[But what is cast off doesn't simply disappear, and that darkness found its shape in the seven-headed dragon Tathamet, the Prime Evil, who fought ceaselessly with Anu to their mutual destruction.](Lorath)
Looking at the shocked group, Michael was surprised to see even the two Archangels look strangely at him.
He expected them to know this already, but it seemed that it wasn't the case. Furthermore, Prava was also playing nicely, curiously listening to the story being told.
With no reason to stop, the story continued.
[It is said that when the remains of these two titans settled, the universe as we know it came into existence—all the realms of the High Heavens, the Burning Hells, and Pandemonium.
Tathamet's blackened husk gave birth to the Burning Hells, and each of the seven heads turned into the Seven Great Evils, each with dominion over their own realm. The three most dominant of these inherited the title of Prime Evil, feeding off one another to maintain dominion and rule over the legions of the Burning Hells.
There was Mephisto, Lord of Hatred, intelligent and cunning, father of Lucion, and Lilith, the Mother of Sanctuary.](Lorath)
A small frown appeared on Prava's face, but she remained silent. The others also abstained from commenting as they listened enraptured to the novel story.
[Baal, Lord of Destruction, Corruptor of the Worldstone. And Diablo, Lord of Terror. As Deckard Cain once wrote, 'For as long as man fears the dark, Diablo will remain the most insidious, and, I would argue, the most powerful of all Evils.'
The Four Lesser Evils, no less dangerous to the people of Sanctuary, are not to be discounted on the basis of their title. Underestimating their capabilities and intentions is a sure path to our destruction.
Belial, Lord of Lies, uses poisonous untruths to create an ever darker, fractious world.
Duriel, Lord of Pain, revels in the cacophonous screams of those in physical agony. Even demons are no stranger to his torment.
Andariel, the Maiden of Anguish, is Duriel's counterpart. Whereas Duriel delights in bodily torment, Andariel derives pleasure from the anguish of mind and soul.
Azmodan, the Lord of Sin, is a clever manipulator and master of temptation. He loves vice in all its forms but revels most in the failures of others.](Lorath)
No reaction was drawn from the public, as everything about the seven Lords of Hell appeared to be common knowledge, seeing as they were the enemies whom they'd been fighting against for as long as everyone could remember.
[Demonic hordes spawned from the vile cavities of the Burning Hells - a host of ravenous, furious monstrosities that reflected the poisonous elements of their progenitor.
There are demons beyond counting in the Burning Hells. But not all hope is lost.
At the center of the High Heavens lies the Crystal Arch, said to have been formed from Anu's Spine. When it vibrates in perfect harmony, an angel is created, embodying an Aspect of what Anu once was.
The purest of these beings become Archangels, and five rose above the rest to lead the host of the High Heavens.
Imperius, Archangel of Valor, a brilliant tactician who commanded the warriors of Heaven and led them into battle with Hell, but who's pride has led to much destruction.](Lorath)
Peering at the angelic duo while hoping he wouldn't get smited, Michael took a deeper breath and continued while looking at Prava.
[Tyrael, former Archangel of Justice, who abandoned his rigid dedication to his Aspect, and took up the Aspect of Wisdom instead. He supported the many causes of humanity, such as the creation of us, the Horadrim, renounced his angelic nature, and fell to the Sanctuary as a mortal. Our world would have fallen to darkness long ago if not for his aid.
Inarius, the Creator of Sanctuary, served under Tyrael and was an adviser to the Council until he rebelled.
Auriel, Archangel of Hope, embodies the shining light of a bright future and sees the potential for good in all things, but she is no less a warrior than the others, dispatching those who spread despair and darkness with impunity. She is said to lead the chorus of the High Heavens in harmony. Also, one of the most beautiful beings that light has ever touched.
Itharael, Archangel of Fate, comprehends the tangled web of fate and time, though the future of humanity remains obscure to him, unseeable because we are not of the natural order of creation. Though... after millennia, many things tend to change.](Lorath)
Looking at the grinning Itharael, and the kindly smiling Auriel, Michael hesitated, but decided to continue.
[Malthael, the former Archangel of Wisdom, who fell to darkness and brought ruin to the Sanctuary when he abandoned the Aspect of Wisdom, and took up the Aspect of Death.
Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.
I encountered him once, long ago, and barely escaped with my life. Few who met him after his transformation survived. After all, no one can stop Death.
These five Archangels formed the Angiris Council and ruled Heaven in harmony until Malthael abandoned them. The Council fell into confusion and dissension, and their unity diminished.](Lorath)
Seeing the sad looks on the faces of the two Archangels, Michael figured that Lorath was spot on the money.
Remembering the strange statue of the Angel of Death he saw in the Westward Mining Tunnels and the female angel statue near Kor Valar, he immediately drew parallels to Malthael and Auriel.
There were more secrets in Sanctuary waiting to be explored than even the Horadrim knew. Maybe only the World Tree had a general idea of what was going on everywhere, but even it might not know the full story.
[Along Heaven and Hell, there is a third realm, and this is where our next story begins and ends. Where Anu and Tathamet slew one another, the violence scarred the cosmos and birthed the plane of Pandemonium.
It was here that the Worldstone, also called the Eye of Anu, came to rest—a mountain-sized artifact of infinite power that embodied the endless cycle of birth and death, destruction and creation.
The desire to control it fueled the Eternal Conflict until Inarius and Lilith stole it and used it to create Sanctuary. This is what we'll talk about next.](Lorath)
Pausing to drink some beer and wet his now dry mouth, Michael looked at the surrounding group. The sisters and Neyrelle were wide-eyed, the mayor and Connie looked shocked, Hoduin and Martel looked pensive, and poor Gonk looked like all of this was way beyond his pay grade.
