"The Horadrim."
"That's right. Direct descendants of the great mages, tasked with protecting Sanctuary from the demons that stalk this world."
- Aderes and Deckard Cain discussing the Horadrim(src)
The Brotherhood of the Horadrim,[1] at times referred to as "the Order" and "the Crusaders of Light"[2] were an ancient brotherhood of mages and wizards that were formed by the archangel Tyrael to combat the three Prime Evils Diablo, Mephisto and Baal when they were banished to the mortal realm.
As decreed by Tyrael, the Order's most basic tenet is to stand for justice and light.[3] An oath existed for the original Horadrim.[4] Its symbol is a figure eight with an amber gemstone in the middle.[3] However, it has been said that while the Horadrim were a powerful order, they were maybe too prideful.[5][6]
History
Formation
The Horadrim was formed by the archangel Tyrael in the wake of the Dark Exile, their members taken from the various mage clans of the East.[2] Their membership was not selected due to any particular wisdom or reverence, but because they were the most likely to succeed in carrying out Tyrael's mission. The mage Tal Rasha was appointed as their leader and Tyrael entrusted a trio of soulstones to the order, each with the power to contain the essence of a Prime Evil. The mage Zoltun Kulle was entrusted with carrying the stones and using them to capture the demons.[7]
The Hunt for the Three
The Cube
The Cube is created
At the beginning of their hunt, the Horadrim realized they would need an artifact of immense power.[8] Such an artifact came in the form of a device simply called "the Cube." Designed by Zoltun Kulle,[9] the Horadrim agreed that it would be necessary if their hunt was to be successful. Believing they understood the dangers, the Horadrim forged the Cube over a period of weeks, as smiths hammered and mages chanted, feeling their sanity slipping all the while.[10] The Cube was completed, but was marred by the dark methods used to complete it, and disastrous results.[9]
For an extended period of time,[8] the Horadrim used the Cube as they hunted the Prime Evils.[9] In time, the Cube became the center of Horadric works. Every initiative or action required it, and those who survived its creation became increasingly haunted by its presence.[10] Aware of the dangers of corruption,[8] and of the Cube's marred design[9] the Order determined that it was too dangerous for anyone to continue using it.[9] That it had to be hidden from anyone, including them.[10] Of all the Horadrim, only Kulle objected to the abandonment of the device.[9] As such, they created the weaker Horadric Cube in its stead, and entrusted the first Cube to a secret organization of Barbarians on Mount Arreat, who kept it safe from everyone, including the rest of their tribe. Throughout the years, these Barbarians served as guardians over the Cube, keeping it safe from prying eyes and those who would use its powers for evil.[9]
Hatred and Destruction
Hunting the Prime Evils
The first of the Prime Evils to be captured was Mephisto.[7] Prior to this, the Horadrim had made a costly assault on the demon's Fortress of Bone, succeeding only due to being imparted with the knowledge of magical resurrection.[2] But regardless, they did battle with Mephisto, in or around one of the great urban centers of Kehjistan. Mephisto was defeated and his essence was contained, but the fight cost many innocent lives, prompting the Horadrim to vow to avoid confronting a Prime Evil in a populated area.[7]
The Horadrim built the Guardian Tower[6] and entrusted Mephisto's soulstone to the emergent order of Zakarum. An act that would have dire consequences centuries later...[7]
The task of hunting the Primes was a daunting one, and the mages often lost the demons' trail before picking it up again. In time though, Diablo and Baal ventured across the Twin Seas to the deserts of Aranoch. Baal took refuge inside the city of Lut Gholein for three days,[7] Tal Rasha ordering the Horadrim to wait so that no innocents would be caught in the crossfire.[11] He then headed north into the desert for a few miles before the Horadrim, undeterred by the harsh environment, attacked him again.
