Preserver

Preservers were a very small group of Khalai protoss who held the memories of other dead Khalai. Based out of the Sanctum and dressed in gossamer-fine lavender and white garb to make their status obvious, they could reach into the depths of the Khala more fully than any other protoss, drawing forth memories that could be millennia old. At least one preserver was always on hand at the Conclave during its existence, and though they could offer only information and never give orders, their opinions were often respected and could shape the policies of the Conclave. By the time of the Brood War, very few preservers remained, as most had been hunted down.

Function#

The role of a preserver was to protect and maintain the memories of the greatest protoss who had ever lived. Though the Khala was usable by all Khalai, its depth made it difficult for most protoss to maintain the focus needed to pull specific memories, and only preservers had the strength to fully reach into its depths. The memories accessible to them could be millennia old, and it was claimed they had access to the memories of every dead Khalai, whose recollections transferred to the preservers instantly upon death.

The psionic link of the Khala was required to become a preserver and to access the collective memory, which meant the Dark Templar, who had rejected the Khala, could not become preservers. Even so, the memories of protoss from the Aeon of Strife, who had lost their connection to the link, could still be accessed, and the memories of the Tal'darim of Aiur, who had cut themselves off from the Khala with the drug Sundrop, became available to the preservers upon their deaths. The term "preserver" was itself a title earned by a protoss, but it required at least some innate ability, present in only a fraction of protoss and considered the ultimate expression of a latent gift deep within them all.

During the era of the Protoss Empire, the highest of the preservers were the Grand Preservers, who could navigate the thoughts of every protoss connected to the Khala. They preserved the memories of ages past and interpreted the thoughts and actions of protoss from earlier eras to advise and direct the protoss of their time. The Grand Preservers were very long-lived, existing well beyond the normal thousand-year lifespan of a protoss.

History#

For millennia, the wisdom of preservers was held in the highest regard by protoss leaders. Following the Aeon of Strife, the protoss discovered the xel'naga archive world of Zhakul. When the Conclave took power, all texts and artifacts from the Aeon of Strife were sealed away on Zhakul and entrusted to a trio of preservers. Three Grand Preservers, Rohana, Orlana, and Shantira, advised the Conclave during the age of Adun and held its respect.

After the khaydarin crystals of two motherships failed, costing thousands of protoss lives, the Grand Preservers pondered how such small, random events could also bring about the destruction of the Protoss Empire. They advised the construction of the arkships as a contingency against any large-scale tragedy, and three were built: the Spear of Adun, the Memory of Nezin, and the Pride of Altaris. As they considered the ramifications of what they had created, however, the Grand Preservers realized the arkships had been built too early and would likely be thrown away early in a conflict rather than held as a last resort. They presented this to the Conclave, which agreed to bury the ships on Aiur, each with a Grand Preserver and a contingent of protoss warriors held in stasis within.

Ulrezaj's campaign#

Long before the Great War, the Dark Templar Ulrezaj, an Alysaar scholar based on the sacred Dark Templar world of Ehlna, tended the memory crystals and accessed forbidden knowledge that eventually drove him mad. When caught by other scholars, he refused to have the knowledge erased and fled. After the Brood War, Ulrezaj, now a dark archon, used his Dark Templar assassins to kill preservers, considering them a threat to his plans and seeking to destroy their knowledge of the xel'naga's motives and the Infinite Cycle. By 2503 there were no preservers among the refugees on Shakuras.

The preserver Zamara was mortally wounded by one of Ulrezaj's assassins. To survive, she forcibly transferred her mind from her dying body into Jake Ramsey, a terran archaeologist, using the technology of the xel'naga temple on Nemaka, an act that rewired Ramsey's brain and gave him both preserver abilities and a brain tumor. Pursued by Ulrezaj, the Queen of Blades, and the Terran Dominion, all of whom desired her knowledge, Zamara was able to give secret information to both Ramsey and Zeratul. While undergoing a ceremony at Ehlna to remove her from Ramsey's mind and place her in a pure khaydarin crystal, Ulrezaj attacked, and Zamara trapped both him and herself within the crystal.

The xel'naga prophecy#

Zamara was not the last preserver. A trio of "immortal" preservers lived on Zhakul, but they were captured and drained of their essence by Maar, a hybrid who had also taken control of the Zhakul Guardians. When Zeratul delivered fragments of a xel'naga prophecy found on Ulaan to the trio, Maar appeared and tried to keep him from reaching them, holding the advantage that he could use the preservers' psionic powers to resurrect himself each time he was struck down. Zeratul's forces nonetheless defeated Maar's servants, rescued the preservers, and felled Maar a final time, after which the preservers interpreted the fragments and allowed the Nerazim to continue his quest.

The last preserver#

In 2506, the protoss attempted to reclaim Aiur but were halted by the return of Amon and his corruption of the Khala. Hierarch Artanis gathered what forces he could and fled aboard the Spear of Adun, the last surviving arkship. Aboard, still in stasis, was Grand Preserver Rohana, who knew the desperate state of the protoss but refused to cut her connection to the Khala, insisting she would be of more use even if it meant fighting Amon for control.

Initially resistant to the changes of the time, especially the acceptance of the Nerazim, terrans, and Purifiers, Rohana slowly began to understand the era and warm to the other races. In her role as preserver she called upon the memories of old executors and judicators to warn Artanis against many of his actions. When Amon used Rohana's connection to the Khala to possess her and speak to the Daelaam, the attempt backfired: Rohana gazed into his thoughts and uncovered his plan to lure the Daelaam to Aiur and warp the corrupted Golden Armada on top of them. With that revelation, Artanis convinced Rohana that the time of the Khala had passed and that she had to look to the future, and she severed her nerve cords, ending the last preserver's connection to the Khala. Though she could no longer call on the surety of past memories, Rohana used her deep knowledge to oversee the protoss forces reclaiming Aiur, and with her aid the Daelaam once again reclaimed their homeworld.