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Ureh

Ureh, the Kingdom of Shadow, as it appears in the Diablo III Cinematic Trailer.

Ureh, the Light of Lights is a city which appeared in the third novel of the Diablo book series, The Kingdom of Shadow written by Richard A. Knaak in 2002.

Ureh is said to be a lost city, situated on the slopes of the Mount Nymyr which, with the help of its local sorcerers, got an entrance to Heaven, leaving all of its treasures on Sanctuary.

Quov Tsin and Kentril Dumon venture to Ureh to reach the legendary treasures and knowledge left by the inhabitants of the mysterious city. It is also the home of Zayl the Necromancer, a student of the keeper of the Balance, Trag'Oul.

The Story of Ureh[]

CAUTION - SPOILERS: The following section contains information on events based in the aforementioned book. Hence, it may contain numerous spoilers and plot-twists. The viewer is advised to read on only to satiate their curiosity.

The Golden City of Ureh was, at its time, one of the greatest cities in all of Sanctuary, ruled by the judicious and pious Juris Khan, a well-known political figurehead in the region. The people were among the finest, most civilized and culturally advanced for their time. Such was the prosperity of the kingdom-state that it attracted traders, artists and masters in every field to bask in its glory. But, for all its prosperity, it came under the evil gaze of the Lord of Terror, for the people of Ureh did not fear anything let alone be terrorized.

Diablo laid siege to the city in his trademark fashion - corrupting it from within. Although the innocent inhabitants of the city were unaware of what transpired, the city's powerful sorcerers, both indigenous and foreign erected unbreachable barriers that prevented Diablo's influence from spreading within. This caused Diablo to change his tactics, he started corrupting the local flora and fauna, using them as pawns (like the ones encountered in the initial three Acts of Diablo II) to weaken the barriers that withheld his influence from spreading. But these weak machinations were no match for the arcane powers of Ureh's united sorcerers, bent on protecting the city at all costs. But the people started to suffer, the city was surrounded, supplies stopped.

It was then that Juris Khan had the vision, of the Archangel Mirakodus who told him the will of the High Heavens, that the people of Ureh had not been overlooked by the Heavens, their fight against Diablo and his fiends was soon to be over. The city of Ureh was granted a place in the ultimate sanctuary any mortal could desire, the ethereal planes of the High Heavens themselves. But, Mirakodus laid down a strenuous condition - the way to Heaven was open, but it was Ureh's job to find it.

Juris Khan, a powerful Sorcerer himself, consulted with his advisors, and eventually his people regarding the new events. He initiated his daughter Atanna to see the visions that he had seen. The initial joy that was prevalent was soon replaced by the nerve-wracking search for the way to Heaven, the perfect spell that could transform Ureh into paradise. Mirakodus assisted Juris Khan and his compatriots in their search, and eventually, they found a way.

No stone was left unturned in what was to be done. Juris Khan, and his close aides Father Tobio and Archmage Gregus Mazi at his side started summoning the portal that would lead them to salvation. But then...

The ultimate betrayal was done. Gregus Mazi was allied with Diablo all this time, he sabotaged the spell, causing it to reverse and lead them to not the High Heavens, but the Burning Hells, the realm of the Prime Evils themselves. The sudden change in the spell's configuration caused the spell to drain the life-force of all who cast it, so Gregus Mazi teleported himself outside the city, letting the inhabitants in the city fend for themselves. Juris Khan tried to realign the spell, but the damage was done. The reversing of the spell along with its subsequent realignment caused Ureh to be transported to neither Hell nor Heaven, but in a limbo between the extreme planes. But no one outside the city knew of what actually happened on the fateful day, except Gregus Mazi.


Eventually, Gregus returned to his home-city in order to have his fair share of the prize. He was captured and killed in a way that even the pious Juris Khan regrets uptill now.

This was narrated by the Lord of Ureh himself, Juris Khan, when Quov Tsin, Kentril Dumon and his mercenaries reached his palace. This was supposed to be what happened...

Or so it seems...

The Real Story of Ureh[]

It seems, as said by Juris Khan himself, that legends are not always what they seem to be, for while the rest of Sanctuary believed Ureh to have ascended, it had actually found itself between the mortal and immortal planes, neither living nor dead. The events that unfolded were not spoken of by any mortal. That is why, it did not take an immortal Juris Khan to brainwash Kentril and his comrades about the aforementioned real story of Ureh. What actually transpired is as follows.

Diablo had a far more diabolical plan up his sleeve, he disguised himself as the Archangel Mirakodus and corrupted Juris Khan (and eventually Atanna) with his visions, a captivating thought for any mortal. His mind was twisted in a way that hell seemed to be heaven and, although his notions of virtue were kept, his will was headed towards Diablo's end.

The portal spell was never supposed to grant Ureh passage to Heaven, but to Hell, so that the Prime Evils could use the open portal as a means to send the Demonic Legion through to invade Sanctuary, an aim they were granted by the eventual destruction of the Worldstone.

Gregus Mazi was never the traitor he was made out to be. He was the only one who found out the maligniscence of the spell at its most crucial moment; his sudden awareness could not prevent the death of the other sorcerers, his immediate instinct was to teleport outside the city rendering the colective matrix they all created desequilibrated and thus sending Ureh to limbo instead of hell.

In Gregus Mazi's return to Ureh, the miraculously spared sorcerer Tobio assisted him seeing the madness gripping the Lord Khan and his followers. Their victory was the prevention of Ureh's tainted presence upon Sanctuary but also the demise of both. Although Gregus was not killed, he was turned into a part of the mountain Nymyr so that he may watch over Ureh as a reluctant guardian.

This is the real story of the Light of Lights, a story of corruption, betrayal and deceit at its finest.

In Game[]

Ureh was seen in the Diablo III cinematic trailer in Leah's revelation.

It is heavily speculated that it will make an appearance in an expansion to the final game. If that happens, however, it is improbable to be a source of the demon invasion, as Diablo's plan was foiled by Kentril Dumon and his companions. It is also speculated if the player will be able to meet Zayl himself.

However Ureh will not be accessible at least in the initial release of Diablo III, according to Jay Wilson in an interview posted Nov 24, 2009:

We removed Ureh from the game as a setting to try and get the game out sooner. However, we like including things from the books and from other sources. No promises, but it's definitely something we've discussed.[1]


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