Sliske

Sliske (pronounced SLISS-kay) was a mysterious, cunning and powerful Mahjarrat responsible for the death of the god of balance, Guthix. Although he was always loyal to Zaros, events following the death of Guthix have caused fellow Zarosians to doubt this and his dubious actions eventually led to his excommunication from the Zarosian following. He was also the first Mahjarrat to switch allegiance and follow Zaros in the Second Age, after which he became the praefectus praetorio in Senntisten. Azzanadra describes him as "Sliske the serpent-tongued, who delves the shadows" and Zemouregal calls him: "one of the more powerful of our number" and "a slippery fellow."

Sliske enjoyed using tricks and lies to manipulate others, while being elusive unless he desires to seek you himself. He also collected strong warriors and adds them to his collection as his undead wights, which he uses in battle. In 169 of the Fifth Age, he established his name permanently in the history of Gielinor when he slew Guthix using the Staff of Armadyl, ending the age abruptly and supplying himself with significant amounts of power.

Personality
Although supposedly a devout Zarosian, Sliske was very unlike his fellow Zarosian Mahjarrat. In line with his titles, Sliske is extremely cunning, confident, an excellent liar and able to betray allies at a whim. He often works towards his own goals while making his allies believe what they want. This is most evident when he turned against an allied adventurer at the 18th Rejuvenation Ritual, and even more when he pretended to agree with Wahisietel, Akthanakos and Azzanadra to wake and bargain with Guthix to return Zaros, when in reality he had somehow obtained the Staff of Armadyl, and like Saradomin and Zamorak's followers, was planning to slay the god, and managed to do so in the end.

Sliske was devious and manipulative and whatever he does, it was always for the good of Zaros or himself. Whoever of the two benefits, Sliske chose the path he deemed the most 'fun', regardless of others' opinions. For example, he took the effort of having Saradominists release Nex (a Zarosian general powerful enough to dwarf the other generals inside the God Wars Dungeon) rather than doing it himself, enjoying how they would summon their allies' own doom. Sliske was devoutly Zarosian, regarding the Zamorakians as stupid and misguided. Nevertheless, he was willing to agree with a Zarosian sacrifice at rituals, should that be necessary. At the 18th ritual, Sliske agreed to have Lucien sacrifice Jhallan, his once powerful but now weakened Zarosian ally, although he did join the other Zarosians in protecting him and fighting the Zamorakians.

As suggested by the fellow Mahjarrat's comments, Sliske has been proven to be quite intelligent and very cunning, and he is very aware of how he is regarded. His "serpent-tongued qualities" seem to be similar to the abilities of the ring of Charos. Azzanadra states that "too many would assume this to be just his manner of speaking – he is far from being a snake. Rather, his words carry weight in the mind, and have a way of bending the weak to his will". He has also stated that "power is fleeting, and Sliske always gets what he wants out of deals; I’d advise, should you ever meet him, not to make deals with him." This has been evident many times in history; when Sliske tricked a few Saradominists into releasing their dreaded enemy Nex, when he claimed the souls of the Barrows Brothers, when he attempted to get a new wight at the 18th Ritual, and when he pretended to agree with the other Zarosians to not kill Guthix, for example.

Despite his playful yet devious demeanour, Sliske has at least once shown he has a temper. During the events of the quest Kindred Spirits Sliske uses the Staff of Armadyl to drain part of the World Guardian's soul. While doing so he realises that the player has discovered his grand plan. Driven into a psychotic rage he beats the player nearly to death with his own fists.

Abilities
Not much is known of Sliske's powers. He is known for "delving the shadows" and having "powers over shadows", as Zemouregal mentioned in his notes. Sliske's "power over shadows" is noted to be very useful by Azzanadra, who states that "Not many of our kind are able to reach into the Shadow Realm, but of those who can, Sliske’s mastery is unmatched." Azzanadra has also said of Sliske, "An ally he may be, but I did not become master of my Lord's legions without being sure of the powers wielded by those close to me. Sliske is one whose actions can be seen each and every day in the smallest of this world's details." Sliske's powers were greatly enhanced after he killed Guthix and obtained the Stone of Jas at the start of the Sixth Age, achieving a similar level of power to that of the World Guardian.

Sliske has great control over the undead, as he is the stranger described in The Fall of Six who granted the Barrows Brothers their abilities and reanimated their spirits; the stranger in the tale is described as "delving into the shadows at [the camp's] edge". Azzanadra states that "Sliske himself did not kill his Barrows toys, but it was the power he granted them that sealed their fate." This is true, for the brothers died naturally before Sliske claimed them for his collection. It seems Sliske only controls specific warriors of whom he thinks are worthy of becoming his slaves, unlike Zemouregal, who takes any zombie as his servant, and trains them later.

Aside from his power over his wights, the ability to convert new warriors to wights and his hitherto unrivalled mastery of the Shadow Realm (although it is rumoured that Zaros has an even better grasp on it). Although he did slay Guthix, Elder Weapons do not seem to require sufficient experience to be used, as was proven with Guthix's stabbing of Skargaroth, the former of whom, at the time, was nothing but a mere craftsman or farmer with no experience in battle whatsoever. In fact, it appears Sliske tries to avoid direct confrontations whenever possible. After the God Wars had begun, Sliske disappeared and when he later emerged during the Battle for the Godsword, he took the effort to gather Saradominists to release Nex instead of doing it himself, likely because he deemed it the most fun way to accomplish his goal. Nevertheless, it can be assumed that Sliske, being a Mahjarrat and quite a powerful one too, is very proficient at combat and has great magical skill. Sliske's combat abilities can finally be seen during the events of Sliske's Endgame, and he is proven to be a formidable adversary to the World Guardian.

Arrival to Gielinor
Like the other Mahjarrat, Sliske was born on Freneskae, a planet of perpetual warfare, along with many other tribes of the Dreams of Mah. Here, he and the other Mahjarrat would live to survive the elements and the destructive power of the legendary "Mother Mah", an Elder God that created their race and whom they would prevent from wreaking havoc on Freneskae through the Rituals of Rejuvenation and Enervation that Seren taught them while impersonating her, although at least one Mahjarrat regarded her as a mere myth and the rituals as superstitious traditions. Due to the constant conflict with neighbouring tribes such as the Mahserrat as well as the frequent sacrifices at the Rituals, the Mahjarrat tribe never counted more than a few hundred members and was ruled.

