Grand Court of Sebelkeh

Varesh is attempting to turn the once holy site of the Sebelkeh Basilica into a portal for Abaddon's minions. Enter the Basilica and close the torment rifts before Abaddon's The Blasphemy corrupts the Altar of Lyssa.

Requirements
Tahlkora must be in your party to enter this mission.

Objectives
The Altar of Lyssa must not be captured by The Blasphemy.
 * Capture the torment rifts guarded by the Margonites. Stand near a rift to claim it.

Reward
The reward for this mission is based on how quickly you complete the mission (See Normal mode reward/Hard mode reward for details).

Walkthrough
The Sebelkeh Basilica is laid out in the shape of an octagon, with the Altar of Lyssa at the center, and three platforms branching off to the south, northwest, and northeast. On each of these platforms is a group of 7 Margonites, a Torment Claw, and a Torment Rift. You must capture all three of these Torment Rifts, without losing the Altar of Lyssa, to complete the mission. Capturing a Torment Rift provides the party with a 2% Morale Boost.

Securing the Altar
When the mission begins, you will be in a teleportation circle at the end of a narrow passage directly north of the Altar of Lyssa. As soon as any party member leaves this circle (including heroes/henchmen), the mission timer will start and the the first wave of Margonites will trigger. (Parties should thus make sure that all human players have loaded before moving.) A total of six Margonites, two from each of the three Rifts, will rush the Altar and begin capturing it. The party must position themselves near enough to the Altar to cancel this capturing effect - 8 party members can easily override 6 Margonites - and then kill off the Margonites.

When you have killed both of the Margonites that came from a certain Rift, a second pair from that Rift will trigger and move towards the Altar. A good strategy would be to kill only one Margonite from each pair in the first wave, then kill off the remaining three one at a time, waiting after each one to take out the second-wave pair that will come rushing in.

The Blasphemy
After a while, The Blasphemy will begin to spawn. It will appear at a random Rift and move to the Altar; once there, it will use Summon Torment to "jump-start" capturing it. While The Blasphemy is capturing the Altar, you will be unable to cancel its effect on the Altar's capture bar - it will be in a permanent "+1" state until you kill The Blasphemy.

The Blasphemy has very low health and is easy to kill, but when it dies, the Last Rites of Torment hex is placed on party members within a certain range of The Blasphemy's corpse and 3 Unbound Energies will spawn from its corpse. The Unbound Energies are also easy to kill due to their low armor rating, but because of the combination of their attacks and Last Rites of Torment, they will wreak havoc on the party while they live.

The Blasphemy will respawn after a short delay when you kill it; this delay decreases with each Torment Rift you capture. Be careful not to kill The Blasphemy while there are still Unbound Energies around from the last time you killed it.

Sometimes, The Blasphemy will not go to the Altar, but instead to a Rift you have already captured and attempt to re-open it. This can complicate the mission somewhat and make it more difficult to achieve the Master's Reward, especially if it does this while you are capturing the final Rift, as all three Rifts must be 100% captured, and have no enemy capture limit at the Altar of Lyssa to complete the mission. However, it can also be advantageous - simply set one hero to passive mode and plant his/her flag next to that Rift. This will cancel The Blasphemy's effect on the Rift's capture bar, and you won't have to kill The Blasphemy until after you have captured both other Rifts.

Since The Blasphemy poses no immediate survival threat for a level 20 character, sometimes it is more useful to try and block its way to the Altar or just leave it there alone and watch it from the mini-map. This may seem against the mission's main goal, which is to keep the Altar safe, but in the end the main thing that matters is party speed and good timing. In parties with little or no other human players, capturing all the Rifts in short time while keeping the Altar safe can be a race without end. Thus, The Blasphemy can be left alone at the Altar until the capture bar reaches 50% and only then dispatch 1-2 party members to kill it, deal with the Unbound Energies and re-capture the Altar completely before joining up again with the rest of the party (focusing on capturing the Rifts).

Capturing the Rifts
Ignore The Blasphemy when it first spawns and move to capture one of the Rifts. It will be guarded by three Margonites and a Torment Claw, all of which you must kill; otherwise, they will re-open the Rift after you have left. It is very beneficial to have the entire party move near the rift (but away from the Claw) so you can begin capturing it while you are killing the enemies.

The Torment Claws use the Torment Slash skill, which can be devastating if the party is bunched in front the Claw; however, since the Claws are stationary, spellcasters and ranged attackers can avoid the Claws. The skill is also easy to interrupt, due to its long activation time. Alternatively you can dodge the slash by moving to the claw's side or back after it begins casting.

After you have captured the Rift and killed all of its defenders, go back to the Altar and kill The Blasphemy and the Unbound Energies that spawn. After you have completely re-captured the Altar, go capture the second Rift. Kill The Blasphemy at the Altar again, then go to capture the last Rift. With only one Rift remaining, The Blasphemy will respawn almost immediately, but you should again ignore it and focus on capturing the Rift. The mission will complete shortly after you capture the last Rift, and have a 0 enemy capture status on the Altar of Lyss.