Only Itharael and Auriel were strangely calm but also a bit disturbed at the same time. For some reason, the Necromancer knew that the party wouldn't end for these two when everybody else would be sent home.
[The Sanctuary's is a dark story. The shadows will seem longer when it's done.
Before we talked of Anu and Tathamet, Burning Hells and the High Heavens, and all who reside there, embroiled in the Eternal Conflict.
Now, let us speak of the creation of Sanctuary and our creators, Inarius and Lilith—angels and demons—our Father and Mother.
The Eternal Conflict raged on, endless and all-consuming. Led by the Angiris Council, the angelic forces fought countless battles against the armies of the seven demon Lords who sought to conquer all of creation.
Though the High Heavens often defeated their adversaries, they also failed to destroy them, allowing evil to return again, and again, and again, ceaseless, unrelenting.
Both sides claimed victories. Both also suffered crippling defeats. The Conflict was a never-ending slaughter. Many of these battles were fought in Pandemonium, the plane said to be formed from the violent deaths of Anu and Tathamet, where the Heart of Creation lay: the mountain-sized artifact that would come to be known as the Worldstone, housed within the Pandemonium Fortress.
Any who control the Worldstone would have the power to create new worlds, or unmake them with a thought. A desirable and dangerous prize indeed, it became the focus of the Eternal Conflict.
Over the eons, the Pandemonium Fortress changed hands many times and became a strange place, embodying the warped reality of Pandemonium as a whole, a structural and liminal place affected by the High Heavens and Burning Hells alike.](Lorath)
Raising an eyebrow upon seeing the sad looks on the two VIP guests' faces, Michael could guess that Lorath was once again right on the money.
However, most of this knowledge was even beyond Tyrael, who took on the Aspect of Wisdom after Malthael defected. So, what did Lorath base all these assumptions on?
[Angels and demons too numerous to count had fallen at its gates. Over and over again. This endless cycle caused Inarius, adviser to the Angiris Council and under Tyrael's command, to eventually conclude that the war could never be won, and he resolved to abandon it.
Elsewhere, Lilith, Daughter of Hatred, was arriving at a similar conclusion. On her Father, Mephisto's role in the Eternal Conflict, Lilith once wrote: 'My father is content to fight the same battles and the same foes, while everything turns to ashes. The war will never be won so long as he and his brothers lead. There is an end to it, but fools like my father are too blind to see it.'
Inarius and Lilith. Angel and Demon. Separated by a vastness in distance and experience that is difficult to comprehend, they came to the same conclusion: they must escape the Eternal Conflict.](Lorath)
Michael could see lots of questions in everyone's eyes, but answers... he didn't have them. Not even Lorath probably knew more details than this.
Why? Because when the Necromancer tried writing everything down and handing it to others to read later, the papers also burned to ashes instantly.
Michael's conclusion was that the ex-Horadrim gained this knowledge but was under heavy restrictions when it came to spreading it. Orally, it seemed fine, as if whoever possessed it first wasn't worried about everyone finding out.
After all, there's a big difference between rumors and written evidence.
[I wonder if the cosmos had ever contemplated such an unholy alliance and divine union. I wonder if creation shuddered in horror and awe as Inarius and Lilith gathered others to their cause, fellow renegades seeking escape from the ceaseless fighting.
Like so much of our history, the details of their meeting are obscured by the relentless passage of time and myth. But the great Horadric scholar Deckard Cain tells us of Inarius, wounded or marooned in the Pandemonium Fortress, meeting with Lilith.
Lilith was not spared the hatred of her father, Mephisto, and from time immemorial had awaited an opportunity to rebel. For the first time, combatants in the Eternal Conflict not only set aside their differences but also formed a union.](Lorath)
It wasn't difficult to see how jarred Prava was after hearing the words of the ex-Horadrim from the Necromancer's mouth.
It wasn't as if she wasn't aware of the rumors of Inarius' past, but even in that case, as the one that saved her and many others at their lowest, Inarius stood as a holy being, untouched and unmarred by demonic corruption.
To hear the truth now, she found it hard to accept.
[It's difficult to imagine, but legends tell us that Inarius and Lilith forged an alliance that would alter the course of the war, reality itself, and all of existence.
Inarius and Lilith pledged themselves to their joint cause of escaping the Eternal Conflict. United in purpose, both resourceful and wise in their way, they managed to gain control of the Worldstone and hide it from the watchful eyes of the Heavens and Hells.
Working together, they shifted the Worldstone into a pocket dimension, hiding it from the opposing powers of the Eternal Conflict. There, they used its extraordinary power to shape a new world. A refuge free from war, free from unending strife. A Sanctuary.
The renegades, angels, and demons came together to create new life, and the nature of the Eternal Conflict changed. The joining of the opposing natures from these Firstborn made beings unlike any before - beautiful abominations called Nephalem, from which humanity would one day descend as inheritors of both lineages.
The birthrights of the Firstborn graced them with the potential to resist the evil of the Burning Hells and to defy the dominions of the High Heavens. Because of this, most of the angels and demons that rebelled with Inarius and Lilith feared what these children might become.](Lorath)
Overall, if Michael were to compare the Genesis story of humanity on Earth and the Sanctuary together, it would be obvious which one was more impressive.
Leaving aside the unholy union of two opposing forces, which ultimately created a third faction in the neverending war, their progenitors were also ridiculously overpowered on top of it all.
Seeing Auriel's look of reminiscence, the Necromancer wondered exactly how old this pretty lady was since she was obviously aware of Nephalem.