RuneScape Forum Archive

Jan

2007

Ian Adler

Posts: 532 Steel Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile

I have a theory about Zaros' plans:
What do we know so far?
1. Zaros wants to become an Elder God and will seemingly do anything to achieve it.
2. At the beginning of each new cycle of the universe the newly hatched Elder Gods feed off the "perfect world" to build their initial power.
3. During the Battle of the Monolith Zaros said "This world is lost."
Conclusion? While we do not know what Zaros seeks in the Shadow Realm, I think his ultimate goals is to somehow feed off Gielinor to ascend to Elder Godhood. After all, he would be inhaling enough anima to sustain and empower 3 natural-born Elders, so if all that anima went into a single being, him, it might be enough for him to ascend. (Alternate possibility: he means to inhale enough Shadow Anima and become some sort of Shadow Elder God while leaving the world to be eaten by the newly hatched Elders.) Naturally all this is just a supposition, but it fits the available facts.

(Side note: We should keep an eye peeled for Xau-Tak, as we know he was the one who corrupted Mah's egg in the previous cycle.)

Saradominist

World Guardian

emeritus
My first loyalty is to protecting Gielinor. My second is to the patron of the Myreque.
My third is to

Tumeken

and the bloodline of Senliten.

22-Jun-2021 22:42:23

Dan-i-el

Posts: 84 Iron Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile

I think your theory is definitely in the right vein.

I have a hunch that this is going to lead to some Zarosian Civil war, Now that Azzanadra has ascended, and whilst he insists his loyalty, even a former loyalist such as myself can see the exact same process that occurred in me, happening to him, questioning whether Zaros is truly fit for purpose.

I believe Zaros will likely ascend to become a 'Shadow Elder God' as you propose, and that he may potentially become a primary villain during the Elder God Wars.
It'll Likely Be Zaros, Nex and Zarosian loyalists, vs Azzanadra, begrudgingly, and Zarosian Separatists (I call them this because, assuming i'm right, they don't have a name yet).
It's worth noting that, if we take the parallel between the Zarosian Empire, and Rome literally, this could be a counterpart to the real Life Split of the Roman Empire, granted, the Zarosian empire isn't much of an empire anymore, but you get what I mean.

I also agree about Xau-Tak, from what we just learnt in CoS, Shadow magic is rooted in Shadow Anima, loosely at least, which seems to be the same root source of Xau-Tak's abilities, so, if Zaros pops up as a huge vessel of Shadow Anima, it'll no doubt alert Xau-Tak and his forces.

At the very least, we can assume Jas, Wen, Bik and Ful aren't the only foes on the playing field.

23-Jun-2021 14:18:20

Jan

2007

Ian Adler

Posts: 532 Steel Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile

No arguments here, but there is something else to consider. Recall the rumors of a sixth Elder God? It was first mentioned by Zaros during The Light Within , with him stating that it is not of form but "something else". Furthermore, during In Heart of Stone we and Ariane found an empty Kra chamber beneath the Lumbridge Catacombs. This concerned Azzanadra as the chamber of Jas, Ful, Wen and Bik had already been discovered, and Mah never arrived upon Gielinor. Implying, since each of the Elder Gods have a Kra chamber, that it is the chamber of the sixth Elder God.
Bottom line? I think there may already be a Shadow Elder God of some sort, and it is possible that this entity is Xau-Tak - who is often described as "something else."

I get what you mean and you can probably call the Zarosian Separatists "Azzanadrans" since dear old Azzy is the natural successor of and to lead those with Zarosian ideals. Sadly I agree that a Zarosian Civil War seems in the making, but hopefully enough come around to Azzanadra's clearer way of thinking to make it more or a skirmish. Our enemies in these Elder God Wars - TokHaar, Nodon Dragonkin and Kerapac, Zaros (likely), and Xau-Tak - is quite enough without adding internal conflicts to complicate things.

(Honesty, I am almost as worried about Xau-Tak as about the rest of the Elder Gods combined as, given the corruption of Mah's egg, he seems to transcend the cycles of the universe. A fact which lends to my concern that he may be our sixth Elder God.)

Saradominist

World Guardian

emeritus
My first loyalty is to protecting Gielinor. My second is to the patron of the Myreque.
My third is to

Tumeken

and the bloodline of Senliten.

