Diablo III: The Nephalem

[raveharu]

In the Diablo: Sin War trilogy written by Richard A. Knaak, it is revealed that Inarius along with other rogue angels and demons are responsible for the creation of Sanctuary and the Nephalem (Angel and demon hybrids with great power). Inarius wished a Sanctuary away from the constant battles between demons and angels as well as create his own High Heavens which would be greater than the original. However the development of the Nephalem's powers infuriated Inarius making him want to start anew by eradicating all the Nephalem. This brought him into conflict with Mephisto's daughter, his romantic partner Lilith. Due to the conflict between the two Inarius banished Lilith. This is because Lilith desired to be a tyrant with an unbeatable army under her control while Inarius wanted lowly worshipers. But before Lilith's banishment, Lilith had killed all other angels and demons on Sanctuary preventing Inarius from destroying the only sentient being left on Sanctuary, the Nephalem because Inarius did not wish isolation. And so Inarius used the worldstone to prevent the Nephalem from developing their powers, reducing each succeeding generation's powers until they became the mere normal humans of Sanctuary. Inarius also used the world stone to mask the existence of Sanctuary from his own Angelic kind in the High Heavens. He then later created the religion Cathedral of Light to make the beings of Sanctuary worship and serve him.

The destruction of the worldstone would've woken the Nephalem, or rather cause them to develop their powers again. The Sanctuary has been unveiled.

Over the spam of 20 years, was it enough for the Nephalem to regain all their lost powers?
A comet strikes from Heaven, could this be the work of Belial and Azmodan, the only Prime Evils remaining?
Will there be conspiracy between the Evils and the Nephalem?
Could Tyrael be part of the conspiracy, the destruction of the Worldstone was done by him alone, or are there darker arts at work?


http://img255.imageshack.us/img255/2813/ss39hirespi2.jpg

Who is this mysterious person. Could it be Lilith, Daughter of Mephisto, who has been banished?

[yalthar]

Indeed an interesting woman!
She shares some similarities with Baal - spiderlegs and all. And also looks to be just as decadent.
Notice the fangs between her legs - that's one madam you don't wanna get in bed with :)
(I lost my heart to Andariel anyway)

[raveharu]

Indeed an interesting woman!
She shares some similarities with Baal - spiderlegs and all. And also looks to be just as decadent.
Notice the fangs between her legs - that's one madam you don't wanna get in bed with :)
(I lost my heart to Andariel anyway)

I like the mask :smug:

Well I'm pretty sure it would be the rebirth of the Nephalem.

Worldstone-Tyrael-Lilith....hmmmm

[Saint Anger]

I don't think 20 years would have been long enough to rekindle whatever latent powers the "Nephalem" had left - if any, at all. Of course, that's just my opinion and might not be the way Blizzard views it - it is also my opinion 20 years isn't enough to eradicate most evidence from our struggle and make most people consider it to be a myth, after all. In the end, it is only Blizzard that decides. If they consider such a turn of events to be opportune, so be it.

Just a correction, but Belial and Asmodan aren't Prime Evils, they are Lesser Evils. Diablo III wouldn't be Diablo if big D himself didn't at least make an appearance, but it does seem both the Lord of Sin and the Lord of Lies will be included.

(Prime Evils: Diablo, Mephisto, Baal)
(Lesser Evils: Belial, Asmodan, Andarial, Duriel)

How could Belial and Asmodan be reponsible for a comet that strikes from Heaven? I don't consider this last (underlined) part to be mere coïncidence, I believe it is a clear indication of something. Perhaps it's Tyrael or another Archangel? There is artwork that indicates an angel appearing from a "ball of fire" in a cathedral-like environment (Tristram?), with glowing red wings that slowly turn to bright white light. Let me see if I can dig it up. EDIT: http://www.blizzard.com/diablo3/_images/artwork/ss35-hires.jpg (click the image to make it bigger)

I doubt there will be an open conspiracy between Hell and Sanctuary. In the end, the fight is between Heaven and Hell, with both parties realising Sanctuary is the key to victory - but the humans of Sanctuary themselves must realise that in any conspiracy with Hell they are the junior partners, and thus expendable. Surely they realise that both Heaven and Hell's primary objective is victory over one-another, and it's unsure exactly as to where Sanctuary fits into that picture... (if either side wins, then what will happen to Sanctuary?)

Tyrael remains aloof, thus far his actions have remained incomrehensible to anyone but Tyrael alone. There are indications that his actions do not always seem to coïncide with the policies of heaven, but whether this is because he has been corrupted is as of yet an open question... There are indications, such as the "failing luminaries of heaven", but this needn't apply to Tyrael himself per se. Some people have put forward the hypothesis that Tyrael is in fact the Lord of Lies in disguise, but this remains as of yet unsupported. It might not even be Tyrael who is "corrupted", he isn't the only (arch)angel after all, though this would coïncide nicely with the theme of the series.

