted Rogues, and the occasional demoniacally twisted woodland creature. The Necromancer in particular complaining bitterly under his breath about the spike fiends that lurked low to the ground and fired off quills at what passed them as he removed several of said quills from his leather wrapped shins as they waited.

The hunting howls of the Druid's pack of wolves alerted them to the arrival of the wild warrior and mage, the two armed with bows, as the Sorceress had replaced the short bow she gave to the Archer with a un-enchanted hunter's bow, aimed for the east of the clearing and shot two of the four Carver demons down that were being chased by five spirit wolves.

As the two women lowered their bows the missing men entered the clearing, the Barbarian grinning widely. "You left many foes for us, in yon fissure beneath the earth."

"Well, I am glad something was worth the trip down there." The Sorceress raised a dark eyebrow at the new ghostly wolf, admiring the pale splash of brown over the wolf's muzzle as it sniffed her boots. "Are we finished for the day, or shall we continue to the Marshes? We found nothing beyond our abilities yet."

"I do have that Tower to locate yet." The pale mage spoke up, looking over to the newly returned fighters. "Some dungeon underneath the Marshes that belonged to some Countess that was said to be rich."

The Druid merely snorted at that. "I have no use for shiny trinkets."

"You may not, I do." The Amazon inspected the priest of the dead with marked enthusiasm. "Lead on, male. Let's see this tower of yours."

The Sorceress sighed, rubbing at her temples. "How many of us do you want to take with you? We can do this in two groups, and leave one out to clear the Black Marsh as you honor your commitments."

"If you do not wish to venture with us, just us two will do. My skeletons will make up the lack of numbers." Gesturing to the undead milling around him with the preserved head he had found, the Necromancer smirked at her. "We will be fine, woman."

She gave him a tight nod, gesturing to the Paladin to lead them all to the break in the stone barrier that led to the Black Marsh. "Have your way, then."

(ooo000ooo)

The seven of them spotted the Tower without too much trouble, without the canopy of leafy trees in the way their field of view went farther than the next clump of trunks. Getting to it was another problem entirely.

The undead, summoned or not, marched through the Marshes without the difficulty the seven of them faced, noticeably the issue of the soft, muddy ground underfoot that sucked in a boot when any significant weight was pressed down and was reluctant to let go, even against the Barbarian's muscles. Another added difficulty was the addition of Vile Archers to the ranks of foes they faced, corrupted Rogues that held enough memory of their previous life to retain their skills with the bows they still held, and the flying Blood Hawks and their stationary nests.

Slogging the way through the wet terrain drained their stamina, only the summoned creatures had little trouble getting around, and the warriors had to rely more on the ranged members of the group as too much movement would turn the ground into a soupy, slippery mess.

Once they all reached the crumbling Tower the ones not intent on investigating the ruins decided to take a break and help the two would be explorers to find the entrance to whatever part of the old castle was still accessible. It started raining again, and the seven of them took shelter within the portion of the building that was still standing, that they found the entrance to the Tower's Cellar.

All of them traipsed down into the Cellar, curiosity driving them to at least see what the Forgotten Tower held under it's foundation.

The Druid wrinkled his muzzle at the stench that wafted up from the dungeons. "Mmm, I can smell why this Tower is abandoned."

"What is that smell?" The Amazon asked between sneezes, holding one gloved hand to her nose.

With a violent snort to clear his own, the Barbarian shook his tattooed head and answered her at the same time as the Necromancer.

"The stench of poison."

"This place reeks of death."

The two men exchanged glances, then turned their attention back to the hole in the walls that led farther underground.

Smirking slightly, the Sorceress shook her head at them. "This place holds many secrets. Be careful, the both of you. We will meet you both back in the Rogues' Encampment when you have found what you will here... I hope."

Sketching her a shallow bow, the pale mage and his summons led the blond warrior into the depths of the Tower. When they were out of sight, not that it took at all that long, the other five returned to the surface to clear the Evil out of the Black Marsh.

The first two levels posed no problem to the two of them, the Necromancer's undead were useful in tracking down their fellow walking dead even in the dim gloom barely lit by a few guttering torches brought in by some of the small Devilkin demons, tan skinned versions of the Carvers and Fallen Ones they had dealt with before.

