Lord of Distractions -- Act 1

Act1	Act2	Act3	Act4	Act5	Epilogue
The Den of Evil Blood Raven The Rescue of Cain The Countess The Horadric Malus Andarial	Radament's Lair The Horadric Staff The Claw Viper Curse The Arcane Sanctuary The Summoner The Tomb of Tal Rasha	The Jade Figurine The Ghidbinn The Pieces of Khalim's Will Lam Esen's Tome The Kurast Council The Durance of Hate	The Fallen Angel The Hellforge Diablo's Sanctuary	The Siege A Rescue of Friends Put on Ice The Betrayor The Ancients Final Destruction	Act 1, Nightmare Act 2, Nightmare Act 3, Nightmare Act 4, Nightmare Act 5, Nightmare Hell

The warrior struggled, but to no avail. The undead held him firmly, waiting for their master's word. They had captured his caravan the night before, slaughtering everyone, but dragging him away after they battered him unconscious. His skills had been for nothing, as every time he struck down one of the skeletons, it reformed moments later.

Somewhere in the darkness, a metal door clanged open. He jerked his head up, eyes trying desperately to see anything in the pitch black. It closed again, and scraping footsteps headed his way. "So, you are the warrior Tyrael picked to cause us problems," a voice hissed from the darkness. Slick and smooth, it continued. "It wasn't hard to find someone willing to sell you out. That poor girl you left behind was just heartbroken."

The warrior drew back, doubts forming in his mind. Had his sister so opposed his quest to become a fighter that she would have betrayed him? Torturous thoughts whirling around in his head, he missed the next words of his captor. But when red light suddenly blossomed, all thoughts fled his mind.

His captor stood there, at least ten feet high. Shadows seemed to wrap themselves around him, and his skin was a bruised color everywhere. Great horns, like a ram, curled out the sides of his head, and his teeth were layered and sharper than any predator. "Belial!" the warrior gasped, fighting desperately to free himself from undead hands.

The demon laughed quietly, a noise that wormed its way into his very bones. The warrior shivered, shaking his head back and forth to try and rid himself of the sound. Belial lunged forward, wrapping a clawed hand around his prisoner's chin. "You will be dead soon, and so painful will it be for you. I will enjoy watching your suffering."

So carefully, Belial took one of the warrior's hands, and very methodically broke every bone. Listening to the screams, like some sort of demented music, he laughed again. "Oh, yes, what a pleasure you will be to break, mortal."

In a small room, somewhere in Heaven, Hadriel and Gabriel drew back from the divination crystal. "This doesn't bode well for our plans," Hadriel said. "We have barely a few days to come up with something to stop their plans."

Gabriel drummed his fingers on the tabletop, wrapping his wings around him for comfort. "I know. Sometimes I wonder if our battle with Hell must always be fought with mortals, like a strange game of chess." The other angel laughed, and Gabriel gave him an affronted look. "Well, the comparison is an apt one, you must admit."

Hadriel sighed, nodding reluctantly. "Perhaps. But you can hardly argue that Tyrael's plan to prevent Diablo from freeing his brothers would have been inefficient."

Gabriel shrugged. "They have numbers, we have righteousness. Still, what shall we do now?"

Hadriel laughed. "Simple, my friend. I'm going to cheat."

The other angel looked at him oddly. "What are you talking about?"

In response, Hadriel tapped the crystal on the table. The image changed, splitting and showing seven different people. "I've been doing a little bit of study of mortals. These seven are of interest, mainly because they're unexpected. If we send all of them, I think that it is inevitable that Diablo will be defeated."

Gabriel looked up with a raised eyebrow. "Perhaps. Individually, I would dismiss them as nothing. But as you say, together they seem to be far more powerful than Tyrael's chosen hero." He rose abruptly. "Very well, you redirect them to the Sisterhood's camp, and I will do my best to make sure they get there.

As he reached for the door, Hadriel stopped him. "There's another worry, Gabriel. Only about a dozen of us knew about Tyrael's chosen hero." Gabriel went completely still under his hand. "So either one of the highest angels has betrayed us … or Belial has managed to get a spy even into the highest levels of Heaven."

Gabriel slowly bowed his head, resting it against the door. "Then I will be as discrete as possible, Hadriel. But that thought gives me more fear than anything since the birth of the race of Man."

Tharos gasped in pain, backpedaling furiously and blocking with his shield. He muttered something obscene under his breath, and swung the wooden club, skipping it off the zombie's head. It moaned, and swung again, connecting against his buckler with a muffled clang. With another swing, the zombie's face caved in, and the monster fell to the ground.

He stood silently for a moment, looking around the dim cave. The ring of light he had found earlier lit the gloom only slightly, but nothing moved. After another moment, Tharos waved his hand, muttering the arcane sigil. The fallen zombie twitched, then the bones ripped free, climbing over each other. The skeleton stood there, swaying slightly, bony hands clutching a rusty sword.

Tharos smiled, and turned to head deeper into the cave. But with a crackling explosion, his skeleton warrior collapsed, as an arrow flew out of the darkness.

Erris pulled another arrow from her quiver and fired, the arrow vanishing up to the feathers into the demon's skull. But from around the corner, another two of them appeared. "Rakinishu!" one of them shouted, waving his torch in the air. She smiled grimly as another arrow vanished into monster flesh, and the second demon ran back around the corner with a wail.

Erris trotted forward again, pulling another arrow and nocking it on her bow. Her eyes followed the bobbing torch as the red-skinned monster stopped to peer around in the darkness. Another arrow sped away, and the torch snuffed out as the demon hit the ground. She continued trotting forward, moving deeper into the cave.

Then she almost screamed, as from the darkness ahead of her rose up a skeleton. The empty eye sockets stared through her, and it slowly raised the rusty sword it bore. But another arrow shattered the skull, and the bones collapsed into a pile.

Tharos stepped out from around the corner, his club and shield at the ready. "What the … who are you? What did you do that for?"

Erris stared at him in surprise, looking at the bones that adorned his clothes and armor. "You're a necromancer! Prepare to die, minion of evil!"

Tharos squawked, and ducked behind his buckler as an arrow skipped off it. "What in the blazes are you doing in here, you madwoman? I thought all the Sisters were back protecting the camp!"

Erris scowled. "I'm not one of the Sightless Eye, fool! I am Erris of Karcheus, and I've been sent here by Akara to cleanse this cave of all its foul inhabitants. Which includes you!"

Tharos ducked back around the corner as another arrow sped past. "What are you talking about? I was sent here by Akara!"

Oksana moved through the darkness of the cave, holding a small firebomb in her hand. "Figures," she muttered, "they have to send me out here, all by myself. Just because the headmaster finds me picking the lock on my chastity belt. At least I got the damn thing off." She stopped as a zombie lurched through the darkness, and carefully activated the trap. With an underhand toss, the trap spun through the gloom, hitting the monster on the shoulder and igniting.

Oksana rubbed her eyes, trying to clear away the dazzle. "Humph, what idiot made the rule that students have to be celibate, anyway? Not like it would affect our performance, anyway." She continued her whispered monologue as she crept through the cave.

When she stopped again, it was not a monster that halted her. Instead, a tall, blond man, holding a mace and buckler, was crouched behind a large stalagmite, apparently examining some piece of armor he had picked up. Licking her lips, Oksana snuck up behind him, and wrapped her arms around him. "Hey there big boy, how about you and I lose some clothing?"

Tharos almost turned around, as a high-pitched scream echoed through the cave from somewhere behind him. Erris started to move around him, but the stone passageway wasn't quite wide enough. "Look here, you, er, what is your name, anyway?" she asked.

"My name is Tharos," he said, mustering up an air of injured dignity. "I was sent out here by Akara, whatever you say about it, so I suggest we find out who screamed, and go back to ask her what's what."

