Zaros Cult

Zaros Cult is one of the oldest clans in Gielinor, it was created at the beginning of the Third Age and still exists. However, it currently has only seven members. They all follow the god Zaros.

Status
Zaros Cult is active, and has been in existence for two and a half ages.

=Diplomacy=

Allies

 * All followers of Guthix are friends of the Zaros Cult.
 * All followers of Seren are friends of the Zaros Cult.
 * All followers of Armadyl are friends of the Zaros Cult.

Enemies

 * All followers of Zamorak are a foe to the Zaros Cult.
 * All followers of any Mahjarrat that committed treason against Zaros is a foe to the Zaros Cult.
 * All followers of Saradomin are a foe to the Zaros Cult.

Neutral

 * All followers of Bandos are neither foe nor friend of the Zaros Cult.
 * All followers of any desert god is neither foe nor friend of the Zaros Cult.
 * All who do not follow any god are neither foe nor friend of the Zaros Cult.

Patron god
The patron god of Zaros Cult is Zaros.

Ranking system
There is no rank in Zaros Cult except for that of leader, who is changed every ten years (or with certain exceptions).

Creation
Zaros Cult was created on the first day of the third age. After the betrayal of Zaros by Zamorak, almost every Zarosian was killed or converted, but the few hundreds who remained loyal to Zaros united into the Zaros Cult. Their leader was Azzanadra who was Zaros' great champion.

First revival attempt
After the Cult was created, the followers had an attempt to revive Zaros. Not much is know from it except for rumors that go through the generations. The only thing we know for sure is that it failed. Here are some generally accepted facts:
 * It happened ten days after the Cult was created.
 * A massive search for the staff of Armadyl was made, but it was not found.
 * A thief found the body but was killed by Zamorakians before he could take it away.

Peak
The peak of Zaros peak was the time when Azzanadra was the leader, it lasted from the whole third age, when Azzanadra's power was separated into four diamonds and given to Zamorakian generals.

Defence of Uzer
After Zaros was defeated, the main priority of Zamorak was to destroy all the Zarosian cities, through spies Azzanadra found out that his plans were to attack Uzer so he would have a base to destroy the rest of the cities nearby. Azzanadra only had half a thousand men to hold the city and twenty clay golems against an army of Wyrm Riders and demons under Lieutenant Thammaron's command. The defenders stayed all day laying booby traps around the city and fortifying the temple. At night the Zamorakian army was arriving and was expecting little or no resistence, but they found that they had to watch every single grain of sand to see if there was a trap on it. After they were distracted enough, a volley of arrows came raining down upon them and spells were being casted. The battle was ferocious, Thammaron had nearly lost half of his men when the Zarosians started to retreat. Azzanadra was successful, he was not expecting to win, but also wasn't expecting to kill so many of them and all but one wyrm remained living. The retreating force ran over to Ullek, another Zarosian city, to prepare defence there.



Defence of Ullek
Azzanadra reached Ullek through the mountains, he knew that Zamorak would be inflamed with rage and get a new lieutenant to attack Ullek. Indeed he was right, Thammaron got killed and Balfrug Kreeyath became his replace. Balfrug attacked as quickly as he could to avoid making the same mistake as Thammaron, so he got his massive army assembled in one day and in three days they were besieging Ullek. The main force of Ullek were the weak clay golems, as Ullek was a city of trade, not war. Azzanadra noticed there was not a chance to win neither retreat, so he told the clansmen and citizens to run away through the tunnels and he would stay and fight. They did so and Azzanadra held Ullek for another twenty four hours with his powerful magics until he was captured and imprisoned in a pyramid and had his powers ripped into the four diamonds: blood, smoke, shadow and ice.

