Shel'na Kryhas: those who endure on Aiur

The Shel'na Kryhas, a Khalani phrase meaning "Those Who Endure," were a group of protoss survivors stranded on Aiur after the warp gate was shut down during the evacuation of the homeworld. Led by the templar Ladranix and composed mostly of Khalai, they coalesced from the refugees left behind, sheltered in the ruined cities of the Antioch region, and held out against the zerg that had overrun the planet. Knowledge of their survival was kept secret by Zeratul and the protoss leadership, who believed any attempt to rescue them was futile.

Stranded on Aiur#

When the zerg overran Aiur, the Khalai fled to Shakuras, but the evacuation could not save everyone. Three days after it commenced, Jim Raynor and Fenix shut the warp gate down, stranding numerous protoss on the homeworld. The refugees split into various groups, among them the Shel'na Kryhas, led by Ladranix, and a separate body of refugees gathered around Fenix. A number of protoss heroes were also left behind, sealed in stasis cells.

One group of survivors, which called itself the Shel'na Kryhas, "Those Who Endure," coalesced under the templar Ladranix and sheltered in the ruined cities of the Antioch region. By the end of the Great War Antioch had been reduced to a wasteland, the same ground where Fenix had once been mortally wounded in its defense. The survivors settled the area and made one of their first tasks the destruction of all flying zerg minions, a task made easier by the disabling of the broader zerg presence, though they continued to fight running battles against the large numbers of ground zerg around Antioch. Although the group is often associated with the Khalai Caste, it consisted mostly of Khalai who, as the war ground on and the number of Templar diminished, had been forced to bear arms.

Kept secret#

During the recovery of the protoss heroes left in stasis on Aiur, a group of Dark Templar led by Ulrezaj attacked, killing two of the heroes before surrendering. In the course of that battle, Zeratul, Selendis, and Artanis became aware of the Shel'na Kryhas, but, believing attempts to rescue them to be futile, they agreed to keep knowledge of the survivors secret. Selendis would later express eagerness to bring the fight back to Aiur, but for the time the existence of those who endured remained hidden from the wider protoss.

The Tal'darim schism#

The Shel'na Kryhas eventually lost many members to a splinter group called the Tal'darim, "The Forged," led by Felanis. The Tal'darim took shelter in the caverns beneath Aiur that had been forbidden to the protoss by the Conclave thousands of years earlier, and they mentally regressed toward the state the protoss had inhabited during the Aeon of Strife. They were believed to outnumber the Shel'na Kryhas, and they served a mysterious Benefactor, the Xava'tor, who controlled them through an addictive drug called Sundrop and from whom they learned strange powers.

When a party that included the terran archaeologist Jake Ramsey, carrying the mind of the preserver Zamara, was stranded on Aiur after the zerg damaged their system runner, the Shel'na Kryhas rescued them and pledged their assistance. They were dismayed, however, by Zamara's request to enter the forbidden caverns the Tal'darim guarded. Rosemary Dahl was sent to scout the caverns and was captured by a Tal'darim named Alzadar, who subjected her to Sundrop and ordered her to lure Ramsey, and therefore Zamara, into the depths.

The end of those who endured#

The unity of the Tal'darim shattered when the true identity of their Benefactor, the Xava'tor, was revealed. As they splintered, the Shel'na Kryhas came under attack by Sarah Kerrigan's zerg, who were also interested in the preserver. In the battle that followed, Zamara worked to repair the warp gate even as the Xava'tor itself arrived. In the end, the Shel'na Kryhas and the renegade Tal'darim banded together to attack the Benefactor, and most gave up their lives using a powerful psionic technique to hold it off. Some of the renegade Tal'darim escaped through the repaired warp gate, but none of the Shel'na Kryhas survived. Those who had endured the long years on the ruined homeworld came to their end holding back the very power that had corrupted their kin.