The first time a ghost drifted through a wall and attacked the pale mage, bypassing the summoned dead the mage held under control, the blond warrior jumped between the two and attacked it with a wild yell. She was nearly frantic to see that her javelins did less damage against the unearthly dead spirits, but the creature finally did collapse into a pile of dust and bone fragments after a lucky hit struck completely through the spirit. "What in Athulua's own name was that?"

The priest of the dead was shaken himself, but strove to hide that from the warrior. "It looks like a ghost, a spirit of some poor man or woman that has regrets that bound them to the mortal realms." He walked a bit closer to the dusty remains, kicking some of the bone fragments over. "I would assume there will be more the farther we go."

She blew out a sigh, still unnerved by the suddenness of the encounter. "Terrific. This means you are beholden to clear out the rest of these dungeons, right? If these ghosts are still here, it is possible the Countess from your story book is still holding on as well."

"I am, and it is likely she is."

The blond warrior nodded, more to herself than to the mage. "Let's see what Evil awaits us."

(ooo000ooo)

The next level down saw the addition of Dark Archers to the ranks of monsters awaiting them, packs of four or five corrupted Rogues that would run from the melee fighters or any shots taken in their direction. The pong of rotting flesh was stronger that far down, with the added wafts of old and fresh blood from the next level. At that point, the Necromancer and Amazon agreed that they were a little jealous of the skeletons' lack of noses.

The fifth level under the Marshes, where the scents of bodily fluids and decomposing corpses were the strongest, held the strongest of the demons they faced so far. A cold enchanted Devilkin, a lightning enchanted Blood Clan, and another pack of Dark Archers.

The Necromancer's golem and the Amazon racked up the most kills, the skeletons distracted the enchanted monsters until it was less likely that if any of them would be mobbed if they tried to go after the stronger demons. The drawback to that plan was that every time the Blood Clan champion was hit, he radiated small bolts of lightning that zipped around the great room without aim, but did hit the two companions frequently and drained small bits of their health away.

Muscles still twitching, the Necromancer re-summoned his walking dead as the Amazon checked the closest two doorways for any more foes. He was surprised to note that the woman was ignoring the piles of gold and glittering things on the flagstone floor, too intent on ensuring that all the foes that dwell in the bottom level of the dungeons had been dealt with.

She killed a small number of Devilkins, flushing them out of the corners of the two rooms she checked, as the pale mage sent his skeleton warriors in as bait into the next room father down the main hall. When she rejoined him, he had already lost two, and he quickly deduced that whatever was radiating the malevolent aura was still lying in wait for them.

The Countess, or what was left of her, was waiting at the very back room, what the Necromancer assumed had been her store room for her ill gotten wealth in life. The undead woman also had a number of Vile Huntresses with her, and the Amazon realized quickly that the fire that caused her death still burned around her.

The supposedly long dead noblewoman threw some of that cursed fire at the only two entrances to the chamber, setting the very stones that made up the doorway aflame, and forcing the priest of the dead to rush through to limit how much of himself got burned. His summons were not as lucky, as the final two skeletons crumbled in the heat, and even his clay golem staggered in the heat.

With an unearthly screech of rage the corrupted women threw themselves at the intruders, and with a muttered incantation the Necromancer threw out one gloved hand and cast some spell that caused them to draw up from their charge in confusion. The Amazon didn't have the time to question what had happened, for she was locked in a deadly duel with the very Countess they had come to find, but she blessed the male she was with for whatever magical trickery he had used to buy her time.

The golem had not been idle while it's summoner was occupied with his curse, it charged the Rogues silently and started mauling them to death as the dark spell caster armed himself with his throwing knives and started flinging them at the others.

As the corrupted Vile Huntresses fell, the Necromancer also resummoned his skeletons from their corpses, sending them to aid the blond warrior as they arose. By the time the Amazon had finally managed to get past the undead noblewoman's guard and thrust her javelin's tip into her non-beating heart, there was only one Rogue left, and she was dispatched easily enough with a dagger thrown into her eye.

The corpse of the Countess slid off the blond warrior's weapon with a wet sucking sound and exploded in a shower of boiling hot gore, and the moment her dead and burnt flesh hit the ground a thick smoke arose from her form and covered the flagstones, traveling to a chest neither had noticed when they entered the chamber. As the acrid stench of burning flesh filled the room, the chest was flung open and the contents spilled out on the floor in a ringing clang of small bits of metal hitting on stone.