Accounts differ on what happened next. The main account states that during the fight, one of Baal's attacks shattered the sacred soulstone that was supposed to imprison him. Tal Rasha however, subdued the raging demon lord and, gathering the largest of the soulstone's shards, trapped Baal's destructive essence within it. Another states that it was Kulle's inability to properly handle the stone in battle that led to its breaking. Whatever the case, Baal was imprisoned, but the fragmented soulstone could not contain his essence forever,[7] and there wasn't enough time to reformulate it.[12]
The binding of Tal Rasha
While accounts again differ as to whether it was Tal Rasha or Kulle who made the suggestion, the idea was put forward that a human body might be able to contain the demon's essence by fusing a shard to their body. Unfortunately, the host would be left to wrestle with the demon for all eternity. But an instant later, Tal Rasha stepped forward to volunteer. It was at this point that Tyrael appeared, leading the Horadrim to an old burial chamber. A binding stone with runes of containment was built, and Tal Rasha ordered his brethren to chain him to it. As the mages looked on in sorrow, Tyrael jammed the soulstone shard into Tal Rasha's heart, sealing his fate. Sorrowfully, the Horadrim sealed the chamber and departed.[7]
Terror's End
The symbol of the Horadrim
With Tal Rasha's sacrifice, Jered Cain became leader of the Horadrim. He and his surviving brethren began their search for Diablo, following the trail of terror the demon lord left for nearly a decade. Their hunt took them into the western lands of Khanduras where Diablo,[7] along with a demonic army,[3] was finally confronted and imprisoned within his soulstone. The stone was hidden in a labyrinthine cave system near the River Talsande. Tyrael, appearing before the Horadrim for a final time, commended them for their victory, but declared that Diablo's site would have to be guarded for all time. The remaining Horadrim built a small monastery and a series of catacombs within the caves.[7] It was within these catacombs that members of the Horadrim would also be interred.[2]
Their task complete, the Horadrim debated as to what the order should do now that their quest had been completed. Jered declared that records be kept. Rules of conduct were divised, and the rudimentary formalization of the order began in ernest. Some members returned to their homes while others continued to seek out evil in all its incarnations. For all intents and purposes however, the Horadrim as they once were, were no more. Once an order of warrior mages, they steadily made the transition to a society of stoic academics.[7]
At some point some Horadrim trekked up Mount Arreat. They were never heard from again, though Deckard Cain would later reflect that it was unlikely that they met their end at the hands of the Barbarians.[13]
The Hunt for Zoltun Kulle
Zoltun Kulle
An exception to the Horadrim's shifting nature was the matter of Zoltun Kulle. Following Diablo's capture, he took leave of the order and returned to Kehjistan to pursue his studies of magic. Little of him was heard for years until reports reached the Horadrim that he had built an archive beneath the desert sands and had begun a number of strange experiments. Experiments that centered around an object called the Black Soulstone.[7] The Horadrim believed that Kulle sought to duplicate the power of the soulstones and wield it for his own ends, an act that would draw the attention of Heaven and Hell and doom them all. They thus agreed to hunt the renegade down. Entering Kulle's archives, they found traps waiting for them, but they still pressed on. However, they could not kill Kulle himself,[14] as his experiments had granted him immortality, and his soul refused to leave the mortal plane. As such, the Horadrim separated his body, storing his blood at two sites and sealing his body (head removed) in the Shadow Realm.[6]
Fragmentation
Deckard Cain and Leah—the last of the Horadrim
As the generations passed in Khanduras, the Horadrim diminished in number. With no quests to undertake, and too few sons to replenish their numbers, the Horadric order faded into obscurity.[2] Their greatest fear was that the three Prime Evils would one day reunite,[15] though it was foretold that the Horadrim would rise again when Sanctuary needed it. By the thirteenth century however, only two Horadrim remained. Aderes Cain and her son, Deckard. One a storyteller, the other unbelieving of his heritage. Over time, he began to see the truth in the tales his mother had told him, but by then, it was too late.[3] The Prime Evils arose, and while a new group of heroes (with Cain's help) were able to defeat them, it was not without great cost to the world.[7]
The principles of the order survived with the First Ones.[3] With the deaths of Deckard Cain[16] and his adopted daughter Leah however,[6] twenty years later, the Order appeared to cease to exist.
Reappearance
- "Horadrim, we stand at the turning of a new chapter in mortal history."