[raveharu]

Well, considering the fact that the 3 Prime Evils have been eliminated, Belial and Azmodan should be the Prime Evils in Hell now. Make sense doesn't it.

And Sanctuary isn't Heaven, its the place where the Nephalem were created, in other words, the mortal world now.

Obviously destroying the Worldstone was a high price to pay(that's why Blizzard replayed the scene with Tyrael in it and Cain was concerned), it was initially used to prevent the Nephalem , in other words, the now degraded HUMANS, from gaining the powers they were given a long time ago.

The Nephalem (Angel and demon hybrids with great power)

20 years is NOTHING compared to the time it took for the Nephalem to be degraded to humans. It might be a beginning, a start for some humans to develop their long lost powers as half demon/angel hybrids again.

Demons venturing the world again, has to be the work of Belial and Azmodan, though.

The part about Tyrael, might be true but it would be disappointing.
It would be like : so Tyrael is evil->heros seek him->kill him->the end. Kinda passe isn't it.

Morever it seems the screenshot above has been speculated to be Lilith, and Lilith has direct connection to the Nephalem, hmmmmm....

[Saint Anger]

Well, considering the fact that the 3 Prime Evils have been eliminated, Belial and Azmodan should be the Prime Evils in Hell now. Make sense doesn't it.

How exactly (=thoroughly) have they been eliminated, though? They were vanquished from the mortal plane (in the case of mephisto and baal) and had their soulstones destroyed or rendered useless. However, have they been truly eliminated, in the sense that they will never rise again? I doubt that. How exactly do you kill something that is immortal?

As far as I see, the Prime Evils were removed from the mortal plane in the sense that they either left (Diablo) or had the vessels which they inhabited destroyed (Baal - Tal Rasha, Mephisto - the Zakarum High Priest), so this might only be a temporary setback. Diablo was the only one we killed while actually being in Hell, but even this might not be enough to remove him from the scene. We destroyed his physical body, but did we destroy his "soul", his essence? We didn't, because when you kill Diablo you can clearly see his "soul" or whatever it is being separated from his body.

It wouldn't be Diablo III if Diablo didn't at least make an appearance, after all. That's why I still class Belial and Asmodan as Lesser Evils, especially since their exile of the Prime Evils was masterminded by none other than... the Prime Evils (as evinced by Izual's dialogue in d2).

And Sanctuary isn't Heaven, its the place where the Nephalem were created, in other words, the mortal world now.

I realise Sanctuary, as the "birthplace" of the Nephalem/humans isn't heaven, that was my whole point. I don't see how you could have gotten the impression I was equating sanctuary to heaven.

In a fight between Heaven and Hell, why would Sanctuary ally with either one of them? What's in it for them? Even though Sanctuary is the key for both, its future is hardly carved in stone. Instead, it appears to be the battlefield between both parties, which would hardly make for a convincing ally in a conspiracy. A reciprocation to either party might make the other party consider "destroying" Sanctuary a viable alternative (Sanctuary allies with Hell - doubt Heaven will stand by and do nothing, likewise for the opposite scenario).

20 years is NOTHING compared to the time it took for the Nephalem to be degraded to humans. It might be a beginning, a start for some humans to develop their long lost powers as half demon/angel hybrids again.

This was exactly my point as well... I hardly think 20 years would be enough to rekindle whatever latent powers they had left, but that's just my opinion. Blizzard seems to think 20 years is also enough to make most humans in Sanctuary forget all about our struggle in d2 and consider what happened a mere myth, but that's their prerogative of course.

On the other hand, don't the humans in Sanctuary have "magical" attributes? The sorceress can command the forces of fire, cold and lightning, the druid commands the forces of nature, necromancer= undead,... That seems to indicate that there are at least some remnants of the original power left, however fragmented they may be. It is possible that the destruction of the Worldstone has lifted some barrier on these skills, augmenting them, but until we receive more information that remains speculative at best.

[Alandir]

We allready killed Lilith to be able to open Über Tristram.

[raveharu]

The destruction of the Worldstone would've play a big role for the continuation of Diablo 3, and likewise is directly connected to the Nephalem.
Your arguments seem valid, but I'm still standing my ground about the Nephalem. It would definitely be part of certain influences in Diablo 3.

Quoted from Cain's Lore Book on the Destruction of the Worldstone.

I know too little of this Worldstone and what powers it may hold to guess what might come of this, but I fear our actions may scar the world in ways we cannot know.

Questions about the Lord of Destruction : Why did Baal corrupt the Worldstone? Is this a plan hatched so that Tyrael will destroy the stone, and suffer some unknown consequences?

