Zaros

Zaros is a god of RuneScape (although some godly powers were thought to be apparently stolen by Zamorak). He is commonly thought to be the 'God of Pure Evil' though no confirmation has ever been made to his true motive. Sometime ago Mod James, creator of Desert Treasure, revealed on the official RuneScape Forums that Zaros was not, contrary to popular belief, the god of Evil. The latest information, like Zarosian ideals that Akthanakos has, together with his blessings under which Eblis recalls his tribe lived, suggest he might not have been evil, but rather on the good side of the barricade. He should not be confused with Lord Drakan's advisor, Charos.

Zaros is also referred to as the god of Ancient Magicks or "The Empty Lord". Zaros existed after Guthix's sleep and before the God Wars, which is why Guthix has little knowledge of Zaros (It is unknown if Zaros had knowledge of Guthix). Zaros once led a tribe of powerful mortals called the Mahjarrat, who originate from Freneskae, a plane of eternal warfare, but was deposed by his Mahjarrat general Zamorak and his close followers. Many of the Mahjarrat joined Zamorak, while others (such as Azzanadra and Akthanakos) remained loyal to Zaros. During the Shadow sword miniquest, players discover that General Khazard once had a master referred to as the "Dark Lord". It is unknown if this is referring to Zaros or not but it seems more likely that he is instead reffering to Hazeel, a zamorakian mahjarrat who was once Khazard's tutor after his mother Palkeera died during the god wars. It is also possible that Sliske is still a follower of Zaros, as a Postbag from the Hedge and a Lores and Histories article seemed to hint. His legacy is still strong, as Saradomin will not speak of him, instead making evasive responses such as, "For your own continued good health, I implore you to drop this subject. Speak that name no more, and trouble not your mind with such thoughts." and Zamorak fears him immensely, implying Zaros in his prime possessed power surpassing that of either.

Information

 * Side: Unknown


 * Gender: Male
 * Symbol: [[File:Zaros_symbol.svg]]
 * Pronunciation: Zah-ROHS
 * Colour(s): Purple and Black
 * Race: God

Betrayal
Zamorak, a Mahjarrat general under Zaros, wanted to become a god and leader of the Mahjarrat. With his close Mahjarrat followers Hazeel and Zemouregal, as well as the vampyre 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
Valdez, a faithful Saradominist, stumbled upon the Staff of Armadyl, he knew that it was a very powerful god weapon and could 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, 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 informed her superior, a Saradominist mage called Dhalak. Dhalak was supposed to pass the information on to Saradomin himself, but he instead enchanted the staff so that Zaros could not detect it.

Defeat
Zamorak, accompanied by his loyal followers - many of the Mahjarrat, vampyres, demons, and a human called Viggora, set out to attack the castle where Zaros resided.

Whilst the followers of Zamorak distracted the guards, Zamorak battled Zaros and managed to stab him with the staff of Armadyl to weaken him. However, the staff also impaled Zamorak, thus delivering some of Zaros' power to Zamorak. This gave Zamorak enough power that, with further help by the Stone of Jas, he had enough energy to turn into a god.

Aftermath
Zaros faded from RuneScape while Zamorak seemed to become more real. However, before he was "banished", Zaros uttered a curse onto 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:
 * Valdez, a Saradominist explorer
 * 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 theories 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.

The followers of Zaros were actively hunted by followers of both Saradomin and Zamorak, hinting they worked together to bring Zaros down. However, Zamorak soon turned against Saradomin and other gods, starting the God Wars. Even during the God Wars, when Zamorak battled with other gods, he occasionally joined forces with Saradomin to fight off the remaining followers of Zaros.