23-Jun-2021 15:16:23 - Last edited on 23-Jun-2021 15:29:08 by Ian Adler

Dan-i-el

Posts: 84 Iron Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile

I would Speculate that Xau-Tak may be the God of Death/Undeath.

We can assume that 'Erebus' is a land of shadowy dead, and presumably, if it is a universe seperate from the main universe, it stands to reason that the dead from countless past cycles may potentially inhabit it.

For a Elder God to Arise in such an environment, inevitably, they would have to start feeding on those dead to sustain itself, since there is no Gielinor, or, so I presume, in that Universe.
Think about it. The Dead are certainly in no shortage, outnumbering the living by magnitudes we cannot even begin to comprehend, and if Erebus is filled with these shadow spirits, only a small percentage of which could possibly come from the current cycle, then Xau would have no need to feed on Gielinor.

However, it is possible that after many eons of doing this, Xau-Tak has become irreversibly shaped and corrupted by it, turning it into a physical manifestation of undeath and corruption and has finally revealed itself in the Main Universe to expand it's feeding grounds, starting by attempting to sabotage Mah's egg. Not out of a need to feed on it, but because it's more like simply picking another berry from a much larger bush.

This potentially puts Xau-Tak as a major threat even to the Elder Gods, as, being made of Shadow Anima, the Elders themselves are just food to it.

Of course, I could be completely over-hyping him, guess there's only one way to find out.

23-Jun-2021 16:12:39

Dan-i-el

Posts: 84 Iron Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile

I forgot to add:

Zaros may have come to a similar conclusion as Xau-Tak, in regards to ascension at least.

Divine energy in the Main Universe is limited to the Anima Mundi of worlds, and if he Tried to directly siphon from Gielinor
1. World Guardian would barge down the door with the DOOM soundtrack playing.
2. Elder Gods would just yeet him anyway.

So, he's gone to take energy from a Universe without anyone who can really stop him, and it's a place with a lot of Energy within it, assuming it's full of souls, I guess a little bit like a Parasite Universe, feeding on the waste Anima of the Real Universe, turning it into Shadow Anima.

Maybe, just maybe, Zaros may have a usefulness still afterall, It's realistically going to take another Shadow Anima entity to be able to take on Xau-Tak, using ordinary Anima will not work, it'll be repulsed or absorbed.

23-Jun-2021 16:31:14

Nov

2018

Lord Pyro I

Posts: 4,255 Adamant Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile

Zaros described the items he took with him into this new frontier as something like:

- Protection from that place (most likely the shadow anima he collected)
- A means of navigation (almost certainly Saradomin's crown)
- An offering for the ruler of that place (by process of elimination: Mah's core)

If Zaros intends to give the ruler of Erebus (potentially Xau-Tak) the core then we might be facing a really terrifying enemy coming out of there. "The greatest endeavors are achieved because of their selfless intent"

#WarIsComing

23-Jun-2021 20:14:10

Jan

2007

Ian Adler

Posts: 532 Steel Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile

Xau-Tak causes hype as naturally as death, and terrifying enemies are all we have these days, but I absolutely agree that a ruler of Erebus possessing Mah's core would be beyond horrifying. Let us go through our list of foes:
1. The Elder Gods
2. Zaros and his ambition to become an Elder God
3. Xau-Tak
And if I am wrong about Xau-Tak being the sixth Elder God, then we will have to deal with the sixth in addition to Xau-Tak - which adds a fourth foe, ratcheting the terror and stakes up to insane levels.

If I were to make a war plan against these threats, I would start collecting Elder Artifacts before our enemies get all twelve.
*Kerapac has the Staff of Armadyl, the Needle and the Mirror.
*The Stone of Jas and Blade are broken.
*Zaros has the Crown.
*The Kiln and Codex cannot be moved.
*We have the Measure.
*The Horn WAS held by Quin in The Pincers region of the Wushanko Isles, but was lost at her death.
*The Template and Hammer are unaccounted for.
This leaves us rather unarmed and, while I doubt the Artifacts would work against the Elder Gods themselves, they likely would against their servants as well as Zaros and Xau-Tak. Something to think about.

