- Hemlir(src)
Hemlir is a Druid.
Biography
A native of Scosglen, Hemlir resided at Túr Dúlra. However, in 1270, unable to ignore the corruption that had gripped Khanduras, he departed his homeland and come to the Dark Wood to commune with the Tree of Inifuss, and use its magic to cleanse the corruption.[1] On his way to the tree, he encountered a group of cultists who were searching the woods for something.[2] However, he was captured by the Bloodsworn (a separate cultist group) who wanted him to use his Druid magic to spread their corruption through the woods. Hemlir refused, even as the Bloodsworn tortured him, almost killing him in the process.
Salvation arrived as a hero/group of heroes entered the Bloodsworn Den, killing his captives and freeing him. Kashya arrived, and noted that Hemlir had lost a lot of blood. She took him back to her encampment.[3] There, he met with the hero(es) who had rescued him, thanking them for their deeds. He told them about the ritual he had intended to conduct at the tree, but he lacked the strength to gather the resources himself. He gave them the list of ingredients he needed.[1] The hero(es) returned, and Hemlir conducted the ritual.[4] However, it failed, much to his dismay. He turned to Akara for advice, who intoned that it was dark magic that had corrupted the Dark Wood, and as such, dark magic was needed to bind the ritual. He told the hero(es) of the cultist camp he'd encountered before being captured by the Bloodsworn; that if they were after dark magic, that was where they were going to find it. He told them to meet him at the Tree of Inifuss with all four components. He also told them to talk to Hess, who had made something for the hero(es) at his request.
Hemlir arrived at the tree, but was attacked by the Bloodsworn, injuring him. However, the hero(es) rescued him, handing him an ember of dark magic. Using the four components, he conducted a ritual, connecting his conciousness to the tree, and indeed, the whole forest. The hero(es) protected him from attacking Bloodsworn. The use of dark magic disfigured his face, but the tree, guiding Hemlir's sight, showed him the darkness that was corrupting the land. He told the hero(es) that the power of the tree would aid them...for a price.[2] Hemlir offered his soul to the tree in exchange for banishing the corruption. The tree instead extracted the corruption from within the Druid, coalescing into a shadowy being that Hemlir's companion(s) promptly slew. Hemlir revealed to them what he had seen through the tree—that the vines spoke of the Blood Rose, which fed the Countess blood in the Forgotten Tower. A woman with a red stone around her neck. He told them that as long as the Blood Rose continued to feed the Countess blood, she could not be slain. He told them that Inifuss could purge them of their own lingering corruption, before he disintegrated before their eyes.[5]
Akara heard of Hemlir's death, and declared that it wouldn't be in vain.[6]
In-game
Hemlir is an NPC in Diablo Immortal. He appears in the Dark Wood questline, initially during the "Bloodsworn Den," and later appears in the Rogue Battlecamp, initiating the "Gathering the Reagents" and "Between Two Evils" quests. He likewise initiates the "Tree of Inifuss" quest at the tree itself.