 The Jaldraocht Pyramid, where Zamorakians imprisoned Azzanadra. | |
| Conflict | |
|---|---|
| Gielinorian God Wars | |
| Date | |
| Throughout the God Wars | |
| Place | |
| Forinthry, Mahjarrat Ritual Site, Kharidian Desert | |
| Outcome | |
| Decisive Zarosian defeat; imprisonment of Zarosian generals; destruction of most Zarosian fortresses | |
| Combatants | |
| Zarosian forces, armies of Senntisten | Armies of Zamorak, Saradomin, Bandos and Armadyl |
| Commanders | |
| Azzanadra, Nex, Wahisietel | Unknown, Malak, Kamil, Fareed, Damis |
| Strength | |
| Zarosian Mahjarrat, humans and possibly others | Zamorakian Mahjarrat, humans, Vampyres, likely others |
| Casualties | |
| Many | Many (less than Zarosians) |
| Previous battle | |
| None | |
| Next battle | |
| None | |
The Zarosian Extermination refers to a group of conflicts in the Third Age that were an attempt to destroy all evidence of the recently banished Zaros's existence.[1] It was primarily caused by Zamorak, who defeated Zaros, and his followers, as they wanted a portion of Zaros's vast empire for themselves, although Saradomin was also heavily involved, working mostly independently from Zamorak. The forces of Bandos and Armadyl later took part in the extermination too, although their role was minimal. However, despite the power of their enemies, some cities, such as Senntisten, managed to hold out for hundreds of years, but were eventually overwhelmed and conquered by the sheer numbers.
History[]
The Betrayal of Zaros[]
Zamorak, the most powerful Mahjarrat general in Zaros' service, wanted to usurp Zaros' leadership of his vast empire and the Mahjarrat. When he, by chance, got hold of the Staff of Armadyl, he decided to make his move. With his close Mahjarrat followers Hazeel and Zemouregal, as well as the vampyre Lord Drakan and others, he plotted Zaros' downfall. His allies would engage Zaros' bodyguards while Zamorak fought their liege.
One week before his plan was executed, Zamorak approached the five remaining Dragon Riders, and gave them an offer; that he would provide them what Zaros could not deliver, in exchange for two of their number joining him as personal bodyguards. Morvannon and Apropos agreed to the deal, believing that if they helped Zamorak take Zaros' place as a god, he would cure their infertility.
Valdez, a Saradominist explorer, stumbled upon the Staff of Armadyl. He realised this immensely powerful weapon should not fall into the wrong hands. However, a thief called Rennard found Valdez, knocked him unconscious and stole the Staff. He intended to sell it to Zaros. Instead, Zaros' messenger, Kharrim, took it to Zamorak, who was mortal at that time. Lennissa, a Saradominist spy, found out about the sale and informed her superior Dhalak, a Saradominist mage. Dhalak was supposed to pass the information on to Saradomin himself, but he instead enchanted the staff so that Zaros could not detect it. He hoped that Zaros, the greatest enemy of Saradomin at that time, would be defeated. He also somehow obtained the Stone of Jas, likely also using it to aid him in the conflict.
Zamorak, accompanied by his loyal followers - many of the Mahjarrat, vampyres, demons, and a human called Viggora, set out to attack Zaros in his throne room.
Zamorak approaches Zaros, wielding the Staff of Armadyl.
Whilst the followers of Zamorak distracted the guards, Zamorak fought Zaros and managed to stab him in the back with the Staff of Armadyl. This weakened Zaros, but he still seemed to be much more powerful than Zamorak. With the staff still impaled in his back he seized Zamorak by the throat and lifted him into the air. Zamorak would have been killed, but somehow Zaros stumbled and fell onto his back. After that, the Staff of Armadyl crossed Zaros' body and impaled Zamorak without leaving it. Unexpectedly, it acted as a conduit that transferred Zaros' divine power to Zamorak. To survive, Zaros left his body and his spirit vanished from Gielinor to then appear in a very distant dimension. For "usurping/banishing" a god, the other gods banished Zamorak from Gielinor. Saradomin then took the Stone of Jas from him and claimed it for himself.
The God Wars[]
As a result of his exposure to the Stone and absorbing some of Zaros's godly energy, Zamorak slowly became a god himself, and years later, with his godly powers fully developed, he returned to Gielinor, still wielding the Staff of Armadyl, in an attempt to reclaim the Stone. Upon his return, Zamorak sought out many of his former followers, and soon built an army to take over the world from the other gods. Many of Zaros' holdings, even large and prosperous cities, were soon taken over or wiped out by Zamorak. Saradomin, at that point Zaros' greatest enemy, also destroyed some of Zaros's cities, although this was done somewhat independently of Zamorak. Many of Zaros' remaining followers were wiped out, and many more turned to Zamorak, not wanting to be killed.
The Imprisonment of Nex[]
Nex, an extremely powerful Zarosian general.
Some time after Zaros's fall, Nex, a powerful Zarosian general, had gathered an army and was working to secure the Mahjarrat Ritual Plateau for the upcoming Ritual of Rejuvenation. Despite her strength, she was eventually forced by Saradominst forces into an icy cavern and trapped. The Saradominsts then built a temple around it, calling it the Temple of Lost Ancients[2].
Many years passed. At this point, Zamorak had gathered an army so powerful that it seemed nothing could stop him from achieving victory of the god wars. In response, Saradomin forged a triumvirate of gods between himself, Bandos and Armadyl, in order to discuss their battle plans. The gods reached a conclusion, and forged the godsword, a weapon powerful enough to slay a god. An army was gathered, and the Armadylean Aviantese were given the task of delivering the godsword, so that Zamorak may be destroyed once and for all.