Erris rolled her eyes, muttering, "Fine," and the two of them dashed down the passageway. They stopped as they caught sight of Oksana, knocked on her rear, with a tall blond man standing over her.

He stared at the two newcomers, then threw his mace to the ground in disgust. "I swear, can't a chap follow through on his test without bumping over another glory-hounding adventurer?"

Tharos stopped, and looked around, as Erris helped the assassin to her feet. "A glory-hounding what? Look, my name is Tharos. Who are you two, and why are all of you interfering with my job?"

"My name is Rupert," the paladin spat, "and what do you mean, your job? I answered a want ad in the Light Times about this place, so I'd appreciate it if you'd all just shove off and go back to wherever you came from!"

"What?" The necromancer reached into a rather large pouch, and pulled out a slightly worn newspaper. "Right here, last page of the Dead News. 'Wanted: one hero to defeat forces of darkness. No experience needed, apply at Rogue Camp.' I said, I'm here on a job, and you three are interfering!"

As the necromancer and paladin squared off against each other, Garou, a druid, approached the entrance to the Den of Evil. He looked around at the smattering of fallen monsters, then looked at the raven sitting on his shoulder. "I think someone has beaten us to the task," he said. The raven cawed in reply.

With a sigh, Garou squared his shoulders, hefted his sword, and entered the cave. "Now all I have to do is follow these tracks, and I can find …" His voice trailed off as he examined the dirt floor inside the cave. "Five sets of tracks? I have to compete with five other people for this?" The raven cawed again, and Garou snarled as he headed deeper into the cave.

Back in the Rogue Encampment, Akara sighed and leaned against the wall. "Well, Kashya?"

"Humph. I'm hoping we never hear from any of them again." She scowled, shaking her head sadly. "I've never seen a bigger collection of misfits in my life. I truly hope that the real hero Tyrael promised us will appear."

"Indeed. But yet, I wonder," Akara mused aloud, "why Tyrael is so interested in this matter? In any case, it appears there is one more person."

Both rogues looked towards the gate, as a large figure strode into view. The barbarian was clad only in a rough loincloth, but the twin axes strapped to his shoulders looked battle-tested. Kashya started to smile as the warrior strode up to them.

"I, Ron Bars! You, rogue leader?" The barbarian boomed out, and Kashya turned and started coughing from his breath. Akara simply sighed, and repeated herself yet again.

"There is a place of great evil in the wilderness …"

Erris looked at Oksana. "Are those two going to argue all day? I'm sure every monster still in this cave already knows we're here." Oksana giggled, and held up a finger.

Quietly she walked around behind Rupert, and then leaped on him, wrapping her arms and legs around him and whispering in his ear. With another high-pitched scream, the paladin waved his arms wildly, before falling over backwards. As the amazon and necromancer watched in disbelief, the paladin fought wildly to free himself, finally springing back to his feet and backing away from the dark-haired woman. "Have you no shame?"

"Obviously not, and you don't have any survival skills, do you?" The voice floated out of the darkness, then a woman's face was lit as she conjured up a floating ball of light. "Though I'm still wondering how you four idiots managed to kill everything in this cave."

The sorceress stepped into the open area, scowling at everybody. "I mean, really, a scream that loud, not to mention just - mmph!" Her rant was cut short as she tripped over the end of her staff. Erris just snickered at her, and Tharos smiled slightly as he helped her back to her feet.

"What is a sorceress doing out here, anyway? For that matter, what are all of you doing here?" Tharos looked around at the group. "I mean, I answered a want ad, but I doubt the rest of you read the most popular Necromancer newspaper."

Rupert snorted. "Hardly! Every paladin must go on a quest to prove his skill and devotion to the side of Good. This is supposed to be my quest!"

Erris laughed at him. "Sure, a paladin who screams when a woman touches him?" Rupert's face burned red with embarrassment. "My teachers send every woman out into the world for a year when we reach adulthood. It's considered training for our mercenary future. They suggested I start here, and travel a bit."

Jezebel, the sorceress, shrugged and waved her staff for emphasis, almost hitting Tharos in the nose. "My master, er, former master, told me I had reached journeyman status. So she helped me cast a divination spell, and it said I was needed here."

Oksana giggled. "I got kicked out of my training school. The headmaster caught me picking the lock on my chastity belt."

The entire group stopped to stare at her. "What?" she asked as she looked at them. "I think it's a stupid rule too, but is it worth kicking me out?"

"As for me, I blame Munin," Garou said, as the group approached the entrance to the cave. "Now that I've seen all of you, I'm going back to complain to Akara. I thought I was the only person assigned to this task."

"Who the devil are you," Rupert asked, waving his mace menacingly. "And who is Munin?"

In response, Garou picked the raven off his shoulder and tossed the bird into the air. The raven let out an angry squawk, and narrowly missed the druid with a load of dropping. "He's Munin, and I'm Garou. I'm sure we can make more introductions on the way back to the Rogue camp."

As the group stepped back out into the sunlight, the looming shape of the barbarian came lumbering up. "I, Ron Bars! Who you?" The six let out a collective sigh.

"But you told me this was going to be my quest for the light!"
"It's supposed to be my job, not yours!"
"Quiet, you corpse lover! I'm the one who's supposed to be here by divination!"

Akara and Kashya stood there in silence, letting the group bicker. The only other person silent was Ron Bars, but the rogue leaders suspected that his silence was caused by stupidity, not patience. Finally, Kashya drew an arrow from her quiver and fired it, shattering on the stone wall and gaining everyone's attention.

"I don't care who got here with what directive, because I have no idea what you're all doing here in the first place!" She glared impartially at all of them, giving the sullen silence a moment longer to grow. "Good. Now then …

"My rogue scouts have just reported an abomination …"

The group of seven stood at the gates to the graveyard. In the darkening twilight, they could see and hear the shuffling of zombie feet, the tortured bodies raised by Blood Raven. Almost as one, they all turned to look at Tharos. He looked back. "What? Why are you all looking at me?"

Erris rolled her eyes. "Look, dead boy, can you tell us how many there are? I'd like to know the odds before we go in there."

Tharos looked back into the graveyard, silent for several minutes. "There are about a hundred graves. I think only about three dozen zombies though."

Jezebel glared at him. "You think? Isn't that a novel idea."

Oksana tapped the back of the sorceress' head with the flat of her katar. "Quiet, mage. Are we going in there now, or are we just going to stand here until the sun comes up tomorrow?"

"Ron Bars fight!" The loud shout made the others cringe, as all the zombies in the graveyard suddenly turned towards the gate. As they frantically readied themselves for the fight, the corrupted rogue archer appeared from the mausoleum.

Jezebel strode forward, crying out a battle cry a summoning up a fire bolt. But two steps later she tripped, as the barbarian went thundering past her. Ron Bars swung both his axes, but he seemed quickly buried under zombies.

Erris fired arrow after arrow at Blood Raven, but the rogue just cackled at her, dancing on a tombstone as she dodged every shot. Garou threw Munin into the air, drew his sword, and charged in behind the barbarian.

Oksana and Tharos looked at each other. "This doesn't look good," she muttered, fingering another firebomb in her left hand. The necromancer didn't reply, waving his club and muttering. A moment later, Oksana nodded, and tossed the bomb up into the air.

The bomb came down, landing just in front of the tombstone, impacting perfectly on the skeleton Tharos had been trying to raise. Jezebel had managed to get back to her feet, casting a fire bolt into the melee and hitting Ron Bars in the back of the head. With a roar of "Ouch!" the barbarian swung around, narrowly missing Garou with his axe as he glared at Jezebel.

Tharos turned back to Oksana and slapped her. "You dunce! I almost had her with my skeleton, but you blew it to pieces!"

