The Death of Adun // Zeratul's Dark Past

[Pr0nogo]

The Death of Adun, or perhaps Zeratul's Dark Past (working on the title), is my submission to the campaign contest.

While Adun is quite obviously dead (assassinated by Zeratul, no less), and despite "Zeratul" being in one of the optional titles of the campaign, Zeratul himself will not be the "protagonist" of the campaign. In fact, he will be the antagonist.

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There is a well-known renegade Protoss band called "Adun's Living Will." Aptly named, all of the renegade band's members (soldiers or otherwise) are of Adun's bloodline (directly or indirectly). While this means an incredibly low amount of soldiers, it also means that they are the best of the best.

A few F.A.Q.'s I've generated:

Question: How do you simulate better soldiers?
Answer: For the missions where you fight Protoss (about 30% of the time), the enemy's troops' HP will be reduced upon contact with your troops. For missions without enemy Protoss, the units will simply be buffed (or you will get heroes, depending on whether or not you have Protoss allies not of the renegade band).

Q: What allies will you have?
A: I plan on having some Terran allies, and there are at least two surprise allies I'm still thinking about. Wait and see, kekeke.

Q: If Zeratul isn't the protagonist, who is? Did you make this character up yourself?
A: The protagonist? There are several, technically. Some of the characters are listed below, and yes, I made up all non-Blizzard characters.

Q: WHAT ABOUT YOUR OTHER PROJECTS?!!??!!?
A: They will come in their own good time...

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Characters:

Protoss:

Zeratul:
Rank - Protoss Commanding Officer
Age - Uknown (Old)
Role in Story - Antagonist
Description - Hunting Infested Kerrigan for several years, Zeratul is now scouring the systems for Duran's Hybrids.

Alkaneese:
Rank - Adun's Living Will Battle Captain
Age - 924 Terran Cycles
Role in Story - Protagonist's Personal Friend
Description - Standing at 7' 6'' (6' 9'' without his power suit), Battle Captain Alkaneese M'rwoya is prone to rage on the battlefield, but nonetheless is a fierce fighter. His extensive training and war-like ways render him a very incapable politician, however.

Yullara:
Rank - Unknown
Age - Unknown
Role in Story - Enigma | Ally
Description - Yullara is a female who stands at 5' 10'' and does not wear any power armor (resulting in her frail look). She is very intelligent, and can debate well as such. Yullara is a good stealth agent, especially with her powerful psionics added in.

Destrarch:
Rank - Adun's Living Will Executor
Age - 977 Terran Cycles
Role in Story - Allied Commander
Description - Adun's Living Will have very distinct policies from the other Protoss, one of which is the appointment of multiple battle commanders (or "Executors"). While the protagonist himself is an Executor, there are others, such as Destrarch Su'dari. While he is rather inexperienced in combat, he is a brilliant tactician and well-founded debator.

Terran:

Emperor Mengsk:
Rank - Current leader of the Terran Dominion
Age - 80 Terran Cycles [approximately; I don't know, so if someone could tell me it would be greatly appreciated]
Role in Story - Secondary Antagonist
Description - A battle-hardened beaurocrat, Emperor Arcturus Mengsk of the Terran Dominion is one of Kerrigan's worst enemies.

General Dutavon Jormund:
Rank - General of the Terran Dominion
Age - 67 Terran Cycles
Role in Story - Secondary Antagonist's Aid
Description - Standing at 6' 11'', Admiral Jormund is a muscular and commanding man. He knows (and resents) that he is a replacement for General Duke, and so far has tried to make his actions represent him and not his predecessor. He is an excellent tactician.

Tres Williams:
Rank - Field Commander of the UED/Confederate Alliance
Age - 34 Terran Cycles
Role in Story - Ally
Description - Field Commander Tres Williams is a "lone man" of sorts. Detached from the wars around him, Tres is often found brooding wherever he happens to be. He is a good tactician, but surprisingly not as combat-effective.

