The ancient, skeletal corpses of the Horadrim arose from archaic crypts and lumbered off into the red washed corridors beyond. Albrecht's fears were made real, and large bodies comprised of living rock erupted from the walls and bowed to their dark master. Leoric served as Diablo's original host, but stymied from fully controlling the king, Prince Albrecht was brought into the depths of the labyrinth to serve as Diablo's vessel. Thus began a series of events that would become known as the Darkening of Tristram. Sensing his chance to escape, Diablo lured Archbishop Lazarus into the catacombs beneath the cathedral, and compelled him to shatter his soulstone. The cathedral during the Darkening of Tristram However, Leoric was unaware of the catacombs that lay beneath the cathedral. Multiple potions were stockpiled as the clergy used them to treat the sick and wounded, and part of it was appropriated as a royal crypt. The cathedral was appropriated as his seat of power, and was restored to its former glory. More than two centuries after the cathedral's construction, the Zakarum lord Leoric arrived in Khanduras. As the years passed, none suspected that the cathedral which overshadowed Tristram was home to the Lord of Terror. As the town grew, other settlers and farmers came to the town. Over time, the Horadrim settled the land and founded Tristram.
Although villages grew and thrived around the shell of the old monastery, no one knew of the dark, secret passageways that stretched into the cold earth beneath it. As time passed however, the Horadrim fell into obscurity, and with their passing, the cathedral fell into ruin. As ages passed, the Horadrim constructed a network of catacombs beneath the monastery to house the earthly remains of the martyrs of their order, and also used it to store the weapons they had used during their war against the Prime Evils. Above this cave the Horadrim constructed a great monastery from which they could continue to safeguard the soulstone. After the Horadrim defeated Diablo, they buried his soulstone in a secluded cave near the River Talsande.