Mage Clan Wars

The Mage Wars refers to the conflict within the Vizjerei Clan between the supporters of Bartuc and Horazon, the two most powerful Sorcerers of their time.

Summary

The Mage Clan Wars are one of the products of Demonic possessing fuelled by human jealousy and the lust for power. It is a major plot twist in the series, recently being confirmed to be responsible for the creation of the Khazra, the Goatmen that Diablo players know and love.

Corruption

Bartuc and Horazon were brothers who were both extremely talented Sorcerers in the Vizjerei Mage Clan. Their talents helped them reach the upper ranks of the Vizjerei High Council. With more power came privileges... and the hunger for more. The brothers had access to the innermost sanctum of the Vizjerei Library, where the strongest and most powerful magics were housed to prevent mortal powers from using them.

The Vizjerei had a code of conduct that did not allow any member to either side with the Burning Hells nor the High Heavens too. But the brothers, having gained so much power, had the thirst to learn more... to gain more. They studied the ancient tomes within the Sanctum and started interacting directly with the dark powers from the Burning Hells. The Prime Evils took note of their power and agreed to aid their thirst by sending their demons to the brothers.

The brothers thought that the Prime Evils themselves were afraid of them, but little did they know that it was a well-masterminded ploy.

With their new pets, Horazon prefered to summon demons and break them to his will and enslave them whereas Bartuc, being in close proximity with the demons in spite of his brother's warnings, was the first to be corrupted by them and their power, but he eventually grew so powerful that even most Demons feared him. As news of their new pets and the Prime Evils' fear of the brothers spread, the brothers gained many followers, each brother having a multitude of eager followers who practised under their master's sphere of demonology.

War

Soon, Bartuc's corruption became known by his brother. He advised Bartuc to let go of the demons he controls and practise the more subtle flows of the elements that the Vizjerei were masters of.

But Bartuc, not willing to let his almost endless stream of magic go, declined to follow Horazon's wish. He declared to his followers that his brother wanted to take away their hard work, the source of magic that made them so powerful. This is when the war started.

The followers of the two brothers fought bitterly, Horazon aided by his experience and controlled power while Bartuc, aided by the corrupting influence of the Prime Evils themselves. To aid him in his battle, the Prime Evils forged a crimson-red armor for Bartuc, which would enable him to rise from the most grievous of wounds and fight. This is what eventually completed his corruption into the Warlord of Blood.

Bartuc became known for his ruthlessness and never-ending thirst for blood - human and demon alike.

Some of the Vizjerei chose a very different but cruel approach. Why fight fair when you can have others fight for you? They set out corrupting any able living being with demonic powers to bend them to their will. They found the passive and peaceful Witch Doctors of the Umbaru in the dense Torajan Jungles to be perfect targets for their spells. The Witch Doctors were spoilt due to years of peace but carried an inherent potential for destruction. This led to their corruption by the Vizjerei into the demonic monstrosities known colloquiolly as Goatmen, or Khazra in the Witch Doctor's own tongue.

As the battle raged on in the sands of Aranoch, the followers of Horazon eventually gained a breakthrough. Horazon himself, along with a fraction of his followers cornered Bartuc in the great halls of Viz-Jun, where the Warlord of Blood was defeated, once and for all with the thundering power of Horazon's spells.

Aftermath

But even though Bartuc was slain by his brother, the armor that he wore would enable him to rise again. So, Horazon had his head separated from his body and both the parts buried separately in different lands; it is now known that the Warlord of Blood's body was buried beneath the Tristram Cathedral, where eventually Diablo's Soulstone was kept. Both parts were once guarded by an elite cadre of Vizjerei Sorcerers. Though after the formation of the Horadrim, this may not be the present case. But this act ended the Mage Wars.

Horazon disappeared to his Arcane Sanctuary leaving his many followers in the broken Vizjerei Clan who eventually grouped together with many other smaller Mage Clans from Kehjistan to form the Horadrim in honor of their great master. The Horadrim made sure that their mages would never become corrupted like the Vizjerei brothers. thus forming the Viz-Jaq'taar, also known as the Assassins with the help of Bartuc's non-corrupted followers. This secret order acted like the police for the mage clans, hunting down corrupted Sorcerers and Sorceresses. Within the Horadrim, they were known as the Khral-Harzhek.

Later, it was revealed that the Mage Clan Wars for some reason forced spiritual Barbarians, known as Druids to leave their sacred forests. It is possible that being the self-proclaimed Protectors of the Worldstone, the Druids wanted to investigate the rampant use of demonic magic coming from the eastern sands.

Trivia

This section contains facts and trivia relevant to this article.

• The Mage Clan Wars carries many similarities to the history of the Night Elves from the Warcraft series. Some of them are hinted at below -
  • Brothers find an endless magic source in demons - Night Elves find an endless magic source in the Well of Eternity
  • One brother is corrupted by demons - Approximately half of the night elves are corrupted by the Burning Legion through the Well.
  • Mage Clan Wars - The War of the Ancients
  • Vizjerei splits up into Horadrim and Viz-Jaqtaar - Night Elves split up into Night Elves and High Elves
• Seeing that the Mage Wars were fleshed out in the original Diablo manual, it is possible that the Night Elves were influenced by them and not the other way round.

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