It's one confusing timeline

[Kire]

I know with D3 alot has been retconned to fit in the new story...but there's a BIG inconsistency that are bugging me.

I'm writing a story elsewhere in the forums called the Fall of Nightmares and it has to fit in with other canon events in the diablo universe, which has been tough because of date inconsistencies. I saw in several places where a new 'official' timeline begins with (and I quote):

1265
Baal and his army march on Mount Arreat.

The heroes follow Baal to Mount Arreat for the final conflict between man and the last of the Prime Evils. Although the heroes defeat Baal, his demonic army continues to advance.

The angel Tyrael discovers that Baal has succeeded in corrupting the Worldstone housed within Mount Arreat. Realizing that the Worldstone cannot be restored, Tyrael reluctantly destroys it. The resulting explosion destroys Mount Arreat, ravages much of the countryside, and decimates Baal's army.

...and so the year that D3 takes place in is around 1285. Now that alone is no problem, but in the official lore for the Goatman/Khazra it says this:

According to ancient carvings that I have succeeded in translating, the khazra were originally human, part of the Umbaru race found in the thick Torajan jungles in the Teganze region of the eastern continent. At some point in the distant past, the five clans that would come to be known as the khazra migrated to higher elevations and began developing along different lines than the clansmen they left behind. They lived in relative peace and began the transition from a hunter-gatherer society to a farming one. This state of affairs changed dramatically when they encountered the Vizjerei about two thousand years ago (if my translations prove to be correct).

That whole "if my translations prove to be correct" kinda leaves a loophole...but i doubt he could mistranslate THAT bad. So how could the Khazra have been created two thousand years ago if the history only goes back a maximum of 1285 years? Likewise, the forests of Kehjistan are said to have attracted mages for millenia, which is odd seeing as barely one millenium as passed. Are we dealing with a BCE/CE like split? That's the only thing that would fit so far -although i dont know what event would lead to the dichotomy.

And lastly to quote Bashiok:

We’ve known about some of the inconsistencies for a while, and there’s an ongoing project to convert a lot of our internal documents to a standardized dating system to help correct them. Hopefully to be completed soon.

Meanwhile, the timeline on the website is infallibly canon. Everything else falls to it for correct dates.

Like he says, the new timeline is absolutely canon while everything else has to fit in somewhere. But Abd al-Hazir's writings are supposed to be retcons and thus now canon also...yet the two don't concur.

I know i'm nitpicking and that there are many timeline inconsistencies during this period of transition, but this one seems like a biggie.

Comments??

[nicro tower]

Perhaps the Vizjerei are using a different calender?

I have more of an issue with the whole Sin War plot. It says that the Horadrim built the waypoints during the Sin War, yet in the books, there's no mention of them at all... just whatshisface fighting the various demons and angels.

[Sass]

I would think there's a BC / AD split. With no added indication, it's hard to say for sure, but even the 12 hundreds years is too soon to mean the beginning of Sanctuary to the start of D3. Instead of the forests, Sin War, goatmen, etc being wrong, it'd be easier to say the initial Baal time part is inaccurate. Even Bartuc lived for 1000 years, and that was long ago, and not at the very beginning of Sanctuary's existence.



Also, Nicro, the Sin War spans from the time Sanctuary exists, to the end of D3. It won't end until the Heavens or the Hells gain control of Sanctuary. Until then, all fighting over humans is part of the Sin War. The books aren't the only instance of the War.

[Kire]

It gets worse when you look up the lore about the assassins:


"The Assassins are an ancient order originally founded by the Horadrim to hunt down and eliminate rogue mages within their own ranks. Employing secret disciplines to combat and resist the magical abilities of their elusive quarry, the Assassin's bag of tricks includes traps and other infernal devices, martial arts, and powerful mental abilities. Common people know nothing of the Assassins, but they are widely feared and respected by all who employ the magic arts. In the third century, two brothers rose to dominance from within the ranks of the Vizjerei clan of mages; their names were Horazon and Bartuc. Both were equally powerful and ambitious, and both were fascinated by the power one could obtain through the practice of Demonic Magics; however, the two differed in their views regarding how best to study demons. While Horazon viewed demons as a great source of power, he felt that in order to use that power best, you must harness a demon and bend him to your will. His brother, on the other hand, grew to sympathize with the demonic powers and felt (with no small influence from the demons) that the demonic forces were best understood by allying with the Hellish authorities so their secrets could be shared freely, and that is exactly what he did. Their diametrically opposed philosophies caused a great schism that split the ranks and tore the Vizjerei clan apart. When at last their fierce rivalry culminated in inevitable violence, the combatants learned too late that they had both been played as pawns by the demonic host. The ensuing battle was so great it set the very firmament aflame, and when it was complete and the stillness of remorse was all that remained, Bartuc lay dead, Horazon had vanished into self-imposed exile, and the Vizjerei had learned a costly lesson. The small surviving group of sorcerers, the remnants of the once-great Vizjerei clan, resolved forevermore to spurn Demonic Magics and set about renewing their studies in the Elemental Magics. To further ensure that a similar tragedy could never happen again, they formed a secret order whose sole purpose was to police the mage clans, destroying corruption wherever they found it. This was the birth of the Viz-Jaq'taar, the Order of the Mage Slayers-otherwise known as the Assassins."


