So yeah, where are my edyrem?

[Brother Laz]

If I understand the lore correctly... the reason people aren't edyrem (nephalem) is because of the Worldstone.

It was also intended to keep the angels and demons unaware of Sanctuary's presence, but hasn't exactly been doing a good job. It doesn't even keep them out all that much lately; that is more thanks to the Angiris-Mephisto pact which of course the Three mostly ignored. A lot of demons including the Three and Lilith have been visiting Sanctuary and raising a huge army, Worldstone or not.

I'm not sure why the anti-Sanctuary faction in the Angiris Council didn't decide to just end it already, but I think they don't care enough to try. It is certainly not the Worldstone preventing them from doing it.

......

So if the Worldstone isn't doing anything useful, and it is still emitting that anti-nephalem effect, why doesn't anyone just break the damn thing? The slight possibility of more demons in the short term doesn't seem to outweigh being able to fight them more efficiently in the long term and doing something about Imperius threatening to destroy everything.

'But then the Eternal War would come to Sanctuary long before humanity could stop it', you say. Probably not, because then Tyreal of all beings wouldn't decide to shatter it immediately after you finally bring peace to Sanctuary.

And at least the necromancers know all this and should be able to make the best decision.

......

And there is another thing. So many years after Tyrael finally got rid of it (presumably so humanity could finally stop being the marine in Aliens vs. Predator), shouldn't we be seeing the first generation of new nephalem?

[Azymn]

I've only read the Sin War trilogy so I could be missing some details. I thought "edyrem" referred specifically to the followers of Uldyssian, and the nephalem technically includes all humanity but in practice is used to refer to the original strain of angel-demon spawn (including Rathma and Bul-Kathos), but I'll assume you are referring generically to the gifted, to those who can tap into the bloodline.

I think the Worldstone (but mostly Trag'Oul) was initially successful masking Sanctuary's presence, and the reason Lilith (and subsequentially the Three) knew about it is because she was involved in its creation. It seems like Tyrael didn't find out until after Uldyssian messed with it, or at least until after there were a bit of fireworks being exchanged on Sanctuary.

...

I'm not sure I understand the timeline on your second question...do you mean why didn't they break it sooner (before LoD)? I don't think most people knew about it, or were capable of destroying it.

The impression I got was that it would take a generation for the nephalem bloodline powers to come into effect, and that demons could easily overrun Sanctuary in that time before they were prepared. There was something special about Uldyssian that made him exempt from the effects of the Worldstone (perhaps Lilith unlocked him?), and he was also able to unlock the block in others to overcome this limitation.

It does seem like the necromancers have the most information in this regard. It will be cool to see how their role plays out.

...

I totally agree with this question. Seems like 20 years after the stone is destroyed is about when the first generation of unbridled nephalem bloodline come of age, which might explain why the wizard is so much more powerful than the mage clans. I think in general (and this has probably been mentioned many times over already) that the heroes from Diablo 1 & 2 are people who have been able to tap into their nephalemic strengths, and that removing the Worldstone will explain the large leap in power (the Barbarian is a good example of this alone) over prior characters in the series.

[ZSiegfried]

I don't completely understand what you mean in your original post... I think they didn't break it already because they didn't know what the after effects of them breaking it would be and since the Angiris council decided not to destroy sanctuary; they decided to leave it alone...

Also the exact properties of the worldstone is not known... It was used to hide Sanctuary and shield it from incoming angels and demons but since it was created by them it would be impossible to be completely isolated...

The way I see it is this:

Sanctuary is like a high security laboratory, created by high level executives. They have to give you clearance to get in and out (as in weaker demons, lower angels) but they are also subject to the security measures. Basically, the worldstone stopped completely free travel between the worlds...

The worldstone did in fact block power over generations and therefore it makes logical sense that it would take a generation to come back... This is proabably why Blizzard used such a random number (20) of years that passed since the previous games and like you guys pointed out, why the powers of the DIII characters are going to be so spectacular...

On the Uldyssian matter, Lilith did in fact open him to his power; she did "unlock" him and give him the power to unlock others, initially to create an army for her... I would just like to know what you think Uldyssian actually changed in the worldstone, I know he reversed the dampening etc etc. But what were the long term changes?

[ZSiegfried]

No one want to agree or disagree? You are welcome to say my metaphor stunk... :crazyeyes:

[SoulSpectrum]

The World Stone was created, by Inarius and other angels and demons, for a few MAIN purposes.
-to control their spawns
-hide and protect Sanctuary
-to hold the creators powers, or to say is the power source of Sanctuary

Those are MAIN purposes. It did have some other little effects, but those are pretty irrelevant are taken care of in the past story. In the Sin War, Inarius tried tapping into the World Stone to use his powers, but he was cut of guard by the effect Uldyssian and Ranthma did to it. His alteration allowed the "spawns" to actually share that power. See, the World Stone was like a big battery.

