Zarosianism

This page addresses information about Zaros, his religion, and his followers as it applies to World 42 role-playing. Any valuable contributors are welcome to contribute, especially as new content comes out in-game.

Zaros
Zaros (also known as The Empty Lord, Great Lord and God of Unknown Power) is a god whose arrival in Gielinor was one of the most important events of the early Second Age. He is most closely aligned as the God of Control and Manipulation. He is an anomaly in that he is a god that the Adventurer learns, over time, books of information about and yet it is still very unclear what his alignment is. However, while he may have ruled a pleasant society, it's clear that he was not aligned distinctly with "good" (like Saradominist Order or Armadylean Law) as evidenced by his willingness to associate with "dark" creatures. His symbol is a circle with an X in the center and four points around the outer edge. His signature color is purple.

Brief History
Zaros arrived in Gielinor after Guthix entered his first sleep. It is likely that Guthix and Zaros, as well as their followers, have little to no relationship. After his arrival, Zaros persuaded the Mahjarrat, a powerful race of near-immortals, to join his forces. Zaros conquered much of the what is now Misthalin, Asgarnia and the whole of what is now the Wilderness, which was then a fertile plain. He founded several cities, of which Senntisten became the capital of his empire. Because of this massive, prosperous community, the Second Age began was known as the Golden Age of Zaros. This empire crumbled when Zaros was betrayed and banished by his foremost general, Zamorak.

At Zamorak's return (he was banished too, for a time), 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. Before the God Wars during the third age, some Saradominists attempted to wipe the memory of Zaros from Gielinor. The Saradominists locked away a group of Zarosians, including Nex in a dungeon close to the present day God Wars Dungeon.

The remaining followers of Zaros were actively hunted by followers of both Saradomin and Zamorak. 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. At present, Zaros is reachable by a communion portal in an ancient temple of Senntisten under the Digsite. His imminent return has been heavily suggested in-game.

The Religion
Any real, concrete records of the Way of Zaros have been destroyed by Saradomin and Zamorak. As such, there is no absolutely "correct" way of worshipping him or carrying on his ideals. Some of Zaros's followers are evil in the conventional sense of being ruthless, enjoying being deceptive and seeking power for power's sake. In addition, the Ancient Curses seem to be evil (or at least highly combative) in nature: they focus on inflicting damage on others and draining others of their powers. Although some may jump to the conclusion that Zaros is evil, evidence is inconclusive. It is very likely Zaros' army of demons and vampyres committed evil acts, but there are no records of Zaros himself promoting evil: however, it is likewise true that there are no records of him promoting good. Additionally, even creatures who did not and do not follow Saradomin or Zamorak, such as the Pharaoh Queen, call Zaros a 'vile creature' whom they clashed against long ago. Recently, it has been confirmed that Zaros was a god of manipulation and control, so it is likely that the most accurate way to worship as a Zarosian is to either for a character to gather control and manipulate those around him or to actually submit to the control of others and allow himself to be manipulated, as he would have been by this god. However, given the heavy lack of records actually explaining Zaros and proper worship of his religion, it is unlikely that anyone born after the Second Age has solid knowledge about this.

This leaves an interesting window open for roleplayers, as Zarosian characters have the opportunity to interpret Zarosian teachings in their own way from what they have learned of their god.

Followers and Zarosian Creatures

 * Some Mahjarrat (including Azzanadra and Sliske)
 * Nex and her Bodyguards
 * Char
 * Few Humans
 * Desert Bandits
 * Ancient Mages, Rangers, and Warriors
 * Possibly Kalphites
 * Possibly Mort'ton shades
 * Blood Reavers
 * Possibly some ancient elves, including Glarial
 * A few Demons

Common Mistakes
This category addresses traits that players, often new ones, give their Zarosian characters but that aren't actually seen in Zarosians on Gielinor. That is, a character may have these traits, but it would not be expressly due to the teachings of the Zarosian religion.
 * Because of constant Saradomnist and Zamorakian crusading against Zarosianism, it's highly unlikely that any Zarosian would be open about his/her religion, and even less likely that he/she would preach about it.
 * Almost all Zarosian history and followers were destroyed between the second and fourth ages. The likelihood that a character is Zarosian is especially slim, so those wishing to create Zarosian characters need be very careful to give good reason for how that character found the religion.
 * Although recent events regarding the death of Guthix and the coming sixth age as well as the newly added god emissaries (one specifically for Zaros) may change this, giving rise to the numbers of those who worship Zaros.
 * Contrary to popular belief, commonfolk could easily have heard about the ancient god, Zaros. The Varrock museum is chock full of his artifacts and explicitly use his name. That being said, it's one thing to have heard of an ancient god and another to practice his religion - that would be like a person in our world worshipping an obscure Egyptian god.
 * Zaros never had control over the desert. This misconception is due to the fact that Azzanadra was imprisoned there, and the final worshipers of Zaros, who are now the bandits, went into hiding there.

Other Information

 * Viggora was the only human general Zaros ever had and was often picked on, because the other Zarosian generals didn't think humans capable of anything worthwhile.