"Me? Tell me what you're trying to do next time, or move a little faster!" With a quick "Humph!" she also dashed into the melee beside the barbarian and druid.

Erris finally turned around to look at Rupert. "Well? Aren't you going to do anything?"

"I am," he replied. A moment went by, and he finally continued under her glare. "It's a well known fact that paladins can help other warriors simply by their presence. So, I'm helping."

The amazon grabbed him by the shirt and pulled. "Listen, you idiot paladin, pick up that mace and go hit Blood Raven until she stops moving!" Then, with a startled yelp, she pulled him down as an arrow flew over their heads.

From the tree, the raven Munin sat and watched the whole spectacle. Finally, the bird took flight again, circling over the rogue, and letting go with another load of droppings. Blood Raven cried out in shock, and fell off the tombstone, just as one of Erris' arrows flew past. Another firebomb flew overhead past Blood Raven, destroying another of Tharos' skeletons sneaking up behind her.

In the melee, the barbarian, druid, and assassin were by now back to back, all fighting hard to fend off the zombie's strikes. Rupert came up, and sighed. "You kill a zombie like this!" With an emphatic swing, he knocked off the head of the zombie in front of him. As the paladin stood there smiling dazzlingly, the headless corpse swayed, then turned around and proceeded to pummel him.

Oksana sighed, watching him as she used her katars to block. "So cute, and yet, so clueless."

Garou snickered at her. "Somehow I think you'd be better off looking for a husband somewhere without demons."

She stopped in the middle of battle to size him up. "Why go somewhere else? There seems to be enough available men right here." She reached over to grope him, and got pecked on the hand as Munin came winging back to Garou's shoulder.

In the meantime, Jezebel had managed to work her way around the zombie melee to where Blood Raven had fallen. She tried to leap atop the same tombstone, but instead tripped over her own feet again. Her staff went flying, hitting Blood Raven in the temple and knocking the rogue out cold.

The zombies, deprived of magical leadership, all collapsed in a heap. The others stopped fighting, but Ron Bars kept hacking away until Garou stopped him. The seven slowly gathered around their unconscious foe.

Jezebel picked up her staff and carefully prodded Blood Raven. "Is she dead?"

"Nope," Tharos sighed. "Just unconscious."

With a meaty thunk, one of the barbarian's axes buried itself in her head. As the others looked at him in horror, he shrugged. "Dead," he boomed out.

"Yeah, dead all right," Erris said with a shiver. "Well, anyway, we should report this back to Akara, right?"

Akara and Kashya looked at each other in stunned disbelief as the troupe of seven came trudging back into the rogue camp shortly after dawn. Ron Bars tossed Blood Raven's head at Akara's feet. "I, Ron Bars, kill!"

"Sure, while she was unconscious on the ground."
"And you can thank me for that, my excellent throw -"
"Keep dreaming, mage, you tripped."
"If she hadn't kept bombing my skeletons I could have -"
"You're trying to blame this on me? You should cast a little faster!"

The two rogue leaders stood back once again while the six bickered, with the barbarian looking from one to another with a slightly mystified look on his face. Finally, Kashya sighed and whistled. "You know, Akara, I'm truly sorry to do this, but she asked for it."

The priestess looked astounded. "You mean, that girl … I thought you told her she had to stop her gambling?"

The mercenary nodded, and stopped as a rogue started to jog up. But when the new girl caught sight of the seven almost-heroes, she stopped and tried to run the other way. But two more rogues caught her, picked her up, and carried her to Kashya. "It's not fair," she wailed.

"Fair or not, Flora, you asked for it!" Kashya glared at the rogue as she shouted. "We've told you enough times to stop cheating the other girls out of their money!"

Flora dropped her gaze and looked at her feet. "It's not like you let me keep it, anyway. Why can't I have a little fun?"

Kashya smirked. "You can have fun, helping this group of … of …"

"Misfits?" Flora smirked back. The seven behind her glowered.

"Whatever. You're going with them. Or else." The last two words hung in the air, promising a preview of Hell is the girl did not comply.

Oksana looked Kashya up and down again. "Have you ever been to the Viz-Jaq'taar training schools? Because you sound just like an instructor, and I'd swear I'd seen that tight butt - mmph!"

Rupert quickly cut her off by stuffing his cap into her mouth. "Ehehe … anyway, Kashya, I think I speak for all of us when I say we're grateful, but we really don't need her help."

The rogue stepped up nose to nose with the paladin and glared him down. "She's going."

"Um. Right then. What now?"

Everyone looked at Akara, who stood there, eyes closed, leaning against the stone wall. "Angels and ministers of grace, defend us," she muttered, before opening her eyes and looking at the seven almost-heroes and their new henchman.

"It is clear that we are facing a great evil …"

The group stood at the entrance to another cavern. Erris sighed. "I hate caves," she muttered, drawing a torch from her pack.

Jezebel nodded, raising her empty hand and conjuring a ball of magelight. "Being underground is too close to being in a tomb," she muttered nodding.

Shaking his head sadly, Tharos stepped forward into the cave. "Everyone dies eventually. It is just another step in the long walk of life."

Garou nodded agreement, absently playing with Munin's feathers. "But enough philosophy, right? We have to find a really big tree with a scroll in it."

With an axe in one hand and a torch in the other, Ron Bars followed Tharos into the cave. He looked around expectantly before sighing with disappointment. "Cave empty," he boomed out.

"And thank the angels for that," Rupert muttered. "I've seen just about enough demon porcupines on the way here, thank you very much!" He jumped, not quite shouting, and glared at Oksana as she withdrew her hand.

"Enough already, children," Erris spat as she started deeper into the cave. "Let's try and get through here so we're not walking through the forest in the middle of the night."

The others nodded silent agreement and pressed onward. Several times, Ron Bars would stop, and press an ear to the wall, as though trying to listen for something. Finally the druid tossed his pet into the air, and Munin took off, winging through the stalactites and out of sight.

The group continued warily, fingering weapons and watching the darkness all around them. Finally the raven returned, landing on Garou's shoulder and cawing. "He says there's an ambush up ahead. Those little red demons."

With a happy shout, Ron Bars sprang forward into the darkness, singing a barbarian battle song as he charged forward. The others groaned and dashed after him, all prepared for battle.

The Fallen weren't quite prepared for them. The first one dropped from the roof of the cave, landing right into Ron Bars' arms. The barbarian didn't hesitate, shouting a battle cry right into the demon's face. The Fallen collapsed, coughing horribly from the barbarian's breath. In a single move, Ron Bars hurled the demon forward, bowling over a Shaman.

The battle ended fairly quickly, with numerous demons fleeing into the cave, screaming in terror. Arrows and fire bolts cut down a few, but the group was content to let them run.

Eventually, they found the other exit to the cave, and emerged into a much cloudier afternoon. "We'll never be able to find the Tree in this mess," Oksana complained. "This forest is horribly overgrown as it is!"

Flora sighed, and pointed. "It's over there." The others looked at her. "Well, I live near here, I ought to know where a hundred foot tall tree is, right?"

The druid snickered. "Besides, you can see it over the top of the forest." The others all followed his gaze, looking up through the forest at the skeletal branches.

Finally, the group reached the tree. After half an hour of slogging through underbrush, Jezebel convinced Ron Bars to chop a path through the bushes, over Garou's objections.

So there they stood, on the edge of a large clearing, the trunk of the giant Tree of Inifuss there in the center. But around the tree, sleeping soundly, were a dozen large Wailing Beasts. Rupert promptly stuffed his cap into the barbarian's mouth. "No shouting, got it?" In response, Ron Bars chewed, and swallowed, the rough leather.

Jezebel winced. "I can try and cast a static field around them. That will weaken them, so you combat people can take them on."

