Demonology Warlock Artifact Weapon: Skull of the Man'ari

Von Wowhead Letztes Update: 01.04.2019 Änderungsprotokoll Patch: 7.3.5

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The sorcerer Thal'kiel was one of the first Eredar who learned the techniques of summoning and controlling demons. After his defeat, his skull was put on display as an example of the dangers of the dark arts. The lesson went unheeded. After the Eredar's fall, the skull was taken by the generals of the Burning Legion to enhance their control of their armies.

Die SechsJagganoth

Greetings, warlock. I come to you as a representative of the Council of the Black Harvest. We are in need of you. With the Legion invasion upon us, it is painfully clear that we will need more power to be victorious. The council plans on tapping into the Twisting Nether to call forth more powerful demon allies. The ritual is ready, but we are short one number - no doubt you have heard the fate of Kanrethad Ebonlocke. You will be his replacement, warlock. Do you accept?

Frisches BlutCalydus

Stage 1 – Far From Home
Listen to Ritssyn.

Stage 2 – The Dread Warden
Enslave the jailer Beshtal to free yourself from his cage, then defeat him with Risstyn's aid.

Stage 3 – The Shattered Council
Rescue Jubeka Shadowbreaker, Zinnin Smythe, and Shinfel Blightsworn.

Stage 4 – Jailbreak
Escape from Jagganoth's prison.

Stage 5 – The Pit Lord's Secrets
Follow Calydus to the archives to uncover information about the artifacts Jagganoth hunts.

Final Stage – To Fight Another Day
Follow Calydus to escape from Dreadscar Rift.

Xel'tothFrisches BlutDer Foliant der verseuchten Instrumente

The book you carry is the key to your friends' salvation, and to your absolute power! It holds within information about many relics too dangerous to the Legion to leave unchecked. Read, friend. And decide which of these artifacts you will use to strike Jagganoth down!

Reagenzien des Rituals

The Skull of the Man'ari, oh good choice! It's very powerful and it's held by an even more powerful Dreadlord!

There is a weakness, the skull has a will of its own! If we can commune with the skull we might be able to convince it to serve you instead!

We will need reagents from the city above before we can perform the ritual to commune with it. Dust from a fresh grave, dark oil, and a powerful alcohol catalyst.

Oh, and blood! I sense a beast nearby who's blood should be perfect..

Reagenzien des RitualsBlick in die Finsternis

Friend now is ready to perform the ritual! Remember, friend, the skull must be convinced that it is in its best interest to be in your possession. If we must force the skull into your servitude, it would be far weaker.

Dunkles Flüstern

Stage 1 – The Council's Vengeance
Defeat Jagganoth in Dreadscar Rift.

Stage 2 – Cut Out the Heart
Collect the Heart of the Overlord.

Final Stage – Becoming the Overlord
Place the Heart of the Overlord above the altar in the Seat of the Overlord to take command of his armies.

Das Herz der SchreckensnarbeArtifact Book Text

The Skull of the Man'ari

Behold the skull of Thal'kiel the Denied, once a great leader of the eredar. He gazed into the depths of the Great Dark Beyond and embraced that which gazed back. He saw worlds consumed by fel fire, dark creatures of the Twisting Nether overrunning mortal civilizations, the conquest of creation. Now all that remains of him is this skull, which lends the bearer his power to command demons.

Like most skulls, Thal'kiel's comes with a cautionary tale. Never mind that it's been heeded by none.

The Skull of the Man'ari, Part One

Before the coming of Sargeras to Argus, the eredar Thal'kiel ushered in a golden age for his people. Thal'kiel was a sorcerer of unparalleled talent, and he and his Wakeners pushed the limits of summoning and binding magics, conjuring the arcane entities that helped build the capital's wondrous architecture. Thal'kiel also devised the machines that focused the world's latent arcane energy, suffusing Argus with peace, harmony, and vitality. All were in awe of his abilities, including his young apprentice, Archimonde.

There were rumors that Archimonde coveted Thal'kiel's power and influence, but the eredar leader dismissed these as pure fabrication, for his apprentice had shown him nothing but devotion. Archimonde had even gone to great lengths to commission a custom-made crown for Thal'kiel, taking the measurements for his head himself.

