Sanctuary (Diablo)

Sanctuary.

Sanctuary is a planet that features in Diablo.

History

Sanctuary was a world created by the rogue Angel Inarius and his demoness confidante Lilith. The pair had led renegade members of their own kind who had grown tired of the Eternal Conflict waged between their respective races. Thus, Inarius stole the Worldstone which he used to create Sanctuary as a new home for themselves and those like them. Once there, Inarius and Lilith mated with one another thus creating a child with the other renegade Angels and Demons following their example as they made offspring of their own. Thus, the race of Nephalem were born who were children of both races that developed into their own people. The first generation of Nephalem came to be regarded as the Ancient Ones. Lilith had a plan of her own for this Sanctuary however; she wanted to use its population as her own personal army. She murdered all the other angels and demons in Sanctuary except for her loved one, Inarius. He didn't approve of her plan at all for he wanted the nephalem to worship him and fuel his ego. Inarius then altered the Worldstone so it not only cloaked Sanctuary from the High Heavens and Burning Hells, but to also dampened the powers of its Nephalem population slowly over each generation. Inarius wanted control over his creation, and that no one else should surpass him.

The Prime Evils soon learned of this Sanctuary and planted within it the Triune in an attempt to convert mortals to their side. Inarius followed suit and created his own religion. The two opposite religions slowly grew in size and strength sending missionaries to the whole of Sanctuary. Following the eventual capture of Inarius with the help of Uldyssian and the Edyrem, the High Heavens also became aware of the existence of Sanctuary. The Angiris Council decided upon Sanctuary's fate, which ultimately voted for its survival. Mephisto then approached the Angiris Council and a pact was made; Mephisto would leave Sanctuary alone and he would get to have Inarius as a prisoner. It was agreed that they wanted to leave Sanctuary alone to see how it would turn out. However, it was also decided that everyone's memory on Sanctuary had to be wiped clean of the events occurred so that mortals as a whole could properly start anew, unaware of the forces that had created them and, ultimately, might bring them to their imminent destruction.

During the Dark Exile, the Prime Evils were banished into the world of Man where the three demonic entities began to prey on humanity. This saw them leaving a trail of terror and destruction where they fed on the pain experienced by humans. In response, the Archangel Tyrael journeyed to Sanctuary and in a guise he was responsible for selecting sorcerers among the magi-clans in the Eastern lands. These were then brought together to form a secretive brotherhood known as the Horadrim who were then dispatched to hunt down the Prime Evils and imprison them within soulstones.

Centuries ago, the lord of the city of Gea Kul who was infatuated with vampires and their immortality. One day, a vampire imprisoned in the lord’s keep broke free where it killed the lord, and gravely wounded one of his guards named Fernam during the escape. Fortunately, the lord’s top mage who was a premier scholar on the subject of vampirism had performed a ritual on Fernam to stop the spread before he was transformed into a feral, mindless thrall. The mage was successful in keeping him alive, but instead of granting immortality, Fernam unexpectedly inherited some of the vampire’s power. The mage had been mortally wounded in the scuffle but with his dying breath he taught Fernam how to perform the ritual that saved his life. At any moment, Fernam could succumb to his newfound darkness and transform indefinitely into a vampiric thrall. After cheating fate, Fernam took his lord’s wealth and moved into the catacombs below the keep. This would become the first training ground for his order of Blood Knights. He passed on knowledge of the curse-suspending ritual that saved his life along with the way of his preferred weapon, the polearm. It was then that this order sought out bite victims of vampires where they were offered to join their order to fight the scourge of the creatures that plagued the lands of Sanctuary.

After Diablo and Mephisto's defeat, Baal remained the last of the Prime Evils who swore revenge and sought to destroy all of Sanctuary. He then assembled his Army of Destruction that headed for the summit of Mount Arreat in order to corrupt the Worldstone.

Overview

In appearance, Sanctuary was a large planet that was harsh, dark and unforgiving. It resided in a pocket dimension that was separate from both Heaven and Hell. The Priests of Rathma believed that Sanctuary lay upon the back of the dragonic Trag'Oul who maintained the Balance between Heaven and Hell. Some accounts claimed that Sanctuary was not meant for humans but was originally intended as a sanctuary for those escaping the Eternal Conflict between the High Heavens and Burning Hells.

A central feature of Sanctuary was the Worldstone that was a colossal mountain-sized gem of immense power. Inarius and his new companions altered the frequency or dimensional alignment of the Worldstone, using its power to conceal it from the angels and demons still fighting the Eternal Conflict. They shifted the massive crystal into a pocket dimension, and there they shaped a garden paradise around it: a world of refuge they would call Sanctuary.