Misfortune befell the army, and it was quickly eviscerated by the vast Zamorakian forces. An ambush was also launched on the Aviantese delivering the godsword, attempting to seize the sword. The Aviantese fought off the Zamorakians long enough to retreat into the ancient temple in the mountains. There, they continued the fight for the godsword.
Both Saradomin and Bandos sent their forces to lend the Aviantese aid, marking the arrival of armies of Saradominist knights, while representing Bandos were the Rekeshuun goblins, ogres and orks amongst other, less abundant troops. Tensions quickly arose amongst the gods, and they soon turned against each other, and what should have been a war against Zamorak soon became a quarrel for the fearsome godsword.
The chamber where Nex is imprisoned.
At some point during the battle, a group of Saradominist priests and priestesses were approached by a stranger, who told them about Guthix and how Guthix was the only hope to save the world. The priests were persuaded to turn against Saradomin and become Guthixian followers. However, when the priests and priestesses performed the ritual that they were told would wake Guthix, Nex was instead awakened and freed from her imprisonment. The stranger, who was revealed to be the Mahjarrat Sliske, killed the priests and priestesses after they had done his bidding. One of them, by the name of Ashuelot Reis, was proficient in Guthixian rituals, and was able to transform herself into a nature spirit so as to pass her story on to adventurers.
To defeat Nex, all four gods joined together to re-imprison Nex once again. They succeeded, and Nex was once again trapped behind the frozen door. After this, the four armies resumed fighting again for their godsword, where they remain to this day.[3]
Destruction of Paddewwa and capture of a Zarosian Temple[]
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This article or section contains information about a character, creature, event or location which is only featured in the FunOrb game Armies of Gielinor. |
The remains of Paddewwa.
As part of a campaign to reclaim the regions that would later become Asgarnia and Misthalin, Saradomin and his followers attacked the fortress of Paddewwa, on which Edgeville now stands. Some of the few remaining Zarosians outside of Senntisten had retreated to the fortress, and Saradomin wished to claim them as his followers[4]. In an effort to do this, he commanded an army to attack the fortress, and despite the Zarosians calling for reinforcements, he was successful, and the fortress was destroyed, although it is unknown if this was due to Saradomin's actions or the result of a later conflict.
The temple in the modern day, now abandoned and dedicated to Zamorak.
Some time later, Saradomin, Zamorak, Bandos and some Menaphites all attacked a Zarosian Temple in Forinthry in an attempt to capture it and retrieve the powerful artefacts inside[5]. All wanting the artefacts for themselves, their forces fought both each other and some of the remaining Zarosians who wished to protect the artefacts and the temple. After a long battle between the gods forces, the forces of Saradomin were victorious, and he claimed both the temple and artefacts for himself, although the temple was later abandoned, allowing the forces of Zamorak to claim it and repurpose it as a Chaos Temple.
The Imprisonment of Azzanadra and the fall of Senntisten[]
A mural depicting the fall of Zaros and the use of the Communion portal.
Senntisten, the most prosperous city of Zaros back then, survived for many centuries, trying to isolate itself from the devastated world. Within, devoted followers of Zaros, such as Azzanadra, worked to restore Zaros's influence on the world, even in their god's absence. To do this, they attempted to use a communion portal to regain contact with Zaros. Later in the war, Azzanadra was trapped by combined Zamorakian and Saradominist forces in the Jaldraocht Pyramid[6], and his Life Force separated into four diamonds, which were then given for safekeeping to four powerful Zamorakian warriors.
With both Azzanadra and Nex, two of Zaros's most powerful followers imprisoned, the forces of both Saradomin and Zamorak decided to take the opportunity to capture Zarosian capital of Senntisten, both creating armies to advance on the city. In an effort to try and save Senntisten, the Zarosian Mahjarrat Wahisietel attempted to turn the two advancing forces against each other by playing on their distrust of one another. However, he was unsuccessful with his ploy, and they continued to advance on the city, causing Dagroda, Priest-King of Senntisten, to order the Zarosian citizens to flee to the other remaining Zarosian strongholds, namely Carrallangar, Ghorrock and Dareeyak[7]. The Zamorakians then claimed the now-empty city, after a brief battle with the Saradominists, and claimed it as their own. Years later, Saradominists destroyed the now Zamorakian settlement and constructed Saranthium on its ruins.
Aftermath[]
Wahisietel, a Zarosian Mahjarrat.
Eventually, the damage to the world grew so great that the world "cried out with pain," and Guthix himself woke. He cast the gods out from Gielinor, and established a wall, known as the Edicts of Guthix, to prevent the Gods from interacting with the world in all but the slightest ways. Guthix then returned to slumber, and left the world to live in peace again.
After the Gods were banished, Wahisietel- alias 'Ali The Wise' - travelled to Ghorrock (the last remaining Zarosian fortress after the God Wars), and informed its last inhabitants how the God Wars resulted without Zaros's presence: with the gods gone, the world could live in peace again. Cities were being raised and people were slowly recovering from the terrible consequences the war had made. Zaros's remaining followers, along with other god's followers, were still forced to live without their god: only a few of the strongest and most disciplined were able to survive the God Wars, including Azzanadra, Nex and her army, Char and others.
Zaros' return[]
Azzandra reestablishes contact with his lord.
As Azzanadra and the player have managed to make contact with Zaros once more and the Edicts of Guthix were destroyed shortly after the attempt to assassinate Guthix, Zaros will soon be able to return to Gielinor to be restored in corporeal form, depending on the choices the players make in Fate of the Gods, all after about 6000 years (or 3 ages) of abandonment, distributing his plans to his close allies to further his goals as the god of control and fate in the Sixth Age.