The Skull of the Man'ari, Part Two

Thal'kiel led an order of eredar magi called the Wakeners, specialists in the arts of conjuration and binding. They were renowned for their clever arcane constructs, exploring new frontiers in summoning. Yet Thal'kiel was never one to rest on his laurels. He thirsted for more. Seeking to elevate his order to levels undreamed of, he searched uncharted terrain, venturing farther than any eredar had dared before. His spells plumbed the vastness of the Great Dark Beyond, petitioning for a deeper well of power.

One day, he received an answer.

The Skull of the Man'ari, Part Three

Thal'kiel was brilliant, but he was not wise. A dark presence whispered to him, and the eredar's mind was consumed with visions of power beyond his wildest imaginings, of ranks upon ranks of deadly servants eager to obey his every whim. These demonic forces made Thal'kiel's arcane constructs look like a child's playthings. Afterward, he would despise the arcane, his passion reserved only for fel magic.

Thal'kiel's mysterious benefactor bestowed upon him the ability to summon lesser demons, and the eredar immediately spread the knowledge to his Wakeners. Imps and felhounds, infernals and abyssals, all executed the commands of Thal'kiel and his sorcerers. Convinced that this was the start of a new era, Thal'kiel feverishly prepared to present his wondrous pets to the rulers of Argus, Velen and Kil'jaeden.

Brilliant. Not wise.

The Skull of the Man'ari, Part Four

In the presence of Velen, Kil'jaeden, and the eredar rulers' inner circle, the sorcerer Thal'kiel demonstrated what his fel darlings could do. First, he summoned scores of his familiar arcane constructs and arrayed them in orderly rows. Then the sky went dark, and the clouds roiled as a storm of meteors crashed down. From the craters emerged an army of infernals--which Thal'kiel unleashed on the constructs. It was a symbolic display of the new era he saw for his people. He watched rapturously as the demons obliterated the unfortunate arcane entities, smashing and burning them until only smoke and embers remained. Such was the demons' fury that even the nearby columns and statues were reduced to rubble and ash. An acceptable sacrifice on the altar of progress, as far as Thal'kiel was concerned.

But when he looked upon his colleagues' faces, he didn't see the approval he expected. Kil'jaeden's expression was remote, inscrutable, but there could be no doubt about how Velen felt. He condemned Thal'kiel's new summonings and ordered him never to conjure them again.

The Skull of the Man'ari, Part Five

The following is from an account of Thal'kiel's last days, written by an anonymous Wakener. It was recovered from Archimonde's private archive.

""After Master Thal'kiel's disastrous demonstration, Velen forbade him from conjuring demons, denouncing his 'new era' as a failed experiment. Thal'kiel withdrew to his chambers for weeks. He neither ate nor slept. His only companions were the demonic minions he would summon and then banish in rage, or so we guessed--all we could hear were the shrieks of imps as they were thrust back and forth between this realm and the Twisting Nether. We also sensed the presence of other, larger entities with him, shadowy apparitions of baleful influence, though his servants swore that no one had entered his sanctum.

""When finally Thal'kiel emerged, he was changed. He had aged by centuries, alone in the dark with his thoughts and his thralls. His back was twisted and stooped, and there was an odd glimmer in his eye. He summoned his Wakeners, and we answered the call, for we loved him like a father.

""He looked at each of us in turn, and said only, 'The new era begins.'""

The Skull of the Man'ari, Part Six

Thal'kiel commanded his Wakeners to continue their experiments in summoning fel creatures. In secret, he and his sorcerers conjured demons of increasingly dire aspect, and they cast powerful spells to hide their minions in covert training grounds. Shielded from the eyes of Velen and Kil'jaeden, Thal'kiel slowly amassed a great demonic army with one purpose: to install him as dictator of Argus.

The Wakeners were united behind Thal'kiel, save one--his apprentice, Archimonde. Although he had no aversion to demons-in fact, he rather enjoyed them--Archimonde was driven by ambition, and he was eager to prove himself to Velen and Kil'jaeden. The night before the Wakeners were to stage their coup, Archimonde revealed Thal'kiel's plans to the rulers of the eredar.