Scientist Natalie Washington:
Rank - Civillian (Terran Dominion)
Age - 29 Terran Cycles
Role in Story - Secondary Antagonist's Non-personal Aid
Description - Standing at 5' 9'', Washington is mid-sized and more focused on her occupation as a biochemist rather than the world around her. She is currently experimenting with Ghosts and their edited genes to create a super-soldier gene pool.

Zerg:

Kerrigan:
Allegiance - Kerrigan's Broods
Age - 50 (approximation; I don't know the age, please tell me!)
Role in Story - Secondary Antagonist
Description - A ferocious fighter, Kerrigan was a Ghost prior to her capture and infestation by the Zerg Swarm. Betraying the second Overmind, she now stands nearly unopposed as the leading Zerg menace in the Koprulu Sector.

Skragg:
Allegiance - Kerrigan's Broods
Age - 12 Terran Cycles
Role in Story - Secondary Antagonist's Non-personal Aid
Description - This Zergling-based limited-strain critter stands (on hind legs) at 8' 4'', with claws as long as 14'' (and fangs as long as 9''). Skragg has a limited sentience, and can be directly controlled by Kerrigan when the need arises.

Zuptiil:
Allegiance - Daggoth's Broods
Age - 314 Terran Cycles
Role in Story - Allied Commander
Description - Zuptiil is a Zerg Cerebrate with a surface area of 400 square meters. It resembles a large, gyrating creep puddle. Zuptiil is an excellent tactician and full sentience, but is in control of its own brood as opposed to other young Cerebrae.

Liiragin:
Allegiance - Liiragin's Renegade Band
Age - 97 Terran Cycles
Role in Story - Ally
Description - Liiragin is a Mutalisk-based limited-strain whose length is 16 meters. Liiragin resembles a large, mutated bat-like creature and is an extreme psionic and excellent fighter. It also has full sentience, and from what his band has seen, he has a Cerebrate-quality mind.

Stroluum:
Allegiance - Liiragin's Renegade Band
Age - 68 Terran Cycles
Role in Story - Ally
Description - This Defiler-based limited-strain is approximately 8-9 meters in length. Having 75% the mental capacity of a Cerebrate (an "underbrate"), Stroluum is a brilliant tactician and a good warrior, and owes Liiragin his life multiple times over.

Devunger:
Allegiance - Liiragin's Renegade Band
Age - 47 Terran Cycles
Role in Story - Ally
Description - Devunger is a Hydralisk-based limited-strain with an emphasis on length. It appears as long as 10 meters, but can unfurl itself to a huge 25 meters at will. Resembling a large, snake-like reptilian with super-smooth scales, Devunger is an excellent fighter and fair tactician, but has only half the mental capacity of a Cerebrate (called a "semi-brate").

Duran:
Allegiance - Unknown
Age - Unknown
Role in Story - Unknown as of this time
Description - Duran is a powerful agent of a forgotten race who has seeded Protoss/Zerg Hybrids across several [thousand?] worlds. Usually appearing as a dark-skinned human and armed with but your average Ghost's C10 Canister Rifle, he doesn't look like much of a threat, but be forewarned...

[Ben]

if that is THE zeratul, he's around a millennium old, he was born somewhere between 1510-1590, forgot ^^

[omega20]

Adun wasn't killed by Zeratul. He was killed as a result of Kortanul's (former leader of the Conclave) attack upon the rogue Dark Templar.

http://starcraft.wikia.com/wiki/Adun

[Church]

How does this fit into the four year space? If I can remember properly, Zeratul was wandering around planets in search of Hybrids, not attacking other Protoss.

Other than that this sounds like a great campaign.

[Pr0nogo]

Adun wasn't killed by Zeratul. He was killed as a result of Kortanul's (former leader of the Conclave) attack upon the rogue Dark Templar.

Orly? I played a Blizzard-sponsored (a.k.a. canon) campaign where (in a cinematic) Duran reminds Zeratul that he killed Adun.

How does this fit into the four year space? If I can remember properly, Zeratul was wandering around planets in search of Hybrids, not attacking other Protoss.

I never said Zeratul was attacking other Protoss. I stated that Adun's Living Will was hunting him because he killed Adun.

if that is THE zeratul, he's around a millennium old, he was born somewhere between 1510-1590, forgot ^^

Thanks. I had the Brood War userbook, but I lost it so I have no idea what his age is.

