Sliske

Sliske (pronounced slis-KAY ) is a Mahjarrat loyal to Zaros and the brother of Wahisietel. Azzanadra describes him as "Sliske the serpent-tongued, who delves the shadows". and Zemouregal calls him: "One of the more powerful of our number. Sliske has particularly strong shapeshifting capabilities and powers over shadows. I would love to catch this guy, but he's a slippery fellow." His name is similar to the Polish word "śliskie" meaning "slippery". Sliske is one of the more mysterious and powerful Mahjarrat, being unfindable unless he desires to seek you himself. He also collects strong warriors and adds them to his collection as his undead wights, which he uses in battle.

Abilities
Not much is known of Sliske's powers. He is known for "delving the shadows," possibly due to his "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."

Suggested by the fellow Mahjarrat's comments, it is possible that Sliske is intelligent and very cunning, as he was known to Azzanadra as "Sliske the serpent-tongued" and a "slippery fellow" to Zemouregal. His "Serpent-tongue" seems to 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." in Postbag 44. Azzanadra 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 is further evidenced by his backstabbing of the player in The Ritual of the Mahjarrat, where he attempts to turn you into a Barrows wight.

He is thought to have great control over the undead, as he is thought to be the stranger in The Fall of Six who granted the Barrows brothers their abilities and to have reanimated their spirits; the stranger in the tale is described as "delving into the shadows at its (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." 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.



Arrival to Gielinor
Sliske, like the rest of his kin, were brought to Gielinor from Freneskae, the realm of perpetual warfare, by the Menaphite god of the dead, Icthlarin. The Mahjarrat served him and protected the desert, until switching allegiance to Zaros, who offered them more combat and freedom. Sliske was amongst those who grew happy with Zaros's reign, although he always retained a certain trait of unpredictability. As Sliske's own combat abilities are yet to be seen, it is likely that he animated the corpses of fallen enemies to serve as his wights, as he does today.

Not a lot is known about Sliske's involvement in the God Wars, which raged when Zamorak, a former Mahjarrat general of Zaros who, with a number of followers, amongst whom Zemouregal, Enakhra, Viggora, Thammaron and Lowerniel Drakan, assaulted Zaros's citadel and, by pure coincidence, sapped him of his godly power in a duel using the staff of Armadyl. Having become the most powerful mortal alive, Zamorak was banished by the other gods, but soon returned with the help of the Stone of Jas and declared war, before briefly cooperating with Saradomin to rid the world of all that reminded of the Empty Lord.

Release of Nex
The God Wars erupted when a small flock of Aviantese, the graceful followers of Armadyl, were ambushed by a much larger group of demons Zamorak had sent. The aviantese carried the "godsword", an exceptionally powerful weapon when imbued with the power of a deity. Unable to repel the attack, the aviantese fled into a temple. Forces from all sides soon arrived and the Battle for the Godsword had erupted.

This temple, however, was all but abandoned or safe. Years beforehand, when Azzanadra was still on his feet in Senntisten, attempting to reestablish contact with his fallen god, a battle was fought on that location. One of the last armies of Zaros, led by the devastating creature Nex, who looked like a terrifying mixture of Aviantese, Vampyres, Demons and even Icyene, battled the forces of Saradomin. Although the Zarosians were much stronger, with great effort the Saradominists managed to drive the army back into a cave, which was sealed and Saradomin erected a temple 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, back to the shadows. However, he unleashed Zaros's greatest weapon upon the world before doing so. Amidst the battle, he changed appearance and approached a group of Saradominists fighting for the godsword. He pretended to be a follower of Guthix and taught the priests his way. Sliske told them that Guthix was an almighty god, the only one powerful enough to stop the war (which, millennia later, turned out to be true) and that a ritual had to be performed to awake Guthix from his slumber. The priests, amongst whom Ashuelot Reis, were converted to Guthism and performed the ritual. The result, however, was all but what they had expected. The stranger revealed himself to be the Zarosian Mahjarrat Sliske and disappeared to sit the war out, only showing himself at Rejuvenation Rituals. The priests had unlocked the seal Saradomin had placed and thus opened the Ancient Prison; Nex and her forces were free and caused huge losses amongst all sides.