""You shall have his head for this,"" Archimonde said.

The Skull of the Man'ari, Part Seven

Velen and Kil'jaeden were stunned to learn of Thal'kiel's treachery. He had summoned legions of fel beasts to build his personal empire, plotting to assassinate the eredar rulers. He had tapped into a strange new source of power whose limits were unknown, and he needed to be stopped, swiftly and without mercy. To prove his loyalty to Velen and Kil'jaeden, Archimonde broke the wards that hid where Thal'kiel's demonic army was marshaled, and he led a contingent of magi in storming the secret training grounds.

The battle did not last long. Caught off guard, the Wakeners were easily defeated by the invading magi, and without commanders to direct them, the demons were slaughtered. Archimonde himself confronted his master as he was summoning reinforcements. With a single stroke of his blade, he decapitated Thal'kiel.

The Skull of the Man'ari, Part Eight

From chapter one of A Treatise on Eredar Phrenology:

""The science of phrenology--the study of skull shape as a means to determine intellectual aptitude--became popular in Argus around the time of the Second Duumvirate. Its proponents believed that an eredar's mental faculties, such as willpower, memory, and perception, could be attributed to the shape and size of various protuberances on that individual's skull. Some theorized that if an eredar's skull was sufficiently well-proportioned for spellcasting, it could be utilized to channel magical energies even after death. This practice was deemed too barbaric to be put into common use, though it was not unheard of.

""Among the most prominent phrenologists during this period were Thal'kiel and Archimonde. Thal'kiel in particular was noted for having the archetypal sorcerer's skull, for which he was widely admired.""

The Skull of the Man'ari, Part Nine

After they crushed Thal'kiel's rebellion, the eredar rulers' magi burned the Wakeners' bodies so their fel taint would not spread, and they destroyed the rebels' writings to suppress the knowledge of their foul arts. Archimonde oversaw the effort, and when it was done, he was hailed as a hero.

Soon afterward, Archimonde commissioned one of Argus's finest jewelers to gild Thal'kiel's skull. He claimed that he was preparing it for viewing--as a grim warning not to follow Thal'kiel's path. In truth, he had it adorned with metals that would enhance its ability to channel magical energy, the perfect decoration for the perfect sorcerer's skull, which Archimonde proudly displayed in his domicile.

The Skull of the Man'ari, Part Ten

Archimonde eventually rose to lead the eredar alongside Velen and Kil'jaeden, and by all accounts, he was a wise and sagacious ruler. In actuality, however, a demonic presence had been slowly infiltrating Archimonde's mind, using Thal'kiel's skull as a conduit for its pernicious influence. While Archimonde slept, he saw visions of civilizations consumed in magnificent fel fire, and a dark god standing at the head of a glorious army. The entity whispered promises of strength that were impossible for mere mortals to comprehend, and Archimonde drank them in, eager to learn more of this mysterious being and his invincible legions.

Thus when the Dark Titan, Sargeras, finally came to Argus and offered the eredar a place in his kingdom, Archimonde was the first to accept.

The Skull of the Man'ari, Part Eleven

After Archimonde became one of the Burning Legion's generals, he put Thal'kiel's skull to good use. In life, Thal'kiel had been unmatched in his ability to control demonic minions, and his skull was no less adept. World after world fell before Archimonde as he channeled his commands through the skull, compelling multitudes of demons to obey, his forces obliterating opponents with the grace and precision of an expertly choreographed ballet.

Since then, possession of Thal'kiel's skull has passed between a handful of Sargeras's elite generals, with preference given to those who lead invasions of the fallen titan's most sought-after worlds. The dreadlord Mephistroth, commander of the Legion's vanguard in Azeroth, was the last to be seen with it.

Kommentare

Kommentar von Cactuscat

Let's at least call the final appearance what it is... A re-skin.

Kommentar von Naturleza

The artifact book text really fills in some of the plot holes on the eredar lore. Such a well written narrative!

Kommentar von evilamericorp

This guide lists Mistress of the Claw as the starting quest for Warlocks, but that is a druid quest...

Demonology Warlock Artifact Weapon: Skull of the Man'ari

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