Downfall
Zaros Cult was hit hard by the imprisoning of Azzanadra. The remaining members ran way and lived their lives without having much trouble, but every year they reunited at the place where the ruins of Ullek stood to have their ceremonies, but remained leaderless until the tenth year of the fifth age. At the coldest day of the year the Cult decided to go back to the former glory, a leader was elected, his name was Horgh. It was decided that every ten years, or upon the leaders death or petition, a new person was to be made leader.

Retreat to Sophanem
The cult and the citizens of Ullek stayed in the caves for a few decades until disease struck and they were forced to run away to the south where Sophanem standed. There they helped build the city of Menaphos and lived for a while. With Azzanadra dead, the Cult became much weaker than before, and unable to attack Zamorak again.

Guthix Pact
When Guthix was awoken, the God Wars was over and balance reigned again on Gielinor. The Zaros Cult, which was huge now, became happy that Zamorak lost, but that would also mean they wouldn't be able to kill Zamorakians again, as it would unbalance the world. The leaders of the Cult traveled to Taverley and asked for the master druid (which are followers of Guthix) to make a pact in order to have revenge. Guthix agreed that he would allow the Cult to kill Zamorakians as long as they killed one Saradominist for every Zamorakian that was killed.

Attack in Falador
A big city as Falador needed a strong defence, but the king could not decide between the Black Knights, followers of Zamorak, or the White Knights, followers of Saradomin, so he had arranged a competition to see which of both could kill most goblins (the biggest threat at the time). The Zaros Cult saw this as a big opportunity to kill both Zamorakians and Saradominists. They infiltrated the goblin village who were happy to have help and when the Black and White Knights arrived they found themselves being helplessly slaughtered by fierce warriors who knew both the ways of the blade and the ways of magic. This day was the biggest mistake the Cult ever made. The knights retreated and called for aid from other places. Soon they were trapped in the goblin village surrounded buy thousands of warriors and with no food stocks.

Soon they all began to die of hunger, but a few managed to escape by digging into a dwarven dungeon. This was the end of the Cult as the ancients knew it. Now it became nothing but a memory.

The cult is alive
An ancestor of one of the survivors, called Horgh, decided to reunite the clan. He researched and found other surviving ancestors. They became a cult again but it never had more than twenty members. Every year, during the coldest day of the year, a meeting in the ruins of Ullek was held.

Second revival attempt
During the present ages, and ancestor of Horgh, named Eblis, became leader. He decided it was about time for another revival attempt. Haryil, the smartest of the six members, recorded the attempt in his diary

"Eblis, Azeroth, Mark, Ænhjurg, Danuth, Nergal and me have reunited on the place where the city of Senntisten once flourished (known now as Digsite), being destroyed by the forces of Zamorak after his betrayal and uprising. The symbol of Zaros was drawn on the floor with the blood of followers of Zamorak. Chants were uttered, Zamorakians were tortured and sacrificed. Finally, we all cast Onyx Enchant on an symbol of Zaros made of Onyx. The ground started shaking and we all thought it was completed but nothing happened. I know not if this is related to the ritual, but me and the other members are feeling stronger, our magic more powerful."

Eblis
Eblis is the current leader of Zaros Cult. He is an ancestor of Horgh and lives on a bandit village in the Kharidian Desert. He specializes in the use of magic.

Azeroth
Azeroth is from Varrock. He specializes in no skill completely. Instead, he is good at all three styles of combat, being able to use them simultaneously during combat.

Mark
Mark is from Piscatoris. He specializes in traps, camouflage, secret missions and thieving.

Danuth
Danuth is from Hemenster. He specializes in ranged combat.

Haryil
Haryil is from Lunar Island. His weapon is his brain; he knows how to fool the weak-minded by manipulating facts, can develop the most complex of techniques ans strategies for anything imaginable.

Nergal
Nergal is from Yanille. He is the strongest magician in the Cult, he can cast a 4X4 ice barrage.

Ænhjurg
Ænhjurg is from Rellekka. He may not be the smartest (though not dumb either), but what he lacks in brain, he has in strength.