"Belial, the Lord of Lies is one of the Lesser Evils, part of the Great Evils of the Burning Hells.
Belial took part in the Dark Exile overthrowing the Prime Evils, wrongfully believing Diablo and his brothers to have hesitated in the Great Conflict. Belial currently rules half of hell opposite Azmodan. Because of their conflicting leadership, all of Hell is currently polarised in a state of civil war. One of his servants is Xazax. "
"Xazax is a mantis like demon featured in the novel Legacy of Blood who is apparently blood bound to the sorceress Galeona.
He attempts a coup with General Augustus Malevolyn, who is in possession of Bartuc's helmet, in order to gain Malevolyn as a puppet in Bartuc's armor. Galeona is later killed by Norrec who is under the possession of Bartuc's armor, but Xazax remains on the mortal plain for reasons unknown. Xazax is also responsible for turning Malvolyn's mercenary army into demons in men's skin, which are later banished by Norrec. Later during the fight between Norrec and Malevolyn, Kara Nightshadow stabs Xazax in the back with her ivory dagger leaving a wound that would not heal, and also cast a spell upon Xazax the produces illusions of angels and demons he fears, forcing him to run in fear.
As he runs through the Desert trying to escape the illusions, he realizes one voice he hears is real, turning around he manages to utter "Diab-" before screams of terror are heard. "
"The Great Conflict, occasionally alluded to in the quest and flavor text in Diablo II, seems to be the "official" name for the struggle between the forces of the Light and those of Darkness. The rules of engagement, if any, are never discussed but can be inferred to exist as only Tyrael directly intervenes on the mortal plane against the machinations of Hell while the other angels (such as Hadriel) refrain from action; Tyrael is viewed as a "rebel" by the Heavens due to his actions in this regard, according to Deckard Cain's dialogue at the beginning of Act IV. The ultimate aim of the Conflict is also never discussed, but it appears that the goal of Hell is to overthrow, occupy or destroy Heaven, while Heaven's aim seems to be the maintenance of the status quo. How exactly this is to be accomplished and the role the mortal world plays in the Conflict is left to the imagination. "
"The Archangel Imperius is a member of the Angiris Council. He is possibly the Archangel of War.
Imperius is described as a majestic Angel wearing long flowing red robes. His characteristic feature is a breastplate carrying the insignia of a blazing upturned sword on it. These descriptions are mentioned in the book The Veiled Prophet from The Sin War series.
Imperius has a very fierce and aggressive personality. He absolutely despises Demons and anything related to the Burning Hells for that matter. But he commands much respect in the High Heavens and is looked up to by many Angels.
When Sanctuary was discovered by the Angiris Council, he was the first one to raise a voice against its existence. He regarded humans as an abomination polluted by the presence of Demon blood in their veins. He tried his best to have the hidden world destroyed but was stopped by a vote appeal by Auriel and Tyrael. The vote went against his favor but he still holds a very racist grudge against humans. "
"The Archangel Auriel is a member of the Angiris Council. She is possibly the Archangel of Love.
Auriel is the only female member of the Angiris Council. She is described as being dressed in blue robes. She has a sympathetic nature.
When Sanctuary was discovered, she defended the existence of the hidden world. She wanted to uphold the inhabitants' right to life and wanted to see them grow and mature.
So far, she has only been mentioned in The Sin War trilogy.
Relationship with Mephisto
It is hinted that Mephisto and Auriel may have once been lovers.
"We, like you, made false assumptions about this place, false assumptions about the creatures spawned by both our kind.' A blazing red eye materialized, then winked in the direction of Auriel, who utterly ignored it." -Mephisto, pg 332 of The Veiled Prophet
Also, when the Kiss of Mephisto, also known as the 'Blood Marble' that resurrects the Morlu is first mentioned, it is said that it was named 'Kiss of Mephisto' because it was originally a gift for someone else, other than Lucion. Since Lucion doesn't approve of the 'kiss', then it doesn't seem to be the sort of kiss that a father gives to his son. Therefore, it also seems unlikely to be the type of kiss that is from a father to his daughter, so it is also unlikely that it is aimed at Lilith. If not Lilith or Lucion, then Mephisto must have been involved with someone else. Tying in with his wink at Auriel, it appears that Auriel was who the 'kiss' was directed at.
