Moria
Heart of the Kel-Morian Combine
Moria was an exceptionally large mining world in the Koprulu sector, settled by the survivors of the crashed supercarrier Argo and grown into the industrial base of operations of the Kel-Morian Combine.
Moria was an exceptionally large planet in the Koprulu sector and the base of operations of the Kel-Morian Combine, the corporate mining power that ranked among the major terran factions of the sector. Filled with vast tracts of red dusty desert dotted by remote mining outposts, it grew from the wreck of a single crashed supercarrier into one of the great industrial and trading hubs of terran space.
Settlement and the New World#
When the supercarrier Argo crash-landed on Moria, its passengers stripped the vessel of essential materials in an attempt to find refuge in their new surroundings. The vagabond inhabitants worked to survive in what they termed "the New World," and in a relatively short time the Morians spread to other worlds and developed a prosperous, self-supporting economy.
Sixty years after landfall, the advent of second-generation subwarp engines on Tarsonis allowed Moria to develop relations with Tarsonis and Umoja. As commercial treaties were formed, a mining and manufacturing boom took Moria by storm. Dozens of small family-run guilds scrambled to claim as much land as possible, and hundreds of refineries, factories and mining facilities soon sprouted across Moria and its two moons. Over time the larger guilds used a variety of shady tactics to eliminate competition, until the Morian Mining Coalition and the Kelanis Shipping Guild came to dominate Moria's economic activity and gradually gained political influence over the planet as well. Although Tarsonis repeatedly pushed Moria and Umoja to join a conglomerated government, the two colonies steadfastly refused, unwilling to accept the likely pre-eminence of Tarsonis in such an arrangement.
The founding of the Kel-Morian Combine#
With the founding of the Terran Confederacy, the Morian Mining Coalition and the Kelanis Shipping Guild began to fear that the new power might move in and use its military strength to regulate their profitable operations. The two organizations eventually merged into the Kel-Morian Combine, a shady, corrupt corporate partnership that pledged military aid to any mining guild threatened by the Confederacy. From that day on, the thin line that had once separated commercial entities from independent government on Moria vanished entirely.
Moria emerged unscathed from the Guild Wars, the conflict that pitted the Combine against the Confederacy. The war ended in 2489 with a peace treaty that allowed the planet to remain under Combine control.
War, raids and the Dominion era#
During the Brood War, Fenix led a zerg raid on Moria for its rich mineral stores. Some of the planet's defenses were weakened in the assault, and Sarah Kerrigan's zerg destroyed a number of military and manufacturing facilities as they pilfered ten thousand minerals before departing.
The Combine later broke free from the Terran Dominion, which had been weakened by the war, and formed alliances with anti-Dominion groups. Around 2502 it hosted Jim Raynor and his organization on Moria for a time. That same year the Dominion's Cerberus Program traveled to the world in search of the War Pigs, a band of outlaws who had gone there seeking Raynor, killing many Combine troops and temporarily capturing one of their command facilities.
By 2504, Moria was still considered a productive trading, manufacturing and mining hub. Reports of zerg sightings circulated, which the Combine dismissed to the Universal News Network as a false alarm. The world also briefly suffered a protoss attack that year, in which Remote Mining Station Four was besieged; under Lieutenant Colonel Gwen Maxwell and Captain Marius Blackwood, Combine forces pushed the protoss back from the station.
Frequently asked questions
- What is Moria?
- Moria was an exceptionally large planet in the Koprulu sector and the base of operations of the Kel-Morian Combine. Filled with vast tracts of red dusty desert dotted by remote mining outposts, it grew from the wreck of a single crashed supercarrier into one of the great industrial and trading hubs of terran space.
- How was Moria settled?
- Moria was settled by the survivors of the crashed supercarrier Argo, who stripped the vessel of essential materials and called their new home the New World. In a relatively short time the Morians spread to other worlds and developed a prosperous, self-supporting economy.
- How did the Kel-Morian Combine come to control Moria?
- The Morian Mining Coalition and the Kelanis Shipping Guild came to dominate Moria's economic activity and merged into the Kel-Morian Combine, fearing the new Terran Confederacy might regulate their operations. Moria emerged unscathed from the Guild Wars against the Confederacy, which ended in 2489 with a peace treaty that allowed the planet to remain under Combine control.
- What happened to Moria during the Brood War?
- During the Brood War, Fenix led a zerg raid on Moria for its rich mineral stores. Some of the planet's defenses were weakened in the assault, and Sarah Kerrigan's zerg destroyed a number of military and manufacturing facilities as they pilfered ten thousand minerals before departing.
- What was Moria like by 2504?
- By 2504, Moria was still considered a productive trading, manufacturing and mining hub. It dismissed reports of zerg sightings as a false alarm and beat off a protoss attack on Remote Mining Station Four, where Combine forces under Lieutenant Colonel Gwen Maxwell and Captain Marius Blackwood pushed the protoss back.
Gallery
Images via StarCraft Wiki
Sources
- WikiMoria — StarCraft Wiki entry
- WikiKel-Morian Combine — StarCraft Wiki entry
Spotted a factual error or a primary source we missed? Email a correction. Every flagged claim gets reviewed.