Currently editing the OP to add more characters.

[Sodon]

Duran, or your fault memory, may simply be referring to the fact that if it wasn't for the Dark Templar, Adun would not have died. One could conceive of misled Templars trying to destroy the Dark Templar as a means of revenge. The protoss are not always logical in this; they fought each other in the Aeon of Strife because of the Xel'Naga leaving (in the StarCraft novels). They blamed each other.

There's any number of reasons protoss would hunt down Zeratul. Motivation is important though =)

[omega20]

Adun wasn't killed by Zeratul. He was killed as a result of Kortanul's (former leader of the Conclave) attack upon the rogue Dark Templar.

Orly? I played a Blizzard-sponsored (a.k.a. canon) campaign where (in a cinematic) Duran reminds Zeratul that he killed Adun.

The past about Adun was revealed in Starcraft: The Dark Templar Saga - Shadow Hunters (and Blizzard-sponsored novel, so it's canon).

As the Aeon of Strife ended among the protoss, the Khala was imposed on the entire race in an effort to prevent a return to the strife. However, a number of protoss, believing that their individual identities would be erased to further promote the Judicator rule, lived in secret on Aiur as rogues, unknown to the majority of the protoss. Only the Conclave knew of their existence.

The Conclave ordered Adun to meet them at Khor-shakal, their Great Forum, alone. Adun chose to bring his strategist Vetraas with him, however.

The Elder Kortanul, leader of the Conclave, formed a deep mind-meld with Adun and Vetraas to ascertain their loyalty, then offered to either "speak" to Adun about secret information or show them. Adun chose the former method, as the latter would be clouded by emotions.

Kortanul told them about a new threat to the protoss; rogues who believed the rights of the individual outweighed the rights of the whole, and cut themselves off from the Khala. Adun was shocked; this could throw the protoss back to an Aeon of Strife. Kortanul offered to let Adun question a captured rogue; an adolescent female named Raszagal, escorted by a Khalen'ri guard.

Adun communed with Raszagal, learning of her reasons for her actions. The Conclave feared the rogues, and so Kortanul ordered Adun to conceal their existence, find them one-by-one and execute them. The Conclave had information about the locations of the rogues. Kortanul tried to convince Adun that killing the rogues was the right thing, even though Vetraas worried that because no protoss had slain another since the Aeon of Strife, this could cause a new one.

Adun brought Raszagal with him to his Citadel so the other high-ranking Templar would understand the reasons behind the execution. Kortanul demanded Adun execute Raszagal, quickly.

The rogues could hide simply by not being in the Khala, which provided a level of mental contact sufficient to prevent a protoss from hiding from another protoss. However, Adun had no trouble finding the rogues due to the information given to him by the Conclave. The list was shockingly long and included members of many tribes.

As Adun captured more rogues, he became more and more disturbed by what they told him; none seemed irrational, and none wished to harm the other protoss. Adun refused to execute any of them, but was receiving pressure from the Conclave to do so.

Adun recorded the "execution" of Raszagal and transmitted it to the Conclave, but it had been faked. Raszagal insulted the Conclave, distracting them from examining her fake wounds. Adun continued to fake executions, hiding the rogues until the Conclave was of a mind to discuss reintegration. As a result of Adun's actions, the rogues revered him.

The rogues were scattered so that no one, not even Adun, knew where they all were hidden. However, Adun knew the Conclave would eventually discover his disobedience, so he began teaching the rogues how to hide themselves from the Conclave. The rogues learned how to cloak extremely quickly, eventually doing so faster than Adun could teach them. The ability had before been generally foreign to the Templar.

As the rogues learned to hone their powers, one accidentally released a powerful psionic storm which killed his kinsmen and destroyed the jungle itself for miles around. Other students panicked, and without the discipline of the Khala, their power spiraled out of control, creating dozens of more storms across the face of Aiur and other worlds.

