The Prophecies of the Final Day

"I believed the Prophecies of the Final Day to be mere superstitions&mdash;and that even if they had any credence at all, as our ancestors believed, the events they spoke of would never come to fruition in our time. I was a fool."

- Ord Rekar

The Prophecies of the Final Day is a transcript written, fortelling the return of the Prime Evils to Sanctuary. These prophetic writings were also mirrored in various other groups and cultures on Sanctuary, most notably the s.

Transcript
The following is listed as an excerpt of the prophecy:


 * "And a child will cradle Terror in his breast as the heart of man falls under the shadow.
 * A Wanderer will pass through the ancient lands trailing chaos in his wake.
 * The Three Brothers will be reunited as the mortal world trembles before their might.
 * And so it was foretold that the Three, once reunited, would be shattered again—
 * And the last of them would set his sights on the holy mount. The warnings held that
 * Their defeat would be illusory—that the final gambit had yet to be played..."


 * "And now at last the storm surges forth from the southlands, and the hand of Destruction
 * Reaches out to undo the workings of the Ancients. The tides of Hell surge—ready to smash
 * Down upon the shores of the mortal world — to drown the guilty and the innocent alike."

Similar Incantations
While not necessarily part of the Prophecies of the Final Day, similar incantations have been made describing these events.

Mephisto
The following was uttered by Mephisto beneath Travincal, as he, Baal, and Diablo gathered:


 * "And the evil that was once vanquished shall rise anew. Wrapped in the guise of man shall He walk amongst the innocent, and Terror shall consume they that dwell upon the Earth. The skies shall rain fire, and the seas will become as blood. The righteous shall fall before the wicked, and all of Creation shall tremble before the burning standards of Hell."

Unidentified Man
An unknown individual delivered a similar incantation to Mephisto's, albeit longer:


 * "And the evil that was once vanquished shall rise anew. Wrapped in the ‘guise of man shall He walk amongst the innocent; and Terror shall consume thee who dwell upon the Earth. Behold! The war amongst the heavens shall not be contained; and the sons of man shall be engulfed in the flood of conflict, and all hope shall be lost unto them. And He shall make war upon the heavens, and the heavens shall gird themselves as for battle. The righteous shall fall upon the wicked... and lay siege to the very gates of Hell. And He shall take peace from mankind and loose great destruction upon the earth. The Lord of Hatred shall ascend his throne; and the fires of Hell shall devour all. 


 * And He shall mete out his vengeance upon all flesh. And the blood of innocents shall run as great torrents.
 * ... Who then shall be saved? ..."

Other Prophecies
Other groups/cultures made similar predictions of the future that the Prophecies of the Final Day pointed to. The Oracle Caste of the Askari predicted not only the Dark Exile, but that the Prime Evils would later escape. Their predictions spurred the Amazon Caste to train for this day. The Zann Esu Clan studied for centuries, awaiting the Emergence of Evil (apparently, the return of the Prime Evils, while the Druids trained for Uileloscadh Mór; the final battle between humanity and demons.

Trivia

 * From a development standpoint, the Prophecies of the Final Day are arguably retroactive. The very first indication of any prophecy in Diablo II was from the unidentified man, who narrated a pre-release trailer, elements of which were used in Mephisto's speech in the game proper. It wasn't until the release of Diablo II: Lord of Destruction that any formal name was given to the prediction of these events (which cover the span of Diablo I to Lord of Destruction. An exception to this is the notion of a war amongst Heaven (which has never been depicted in the series), and the idea of a final gambit. While arguably Leah, her plotline was unlikely to have been conceived at the time of Lord of Destruction's release.