Zaros, or "The Empty Lord", is an ancient and today mostly forgotten god of Gielinor. He is the divine aspect of dark energy and the opposing counterpart of the goddess Seren. He is also speculated to be the god of fate and control.
During the Second Age, Zaros reigned over a huge empire that covered at least what is today Misthalin, Asgarnia, Forinthry and the northern parts of Morytania. Amongst his followers were the demons, the vampyres, the mahjarrat and some humans. At the time, Zaros was by a significant margin the most powerful of all of the Gods, save for Guthix. The golden age of Zaros came to an end when he was betrayed by one of his generals, the mahjarrat Zamorak. This event also marked the end of the Second Age as a whole and is what ignited the God Wars.
Zaros is mostly forgotten in today's Gielinor, and almost all knowledge about him has been lost to oblivion. The few who know about him still fear him immensely, with many refusing to even speak his name out of fear for invoking his power. The handful of Zarosians still in existence are mostly hiding, with some silently plotting the return of their master.
A player meets Zaros in the Eastern Lands during the 2014 April Fools event.
'Zaros' made his first appearance in OldSchool Runescape during the 2014 April Fools event, in which players could use the Sailing skill to visit an eastern island that may be inhabited by Zaros. Upon examining him his combat level is displayed as level 9001.
History
Arrival
The approximate borders of the Zarosian Empire at its largest during the Second Age.
Zaros arrived at Gielinor during the beginning of the Second Age where he started building an empire together with his followers. At some point during this period he managed to recruit the Mahjarrat race to his service.
Betrayal
Zamorak, a Mahjarrat general under Zaros, wanted to become a god and leader of the Mahjarrat. With his close Mahjarrat followers Hazeel, Zemouregal, Lord Drakan and others, he plotted Zaros' downfall. To defeat Zaros though they needed a powerful artefact, such as the Staff of Armadyl.
Staff of Armadyl
Veldez, a faithful Saradominist, stumbled upon the Staff of Armadyl, who knew that it was a very powerful weapon and could not fall into the wrong hands. However, a thief called Rennard found Veldez, knocked him unconscious and stole the Staff. He intended to sell it to Zaros, but his messenger, Kharrim, instead took it to General Zamorak of the Mahjarrat, who was mortal during that era. Another Saradominist called Lennissa found out about the sale and gave it to a Saradominist Mage called Dhalak. Dhalak was supposed to pass it to Saradomin himself, but instead he enchanted the Staff so that Zaros could not detect it and then gave it to Zamorak so Zamorak could rebel against Zaros, thus destroying a common enemy.
Assassination
Zamorak with his close followers, including a human warrior called Viggora, dealt with Zaros' guards while Zamorak fought Zaros himself. He plunged the Staff of Armadyl into Zaros' back and wounded him. Zaros retaliated, and in the process Zamorak was impaled by the other end of the Staff.
Aftermath
Zaros faded from RuneScape while Zamorak seemed to become more real. However, before he was banished, Zaros uttered a curse unto Veldez and all those involved in the rebellion. The curse was to make them wander around Gielinor as ghosts for eternity. The following six people were affected by the curse:
- Veldez, a Saradominist
- Rennard, a seemingly Zarosian thief
- Kharrim, a Zamorakian messenger
- Lennissa, a Saradominist spy
- Dhalak, Lennisa's boss
- Viggora, a Zamorakian warrior
Zamorak was also affected by Zaros' curse, but because he became a god, he couldn't die. However, the others involved were seemingly unaffected. Viggora theorises that it was because all of Zamorak's other followers were magical and so the curse was much less effective on them. Zamorak won the rebellion in the end. After Zaros' fall the empire began to crumble with Saradominists and Zamorakians tearing the once mighty empire down resulting in erasing Zaros from history.
Religion
As Zaros was forgotten and most of all knowledge about him lost not much is actually known about him. He was known as the ruler of a great empire, followed by demons, vampyres, humans and most importantly the Mahjarrat. Originally Zaros was worshiped by a huge empire covering most of Asgarnia, Misthalin and Forinthry (now the Wilderness) with Senntisten as the capital city. The empire was however destroyed by Zamorak and Saradomin and their followers. Most traces of the Zaros religion, such as altars and temples, have been destroyed, however there are two altars remaining: one underneath the Digsite and another in Azzanadra's temple. Azzanadra and Akthanakos are the only current non-player character worshippers of Zaros (with the exception of the desert bandits). The symbol of Zaros is a circle surrounding an equidistant cross, and is found on a Sigil at the Digsite, and on the Ancient staff.
Affiliated Items
- The Ancient Staff
- The Book of Darkness
- Robes of darkness
- Ancient Rune Armour
- Ancient Dragonhide Armour
- Ancient Vestment Robes
Trivia
- Zaros's combat level is a reference to a well-known Dragon Ball meme in which Vegeta shouts "It's over 9000!" after examining Goku with his scouter devise.
- Zaros was first mentioned in the 2003 quest The Digsite.
- As Zaros is mostly forgotten, all items that are affiliated with him are referred to as "ancient", rather than "Zarosian".
- Ancient Magicks have some form of connection with Zaros; they are used almost exclusively by followers or former followers of him.
See also
| Gods |
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| Desert Gods |
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