In the Second Age of Gielinor, however, the two demi-gods Icthlarin and Amascut travelled to Freneskae in order to recruit the Mahjarrat to fight the Zarosian invaders of their homeland, the Kharidian Empire, in the Kharidian - Zarosian War. Some Mahjarrat opposed the proposal while others agreed to go, causing a large battle to break out. Both Azzanadra and Temekel - two of the strongest Mahjarrat at the time - argued that the Mahjarrat should go with Icthlarin. Sliske was quite happy to leave Freneskae, as he considered it an extremely boring place with nothing to do. Eventually, after the death of Salisard and the sacrifice of Abrogal, Sliske and the others in favour of travelling to Gielinor emerged victoriously and the entire Mahjarrat tribe accompanied the two gods to Gielinor. There, Sliske aided the Menaphite warriors in driving back the Zarosian army, with success. During this time, they were known as the Stern Judges of Icthlarin.

He was described by Gram Kobold, a mercenary for the Menaphites at the time, as being dangerous and untrustworthy, yet Kobold felt a connection with him. Sliske fought with immense pleasure, constantly moving through the Shadow Realm to surprise his Zarosian opponents before quickly killing them and resurrecting them as undead wights. On one occasion, he saved Kobold from the blade of a Zarosian scout, put his finger to his lips, grinned and disappeared, leaving the mercenary in awe. Soon, however, Sliske's methods began to displease Icthlarin, especially because he kept dead warriors from moving to the afterlife, using them as his slaves instead. After the Zarosians were repelled from the desert, Icthlarin requested for Sliske hand over his wights, and when he refused, he took all of Sliske's wights by force and released their souls.

Serving Zaros
Due to the aforementioned feud with Icthlarin, he approached the Zarosian legate, a Chthonian demon named Duke Ceres, and made arrangements to desert the Menaphites and join Zaros. He convinced most of the other Mahjarrat to join him, and they convened at the fortress of Kharid-et, where they met Zaros and joined him after he showed understanding of their ways. Sliske and the other Mahjarrat soon emerged from the fortress, joining arms with the Zarosians, proceeding to slaughter the retreating Menaphite armies. The god Tumeken, father of Icthlarin and Amascut, swiftly interfered by sacrificing himself, his armies and half of his empire to repel the Zarosians; he used his powers of fire to create a massive explosion, turning half of the empire into a desert wasteland as well as obliterating his own army and most of the Zarosian one. Of the approximately five hundred Mahjarrat present, less than a fifth survived the explosion due to Azzanadra, who quickly erected a magical barrier as protection. Sliske was amongst those to survive and join the remainder of the Zarosians on the march to Forinthry.

He was given the rank of Praefectus Praetorio in the Zarosian empire, effectively making him the head of Senntisten's secret police. Here, he had nearly limitless power, with another Mahjarrat known as Trindine serving under him, and few dared to question him. At some point, Sliske wrote and performed a play for Senntisten's elite, including demons and powerful humans merchants and bureaucrats. Before the play, Sliske would take 'unwanted' humans from the city streets, dress them with brightly coloured costumes and fit them with crude wooden masks. These masks would speak aloud and control the adventurers' movements, causing them to perform Sliske's play jerkily, able only to watch themselves carry out these actions, powerless to resist. The climax of the play often saw the adventurers forced to stab each-other to death with their weapons, though in one particularly memorable showing one 'actor' died mid-way through the performance - in response, Sliske's masks continued to control the corpse as if it were alive, and the show continued. Sliske's play was immensely popular with the crowds and was performed a dozen times until Sliske himself grew bored and moved on to another pet project.

Not a lot is known about Sliske's actions during the fall of Zaros, when Zaros's general Zamorak started a rebellion which ended with Zaros vanished and Zamorak becoming a god himself, save that when Zamorak struck, Sliske was 'elsewhere'. Zamorak and Saradomin attempted to capture and convert everything and everyone that remained of the Empty Lord's empire throughout the God Wars, which Zamorak had declared in an attempt to reclaim the Stone of Jas. This Zarosian Extermination proved mostly successful, seeing that nearly all Zarosian settlements fell or were captured and most of his followers switched sides, went into hiding (Sliske among these) or were slaughtered. While Sliske did not actively participate in the wars, unlike allies such as Azzanadra or Wahisietel, he certainly did have involvement in them, and is known to have done a number of things in them, mostly to further the Zarosian cause.

Morytania Campaign
Some time after his aid in the coup of Zaros, vampyre overlord Lowerniel Vergidiyad Drakan took up the plan to conquer Hallowland and claim it as his own, after which Drakan invaded the country with his army of vampyres. The defending Icyene put up a good fight, but the country eventually fell. When Drakan reached the capital Hallowvale, where humans and Icyene lived in peace, he managed to kidnap their queen's husband Ascertes, forcing Queen Efaritay to surrender and give up the city. Drakan gave power to an already strong vampyre named Vanstrom Klause to find the last Icyene of Hallowland, Efaritay's son Safalaan, and renamed the city Meiyerditch. Soon, he turned the city into a ghetto where humans were farmed for blood and the entire continent was permanently covered in dark clouds. Its once pristine environment became a haunted swamp, infested with ferocious monsters.

A Saradominist campaign was launched at the end of the God Wars (one of several in history that attempted to liberate the Sanguinesti region, the area from which Drakan ruled), consisting of an army of several thousand mercenaries and warriors, in an attempt to reclaim "Morytania" in the name of Saradomin. They were led by six brothers, each very adept at their branch of combat. Sliske appeared before them as the campaign was about to set off, disguised once again, and granted them great powers. The campaign advanced, albeit with difficulty. After one last stop at the Barrows, the army reached the walls of the capital Darkmeyer and Castle Drakan. Sliske then appeared before the six brothers, Ahrim, Dharok, Guthan, Karil, Torag and Verac, and spoke to them. He told them that he had given them power so that they could serve their god, but now, it was time for them to serve his own. The brothers all subsequently died the next night and were interred under barrows just outside Darkmeyer, ending their campaign. Sliske raised the brothers as his undead minions and tasked them with guarding a precious Zarosian artefact. Drakan had suffered a blow, but due to the brothers' deaths, the campaign failed and the vampyres turned out victorious.

