The World Of Sanctuary



Diablo III includes new environments and bestiary. This section will provide a synopsis of those elements as this world is explored. Some of the new areas you will travel have already been mapped along with new enemies you will encounter along the way. Your journey begins here...

The Environment

The world of Sanctuary includes new and foreign lands. Click on the map to view full sized.



  New Tristram

  New Tristram originally started as a collection of merchants looking to profit on adventurers and travelers drawn by legends of riches within the old cathedral. As soon as the cathedral was looted bare, however, New Tristram found itself in decline.

  The inn is the only building that looks even the least bit habitable. It is claimed there still is much of value deep within the cathedral in the form of tomes of ancient origin and wisdom.



  Caldeum

  Caldeum was once the proudest city in all of Kehjistan, the trade capital of the entire world. Although it was never seen as the heart of the empire, it rivaled in size Viz-jun, and later Kurast.

  A good number of Kurast's nobles fled their homes and took up residence in Caldeum fleeing unknown horror. These nobles soon wanted power. When Caldeum's emporer died his child heir took the throne. Incompetent leadership, the reemergence of the intolerant Zakarum, and their quarrels with Caldeum's mage class soon led to ruin.



  Tristram Cathedral

  With Tristram left in remains what is it about the corridors and dungeons underneath its old cathedral that holds such mystique.

  Tristram cathedral was originally built as a Horadric monastery, the building was later converted to a Zakarum cathedral. Legend has it that the original monastery was built over the vault where the mythical Diablo was imprisoned, and that his supposed release led to the horrors we all now associate with the name Tristram.




  Borderlands

  The Borderlands are the wastes surrounding Caldeum. With burning yellow landscape and miles of barren sand roiling with terrible wildlife.

  The Borderlands could reliably depend on fresh supplies of food and water from Dahlgur's caravans, protected by the might of Caldeum's Dune Guard. But Hakan II, our young and inexperienced sovereign, has seen fit to withdraw the support of Caldeum from the wastes and leave those who live there to their own devices. Now, no caravan is safe.


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The Bestiary



  The Fallen Ones

   These were once exalted demons of the Burning Hells. They were twisted into small, ridiculous imps, in contrast to their previously powerful forms. Info on five types of fallen have been released, with a possible two more to come.

  Imps - These are the commonest of the fallen family of demons. They are the stereotypical fallen ones in look and behavior: small, red, swarming, bloodthirsty, and cowardly.

  Shaman - Fallen shaman priests lead camps of fallen. It is rumored that they possess the ability to raise imps from the dead.

  Lunatic - These enraged, oversized fallen creatures are bloated seemingly to the point of bursting. These insane demons rush their intended victims and then stab themselves until they explode.

  Overseer - The fallen overseer drives his smaller impish charges into a frenzy with his ape-like leaping and growling.

  Hounds - These slobbering abominations are commonly found among groups of the fallen and are utilized as guard animals, beasts of burden, or even food by their demonic masters. These beasts are loyal to a fault, regardless of the abuse heaped upon them.



  Unburied

   Being born out of pits of human misery, these beings feed on human suffering. Wherever bodies are dumped together unceremoniously, the unburied may rise.

  In a mass grave, a massive, horned, disgusting behemoth was digging itself out. It's comprised of bloated parts from many fetid, rotting corpses, with a multitude of disfigured heads and slobbering fanged mouths.



  Scavenger

   Small, burrowing creatures that feed upon carrion. Unlike most animals of this type, however, they are extremely aggressive and will not hesitate to attack those unfortunate enough to encounter them. Scavengers have powerful legs which they use for swift springing attacks, striking at vulnerable faces and throats. Their anatomy bears a striking resemblance to that of the leapers of the Aranoch desert, and thus, many researchers classify the two groups as part of the same family of creatures.



  Dune Thresher

   Long ago driven away from settled locales to the deep desert wastes of the Borderlands, the dune thresher is rarely seen by city dwellers. Every so often, however, whether due to injury or old age, one of these unholy beasts ventures to the edge of civilization to feast on the frail human animal. They attack from under the sand, however they can also jump right up onto rocks and drag you down.



  Undead

   A reanimated skeleton is actually constructed from bits and pieces of any number of different skeletons, not a single one. Their diverse composition gives them the ability to form and reform, and makes them easily summoned, permitted there is adequate raw material at hand. A skeleton's intelligence is limited by the power and scope of the spell used in the creature's creation. Theoretically one could have a single astute skeleton servant or a rather dense army of a hundred for the same expenditure of magical energy.

  A skeletal summoner is an advanced skeletal warrior specifically created with a higher intelligence that gives it the ability to replenish the undead ranks as needed. Yes, adding summoners to the unholy, undead mix results in a self-sustaining army, capable of renewing itself.



  Khazra

   Known as "goatmen" they were originally human. The khazra migrated to higher elevations and began developing differently than the clansmen they left behind. They lived in relative peace untilthey encountered the Vizjere who used demonic possession to have them fight in their mage clan war.

  Warfare took a toll on their culture and minds, they began to search for any means to prevail over their enemies. Their strategy worked, but it was not without its price. They became furious marauders, driven to raid villages and caravans to sate their bloodlust and procure sacrificial victims for their demonic master Zagraal in exchange for their new power. Zagraal was killed by witch doctors however the khazra continue to ferociously attack humans.



  Gnarled Walker

   Creatures from another realm who can only sustain their existence in our world by sapping life energy from men or animals. These heinous beings have shifted their appearance to that of trees, thereby luring their prey close so as to consume it whole and enrich their reserves of dark power. These beastly things move ponderously, and some are known to exude a foul stench that poisons their victims.



  Dark Cultists

 Hooded cultists with depraved rituals who will hunt you.

  Arrayed in a circle their torches lit they lead a vacant-eyed supplicant forward. The chanting stilled as the leader, face shadowed by a heavily gilded hood, stepped forward and began to intone a ritual in some indecipherable tongue. A large, thickly muscled and leather-masked cultist draped a black, eyeless hood over the victim's head before pulling a foot-long spike from his sash. With an immense stygian hammer grasped in his other hand he raised it above his head and drove the spike into the supplicant's back with fierce intensity.


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