Erris shrugged. "I suggest that Flora and I stay back here in the trees and rake them with arrows."

Tharos nodded. "And I can curse them as well."

"All right then, we'll … er, where did Garou go?" Rupert asked, looking around for the druid.

Finally, Oksana pointed up. The druid had climbed up a tree behind them, and was reaching for a branch of the Tree of Inifuss. But just as he made a grab, the branch cracked under his weight with a loud snap.

The druid didn't quite fall, but the Wailing Beasts all awoke. "Oh bollocks," Rupert muttered, raising his mace. "Charge!"

With warcries, the paladin and barbarian raced forward into the clearing, falling on two of the beasts quickly. From the trees, the amazon and rogue fired volleys of arrows, and the sorceress cast her static field.

But even with the magical backup, the two warriors were quickly pressed backwards, working hard to fend off the powerful blows from the towering monsters. That, of course, was when Garou fell out of the tree. He landed square on the lead beast, kneeing it in the eye.

Then Oksana joined the fray, throwing firebombs with one hand and slashing with her katar. The Wailing Beasts again went on the defensive, as the arrows and magical forces began to take their toll. One by one they fell, until only their leader was left, back against the tree, trying to fend off axe, mace, and katar.

The assassin let out a whoop as an arrow finally pierced the monster's eye, tossing a firebomb into the air. It arced into the air, impacting against the side of the giant tree, igniting the dry wood.

Garou quickly turned to the sorceress. "Quickly, cast something to put it out!"

She paled and looked back at him. "I don't know any ice spells! Somebody grab the scroll!"

With a quick smash of his mace, Rupert knocked a hole in the trunk and fished around inside. With the flames leaping down the tree, he pulled out the scroll, brandishing it. "I got it!"

"It's on fire!" Erris screamed back at him. They frantically tried to put it out, until at last Ron Bars grabbed it from them, turned around, and lifted his loincloth. Tharos groaned, and Oksana looked up at the tree. "You know, maybe we should get out of here back to the cave? Before the whole forest burns down?"

The group collapsed on the grass near Akara. Gingerly, the priestess took the slightly charred and urine soaked scroll. "You burned down half the mountain, and almost destroyed our only chance of reaching Cain."

Rupert shrugged nervously. "On the bright side, no more monsters in the forest!"

"And no more forest." Erris reached over and smacked him.

Akara sighed and disappeared into her tent. A few minutes later she reappeared, with several scraps of paper, and handed one to each of the group. "Take this to the Cairn Stones, and touch them in the proper order. It will open a portal to Tristram, where hopefully you can rescue Cain without burning down the entire town!"

They stood in front of the tall Cairn Stones, watching as Rupert read off his scrap of paper and touched the stones in order. With their echoing noise trailing through the morning air, all of them jumped when lightning started to arc between the stones, finally settling into a pattern and opening an orange portal.

Erris prodded Ron Bars with her bow. "You first," she said, and the barbarian raised his axes and stepped into the portal. The others swiftly followed.

All of them stopped to gaze in horror at the remnants of the small town. Most of the fires had died out, and the gutted skeletons of buildings pointed up to the sky, accusingly. Munin hopped away, flying down to land on the corpse of a cow, starting to peck at it.

"Something very bad happened here," Jezebel muttered, gripping her staff tightly.

"Gee, you think so?" Erris shot back, moving towards the center of the town. "Let's hope this old fool is still around."

The group moved slowly to the center of the village, looking into empty doorways for demons. Tharos stopped at every corpse, whispering something under his breath. Flora dropped back to look at him. "Last rites," he whispered back.

Finally they reached the town square, the fountain broken and poisoned water slowly trickling away. Rupert pointed at the hanging cage, and the unconscious man inside. They moved quietly across the stained dirt, and the druid and paladin worked to lower the cage.

As the cage reached the ground, Ron Bars roared. The group turned around, to see the possessed Griswold, with a troupe of skeletons and Fallen behind him. The barbarian pushed the others away from the gibbet, and ripped the thick supporting post from the ground. With another war cry, Ron Bars swung it around, throwing the tree-size pole at the former blacksmith.

Unfortunately, Cain's cage was still attached. The old sage awoke with a howl as he went flying, the cage crashing into Griswold and splitting open. The others cried out in horror too, and rushed forward to attack. Tharos called out an apology to a burned corpse as he animated the skeleton. Munin just sat on the top of a chimney, laughing at the group.

Fortunately, Griswold had been knocked down, and the pole had taken out several skeletons. But the group was vastly outnumbered. Oksana rushed up to Cain, grabbed him, and threw him over her shoulder, tossing several fire bombs into the crowd of demons. "Run, damnit! Back to the portal!"

With Garou and Ron Bars guarding the rear, the group slowly started back to the portal. But even as they moved, more skeletons appeared from between buildings, leaving only Erris' and Flora's arrows to keep their flanks clear.

As they finally reached the edge of the town, Griswold reappeared, wielding a giant axe in one hand. Jezebel screamed, throwing numerous fire bolts back at him, but the blacksmith just shrugged them off. Rupert stood at the portal, waving his mace frantically. "Hurry!"

The eight rushed through, with Ron Bars stumbling through last. "How do you turn this thing off?" Erris shouting, firing arrows back into the portal.

As Griswold started to appear through the portal, the barbarian dropped his axes, wrapping his arms around one massive stone. He screamed with the exertion, and as the druid and paladin fought to keep the monsters from breaking through, the stone finally pulled free of the ground.

With a wail and a pop, the portal vanished, slicing off the arm of an overeager demon. Ron Bars dropped the Cairn Stone, and it toppled sideways, knocking another one flat. The eight stared blankly at the empty air, then dropped heavily to the grass.

Cain looked at the group in astonishment. "What," he gasped out, "was that?"

Oksana grinned and kissed him. "Your rescue!"

"That wasn't a rescue! That was a retreat!" He slowly picked up speed as he talked. "That was a farce, a disaster! What about all those demons back there? What about Griswold?" He stopped, coughing horribly, and Rupert leaned over to support him.

"They're there, you're here, and Akara wants to speak to you." The paladin patted the sage comfortingly on the back. "We're the heroes she's picked to rescue back their monastery."

Cain looked around again. "Humanity is screwed."

Garou tapped Erris on the shoulder. "Is it just me, or does he sound like Shawn Connery?"

They finally trooped back into the Rogue camp, with Cain making sure to keep Erris between himself and the assassin. Akara and Kashya looked at each other. "I don't believe this," the mercenary said. "They actually managed to do something without screwing up."

Cain heard the last part. "What do you mean? Tristram was destroyed by demons, and these cowards just picked me up and ran away!"

Akara looked grave. "Tristram was destroyed by demons?"

Cain sighed, and leaned against the stone wall. "Yes. For centuries, Tristram was the resting place of the Soulstone that contained Diablo." Everyone gasped theatrically. "But King Leoric somehow was corrupted by the Soulstone. The warrior who came to Tristram defeated King Leoric, and I believed he had hidden the Soulstone away again. But he fell under the influence of the Lord of Terror as well, and Diablo is again loose in the world!"

Rupert looked at Akara and Cain nervously. "Um … is it too late to quit?"

The next morning, as the sun peeked over the horizon, the motley band awoke. Garou was the first one awake, standing and stretching. As Rupert also stood, the druid looked around. "Where's Oksana?" he asked.

As if in answer, the back of Warriv's wagon was kicked open, and the poor trader pushed out wearing nothing but a tattered nightshirt. Jezebel swiped at Garou with her staff. "That'll teach you to ask stupid questions." Rupert blushed furiously at the implications and turned away.

As they began to prepare themselves for the day, Charsi approached the group. "Um, hey guys?" she asked, nervously twirling a strand of bleached blond hair around a finger. "Like, I don't mean to impose or anything, but, like, it would be so cool if you could do me a favor?"

