Mohandar

Mohandar was the elderly leader of the Nerazim and a member of the protoss Hierarchy. Quiet and inscrutable, bent with age and a hunchback that made it difficult for him to stand for long, he succeeded Matriarch Raszagal as leader of the dark templar and devoted his final centuries to keeping his people within the Daelaam and to the cause of protoss reunification.

Leader of the Nerazim#

Mohandar was a close friend of Matriarch Raszagal, and succeeded her as leader of the Nerazim. He supported the dark templar's involvement in the Daelaam, the ascension of Artanis to Hierarch, and the policies of Artanis's leadership, all in keeping with the late matriarch's vision of protoss reunification. Raszagal entrusted him with mentoring her daughter Vorazun, the future matriarch, who needed to balance her fierce independence against the demands of unity. Mohandar's support carried Vorazun through the difficult period following her mother's death, and though by this time he was many centuries old, she deeply respected him and did not oppose his elevation to leadership.

The search for Zamara#

In 2503, Mohandar attended a meeting of the Hierarchy convened to discuss Zamara, a missing preserver, of whom there were none on Shakuras. The gathering included the terran Rosemary Dahl, the Aiur survivor Vartanil, and Executor Selendis, and touched on Ulrezaj, a powerful dark archon and old enemy of the Khalai. Throughout, Mohandar deferred to the judgment of Hierarch Artanis.

When Artanis resolved to launch an expedition to recover the preserver but did not know where to begin, Mohandar believed he knew her destination: Ehlna, a Nerazim sanctuary moon where the dark templar, having no preservers, stored memories in modified khaydarin crystals. He tried to insist that only Nerazim be sent, but Selendis persuaded him to allow a small number of templar warriors, on the condition that no disrespect be shown. He took part in the mission himself, and at the Alys'aril, the center where Nerazim memories were preserved, he met Jake Ramsey, who carried Zamara's essence, and Zeratul. When Zeratul made ready to depart, Mohandar told him his place was on Shakuras within the Hierarchy, and Zeratul promised to return soon. The sanctuary was then beset by zerg under Ethan Stewart and by Ulrezaj, and after the Terran Dominion drove off the attackers, Mohandar and the other protoss withdrew before a later protoss force reclaimed the site.

Decline and the siege of the Citadel#

As the Daelaam's reclamation of Aiur approached, Mohandar was beset by difficulties. His mental faculties had begun to degrade alarmingly, a fact kept secret, and standing for any length of time had become painful. Politically, Nerazim discontent over his leadership was growing; he was criticized as too deferential to the Daelaam and as failing to protect Nerazim independence and culture, and support gathered for the more openly pro-Nerazim Vorazun to succeed him. Vorazun refused to back calls for his replacement, committed in principle to the Daelaam and to his work in keeping the Nerazim within it, though she believed he could do more to represent their interests.

It was under these conditions that Mohandar faced his final crisis. Tensions between the Khalai and the Nerazim led five rebels under Taelus to seize the Daelaam Citadel in Talematros, intending to break the Daelaam and preserve Nerazim independence. To keep the matter contained, Mohandar and Artanis agreed to hold the situation secret until a zealot team could remove the invaders bloodlessly, but Vorazun, informed by her own intelligence, confronted Mohandar and insisted the crisis be resolved peacefully and without the Khalai. When the rebels detonated bombs in the Citadel and the orbital shipyards, hoping to provoke Khalai reprisals against all Nerazim, resolving the matter without Khalai aid gained new urgency. Mohandar and Vorazun infiltrated the Citadel and confronted the rebels, Mohandar disabling one by sending a shock of Void energy into his severed nerve cords. When only Taelus remained, the rebel struck from stealth and mortally wounded Mohandar from behind. He died in Vorazun's arms, mistaking the daughter for her mother, while Vorazun in grief and rage dueled and killed Taelus.

Legacy#

Mohandar's death at the hands of fellow Nerazim defused the immediate political crisis, allowing Vorazun to rally Nerazim support for the Daelaam with the backing of Artanis. His body was carried to the rites of passing by Artanis, who honored his old ally and friend. In the Overmind's apocalyptic vision of a possible future, Mohandar instead met his end in the protoss' final stand against Amon, leading a force of zealots and void rays against the hybrids on a distant shadowed world, declaring as his ship was destroyed that he was returning to the Void.