East... Always to the East

A reference to the opening cinematic of Diablo 2, where Marius, the hapless narrator, says just that.

A hooded figure walks past barred doors of what sounds to be a prison, or perhaps an insane asylum. The sound of whip strikes and screams permeate the air. The figure (revealed later to be Baal), is let inside a cell, in which an elderly, emaciated prisoner lies on the floor, fidgeting. Drool drips from his mouth as he sees the visitor. The robed figure sits upon a chair as Marius cowers away in fear, scattering his gruel pan.

Baal (hooded figure:) So, Marius. At last I find you.

Marius (sees hooded figure as Tyrael:) Tyrael. Yes...yes, now I recognize you. I should have known you'd travel in disguise. I...they're...they're always watching..

Baal: I've been searching for you for a long time, Marius. I was rather beginning to think you didn't want to be found.

Marius: (cries) Forgive me, Tyrael. Please. It wasn't my fault.

Baal: (amused) Not your fault...? Tell me, Marius, how was it not your fault?

Marius (composes himself) The Wanderer. Yes..it was..the Wanderer. (Has a vision):

Fade to Rogue's Citadel in the past:

Marius: My days at the Rogue's Citadel seemed so long ago. I sought refuge from my memories in the company of other outcasts high in the mountains, past the eastern gate.

Dwarf waiter: Do you want something? (Marius, high on pipeweed, ignores him.) (sighs and leaves.)

Marius: Oh, I fought sleep for days at a time, for when I dreamt, the memories would return. Memories of the Monastery and the evil which had claimed it. Dreams, memories! I couldn't tell the difference any more. (Marius snaps out of his nightmare as the Citadel door opens, and a robed man staggers in from the snowy darkness.) Had the evil from my dreams followed me at my heels?...how had he found me here? How could this broken shell of a man, barely able to carry the weight of his own sword, be the burning terror which drove me to hide here? (the robed man sits as the other rogues look him over carefully, then return to talking. The robed figure drives his sword into the floor, a brief glimpse of his face is seen, as he starts...convulsing.) He seemed to have demons of his own, that he struggled to contain. He was losing. (Changes occur as patrons laugh, green energy starts emanating from the robed figure, his face contorts in his struggles.)

(Chaos ensues as demons are summoned from the torches and floor, skeleton warriors begin to attack and kill the patrons as they valiantly, but futilely, fight back. Marius is untouched, and watches in frozen horror as demonic forces and fire destroy the establishment.)

Marius: As I watched, I became convinced that I was truly mad. The terror, the destruction, the evil I witnessed, how else could I explain them? Were these the demons from my dream, or were they born within the Wanderer?

(The Wanderer convulses a final time, as a column of fire absorbs the skeletal warriors and demonic energies. The remainder of the demons recede back into the floor. Finally all is still, and in a moment of comic relief, Marius casts away the pipeweed he was smoking. The Wanderer reverts to "normal" and regards Marius. As if beckoning Marius to follow, he walks through the fires, an entranced Marius following.)

Marius (shivering outside, narrating): Why did I follow him? I don't know. Why do things happen as they do in dreams?...All I know is, that when He beckoned, I had to follow him. From that moment, we traveled together, East...always into the East.

I was just merrily minding my own business when I saw the quest text. I immediately stopped everything I was doing to tell my guildies and real ID friends.