One way or another , all points down to the Worldstone.
It is quite obvious isn't it, I have stated the history of the Worldstone and its uses.

We allready killed Lilith to be able to open Über Tristram.

I doubt they made use of her seriously.
Duriel and Izual reappeared though we killed them earlier.
I think they ran out of ideas so they used her as an excuse for the torch thingy.

[raveharu]

I just found out after killing Diablo in Act 4.

The Worldstone is the mother of all soulstones.

[Merick]

She sure reminds me of the ritualist in Guild Wars. All ritualists wear headgear that covers their eyes, and they summon spirits wrapped in chains.

[raveharu]

Mmm I'm pretty sure the Nephalem would play a little part in D3 :whistling:

[bottledwater]

The destruction of the worldstone would've woken the Nephalem, or rather cause them to develop their powers again. The Sanctuary has been unveiled.

Over the spam of 20 years, was it enough for the Nephalem to regain all their lost powers?
A comet strikes from Heaven, could this be the work of Belial and Azmodan, the only Prime Evils remaining?
Will there be conspiracy between the Evils and the Nephalem?
Could Tyrael be part of the conspiracy, the destruction of the Worldstone was done by him alone, or are there darker arts at work?


Who is this mysterious person. Could it be Lilith, Daughter of Mephisto, who has been banished?

i dont think it works like that, since it took generations to reduce their power (sort of like reverse evolution), it makes me think that the power might actually have been absorbed (possibly destroyed) by something, and the humans will not regenerate their powers.

Ever.

MUHAHAHA!

[ZSiegfried]

Ok. We should start with defining who the Nephalem actually are. I am of the opinion that the Nephalem only refers to the first generation of children of Demons and Angels.

These include but are not limited to:

Rathma
Bul-Kathos
Varsily
Esu
Helgrotha.

Humans and Nephalem are not the same but they are our ancestors (just think about lifespan of Nephalem compared to humans). Much like the Nephalem come from Angels and Demons, humans come from Nephalem. This is all based on the feel of the Sin War books. The never say that Uldyssian is a Nephalem, they say that the power of the Nephalem has woken up in him. But the power isn't the same as that of the Nephalem though. It changed with the change in the Worldstone. Mendeln and Rathma's power isn't the same type of power, it is similar. There is an awesome quote somewhere floating around in the Sin War novels that should make more sense and as soon as I am home I will post it (if I can find it again). Humans and Nephalem should be separated.

As should magic use. There is a magical plain in Sanctuary which can be tapped in DIFFERENT ways. Just think of the Edyrem’s use of magic and the use of magic by the mage clans. Then you have druids, witch doctors etc., all with different ways of doing their thing. But we can't really have a Uldyssian again since he tapped into the Worldstone and well the Worldstone isn't available right now, please try again later.

Then there is this 20 year thing. Will someone please explain the reasoning regarding why that is even applicable? Initially Inarius used the Worldstone to dampen the power of the mortal inhabitants of Sanctuary. Then Lilith came and changed that little fact somehow and the power of the Edyrem was enhanced, which caused quite a lot of random damage, since people had a whole lot of power without the ability to channel it correctly. The dampening effect was REMOVED or did not play that much of a role anymore. And all this happened a little longer than 20 years ago in Diablo time. Not to mention that Uldyssian also changed the Worldstone in a way that gave him even more power. All of this was never reversed as far as I know so why are people going on about the dampening effect? Did I miss something somewhere in my synopsis of magic use in Santuary? :crazyeyes:

[Masa]

I disagree whit you ZSiegfried on one thing. We COULD have another Uldyssian even if it is unlikely. It would just take more time for him/her to grow same amount of power that Uldyssian had. He would also have to have at least as great potential as Uldyssian has. You see, if i understood correctly, Uldyssian DIDN'T use the Worldstone to directly give him more power. Rathma said it could have not been done. He just used the Worldstone to encourage the "gifts" growth, so their powers would grow faster. So we could have another Uldyssian IF we find another human whit as great potential. :wink: It would just take more time. At least this is how i see it. Im also not sure about the dampening effect, for if it was not changed back, the Worldstone would have encouraged the gifts growth for over 3000 years. (when the Diablo book Scales of the Serpent took place) but blizard decidec everything so it remains to be seen. :scratchchin:

[Risingred]

It does make sense, Raveharu. I mean, they did purposefully make it so 20 years has passed. That was their option.
I have a feeling that the next character that is announced will be accompanied by some more pieces of lore, perhaps to explain who they are and where they come from. Maybe they'll be connected to your theory.

[lunarleif]

My comment is that the wizard was born after the worldstone broke, and as a result, look at what they're capable of. Playing with time, summoning arcane magics, and so on, and defeating the head man.
The wizard has nephalem power, barbarian worldstone protection power, and the witch doctors have knowledge.