Sliske then proceeded to fulfil an assignment for his ally Azzanadra, who had been imprisoned in Jaldraocht pyramid after fruitlessly attempting to restore communication with Zaros. Sliske took an ancient artefact and concealed it within the Barrows crypts, ordering his wights to guard it. The artefact was an icon that absorbed prayer energy and Azzanadra figured he would later need it. The Barrows Brothers did a good job, as the icon was never stolen until Azzanadra later ordered its retrieval.

Release of Nex
As the purge of Zaros' followers reached its peak, the last army of Zaros was trying to secure the location of the Mahjarrat ritual stone when they were attacked by Saradominists. Zaros' forces were led by the devastating creature Nex. The Saradominists had no hope of defeating such a strong force, so with great effort they drove Zaros' army back into a cave where they were sent into an enchanted sleep, after which the cave was sealed. Saradomin then erected the Temple of Lost Ancients around it. As even Zaros's most powerful champion, Azzanadra, fell to the forces of Zamorak and Saradomin, and the settlements of Zaros fell one by one, Sliske did what he did best and went into hiding.

Towards the end of the God Wars, a small flock of Armadyl's Aviantese followers were ambushed by a much larger group of demons that Zamorak had sent. The Aviantese carried the "Godsword", an exceptionally powerful weapon imbued with the power of a deity. Unable to repel the attack, the Aviantese fled into the very same temple, unaware of what it covered. Forces from all sides soon arrived, and the Battle for the Godsword erupted.

Sliske, seizing the opportunity, disguised himself as a follower of Guthix and used his manipulating influence on a group of Saradominists. He told them that Guthix was an almighty god, the only one powerful enough to stop the war (which, some time later, turned out to be true) and that a ritual had to be performed to awake Guthix from his slumber. The priests, amongst whose number was Ashuelot Reis, converted to Guthixianism and performed the ritual. To their horror, the ritual instead unlocked the seal Saradomin had placed, thus opening the Ancient Prison, as had been the Mahjarrat's intention. Nex and her forces were free, and caused huge losses amongst all sides. Sliske slipped away again, his work done.

Unbeknownst to Sliske, all four forces (those of Zamorak, Armadyl, Saradomin and Bandos) united for the only time in history to drive back the Zarosians. Eventually, they succeeded and they sealed the army of Nex behind a frozen door. Its key was smashed into four pieces, one to be guarded by each faction. Their common threat defeated, the factions once again broke into fighting one another. Ashuelot saw the error of her ways and became a nature spirit in the icy prison, ready to warn people for the atrocities ahead should they ever breach the frozen door.

When the God Wars were brought to an end by Guthix's large campaign and subsequent banishment of the gods with the Edicts of Guthix, the god of balance ordered a powerful mage, Aeternam, to freeze the temple in time, causing Nex and all others to enter a magical sleep.

During the Fourth Age
In the early Fourth Age, Gregorovic met Sliske in the Barrows crypt, informing him that the illness he was afflicted with was soon to take his life. He explained that he attempted to experiment with kidnapped Cywir elves to discover their secrets to elven long lives but failed to find it. He then pleaded with Sliske for help, agreeing to whatever Sliske desired as long as he could have eternal life. Sliske killed him on the spot, and then reanimated him in the Mort Myre swamp as an undead creature with a terrible hunger. Sliske informed him that his body would have to be sustained by consuming of other creatures, and that the more powerful the creatures that he consumes, the more powerful he would become by consuming them. Initially shocked by the change, Gregorovic came to embrace it, and agreed to faithfully serve Sliske from then on.

18th Ritual of Rejuvenation
Sliske, as always, arrived to the Ritual in 169 of the Fifth Age shortly after Lucien. He revealed himself to the present adventurer as the individual who had been keeping The Barrows Brothers trapped as vengeful spirits. He appeared at Ghorrock for the Ritual of Rejuvenation just at the time the adventurer, whom he had been following for a while, Wahisietel, Sir Tiffy Cashien and a battalion of Temple Knights were about to fight Lucien and his forces, and joined the fight against Lucien, aiding in defeating the powerful Ice Demons that he summoned.

When the Ritual commenced, Sliske went along with Lucien's suggestion that the fellow Zarosian Jhallan should be sacrificed because he had become the weakest of their kind. When the decision was about to be made, Wahisietel demanded that Lucien had to be the one sacrificed due to the danger he posed to Gielinor, starting a fight between the Zarosian and the Zamorakian Mahjarrat. During the fight, Sliske summoned the Barrows Brothers once more to fight off Zemouregal's followers, starting with Armoured Zombies and ending with Zemouregal's second-in-command, Sharathteerk. Zemouregal summoned Arrav to keep Sliske and his wights at bay, but the adventurer broke Arrav's curse using the latter's heart and the hero of Varrock proceeded to send a flurry of attacks at Zemouregal. Unable to withstand both Arrav's and Azzanadra's attacks, Zemouregal begged Lucien for help, but after his cousin simply ignored him, he realised Wahisietel had been right and prompted all Mahjarrat to turn on Lucien. They agreed and both Zarosians and Zamorakians focused their attacks on the aspiring god.

After the Ritual was completed and Jhallan was sacrificed, Azzanadra summoned the power of Zaros, severely damaging Lucien in the process. Enraged, Lucien brought in and touched the Stone of Jas in attempt to use its power to punish the opposing Mahjarrat. However, the Dragonkin were summoned and they killed Lucien after a short but intense brawl. After witnessing Lucien's death, most of the Mahjarrat teleported away, terrified by the Dragonkin but satisfied by the outcome of the Ritual. Sliske was one of the two Mahjarrat that did not teleport away (the other being Wahisietel). Instead, impressed by the adventurer's power, Sliske remained to attempt to claim them as a new addition to his collection, but failed as the priest Akrisae saved them by jumping in front of the spell that Sliske had cast. Akrisae was then turned into a wight called Akrisae the Doomed and Sliske teleported away with his new minion, commenting that he would do for now, before Sir Tiffy could attack him.

