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Cthris
Dec Member 2023

Cthris

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I have a theory about that Pyro

When Zaros says that he doesn't start wars, I fully believe him. I believe he would use his massive armies to intimidate the surrounding nations into simply giving up. It doesn't count as a war if no one was fighting.

It's very much like how he took over Senniestien. It also would be a very clever way of taking over cities. No loss of life, no damaged property, no resource drain and the people live in fear of you.

This way Zaros isn't lying, and it makes a lot of sense.

01-Jul-2015 02:32:00

The Mather1
May Member 2008

The Mather1

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That's not a theory, that's canon.

Zamorak, being at the top of Zarosian army, was Legatus Maximum, so the generals were Legatus. Legatus is Latin for ambassador.

Mahjarrat Memories state that Forinthry expanded because Zaros sent envoys to surrounding settlements.

Combine those two facts and you just have generals walking into other nations, presumably with their armies in tow, and talking them into submission.
"Abscondita est in Astra."

01-Jul-2015 03:06:27

Hguoh

Hguoh

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So... Apparently holy water/Guthix Balance potion was originally created by Zarosians (see 'The Old Blood').

Who knew?

Edit: Also, I'm loving the weird Zarosian armor the acolytes are wearing in the art. Anybody else but me want that as a cosmetic?

Edit2: Casual observation here, but a lot of Zarosian themed items indicated the importance of hybridized combat in the Zarosian empire, particularly magic and melee.

Zaros's own robes appear to be a combination of adamant/rune and batwing, the Zarosian Praetor override appears to be a combination of rune and batwing, Drakan's vicious melee prowess and mastery of blood magic, the halberd staffs of the acolytes in The Old Blood, Char's use of fire magic to empower her own physical power, Nex's use of all combat styles, Sliske dropping in and out of the Shadow realm during battle, the common use of both magic and melee abilities by Demons and Vampyres, etc...

Alongside necromancy and the intimidation factor of a god having so much success on Gielinor without ever really being seen outside of the empire, perhaps it was this abundance of hybrid combat that aided in making the empire so difficult for other armies to combat?

08-Sep-2015 15:03:59 - Last edited on 09-Sep-2015 15:40:03 by Hguoh

The Mather1
May Member 2008

The Mather1

Posts: 1,172 Mithril Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile
What I believe is the case is that in Forinthry, magic wasn't seen as an occupation, but as a tool. So rather than having separate battle-mages, all warriors were taught magic, and the same was probably true for archers.

So the case was probably not the same as what we know as hybridization, but rather that magic was used as a part of both melee and archery to expand their talents rather than bifurcate them.

This is more in line with the demonic combat style, and as we now know vampiric combat as well. It even makes a great deal of sense for how the Ilujan*a would've fought with their dragons.
"Abscondita est in Astra."

09-Sep-2015 13:18:13 - Last edited on 09-Sep-2015 13:19:10 by The Mather1

Hguoh

Hguoh

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The Mather1 said :
What I believe is the case is that in Forinthry, magic wasn't seen as an occupation, but as a tool. So rather than having separate battle-mages, all warriors were taught magic, and the same was probably true for archers.

So the case was probably not the same as what we know as hybridization, but rather that magic was used as a part of both melee and archery to expand their talents rather than bifurcate them.

This is more in line with the demonic combat style, and as we now know vampiric combat as well. It even makes a great deal of sense for how the Ilujan*a would've fought with their dragons.

I suppose that fits rather nicely, and explains why the blood tendrils and shadow tendrils abilities are melee and range abilities respectively despite obviously utilizing magic derived from the ancient spell book.

Makes you wonder exactly how powerful and clever Virtus was in order to have been held in such high esteem when he only used magic and it was such a regular thing.

09-Sep-2015 13:32:47 - Last edited on 09-Sep-2015 13:33:31 by Hguoh

The Mather1
May Member 2008

The Mather1

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Well, they probably had tactical magicians, to cause field effects, buffs, etc. Like I can imagine the shield Azzanadra used to protect a portion of the Zarosian army against Tumeken's blast was probably derived from something used to protect against volleys of arrows.

Also Virtus was special because he mastered all magic, and drew such a vast amount of power from the Nexus (1) that Zaros was able to detect it.

(1) Stated to be from a rift in Lumbridge swamp, it being the Nexus is my conclusion.
"Abscondita est in Astra."

09-Sep-2015 14:28:03

Hguoh

Hguoh

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The Mather1 said :
(1) Stated to be from a rift in Lumbridge swamp, it being the Nexus is my conclusion.

After reviewing the lore book Nex drops, I have to agree that VIrtus was held so highly due to his natural afinity for all Magic (although referring to the area as Lumbridge is a lorefail since Lumbridge wasn't founded until the 4th age) both combat and support (teleporting people just by thinking about them, protecting through enchantments, etc...).

I do, however, disagree with the Nexus being the rift he siphoned from. As far as we know, the Grotesque simply lives beneath the swamp, and there is no other world involved. However, what else is in Lumbridge Swamp? The water altar and the shack to Zanaris. And while the water altar may have been present back in the second age, the term world instead of (pocket) dimension seems to allude that Virtus was siphoning magic from Zanaris.

And to be honest, I gotta respect a guy who can siphon magic from the freaking moon.

09-Sep-2015 15:58:03 - Last edited on 09-Sep-2015 15:58:16 by Hguoh

The Mather1
May Member 2008

The Mather1

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Zanaris shouldn't have any energy other than its anima though, and though it does have a lot of trees, they shouldn't produce nearly enough anima to make it a better place to siphon from than Gielinor with all its sentient life.
And while it's true the Grotesque is merely a beast living in the swamp, it is not all there is to it, the Nexus is something separate that has been corrupting the area for a long time, some of the corruption of which created the Grotesque.
"Abscondita est in Astra."

09-Sep-2015 17:11:07

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