[ZSiegfried]

I disagree whit you ZSiegfried on one thing. We COULD have another Uldyssian even if it is unlikely. It would just take more time for him/her to grow same amount of power that Uldyssian had. He would also have to have at least as great potential as Uldyssian has. You see, if i understood correctly, Uldyssian DIDN'T use the Worldstone to directly give him more power. Rathma said it could have not been done. He just used the Worldstone to encourage the "gifts" growth, so their powers would grow faster. So we could have another Uldyssian IF we find another human whit as great potential. :wink: It would just take more time. At least this is how i see it. Im also not sure about the dampening effect, for if it was not changed back, the Worldstone would have encouraged the gifts growth for over 3000 years. (when the Diablo book Scales of the Serpent took place) but blizard decidec everything so it remains to be seen. :scratchchin:

All I am saying is that Nephalem refers to a generation, not the ability to wield power...

[mince pies]

Over the spam of 20 years, was it enough for the Nephalem to regain all their lost powers?

Perhaps that's the reason Diablo has waited 20 years to invade Sanctuary. Maybe he was scared that humanities' powers of the Nephalem had been awakened?

All I am saying is that Nephalem refers to a generation, not the ability to wield power...

Correct me if I'm wrong, but weren't the Nephalem the very first generation to have Angelic and Demonic powers. AFAIK, the Worldstone diminished the powers of the Nephalem with each passing generation because the Angels and Demons were afraid.

[ancalagon]

Perhaps that's the reason Diablo has waited 20 years to invade Sanctuary. Maybe he was scared that humanities' powers of the Nephalem had been awakened?

Who said anything about Diablo invading?? :P And would he have waited 20 years for their powers to regen in that case, or invade ASAP while they were still weak?



Correct me if I'm wrong, but weren't the Nephalem the very first generation to have Angelic and Demonic powers. AFAIK, the Worldstone diminished the powers of the Nephalem with each passing generation because the Angels and Demons were afraid.

Yes, exactly

Hence why now, the humans' powers will come back SLOWLY but steadily. Someone said destroying the Worldstone will completely erase their power too... doesnt make any sense. Destroying the stone means its not doing its 'dampening' job any more.

And why would Baal need Tyrael to destroy the Worldstone? (LOL) He's a PRIME EVIL Hello! I'd really like to know why he (Tyrael) did destroy it though ... It was corrupted OK, but what bearing did the corruption have on the Stone?

And as for corrupted Tyrael .... PLEASE. PUUUUHLEAAZZEEE.

Rainbow Diablo too? Pokemon Belial? Pikachu Azmodan! Fluff fluff fluff yay !

[Autti]

My take is the corruption of the stone would have allowed demons to walk through Sanctuary freely, and corrupt the whole world of Sanctuary so that the prime evils can take it over and defeat Heaven.

Destroying it means that Heaven can now see and enter Sanctuary as well as Hell being able to, so it somewhat evens the field for the Angels.

[ancalagon]

My take is the corruption of the stone would have allowed demons to walk through Sanctuary freely, and corrupt the whole world of Sanctuary so that the prime evils can take it over and defeat Heaven.

Destroying it means that Heaven can now see and enter Sanctuary as well as Hell being able to, so it somewhat evens the field for the Angels.

The hordes of both Heaven and Hell have been able to see and enter freely for a looooong time now.

Only the strongest demon lords and angel lords (Primes and Angirises) need an anchor to their powers, they found it in the soulstones. My guess is he corrupted the Wordlstone so that he could break the dampening cycle it was in, and ultimately it could channel its powers into him. Now its broken, (1) The Angel or Demon lords can stay for basically as long as they want, without any anchor required if they stay for more than a few hours (see Tyrael in Demonsbane) (2) That power has dissipated into Sanctuary, slowly returning to the humans it belongs to and maybe having some other effects too ....

[lunarleif]

What if the evils just want the nephalem's powers, and have waited 20 years since that's how long it took for some semblance to return, but not to strong. Furthermore, what about all the evil people in the world? They finally have sources of power so the demons can use them to overpower the angels using the nephalem power? Good always outnumbers bad people....... [sarcastic]

[ancalagon]

What if the evils just want the nephalem's powers, and have waited 20 years since that's how long it took for some semblance to return, but not to strong. Furthermore, what about all the evil people in the world? They finally have sources of power so the demons can use them to overpower the angels using the nephalem power? Good always outnumbers bad people....... [sarcastic]

The demons were always after the humans and their potential powers. When they realised humans were not mere sheep and would rather side with the Heavens if they really had to pick, then they decided to either annihilate them completely (diablo 1) or go after their power source, the Worldstone (LoD). Now its destroyed, I dont know 100% what effect that will have, and what the new purpose of the demonic invasion is. We will see, I am extremely curious.