Hunt for the Dragonkin
After the ritual, Sliske went in pursuit of the Dragonkin trio and found out that one of them, Strisath, had been assigned to guard the shaft of the Staff of Armadyl. Upon spotting the Mahjarrat, Strisath charged at him, holding the staff. However, this led him right into Sliske's trap for the Dragonkin in the Shadow Realm and the Dragonkin was immediately captured by him. Sliske proceeded to repair the staff by attaching another orb made from shards beneath the ritual plateau before turning his attention to his prisoner again.

Now in possession of the Staff of Armadyl, Sliske's powers and characteristic traits were amplified, causing him to gain a deeper desire for the treacherous plots he considers "fun".

Discovery of Guthix's retreat


Later, Sliske disguised himself as a shadowed figure to do some reconnaissance around Gielinor and to follow the adventurer. He could be found around the Grand Exchange, the entrance to the God Wars Dungeon, and near the ruins by the Legends' Guild. Some time afterwards, an archaeologist from Varrock Museum, Orlando Smith, discovered an ancient Guthixian site in Kandarin. Thinking it may be the resting place of Guthix himself, a location that many Mahjarrat had looked for a long time after the end of the God Wars, Sliske quickly formed a plan of action to find Guthix and undo his edicts. Azzanadra, Wahisietel and Akthanakos also became aware of this and decided to attempt and negotiate Zaros' return with Guthix once they would have reached him, for there would be much to learn from such an ancient being and it would be more beneficial to have only their god return. Sliske, though initially disagreeing, seemingly went along with the plan. Despite Wahisietel's reminders of Sliske's cunning nature, Azzanadra put his full trust in him.

When Orlando enlisted the adventurer's help to explore the dungeon (the adventurer strangely being able to open the ancient door), they accidentally set off the alarm system of the cavern, unbeknownst to them also awakening Guthix. After Orlando was slain by three automatons, which are part of the security system, thinking he was a Mahjarrat, Sliske presented himself, pretending to be Guthix. The adventurer did not believe this however, and Sliske revealed his true identity, explaining why the automatons had traced a Mahjarrat lifeform. He stated that his intention was to find Guthix and negotiate Zaros' return with him and not killing him, which is what other gods' followers were looking for. He explained that they were standing in Guthix's resting place and that triggering the alarm was sensible all over the world. He predicted that many other creatures were about to storm in, eager to reach Guthix and kill him to return their own god. As such, he advised that the adventurer side with the Zarosians, who would not kill Guthix, while pretending to side with the Guthixians (who would want to protect Guthix, obviously) to reach him first. When asked why Sliske should be trusted, he simply replied he shouldn't be.

After that, he concealed them in the Shadow Realm, and they visited the Wilderness Crater, where the sword Guthix had slammed into the ground when declaring his edicts was pulsating red light. Sliske explained that the sword had been activated when the alarm was triggered and that it is communicating with all the stone circles - include the Zamorakian one near Varrock. They then spied on Zemouregal and Sharathteerk in the former's fortress, seeing Zemouregal finding out that Guthix's cave has been discovered as some dark wizards reported to him that their stone circle was crying out with pain. They moved on to the entrance of the God Wars Dungeon and noticed Commander Zilyana flying off towards the cave to return Saradomin. As they returned to the cave, the ground began shaking when Zilyana, Kree'arra and K'ril Tsutsaroth stormed in, in their attempt to assassinate Guthix, to which Sliske teleported away, advising the adventurer to try not to die. He then proceeded to the Ancient Prison and released Nex, while Azzanadra travelled to notify Char.

As the adventurer defeated Kree'arra and ventured further into the cave, allying themselves with the Guardians of Guthix and other important Guthixians, they arrived in the central chamber when all factions attacked at once. A mighty battle erupted and, after dealing with General Graardor, K'ril Tsutsaroth, Zemouregal and Enakhra (all come to return Bandos and Zamorak respectively) Zilyana appeared with her army and killed the Guardian of Guthix Cres, thinking him to be Guthix. Having secretly followed the Saradominists, the powerful Zarosians (Sliske excluded) swarmed the room and after a tense discussion, while no one payed attention, Sliske betrayed his faction and the adventurer, broke into the last chamber and quickly killed Guthix with the legendary Staff of Armadyl, proving his allies' trust misplaced. Even Azzanadra was surprised by Sliske's act, despite earlier warnings of Wahisietel not to believe that Sliske would not kill Guthix.

It later became known that Sliske acquired some power from Guthix. Sliske's allies at this point stated with much security that such betrayal is normal for Sliske and that he was loyal to Zaros. Additionally, the other Zarosian Mahjarrat believe that he has not achieved godhood by killing Guthix, which eventually turned out to be true.

Sliske's Grand Ascendancy
Some time after the death of Guthix, Sliske managed to use the staff to discover the connection between Strisath and the Stone of Jas, allowing him to pinpoint its location. Depending on the coordinate the adventurer had had in mind after the ritual, Sliske found the Stone either beneath the Barrows, on the bottom of the Crandor sea, underneath Trollheim, underneath the Temple of Lost Ancients or in the cave where he had killed Guthix. He kept his possession of both Elder Artefacts a well guarded secret.

Having learnt of the Dragonkin's wrath due to the events at the 18th ritual, Sliske did not use the stone to empower himself any further. Instead, he found out it could also be used to transfer knowledge only, and by doing so he saw visions of Saradomin, V, and Lucien, among others, using it.

