Ort+Sol: The History of Westmarch

by Whitney "Neinball" Fairchild - 7 years ago

We know that Reaper of Souls is going to take place across a few different places. From the streets of Westmarch to the walls of Pandemonium we will traverse across all of Creation in our quest to stop Death.

But what do we know of these places? Pandemonium Fortress was a focus of one of my earlier articles and I talked briefly about the founding of Westmarch last time, but this week lets go into a little more detail on the Jewel of the West.

Foundations of a Kingdom

As we learned last time, Westmarch was founded by the warlord Rakkis as he pushed his armies across the West in the name of the Zakarum. Westmarch was not only founded by war it was tempered by it as well. With Barbarians to the north, bandits within their own lands and Ivgorod to the east Rakkis’s new kingdom was tested from its very beginnings on all sides. Despite the challenges he faced Rakkis lead his people well and Westmarch flourished during these times. He built roads, churches and the infrastructure needed for the growing kingdom. All kings have their reign though and eventually Rakkis passed away leaving Westmarch in the hands of his son Korsikk.

War in the North

As Ivgorod’s power in the area waned and peace began to settle in the neighboring kingdoms Westmarch faced only one continued problem, the Barbarian tribes to the north. It was under Korsikk’s guidance that Westmarch built the fortress of Bastion Keep to help defend their lands and those of their allies from Barbarian raiders. All attempts to pacify the threat in the north had failed with each military campaign failing like the one before it. Becoming frustrated with these failed attempts Korsikk rallied an army and lead his host directly into the Barbarians lands with the intent of conquering them once and for all. Sadly his reign was cut short as this was the last that anyone had heard from the son of Rakkis or his army ever again.

Times of Growth and War

Despite the death of the Korsikk and the Rakkis bloodline being lost, Westmarch continued to prosper. Westmarch grew into a new center of Zakarum in the West and the influence of the old leadership in Kurast waned. Even during these times of prosperity the kingdom thrived on war. Many would be warlords hailed from Westmarch and raised armies of mercenaries to lead campaigns into the wilds or back across the seas to the East. Many great tales of armies and heroes come from these times and it is was now when the Paladins settled into their roll as the standing army of Westmarch and defenders of the innocent.

Author’s Note: The time after Korsikk’s death is the time where the retcons begin to conflict with one another. In many of the books it’s made out that there were hundreds of years between Rakkis’s crusade and the events of Diablo I. In the most recent timeline though barely a century had passed in between them and then yet again in Diablo III they contradict themselves again and once more say centuries had passed.

As the World Darkened Around Them

Westmarch quickly became the most powerful kingdom in the West and with Kurast succumbing to Mephisto’s influence it rivaled any of the kingdoms to the East as well. Westmarch was left relatively unscathed by the influence of the growing evil across the lands of sanctuary, only a brief war with Khanduras was all that challenged the kingdom during these times. During his descent into insanity, King Leroic declared war on Westmarch and ordered his armies to take the rival kingdom. The armies of Khanduras did not fare well and Westmarch’s better trained, better equipment armies routed King Leroic’s force. With the armies of Khanduras left shattered before them Westmarch was victorious and left seemingly unchallenged by any other force within Sanctuary.

Also during these times and despite being the center of both the Paladin and Templar orders the influence of the Zakarum began to ebb from the politics of Westmarch. The kingdom focused more on moving forward then recognizing the traditions of the past and the fall of Kurast during the events of Diablo II enforced this decision. While once the center of Zakarum in the West, the religious traditions of the kingdom’s founding began to be ignored.

Burdens of the Crown

We don’t know exactly how many kings ruled over Westmarch between Korsikk’s death and the crowning of the current king, Justinian IV. We do know that with Korsikk’s passing there were no other Sons of Rakkis to take the throne and it is unknown if anyone else of the Justinian line besides Justinian III and Justinian IV were kings. One thing is for certain though, Justinian IV was not ready for the throne.

Justinian IV, or Justinian the Wide-Eyed, was young when he took the throne and many thought him to be inept in leading the kingdom and for the most part they were right. The biggest threat ever to face Westmarch since it’s founding came after the events of Diablo II during Justinian IV’s reign. The kingdom was beset by a plot to unleash the demon lord Astrogha from his prison in the artifact known as the Moon of the Spider. Justinian was controlled by those wishing to unleash Astrogha with the specter of his dead father and manipulated into running the kingdom into ruin so that no one would be able to stop their plans. The city was almost overrun by an army of spider demons if not for the efforts of the necromancer Zayl.

Zayl, with help, was able to the foil the plot and reseal Astrogha back into the Moon of the Spider and Justinian was freed from the influence that bound him. With his mind now clear Justinian would work towards repairing the damage done to his kingdom and live up to the legacy of his father.

The Future

Westmarch was one of the few kingdoms that has flourished almost completely untouched by the evil that has spread to ever corner of Sanctuary during these dark times, but those days are numbered. There is Death in Westmarch’s future and what will be left of the city after Malthael’s attack? Will there be enough of the Light of the West to save? Why was Westmarch chosen as the site to hide the Black Soulstone by Tyrael and the Horadrim? Is there something about the area that makes people want to hide demon lords around it?