SHANNON HOWELL

History always records the noble deeds of the heroes. You always have your barbarians, crusaders, demon hunters, monks, wizards and even the necromancers get praise. But have you ever wondered who steals the treasures before the heroes get to the lost towns such as Tristram. Well, this is where my story begins.

My dad was a master thief, there wasn't a place he couldn't break into and when came of age I would beg to go with him. He was hesitant at first but after I stole a few coins from his pouch while he was wearing it, he was more than happy to take me with him.

He told me a great deal about getting in and out without being seen, and as my dad always said, “a good thief needs to know how to defend herself”. So, on my 18th birthday he gave me two swords he got from the East. These were not like a sword of a barbarian but just as strong. They were made from a strange steel that was light weight, very sharp and extremely deadly along with pouch of throwing daggers and a pouch full of lock picks.

After my dad passed, I would have to say my story really begins with Tristram, what a sad story that was. It was small town in the western realm of Khanduras, now nothing more than ruins and my home. Not all the homes were destroyed by the unholy fires, some on the edge of Tristram still stand.

No one comes here due to fear of what happened in the stories that are told about Tristram and Diablo. They are afraid to come to here as they are afraid of what ghost may haunt this land and for the most part there is nothing left. At one time it contained so many riches in the catacombs below the chapel.

Demons sure were in the catacombs, but nothing to major not as far as how deep I went into them. A good thief has to know their limits and what good is gold if you can't spend it. Sure won't serve any purpose when your dead. The demons are gone now but locals are still afraid and never come around. This makes a great spot for a young thief to hide out and call her home

In its prime, Tristram was such a payoff for me I continued to rob the tombs when I could, sneaking into a chapel, castle or dungeon here and there picking it clean without running into too much trouble and the latest treasure is a real gem, literally.

I found it in another land, and it is like nothing I have ever seen before but whatever it is, lesser demons have tried their best to take it from me as if they are trying to snag it for a higher master.

As the young thief propped her swords up against the wall, shoulder armor hung from the post of the bed and she took off her boots placing them on the floor, she sat down on the bed staring at the stone in her hand. She opened her hand and the stone started to levitate and stopped slightly above her open hand emitting a glow although no light from the stone was illuminating anything in the house.

I am curious if one of the lesser demons was right as he died at my feet. Could this actually be a sliver of the World Stone? I am sure that is what he roughly growled as he died from my blade, attempting to reach for the pouch that contained the stone.

“Stop it Deckard that tickles”, she said as her faithful cat rubbed up against her bare foot.

“That's it!”, she thought to herself loudly. “Deckard Cain! He would know what this is and what to do about it. Now only if I could find him”, she thought.

There were stories that Deckard Cain had been taken and no one knew where exactly. She was determined however to find him before something larger than a lesser demon started looking for her and whatever this stone is hovering above her hand...