IntroductionEdit

The Zarosian extermination was a dramatic event of constant war, destroying entire civilisations, cities and knowledge from the Second Age. It was primarily caused by Zamorak and his followers, and later aided by Saradomin, bothof whom  wanted a portion of Zaros's vast empire for themselves. However, despite the power of their enamies, some cities, such as Senntisten managed to hold out for hundreds of years, but were eventually overwhelmed and conquered by the sheer numbers. 

Betrayal of ZarosEdit

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.

Staff of ArmadylEdit

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.

DefeatEdit

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.

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^[1]. For "usurping/banishing" a god, the other gods banished Zamorak from Gielinor. However, (according to information in While Guthix Sleeps) he somehow managed to obtaine the Stone of Jas. With it supplementing and fueling his power, he was able to Gielinor as a fully fledged god.With Zamorak's return, most of Zaros' followers abandoned their original god and sided with Zamorak. There were notable exceptions however, including the fortress city of Padewwa and the magnificent capital of Zaros' empire, Senntisten. 

The Third AgeEdit

Zamorak, through a number of unknown events, somehow was able to find the Stone of Jas, and absorbed some of its power. He then became a god himself, and years later, with his godly powers fully developed, he found himself unstoppable, even by the the Dragonkin, protectors of the Stone of Jas. Upon his return, Zamorak saught 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, helped Zamorak as well, though they turned on one another once their common enemy was defeated. Many of Zaros' remaining followers were wiped out, and many more turned to Zamorak, not wanting to be killed.

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 Azzandara, worked to restore Zaros's influence on the world, even in their god's absence. Azzanadra at some point went to Uzer, where he single handedly defeated the remanants of the Zamorakian lieutenant Thammaron's army. Thammaron himself had been gravely injured taking the city, and had retreated to his own dimension, where he perished from his wounds. Later in the war Azzanadra was trapped by combined Zamorakian and Sarominst forces in a Pyramid, and his Life Force seperated into four diamonds, which were then given for safekeeping by four powerful Zamorakian warriors.

In the meanwhile, 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 buit a temple around it, calling it the Temple of Lost Ancients. 

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 Armadylian 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.

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 preformed 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.

For the last time in History, 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 started fighting again for their godsword.

Guthixian forces joined the fray as well, not for power, but seeking to end the fighting and preserves the world. In the Go Wars Dungeon, some of them cast an enourmous freezing spell, preserving the inhabitants of the dungeon until this very day.

Eventually, the damage to the world grew so great that the world "cried out with pain," and Guthix itself woke. He cast the gods out from Gielinor, and established 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.

The Sixth AgeEdit

As Azzanadra and the Player managed to make contact with Zaros once more; and the Edicts of Guthix were broken in his name by the Staff of Armadyl in the hands Sliske, Zaros can now return to the world after about 6000 years (or 3 ages) of abandonment. It would appear however, that he still needs a host, as his previous body was destroyed when Zamorak defeated him.