It Will End in Fire is a short story that was released on Blizzard Entertainment's official website as part of the leadup to Legacy of the Void.
Description[]
Rohana, Orlana, and Shantira are three of the honored grand preservers. Able to sense the depths of the Khala, they have made it their lives’ work to preserve the memories of each Firstborn who has lived since the end of the Aeon of Strife.
With such a wealth of knowledge, experience, and history, these three sisters rank among the wisest protoss in existence. When their minds are exposed to radical concepts never before considered, what does such a profound understanding yield? The answer lies in change that will alter the destiny of the Firstborn forever.
Synopsis[]
During the height of the Protoss Empire, a mothership containing thousand of protoss had its khaydarin crystal fail when in orbit of a neutron star. A nearby mothership attempted to rescue the ship from the star's gravity, but by sheer coincidence their khaydarian crystal also failed. Grand Preservers Rohana, Orlana, and Shantira watched this tragedy through the Khala, one of the greatest loss of lives the Protoss had faced in hundreds of years, and recorded their thoughts and memories. Rohana then came to a realization that even such a small random event could lead to the fall of the Protoss Empire, as it had for two of their largest motherships. She and her preservers set out to a proactive approach against chance, forming a contingency to help the Protoss in case tragedy struck their civilization.
It took hundreds of years, but the Khalai Caste finished work on the first arkship, a massive vessel capable of holding an entire population, fighting a war on its own, and drifting through space for centuries with little to no power. They showed this vessel to Judicator Mardonis, who was impressed. Executor Adun, a well known war hero, placed the first chunk of solarite into the vessel's solar core, activating it. This ship would be named the Spear of Adun. However, they were surprised when Mardonis revealed that the protoss were constructing two more arkships. This worried the preservers, as the resources needed to create the arkships were immense. The Conclave sought the advice of the Grand Preservers as for how many more to create, to which they said they needed time to deliberate.
At first, Rohana was sure that the Protoss should construct more arkships, but as years passed her certainty waned. Her sisters advised other protoss at the time. Orlana advised a colony leader that the risks he was taking in colonizing a planet with temperature of 1.3 degrees was brave, but he should not endanger the lives of his followers in doing so. The colony leader ignored her and the entire expedition died. Rohana advised a templar master who feared the changes in the training structure of the protoss forces, where they sought to achieve a more broad training as opposed to the specialized training they had used. Rohana told him to resist the change and maintain the traditions that had worked for thousands of years.
After consulting with the other preservers, Rohana came to the conclusion that arkships were built too soon, and the protoss were not ready to accept their use as a contingency in case of disaster. The grand preservers went before the Conclave and stated that it would be the protoss nature to use the arkships at first opportunity, and lose them in war. Thus, the arkships must be buried, but kept accessible for when the right time comes and the protoss are in need of them. The Conclave agreed, and the grand preservers volunteered to go into stasis with a cadre of warriors to be prepared when the protoss society is in its darkest hour. Rohana said goodbye to her sisters, then entered her stasis pod.
Characters[]
- Grand Preserver Rohana
- Grand Preserver Orlana
- Grand Preserver Shantira
- Judicator Mardonis
- Executor Adun
Notes[]
- The story makes reference to a creature inside the Khala that blocks the preservers from knowing the answer to their arkship problem. This is either a reference to or foreshadowing for the coming of Amon, who would corrupt the Khala in Legacy of the Void.
References[]
- Brooks, Robert. "It Will End in Fire" (Nov 3, 2015). Blizzard Entertainment. StarCraft Lore: It Will End in Fire. Accessed from Blizzard Short Stories Hub on 2021-10-05.