Zarok

"Strength through trial; pastor Ivan Victrov's philosophy. There's alot of truth to it. Strength through Chaos is a lie, chaos caused me the worst times in my life.  But I overcame, and the trial has made me strong."

- Zarok the Impious, giving a sermon

Zarok was an adventurer who turned to Zamorak and nearly conquered all of Geilenor. He was highly skilled in the arts of

Magic, Necromancy, and Summoning, all of which proved useful to him in his conquest. In the end, his army was

overthrown by the Elves, the Ogres, and the Knights of Ardougne. Zarok, however, was never seen again. It is presumed

that he escaped to another dimension.

Pre-adventuring days
Little is known about Zarok in his early life. It is commonly believed that he was raised on an Island south of the Wizard's

Tower, though some researchers say that he arrived from another dimension. However, it is known that he arrived in

Lumbridge from the island via teleportation by a Guthixian mage. '

Arrival in Lumbridge
Zarok arrived in Lumbridge while he was in his late teens or early twenties. He began to make a living doing menial tasks

for residents of Lumbridge, such as gathering wood, mining ores, etc. His first significant quest was to free the town of Draynor from an oppressive vampire Count. He succeeded, and

went on to make many accomplishments, such as discovering rune essence, slaying the Dragon of Crandor, and foiling two

plots by corrupt gnomes to slaughter the human race.

Gaining Prestige
Zarok gained the Kings attention when he foiled a plot by the Warlock Surok Magis to seize Varrock, then captured him alive in a

nearly-successful escape attepmt, slaying an infamous Ork Warlord in the process. Roald secretly appointed him as an

agent of the Varrock Palace Secret Guard. Even though he was not a member of any Royal Family, Princess Shyra of

Misthalin found him charming and attractive, and the two got into a relationship.

A New Way of Life
After a few years, the couple secretly eloped to Karamja, and to the King's surprise, Zarok resigned from the VPSG.

Zarok used his VPSG final resignation payment to start a RuneCrafting business. The business was a huge success,

expanding branches in almost every major city in Geilenor. The couple became multi-billionaires, and they had a palace

built that sat on 150 acres, with a ten acre private beach and about 2400 acres of privately owned land, most of which

were used as private hunting grounds. A year after the house was completed, the couple had their first child, Masok.

Illegitmite Business
One day in a bar in Brimhaven, the already rich Zarok accepted an offer that made him even richer. He was offered a job

by an agent of the Pheonix gang as a distributor in an illegitamite potion business. He hired several couriers to smuggle

herbs and potions between Brimhaven, Falador, Varrock, and Ardougne. Despite the lives he ruined, he remained a

Saradominist and kept his dark secrets hidden from his wife and child. His funds made the business he was in thrive, giving

him a hefty cut along with the funds from his RuneCrafting business. But one of his couriers was captured by the Black

Arm Gang of Varrock, a feirce rival in the Herblore business. The gangsters interrogated him and found out who his

employer was. Zarok was now a target.

Zarok's Fall
After several attmpts on his life, Zarok hired several guards to defend his palace. But the brutal rival gang sent an army of

thugs to his mansion, including dozens of mages. With powerful magic spells, the thugs burnt the Zarok Palace to the

ground, ending his herb trade forever. Little did they know however, that at the time Zarok was hunting, and was far away

when his house was burnt. But with the loss of his family, his home, and most of his money, Zarok fell into a bitter state of

depression. He watched helplessly as due to lack of funds, his RuneCrafting business went bankrupt. For months he was

not seen; then on one cold, rainy night he was admitted to the Varrock Medical Center after he was found delarious,

stumbling towards the wilderness, after being punched off the Balcony of the Jolly Boar Inn. The Black Arm gang discovered him there,

and while they were powerless to kill him, they had a plan. They had an agent inform authorities that Zarok was a

high-ranking potion distributor. As expected, Zarok was to be teleported to the Prison in Port Sarim after he was released

from the hospital, where Black Arm Gang Members were waiting for him. Zarok, however, somehow managed to resist

the teleport. He instantly killed the mage who tried to teleport him by snapping his neck.

Fall to Zamorak
"If Saradomin is so good, then why doesn't he keep your loved ones from dying?"

- Zarok

Zarok, of course, was now a wanted man by the VPSG. But being an ex-VPSG agent, he knew all of the tricks they used

to find wanted criminals. The King, who partially blamed Zarok for the death of his daughter, issued a secret order to

ensure that the gaurds who arrested him would "have to kill him in self-defense". In his period of hiding, he met a Mage of

Zamorak who refered him to the Zamorakian Pastor Ivan Victrov, who was also a very powerful mage. After

attending a few of his sermons, Zarok began to accept the "Strength through trial" doctrine. He took the Oath to become

a Deacon of Zamorak, where he would learn many arcane forms of magic, necromancy, and summoning.

