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"An obsidian axe wielded by the mad Sankis as he turned on his own men inside their fortress. Even as he burned to death himself, he would not stop his attacks on those he had once ruled."
This is a reference to a forum user named Sankis and his role in "Boatmurdered", a Something Awful community playthrough of the game Dwarf Fortress between 2006 and 2007. Triggering a chain of events that would end the playthrough, a defensive pool of lava outside the fortress set a wooden catapult on fire and destroyed an inscription that the dwarf and former ruler Sankis made for a statue. The latter event sent him into a fit of rage that was worsened by the smoke from the burning catapult flooding into the fortress, causing him to catch fire and become violent, beating a cow and two fellow dwarves until he died.
The Burning Axe of Sankis in-game:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4P-seY5IYes
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=--zVHx9QaTA
Video covering the events of Boatmurdered:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nI1UmlfP1Cg#t=3560s
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4P-seY5IYes
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=--zVHx9QaTA
Video covering the events of Boatmurdered:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nI1UmlfP1Cg#t=3560s
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The Corrupted Ashbringer is a reference to the legendary sword of the same name in World of Warcraft.
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It is intended to be a secret area, similar to the Secret Cow Level in Diablo II, however unlike the Cow level, it is hard to make a huge profit from the items and gold dropped. It was likely put in as a joke, because many people felt that Diablo III's early graphics were too bright and cartoony.
There is a random chance for a unicorn to spawn with one of these names: "Rainbow Western," "Midnight Sparkle," "Nightmarity" and "Nightmare is Magic," each of these are references to character names from the 2010 animated series "My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic".
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