"Ahh, the Tower's trove for the taking!" The Amazon kicked at the small pieces of burnt flesh out of her way as she tried to wipe off the worse of the hot, sticky blood from her armor with one hand.

Shaking his head, the Necromancer held his silence about her mercenary like attitude. She had proven to be an asset, and had not been distracted before their goal had been reached, so he decided she deserved the benefit of doubt. "Treasure hunting, heh. Treasure finding, yes!"

She flashed him a grin as she sorted out what had spilled to the floor, but her smirk faltered a bit as she found two stones with something etched in black on one side. "What are these? I have never seen the like before."

"Runes." He took one from her and peered at the symbol. "This one is Ith. I believe the one you hold is Ral. They act like gemstones, when inserted into the notches available in some weapons and armor, and there are some combinations called Rune Words that, when successfully added, impart impressive power to the item enhanced."

Humming in comprehension, the woman sorted through the rest of the pile, finding another rune the Necromancer identified for her as Eld. "Can anything be done with these three?"

"No, but we may find more, and I am not sure I know of all the combinations possible. You should ask the Sorceress and the Druid what they know of runes when we return." Glancing over the piles of items and gold the Amazon had made, the mage's pale eyebrow rose as he considered a heavy looking dagger in what seemed to be his pile and reached out to pick it up. "What is that?"

"I have not any idea, but Deckard Cain said he would identify any items we came across, so have him look at it." She got to her feet, adjusting the straps of her pack to sit more square on her back with the added weight. "But we have another two rooms to clear out before we can leave, so may I suggest we see to it? It's almost dinnertime, by the empty feeling of my stomach."

It was closer to mid-night when the two of them returned, using a scroll of portal from the Black Marsh that the Sorceress had given the Necromancer eariler that morning. The only two to remain awake to see their return was the Sorceress and the Druid, the female mage with patching some small rips in her leather armor and the wild mage with reading the tome of history she had been reading with him yesterday.

"We saved you something to eat, not an easy feat with how much the Barbarians in this encampment eat." Rising, the spell caster gestured for them to seat themselves as she fetched it, returning after they had taken off their packs and had selected their spots. She handed them both a covered dish that contained some warm, if no longer hot, stew and a hunk of bread.

The Druid mildly glared at her when she returned. "I resent the comparison to my brother in spirit. I, at least, have some manners."

"Compared to what, your wolves?" She shot back at him as she sat down again, grinning at his good humored chuckle. Turning her attention back to the two recently returned individuals, she looked them up and down, noting the blood splatter, dust, and cobwebs that clung thickly to the both of them. "So what did you find in that rotting dungeon?"

"All manner of undead, some demons, and a burning bitch of a noblewoman," the Necromancer blinked slowly, swallowing another mouthful of food before adding, "and a lot of dust."

The blond woman across the fire pit from him nearly snorted into her bowl as the dry statement caught her off guard. Coughing a few times, she blinked hard to clear her sight, and when she could see again she grinned over at the two spell casters and mildly curious lycan. "And some really shiny trinkets. Wanna see?"

The Sorceress nodded warily, unsure what to make of their behavior towards one another. At the very least, she decided, they were no longer sniping at each other.

Grabbing her nearly overfull pack, the Amazon reached for the length of wood nearly sticking out of her neatly organized loot. She tossed it over to her fellow female, smirking at the spell caster gasped. "I noticed there are better staffs than the short one you use. I thought you might like this to replace your mentor's, so you don't break it by mistake."

Without word, the Sorceress dove for her own pack, drawing out a crimson striped scroll from it's depths. She broke open the scroll's seal over the length of wood, and a flash of light spilled from the once blank parchment as words filled up the entirety of the space there that she read it out loud. "Serpent's Long Staff of the Bat. Magical augment and minor mana siphoning." She let out an awed breath and ran her fingers down the carved side of the Sorceresses' fighting staff. "Where in Sanctuary did you find this?"

"It was farther than six feet down, I can tell you that." The Amazon then proceeded to ignore any more inquires for the rest of the night, until she took herself off to sleep.

With a sigh, the Necromancer learned back against the log he had used as a seat and sent a tired smirk over to the frazzled spell caster. "A surprising woman, that one. Tell me, Sorceress, how many of those scrolls do you have left?"

"Of identify? I have three left, why?"