The High Heavens, the Burning Hells, and Sanctuary. Heaven and Hell have been battling each other for eons, only now the mortal plane is caught in the crossfire as the two struggle for supremacy.
Type: BlossomAt the dawn of existence, a being called Anu lived within a single pearl and encompassed all things--good and evil, joy and grief, love and hatred, light and darkness. However, it eventually rejected the darker facets of itself, casting them out. From these aspects of evil, the first Prime Evil Tathamet was born. Anu and Tathamet battled for centuries until their energies were spent. The two dealt their final blows, destroying each other and the pearl within which they lived. An explosion of immense proportions occurred, giving birth to the entire universe.
From what is said to be Anu's spine, later becoming known as the Crystal Arch, came the High Heavens and its legions of angels. Tathamet's blackened remains fell into the lower darkness, where they gave rise to the Burning Hells and its hordes of demons. Anu's eye remained at the center of Creation, where it came to be known as the Worldstone--the foundation of all places, times, and possibilities.
Society in the High Heavens came to be led by the Angiris Council, while the Burning Hells on the other hand, came to be ruled by three Prime Evils. Despite the end of the battle between Anu and Tathamet, their spawn continued to war against each other for countless eons more in what is known as the Great Conflict or the Eternal Conflict.
There were those among both angels and demons who eventually grew tired of the war. One such individual was the angel Inarius. He attempted to convince the Angiris Council that the war was unjust; but they would not be swayed. Despite this, he eventually found one who did agree with him--the demon Lilith. The two of them deserted their factions and used the Worldstone to create a new realm of existence where they could live together in peace. They named this dimension Sanctuary, and kept it a secret from both the High Heavens and the Burning Hells while the two of them procreated, giving rise to a new race--the Nephalem.
The Nephalem possessed great power beyond that of either angel or demon. Recognizing this, Inarius feared that once his and Liliths former compatriots learned of their existence, they would destroy Sanctuary. However, he could not bring himself to kill or harm his children. Thus, he instead used the Worldstone to cause their powers to diminish over time. This process eventually created the human race, who inhabit the world of Sanctuary to this day.
Indeed, both the High Heavens and the Burning Hells did learn of Sanctuary's existence when some humans began to summon "spirits," and thus discovered the existence of demons. In an effort to learn more about the universe and magic, these humans continued to summon the demons more frequently and in increasing numbers. The Burning Hells took notice and realized that control over Sanctuary and its mortal population could give them the edge they needed in the Great Conflict. The High Heavens also learned of the humans' existence when Inarius discovered the demonic influence and began attempting to end it. A great struggle over control of Sanctuary ensued, nearly resulting in its total annihilation. In the aftermath of this conflict known as the Sin War, both angels and demons came to an agreement to not only preserve Sanctuary, but to leave it to its own devices and no longer interfere. Furthermore, the Angiris Council deemed it appropriate to wipe the humans' memories of any knowledge of the Burning Hells and High Heavens, truly giving the mortal realm a fresh start.
When Inarius and Lilith created Sanctuary, they shifted the Worldstone into a pocket dimension where they used it to birth the entire realm. Following the aftermath of the Sin War and the non-interference pact about Sanctuary, it seemed the Great Conflict had finally come to an end.
However, as a result of the integration with the World Tree multiverse, the stone shifted back to its original resting place at Pandemonium Fortress. This caused schisms among both angels and demons. Some wished to go charging into Pandemonium to secure the Worldstone, while others were not eager to re-ignite the Eternal Conflict. The High Heavens resolved this disagreement through a vote by the Angiris Council, which resulted in the decision to secure Pandemonium Fortress. At the same time, while the three Prime Evils believed a subtle infiltration of Sanctuary would be most effective, the Lesser Evils wished to capitalize immediately upon the opportunity to seize control of the Worldstone before the angels could react. The Lesser Evils then rallied all of the Burning Hells against the Prime Evils and succeeded in banishing them to Sanctuary. Thus, the Great Conflict erupted anew at Pandemonium Fortress once again, as the legions of Heaven and Hell vied for possession of the Worldstone.
Meanwhile, the Prime Evils roamed the east of Sanctuary, feeding upon the lusts of men and leaving chaos in their wake. Entire nations were led into brutal and petty wars through their powers of possession and control. The exile from Hell had left the Three with an insatiable hunger to bring suffering and pain to all who would not kneel before them. Fearing his comrades would rescind their decision to spare humanity upon learning of these events, the archangel Tyrael formed the group known as the Horadrim. These powerful mages would be dedicated to his service within Sanctuary. The Archangel of Justice gave them three shards of the Worldstone, tasking them with tracking down the Prime Evils and imprisoning their essences within the stones. After a long struggle, they finally succeeded, ushering in a new age of relative peace and calm throughout the mortal realm.