Tal'darim: the fanatical protoss sect of Amon

The Tal'darim, also called the Forged or the Chosen, were a fanatical and warlike sect of protoss taken from Aiur by Amon and his followers as they abandoned the planet before the Aeon of Strife. They stood apart from both the Khalai and the Nerazim, and like the latter they did not use the Khala. An ancient faction once based out of Slayn, they were the most vicious and cut-throat of all the protoss kindreds, spending countless ages in the service of Amon and claiming to be the chosen of the xel'naga. The title Tal'darim, translated as "the Forged," was taken from a group of mythological servants to the xel'naga.

Culture and the Chain of Ascension#

The Tal'darim were the most ruthless of all the protoss kindreds, with morals their brethren considered barbaric but a power in battle that was undeniable. Their warriors wielded bane blades, ancient red psionic blades that drew power from the Void. Their society followed a brutal Chain of Ascension that determined who commanded, ruled by a Highlord, in which no Tal'darim could fight or kill another above his rank without first challenging him to Rak'Shir, a rite of ritual combat; attacking a superior outside such a duel was punished with public execution. Those deemed too weak to serve were hunted down and executed by blood hunters, and the Tal'darim took no prisoners in battle.

The Tal'darim kept no scientists or engineers within their ranks, for every Tal'darim was a warrior and believed that strength in battle defined an individual. They instead captured Khalai Caste engineers and interrogated them, and their war machines proved to be near-exact duplicates of Khalai designs reverse-engineered and rebuilt with harsher edges to appear more intimidating. This led the Daelaam to suspect that tales of lost Khalai expeditions over the eons had in truth been Tal'darim raids. They cared little for the worlds around them, devastating planets such as Slayn through terrazine exposure, and they named their worlds to honor significant events.

Religion#

The Tal'darim worshipped Amon, a fallen xel'naga, as their god, and also gave worship to the xel'naga as a group of deities. They followed Amon's creed, carving his words into their bodies as demonstrations of zeal, and believed that through his will the Breath of Creation had been shared with them and that through his blessing one could travel safely through the Void. They held that once Amon had undone the corrupt cycle of the xel'naga they would become their own masters and the Day of Ascension would come, and they sought to become hybrids and stand at Amon's side. This devotion, which Sarah Kerrigan claimed made them even more dangerous, changed only after Alarak became Highlord and the Tal'darim sought revenge on Amon for deceiving them.

Early history#

The Tal'darim went away with Amon and his xel'naga eons ago, not long after they abandoned Aiur before the Aeon of Strife, and so developed a culture wholly apart from their protoss kin and without the Khala. Taken to the Sigma Quadrant, they were left by Amon with an order, "Defeat your masters, or rise beyond them," which they interpreted to mean that through obedience they would one day ascend alongside him; in truth this was a lie meant to keep them in his thrall. They colonized and abandoned worlds such as Demon's Fair as their terrazine sources ran dry, and some remained on worlds like Monlyth after they had been mostly abandoned. In their earliest days, the first highlord was asked where their homeworld would be and answered by pointing downward and saying "wherever I tread," an edict that remained unchanged.

The Keystone and the war for the artifacts#

During the Second Great War, Tal'darim guardians based on a worldship and led by Executor Nyon came into repeated conflict with Raynor's Raiders, chiefly over the pieces of the Keystone. Four of the device's five components were in Tal'darim custody, held as holy relics on Monlyth, in a xel'naga temple on the dead world of Xil, in a vault on Typhon XI, and aboard a worldship in the Sigma Quadrant. The Raiders, the Moebius Foundation, and the zerg all desired the components, and despite the Tal'darim's self-appointed guardianship the Raiders absconded with each in turn, leaving the protoss to be consumed by a supernova on Typhon XI and destroying their worldship in the Sigma Quadrant.

After Raynor used the Keystone to restore Kerrigan on Char, Emil Narud stole the artifact and used its stored Void energy to revive Amon on the Tal'darim-guarded world of Atrias. The reborn Amon used a void catalyst to communicate with Highlord Ma'lash. Other Tal'darim worshipping Amon defended his temple at Skygeirr Station and worked directly with Narud, only to fail to hold it against Kerrigan and Alexei Stukov.

Alarak and the turn against Amon#

At Amon's command, Ma'lash gathered the Tal'darim for war, sending First Ascendant Alarak and a contingent of the Death Fleet against the Daelaam on Glacius. As the Daelaam moved on Ulnar, Alarak gave chase, but having discovered Amon's true goal of consuming all life including the Tal'darim, he turned against his god, boarding the Spear of Adun and joining Vorazun to save Artanis by sealing the void portal. Alarak agreed to help the Daelaam fight Amon if Artanis would aid him in defeating Ma'lash in Rak'Shir. On Slayn, the Daelaam cleared Ma'lash's guardians, and Alarak met and slew Ma'lash in single combat to become the new Highlord, declaring that the Tal'darim would destroy Amon for his betrayal.

The Tal'darim fought alongside the Daelaam through the last days of the End War, lending the Death Fleet against Amon's forces and helping to reclaim Aiur, with Alarak serving as an advisor to Artanis aboard the Spear of Adun. After Amon was thrown back into the Void, Tal'darim forces joined the final expedition that pursued and destroyed him there, completing their vengeance. Artanis offered the Tal'darim a permanent place among the unified protoss, but Alarak declined, allowing any of his warriors who opposed his decision a single chance to join the Templar before he departed with his fleets to find a new homeworld.

Later conflicts#

The Tal'darim held an uneasy ceasefire with the Terran Dominion after Amon's defeat, though some elements violated its terms. Fourth Ascendant Malain forcibly mined terrazine on Bel'Shir until he was killed by a ghost leading Egon Stetmann's mechanical Swarm. When the Defenders of Man attacked a remote Tal'darim outpost, Alarak dispatched First Ascendant Ji'nara and the Death Fleet to hunt them, and Alarak struck a bargain with the renegade ghost Nova Terra, guiding her to terrazine in exchange for the location of the Defenders. When the Tal'darim later slaughtered Dominion soldiers and civilians alongside the Defenders on Vardona, Nova turned on Alarak, and after suffering heavy casualties the Tal'darim were forced to retreat, having made a powerful enemy.

Notable members and worlds#

The Tal'darim were led across their history by a succession of highlords, of whom Ma'lash and then Alarak were the most prominent, with ascendants such as Ji'nara, Nuroka, Guraj, Zenish, and Malain ranged beneath them on the Chain of Ascension, alongside Executor Nyon. Their known worlds included their former homeworld of Slayn, Atrias, Xil, Typhon XI, and the formerly held Monlyth, Bel'Shir, and Demon's Fair. Their warriors and war machines included ascendants, blood hunters, supplicants, slayers, vanguards, wrathwalkers, and the Tal'darim mothership.