Related entries
Tarsonis
Tarsonis was the cradle of terran civilization in the Koprulu sector and the seat of the Terran Confederacy. Its fall to the zerg in 2500, engineered by Arcturus Mengsk, brought down the Confederacy and left Sarah Kerrigan to the Swarm.
Umoja
Umoja was a fertile world in the Koprulu sector and the capital of the Umojan Protectorate, a fiercely independent terran nation known for its small government, cutting-edge technology, and long opposition to the Terran Confederacy and Dominion.
Brood War
The Brood War was a zerg civil war between Sarah Kerrigan and the cerebrate Daggoth over the succession of the Overmind, fought against the backdrop of an invasion by the United Earth Directorate. It ended with Kerrigan supreme over the Koprulu Sector and the Directorate destroyed.
Cerberus Program
The Cerberus Program was a Terran Confederacy black ops unit formed from the remnants of the Cerberus Recon Squad. Under Tamsen Cauley it defected to the Terran Dominion, and after the death of Arcturus Mengsk it went underground as a renegade outfit devoted to enslaving zerg broods for sale to the highest bidder.
Guild Wars
The Guild Wars were the economic and military conflict between the Terran Confederacy and the Kel-Morian Combine over the mineral wealth of the Koprulu sector. Fought from 2485 to 2489, they ended in Confederate supremacy, the appropriation of the mining guilds, and the founding of the Umojan Protectorate.
Jim Raynor
James Eugene Raynor was a farm boy turned Confederate marine, marshal, and rebel who helped bring down the Terran Confederacy and later fought its successor, the Terran Dominion, becoming one of the few terrans to ally long-term with the protoss.
Mentioned in15 entries
Cerberus Program
The Cerberus Program was a Terran Confederacy black ops unit formed from the remnants of the Cerberus Recon Squad. Under Tamsen Cauley it defected to the Terran Dominion, and after the death of Arcturus Mengsk it went underground as a renegade outfit devoted to enslaving zerg broods for sale to the highest bidder.
Char
Char was an inhospitable volcanic planet in the Koprulu sector that became the primary hive world of the zerg. It was the site of Sarah Kerrigan's rebirth as the Queen of Blades and, years later, of her restoration to human form.
Cole Hickson
Cole Hickson was a terran outlaw and soldier scarred on the left side of his face, a sniper and frequent leader of the War Pigs. He once saved Jim Raynor's sanity in a Kel-Morian prison camp, then years later was resocialized by Tamsen Cauley into an unwitting assassin sent against Raynor.
Fenix
Fenix was a protoss zealot and praetor of the Protoss Defense Forces, one of the most celebrated warriors in protoss history. He fell at Antioch and was reborn in a dragoon shell, died again to Kerrigan's betrayal on Korhal, and was later replicated as the purifier Talandar.
Guild Wars
The Guild Wars were the economic and military conflict between the Terran Confederacy and the Kel-Morian Combine over the mineral wealth of the Koprulu sector. Fought from 2485 to 2489, they ended in Confederate supremacy, the appropriation of the mining guilds, and the founding of the Umojan Protectorate.
Kel-Morian Combine
The Kel-Morian Combine was a terran business conglomerate that governed Moria and its colonies and controlled the sector's mining guilds. One of the three major terran nations, it fought the Confederacy in the Guild Wars and survived as a corporate power into the Dominion era.
Koprulu Sector
The Koprulu sector was a remote region of space on the galactic fringe, settled by exiled humans and once spanned by the Protoss Empire. It became the battleground of the terrans, protoss, and zerg across the Great War, the Brood War, and beyond.
Long Sleep
The Long Sleep was the centuries-defining journey during which four supercarriers loaded with cryogenically frozen prisoners were exiled from Earth, drifted blind through warp space, and crash-landed in the Koprulu sector, founding the colonies from which all terran civilization descended.
Old Families
The Old Families were the descendants of the commanders of the colony ship Nagglfar and the dynastic ruling houses of Tarsonis. Through control of the media, the economy, and the Confederate Council they dominated the Terran Confederacy for generations, until they were largely wiped out in the Fall of Tarsonis.
Tarsonis
Tarsonis was the cradle of terran civilization in the Koprulu sector and the seat of the Terran Confederacy. Its fall to the zerg in 2500, engineered by Arcturus Mengsk, brought down the Confederacy and left Sarah Kerrigan to the Swarm.
Terran
The terrans are the descendants of a failed 23rd century colony mission from Earth, a young and highly factionalized species with latent psionic potential. Despite endless wars among themselves and with their alien neighbors, they stand as one of the three dominant species of the galaxy.
Terran Confederacy
The Terran Confederacy, also called the Confederacy of Man, was the dominant human government of the Koprulu sector before the Great War, ruled by the Old Families of Tarsonis and brought down by the zerg invasion and the Sons of Korhal rebellion.
+ 3 more
Get new articles in your inbox
No spam. New lore drops, canon conflicts, and deep dives only when they’re worth reading.
Some links on Lore Fortress are affiliate links. If you buy through them we earn a small commission at no extra cost to you.