This blog is part of the series I am writing for the A to Z Blogging Challenge. The goal is to write a blog that fits with a particular letter of the alphabet (and to keep up with the blogging as the month of April goes on). The topic can be anything at all, so long as it fits with the letter of the day.
I have decided to use this challenge as an opportunity to write about Diablo III (and its “universe”). For this blog, I have selected a character in the Diablo “universe” that some people may not have heard of. J is for Jacob.
Jacob Staalek is a character that first appeared in the Sword of Justice comic series. Recently, the five part series was published together in one trade paper book. The artwork is wonderful and the story moves really quickly. If you haven’t read it yet, I highly recommend you pick up a copy. The comic was written by Aaron Williams and Joseph LaCroix was the artist.
Jacob Staalek is the son of the Lord Constable. They live in the town of Staalbreak. It is a city in the Dreadlands. Staalbreak had a long trading history with the Barbarian tribes. Everything was peaceful, until the Worldstone was destroyed. After that, the Dreadlands became corrupted (and so did the people who lived there). Many bloody battles followed.
In a previous blog, I wrote about El’druin. It is a sword that belongs to (and is technically part of) Tyrael. El’druin has also been called the Sword of Justice. This is because Tyrael started out as the Archangel of Justice. Tyrael was the one who destroyed the Worldstone, and in the process, managed to lose El’druin (the Sword of Justice).
Where did the Sword of Justice go? It ended up in a cave in the desert outside of Lut Gholein on Sanctuary. There, it was guarded by a Wizard named Shanar. She didn’t ask for that job – the sword forced her into it. Shanar had been guarding the sword for a long time. How long? She had time to make intricate carvings on the walls of the cave that were intended to be clues for the person who was chosen by a higher power to come get the sword.
Meanwhile, Jacob’s father becomes corrupted. He kills Jacob’s mother, and then attempts to kill his son. Jacob is a young man, and was able to survive that battle. However, to survive, he had to kill his father. Most of the townspeople have also been corrupted by the same thing that Jacob’s father was. They are quite ready to kill him for murdering the Lord Constable. Obviously, he has to flee. He is hunted by a former friend who was close to the Lord Constable.
This is when the Sword of Justice starts calling Jacob. He has absolutely no idea what is calling him, or why, or the significance of it. Shanar explains what she knows about the sword, which isn’t much. Without giving away any “spoilers”, Jacob and Shanar team up and their adventure continues through the rest of the comic.
There is a bit of a gap between the comic (when Jacob has the Sword of Justice) and when players in Diablo III are trying to put the pieces of it back together for Tyrael. Somewhere in the middle, it is clear that Tyrael somehow had his sword returned to him. Jacob makes an appearance in the book Sword of Light by Nate Kenyon, and that’s all I’m going to say about that.