Matriarch Matriarch_Zeal

History
Tactics
Equipment
Thoughts

History

During the age of Diablo's first uprising, rumors about the Zann Esu first arose, and how they sought refuge in the Eastern jungles of Sanctuary. Legend had it that the Zann Esu would visit families in villages, families with seven-year old girls. Those that held talent for power were given the opportunity to endure the training required to create a true Sorceress.

Zeal was a special case of a child, as no one knew the true origin of her parents. She was found one day, barely a week old, in a basket outside a family's hut. No note was attached, save a brass mantle which read: Matriarch Zeal. Having no other alternative, she was taken in and raised in the village. None questioned the strange nature of her name, and Zeal was her preferred name. At the age of seven, she was blessed with the opportunity to be questioned by the Zann Esu. No one could forgot that day, for the shock of being near one with such an aura of power startled the questioning magess so much that it shone as clear as day on her face. Zeal was immediately whisked away to begin her journey.

Over the years, Zeal trained diligently, surpassing all known expectation of the Sorceress race. Her magic was perfect, and the strength of it was made known to the entire clan. It was with her magic that she performed many services to fight evil, and was given the highest ranking possible in the clan, Matriarch. This was an oddity in a way that her full name now was recorded as Matriarch Matriarch Zeal. What was even stranger was that somehow, through some devilry unknown, her recorded name changed again to Matriarch Matriarch_Zeal. No one knew where the underscore had come from, and no remote answer was conjured. It seemed simply her fate to be that way.

Further details are shrouded in mystery about this Sorceress. Ancient lore tells of a marriage, held in secret between Zeal and an unknown second party. The only traces of her to this day that remain are from her daughter, Claradisia. Few live that can even recall her personality. In fact, there is only one mortal human alive that can remember her appearance. From the Children of Bul-Kathos, one named SharpAsARock was fortunate to meet her when he was but a lad. His memory recalls that she looked like a rather young lady. It is not a lie, as his memory is very vivid and he swore this was true to the Holy Pope himself. It does leave much contraversy, as Zeal should have been well into her seventies at that time.

Tactics

Zeal, in her time, was one of the few Sorceresses that evolved into a true tri-elementalist. She was amazingly adept in all three elemental powers, and it overwhelmed many a foe on the battlefield. Tales of walls of fire ensnaring her enemies, orbs of ice impaling their skin, and a finale of a ring of lightning that silenced any survivors were common. She was a master of the Ether as well, with the ability to channel damage to her spirit (which recovered with astonishing speed), psychic powers, and the ability to traverse the Ether itself.

Equipment

The Oculus (ninth decade of Destruction) - The ninth decade of Destruction's reign marked a crucial point in time. The minions of Hell suddenly wielded new counterparts to legendary items that heros had previously acquired. Some had lost a great deal of their potency; this made the older items that much more sought-after. Some, like this orb, gained new and better magical properties than previously found before.

Zeal was marching through the Bloody Foothills, intent on crushing Shenk and halting the siege, when a strange glow caught her eye. Looking ahead, she saw that her fellow hunters had ran far ahead and didn't take notice. With a tremor of her mind, she rematerialized near the glow. At her feet was a strange orb, seemingly glowing even brighter at her prescence. Grasping the item in her trembling hands, she stammered out the words of Identify. The item yielded to her rule, revealing a huge list of abilities it could grant her. As she looked at her old orb clutched in her hand, she quickly made her decision and pitched it far away, landing on on of her allies' head. Zeal muttered the words to Town Portal and was transported to Harrogath, where her allies soon went. All marvelled at her luck and envied her. Later in her career, she would find a worthy jewel that she had Larzuk forge into the orb which increased even further her resistance to elemental attack.

Harlequin Crest (ninth decade of Destruction) - Zeal heard about the new change that the demons of Hell had seemingly passed through; many bragged about their legendary shakos they had found in the eight decade. Zeal despaired, as she did not even own one shako, new or not. Her despair quickly turned into jubilation as Mephisto, Lord of Hatred, surrendered a ninth decade shako before dissipating into dust. When Identified, Zeal briefly recalled the stories she had heard about such a helm given by Odgen of Tristram before he fell to Diablo's forces. It had been left behind by a wandering magician, bearing the name 'WutUDoWithFruit'.

Tales persist of the wedding band her spouse had given her. It is said that it was filled with 3 wonderous runes of the same type, given to her forever to use. They were called Um, and one she eventually forged into this helm, giving a sizable boost to her elemental resistance.

Lidless Wall - One particular day, Zeal visited the Rogue Encampment in the hopes of finding a good Rogue to hire. There, a strange red portal next to Warriv beckoned to her. She inquired about it, but Warriv seemed not to notice it. Brimming with curiosity, she stepped in and continued walking. Her scream echoed through the realms, as she encountered something more terrible than any demon of Hell: cows, dozens, hundreds of them, rushing at her with halberds and bardiches, ready to end her life. Turning back, she saw that the portal had been blocked by cows as well. With no choice, she fought bravely in that place. Every cow was eventually destroyed. About halfway through, she discovered a glowing bone shield. It was no ordinary bone shield, as it was much thicker and durable than what a Wall of the Eyeless would have been (Zeal had found one earlier in the day). Identifying it and scanning its properties, she quickly threw away her 3-diamond tower shield.