Rupert nodded, trying his best to look impressive. "Of course, my lady. What can we do for you?"

"When I fled the monastery …"

Garou and Oksana walked in the lead of the group, as they tramped through the ashes of the Dark Forest. Most of them had tied pieces of cloth around their face to filter the air, and Jezebel was covered head to foot from numerous falls.

"So tell me, what is Assassin training truly like?" Garou asked, idly whittling a small stick.

She sighed happily. "Oh, it's really cool. I can't tell you how to get there, but they have this old monastery. It's huge! The cathedral was converted over, that's where we do our martial training. And the catacombs below are set up with traps, that's for higher students. Practicing picking locks, disarming traps, dodging spells, stuff like that."

Oksana shrugged, kicking at a burned branch and scattering ashes everywhere. "They have a whole building set aside for graduation. Instructors wait in there, and you've got to get through the building and get an item. Some parts are fighting, some are avoiding magic users, some are sneaking past."

Garou smiled. "It sounds like you enjoyed it."

"Oh, I never got that far. The instructors kicked me out. I stole a lockpick from the catacombs." She shrugged again. "I think they were more angry I'd put one past them."

"Eww!" Erris suddenly jumped up and down, shaking her foot. The amazon had stepped into a puddle, filled with ashes until it was a mushy, gray paste. "Yuck! What is this stuff?"

Flora looked around. "I think we've made it to the black marsh. Though it's not much of a marsh anymore."

As the group continued, Tharos looked around. "Hey, Flora, what's that building over there?"

The others looked in the direction he was pointing. "Ah, it's just some old tower," Flora said. "It's been a ruin for longer than I've been alive. There were some rumors about old treasure down there, but no one has ever bothered to find out."

Everyone shared a few glances. "What the heck," Rupert said, "Let's check it out. We're not going that far out of our way, after all."

The fire had mostly bypassed the tower, but Tharos tested the crumbling masonry before entering. "Hey, there's a ladder down here. It's in good shape, too."

Ron Bars leaped forward excitedly. "Ron Bars kill monsters!" The barbarian strode towards the ladder, and another part of the floor gave way, dropping him into the cellars with a crash.

Rupert carefully sidled up to the hole. "Ron, are you ok down there?" Nothing but silence greeted his call. "Damnit, he could be hurt, and that ladder is out of reach now!"

Jezebel snorted, and stepped forward, waving her staff. With a jerk, the ladder started to move towards Rupert. But then the ladder stopped, toppling over into the cellar. Garou groaned. "If I can get to the wall, I can probably climb down."

As the others watched, the druid carefully picked his way down the decaying wall into the cellars. But after he disappeared from sight, there was no reply from him either.

With even more worried looks, the other six climbed down, one by one, into the dark cellars of the Forgotten Tower.

Jezebel led the way, a ball of magelight floating at the end of her staff. Erris and Flora both held arrows ready, and Tharos had re-animated a wandering zombie. But the dank halls were mostly deserted, with only the occasional zombie stumbling through the darkness.

They descended one level, then another, and a third. As the group turned a corner, Erris held up a hand, motioning the others to silence. Faintly through the tunnels, they could hear something that sounded like a magical chant. They moved slowly and quietly, avoiding the few zombies.

Soon they stood close to the singing. The edge of the magelight just reached a yawning doorway, from whence the singing came. With another glance around the group rushed into the room, Tharos' sword-waving skeletons in the lead.

They screeched to a halt quickly. There stood their missing companions, drinking from ancient iron steins, out of a tapped cask of wine. Garou was sitting next to the keg, singing something off-key and gulping down wine in-between verses. Ron Bars had already passed out, lying on top of the keg.

The six just stood there and stared for a moment, but the drunken druid paid them no attention. Finally Erris stepped forward and slapped the mug out of his hand. "By Belial's Teeth, what are you doing down here?"

Garou focused bleary eyes on her. "*hic* Have a drink, shweetheart." He leered at her, but the amazon slapped him harder. He toppled backwards, falling unconscious.

Again, the group shared looks of concern. Oksana stepped over to the cask, taking a small amount in her hands and sipping it. "Whoa! That's some strong stuff!" She swayed on her feet, leaning against the cask for support. "No wonder they're passed out from this stuff.

Tharos stood by the doorway, watching the hall. "Well, we can wait here for them to sober up, or we can keep exploring these cellars by ourselves." He looked over his shoulder at the others. "I suggest we wait here. This room seems easily defendable."

Erris nodded agreement. "Let's take watches. Me and Jezebel first, Rupert and Oksana next, then Flora and Tharos. Two hours each." The amazon stepped forward to the doorway, rolling up her cloak and sitting on it.

The hours passed quietly, until Ron Bars awoke. The barbarian grabbed his temples and groaned loudly, waking the others. Erris tried shaking the druid awake, and Garou also awoke groaning. "Oh, my head," he wailed.

Erris snorted. "Serves you right, you idiot. Why didn't you call back to us?"

The druid focused blood-shot eyes on her. "What are you talking about, woman? I got down there, and Ron Bars had disappeared, so I tracked him."

Rupert glared. "And what about putting the ladder back up for us?" The druid shrugged sheepishly. "Anyway, let's get moving and finish our explorations in here."

The group got together again, and continued into the tunnels. Finally they descended another level, the stairs opening into a large room, similar to a throne room. But in place of a throne was a large basin, filled to the brim with blood. Jezebel shivered.

Slowly they crossed the throne room, moving towards the archways at the back. Through them could be seen a bed chamber, the blankets rotting away and covered in webs. The sorceress stepped up to one archway, leaning to look through, but slipped and fell into the room.

"What have we here, children?"

The voice was low and raspy, and Jezebel slowly looked up to see who spoke. There stood the Countess, her flawless ivory skin shining with its own light. The sorceress screamed and scrambled backwards back into the main room.

The group leaped into the fray, Ron Bars trading blows with the Countess as the others fought back against her henchmen. But slowly they were forced back until all had their backs against the basin of blood.

Then the sorceress was struck, falling to the floor, her staff landing between Ron Bars' legs and toppling him as well. The Countess screamed in triumph as her sword came speeding down towards the barbarian's heart.

But at the last minute, Munin dived at the Countess, knocking her sword off just slightly. The weapon hit the edge of the basin, shattering the delicate ceramic. As the blood spilled out, the Countess and her servants aged rapidly, until nothing was left but a small pile of dust and bone shards.

Tharos helped the sorceress back to her feet, as she wiped blood from her face. "Well, that certainly was a surprise," Jezebel said. "It would be nice to know who that witch was."

The necromancer smiled. "I believe she was once known as the Countess of Blood. She had been the consort to Bartuc, the Warlord of Blood, but when she started to age he cast her away. So in shame she turned to dark magics, bathing in the blood of virgins to maintain her youth."

Rupert shuddered. "She bathed in blood? How disgusting."

The group looked around one last time, and Ron Bars emerged from the bed chamber. "Ron Bars find nothing," the barbarian lamented.

Erris slapped Rupert. "Next time, I'm not listening to you when you say 'Let's go exploring!'"

As the sun started to fall below the horizon, the group stood within sight of the monastery of the Order of the Sightless Eye. Flora sighed. "Well, we're here. Home, sweet, monster-infested home."

The others all hefted their weapons again, and strode up to the main gates. Rupert looked around. "Is this the only way in?"

Flora nodded. "Pretty much. This was designed to be more like a fort than anything else. We have to go through here, through the barracks, and through a tunnels in the jail to reach the Inner Cloister."

Erris groaned. "Not another underground tunnel. I hate those. All filled with zombies and red-skinned demons and bugs."

