Mizor (Act IV)
Template:Mizor nav So this is Hell. Mizor had never really given much thought to the place. The light above nurtured the green and growing places of the world, and good fertile soil made the beasts and man. Hell simply wasn't important for any of these things. But now, standing on the battlements of a heavenly fortress, staring out over an ash-gray steppe which stretching to the horizon, Mizor wondered, why is this place here? Everything out there was so... dead. Lifeless. Pointless. Punishing sinners? When a man's soul leaves the light, it ceases to exist; the reward of evil is nothingness. But if nothingness is a place, will there be evil souls there, being punished? Mizor wondered if he'd be meeting anyone he knew.
Deckard Can was in the Pandemonium fortress to greet Mizor and Paige. He hadn't come by the portal in Mephisto's Durance of Hate, he had been brought directly, on the wings of the angel Tyrael. The angel was hovering next to the fortress's fireplace. Though the fortress was obviously made of stone and iron, the ethereal brightness of the angel didn't seem out of place. Tyrael and Cain told Mizor what he needed to do. Further into the great circles of hell, beside a river of flame, the demons had a Hellforge, where they made many weapons. The soulstones which contained the Three's essences could be smashed there, and doing so would prevent them from entering the world of man ever again.
Tyrael also told Mizor of another angel in Hell. Long ago, an angel named Izual had led an assault on the Hellforge, and was captured by the demons. Under torture, Izual told the demons many of heaven's secrets, and as punishment, he was locked in the body of a powerful demon, so his spirit would be tortured forever in a shell of icy flesh. Why not just destroy him utterly, Mizor wondered? He didn't even utter the question, but Tyrael answered anyway. A soul cannot be destroyed, not that of man, not the demons, and not the angels. Nothing truly ends, things can be twisted and changed, or contained and limited, placed where they will do no harm, and perhaps learn something. Tyrael was sure that further torture would do Izual no good; surely, it had been long enough.
Though he would never admit to fear, Mizor felt that caution was in order before venturing out into Hell, so he and Paige went shopping. Two mortals were in the fortress, Jamella and Halbu, who seemed to be some kind of permanent staff. How two people kept the demons from overrunning the fortress, Mizor did not know; either they were very, very powerful, or the demons weren't interested in taking the fort. Maybe if they were that powerful, one of them could be persuaded to smash Mephisto's soulstone. They both had little shops; Mizor found some new gothic plate for himself, a new bow for Paige, and another Maul, this one with an enchantment to increase its swing speed. With that, Goreshovel seemed to have served its purpose; the Great Bear would surely forgive him, but he sold it. Maybe it would find its way into the hands of another who needed it more.
The steppes had nothing alive about them, not even soil. Everything was sharp lava and ash, except where it was stained with pools of blood and ichor, because once they got far from the fortresses' walls, there were creatures there. Huge demons with wings, poison dripping from their blades, tentacled crawlers who spit bodies as a kind of squishy artillery, and horrible faceless things that crawled on their backs, constantly whelping faceless worms. They came in endless waves, and died clawing and aching to hurt more. There were also people on the steppes, though some were hard to recognize They were the same gray color as the ash, empty of all life. Some were chained to pillars, some were on the ground like paving stones, some writhed in the eternal fires the demons used to light up the steppe. And some of them took pot-shots at Mizor, so they smashed them. If you die in hell, where do you go, Mizor wondered? To heaven, maybe, or to the world of men.
While wandering the steppes, Mizor kept an eye out for unenchanted items. Charsi had promised to enchant something for him with the Horadric Malus. Some gauntlets of speed would be nice, but he didn't find any nice gauntlets, just some greaves. Hmmm... some boots let you walk faster, and that would come in handy too, so Mizor decided to let Charsi try the greaves. The waypoint took him out of hell (Those waypoints are so handy! Must get some for home.) all the way back across the world to the Rogue's monastery. Everyone was very happy to see Mizor, and while Paige was gossiping madly with her old friends, Mizor gave the greaves to Charsi.
She came back with the enchanted greaves: 6% fire resistance, 10% faster hit recovery, +2 to life. Mizor had to admit he was underwhelmed. Charsi was sorry, but the Malus' effects where impossible to predict, and it took a month to recharge. As Mizor didn't have a month to spare, he had a bath, spent the night, and returned to Hell in the morning. Hell was very easy to get into, and out of, it seemed. But Mizor still needed some equipment.
Jamella had a stock of items, which she allowed others to gamble on. Gambling was about all Mizor could do with his money, and occasionally, he got something good, like the belt he was wearing. Looking over the items she had on the table, Mizor put his money down on a pair of greaves. Oooh. OOOOH. OH, WAOW. Oh, they were so pretty and shiny and nice! 20% faster walk, 16% cold resistance, 25% magic find, +22 stamina, and 20% enhanced defense. Feeling lucky, he tried a few more times, then got a plated belt. Oooh. OOOOH. OH, WAOW. Oh, that was pretty and shiny and nice too! +22 life, 34% enhanced defense, 20% lightning resistance, attacker takes damage of 5, 10% faster hit recovery. Mizor gambled on a bow for Paige; not great, but better than what she had. He gambled on a few suits of armor; nothing great. He gambled on a Maul. Oooh. OOOOH. Oh, WAOW. Oh, it was also so pretty and shiny and nice! 33% enhanced damage, +14 to attack rating, +7 to max damage, 6% mana stolen per hit, 20% increased attack speed. Soon, all of Mizor's money was gone. He didn't get anything else, but felt is position vis a vis Hell was much improved.
(Note: My luck with gambling seems to be fairly good, though this run was exceptional. Once, in an expansion game, I gambled on an amulet and got the Nokozan Relic. Pity I was playing a Necromancer, who didn't have much use for it, and I didn't know how to mule.)