Diablo 3: Hell's Eclipse

Luna found that Kulle was quick to adjust to his new form, he could appear and disappear as necessary, and his head was placed in a bag of sorts, one he could see out of, to make sure they were on the right path, while also being invisible so no one else could see him.

Now then, to revive my body you'll have to travel through the Aqueducts to reach the Desolate Sands, where I will point you to where my blood was stored. Kulle stated, upon them returning to the rest of the group, where Leah and the rest of the main group gathered around to hear what he had to say about the next leg of their journey, even though Tyrael was still of the opinion that this was a bad idea, Once we have my blood we will need to travel to where my body is being held, which appears to be the main archives, where you will combine my head and blood with it so Leah can use her power to bring me back to life. As soon as I am brought back I can open the way to the chamber that the Black Soulstone is resting in, to fulfill our bargain.

"Okay, so we need to return to the Oasis and track down the Aqueducts. Good to know." Leah said, as she had looked over the map of the areas that made up Caldeum and could see many that could have held the pieces of Kulle's body, but since he clearly knew where they were, or at least in which area they were in, that really cut down on their travel time.

Luna nodded as Kulle returned to his head for the time being, allowing them to utilize the teleportation device that was in the middle of their camp to return to the Oasis, where everyone faced the eastern direction since everything behind them had been cleared out already. After that they resumed what they normally did, Luna and Kormac tore through their enemies, while Leah, Lyndon, and Eirena used their ranged attacks to deal with those that were hanging in the distance, eliminating foes so they could move forward at a quicker pace. Lyndon also made sure to loot any chest or container they walked by, as he didn't want to leave any potential loot behind, especially since some of it was helping to pay for the caravan's needs, so it was part greed and part helping others. So far it looked like all of the enemies they fought when they first entered the Oasis were the same now, where Luna made sure to deal with the dervish demons, as in those that controlled wind, since those happened to be the strongest ones she had faced so far, as some were definitely stronger than the ordinary demons.

Other than that there wasn't much else for Luna to worry about, the dervish demons provided her with entertainment while the other enemies were well within the power of the rest of the group, and when they reached a short stone bridge Kulle appeared for a moment and unlocked the magic that was resting on the gate at the end.

"So, this is the Aqueducts." Luna commented, as it was a stone area that had two levers that seemed to be blocking the main path forward, because she spotted two levers that seemed to be at the end of some passages, based on how this place was set up, causing her to nod for a moment, "We just have to head down the only available path and get to the levers. Simple."

Ah, there you are. a voice said, which turned out to be the magical projection of the Emperor, where Luna felt Kulle for a moment, like he was watching them without revealing himself to the figure that had appeared, as if both of them felt that the Emperor was lying to them in some manner, I wanted to inform you that I may have uncovered the identity of Belial, and am closing in on confirming that fact. By the time you have the Black Soulstone, I should know who he is.

"I see. Thank you for the heads up... and stay safe." Luna stated, as if speaking to an ally, though once the projection was no longer in the area Kulle appeared nearby as well, where she and the spirit simply nodded their heads before she faced the rest of the group for a moment, "And just like that, we're already a step ahead: Belial has revealed himself to us."

"Of course, the Emperor wouldn't know about the Black Soulstone, and 'Belial' wouldn't be so foolish to reveal the fact that such a thing existed near his tool... the Lord of Lies has failed." Leah said, though while she had to wonder how their foe knew where they were, enough to send a projection like this, she found herself confident in their abilities now, especially since it looked like Belial had no idea he had ruined his own cover while talking to them.

Yes, he is not as crafty as he thinks he is. Kulle remarked, as he had noticed the odd magic around the projection and now understood what he had sensed, in fact Luna had sensed it as well, it was demonic magic, and the only one that had a lot of power in Caldeum was the Lord of Lies, so now they knew the truth and Belial was in the dark, We must hurry, for it's only a matter of time until he realizes that he's messed up.

Luna nodded as she stepped into the passage in front of them, where they found more skeletons, corpse flies, the plagued corpses, and serpent demons, the same enemies they had fought so far, though it didn't stop them from waging war on the dangers that were ahead of them. The interesting thing was that there were some of the thin constructs down here as well, a fact that caused Kulle to study this development as the others fought their way through the Aqueducts, and Luna found out why as they progressed along the path in front of them. Apparently Kulle had once worked with someone else and they were responsible for something called the 'Loom', a great alchemical engine that could turn one type of matter into another, and they had used it to make constructs, along with a great network of Halls and other items. Of course Kulle had been forced to leave it behind, a minor demon had infected it, but before all that he had created his Archives and linked them to what he called the 'Greathall', but without his attention it looked like the constructs were appearing outside the areas he had set them to guard.

Such a thing interested Luna and Leah as the group fought through the Aqueducts, because it sounded like the Loom might be a worthwhile thing to reclaim, though while Kulle didn't see a reason to believe such a thing he did know that the pair had great power, so it might be possible to reclaim the Loom at some point.

After that they tracked down the passage leading to the lever, pulled it, and then headed into the next passage to repeat the same thing with the other passage, which was just fighting more enemies, scattering their bodies with ease, and clearing out the Aqueducts completely. With that in mind it wasn't long before they found and activated the second lever, cutting off the water while revealing the main path, and when they stepped down it's stairs they found a barrel with some trapped inside it, being attacked by more of the plagued corpses. Clearing out the enemies proved to be child's play, where they found that the figure inside the barrel seemed to be a jeweler, a middle aged man by the name of Covetous Shen, or Shen, and he was seeking a magic crucible that was somewhere in this place, but his student had betrayed him to keep it for himself, since he wanted to use it for his own work. Apparently he wanted to deal with them, if they helped find his student and the crucible he would become their jeweler, which interested Lyndon since the magic crucible could merge gems into greater ones, but Luna suspected that there might be more to this than what he had said so far.