"You mean the fallen ones?" Garou interjected.

"Whatever. I just hate it. Nasty little things." The amazon shuddered.

Ron Bars had stepped up to the massive doors, and placed his shoulders against them. Then he shoved with all his strength. Unfortunately, the doors weren't barred, or even closed properly. So the poor barbarian went flying into the entry hall, bowling over two Fallen. The Shaman quickly started trading fire bolts with Jezebel, but the weak monsters were quickly routed.

Flora sighed. "I suppose we should get to the armory and pick up the Horadric Malus for Charsi." As the rogue led the way, monsters seemed to spring from the walls around them. Waves of Fallen Ones, skeletons and zombies, and more corrupted rogues were slowly mowed down by arrow, magic, and brute force.

Finally the group had to stop, blockading the door in a small room. "Well, Flora?" Tharos asked. "How much further do we have to go?"

The tired mercenary sighed. "The armory isn't too far ahead. But if these demons know the Malus is there, there'll be some stronger demon guarding it. Then we have to back track a little way to reach the Jail entrance."

The others sighed, except for Ron Bars, who was already snoring in a corner. Erris nodded. "Alright then, lets split up and take two hour watches." The group slowly settled in, and slept the night away.

When they awoke, the outside halls were eerily quiet. They all rose, trying to stay hushed, and pulled the large desk away from the door. Outside, the halls of the barracks were deserted. Moving slowly, Flora led the way towards the armory and the Malus.

As they grew closer, they could hear the rhythmic sounds of the hammer against metal, and soon the pumping sounds of the bellows. They crept up to the open doorway, and saw the man at the anvil, pounding away. The huge, red skinned demon seemed somehow familiar, but no one got a chance to ponder it.

With a loud shout, Ron Bars jumped into the room, brandishing his axes. With an equally loud shout, Griswold turned from the anvil, waving his hammer angrily. The others all screamed, and the tortured blacksmith screamed back.

Then the battle began in earnest, with barbarian, druid, paladin, and assassin all fighting against the blacksmith. But the smith's powerful blows knocked them back again and again, and he shrugged off magic and arrows like raindrops.

Finally, Tharos ran around to the back of the room. His last skeleton picked up a pair of tongs, and lifted a large coal from the forge fires. Wobbling unsteadily, the skeleton walked towards Griswold, and slammed the coal into his back.

As Griswold screamed in pain, the others attacked him all at once. Axes split his sides, an arm broke from the mace, and sword and katar sliced open Griswold's legs. As they stood back, the blacksmith slowly toppled, the Malus falling from his hands.

They stood there for several minutes, watching the body bleed, before Erris carefully stepped forward and picked up the magical hammer. With another shudder, she wiped it free of his blood, and the group silently left the armory.

As they reached the stairs down to the jail, Oksana suddenly stopped. "Wait a minute!" she cried excitedly. As the others all looked around for danger, she started laughing. "We just completed a quest without something going wrong!"

They all looked at each other in astonishment. But as they started to cheer, a loud shout from the direction of the Armory stole their excitement. "Oh crap, we didn't kill him," Rupert wailed. "Hurry, let's get out of here before he finds us!"

With Flora again in the lead, they rushed deeper into the Jail.

They stopped again, hours later, three floors down in the Jail. The group waited at the start of a hallway while Flora tried to remember the correct path. The rogue finally shrugged. "There's two hallways. One leads to a weapon stash, the other is the staircase back up to the inner cloister."

Erris perked up. "A weapon stash? Why do you keep a weapon stash in the middle of a jail? I mean, aren't you worried about prisoners escaping?"

Flora shook her head. "We don't actually get many prisoners. But when the monastery was designed, this was expected to be a defensive fort for the surrounding area. So during times of war, the Order would have someplace to put the prisoners."

Garou shook his head sadly. "Well, let's try this hallway first."

The group moved quietly, weary arms holding blood-stained weapons. But for a change, this part of the Jail was deserted. The soon reached the end, and from Flora's sigh, it was apparent they had chosen the wrong hallway. "Nope, this was the weapon stash."

Rupert shrugged. "Why not check it out? There might still be some good weapons or armor in there."

Jezebel rolled her eyes. "Yeah, right. These demons all seem pretty well outfitted, so I'm betting there's nothing in there."

Garou smiled, and pushed on the still-locked door. "Fallen can't pick locks. Or open most doors." He made a mock bow to Oksana. "Would you mind?"

The assassin pulled a small lock pick from somewhere in her clothing, and quickly opened the door. The group crowded inside to check their findings.

At first, it appeared that they had found the motherlode. But further inspection showed that most of the weapons and armor were useless. The weapons were rusty and nicked, a suit of chainmail had started to rust away, and a shield had a crack through it. Ron Bars opened a chest in the back corner, pulling out moth-eaten padding and cracked leather.

Erris sighed unhappily. "So much for better equipment." The barbarian kicked the chest angrily.

Dejected, the group headed back into the jail, finally locating the staircase up to the Inner Cloister and the open air. As they prepared a small campsite, Erris looked at the Malus and sighed again. "We should get this back to Charsi, but I don't want to have to go back through all of this to reach the rogue camp."

Jezebel sighed as well, dropping her staff and sitting on an old barrel. "Too bad we don't have a scroll of Town Portal. Then we could just teleport back."

The barbarian grunted. "Ron Bars find." From inside the handle of one axe, he pulled out a rolled up scroll and handed it to the sorceress.

She squealed excitedly. "Where did you find this?"

He grunted. "In desk in Jail. Ron Bars not read."

As the others gathered around, Jezebel read off the runes. A large blue portal slowly opened, and through it they could see the rogue encampment. Jezebel touched each person in turn, sending them through the portal, until they all stood at the center of the camp.

Akara, Kashya, and Cain all looked over in surprise. "Holy crap, they're still alive!" Kashya blurted out.

Erris waved the Malus in the air. "And we got this back for Charsi, too."

Rupert looked at the amazon nervously. "Of course, Griswold is now somewhere in the Monastery …"

Erris grabbed the paladin by the hair and glared at him. "Shut up," she growled.

Charsi wandered over, and gladly took her Malus back. "Like, this is so totally cool!" she gushed. "Like, now I can give stuff magical powers. You guys, like, want some better stuff?"

The group let out a loud cry of "Yes!" With newly enchanted equipment, they all bedded down for the night, resting up to make their way down through the catacombs the next day.

As the sun rose the next morning, the adventurers again prepared themselves. The blue, shimmering portal stood quiet, swirling silently. Jezebel stood next to it, touching each one as they stepped through the portal in turn.

The courtyard of the Inner Cloister was silent as well. The massive doors to the Cathedral lay open, the inside shrouded in darkness. Slowly the group edged forward, stepping gingerly into the darkness.

Inside the Cathedral was a massacre. The once beautiful windows had been blacked out with dried blood, and stone coffins from the catacombs had been dragged up and placed in rows, replacing the pews. As they moved forward, they could see the remains of a human sacrifice still laying on the altar, chest torn open and organs missing.

Flora started shivering uncontrollable at the sight, and Rupert quickly moved to comfort her. But before he had even touched her, the tortured shriek of sliding marble echoed through the church. The coffins behind them slid open, zombies and skeletons came shambling forward. From the choir room in the back, stepped forth a different looking skeleton, this one dressed in a caricature of priestly robes.

The new skeleton lifted a hand, and summoned up a ball of sickly looking green light. Even as the undead moved to attack, Tharos screamed "Duck!" But beset by monsters, the ball of green light struck Jezebel squarely. Even as two arrows parted the skeleton from his head the sorceress collapsed to the ground.

The simple undead were no match for the heroes, but as the last zombie fell, the others gathered anxiously around the shaking sorceress. "She's having some kind of seizure!"

