Diablo: The Fall of Sanctuary IC

Radamir Eyob stood before the capital of the North, Uralis. The great walls loomed over him, standing defiantly against the darkness that crept ever closer to the city. Light would soon be gone, and the gates would close for the night. Radamir took a glance behind him before approaching the gate. In the distance, many ragged camps could be seen and groups of Fallen moved across the horizon, scouting the area around the camps, it seemed the full horde had not arrived yet. Maybe it was not too late to save the fort.

“Who goes there?” asked an old man standing on top of the wall, he wore ragged leather armor and bore the symbol of a bear on his tunic.

“My name is Radamir Eyob, I am a Demon Hunter, one who seeks vengeance. I seek only shelter, nothing more.” Responded Radamir calmly.

“You ain’t one of those crazies, are ya?” said the man eying him suspiciously.

“If you’re asking if I’m a demon, then no,” Radamir said to the man on the wall.

“Very well then, you may enter, but let me guide you to wherever it is you seek.”

The gates opened slowly in front of Radamir, the old man he had spoken to was already waiting for him. “Where did you want to go?” asked the man, in the man’s hand was a lamp, night would be arriving soon.

“Are there any inns in this part of the city?” Radamir asked the man, and without speaking the man pointed to a large, wooden building. Radamir hoped to find someone who could help him, or information that could help him.

The inn seemed to be falling apart, having three stories, the weight of the roof seemed to bear down on it, making it slant. Most of the buildings here were that way; in fact, the only thing that actually seemed stable was the wall that isolated this small section of the city.

The inn was at the northern part of a small square that opened before him. Various shops and homes were all built around a large fountain, made to appear like the symbol on the man’s tunic. The rest of the buildings expanded around this central area, forming a series of thin roads and paths that divided buildings from each other. Every building in the square had about three buildings following it, the last usually being built along the wall.

Radamir made his way into the inn, noticing a sign that read “The Bear Minimum.” As he entered the inn, the light grew very dim. The inn was lit only by candles placed around the room now, for the last rays of light were finally gone. The inn was packed with people, most dancing and drinking, some sitting in silence. Another two men with the city’s symbol sat at a small table towards the far corner of the inn. He heard one of the men say “Yes captain,” as the man got up to leave. Radamir approached the innkeeper who sat silently behind the small counter that separated the workers from the customers.

“Welcome to The Bear Minimum, what will you have?” said the innkeeper, in an impatient tone.

“Who is that man over there?” asked Radamir, pointing to the man still sitting at the table in the corner.

“Either buy something or get out!” shouted the innkeeper. Radamir had hoped to save all the money he could, but he was forced to use the meager amount he had to bribe the innkeeper.

“Thank you very much,” said the innkeeper, grinning wickedly.

“Who is that man?” Radamir asked again.

“That there is Captain Turev, he was one of them Arctos Guard of the city. He was locked out of the rest of the city, just like all of us here,” said the innkeeper. “The rest of the guard that are trapped here now refer to him as Captain. He basically runs this place and is responsible for our safety, but I say we are perfectly fine. Those things outside the gates are weak, and there are too few to even reach the gates without getting hit with an arrow.”

“Is there any place I can stay here?” asked Radamir.

“Feel free to stay in the inn, all the rooms are full. I can’t promise that it’s very safe,” said the innkeeper as he walked towards another customer. Radamir made his way towards the Captain, trying to avoid the many people moving all around the inn. Eventually, he was able to force his way through the crowded room and reach the Captain.

“Excuse me, are you Captain Turev?” Radamir asked, staring at a man in his thirties.

“I haven’t seen you before, how did you get in here?” asked Captain Turev.

“I came from far South, I wish to speak with you about Fort Iorda,” said Radamir calmly.

“I don’t know why you would want to go there, and you certainly will have no help from the guard. With rumors of demonic cults spreading throughout the city and this lockdown, or whatever it is, I cannot let any of the guard leave this city!” replied Captain Turev with anger in his voice.

“There are rumors that the fort is still standing, and I would like to aid it in its defense. If it is still standing, we can lure the demons away from the city and hopefully put their focus on the fort. If you cannot spare your guard, I beg of you to find others who would be willing to go!” Radamir said in a louder tone.