Either way they agreed to help him out, since it looked like Shen's path was along their path as well, where they found more of the same enemies and Luna paid them no mind as she slashed through them, while at the same time everyone else did what they did best, dealing with the rest of their foes. Shen was a strange man, that much Luna could tell, but he was smart enough to get out of the way and let everyone deal with their enemies, while stating that he had been in this place many times in the past and had only found his way down to this hidden passage. There really wasn't much for Luna to care about right now, all of the enemies really weren't that imposing and she cut through them without wasting too much time, but her main interest was in the constructs and what Kulle had said about them, and what they could do with them. Even Shen's young student didn't amount to anything, as when they found him he had been corrupted by the energies inside the magic crucible, the dark magic inside it, causing Leah to crush him with a burst of fire arrows, thus allowing Shen to claim his prize now that it wasn't corrupted.

With that done they made their way out through the exit and stepped out into what appeared to be a very sandy and very dry area of Caldeum, the Desolate Sands no doubt, causing Shen to use the nearby teleportation device to return to their camp, while Kulle appeared without delay.

I hid my Archives out here to avoid detection, and it seems the Horadrim felt it was wise to leave my blood close to where they laid my body to rest. Kulle commented, floating by them as the group made their way to the edge of the wasteland that was their destination, and area full of bones based on what Luna was seeing, though it was also far hotter out here than what she was expecting, Come, I will show you the way to where my blood is being held. It is in two locations, so we must be swift before the heat harms any of you.

In addition to the poisoned corpses, accursed as Kulle called them, there were more of the Lacuni, in fact it looked like there was a tribe of them living in this portion of Caldeum, and Luna found that the hawks wanted a piece of them, no doubt they were of the opinion that the group was going to die soon and were trying to peck them to death. Leah spend some time just hitting the hawks that were circling overhead, blasting them out of the air with her fire magic, she found that it was very easy to hit them with her magic and it allowed the others to focus on following Kulle. He revealed that the Archives rested below the Desolate Sands, that the Horadrim could only lock the doors behind them while he still held all of the keys, so he could get them inside without wasting time once they tracked down his blood. The other interesting thing was the size of the piles of bones that were around the area, some reminded her of dragons with how large they were, but she had learned that no such beasts existed in this world, as odd as that felt to her.

Eventually they tracked down the first area that the blood was stored in, a cave leading into the ground, where Kulle told the group that it wasn't low enough to reach his Archives, he had made sure to build them deep below the Desolate Sands to make sure nothing invaded his domain.

Once inside the cave they discovered that it was full of spiders, what appeared to be worms that were digging through the ground, more of the corpse flies, and the accursed, though the group could handle these enemies since they were anything new and didn't have any unique powers to worry about. In addition to that they found a number of egg sacks that Leah used her arrows on, blasting them into oblivion to make sure they weren't overwhelmed in the future, while at the same time the group discovered that sections of the rock walls spat out poison at them. Eirena dealt with those as her companions delved even deeper into the cave, in fact they even found a passage leading even deeper, but the enemies were the same as before and that meant they were able to deal with them without wasting too much time. Eventually they uncovered the area that Kulle's blood was stored in, it was surrounded by magic like how his head was contained, trapped in time based on what the group was seeing, so Luna bound the magic to the large head sized vial to ensure it remained fresh for when they infused it into Kulle's body.

After that they found a blue magical pillar that allowed them to teleport out into the Desolate Sands, where Kulle floated off to the side as he started leading them to the area that held the rest of his blood, causing the others to continue to decimate the enemies that were out here as they followed him.

The other location that Kulle's blood was stored in part of his Archives, where they found more thin constructs and even a new type, small spider constructs that were infused with fire, frost, and poison, something Kulle noted since it meant that his engine was still operational and was cranking out constructs. Luna resolved to help him track down the Greathall and the Loom once they were done with Belial, because it really sounded like the constructs would be useful in the future, once Kulle was alive and back in control of everything. Such a thing made her think about something she hadn't thought about since her banishment, an old suit of armor of hers that had gone missing during her exile, and part of her had wondered where it had gone since she confirmed that it wasn't on Equus anymore. Part of her had wondered if Celestia destroyed her armor or if she had banished it herself, but after confronting her sister Luna had learned that even her sister was confused and had no idea either, and it wasn't until now that she had thought about it.

"Hey, Kulle, I've got a question for you: did you ever find an armor made out of truesilver?" Luna asked, falling back a little as Leah and the others continued to tear through the defenses that were protecting this portion of the Archives, though she did discover that the spirit floated nearby as he thought about how to best answer her question, with his limited knowledge on the subject, "It's... well, a magical metal that is attuned to the arcane, to magic itself, as armor made from it can withstand dark magic and even improve the casting power of the wearer, while weapons of it can bypass magical enchantments and are some of the lightest and strongest. It has a silvery, almost moon-like, glow to it."

Then yes, I have seen it. Made for a horse of some kind, based on what I could tell... I have it stored inside the main portion of the Archives. Kulle replied, though he was fascinated by the armor, he had found it during the years he constructed his domain in the Desolate Sands and stored it inside his Archives, had tried to work with it or even study it, but he had been unable to do anything with it and stored it inside a case he had the keys for, Why do you ask?

"I once wore a set of armor like that... I'd like to see it, if at all possible." Luna answered, because Kulle seemed like the type of person who would remain true to a bargain and could see that he was interested in what might happen if she got her hands on the armor, so he was willing to show her it once they were inside the Archives.

Kulle agreed to let her see the armor once they were inside the Archives, though following that they found the second vial of blood and claimed it, allowing them to return to the camp for a few minutes so they could rest, recover, and prepare for the dangers of the Archives.