-Tyrael[17]
After the defeat of the Prime Evil at the hands of the nephalem, Tyrael refounded the Horadrim order. After perusing Deckard Cain's journals, Tyrael discovered the existence of a group of scholars calling themselves the First Ones. These reclusive scholars, based in Gea Kul, had dedicated their lives to the study of ancient and hidden Horadric texts. Tyrael recruited the First Ones, along with mages and warriors from other orders, to reform the Horadrim.[18] They aided him in hiding the Black Soulstone, but were attacked shortly afterwards by Malthael, former Archangel of Wisdom. Despite their efforts, many fell to the fallen angel's blades, and the soulstone was taken. One of their number was sent to find Tyrael's nephalem ally and aid in stopping the Reapers.[19]
By this time the group had also sent an expedition to the Skovos Isles which had failed to return.[20] It also maintained a chapter in Khanduras, which advised its citizens to stay indoors in light of sightings of demonic bovines.[21]
Capabilities
Horadric iconography
Of the original group, every aspect of their dress was carefully chosen to augment their magic abilities.[22] Many Horadric members wore crowns made of unearthly metals to reflect their status, and often these crowns were enchanted for superior protection. The greatest Horadric alchemists were able to brew potions that permanently affected the drinker. The time of the Horadrim is considered to be the greatest age in magic and were the greatest group of mortal spellcasters the world has ever known. They were skilled enough to create torches that burn with an external flame and the use of telekinesis was but a small exercise for them. They also created waypoints between their fortresses so they could react quickly to any demonic incursion.[2]
High-ranking Horadric mages were mummified, and their tombs protected by spells. Horadric mummies were also created to protect the tombs. Certain Horadric funereal priests altered the bodies of their dead mages with magical and surgical techniques, often replacing body parts with those of animals. This was thought to augment their powers, and raise their status in the afterlife.[5]
The original Horadrim order were known for hiding their meeting places in plain sight, in an area that people would least expect to find them. Such meeting places would be protected by a spell of concealment.[3]
Known Artifacts
The Horadrim gathered relics from the far reaches of the world. So many, in fact, that many were never identified.[23] Within their monasteries, the Horadrim amassed treasures great and small. But as the Order was forgotten, so were its secrets.[24]
Devices
Tomes and Literature
The Horadrim compiled a vast deal of lore, but while the libraries of the East keep guard over many magical tomes, it is believed that much Horadric knowledge has been lost,[2] though much was compiled by Deckard Cain.[3] Known Horadric tomes include:
- Book of Cain
- Ex Libris Horadrim
- Horadric Scroll
- Librarius Ex Horadrim
- The Nature of the Soulstones
Known Members
Members of the Horadrim
The first group of Horadrim were small in number, accounts differing as to whether that number was seven or twelve (both may be correct if one includes escorts and apprentices among the tally).[7] The Dark Exile Scrolls mentions ten Horadrim in the original group, and mentions blacksmiths being part of the group.[10]
Original Group
- Caldesann
- Cathan
- Iben Fahd
- Jered Cain (rank of initiate, leader after Tal Rasha)
- Nilfur
- Nor Tiraj (acolyte)
- Radament
- Tal Rasha (rank of initiate, original leader)
- Tyrael (founder)
- Zoltun Kulle
Subsequent Members/Descendents (Original Group)
New Order Members
A Horadrim of the new order
Trivia
- The manual of Diablo II mentions the Horadrim during the Sin War. This is likely an error, as all other sources establish that the Horadrim were founded during the Dark Exile, which occurred thousands of years later.
- As the above mentioned error, Deckard Cain mentioned in Diablo II that the Horadric Malus was fashioned by the Horadrim during the Sin War, which also could not have occurred during that time frame.
References
- ↑ The Black Road
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 Diablo Manual
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 3.6 The Order
- ↑ Diablo III, Tal Rasha's Allegiance
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Diablo II, The Secret of the Vizjerei
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 Diablo III, Act III
- ↑ 7.00 7.01 7.02 7.03 7.04 7.05 7.06 7.07 7.08 7.09 7.10 7.11 7.12 Book of Cain
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 2015-07-28, Patch 2.3.0 Preview: Kanai's Cube. YouTube, accessed on 2015-08-31
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 9.3 9.4 9.5 9.6 2015-07-28, PATCH 2.3.0 PREVIEW: KANAI'S CUBE. Blizzard Entertainment, accessed on 2015-08-02
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 10.3 Diablo III, Dark Exile Scrolls
- ↑ Diablo II Manual
- ↑ 2013-12-08, BlizzCon 2013 – Diablo III Lore and Story Q&A Panel Transcript. Blizzplanet, accessed on 2014-04-21
- ↑ Diablo II: Lord of Destruction
- ↑ Diablo III, Hunter's Journal
- ↑ Diablo II, The Infernal Gate
- ↑ Diablo III, Act I
- ↑ 2013-09-27, New Wallpaper: Book of Tyrael. Blizzard Entertainment, accessed on 2013-09-29
- ↑ Book of Tyrael
- ↑ 2013-08-21, Diablo III: Reaper of Souls Opening Cinematic. YouTube, accessed on 2013-08-22
- ↑ Diablo III, Act V
- ↑ 2015-05-14, DEBUNKING THE COWSPIRACY. Blizzard Entertainment, accessed on 2015-05-17
- ↑ Diablo III, Tal Rasha's Brace
- ↑ Diablo III, Greater Horadric Cache
- ↑ Diablo III, Horadric Cache