Locations in Sanctuary included:

• Aranoch :
  • Lut Gholein : a city known as the Jewel of the Desert
• Dreadlands :
• Entsteig :
• Gea Kul :
• Mount Arreat :
  • Harrogath : a barbarian town home to an order of protectors of the Worldstone.
• Ivgorod :
• Kehjistan :
• Kurast : the capital of Kehjistan
  • Borderlands :
  • Caldeum : a city that was regarded as the trade capital of the world that was untouched by the wars that beset the world.
  • Lut Bahadur : a town known as the City of the Gate located within the Borderlands.
  • Viz-jun :
  • Necropolis :
• Khanduras :
• Sescheron : the city of the barbarians until its destruction at the hands of Baal the Lord of Destruction.
• Scosglen : located to the north-east of Sanctuary with it being home to Druids. These untamed lands were said to be both verdant and deadly. Those who get lost in the woods seldom return, their screams muted by spine-chilling howls. The druids who dwell here will do anything to protect their way of life, including risking the loss of their humanity to unleash the beast within.
  • Tur Dulra : site of the greatest of the Druid Colleges and was where the magnificant oak tree Glór-an-Fháidh resided that was the source of the beliefs and teachings of the Druid orders.
• Westmarch :
• Xiansai :

During the Reign of Enmity, the lands of Sanctuary came to be affected by the Helltides brought on by the released Lilith. This saw the very ground of the mortal realm being morphed by a surge in demonic activity. It saw the sky darken, rivers run red, and meteors fall upon the mortal realm, as Sanctuary gave way to Hell's influence.

Creatures that existed on Sanctuary included:

• Nephalem :
• Khazra : a race of Goatmen that were believed to be the original inhabitants of Sanctuary but in reality were mutated humans from the Umbaru people.
• Bogan :
• Lacuni :
• Vampires :
• Finger Mages :

Ethnic groups in Sanctuary included:

• Askari :
• Children of Bul-Kathos :
• Umbaru :
• Vecin :
• Xian :

Orders and clans on Sanctuary included:

• Sisterhood of the Sightless Eye :
• Monks of Ivgorod :
• Horadrim : an order of mages assembled from the various Mage Clans by Tyrael where they were tasked with containing the threat posed by demons.
• Demon Hunters :
• Zakarum : the Order of Zakarum worshipped the tenets of the Light and was one of the largest faiths in Sanctuary.
• Crusaders :
• Hand of Zakarum :
• Knights of Westmarch :
• Cathedral of Light :
  • Knights Penitent : a military order of knights that served the Cathedral of Light and were followers of Inarius. The Knights Penitent were dedicated to freeing humanity from sin. It was said that only after achieving a state of sound body and mind can one bring peace in the style of the order. The Knights wore helms because it was said that they would go blind if they were to look directly upon Inarius.
• Vizjerei Clan :
• Viz-Jaq'taar :
• Priests of Rathma : an order of necromancers established by Rathma that were charged with maintaining the Balance between life and death.
• Iron Wolf :
• Temple of the Triune : a seemingly benign cult who were actually servants of the Prime Evils that sought to turn mankind to their masters side.

Inhabitants

• Rathma : son of the angel Inarius and the demoness Lilith where he was the first of the Nephalem where he came to be the founder of the order of necromancers called the Priests of Rathma who maintained the balance between life and death.
• Fernam : a male guard from the city of Gea Kul who was mortally wounded by a vampire but was saved by a mage who used magic to halt the vampiric corruption in his body. This ritual resulted in him gaining the traits of a vampire thrall which he used to establish the order of the Blood Knights.
• Adria :
• Deckard Cain :
• Leah :
• King Leoric :
• Prince Aidan :
• Albrecht :
• Marius :
• Lazarus :
• Zoltun Kulle :
• Bul-Kathos :
• Tal Rasha : a master Horadrim mage who was the original leader of the order who volunteered to serve as the prison for the Prime Evil Baal.
• Ordan : a dark haired male Master Necromancer who headed the Priests of Rathma as a renowned teacher.
• Qual-Kehk :
• Li-Ming :
• Sonya :
• Nazeebo :
• Johanna :
• Kharazim :
• Valla :
• Lorath :
• Elias :
• Prava :

Notes

• Sanctuary was created by Blizzard Entertainment where it featured as the setting of the Diablo universe.

Appearances

• Diablo:
• Diablo 2:
• Diablo Immortal:
• Diablo 3:

External Links

• Diablo Wiki Entry

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