Religion
The symbol of Zaros is a circle surrounding an equidistant cross, and is found on an ancient talisman at the Digsite, and on the Ancient Staff, and Zaros's colour seems to be purple or black. Originally Zaros was worshipped by an unknown empire in the north-east of RuneScape and the city of Uzer, however the empire has been destroyed by Zamorak and Saradomin while Uzer was destroyed by Thammaron, one of Zamorak's generals. Most traces of the Zarosian religion, such as altars and temples, have been destroyed by Saradomin and Zamorak, however there are two known altars remaining: one underneath the Digsite and another in Azzanadra's temple. On the Ancient Spellbook, 4 teleports that lead to different levels of the Wilderness are also destroyed grounds of Zarosian worship, Carrallangar, Ghorrock, Annakarl and Dareeyak. The other teleports, Ice Mountain (Lassar), Canifis Pub (Kharyrll) and Edgeville (Paddewwa) were important military and defence fortresses, but the Digsite is referred to ancient name as Senntisten. It is also worth knowing, that Zaros proboably had a treaty with Scabaras at one point. If you talk to the Kalphite Queen in a POH, she will sometimes say, "we are faithfully waiting for the return of Zaros". This is odd because the Kalphites are allegedly followers of Scabaras. For example, a Keris dagger works on the Kalphites. The Kalphites are also occasionally said to have been spawned from the blood of Scabaras. This may lead some to believe that the Kalphites are the followers of both Zaros and Scabaras. Seeing as Zaros betrayed Icthlarin and stole most of his Mahjarrat warriors, and Scabaras was a 'Lesser God' of the desert, it's possible that Scabaras helped to undermine Icthlarin's rule over the Mahjarrat, and convert them to Zarosian religion. Conversion, is, after all, what Scabaras is famous for, and he is the 'evil god' of the desert gods (or so the Menaphites portray him as), making him the perfect partner of the 'Empty Lord' who is sometimes suspected to be the god of impurity and evil. It is also possible that Zaros had a pact with more than one desert god.

Azzanadra, Eblis, Sliske, Jhallan and Akthanakos are the only current important non-player character worshippers of Zaros. The Bandits of The Bandit Camp in the south-west of the Kharidian desert also appear to worship the Empty Lord. The Pyramid that Azzandra is trapped in belongs to Zaros, as does Azzanadra, his willing champion still.

Some gravestones also show the Zarosian symbol on its top. When read, it says "_______, servant of the Unknown Power, perished in this place."

Bob the Cat
Bob the Jagex Cat was thought to be Zaros due to some dialogue when talking to him using the Amulet of Catspeak. However, there is no real evidence to support this. In the "Tail of Two Cats" quest, players find out that Bob is or was "Robert the Strong". It is believed that Robert the Strong existed in the earlier ages, but according to Jagex he actually lived during the Fourth Age. Another piece of evidence supporting this is that Guthix does not know of Zaros, and Juna cannot fathom Bob the Cat. Some hold the theory that Robert the Strong could simply be the first incarnation of Zaros, with Bob being the second, though there is no actual evidence for this. If you ask Bob the Cat when he is in Lumbridge while you have a cat following you, he will tell your cat to join him and destroy Zamorak. Also, asking Bob the Cat in Catherby, you will ask him that cats are created by Guthix and he will say "Well, I don't believe much really since I know I am Zar-... erm, well, no, I erm, meow?"

Return
In the recent Q&A's from three Jagex Moderators (Mod MMG, Mod Roderick and Paul Gower), it has been hinted that Zaros will return soon. It was also hinted many years ago by the Chaos Elemental in a Postbag from the Hedge with the phrase "bizarre boron swell", an anagram of "Zaros will be reborn".

Affiliated Items

 * Ancient staff
 * Ancient talisman

Trivia

 * In the Varrock Museum, the symbol of Zaros is sometimes identified as "Ancient Symbol".
 * "The time has come, my warriors, to begin your servitude to me...to my god. But first, you must die..." from The Fall of Six hints at the return of Zaros.
 * Zaros may be a reference to Zoroaster (also called Zartosht), a prophet after whom the religion of Zoroastrianism is named.
 * After June 16th, 2009 players were able to receive a Zaros Statuette in PVP/Bounty Hunter worlds as a reward for killing another player. It was later renamed Ancient Statuette. The Ancient Statuette is currently the second highest reward from PvP/Bounty Hunter worlds as it is worth 5 million coins.
 * The roads of Mort'ton appear to be shaped like a Zaros symbol.