“I’ll see what I can do, but if I do find others, you must promise me that you will destroy whatever is bringing those demons out so close to the city.” The Captain did not appear to like this idea very much, but Radamir could tell that dire circumstances were influencing his choice. Radamir just hoped that he would reach the fort in time.
He made his way towards the Inn’s exit and noticed a circle drawn in the dirt. A guard was standing next to it, almost as if he was guarding it.

“Excuse me, does this waypoint still work?” Radamir asked the guard.

“Yes, but with this lockdown we haven’t been letting anyone use them, it’s too dangerous to allow anyone to travel through this. Some wizard went through the town and somehow stopped them from working.” Whatever the wizard had done, the glow of the waypoint was gone, and so was its power.

As Radamir made his way back to “The Bear Minimum”, a bright light burst into the sky. The guard on the walls all stared into the distance, but Radamir could not see from where he was. He made his way towards the wall and began to climb. When he reached the top, he saw flames, flames erupting into the sky. He had seen this many times before, a sign of doom, a sign of death.

Gadrael Izo-Rani and her partner, Shaledi Lek-Nises had been searching the godforsaken town of Uralis for three days. Moving from one part of the town to the next was nigh impossible without either a contact, a purse full of bribery, or pure force. Gadrael was beyond the point of frustration. This was her first assignment beyond the safety of the jungles. It was her first recruitment, she being the novice while her partner, Shaledi, guided her.

The Zann Esu had received a sign that a potential member was in Uralis. A little girl, who would have just turned seven, was stumbling upon her rightful power of the elements. It was Gadrael and Shaledi's job to find this girl, and offer her a position within their clan; to take her back to the Kehjistan Jungles for training. However, to find one little girl in a place such as this was proving to indeed be impossible.

The poorer areas were the most accessible, so they started with those. Hardly more than a slum, they asked around to try and find anyone who knew of someone who might have a seven year old daughter acting "unusually". Most people refused to answer, for the topic of one's children was taboo. Eventually though, came the realization that the girl just wasn't in these parts. She must be in the richer, more guarded areas.

Shaledi and Gadrael formulated a plan to get into the gated community. Gadrael's job was to distract the guard while Saledi teleported inside. Shaledi was a master of telekenesis and teleportation; though it was Gadrael's duty to recruit the girl, there was no other option. For now, they had to find her.

Gadrael summoned a condensed area of hail, and smirked as the guards scrambled for cover. The hail varied from innocent flakes to chunks of ice the size of skulls; it was dangerous enough to give them worry, but simple enough for them to evade actual damage. Shaledi disappeared, and Gadrael leaned against an old wall and waited as the moon rose and cast shadows beyond her. The cold hail hardly troubled her skin. She had gotten many strange looks; it was cold in the north, but she was garbed in the loose, baring clothes of the jungles. She hardly felt the cold unlike her partner, who was bundled as though it were snowfall.

Time passed, and then Shaledi appeared next to Gadrael, who jumped at the sudden appearance. Shaledi was panting heavily. "Girl's dead," she said between breaths.

"What?" Gadrael yelled, and then quickly lowered her voice. "What happened?"

"Don't know," Saledi responded. "Was asking around, got a lot of dark looks. Paid a couple of gossipers to find out that there was a girl who had been acting strangely, a daughter of one of the nobles. They hadn't seen the girl today, but the neighborhood was in a fuss about her. No one answered when I knocked on the door to the house, so I let myself inside. I found a mother weeping over her daughter's corpse. I don't know anymore than that, for someone spotted me and I had to run away. It doesn't matter anyway. The girl is dead. Our purpose is no more, here."

Gadrael's face grew dark. How could she brush it off so easy? "She's one of us! We should find out who killed her and make them pay!"

Shaledi shook her head. "She was NOT one of us. You must remember, every potential sorceress must make the choice herself. She was not ours, and in death she is not our concern. We must return home, and wait for a sign. Another will reveal herself to us in good time."

Gadrael shook with rage. "What purpose are our powers if all we do is sit in that stinking marsh? Acheiving the perfection of the elements cannot be done with so much evil about! It is tainting our world. We should fight it! We should do more than this!" Clouds formed above Gadrael's head, thunder rolling as it touched the natural clouds.