According to this, they were founded because of horazon and bartuc around the third century (whatever that means now) by the Horadrim. Problem is...the Horadrim weren't created until about 300 before D3.


So either the Horadrim were around a lot longer than the new timeline allows or the vizjerai brothers were more recent instead of living thousands of years ago. UGH


On a side note, the civil war in hell is said to have started around 964 on the blizz site and 700 on the wiki...which is it??

[Sass]

Third century sounds like this happened between years 200 - 299. It only mentions that they rose to power in that time, not that they were born or anything in that time. This allows a thousand year reign, and recent death that is still known in modern lore. The climactic battle would stretch time very close, but it does allow it to be a recent thing (books in the catacombs and vizerei in Lut Gholein still know it so...).

The Viz-jaqtaar were created by the Horadrim, so if this was a relatively recent event, it doesn't clash with any known lore.



Moreover, the Dark Exile occurs during the reign of the Horadrim, who were created in order to search for and capture the Prime Evils. Starting in 964, a 300 year span, and ending on 1265 matches seamlessly. Cain is the last one, so that's the end of the 300 right there. IDK where the wiki got the sources from (may be books or game, but I can't recall). All I can go on is the D3 media, and that matches.



The inconsistency is still with the vizjerei and the goatmen, though I don't know for sure how or why the D3 timeline gets its numbers.

[Kire]

That definitely works Sass about the assassins and horadrim. I get what you mean about the brothers (although the thousand year reign is a little much for me, as it would mean they've been alive and fighting for the majority of history...don't know about that) but the lore for the mage clan wars says it started because of horazon and bartuc, then the vizjerai created the goatmen as they got desperate, thus putting their rise TWO thousand years before D3. That conflicts with the "rose in the third century" statement which would allow only ONE thousand years. Its just too big of a discrepancy.

This screws up the timeline considerably. I had an idea that it WAS a BC/AD split: BC is before the sin war trilogy and AD is after the big reset, but that doesn't work either. There's no mention of the brothers in the books and almost everyone's memory was wiped at the end.

So in the end, its just plain inconsistent...the recent events are fine but the ancient history is messed up. Idk where they get the numbers either but they don't work. NEED MORE RETCONS!

[Sass]

Well, Bartuc is attributed with the

Bartuc was lured to the side of Darkness and granted exceptional strength and longevity.

I'd assume Horazon had a way to do the same though, perhaps via his arcane sanctuary.

Decard Cain (39 seconds) as well as Adria (2:07) mentions the thousand years, and I swear one of the books, but haven't thumbed through them.

[Kire]

Ahhh i didnt see that one...it all fits. At least i can keep working on my story now. According to what i just found:

Adria:

"His prowess with the blade is awesome, and he has lived for thousands of years knowing only warfare. I am sorry... I can not see if you will defeat him."

Deckard:

"I know of only one legend that speaks of such a warrior as you describe. His story is found within the ancient chronicles of the Sin War...

Stained by a thousand years of war, blood and death, the Warlord of Blood stands upon a mountain of his tattered victims. His dark blade screams a black curse to the living; a tortured invitation to any who would stand before this Executioner of Hell.

It is also written that although he was once a mortal who fought beside the Legion of Darkness during the Sin War, he lost his humanity to his insatiable hunger for blood."

Thanks for clearing it up. But still have to somehow fit over two thousand years into only 1285. I personally would like to think of it as a mistranslation/exageration (the easiest thing) whenever it doesnt fit.

[Sass]

I've noticed most of these inconsistencies come up with the Abd al-Hazir writings. Some I can see as a means to tell the retcons, but he's also portrayed as worldly, yet not even believing demons exist at all. IDK how old he is, but anyone older than 20 shouldn't have forgotten them.

With all the inconsistencies, I'm one to chalk it up to an NPC not having things straight, but in terms of these becoming official retcons, it does leave too much miscommunication.

[Kire]

Yeah it just peeves me that the retcons themselves are inconsistent when they should be clearing things up.

I'm just sticking with the official timeline because it's "infallibly canon" and ignoring whatever else doesnt work. Otherwise I'll drive myself nuts trying to decipher it all...its happened before


Anybody else notice any inconsistencies?? I know we're not the only ones...