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"This land was sacred to the Tal'darim before terrans ever reached the stars! You must depart immediately!"

- The Tal'darim Executor attempts to ward off Raynor's Raiders.(src)

Bel'Shir is a jungle world. It has terrazine shrines where the protoss gain psionic power.[3] Some terrans who consume terrazine from the planet venerate the world as a god, and hear her "voice" speak to them. The planet has oceans on its surface.[4]

History[]

Bel'Shir was once as a sacred spiritual retreat for the Templar Caste. It later became a sacred world to the Tal'darim, whose mystics set up altars to collect terrazine, which they believed to be a gift from the xel'naga and called "the Breath of Creation".[5]

Second Great War[]

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This article or section contains information from the optional Covert Missions in StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty.
Main article: Welcome to the Jungle
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One of the planet's terrazine shrines

During the Second Great War, Gabriel Tosh requested Raynor's Raiders to collect terrazine from the altars. The Tal'darim found them and sent in their air power, which was held off by Commander Jim Raynor's anti-air force, which included goliaths. The Tal'darim then tried to seal off their altars so that Raynor's SCVs could not "defile the Breath of Creation", as Nyon put it. Raynor prevailed against them and delivered the terrazine to a pleased Tosh.[5] The Tal'darim would later abandon Bel'Shir.[2]

Stetmann's Exile[]

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Stetmann arrives on Bel'Shir

In December 2504,[6] Egon Stetmann was dispatched on a research expedition to Bel'Shir as part of an expedition to the world to pave the way for future researchers to arrive. However, due to the End War, no such aid arrived. Stetmann began to take on the terrazine, gaining psionic abilities, including telepathy and technopathy. Stetmann began to worship Bel'Shir as a god, and gained deeper scientific insights due to her "influence."[7]

AlliedCommanders SC2-LotV Art1
This article or section contains information derived from Co-op Missions, and should not be considered part of the official StarCraft storyline.

In the timeline of Co-op Missions, during the End War two years later, allied commanders aided the (now mentally unhinged and worshipping Bel'Shir as a god) scientist in retrieving terrazine using harvesting bots while engaging Amon's Forces.[6]

During the war, terrazine on the planet enhanced its native viruses, causing a deadly plague that spread across all lifeforms.[8]

Years after the first harvesting, for Gary's birthday, Egon returned to Bel'Shir to harvest terrazine from the planet, and to also test Gary's empathy. He and an allied commander drove Amon's Forces off of Bel'Shir and harvested another batch of terrazine.[9]

Sacred Land[]

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The Tal'darim return to Bel'Shir

In the later stages of the End War or after Amon's banishment, the Tal'darim returned to Bel'Shir under Fourth Ascendant Malain, seeking to plunder the world of its terrazine in spite of treaties with the Terran Dominion. Stetmann in response created Gary and the Mecha Swarm to oppose them.[7]

After eighteen months with no distress signal, the Terran Dominion sent a force to find and rescue Stetmann, but encountered Tal'darim phoenixes, who forced their medivac to land on the planet. Malain was unconcerned as they were prepared to harvest the terrazine and purify the planet to cover their tracks. The team encountered Stetmann and his Mecha Swarm, and the crazed scientists declared them trespassers.[2] The ghost in their group convinced Stetmann to explain his situation, and that they would join him in pushing off the Tal'darim, but Stetmann stated that he would allow their aid only if the ghost took a dose of terrazine himself.[7] The ghost did so, and began to hear the voices of Bel'Shir command him.