His power greater than ever and possibly in possession of the two most powerful Elder Artefacts, Sliske decided to host a game amongst the gods returning to RuneScape after the death of Guthix when he was ordered by Zaros himself to create a distraction for his return. To this end, he captured the Empyrean Citadel in the sky, where the aviantese of Armadyl once held court. He took it over with his wights and transformed the throne room into a stage for himself with podiums for several gods to stand on. He began planning his "Grand Ascendancy", an event at which he would announce his ascension to godhood to the gods.

Soon after the end of the cataclysmic Battle of Lumbridge, Sliske set his plans in motion. He knew Armadyl would attend because he had conquered his citadel and Zamorak would not miss an event wherein another Mahjarrat would follow his path and invited them without expecting any protests. He also assured Bandos' attendance by promising him war and the presence of his fellow gods. Additionally, he invited Zaros, Guthix (symbolically, being his murderer), Marimbo and Brassica Prime, although only the latter would attend in person. Next, he set up a plot involving the murders of several Saradominist monks and Serenist elves and made it seem as if elves had slain the monks and Saradominists the elves, thus assuring the attendance of Saradomin, who travelled to the citadel to confront Seren. The crystal goddess was absent, however, having shattered herself after the God Wars. Although Zaros was not corporeally present, a purple haze did appear above his podium. Additionally, the gods took some of their followers with them, all of whom were denied access to the throne room by the Barrows Brothers and Akrisae, including Sliske's Zarosian Mahjarrat allies, to their great dismay. Finally, Sliske needed to ascertain the presence of his nemesis Icthlarin, god of the dead, and to accomplish this he kidnapped Harold Death, reaper of souls.

This kidnapping rendered the souls of the dead unable to pass on to the Grim Underworld and so Icthlarin began an investigation as to what had happened to his colleague while Harold's helpers would attempt to fulfil his duty during his absence. While doing this, Icthlarin joined forces with aforementioned adventurer, who was investigating the murders of Saradominists and Serenists. When they noticed Icthlarin's arrival, wights to whom Sliske had assigned his task emerged from the ground and attacked, leaving an invitation box upon defeat, which contained Icthlarin's invitation. Although the god realised it was another of Sliske's tricks, he and his companion were forced to go to the citadel to rescue Death. The adventurer began searching for him, while Icthlarin entered the throne room.

A heated discussion immediately sparked up between the gods, with Icthlarin desperately attempting to convince them of Sliske's manipulative and devious nature. As the adventurer reached the end of Sliske's puzzles and received an invitation to the event rather than finding Death, Sliske himself arrived as well. He presented Death in a cage, and Strisath in another before revealing the ascendancy had been a ruse, announcing his possession of the Stone of Jas and declaring a contest: he promised he would give the Stone to whoever would manage to kill the most deities by the next solar eclipse. The shocked gods responded in various ways when Sliske released Strisath and tossed the adventurer the key to Death's cage before retreating into the Shadow Realm. Strisath, a necrosyrte, immediately gave in to his rage and began firing dragonfire at the various false users around the room, prompting all the gods, save Brassica and Icthlarin, to teleport to safety. The adventurer managed to release Death, who retrieved his scythe and teleported himself and his two companions away. Afterwards, Strisath caused some destruction around the citadel before leaving as well. Only Brassica Prime remained on his podium, although it seems he was oblivious to the events that had transpired, thinking the ascendancy to be a tribute to himself and enjoying the feeling of his podium's cushion against his leaves.

As it would transpire, the true purpose of the ascendancy was to serve as a diversion for Zaros. With the other gods preoccupied with Sliske's 'tournament', Zaros could now return unnoticed and unchallenged, as he had planned.

Sliske's current whereabouts remain unknown. The gods intend to participate in his contest in their quest for power, be it voluntarily or not. Some time after the Ascendancy, a large battle broke out between Bandos and Armadyl, the former aiming to win the Stone, the latter to stop his arch nemesis. The Mahjarrat himself at one point began experimenting with his power by torturing and manipulating the minds of the Barrows Brothers, amplifying their powers immensely.

A short while later, a number of men, women, wizards and witches began to follow Sliske's ideals, presumably learning of him through Relomia, and sought to turn the Godless against the other factions during the battle between Bandos and Armadyl that broke out after the Ascension. Others would play a little "game" before giving one of the factions a set of Golem parts.

Return of Zaros and Excommunication
Sliske was later enlisted by Azzanadra to pull the World Gate out of the Shadow Realm and allow Zaros to return to Gielinor. Sliske informs the adventurer about how to repair the World Gate and helps in returning it to the material realm. While in the Shadow Realm, Sliske attempted to poison the adventurer's mind by telling them that they could harm or stop Zaros' return if they needed to. Should the adventurer die several times on Freneskae, Sliske will tease the adventurer on them.

When Zaros finally returned to Gielinor, he gathered his loyal followers, along with Sliske. Due to his recent events, Zaros decided to excommunicate him, and Sliske angrily tells the adventurer that Zaros' protection will wear off soon, much to the adventurer's confusion.

Later, the adventurer encountered Sliske again in the Empyrean Citadel, and Sliske promises to answer one of their questions. He revealed that he did not, in fact, ascend to godhood by killing Guthix and confirmed his possession of the Stone of Jas when asked, although he stated that he has used it sparingly, in order to avoid the wrath of the Dragonkin. When asked whose idea it was to kill Guthix, he admitted it was his own; not Zaros', and when asked what his plans were, he revealed that he intended to allow the second God Wars to continue, taking a back seat in the events- he claimed to keep the few promises he does make, meaning that he will continue to aid Zaros through the distraction provided by his tournament, despite his excommunication.

Finally, he rewarded the world guardian with a 'gift', the ability to see into the Shadow Realm without the ring of visibility, as he wishes for them to see him coming in future.

Zamorak's Heist
Sliske was watching the Empyrean Citadel in the Shadow Realm, noticing Moia talking with the adventurer about a heist. After she departed, he dragged the adventurer into the Shadow Realm and asked them what they would do; help Zamorak, sabotage him or say nothing. If the adventurer decided to sabotage Zamorak, Sliske becomes pleased, while if they support or refuse to tell him, is disappointed in them. After the short conversation, he sends the adventurer off.