"Turning his eyes back to the cataclysmic sight below, Lord Lucion gestured toward the very center, where the worst of the carnage had and was still taking place. In the midst of everything, a black gemstone nearly as large as a man sat embedded in a triangular column of red-streaked marble. “Blood marble,” it was named, naturally. The stone was called by Malic’s master the Kiss of Mephisto, although the cleric had, from past comments, reason to believe that it had once been named for another of whom Lord Lucion would not speak." -Birthright
Until confirmed, this is just speculation. "
"Inarius was an Archangel of the High Heavens, once part of the Angiris Council. He, along with other Angels and Demons, were sick of fighting in the endless Great Conflict, so they banded together and left Heaven and Hell with Inarius as their leader. Together, the various Demons and Angels created a world of their own known as Sanctuary, and also created the first born humans known as the Nephalem. Along with the creation of Sanctuary came the creation of the Worldstone (and Trag'Oul - though they are unaware of Trag'Ouls existance).
Quote from Birthright: And in announcing it to himself, he felt a rush of jubilation. He was again Inarius, once of the Angiris Council, once a commander of the Heavenly Hosts! Once a rebel against both the High Heavens and the Burning Hells…
Inarius and Lilith were lovers, but now they hate each other.
They seem to have 'created' humans by means of some kind of partnership, because different Nephalem have different parents. Rathma was born of Inarius and Lilith, while Bul-Kathos is said to be born of a different pair of Angel and Demon. It is said that they don't have sex like humans do though, so we aren't sure how they 'mated' exactly.
The Nephalem, being born of both Angel and Demon, were found to be quite powerful. Lilith planned to use their power to build an army, but Inarius fought against her and used the Worldstone to diminish the humans' powers, so that each successive generation became less and less powerful. He wanted control over them, not anyone else.
Sanctuary was created as an escape from the Great Conflict, where it would be a paradise for the Angels and Demons to rest peacefully. So as not to draw attention to himself and Sanctuary from the High Heavens, Inarius disguised himself as The Prophet, leader of the Cathedral of Light. When Inarius is connected to the Worldstone, he is the most powerful being on Sanctuary.
However, Lilith awoke Uldyssians powers, but he turned against both Inarius and Lilith. Inarius fought Uldyssian, but Uldyssian ultimately won. Inarius was captured by the Angiris Council, who made a deal with Mephisto, where Mephisto agreed to leave Sanctuary alone if he could have Inarius to do as he pleases with him. Mephisto took Inarius back down to Hell to torture him. Mephisto has a special Hatred for Inarius.
This is what it says in the Diablo manual:
He bound Inarius with tremendous chains and slowly tore the wings from the back of the angel. Great barbed hooks were then used to stretch out the once glowing skin and his features were distorted by vile powers. Many of the followers of Inarius were given as gifts to Baal and Diablo, but the rest were molded to match the bloated image of the now crippled angel. To this day, Inarius is said to be trapped in Hell within a chamber of mirrors, his eyelids torn from his face as he is forced to gaze upon his misshapen form for all eternity. His misguided followers now serve as Hell's taskmaster taking the anguish of their lost glory out upon the bodies of others.
Due to the memory wiping at the end of the Sin Wars trilogy, later generations attribute the defeat of Inarius to Mephisto as retribution to the destruction of the Triune, which is in turn attributed to Inarius.
Mephisto apparently turned Inarius and his followers into Overlords. But this doesn't quite make sense, because according to The Sin War trilogy, Mephisto didn't take any of Inarius' followers, only Inarius.
Note: The Sin War is officially regarded as the most canonical, so the true nature of the Overlords is yet to be sorted out. But we can definitely say that Mephisto tortured Inarius. "
This post was edited by thefirenight on Sep 26 2008 03:49pm