Saradominist

World Guardian

emeritus
My first loyalty is to protecting Gielinor. My second is to the patron of the Myreque.
My third is to

Tumeken

and the bloodline of Senliten.

23-Jun-2021 20:50:49 - Last edited on 23-Jun-2021 20:52:07 by Ian Adler

Dan-i-el

Posts: 84 Iron Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile

I'm not so sure Elder artifacts will be much use, either they'll have failsafes, turning them into a liability, or the Elders will simply just be immune to them, considering their power is derived from the elders.

The only one that could maybe work, is if we repaired the Elder sword that Guthix used.
Maybe we could pull off something like how Clavicus Vile in TES got cut by his own sword, Umbra.
...I'd prefer not to have a floating island of death however.

The Staff of Armadyl, could maybe be repaired too...but if you used it, there's nothing stopping them from just stepping on you, literally.

Perhaps we could however try and devise a means to amplify the World Guardian's protective aura, to a degree to withstand the Elders.
Shame that we lost Frostenhorn.

hmmmm....or we try send the Elders into Erebus.
That'd most certainly obliterate them with energy antithetical to their own.
How would we make a portal big enough for that though? Furthermore, what about the Shadow Cacklers? I would assume they're Cthonians, maybe we could use some weakness of demons to hold them back? Duke Orcus was meant to be knocking about in Erebus right? Those are his little offspring.

I don't know how we'd source a portal, but I reckon with enough noise, we could lure the Elders to one.
To keep Shadow Cacklers away, maybe we open it over the River Salve? Whilst technically made to stop Vampyres, it is still Holy water that flows there, Demons shouldn't be big fans of the stuff.
We open the portal over the Salve, Get Saradomin to amp up his blessing there, Shadow Cacklers fall into the Holy water and have a very bad day, Elders get yeeted into the Shadow Dimension....

Actually....I think I might have an idea for an energy source. Why not convert one of the new eggs into something like another Stone of jas? I'm sure the Gods combined could find a way.

I make it sound easier than it actually ever will be hehe.

23-Jun-2021 22:18:50 - Last edited on 23-Jun-2021 22:27:49 by Dan-i-el

Jan

2007

Ian Adler

Posts: 532 Steel Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile

Dan-i-el said :
Perhaps we could however try and devise a means to amplify the World Guardian's protective aura, to a degree to withstand the Elders.
Shame that we lost Frostenhorn.

hmmmm....or we try send the Elders into Erebus.
That'd most certainly obliterate them with energy antithetical to their own.
How would we make a portal big enough for that though? Furthermore, what about the Shadow Cacklers? I would assume they're Cthonians, maybe we could use some weakness of demons to hold them back? Duke Orcus was meant to be knocking about in Erebus right? Those are his little offspring.

Well, our protective aura is devised from Shadow Anima so that might work...but somehow I do not think that meddling with Guthix's blessing is a wise idea. A mistake could be fatal.

And no, Shadow Cacklers are not Cthonians. Cthonians like Duke Orcus are a type of demon from Infernus. A forgivable error, since they look almost identical.

Saradominist

World Guardian

emeritus
My first loyalty is to protecting Gielinor. My second is to the patron of the Myreque.
My third is to

Tumeken

and the bloodline of Senliten.

24-Jun-2021 01:45:32

A Mighty

Posts: 2,337 Mithril Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile

Lord Pyro I said :
Zaros described the items he took with him into this new frontier as something like:

- Protection from that place (most likely the shadow anima he collected)
- A means of navigation (almost certainly Saradomin's crown)
- An offering for the ruler of that place (by process of elimination: Mah's core)

If Zaros intends to give the ruler of Erebus (potentially Xau-Tak) the core then we might be facing a really terrifying enemy coming out of there.

Someone on the RS Discord proposed the theory that Zaros' offering was not the core of Mah, but rather the souls of all his followers that have travelled to Erebus after their death. I think this would be a fascinating twist, and it would explain why he led an empire of followers. Jagex probably won't go this way in their storytelling, but it would be in line with Zaros' character, and a nice twist...

To those cursed by war and pest, Come into the light of Armadyl and rest. This is the law of Armadyl.

24-Jun-2021 03:59:21

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Zaros' plans