The Conclave quickly tracked the storms back to their source, only to discover several "executed rogues" had only recently died! Shocked that the Templar had not destroyed them, the Conclave attempted to salvage the desperate situation. They started by capturing all of the rogues.[2]

The Conclave was angry at Adun for disobeying their orders and deceiving them, but if they punished Adun and the Templar for their insubordination, they would be forced to publicly admit the existence of the rogues. The same thing would happen if they harmed even one rogue.

The Conclave decided to banish the wayward tribes from Aiur forever. The Templar under Adun were sworn to silence as the rogues were loaded onto an ancient, but functional xel'naga ship. However, Adun's presence prompted Kortanul to psychically attack the Rogues, who responded in kind. Adun feared the Rogues would accidentally create another psionic storm. He created a blue mist with a combination of Khala and strange energies which covered and protected the Rogues. However, the power caused Adun to burn out like a star. Nothing was left of his body, nor could he be sensed within the Khala.

The ship launched into the void of space. Eventually they became known, in legend, as the Dark Templar.

Also, what campaign do you mean? I don't recall any campaign in which Zeratul kills Adun (except for War of the Tribes, a fan made campaign hosted on this site).

[Legion]

Adun wasn't killed by Zeratul. He was killed as a result of Kortanul's (former leader of the Conclave) attack upon the rogue Dark Templar.

http://starcraft.wikia.com/wiki/Adun

Wait, do have to count the novels too? Can I use my "wait! i don't know any kortanul! he wasn't in the game!!"-card?

[omega20]

Adun wasn't killed by Zeratul. He was killed as a result of Kortanul's (former leader of the Conclave) attack upon the rogue Dark Templar.

http://starcraft.wikia.com/wiki/Adun

Wait, do have to count the novels too? Can I use my "wait! i don't know any kortanul! he wasn't in the game!!"-card?

I'm not saying that we must count novels. I'm just saying that Adun wasn't killed by Zeratul.

Anyway, pronogo, do it as you wish, as it's your campaign. Just keep in mind that, unless Blizzard really sponsored the campaign you were talking about, you shouldn't consider Zeratul to be the killer of Adun as canon.

[Legion]

Adun wasn't killed by Zeratul. He was killed as a result of Kortanul's (former leader of the Conclave) attack upon the rogue Dark Templar.

http://starcraft.wikia.com/wiki/Adun

Wait, do have to count the novels too? Can I use my "wait! i don't know any kortanul! he wasn't in the game!!"-card?

I'm not saying that we must count novels. I'm just saying that Adun wasn't killed by Zeratul.

Good.  I didn't really care if Zeratul killed Adun or not, but I was thinking the other day that maybe Lavarinth wanted us to base our stories on the novels as well.  That'd be hell, because a) I don't own them and b) from what I read on Starcraft wiki, their stories sound uninspired and too farfetched for Starcraft. :p

[Sodon]

To my knowledge, there was really only one good Blizzard novel (Lord of the Clans). The rest are uninspired and retcon a lot of the old lore, which would be fine, except the new versions are just stupid and written poorly.

[omega20]

To my knowledge, there was really only one good Blizzard novel (Lord of the Clans). The rest are uninspired and retcon a lot of the old lore, which would be fine, except the new versions are just stupid and written poorly.

Yeah, I can't comprehend how Blizzard could authorize these, specially when some of them changes the lore showed in the Blizzard own maps...

[Pr0nogo]

Back on topic.

The campaign I was referring to actually had a cinematic where Zeratul killed Adun (who was a hero Zealot).

Also, this.

...[most Blizzard-supported books] are uninspired and retcon a lot of the old lore...

[omega20]

Back on topic.

The campaign I was referring to actually had a cinematic where Zeratul killed Adun (who was a hero Zealot).

I believe the campaign you're talking about is War of the Tribes. If you haven't downloaded it, download it from here. Tell me if this is the campaign you're referring.

Also, this.

...[most Blizzard-supported books] are uninspired and retcon a lot of the old lore...

Yes, but, as the quote says, they're Blizzard-supported. It doesn't mean if they're uninspired or retcon a lot of the old lore (which is true). As long as Blizzard supports them, they're canon.

[Sodon]

As long as Blizzard supports them, they're canon.

Sadly