With Zamorak's heist team prepared, they enter Sliske's caverns where he is hiding the Stone of Jas. They get through his security measures and hordes of wights when he awaits them. He laughs when Moia is shocked that she did not sense or see him, then defending her by stating that her human ancestry made her harder to track. To protect the Stone, he sends his elite wights and shadow clones of the heist team in battle, while he sent a Foreshadow against the adventurer in the Shadow Realm.

Despite his overwhelming forces, his elite wights are taken down by Nomad while his shadow clones are defeated by the adventurer after the Foreshadow is killed. After Nomad's betrayal, Sliske incapacitates all of the heist members except the adventurer with shadow magic and has a short conversation with Zamorak before he attacks him.

Depending on the adventurer's choice again, they may help Sliske, help Zamorak or stay neutral. If the adventurer helps Sliske, after the two launch an attack on Zamorak, Sliske grabs the adventurer with him into the Shadow Realm, pleased with their actions. If the adventurer helps Zamorak or stays neutral, Sliske is hit by an attack from Zamorak before running into the Shadow Realm with the Stone.

Siege on Nomad
Sliske appears after Nomad's defeat and the death of Gielinor at the hands of either Icthlarin or Death, inviting its killer and the World Guardian to his contest. Regardless of whether the adventurer spares or kills Nomad, Sliske will teleport him away.

God Scoreboard
As a mockery of Guthix's Sword of Edicts, and to get people talking about on his "game", Sliske dropped the God Scoreboard into the middle of the Grand Exchange. The Scoreboard would be updated any time a God died, or an important battle occurred. Winners would then appear to move up the board, or be added. If a God died, then they were removed from the board, with a mask of their symbol tossed to the ground.

Adventurers could locate 50 Sliskelion pieces in the course of their combat or skilling, and return them to the scoreboard for a reward every week.

Battle For The Heart
Sometime after Nomad's Elegy, Sliske heard of an anima source in the Heart. He sent Gregorovic, one of his minions, along with groups of his followers to claim it in his name.

Sliske and the Chocolate Factory
Sliske is the antagonist of the 2016 Easter event, where he turns the Empyrean Citadel into a chocolate factory. He invites five guests: Wendy, Gilly Willikers, Farmer Jimbo, Farquie the Cleaner and the adventurer on a tour. He gives them a tour of the factory with his Barrows wights and explains how he makes and prepares chocolate, in addition to a special fizzy drink.

The Easter Bunny is suspicious of his motives and tells the adventurer to dispose of the others in a way that they would not be suspected, which they do. At the end of the tour, Sliske already knew of their motives and reveals that he had recovered the other guests and gave them his chocolate, turning them into wights. The adventurer saves them and confronts Sliske in his office, where he reveals the chocolate factory was just a way to test an experiment without arousing suspicion, before teleporting out.

After he leaves, the Easter Bunny gives the adventurer an everlasting gobstopper, which Sliske made for unknown reasons, although it is harmless.

Opening Rifts to the Shadow Realm
Sliske took control of a former ZMI mage named Janus, and began working with him to open a Large Rift near Draynor Manor and a number of smaller rifts appearing at random around Gielinor.

Janus' former associate Zumblefloof and a number of adventurers used the power of Summoning or Runecrafting to close the portals.

Kidnappings
Sometime after opening rifts to the Shadow Realm, Sliske concocted another scheme to get the adventurer to participate in his games.

With the use of his shadow magic and an elaborate dragonkin disguise, Sliske had several items robbed from various Varrock businesses before kidnapping Major Mary Rancour. Sliske pretended to have been kidnapped by the Dragonkin also and waited for the adventurer in a dragonkin jail. After the adventurer broke out of their cell, Sliske revealed it to be a simple ruse to get the player.

After leaving through the door, Sliske explained that he was playing a game, giving the Barrows brothers some of their memories back at the cost of being tortured through his "games". To ensure that the adventurer would be forced to play, he kills Brother Samwell, threatening to kill the other hostages if the adventurer refused to play.

The adventurer played through his games, first freeing Dharok from the fighting pits, then Ahrim from the maze. When they arrived to help Verac, the adventurer grabbed the Saradomin key from his chest. When the Saradomin statue collapsed, the adventurer found a secret room and decided to investigate it. Linza and the other hostages covered some of the masks to ensure that Sliske would be unaware of the adventurer's whereabouts when they reached the next area.

At the final area of the game, Sliske wondered where the player was. When Meg failed to impersonate the player's personality, Sliske became enraged and entered the room to find out where they were. The adventurer then arrived, and Sliske prepared to "give" the Staff of Armadyl to them. However, Sliske used it to drain some of their soul instead, and suddenly realised that the adventurer had snooped around and discovered his true plans. It is shown during the adventurer's snooping that Sliske is serving an unknown master.

Enraged, Sliske brutally pummelled the adventurer senseless up close and personal. After he was done, he reveals to them that Linza had betrayed them and that she had gone to him for protection from the Dragonkin due to her stealing their smithing arts and materials. He later double crosses Linza and forcefully converts her into a wight. Sliske orders the wights to attack them, but the Barrows brothers refuse to. Sliske then uses a spell to collapse the vault to bury the adventurer and the hostages alive, but they manage to escape in time.

Rejuvenation
Sliske appears in the quest Children of Mah, though only as a flashback in Kharshai's memory, where he is seen talking with another Mahjarrat, Trindine.

When the other Mahjarrat arrive at the Ritual Marker, Akthanakos realises that Sliske is not present among them, and presumes that he might have found his own solution. Considering that Sliske would have felt the drain of his power, he probably used the Stone of Jas to recover any lost energy.

"Death"
Sliske appears in the quest Sliske's Endgame as the primary antagonist during the quest. He subjects the adventurer and the Gods to a game for his own enjoyment. He later goes on to fight the adventurer. Eventually the adventurer activates their World Guardian powers and defeats Sliske, stabbing him with the staff of Armadyl, but not before he forces the other end into them, transferring some sort of essence to them and has the last laugh. It is later learned from Jas that Sliske was her agent on Gielinor.