Tharos nodded. "I know! That skeleton threw some kind of advanced poison spell at her."

Erris grabbed his arm. "Well, do something, necromancer!"

He scowled back. "I can't! Curing poison isn't a spell that I know!"

Ron Bars came striding back in from the courtyard, holding something in his hand that dripped blood. Pushing the others aside, he forced open Jezebel's mouth and let the blood and other fluids drip into her mouth. The others simply stood and watched, uncertain whether or not to interfere. But after swallowing a small bit of the strange mixture, the sorceress stirred, looking up at the barbarian and what he held.

With a strangled noise, Jezebel rolled away, staggering to an open coffin, puking into it. Ron Bars stared at her for a moment, then lifted the heart and took a bite out of it. As the others made sounds of disgust, Erris glared at him. "No wonder they call you savages and barbarians. You'll never be civilized with behavior like that."

The barbarian smiled, teeth gleaming redly. "Ron Bars save," he boomed, stabbing the air with a finger. "You dumb woman, maybe Ron Bars save you too."

Garou laughed, clapping the barbarian on the back. "With a diet like that no wonder your people are known for being able to survive anything!"

Once Jezebel was back on her feet, the group slowly approached the stairs at the back of the Cathedral. Flora stepped up, peering down the winding stairway. "Everything started down there," she said, pointing down. "Those catacombs are where most of the Sisterhood has been buried for centuries. One day, a huge group of undead and demons just came pouring up the stairs, right in the middle of Mass. I mean, before that, there had been occasional rare zombies and skeletons, any large graveyard does. But they just rose all at once …"

With slightly more foreboding, the group started down the staircase, Ron Bars and Flora in the lead.

Two floors down in the catacombs, the group again found a small room with a single door to hole up in. Oksana sighed, flopping down tiredly to the floor. "Good grief, I didn't expect there to be this many demons down here," she complained.

Garou snorted. "Well, they are, and every one we kill means one less the Sisterhood has to deal with when we're gone." The assassin shrugged, and opened a small pouch, assembling more firebombs.

Rupert also sat down, leaning tiredly against the wall as he started to clean the blood and gore from his scepter. "I didn't think these catacombs were so huge! I mean," he stopped waving his weapon for emphasis, "we must have spent at least two hours, wandering through that first floor trying to find a bloody staircase or at least a hole in the floor."

"Ron Bars make hole?" The barbarian hefted a bloody axe and looked at the paladin curiously.

Erris glared at him angrily, unstringing her bow. "No, you blundering oaf, not with those. You'd just break your axes trying to cut a hole through solid rock." The amazon turned her attention back to her weapon, running an oily rag up and down the wood before attaching a new bowstring.

Rupert looked back at their mercenary. "How far down do we have to go, anyway?"

Flora shrugged. "I'm not sure. I know there's at least four levels. The bottom one is the newest; I remember hearing Akara talking about the digging to open it up."

Jezebel nodded. "The bottom floor it is then."

Erris glared at the sorceress. "Who died and made you boss?"

Garou held up a calming hand. "She's probably right. Andarial is most likely to be on the bottom floor."

The others all stared at him in horror. "How do you know one of the Prime Evils is down there?" Oksana squeaked.

The druid looked around in disbelief. "Didn't any of you talk to Cain again after we brought him back to camp?" They all shook their heads. "Oh, for goodness sake … look, I shared a pint with Cain last night before bed. Once he loosened up, he said that Andarial is probably behind this, especially if Diablo has escaped from Tristram."

Tharos looked aghast. "Of course, send the Lady of Poison to destroy the Sisters, one of the largest forces for good. That way he prevents anyone from reaching Mephisto or Baal before he does!"

Oksana shivered. "But, how does Diablo even know where to find his brothers?"

Jezebel spoke slowly, as though reciting from memory. "The first to be captured was Mephisto, Lord of Hatred. He was bound within the Soulstone and given to the Council of Zakarum to be hidden forever. Second to be captured was Baal, Lord of Destruction. With his Soulstone broken, Baal was imprisoned in the body of Tal Rasha and buried beneath the desert sands."

Erris closed her eyes. "So that means Diablo was captured last, and knows at least the general area to find his brothers." She quickly clambered to her feet, drawing another arrow and readying her bow. "We should get moving again."

The others rose as well, and silently moved back into the catacombs.

Several more hours, and another floor later, the group finally found another staircase down. This one seemed rougher, though, and the steps were not worn smooth from use. They all crowded around the top of the stairs, looking down into the darkness. Tharos slowly nodded, looking at Flora. "This does look like the new area," he murmured.

The rogue nodded, and slowly started down the stairs. As the group followed, they all glanced about, constantly looking back up the stairs, trying to peer through the darkness below.

Soon they reached the bottom of the staircase, and stepped out into a larger room. It was dimly lit by small fires, and tears fell from Flora's face as she saw the charred corpses of other rogues tied to blackened stakes above them. From another room they could hear the high pitched shouting of Fallen Ones, and at the other end of the room ghouls shambled through the smoky air.

Tharos quickly grabbed the rogue, slapping a hand over her mouth as she tried to dash forward. "Be still," he hissed angrily. "We want to strike with surprise if we can." The necromancer looked around, nodding quietly to Rupert.

Slowly the paladin edged along a wall, growing slowly closer to one of the bonfires. From beneath his cloak, the paladin drew out a waterskin, and poured it over the burning wood. With a great hiss, the fire extinguished, throwing a cloud of steam and sparks into the air, and the paladin crept back to the group.

Silently Rupert traced on the floor an outline of the room. Tharos studied it and nodded. "There's that door here," he pointed, "leading to the next room with the fallen ones. Someone has to get up there and scout out the next room. And quietly, we don't want those ghouls coming after us!"

Erris quickly took off her chain mail, and laid it with her bow and quiver against the wall. Tucking her blond hair into her tunic, the amazon crept along the rough-cut wall to the doorway, carefully pushing open the broken wood. As the others watched with concern, she vanished into the next room.

For several minutes they waited, trading concerned glances. More than once, Rupert started toward the doorway himself, only to be restrained by Tharos' hand. But finally Erris reappeared, skulking along the wall back to them. In silence, she added onto Rupert's drawing.

"This next room is big. There's a set of double doors here, and all those devilkin seem scared of it. This corner," she marked a small 'X' "is almost completely in darkness. And it's right inside the door. There's also several stacks of crates," she drew lines inside the room, "that will give us cover."

Tharos studied the map for a few seconds then nodded. "Okay, here's what we do. Oksana …"

One by one, the group crept into the next room and into the darkened corner. Last in line, Oksana paused at the doorway, weighing several firebombs in her hand. Then leaning back through the doorway, she threw them towards the ghouls and the other fires in the back.

As the large explosion ripped through the entrance hall, the assassin dived for cover in the darkness. The devilkin screamed, all of them rushing out of the room to discover who was intruding on their domain. But as the last one went through the door, Ron Bars staggered forward, dropping several crates to block the door. Quickly behind him came two animated skeleton, Tharos waving his wand to direct them.

As the adventurers started to congratulate each other, the large double doors boomed open. Andariel, the Maiden of Anguish, strode into the room, her demonic eyes scanning the room. At her feet followed one of the Tainted, the six-foot demon rising barely to her waist.

"Come out, tasty adventurers," Andariel hissed, her voice echoing through the room.

The group held as still as they could, fighting not to shake with fear or anger. Andariel's gaze swept through the room again, bright red dots against her green skin. But even her eyes could not see through the smoke filled air, into the darkest corner, and slowly she turned back to her chamber, scratching the Tainted as a human would a dog.

Flora lifted her bow, silently drawing back an arrow. Before the doors could close, the rogue whispered, "Catch this, bitch," and let the arrow fly. It sped across the room, stabbing into her back.