Now I know we're all video game junkies that get their fix mostly from games, but remember in school that thing called "Conservation of Energy Law" pretty much the same as the first law of thermodynamics.... Well, think of Sanctuary and the powers at play the same way... There's always a set amount of energy, that can't be created or destroyed.... just altered. Thus mana/fury/stamina/ect. That alteration to the World Stone by Uldyssian put off the balance of power tapping from the World Stone from Inarius (whom was one of the few he knew how to do it) to his "spawn".

The effects have happened, explaining the heroes and characters in the Diablo games. Your character went through a series of challenging times alone to be able to use their power with great help from Tyrael and Cain. Now.... For sudden power shifting to the "spawns" would create mass chaos. Remember in the Sin war when everyone with powers was going crazy destroying things they shouldn't or their powers were turning on them. That's why the pact was left for the Sanctuary to be left alone. "so in time they'll grow".... in time. Many many years into the future we have the Horadrium's quest to imprison the Primes with the help of Tyrael. That was with some great help.... many many more years past and we have the player taking care of things for himself/herself. But all we've seen so far is just a tip of the iceberg from the true potential....
Well, wouldn't it make sense with the World Stones destruction that all the power within was to be spread out? Maybe.... maybe not. That's one thing I'm eager to find out. Did the power return to the members that made it, or the remaining ones atleast. Does Inarius(imprisoned in Hell) and Lilith(still stuck in the abyss) have mass potential now for anything? Or did the shift of power change to the "spawns" without notice.... I'm guessing 20 years maybe a very short time to really comprehend these powers. However, it could be the start. But the start is a very very very small one if you ask me.

For the future of the games now. I can honestly see the Necromancers, guardians of balance, to take their step out of the darkness now. Their job is to create and maintane a beautiful balance between the High Heavens and the Burning Hells... pretty much, it's to get Sanctuary an equal chance. Now is more than ever for their role to happen. With the loss of World Stone, Sanctuary is left wide open. Now with the possible spreading share of powers, I'd bet that they would know most about what to do.

Another thing I'd LOVE to see is Inarius. I don't think people understand how powerful of a character he is, especially if his returning powers are gained. I use referencing the people of Sanctuary as "spawn" because that's what they're looked at outside of Sanctuary. The High Heavens hate the "spawns" because of their potential to darkness, but most of all they're natural abominations. The Burning Hells hate them because of their potential to good, and few see them as abominations. Most of all, Inarius looks at them as the biggest abominations. Emo tear for Sanctuary....... mommy/daddy/thing doesn't love you!.... many of the powers seen in the Sin Wars was emotionally driven. I can see Inarius draining his anger and hatred for the years he's been imprisoned instead of sorrow or sympathy for himself. All in all, he's one pissed mofo not willing to give up any fight. He's crazy, putting nothing at sake for his goals. Now, what if his powers were to be returned? Hmmmm As I posted in another thread, what if the lord of Lies used some sort of lying images to set him upon his opponents..... hmmm can't wait for more info of the lore so we can draw some conclusions! Damn you Blizzard!

[That_Other_Guy]

This thread has me thinking...if the Necromancer isn't going to be (an initially) playable class in D3, why not have some battles where you get help from some high-level NPC Necromancer(s), and maybe NPCs of other 'lost' classes as well?

They could do it. They have the technology. The idea of teleporting around and hacking apart/disintegrating enemies while a dark necromancer flings Teeth and Bone Spirits everywhere makes me giddy.

As for the OP topic, even though they said 20 years is practically a generation in this world, the Nephalem lost their powers over a span of many generations. While it's later enough that we could encounter such characters (the Wizard was born after it happened, for instance), it's not something that has to happen for the story to be internally consistent.

[SoulSpectrum]

"So Yeah, where are my edyrem?"
Gosh! give them a freakin break! They'll be in here in a few thousand years.... give em a break, sheesh. >.<
Necromancers role is now, let them show us their true power.

[ribbonwing]

the worldstone reppressed the powers of the nephalem a piece at a time over manmy generations. thats probably how they'll return.

[EzkiMo]

the worldstone reppressed the powers of the nephalem a piece at a time over manmy generations. thats probably how they'll return.

Probably not, since the worldstone were always present to drain their powers, now that it's gone it should be like BOOOOOOOOOOM!!!

But since we haven't got any nephalem kids yet I suppose something else will happen...

[Spaniard]

It will be interesting to see how Blizzard will deal with the nephalem. If they follow the story of the books they will at least have to make our characters stronger at the start or maybe have some dramatic increases through quests. Or they could have NPC's in the game that we can see undertaking the transformation.

Seeing as the Worldstone is all of a sudden gone, and that was the only thing draining the power of the nephalem, it would stand to reason that their powers would increase quicker than generations.

Maybe we'll have a character similar to Lilith who will unlock the power in the humans. It would be cool to maybe see a huge battle like the one between Uldyssian(and followers) and Heaven/Hell. Maybe the huge army in the diablo 3 cinematic trailer is part of this

[bottledwater]

the worldstone draining powers is like reverse evolution, each generation was a little weaker because they had a little less magic built into them, so even if the worldstone is taken away, the magic isnt coming back unless the humans start mating with demons or angels.