Godhood
There was much debate as to whether Sliske had achieved godhood after his slaying of Guthix. This is now known to be false; he absorbed a significant amount of power, but did not ascend.

Guthix himself achieved his godhood by slaying the ancient god Skargaroth with one of the Elder Artefacts, transferring Skargaroth's power to Guthix in a similar way to how Zamorak would become a god. This suggested that Sliske's fate may have been of similar nature. His claim to have obtained the Stone of Jas made this even more likely, if true. Azzanadra, however, states that, while the killing of Guthix may have changed Sliske, he is strongly convinced that Sliske is not intent on achieving godhood, although Wahisietel is unsure. This does not mean he hasn't received any godly powers from Guthix after his slaying. Sliske himself held a party in the Empyrean Citadel, claiming it to be his "Grand Ascendancy", although this was merely a ruse to attract the gods, and he refused to say whether he actually was a god or not, saying that "it's fun to keep you all guessing."

Nevertheless, he is still believed to be a god by Relomia, an Ardougnese housemaid who somehow managed to get stuck in the Shadow Realm and claims to have been rescued by Sliske, now proclaiming "Sliske's ways" as his emissary, and players are able to follow him as one of the factions in the aforementioned emissaries. She is strongly convinced of Sliske's being a god and even made a symbol for him, although she is fairly uninformed. His symbol resembles a green mask of Sliske's face, referencing Sliske's habit for deception and his collection of sentient masks. Sliske himself describes Relomia as a "lovely girl", though needy, and her followers as "his groupies" and her "little fan club".

Icthlarin
Sliske was never favoured by the god of the dead due to his methods of converting the Zarosian invaders into semi-undead wights. Sliske was allowed to continue as long as the war lasted, however, for the sake of protecting the Kharidian Lands at all costs. Their relationship was permanently damaged when Icthlarin released all of the wights' souls to the Grim Underworld after the Kharidian - Zarosian War. This led to Sliske offering his and the other Stern Judges' services to Zaros and thus abandoning Icthlarin and the Menaphite Pantheon. Even now, Sliske holds a grudge against Icthlarin for what he seems to think of as 'betrayal' by 'stealing' his minions and the god seems to be the person Sliske would like to see suffer the most. At the Ascension, Sliske almost killed Icthlarin by knocking him off his feet with a spell before unleashing a Dragonkin upon him, but he was rescued by his acquaintance Harold Death.

Azzanadra
While Azzanadra and Sliske have long been close allies - with Azzanadra having known Sliske for his entire life - they have quite different views on how to handle situations. A notable difference is Azzanadra's loyalty to his companions and to Zaros, whereas Sliske will not hesitate to turn against the former at a whim. Additionally, Sliske always seeks a profit for himself in a situation. Nevertheless, the two have worked together on various occasions. For example, just before Azzanadra was imprisoned in Jaldraocht, he gave a powerful artefact to an ally almost certainly known to be Sliske for safekeeping, knowing it would be key in reestablishing contact with Zaros. Seemingly seeing the importance of this, Sliske heeded this request and his wights have guarded the item faithfully for many centuries, until Azzanadra was released and ordered the retrieval of the artefact soon after.

It seems, however, that, while Azzanadra is more than aware of Sliske's slippery and deceitful nature, he will sometimes give Sliske 'the benefit of the doubt' and fully trust him to cooperate. For instance, when Sliske agreed with the suggestion of Azzanadra, Wahisietel and Akthanakos to negotiate with rather than kill Guthix in order to convince Nex and Char to do the same, Azzanadra was completely confident Sliske would keep his word, despite Wahisietel's warning that he could and would betray them. After Guthix' murder, Azzanadra did not seem happy with his ally's betrayal, although he realised his mistake in blindly trusting him - nevertheless, he was content with the result anyway, for Zaros had indeed become free to return.

Azzanadra seems to know Sliske quite well, aware of his desire for freedom of action and disliking of responsibility. As such, he states it extremely unlikely for Sliske to be striving for godhood when asked. After the events at the Empyrean Citadel, however, he considers Sliske to have gone too far and does not quite think of him as an ally anymore.

Wahisietel
"If nothing, you can always trust that you can't trust Sliske."

- Wahisietel

Wahisietel is Sliske's brother, with whom he shares the same mother. Due to the fact that they are siblings, he seems to be the Mahjarrat who best understands him. For instance, Wahisietel had suspected Sliske to remain after the 18th ritual to get a 'reward' and was not surprised when he attempted to acquire a new wight. In addition, he seems to have been the only one who realised Sliske would not stick to the plan of not killing Guthix.

Sliske appears to respect Wahisietel, having come to his aid on several occasions, most recently when he faced Lucien and his ice demons at the 18th ritual. And, although he initially agreed to sacrifice Jhallan, he immediately backed up Wahisietel by summoning the Barrows Brothers and having them hold off Zemouregal's troops.

However, during and after the Grand Ascendancy, which involved Sliske proposing a gladiatorial-type competition between the gods, Wahisietel seemed to recant his views - displaying animosity towards Sliske and stating that he no longer believes Sliske to be loyal to Zaros.

The adventurer
The adventurer whom Sliske first met in person at the 18th ritual (in the quest Ritual of the Mahjarrat), but whom he had been following for a longer while, is of great interest to Sliske due to their prowess and skill. Sliske planned to convert them into a wight after the ritual, but Akrisae Kolluym jumped in front of the spell, saving the adventurer's life and becoming one of Sliske's wights instead. While Sliske was satisfied for the time being, he still desired to add the adventurer to his collection. In Guthix' refuge, he led them to believe he wanted to bargain with Guthix, like the other Zarosians, and praised them for not trusting him easily. When he did, in fact, kill Guthix, he looked at the adventurer with a large grin on his face, enjoying his/her shock at his broken promise. Despite the obvious grudge held against him, Sliske continues to monitor the adventurer's actions.

After Zaros' return, Sliske mentions that he's no longer interested in converting the adventurer, but cryptically states that you're already "his" anyway, possibly by you frequently having to react to his schemes. Despite the adventurer disliking him, he's willing to give one straight answer and permanent shadow realm visibility as a parting gift.