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Stetmann victorious

Later, the Mecha Swarm, led by the ghost and Gary (now Super Gary) assaulted the Tal'darim base. The ghost slew Malain, and set off explosives in their perimeter. The Mecha Swarm then tore into their forces, devastating their operation, leaving Stetmann and his creations as the one power on Bel'Shir. However, following Bel'Shir's "orders," the ghost sedated Stetmann, and took him offworld along with Gary, in order to ensure that he created Bel'Shir's "congregation" across many worlds. The Mecha Swarm he had created would remain behind to serve as the guardians of the planet.[4]

Known Locations[]

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The surface of Bel'Shir

Landforms[]

Structures[]

Notes[]

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Old planetary image

  • Bel'Shir may have once been called Albion. However, the two worlds have different tilesets.[10]
  • Bel'Shir once appeared nearly identical to the world which appeared in the first StarCraft II video from space, except for the green color and the artificial volcano.[1] This world is Braxis Alpha.[11] The image has since been updated.[12]
  • Bel'Shir (old image) appears on the official StarCraft II website in the hole above the footer of the site.[13]
  • During storyline development, the planet originally featured an artificial volcano, which was created by the zerg to provide energy, visible from space as a reddish "explosion".[1]
  • In initial prerelease information, Chris Metzen referred to Bel'Shir as "one of the moons of the Mackan system," but in the same statement also referred to it as a planet.[1] Official art on release[5] and the description of Mist Opportunities reinforce its status as a planet.[14]
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A map of Bel'Shir

  • A map of Bel'Shir exists in the map editor. However, apart from the absence of creep, this map is identical to one of Aiur,[10] so assessing its validity is difficult.

References[]

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 2008-02-28. BlizzCast: Taking you deeper into the World of Blizzard: Episode 2. Blizzard Entertainment. Accessed 2008-02-28.
  2. 2.0 2.1 2.2 Robert Brooks (w), Carlos Rodríguez (i) and Andrew Dalhouse (c). (August 15, 2019). StarCraft II: This Sacred Land: Part 1. Blizzard Entertainment. StarCraft II: This Sacred Land: Part 1 Accessed 2019-08-15.
  3. StarCraft II Art Panel Highlights. Gamespot. Accessed 2009-0827.
  4. 4.0 4.1 Robert Brooks (w), Carlos Rodríguez (i) and Andrew Dalhouse (c). (October 10, 2019). StarCraft II: This Sacred Land: Part 3. Blizzard Entertainment. StarCraft II: This Sacred Land: Part 3 Accessed 2019-10-10.
  5. 5.0 5.1 5.2 Blizzard Entertainment. StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty. (Activision Blizzard). PC. Mission: Wings of Liberty, Welcome to the Jungle (in English). 2010-07-27.
  6. 6.0 6.1 Derived from 2016-08-31. Patch 3.6 Preview: New Co-op Map: Mist Opportunities. Blizzard Entertainment. Accessed 2016-08-31.
  7. 7.0 7.1 7.2 Robert Brooks (w), Carlos Rodríguez (i) and Andrew Dalhouse (c). (September 12, 2019). StarCraft II: This Sacred Land: Part 2. Blizzard Entertainment. StarCraft II: This Sacred Land: Part 2 Accessed 2019-09-12.
  8. Blizzard Entertainment. StarCraft II: Legacy of the Void. (Activision Blizzard). PC. Mission: Co-op Missions Mutator, Sick Micro. (in English). 2017-01-30.
  9. 2019-05-22. Twitch Rivals: StarCraft II. Twitch.tv. Accessed 2019-06-01.
  10. 10.0 10.1 Blizzard Entertainment. StarCraft II Map Editor. (Activision Blizzard) (in English). July 27, 2010
  11. "Berggren also introduces Braxis Alpha, the Terran settlement that appeared in yesterday's video presentation. Braxis Alpha will be a combination of industrial wasteland and mountainous regions, covered in craggy rock formations and factory-like debris, such as loose gears and turbines that jut out from mountain faces." Park, Andrew. 2007-05-19. Blizzard talks Starcraft II art design. Gamespot.
  12. Blizzard Entertainment. StarCraft II beta. (Activision Blizzard) (in English). March 25, 2010
  13. Homepage, Blizzard Entertainment. Accessed on 2011-06-13
  14. Blizzard Entertainment. Co-op Missions. (Activision Blizzard). PC. Mist Opportunities (in English). 2018.
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