Escape from Varrock
Shortly after Ivan's escape from the city, the gaurds used former members of his church to trace Zarok's location. But

surprisingly, they were issued a New Order; they were to defend against an Army of Zombies from the Graveyard of

Shadows far North in the Wilderness. The entire town was shocked and confused about what could've brought these

undead creatures back to life, and what could've caused them to attack Varrock unprovoked. The answer to their

question was the Necromancy of Zarok, who had used this as a distraction while he escaped through the Eastern exit to

the city.

Rebuilding a Life
"When I worked for Shrya, I was being paid fourty coins an hour, my son was dying because we couldn't afford healing potions, and my family was living off one meal a day. I thought things would only get worse when I heard that a Zamorakian was in control of the business. I was already searching for a new job, but I changed my mind; my family has now moved from the Ghettos of Western Varrock to about 350 acres of privately-owned Misthalin forest; my son is better than ever, and my children are not looking so scrawny and oppressed.  Perhaps this Zamorakian I work for reflects his God?  Perhaps Zamorak cares more about us than Saradomin?"

- A miner for Zarok Runes Months later, Zarok was welcomed to Canifis where he opened a small business selling raw meat to the werewolf locals.

He eventually sold this business to buy a Castle in the Mort Myre Swamps, from which he made a fortune after he

published Strength Through Trial" followed by The Chains of Saradomin. The zeal in which he wrote these books earned him the Honorary Zamorakian title "Zarok the Impious"'', and he also

gained enough money to buy a failing RuneCrafting business which he brought back to life, providing surprising benefits for

the workers and gaining a small about of support for Zamorakian causes. In his leisure time, he studied ancient magical

books and learned powerful spells which would prove useful to him. But he didn't make much progress until Ivan returned

to Meiyerditch. Victrov sent a messanger to Zarok who informed him that Lord Drakan had personally requested to see

him.

First Steps to Power
Even Zarok himself was surprised when the resourceful Drakan acknowledged that he was an ex-agent of the Varrock

Palace Secret Guard. The Vampyre briefed him about an amazingly difficult, honorable task; now that Zamorak had

millions of followers throughout most of Geilenor, Zarok was to take on the prestigeous quest of organizing an invasion of

Geilenor. For months Zarok worked to gather an army, consisting of Werewolves from Canifis, Vampires from Mort

Myre, and Necromancy spells prepared to ressurrect the dead from inside enemy territory, which would gain them

footholds in many major cities. Agents were sent to strengthen the zeal of Zamorakians living in foreign Kingdoms.

Rise to Power
Main article: Invasion of Geilenor The first cities taken were those along important trade routes; the Barbarian Village between Varrock and Falador,

Brimhaven and Taverley between Ardougne and Falador, Pollnivneach, which was an important desert resource area, etc.

As more and more of Geilenor fell to the mighty armies, volunteer soldiers became less and less common. As Zaroks skill

in the arcane grew, he became less dependant on volunteers. Rather, he used summoning and necromancy to build instant

armies. Not many divisions consisted purely of

volunteer soldiers anymore; they weren't that coveted of a resource any more.

Final Steps in Power: Betrayal
"That bloodsucking leech - both literally and metaphorically - is using my work for his benefits; it's more land for him to rule! That vile creature lurks in his filthy, disgusting palace reaping the harvests of my work; in his boring speeches, he arrogantly tells the brainwashed fools of Meiyerditch that it is his accomplishments that got him all this land; as if he did anything other than sit comfortably in that gutter he calls as home and give me vague orders while leaving all the strategies to me! Well, guess what?  He will learn a lesson that I wish would've been driven through heart with a silver-trimmed wooden stake; I keep what I work for, and I don't care if my superiors get angry!"

- Zarok to his Elven aide, Tyrria

As Zarok's power grew, he grew angry with what little credit he got from his employers. This irritated him to the point

where he moved his home to the occupied area of Taverley, where he would break his committment to Morytania and

begin his own country. When Drakan had found that none of his new lands were yet officially labeled as "occupied" by

Zarok, he sent a messanger to him, demanding a report. The messanger returned to Drakan with a very distinctive bruise

on his face and a letter containing only the sentence "They aren't your lands; they're mine." and a signature that read

"Emperor Zarok". Drakan was outraged at this, but by the time he had built another army it was too late; the Dark

Army of Zamorak had Captured the Temple Paterdomus and had reinforcements along the entire valley between it and

Varrock. Morytania was isolated. Drakan's veiws on the new Emperor only lowered when Zarok sent a messanger to

Drakan with a letter containing a terrifying message.

