Why the hell...forge?

[Kire]

So one little detail about the events of D2 still confuses me: why is it at the hellforge that you can destroy a soulstone? From what we know, the soulstones were created from the Worldstone and allow otherworldly beings free passage on the mortal realm. But I've never read anything in reference to a connection to the Hellforge except that its where you go to smash a soulstone. Why there?

The only thing I can think of is that its an extremely powerful place -the head forge of Hell -with the VERY powerful hellforge hammer. But if thats the only reason...why cant something in heaven destroy it? After all, an angel (Tyrael), not a demon, was responsible for their creation. Whats the specific connection that the soulstones have with hell?

Just curious....any ideas?

[Varquynne]

Indeed, it is an extremely powerful place. From the Diablo I manual:



"The greatest of these heroes was Izual, lieutenant to the Arch-Angel Tyrael and bearer of the Angelic Runeblade Azurewrath. He once led a fierce attack upon the Hellforge as the creation of the dark demonblade Shadowfang was nearing completion. His quest was to destroy both wielder and weapon- a charge that he was destined never to complete. Izual was overcome by the legions of chaos and, tragically, was lost to the Darkness. His fate stands as testament to the fact that Angels and Demons alike shall fearlessly enter into any domain - so long as their hated enemies dwell within."


So, the Heavens deem it a tactical target. But, yes, you'd assume a similarly powerful place would exist of angelic origin. The reason could possibly be that because Izual taught the Prime Evils how to corrupt the soulstones, it rendered the soulstones with protections that could only be circumvented by the demonic power of the Hellforge. Thus, it would necessitate travel through the bastions of hell and the minions that guard the forge as an additional safeguard against severing the link that the Prime Evils would have had with the realm of Sanctuary.

[Technomancer]

This isn't mentioned anywhere, but just my own theory: Perhaps the only way to destroy the soulstone and banish the evil inside is to destroy it in Hell, and the Hellforge is the only place in Hell where that can be accomplished. If the soulstone was destroyed in Sanctuary or Heaven, all that would happen is that the spirit within would be completely released, and return to the way they were just before they were ever captured. They'd then be completely free to ravage the place just like before. If the soulstone is destroyed in Hell, then their soul would be stuck there, just like before they were banished to Sanctuary by the Lesser Evils. They wouldn't be able to get back to Sanctuary without extremely special circumstances, like what is probably taking place on Sanctuary for Diablo 3.

Just my theory. :)

[Kire]

The reason could possibly be that because Izual taught the Prime Evils how to corrupt the soulstones, it rendered the soulstones with protections that could only be circumvented by the demonic power of the Hellforge.

That makes alot of sense...the only way to sever the link with the powers of Hell is to use an instrument of Hell itself. Only in Hell can the stone be destroyed by a tool of immense power: the Hellforge Hammer, which is imbued with same evil, corrupting strength as the Prime Evils' power -the power of their own home realm. I've been doin some more research and I think its interesting that a fallen angel -Izual -helped the Prime Evils corrupt the soulstones and a fallen angel -Hephasto -is the master of the hellforge (at least according to the original continuity). I wonder what all of these angels have to do with it?

[fmulder]

Good theories guys. What do you think happened to the Hellforge Hammer?

[Flux]

Good theories guys. What do you think happened to the Hellforge Hammer?

Larzuk got it and gave it to Charsi as an engagement present?

[Wolven]

Larzuk got it and gave it to Charsi as an engagement present?

But mount arreat exploded!

[Technomancer]

Wrong. The Hellforge Hammer is on some lvl 3 paladin, whoopin' Fallen in style! ;)

[Zeek]

Indeed, it is an extremely powerful place. From the Diablo I manual:


"The greatest of these heroes was Izual, lieutenant to the Arch-Angel Tyrael and bearer of the Angelic Runeblade Azurewrath. He once led a fierce attack upon the Hellforge as the creation of the dark demonblade Shadowfang was nearing completion. His quest was to destroy both wielder and weapon- a charge that he was destined never to complete. Izual was overcome by the legions of chaos and, tragically, was lost to the Darkness. His fate stands as testament to the fact that Angels and Demons alike shall fearlessly enter into any domain - so long as their hated enemies dwell within."

So, the Heavens deem it a tactical target. But, yes, you'd assume a similarly powerful place would exist of angelic origin. The reason could possibly be that because Izual taught the Prime Evils how to corrupt the soulstones, it rendered the soulstones with protections that could only be circumvented by the demonic power of the Hellforge. Thus, it would necessitate travel through the bastions of hell and the minions that guard the forge as an additional safeguard against severing the link that the Prime Evils would have had with the realm of Sanctuary.
So, was Izual already evil before that attack or was he corrupted during the attack? If he was already evil then he sure came up with a stupid excuse to go into Hell. Shadowfang is such a wimpy weapon. You find better swords than that every 5 seconds in hell difficultly.

I'd say the hell forge is the only place that can destroy the soul stones because they're just that powerful. There's only one place in heaven, earth and sanctuary where a soul stone can be destroyed and that's the hell forge. Doesn't really require any more explanation than that. It's a rule that was built into the mythology of the game.

[Sass]

That's often debated, but Shadowfang was an incomplete weapon. It was in the process of being forged as an antithesis of Azurewrath.

[jabjab]

Would the fact that they were infested with evil, perhaps have a bit to do with it?

I don't know about you, but if I were an Angelic Being, I certainly wouldn't want to let loose the essences of the three Primary Evils... in Heaven. :\

[nurman]

Wrong. The Hellforge Hammer is on some lvl 3 paladin, whoopin' Fallen in style! ;)

"LeetHammer69"

[Seroha]

Good theories guys. What do you think happened to the Hellforge Hammer?

I was about to say that I believe it was destroyed in the process of smashing Mephisto's soulstone, but then it's used to destroy Diablo's in a later cinematic... And Baal's is never shown as being destroyed. *shrug*

I would assume after you essentially decimated the River of Flame that someone with the Light simply went in and snatched it to keep it from doing any more naughty work. That was what they originally intended, so if it wasn't destroyed, I don't see why they wouldn't do this.

[Swordadpt]

Simplest answer is generally the best one. From a development standpoint, to drive the story forward you place the targeted destruction of the soul stones in hell, since you're already going there. It would certainly be a slam to the game play if you just drop it off by Tyrael and he destroys it in heaven.

From a lore standpoint, I think it makes logical sense for the shards of the Worldstone to be destroyed in hell because it is a heavenly artifact. The Worldstone itself was originally liberated from its' home by Inarius when he and the other renegade angels and demons set about to create Sanctuary. If it were an artifact from hell it'd make more sense that it could be destroyed in heaven, as heaven and hell are each other's bane/antithesis.

[Zelanator]

From the novels, particularly Kingdom of Shadow and The Black Road, the author tells us that for every instance in which an agent of Heaven or Hell enters Sanctuary, there is created in that same instant their undoing. It could be that the Hellforge was the counter weight to the manifestation of the Prime Evils in Sanctuary, and was meant to restore balance.

Apropos of the above poster's reference to the Worldstone, during the Sin Wars, Inarius had intricately bound himself to the Worldstone, and drew the bulk of his power from it. However, Ulydissian, in a most unforeseen instance, defied the logic of the Worldstone by manipulating it, which then helped him to harness the object's power to inevitably defeat (but not kill, as he was imprisoned by Mephisto) Inarius.