Shaledi sighed. "This is why we do not take the young on recruitments. I tell them all the time. You are all too passionate. You have not reached understanding of the way of the world." Shaledi shook her head. "Taking you on this was not just training, but a test. A test to see if you have what it takes to do what you must for the clan. To succeed, all you must do is return with me, and return to your studies. If you do not return...

You have failed the Zann Esu.

Gadrael glared at Shaledi, tears in her eyes. "Then I have failed the Zann Esu." She walked away.

She walked and walked, letting her emotions roll away with the clouds she had created. She had crossed several inns, but one in particular made her laugh. The Bear Minimum it was called, the sign with a fat bear on a little chair. She smiled, and was about to go inside when a burst of flame appeared in the distance. She ran toward it, but was met with a wall. A man had climbed the wall and was peering over it. He was odd in appearance, covered in armour unlike the guard, cloak up over his face.

"What do you see?" She called out.

As Adohorn approached the city of Uralis, he felt the looming presence of darkness that lay beyond the boundaries of the city. He felt sick as he looked back on the barren land outside the city. Light was fading, and he knew he needed to find a place to stay until morning, for it was far too dangerous to travel alone during nightfall in this region.

Adohorn walked up to the gate and was halted by a guard positioned above the gate. The guard kept his bow pointed directly at Adohorn and said, “What business brings you to our city at this hour?”

“I need a place to stay for the night, I hope to be traveling further northwest by morning.” Adohorn replied, slowly making his way toward the gate.

The guard lowered his bow and said, “You may enter the city, but you may want to remove your mask. I don’t think citizens would appreciate your appearance, and I sure as hell was about to shoot an arrow right into you if you didn’t start talkin’. As for your plans to go northwest, I doubt it’s gonna happen. I don’t even know why you’d wanna go up there; everything has been destroyed and overwhelmed.”

Adohorn went through the gate into the city and noticed a merchant cart with a bear emblem on the side. The merchant was busy organizing his wares, so Adohorn cleared his throat to catch his attention. The merchant suddenly looked up toward him and in a quivering voice said, “Can I h-help you sir?”

Adohorn asked in a firm voice, “I’m looking for a place to stay for the night. Would you happen to know some place cheap to stay in?”

Looking nervously toward Adohorn’s spiked club, the merchant replied, “The Bear Minimum is a couple blocks from here and has rooms for cheap.”

The merchant pointed to an old tattered building that stood about three stories tall. As Adohorn walked away from the cart, the merchant let out a sigh of relief and got back to organizing his merchandise.

Adohorn was walking toward the inn when he saw clouds acting strangely and traveling in such a distinct path. He went to see who or what was controlling this weather when suddenly a burst of light came from outside the walls. As he made his way through the hysteric crowd, he saw a man climbing up the wall. Adohorn used his elemental powers to begin moving the panicking crowd out of his path and headed toward the man on the wall.

Imstad Yalvua awoke from a deep sleep as the window in is his room emitted a flash of red light. He sat up and stared out of the window, where he saw what looked like a pillar of red light streaming into the air beyond the walls of Uralis. The view was slightly distorted by the bubbles in the window's glass, but Imstad still knew what it was: more rifts in the earth, spitting the fires of hell and its demons.

Knowing that sleep would evade him at this point, Imstad slipped out of bed. He knew it was cold, though his leathery skin hardly felt it. He pulled his cloak on and slipped the hood well over his face. The current patrons of the inn would not be well pleased to see a necromancer among them, particularly one that looked like himself. While he was no longer technically a necromancer, he knew that whatever he had become was far worse.

Imstad grabbed this scythe on his way out of his room. As he descended the stairs to the common room of The Bear Minimum, he looked like an image of Death itself. That turned most curious eyes away. It had taken quite a bit of his gold to convince the inn keeper to allow him to stay, and more to keep "Captain" Turev from trying to arrest him.

The street was filled outside of the door to the inn. Most of the people were simply standing in the streets, staring at the red glare that could just be seen over the wall. A few of the more hardy were ascending the stairs along the wall to see what was actually going on. Imstad decided that was where he needed to be.