Gregorovic
It is unknown what relationship Sliske and Gregorovic had, but it is presumed that Sliske did not like him a lot, as during the memory review he is surprised that he is still alive. Regardless, Sliske was able to manipulate him into becoming his minion. Gregorovic accepted his fate as a monster destined to consume others to become stronger, so it is possible that Gregorovic saw Sliske superior to him.

Sliske's wights
Sliske owns of a collection of wights, which consist of powerful warriors who Sliske enslaved to serve him and, to a greater extent, Zaros. These wights do not become weaker with time, making perfect slaves for the Mahjarrat. Currently, the following wights of Sliske's are known;


 * Multiple warriors of the Army of Zaros - acquired during the Kharidian - Zarosian War in the Second Age, but all were released by Icthlarin.
 * The Barrows Brothers - he acquired these at the end of the Third Age. In 1 of the Sixth Age, Sliske empowered the six greatly.
 * Ahrim, "the Blighted" - a powerful magician wielding a staff
 * Dharok, "the Wretched" - a strong warrior carrying a greataxe
 * Guthan, "the Infested" - a potent warrior using a spear
 * Karil, "the Tainted" - a nimble crossbow archer
 * Torag, "the Corrupted" - a valiant warrior using twin warhammers
 * Verac, "the Defiled" - a powerful warrior wielding a flail
 * Akrisae, "the Doomed" - a powerful warrior-priest. Sliske acquired him in 169 of the Fifth Age just after the 18th Ritual, on the ritual site. Although he had aimed for someone else, Akrisae intercepted the spell and became one of Sliske's wights instead.
 * Many (and sometimes powerful) warriors he acquired after obtaining the Staff of Armadyl, which he kept at the Empyrean Citadel.
 * During the 2016 Easter event Sliske briefly acquired Gilly Willikers, Farmer Jimbo, Wendy, and Farquie the Cleaner. They were later freed by the adventurer and the Easter Bunny.
 * Linza, "the Disgraced" - a powerful warrior, she is acquired after Sliske double crosses her in Kindred Spirits to protect her from the Dragonkin.
 * Nomad - During Sliske's Endgame, it is revealed that Sliske turned Nomad into a wight.

Development history
Sliske has a notable development history insofar as it is rather unique: his first 'appearances' were obscure references in various Postbags from the Hedge, followed by in-game mentions before he was finally released in person and became one of the most important figures in the game's storyline.

The Legend of the Brothers book, released on 9 May 2005, speaks of a "stranger" who was involved with the Barrows Brothers' powers and deaths. Although nothing suggested the stranger to be a Mahjarrat at the time, the character was always intended to be the Mahjarrat who would later be named Sliske. The name Sliske was first used in the 20th Postbag from the Hedge, released on 26 June 2007, where Azzanadra briefly mentioned him as serpent-tongued and delving the shadows. On 24 July, barely a month later, a new Lore and History was released on the website, called The Fall of Six, describing the Barrows Brothers' tale in more detail. Although Sliske was not named in the story, the aforementioned stranger was now described as "delving the shadows", establishing a connection between him and Sliske. The two had not been confirmed to be the same, however.

On 31 January 2008, Sliske was revealed to be a Zarosian Mahjarrat who had gone into hiding after his god's fall by Eblis, who responded in the 27th Postbag. On 5 February 2009, Azzanadra spoke of Sliske yet again, this time in the 38th Postbag - he described him as an ally whose powers could be seen in the world's smallest details.

The release of The Curse of Arrav on 21 July 2009 also saw the first direct reference to Sliske inside the game itself. Zemouregal, in his notes, described him as a powerful shapeshifter and a slippery fellow with powers over shadows. A popular theory at the time was that Sliske was the Strange Old Man at the Barrows, due to the former's suspected connection to the brothers and the latter's constant digging, or delving. Further evidence suggesting this was provided by the 44th Postbag, released on 7 October 2010, wherein Azzanadra not only described him as a master of the Shadow Realm and advised not to make deals with him, but also confirmed him to be the person who "sealed the fate of his Barrows toys." The second in-game reference to Sliske was released on 10 January 2011 in the form of the Ancient Prison. The nature spirit Ashuelot Reis would tell the story of how Sliske released Nex from her prison by tricking a group of Saradominists by pretending to be a druid.

After five years of references and mentions, Sliske appeared in person in Ritual of the Mahjarrat, released on 14 September 2011. During the quest, he attends the Ritual of Rejuvenation, bringing along the Barrows Brothers and leaving with a new wight after the ritual. This also confirmed him to be a separate entity from the Strange Old Man. His next appearance would come a while later, on 4 March 2013, with the release of The World Wakes (although a 'Shadowed Figure' was released on 18 February as a teaser for the quest, they were only confirmed to be Sliske during the quest itself). He has a much bigger role in this quest, slaying Guthix with the Staff of Armadyl. From then on, he would have frequent references in other content and would feature prominently in Sixth Age quests, such as Missing, Presumed Death and Fate of the Gods. In a Q&A about the latter quest, Mod Rowley mentioned that Sliske would take a backseat for some time and the focus would go to other characters.

Trivia

 * Sliske is the sixth individual known to have defeated a god, and the fifth to have killed one. The others were Jododu Otoku, who killed Ebeb; Bandos, who slew Jododu; Guthix, who slew Skargaroth; Zaros, who killed Loarnab; and Zamorak, who defeated Zaros. Like Zamorak, Sliske used the Staff of Armadyl. In addition, both Sliske and Zamorak did not immediately ascend to godhood, unlike Guthix.
 * His favourite colour is aquamarine, although he also likes black.
 * Sliske's name is possibly derived from the Polish word "śliskie" meaning "slippery".
 * Sliske has a luchador mask aligned to him called el serpiente (meaning the snake), referring to his title of "the serpent-tongued".
 * A common endonym for Sliske is "Sliskean". Mod Osborne's preferred term for Sliske is "scumbag". Mod Crow believes that the proper endonym for Sliske is "a crazy person".