Diablo

THE NATURE OF THESOULSTONESBY JEREDCAINOF THE HORADRIMt was long ago that the enigmatic Arch-Angel Tyrael bestowed upon us the secrets of themysterious Soulstones. Tyrael bequested upon our Order three of these Stones so wecould contain the vile essences of the Three Prime Evils who had been let loose upon ourworld. Although the artifacts were constructed in realms far removed from our own, wefound that they were simple to understand.The Soulstones effect only beings that are non-corporealand thus have no powerover living, breathing creatures. When invoked, the Soulstones bring into being a strong “spiritual”vacuum. Any non-physical entities caught within this vacuum are drawn into the burning recessesof the Soulstone and are forever trapped within. These spirits are released only when theSoulstone is deactivated or destroyed.The power of the Soulstones proved to be much more difficult to employ when usedagainst the great Prime Evils. Voraciously disposed to possessing hapless mortals, the ThreeBrothers found that they were immune to the effects of the Stones while occupying humansouls. Sadly, we were forced to hunt down and kill the innocent victims of the Prime Evils sothat their demonic essences could be subject to the effects of the Soulstones.Mephisto and Diablo, once found, were easily lured into the Soulstones. The capture oftheir brother Baal, however, became complicated when the Soulstone that was to be his eternalprison was shattered and fragmented. We found that while the shards still held the power tolure the demon to them, they could not properly contain it. Tal Rasha, a fellow Initiate who hasbeen since immortalized in Horadrim lore, theorized that a mortal of strong will might be ableto contain Baal within his own mortal soul. This sacrifice meant that the essence of any mortalso chosen would be forever tortured while locked in eternal conflict with the enthralled demon.To this end, Tal Rasha volunteered to contain the raging Lord of Destruction.Piercing his breast with a shard of the Soulstone, Tal Rasha took within himself theessence of Baal, the Lord of Destruction. The Initiate’s body was shackled, chained and burieddeep within a tomb under the desert. The sacrifice of Tal Rasha has kept Baal imprisoned formany years now, and although the demon was imprisoned without the use a whole Soulstone,we believe that our victory may be a hollow one. Should Tal Rasha ever escape, he would havethe formidable powers of Baal added to his own. By ridding the world of this present Evil, wemay have created a nightmare worse than that which we first sought to contain…77