''To the literal and metaphorical bloodsucker Drakan-

''Let's switch sides in the old game. As I'm sure you are aware, your country and your most pathetic city of leeches is isolated from any resources and footholds that would give your pathetic army a chance against us. But I know you would cower to that moldy cesspool you call a home and cry if I actually invaded. I wouldn't want to see that because I might laugh and make you cry even more. So I'll make you a deal. I'll let you delude yourself with the thought that you're actually in control of something as long as you sign your name below, by which you will acknowledge that you are expected to give us unlimited resources without reimbursement on our request. If you refuse to sign, then I will launch an invasion on that (expletive)-hole you call a country. Considering that your resources are limited to the small, isolated zone of Morytania, I reccommend that you sign.''

Just repeat after me: Drakan of Morytania. Sign:_______________________________

''With contempt, Emperor Zarok, Conqueror of Geilenor''

Of course, Drakan grudgingly signed the document to protect his power. However, Morytania, as their resources were

being drained, turned to an uproar. Drakan had to assign gaurds to all cities to quell any riots, but these guards were not

immortal. In the end, Drakan helplessly watched as the rebellion smashed the walls of Meiyerditch and killed all Vampyres

they saw until what few of them survived were forced to fly to an island far, far away. Zarok saw the new democracy

being established as an end to his committment; Morytania was his within hours. Now that he controlled everything East of

Kandarin, the end was in sight.

Gradual crumbling of the Dark Order of Zamorak
As Zarok's invasion claimed more land every day, his people began to grumble. After hiring random people to report

what people were complaining about, he concluded that people were disappointed about losing the benefits their old

government gave them. At first Zarok tried to return these policies, but most of them failed. Some of them caused

problems to be worse than they already were. As violence against city guards raised, Zarok acted swiftly and harshly. He

ordered all civilians to be disarmed and he launched strike teams to each city. People throughout his Kingdom turned to

Saradominism. Zarok made an effort to combat the threat of Saradominism by having guards burn all Churches of

Saradomin. He thought this would combat the threat of Saradomin, but it cost him a hundred times more that he thought;

eventually there came to be a non-existant, but powerful force that caused subtle, but significant changes in society.

Zarok's Empire was now past its peak. Hoping to become more involved in expanding and maintaining his Empire, he

moved to a Castle in Ardougne.

The Enemies Unite
As Zarok tried to quell the threat of rebellion in his own country, his true enemies were rallying against him as well. Though

he was unaware, he would have a disadvantage moving west. The threat of Zamorak had united his enemies; the Ogres of

Bandos to the South, the Elves of Saradomin to the West, the Gnomes of Guthix to the Northwest, and the Fremmenik,

who fought for their independance to the far North. He also had the threat of the trolls, who, surprisingly, were ready to

fight alongside the Fremmennik against Lord Zarok, and the ingeneous dwarves, whose war technology was far beyond

their time. Zarok's army was too focused on the persistant defenses of Ardougne to be concerned with the invisible, yet

mighty threat that the remaining forces posed.

The Final Battle
The enemy forces attacked simultaneously; the Ogres, the Elves, the Gnomes, the Fremmennik, and the trolls; all of which

had virtually infinite resources from the dwarven factories. The rebellion had taken up arms and were tearing down

Zarok's Empire from the inside. Zarok and his aide were escorted by four elite guards to the roof of the castle. Angrily

seeing the chaotic battle happening right inside his capitol city, he called upon Zamorak for Magical Power. After the

Prayer, Zarok launched mighty spells on the foes outside the city, killing hundreds with every blast. He turned and

launched a blast that destroyed the entire village of Witchaven, which he knew was now controlled by rebel forces. On

the turrets were Abyssfire Mages who used spells that were only slightly weaker. But seeing that the castle gates had been

penetrated, he took his aide down to the castle lobby where he would confront a hundred warriors. As they raised their

weapon, with a scowl, he shouted an arcane Prayer and put his hands together, causing everything in the room to burn into

ash. His palace was destroyed, and with his loss his army was defeated within weeks. The governments were all replaced

with the governments they previously had, and the first employment project was the Post-War Cleanup Program.

Worry Sparked in Saradominists
Upon examining the ruins of the Ardougne castle, hundreds of charred corpses were discovered. However, nobody ever

found the corpse of Zarok or Tyrria. All of Kandarin and Misthalin were searched, and most of Asgarnia was searched.

However, nobody ever found another trace of Zarok the Impious.

Trivia
Strangly, an elderly Werewolf from Canifis who was obviously a powerful mage and a Priest of Zamorak had become an

involent and had hired a servant from Lumbridge to take care of him. According to the servant, the werewolf occassionaly

mentioned having a very special friend married to a pretty, young eleven woman on Dragontooth I