One of the three Um runes Zeal received was put into this shield.

Naj's Light Plate - During her travels, Zeal had acquired from the Flayers a legendary Yari, the Hone Sundan. She had no use for it, and sought to trade it off quickly. A mysterious Barbarian approached her one day and silently showed an armor that appealed to her, the Silks of the Victor. She was glad to be rid of the Yari for this new addition to her equipment. The Barbarian then disappeared without a word. However, her taste for strong armor was not satisfied by even this, the dream of many. She relentlessly searched until she was shown this, and knew it was her destiny to wield the plate of Naj. It cost her dearly, as she had to give up her Culwen's Point, Blackhorn's Face, and an Eye of Etlich she found in the Frozen River. But, she knew she was still getting the better end of the deal. She wasted no time in putting her last Um in this.

She would never meet that Barbarian again, but he was the immortal and legendary fighter, OldMoeJoe, from the Elite Emissary themselves.

Mara's Kaleidoscope (ninth decade of Destruction) - Over the years, Zeal found many amulets with legendary properties, but one - the Nozokan Relic - seemed to be showing up constantly. Since she had found the Eye of Etlich, no other good amulet seemed destined to present itself to her. This was all to change, as a traveling amazon possessed a legendary amulet she had found herself, but had not identified. She was offering it to anyone for a small sum of gold. Zeal walked over, and sensed that this amulet's aura differed from that of an ordinary Nozokan Relic. Gladly paying the price in gold, she then went to Cain nearby to identify it, and it turned out better than she expected, as she owned a very powerful amulet now, indeed.

Frostburn - Uniques were items of great rarity. Even the most common items that dropped, such as gauntlets, would seldom be imbued with such legendary power. The average hero that travelled through the world of Sanctuary would be lucky to find one unique every two hours. Zeal spent many days seeking an alternative. One mysterious Sorceress named 'Praetor_Z' was battling alongside her one day. Zeal's attention had turned elsewhere, and there was a great distance between them. Suddenly, Praetor_Z psychically spoke to her. She informed Zeal that she had found an item heros whispered of over campfires, a duplicate of the very Orb that Tal Rasha had used himself! Praetor_Z told about the usefulness of 'Magic Find', most commonly acquired with the use of Topazes. Zeal had a large stash of these at hand, and immediately noticed a difference when she began using them. One item that she soon found were these Gauntlets, dropped by a Abyss Knight in the River of Flame.

Aldur's Advance - Though Zeal seldom gave audience to the druids of the land, she knew all too well about their lord, Aldur. All druids worshipped him and gave him sacrifice. Zeal happened to have a large quantity of 'magic find' equipment on when she killed Pindleskin, the leader of the undead that guarded Nihlathak's Temple. A pair of boots stood out from the rest of the loot, and when identified, gave recognition as the boots Aldur himself had used when he charged through the wilderness.

String of Ears (eighth decade of Destruction) - The story of this particular item draws back to the eighth decade, when many legendary items retained more powerful attributes than that which can be found now. Zeal journeyed through the Den of Evil, seeking to rid the cave of all evil. One zombie, when roasted by the flames of Zeal's Fire Wall, was wearing a strange sash. Upon identification, it revealed the String of Ears, an item that would soon be treasured by heros the world over when the ninth decade was passed.

The Stone of Jordan - For a journeying Sorceress, no ring can compare with the Stone of Jordan. This prized rings are extremely rare, and have garnered their worth as the currency of Sanctuary, stamping out the old gold coin currency in terms of trading for high-quality items. After the ninth decade of Destruction, these rings eventually became scarcer, but beforehand, a bit of luck would put you in reach of one. During a period of time when Zeal had her 'magic find' items on, an enemy in the Upper Kurast dropped a gleaming Ballista. Zeal set to identifying it, seeing it as it truly was, a Buriza-Do Kyanon. Zeal had little use for weapons and even less for a slow-firing crossbow, so she contacted an Amazon friend and offered the weapon for 2 Stone of Jordans, to which she agreed very quickly. After the trade was done, Zeal wondered if she had gotten her money's worth. It mattered little, though; the rings were finally hers.

Thoughts

This was my very first character ever on the Realms. I can remember vivid images of finding many flawless gems and hoarding them greedily, not knowing their rather large uselessness in LOD. I intended her to be a tri-elementalist, after finding out about immunities in Hell mode. Though I regret spreading her points so thinly, she was pretty effective due to the large number of + to skills she had (I had one of each charm, as well). She was my Magic Find character for a while, but I soon realized her strengths lie in her equipment, and sacrificing any would not bode well. To that end I made another character for Magic Finding, Claradisia.