For every Rift that is captured, its red bar will fill by 1/4 each time The Blasphemy uses Summon Torment, when a rifts bar becomes full the rift is re-opened automatically. This means that you have only limited time to capture the other Rifts if you leave The Blasphemy unattended. Watching over the bars can be very useful for preemptive actions, like sending a warrior at the Rift that is just about to open, in order to deal with the first few enemy spawns and gain time for the rest of the party.

Skill recommendations

 * Last Rites of Torment can be removed from the entire party quickly using Inspired Hex (or Revealed Hex). Hex Eater Signet is also very useful as it can remove Last Rites of Torment from over half your party if well positioned.
 * Bringing various interrupts are useful for making your battles with the Torment Claws easier.
 * Lightbringer's Gaze is very useful in this mission, as it is an interrupt and all enemies are vulnerable to it.
 * Pain Inverter is also very useful against the Torment Claws.

Foes
Demons Demons (Margonites) Demons (Torment creatures)
 * 20 (26) Unbound Energy
 * 27 (32) The Blasphemy
 * 24 (26) Margonite Executioner
 * 24 (26) Margonite Bowmaster
 * 24 (26) Margonite Cleric
 * 24 (26) Margonite Warlock
 * 24 (26) Margonite Seer
 * 24 (26) Margonite Sorcerer
 * 24 (26) Margonite Ascendant
 * 24 (26) Margonite Reaper
 * 24 (26) Torment Claw

Opening cinematic

 * Earlier that day... (Near the Mirror of Lyss)


 * Morgahn: "You must understand. I have known Varesh Ossa since she was a child."
 * Morgahn: "She was always driven, smart, and strong in her beliefs."
 * Morgahn: "When the darkness took her, I remained blind and loyal."
 * Morgahn: "Kehanni!"
 * Kehanni: "Morgahn? You've come to rescue us?"
 * Morgahn: "What has happened? The temple!"
 * Kehanni: "Varesh attacked us! Demons! Everyone dead! Slaughtered!"
 * Morgahn: "I remained blind until it was too late."


 * Shortly afterward... (Mirror of Lyss)


 * Varesh Ossa: "Ai, Abaddon! Ai Abaddon! Jai Hahna Almighty Abaddon!"
 * Morgahn: "Varesh! What have you done?"
 * Varesh Ossa: "I have done what is necessary, old friend, for the good of my god and my land."
 * Morgahn:"You have washed this holy place in blood! You promised to spare my priests!"
 * Varesh Ossa: "A small promise, easily broken for the greater good. You would not have understood."
 * Morgahn: "You must stop this!"
 * Varesh Ossa: "It is too late to stop; this part of the ritual is complete! The walls of my lord's prison are being being torn away and Torment is swallowing the world!"
 * Morgahn: "I will stop you myself!"
 * Varesh Ossa: "You are badly outnumbered, old friend."
 * Morgahn: "My men!"
 * Varesh Ossa: "More blood for my rituals!"
 * Margonite Reaper: "Mistress! He escapes!"
 * Varesh Ossa: "Let him go. He is broken."
 * Varesh Ossa: "We are needed elsewhere."
 * Varesh Ossa: "Leave The Blasphemy here to rot this world."
 * Varesh Ossa: "Nightfall is at hand!"

End cinematic

 * ''Shortly afterward...
 * ''(Near the Mirror of Lyss)
 *  : "The beast is dead."
 * Morgahn: "But its mistress still lives. She goes to finish the spell."
 *  : "Where is she going?"
 * Morgahn: "Into the Desolation, to the Mouth of Torment. She seeks to unleash her dark god on the world."
 *  : "Then we will go after her."
 * Morgahn: "I would like to... join you in your hunt."
 *  : "No. That's impossible!"
 * Morgahn: "Please. My blind devotion has doomed my nation, my faith, and my soul. I must help to stop her!"
 *  : "I understand, but no."
 * Tahlkora: "Yes."
 *  : "Tahlkora?"
 * Tahlkora: "You and your friends took me in and taught me to be a hero."
 * Tahlkora: "You gave me the chance to do the right thing."
 * Tahlkora: "Can we deny him the same chance?"
 *  : "You are right, Tahlkora. General Morgahn."
 * Morgahn: "I am a general no longer. Only a man."
 *  : "Morgahn, then. You may come with us. You shall have your chance to redeem yourself."
 * Morgahn: "You will not regret it."
 *  : "We'll see about that."


 * Margonite Reaper: "The Blasphemy?"
 * Varesh Ossa: "Dead. Morgahn was more resourceful than I thought."
 * Margonite Reaper: "We should go back and slay them all!"
 * Varesh Ossa: "No. Abaddon calls me. I can feel him call me."
 * Margonite Reaper: "The world is wounded, and will be swallowed by Torment."
 * Varesh Ossa: "With Abaddon's blessing, we shall cross the sulfurous wastes and return the dark god to his throne."
 * Margonite Reaper: "Hail Abaddon!"
 * Varesh Ossa: "Hail Almighty Abaddon. This world will be yours."
 * As Nightfall stretches across Elona...
 * The Sunspears must pursue Varesh...
 * Into the wastes of the Desolation.