Unbeknownst to Sliske, all four forces (those of Zamorak, Armadyl, Saradomin and Bandos) united for the first and last time in history to drive back the Zarosians. Eventually, this succeeded and they sealed the army behind a frozen door, the key to which was smashed to four pieces, one to be guarded by each fraction. Ashuelot saw the error of her ways and became a nature spirit in the icy prison, ready to warn people should someone ever get in.

Many millennia later, long after the God Wars had ended, in the early Fifth Age, volcanic activity caused the temple, which was just north of Trollheim, a mountain of the Troll Country, to thaw. A dwarf discovered it and alerted the Temple Knights, who went to investigate. Unable to believe what they witnessed, all but one of them, Sir Gerry, were slaughtered inside. With the help of an adventurer who also passed by, Gerry sent a message of the finding back to Falador before also succumbing to his severe injuries.

Morytania Campaign
As a reward for helping in the overthrowal of Zaros, Zamorak granted vampyre overlord Lowerniel V. Drakan the right to invade Hallowland and claim it as his own. So he did and with a huge vampyre army, the country soon fell. When he reached the capital Hallowvale, where humans and Icyene lived in peace, he managed to kidnap King 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.

A Saradominist campaign was launched at the end of the God Wars, 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, who decided that he could use them to his advantage, appeared before them, again as a stranger, and granted them great powers. The campaign advanced, albeit with difficulty. After a one last stop, the army advanced and reached the walls of 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 god. He took their powers and the "Barrows Brothers" died and were buried in mounds just outside Darkmeyer. Sliske had his undead minions and Drakan had suffered a blow, but due to the brothers' deaths, the campaign failed and the vampyres were victorious. The indifferent but satisfied Slike disappeared yet again.

18th Ritual of Rejuvenation
Sliske first shows himself to players in Ritual of the Mahjarrat. He reveals himself to be the individual who has been keeping The Barrows Brothers trapped as vengeful spirits. He appears at Ghorrock for the Ritual of Rejuvenation just at the time the player, Wahisietel, Sir Tiffy Cashien and a battalion of Temple Knights were about to fight Lucien and his forces, and joins the fight against Lucien, aiding in defeating the powerful Ice Demons that he summons.

When the Ritual commences, Sliske goes along with Lucien's suggestion that the fellow Zarosian Jhallan should be sacrificed because he is 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 offers to Gielinor, starting a fight between the Zarosian and the Zamorakian Mahjarrat. During the fight, Sliske summons the Barrows Brothers once more to fight off Zemouregal's followers, starting by Armoured Zombies until Zemouregal's second in command, Sharathteerk.

After the Ritual is completed and Jhallan was sacrificed, Azzanadra summons the power of Zaros, almost killing Lucien in the process. Enraged, Lucien touched the Stone of Jas in attempt to use its power to punish the opposing Mahjarrat, when the Dragonkin are summoned and killed Lucien after a short but intense battle. After witnessing Lucien's death, most of the Mahjarrat teleport away, terrified by the Dragonkin but satisfied by the Ritual. Sliske is one of the two Mahjarrat that did not teleport away (the other being Wahisietel). Instead, impressed by the player's power, Sliske remains to attempt to claim the player as a new addition to the Barrows Brothers, but fails as Akrisae saves the player by jumping in front of the spell that Sliske had cast. Akrisae is then turned into a Barrows Brother called Akrisae the Doomed and Sliske teleports away with his new minion, commenting that he will do for now.

Trivia

 * During The Ritual of The Mahjarrat a possible hint about Sliske's involvement in Player's future is mentioned, particularly when Sliske warns others about Akrisae doing "for now", meaning he might try to add the Player to his collection again.