Diablo Characters: Deckard Cain
Deckard Cain first shows up as "Cain the Elder" in Tristram in Diablo, where he is called a storyteller and can distinguish items for the player. Towards the end of the game, he reveals himself as Deckard Cain, the "last of the Horadrim", and gives critical information about the final trials awaiting the hero/heroine. It is uncovered in Cain's Journal that he is in fact not the "last of the Horadrim", but envisioned himself as one of them in his early days when told of the Horadrim's exploits by his mother.
Cain is also the only character known to have endured when Tristram was demolished by demons, as they decide to put him in a gibbet instead of tearing him limb from limb like the other erstwhile citizens of Tristram (potentially under orders from the three Brothers to keep him alive). In the first act of Diablo II, the player is finally required to travel to Tristram and free Cain. After this, he shows up in the Rogue encampment and afterward continues to follow the player character, remaining in town in each area, administering advice and naming items for free as a token of gratitude.
It is also possible to fail to save Cain before the end of Act I, though the quest is exhibited as obligatory by the other NPCs. In this case, he will be saved by the Rogues and only name items for a fee.
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"Stay a while, and listen!" is a distinctive greeting Cain gives to the player; this is ridiculed in Diablo III when the player character disrupts him and demands he talk plainly.
Deckard Cain returns in Diablo III. He tells the events of Diablo and Diablo II in an truncated form, while telling most if not all of the important points.
Diablo Character Classes: Warrior, Rogue, Sorcerer
The three character classes of Diablo are the warrior, rogue, and sorcerer. Each persona, following typical role-playing formulas, has his or her own specific traits. The warrior has physical strength, the rogue possesses high dexterity, and the sorcerer is oriented towards magic.
Warrior: The warrior is a mighty melee fighter, master of weapons of war and capable of dealing more harm than the other classes. They range from barbarians from the northern highlands to noble paladins.
Rogue: The rogues are the most adept archers in the world of Sanctuary. They can have a higher level of magic than warriors, though not nearly as high as sorcerers. The rogues belong to a group called the Sisterhood of the Sightless Eye.
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Sorcerer: A strong master of the arcane arts, the sorcerer is able to accomplish the greatest pinnacles of magic, so that he doesn't have need of physical arms. Sorcerers belong to the Vizjerei mage clan, and have come to Tristram searching for long-lost tomes of magic knowledge beneath the cathedral.
Contrary to other games that strictly distinguish between classes, a character's powers are not unique; a warrior can use the same spells as a sorcerer, while a sorcerer can use weapons such as axes. All three classes demand the same amount of experience to level up, and there are no class-based prerequisites for equipping items or using spells. All the same, different classes have various beginning attributes and different maximum potential levels for their attributes, and gain different quantities of life and mana per level.
Four numerical character attributes (Strength, Magic, Dexterity and Vitality) in Diablo affect the characters' battle statistics, which in turn ascertain how strong the character is. With each level up, the player may administer points amongst the four base attributes to permanently increase them. They may also be altered by elixirs and magical shrines found in the game. Various magical items improve character attributes while these items are being applied. Certain items may have minimum attribute prerequisites before they can be outfitted or used.
Characters can acquire spells from tomes found in the game, and add them to their spellbooks. Spells can later be cast repeatedly, if the character has adequate mana to do it. Spells can also be amended by learning higher levels of the same spell. Different spells, and various levels of the same spell, require variable amounts of mana to be cast. Each class also has a unique skill: Warriors can fix items (although not as well as the village blacksmith, Griswold), Rogues can unarm traps, and Sorcerers can reload magical staves that have a certain number of spell charges on them.
Diablo Plot Overview
The narrative of Diablo is founded on the idea of a war between Heaven and Hell. The township of Tristram has come under fire by demons, and the player must save the townsfolk and, in effect, the world, by freeing it of the Lord of Terror. Also as cited in a Warcraft 2 preview of Diablo, the hero is also there to avenge his family who died at the hand of Diablo. As the player delves into the underworld, some of the history behind the war between Heaven and Hell, in addition to information about Diablo himself, are uncovered through large tomes that are discovered throughout the stages.
Diablo is the Lord of Terror and one of the Three Prime Evils of Hell, the most powerful lords of demonkind. Long before the events of the game, he was imprisoned by a secretive order of human magi called the Horadrim. The Horadrim captured two of the Prime Evils in a Soulstone; Diablo's red stone was entombed in caverns far beneath the town of Tristram, and as the generations went by, was forgotten. Although his captivity was supposed to be everlasting, the power of the Soulstone diminished over centuries, eventually allowing for Diablo to use limited power from inside the stone. He telepathically turned an inhabitant of Tristram, the Archbishop Lazarus, into his pawn. In order for Diablo to actually depart the Soulstone, Diablo needed to have a host. Through his minion Lazarus, he first tried to gain command of King Leoric, the local ruler, but Diablo, in his weakened state, was unable to overpower Leoric. Deserting the idea, he caused Lazarus to abduct King Leoric's son, Prince Albrecht. He prompted such terror in the child that the boundaries between the realms were shattered and parts of Hell appeared in the mortal world, settling in the labyrinth below Tristram. Diablo then decided to bide his time and wait for the opportune moment to attack.
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Soon afterwards King Leoric was forced to madness by the loss of his son. With Lazarus murmuring in his ear, he ordered a reckless attack on a far stronger neighboring realm - a campaign to which Lazarus made a point to send all of the King's most loyal and good-hearted heroes. The crusade turned out to be a suicide mission, and soon the King had only the lies of Lazarus for advice. Leoric began savagely executing the subjects he once protected, suspecting everyone of the kidnapping of his son. Lazarus led groups of townspeople into the labyrinth in a supposed pursuit of the missing prince - but Lazarus's only intent was to deliver the innocents up to death at the hands of the demons. At length, the few survivors of the army went back home, led by the noble Sir Lachdanan. Leoric at once ordered their execution, and, seeing the King for the anguished soul he was, Lachdanan killed his King with a mercy stroke. Upon his dying breath, Leoric damned those who were close to him that they should serve him in the underworld for all of eternity, producing the horrific undead knights of the labyrinth.
Shortly after, the time period of the game commences as the player's character arrives. He or she has to battle through sixteen levels to face Diablo, coming across various monsters and quests along the way. The labyrinth descends from a bare dungeon to dark caves and catacombs and at last the fiery pits of Hell. The player encounters a portal to Archbishop Lazarus' lair, slays him, and battles through to Diablo. At the end of the game, the player's character has killed Diablo's human form, and left Diablo once again with just a soulstone to inhabit. Now in hopes of retaining the Lord of Terror, the hero pierces his head with the soulstone, trying to contain the Lord of Terror inside his or herself. This was just what Diablo had planned all along, as the hero would be a much more dependable host than the prince. Diablo II later corroborates that Diablo indeed possessed the hero who slew him.
