Raszagal

"I am Raszagal and I welcome you and your companions to our world."

- Raszagal welcomes the Khalai refugees of Aiur to Shakuras.

Matriarch Raszagal was the leader of the Dark Templar until the Brood War era. She ruled from her citadel in Talematros, Shakuras.

At 1,045 years of age, she was one of the oldest living Protoss, and of the Dark Templar. She was one of the few old enough to clearly remember Aiur from before their exile.

A powerful psychic, with one of the most powerful minds in the galaxy, she led the Dark Templar Tribes for nearly five hundred years. But as she aged, her control over her powers began to slip.

Young Raszagal
Raszagal was a young member of the Rogue Tribes, a secret Protoss movement on Aiur which disdained the Khala, the innate Protoss psionic bond. Raszagal herself was captured by Conclave agents and held prisoner. She was treated poorly (given a minimal ration of light, just enough to keep her alive).

The Conclave kept the Rogues a secret. They ordered the new Templar Executor, Adun, to meet them at Khor-shakal, their Great Forum, alone. They told him about the Rogues, declaring them a threat to Protoss society, as they feared their views could create another Aeon of Strife. They ordered him to execute Raszagal and other Rogues. Adun interrogated Raszagal, then asked permission to bring her to the Citadel of the Executor so he could show the other Templar why they had to execute her. Their leader, Kortanul, demanded a quick execution.

Adun felt her views were reasonable, and couldn't bring himself to execute her. Instead, he hid her and the other Rogues, faking their executions. Raszagal insulted the Conclave in the recorded "execution", in order to distract them from looking too closely at her wounds. However, Adun felt the Conclave would soon demand to personally watch an actual execution, so he began teaching them how to hide from the Conclave. Raszagal learned this new power most quickly, but all the Rogues learned faster than even Adun could teach them. Unfortunately, this caused psionic storms to spiral out of control, alerting the Conclave to the deception.

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 him. Raszagal demanded Kortanul cease, so he attacked her people instead. The stress of the attacks could spark more uncontrolled psionic storms, so Adun took drastic measures to end the combat. The Rogues escaped, but Adun didn't live to see this.

Raszagal would later become the leader of the Dark Templar tribes on Shakuras.

Welcome to Darkness
Infested Kerrigan had made Raszagal her slave before or early in the Brood War.

Following the death of the Overmind, the Zerg rampaged across Aiur, killing almost 70% of the Protoss. Zeratul proposed leading the remnants of the Protoss population to Shakuras through a Warp Gate. Aldaris, after being told that they would be welcomed by the Dark Templar, reluctantly agreed. The refugees emerged on Shakuras, only to find the Zerg had followed them through. Fenix and Jim Raynor sealed the Warp Gate from the other side.

Raszagal met Zeratul and the refugee leaders at New Antioch. Raszagal was willing to forgive the Protoss of Aiur for exiling the Dark Templar, as the agency that enforced that act, the Protoss Conclave, had been destroyed. She was even willing to make peace with Aldaris.

She explained that her people had discovered a Xel'Naga Temple on Shakuras, which was the reason the Dark Templar had settled there. Raszagal proposed to her now-expanded military a potential solution: the Xel'Naga Temple itself. Its powers enable it to destroy the Zerg. Unfortunately, the temple needs the Uraj and Khalis crystals to be activated, and they were off-world. Her first request was to destroy the Zerg Cerebrates which had nestled against the Xel'Naga Temple. The Protoss forces were up to the task, slaying both Cerebrates with Dark Templar energies.

Strange Alliances
Infested Kerrigan appeared to the Protoss military leaders, Artanis, Aldaris and Zeratul, asking for a meeting with Raszagal. The Protoss were even more surprised when Raszagal said she was willing to host a meeting.

Kerrigan explained that, with the death of the Overmind, she was no longer under its control. Mentally, she was back to normal. Unfortunately there was a new Overmind growing on Char, and when it reached maturity, it would take control of her. Zeratul told her he was more concerned with protecting Shakuras than destroying a new Overmind. While Artanis and Zeratul were grudgingly willing to work with Kerrigan, Aldaris stormed out of the meeting.

The Zerg had been dealt a harsh blow, but they were still spreading over Shakuras, and there were not enough Protoss to defeat them. Believing the Uraj to be on the world Braxis, she ordered her warriors to retrieve it, "and let nothing stop you from recovering it."

Betrayal
The Protoss recovered the Uraj and Khalis with help from Infested Kerrigan, but returned to find Shakuras in a state of uproar. The Judicator, Aldaris, had taken control of the Judicator and Templar refugees, and led them in an attack against Raszagal herself.

Raszagal claimed they were being driven by their old prejudices, and ordered Zeratul and Artanis to terminate Aldaris. She would tolerate no dissent while the Zerg were poised to strike.

Zeratul felt that something was wrong. Raszagal had always been a gentle soul, he told Artanis. Still, he followed her orders.

After defeating Aldaris, they tried to convince him to return to the fold. However, Aldaris revealed that someone was manipulating Raszagal... but Kerrigan arrived and killed him before he could say more. For this act, Kerrigan was ordered to leave the planet. Kerrigan boasted that she had manipulated the Protoss into killing her enemies, the Cerebrates of the new Overmind, and told them she would see them "real soon".

Defender of the Dark Templar
Finally, the time to activate the Xel'Naga Temple had come. Raszagal was elated at the moment. Zeratul asked Raszagal if she was all right, or if Kerrigan's treachery remained behind, but Raszagal quickly reassured him that she was herself again.

The Temple was activated, destroying the Zerg invaders.

The Reckoning
The Protoss upgraded the capital city of Talematros with a Khaydarin Crystal-based defense grid. It created an electromagnetic field which somehow prevented Zerg from maneuvering through the air.

Kerrigan braved the possibility of being attacked by the Xel'Naga Temple in order to recover the Matriarch.

Raszagal was spirited away to Char, with Zeratul and Artanis following. Zeratul demanded her return, but Kerrigan told him she wanted him to do something first. If he and his Dark Templar would slay the young Zerg Overmind for her, now under the control of the United Earth Directorate, she would allow the Matriarch to return. When Zeratul hesitated, Raszagal convinced him that the Overmind was a threat to the Protoss. Zeratul was forced to agree.

After Zeratul slew the second Overmind, Raszagal told him she didn't want to return. Realizing that Raszagal was still under Kerrigan's control, he had her spirited away, surprising Kerrigan.

Zeratul put her in a Stasis Cell while he could activate the dimensional recall that would enable them to escape from Char. Kerrigan pulled a risky maneuver, however, defeating his forces.

Zeratul killed his own Matriarch as there was no hope for them to escape now that Kerrigan has routed his forces, and he refused to allow Raszagal to live on as Kerrigan's slave. As she lay dying, Raszagal told Zeratul that he was the new leader of the Dark Templar. Kerrigan in an unexpected move allowed Zeratul to leave, claiming that she derives sadistic pleasure from watching him live on in perpetual guilt.

While Zeratul was prepared to meet with Artanis, he was distracted by a strange event and did not go back to Shakuras. Artanis became the new leader of Shakuras, holding the position of Hierarch.

Legacy
Although Raszagal's life ended on Char, her legacy has endured. On Shakuras, the Khalai and Dark Templar are attempting to mesh their societies together, though the process has been difficult. More than once, the name of Raszagal has been invoked to keep the peace.

Trivia
Raszagal is the first female Protoss portrayed by Blizzard Entertainment in StarCraft (StarCraft: Insurrection, in which the female Protoss Edullon appears, was only authorized by Blizzard rather than created directly). Unlike other Dark Templar, she appears to have long psionic appendages.