Alarak

Alarak was the highlord of the Tal'darim, the fanatical protoss sect that had devoted itself to Amon. Previously the First Ascendant in the Chain of Ascension under Highlord Ma'lash, he used an alliance with the Daelaam during the End War to overthrow and replace Ma'lash, then turned the Tal'darim against Amon after the Dark God cast them aside.

Climbing the Chain#

Alarak resided on Slayn and was devoted to Amon, though unlike many of his kin he did not carve Amon's words into his body, believing there were other ways to demonstrate his zeal. He rose rapidly through the ranks of the Tal'darim by convincing ascendants higher in the Chain of Ascension to enter Rak'Shir, the ritual duel, only to engineer their fall, and by ensuring that those with a similar gift for manipulation met unfortunate ends. In one Rak'Shir he orchestrated a battle in which eight hundred Tal'darim died, keeping his involvement hidden and ascending to the rank of ascendant.

Words of heretics#

Within four years of becoming an ascendant, Alarak had reached the position of Fourth Ascendant. As Amon's plans neared completion, he was approached by Fifth Ascendant Ji'nara on behalf of Master Nuroka, who had challenged Highlord Ma'lash to Rak'Shir. In Nuroka's quarters, Alarak found his superior recovering from self-inflicted wounds and speaking what sounded like heresy: that through exposure to the Breath of Creation, Nuroka had learned Amon mocked the Tal'darim, that those who died in Rak'Shir were the only ones who truly ascended, and that Amon must be killed. Alarak attacked on instinct and was thrown back telekinetically, knowing he had doomed himself by striking a superior outside the ritual. Nuroka pressed his plan, demanding that Alarak aid him, take the place of First Ascendant, and help kill Amon, threatening a slow death should Alarak abstain.

Rak'Shir and the rise to First Ascendant#

When Rak'Shir came, Ma'lash, Nuroka, and the contending ascendants entered the Pits of Ascension before thousands of Tal'darim. Alarak declared for neither combatant, to the puzzlement of the spectators and the fury of Nuroka. As the fight turned, he suddenly struck down Guraj, Ma'lash's ally, breaking no rule since declaring allegiance before the duel was customary but not compulsory. Only at the verbal climax did Alarak finally declare for Ma'lash, opening his psionic energy to the highlord and allowing him to drive Nuroka back. For the first time, as Nuroka warned that Ma'lash would lead them to ruin, Alarak felt genuine doubt gnaw at his faith. Ma'lash dragged out the duel to prolong Nuroka's suffering and won.

In the aftermath, Alarak, now First Ascendant, traded words with Ma'lash, who threatened to have him killed but could not afford to lose more ascendants. Ma'lash promised reward for faithful service on the Day of Ascension and a fate worse than Nuroka's should Alarak turn on him. Alarak chose to bide his time and seek the right champions before making his move.

The Daelaam alliance#

During the End War, Alarak led the attack on a Khalai facility on Glacius that was reviving purifier technology, using his mothership's displacement beam to destroy it, though Artanis and Karax warped the technology away in time. He told Artanis he was not as weak as he thought and that they would meet again. In time, as Amon began casting out the Tal'darim, Moebius Corps, and the zerg as lesser races, Alarak came to the Spear of Adun near Ulnar to warn the Daelaam. After a skirmish with Vorazun, who placed him in a stasis prison, he broke free and declared that Amon had betrayed his people and that he desired retribution. Against her better judgment, Vorazun let Alarak lead them to Artanis, and his coordinates proved accurate, allowing her forces to help close the Void portal.

Meeting Artanis afterward, Alarak revealed that the Tal'darim death fleet was amassing near Slayn, ready to lay waste to the sector, and asked for aid in overthrowing Ma'lash and taking the mantle of highlord in exchange for a ceasefire between the Daelaam and the Tal'darim. After much consideration, Artanis reluctantly agreed.

Overthrowing Ma'lash#

On Slayn, Alarak informed Artanis that Ma'lash's guardians had to be slain before he could issue his challenge. After the guardians were defeated, Alarak confessed that killing them had not been part of the ritual at all but a way to remove future rivals, drawing Artanis's anger. He then formally challenged Ma'lash to Rak'Shir. Confident of victory, he inhaled a dose of terrazine to feel Amon's fury at his defiance. At dawn he engaged Ma'lash in the Pits of Ascension; though the duel was one on one, Artanis's forces lent Alarak their psionic power and fought off Ma'lash's Tal'darim and hybrid allies. Alarak gradually overpowered Ma'lash and cast him into the sacrificial pit, killing him. Declaring himself the new highlord, he revealed to the assembled Tal'darim that Amon's promises of ascension had been lies and decreed that Amon must die for his betrayal.

Meeting Artanis again, Alarak placed the death fleet at the Hierarch's command but insisted that only Artanis's submission could truly unite them. Angered, Artanis refused to be tested and demanded that Alarak side with him, pointing out that Alarak could not defeat Amon alone. Amused, Alarak agreed to a continued alliance.

Reclaiming Aiur#

Upon the Daelaam's return to Aiur, Alarak suggested simply bombarding the planet from orbit to destroy both Amon's host and the corrupted protoss, but Artanis refused. To disable the psionic matrix, Alarak and Vorazun attacked the first power structure in the zerg-infested ruins of Antioch, sparring verbally as they fought through the zerg. Reaching the blocked Citadel of the Executor, Alarak charged up his power and unleashed a massive blast that destroyed not only the doors but the power structure itself, to Vorazun's surprise. His Tal'darim later aided in destroying the final power structure and the void shards protecting Amon's host. In the final battle, Alarak's forces held the center while the purifiers and dark templar guarded the flanks, and the Daelaam held long enough for the Keystone to remove Amon from the Khala and banish him to the Void.

A path of conquest#

After the End War, Alarak formed a treaty with the Terran Dominion forbidding the Tal'darim to make war upon it. He declined a permanent alliance with Artanis and the Daelaam, allowing any Tal'darim a single chance to remain on Aiur before leading the rest on a path of conquest, striking unsuspecting worlds with the death fleet to claim their technology and resources.

During the Defenders of Man insurgency, the terran separatists raided fringe Tal'darim outposts and retreated before the death fleet arrived, greatly angering Alarak. He dispatched First Ascendant Ji'nara against them, then boarded the ship of the ghost Nova Terra and offered her a source of terrazine in exchange for leading him to the Defenders. When she tracked them to Vardona, Alarak struck the city with the death fleet, wiping out Dominion troops, Defenders, and civilians alike. The combined defenders held the line, forcing Alarak to recall his fleet after heavy casualties. He told Nova she had made a powerful enemy, and she replied that he had too, demanding the Tal'darim never return; Alarak simply chuckled.

Character#

Alarak possessed great ambition and pursued his goals with a purity of focus, renowned for manipulation and cunning and treating the Chain of Ascension as a game rather than a sacred rite. His faith in Amon remained strong until the betrayal he avenged with a vengeance, seething that everything he had believed in as a Tal'darim had been a lie. As highlord he cared nothing for whether his followers believed in his cause, only that they obeyed, and admitted to Artanis that he intended to rule and control his people, not free them. Grim, sardonic, and pragmatic in battle, he held freedom and comfort in contempt as lies told to the weak, yet he kept his word in a bargain and did not take kindly to betrayal. Like the rest of the Tal'darim, he prized the gas terrazine, which he said brought his people closer to the Void. He held a low opinion of the Khalai and a mixed one of terrans, finding their minds primitive but respecting their tenacity, and his power was said to rival that of Highlord Ma'lash, enough to repel even the Nerazim matriarch Vorazun.