The demoness screamed in anger, spinning around. The bony limbs on her back framed her like broken wings, and she threw green, poisonous light out into the room.

In the light, both Flora and Erris lined up their shots, but the arrows were batted out of the air. The Tainted rushed forward, only to fall in midstride with an axe buried in its head. And the adventurers squared off against the Maiden of Anguish, faces set and weapons held grimly.

"Foolish mortals," Andariel crooned, "Do you really think that you are the ones Tyreal chose to stop Diablo?" She laughed, the suffocating sound reverberating from the walls. "Oh no, silly humans. Belial, the Lord of Lies, has such a long reach into your world!"

Flora scowled up, and spat. "Chosen or not, you're going to die for what you've done here!" Ron Bars gave a warcry, and charged forward. Garou howled, his form rippling and fur tearing forth. Tharos' skeletons shambled forward, lifting rusty weapons. Jezebel waved her hands, summoning lightning and fire, and Oksana readied her firebombs as Flora and Erris let fly a rain of arrows.

But Andariel brushed away the arrows, shattering the skeletons with a sweep of her arm as she strode forward. Even as twin axes split her flesh, and the werewolf bit her, the demoness laughed, throwing out a cloud of poisonous gas. Rupert stumbled in his charge, dropping his scepter to the floor as he collapsed, heaving.

Jezebel stepped forward then, throwing a pair of lightning bolts at the demoness, but Andariel seemed unharmed by the attack, lifting a charred rogue corpse and flinging it. Though she tried to dodge, the sorceress was struck and hurled to the floor.

Tharos scowled, waving his wand and incanting, throwing curses at Andariel. But they seemed to slide off her like rain. Oksana ran forward, hurling her last trap and leaping over the coughing druid. But Andariel swatted her out of the air like a bug, casting the assassin across the room to crash into crates.

For several precious seconds, the room was held in an uneasy balance - Ron Bars swinging at Andariel, as the demoness fought off arrows and curses as well. But finally she landed a lucky blow, tossing the barbarian across the room to fall next to the sorceress.

Tharos screamed as Andariel kicked him out of the way, crashing into a wall and sliding to the floor. Even as she strode towards the archers, Flora and Erris continued to fire until Andariel had reached and battered them, too, into submission. Supreme, the demoness gazed at the fallen heroes and started to laugh again.

"Get away from them you bitch!" The rough voice echoed through the room, and Andariel turned around to regard Rupert curiously. The paladin kneeled at the edge of a brackish pool of water, the natural well the Fallen had polluted during their stay. But Rupert swayed unsteadily, and Andariel strode forward confidently to finish him off.

Rupert waited until she was halfway across the pool, then dropped his arm and touched the surface of the pool, calling upon the angels in prayer. Andariel shrieked, lunging forward, but with a crackle, the water purified in a rapid circle from the paladin's hand. He dropped to the floor, her hand missing him by inches as the holy water dissolved her mortal body.

As the Lady of Poison disappeared under the surface, Rupert rose unsteadily to his feet. He staggered across the room to Ron Bars, falling atop the barbarian and rousing him from unconsciousness. "Poison," Rupert muttered as he collapsed.

Ron Bars crawled over to the dead Tainted, pulling out his axe and slitting open the body. With a small knife, he cut out several organs, mixing the fluids and gulping some down. Shuddering, the barbarian rose again, antidote mixing into his blood. "Nasty stuff that," he said to himself, glancing around. "I suppose I should rouse the rest of them, too."

He started toward the paladin, then carefully looked at the group again. "Stay focused, idiot!" he muttered to himself. "Stay in character."

One by one, the barbarian checked on his fellows, administering antidote and helping them to their feet. Once recovered, Rupert also prayed for each, giving magical healing. As the group stood wearily, Erris looked around the room. "What happened? Did Andariel leave us for dead?"

Rupert turned red, and glared at her angrily. "I don't want to talk about it."

The others looked at him suspiciously. "I said I'm not talking about it."

Oksana shook her head and giggled. "So modest, cute boy." She leaned forward as if to kiss him, but the blushing paladin retreated.

Tharos frowned, looking at the crystalline pool at the center of the room. "Say, was this water so clear before?"

Rupert roared, "I don't want to talk about it!" at the top of his lungs.

As the others laughed at him, a moan came from Andariel's room. The adventurers quieted, looking at the doorway in anticipation. Another moan came. "That sounds familiar," Garou muttered, flexing his returned-to-human limbs.

As Griswold stepped through the door, the group all screamed, rushing for the exit. "Unblock the door," Erris shrieked.

"There's an army of devilkin out there, remember?" Tharos shouted back, even as Ron Bars started throwing boxes around.

"I don't care!" she screamed back, even as the doorway cleared. In a frantic rush, the group of eight poured into the room, trampling Fallen Ones in their break for the stairs and freedom.

Back in the room, Griswold stopped, lowering the massive axe he held. With a curious moan, the blacksmith looked around the room, finally settling his gaze on the pool of holy water. When he screamed, his cry of rage could be heard all the way to the Monastery gates.

A day later, the group finally trooped back into the Rogue Encampment. To their great surprise, the entire camp broke out into loud cheers, waving brightly colored ribbons. As the bewildered heroes trooped over to a smiling Akara, Garou finally asked, "How did you know?"

Akara laughed happily. "I am an accomplished mage, you know. We watched the whole thing in my scrying pool. Congratulations, Rupert," she said, putting a wreath of flowers around his neck. "Truly, I never believed that you would show such imagination and resourcefulness in defeating Andariel!"

The paladin turned a darker shade of red, glaring angrily at Akara. As he started to open his mouth to shout at her, Flora wrapped her arms around him and kissed him soundly. "You saved our home! You're a hero! And if you argue about it, I'll send you back after Griswold."

Rupert wisely kept his mouth shut, and as the sun began to set, the encampment prepared for a celebration. Tharos sat next to Oksana by the fire, handing her a glass of wine. They clinked glasses together. "Who would have thought that we could take part in banishing one of the Prime Evils?" he asked, slowly taking a sip.

The assassin laughed, watching one of the rogues pull an unwilling Rupert up to dance. "Yeah, I could even get back into the Viz-Jaq'taar training schools now, if I wanted." She gulped down some wine, watching the festivities around them.

Tharos followed her gaze and smiled sadly. "Good thing the big hero of the moment is so unwilling. Let's us second-rate heroes get more attention."

Oksana smiled coyly, raising an eyebrow. "Oh, second rate, hmm?" She bounded to her feet, grabbing Tharos by the hand and dragging him after her around the fire.

"Hey, wait a minute, that's my wagon!" Warriv's complaint went unheard as the assassin pulled closed the wagon door behind them.

In the morning, as the caravan prepared to travel eastward through the cleared pass, Erris looked around in confusion, counting. Finally, she stopped Rupert as the paladin helped load supplies. "Where are Garou and Ron Bars?"

The others stopped to look around as well. Jezebel scratched her head. "I know they were here last night. Garou was drinking with Cain when I crawled into my blankets."

As they started to search the encampment, one of the rogue guards gave out a cry. The other five heroes rushed to the gate. Up the hill came Garou and Ron Bars, rolling a huge wooden cask. Erris groaned. "Oh no, not that wine …"

The druid and barbarian staggered into camp, letting the cask roll to a stop against a wagon. "Don't worry, we didn't *hic* drink too much," Garou slurred. Ron Bars simply belched, his breath wilting a patch of grass.

Warriv looked at the giant cask. "Either you two are pushing that the whole way, or it stays here."

Garou and Ron Bars looked at each other. In drunken unison, they shouted, "Push!"

Lord of Distractions and everything not already owned by Blizzard is copyright BlueNinja