Some collected bits of Shissar Lore (long)

[Cromis]

The Shissar on Luclin

Long before the challenges involved in the Planes of Power expansion, a people know as the Shissar were wielding unimaginable power in an attempt to recreate themselves as Gods. Early accounts believed that they had been destroyed:

While the dragons took centuries to grow and organize, a race of intelligent snake men – the Shissar – assumed the forefront. The Shissar were a brutal race who enslaved the Iksar, using Vanusk’s ancestors for workers and food. From their capital of Chelsith in what is now The Overthere, they explored dark rites and forgotten evils which would lay the foundation for much of Iksar knowledge and philosophy.

As learned from the rest of Norrath, nothing is permanent. Eventually, the Shissar angered even their own gods. A horrible plague destroyed every Shissar, however, the Iksar survived unscathed.

With the discovery of Kunark, the histories were emended somewhat, as it became uncertain that they all had died:

As learned from the rest of Norrath, nothing is permanent. Eventually, the Shissar angered even their own gods. A horrible plague destroyed many Shissar, however, the Iksar survived unscathed.

It isn’t clear when the Iksar appeared as a race, but during the Age of Monuments, when Cazic-Thule first created the Iksar, they were promptly enslaved by the Shissar. The Shissar gained control of Kunark, and began exploring not only Norrath, but the planes as well, bringing back wealth, knowledge, and magic to their city Chelsith. Eventually, they abandoned their own faith, claiming to have become Gods themselves. Their emperor even claimed to have created the Iksar. This pride and the blasphemies against their own divinities prompted a reaction from the Gods. As one history notes:

The serpent race known as the Shissar, one-time slavemasters to the Iksar lizardmen, escaped to Luclin to escape extinction at the hands of their gods. The Shissar’s brutal disloyalty and blasphemous pride angered their deities, whose retribution came in the form of a vast, horrible plague – the Green Mist. The ancient magic of the Shissar enabled them to escape, secretly, to the surface of Luclin, where they created “The Grey”, a dome of vacuum, around their settlement, to protect them. For centuries, they were though extinct by those left behind on Norrath.

This history does not identify the gods of the Shissar, but we learn elsewhere that their primary allegiance was to Cazic-Thule himself:

For many years the snake-folk, under their apparently immortal Emperor Ssraeshza, prospered, and their empire grew. In the empire’s early days, the shissar worshipped the gods, but as time passed, they became prouder and haughtier. At last they rejected the gods altogether, claiming that they, and not the great Cazic-Thule, had created the Iksar and that their powers were greater than those of any deity.

And so it was that Cazic-Thule, the god whom the snake-people had most offended, took a fearsome vengeance against them. A green mist spread throughout their empire, choking and killing any shissar who encountered it; in a matter of days, the entire empire had collapsed.
…
After many centuries, the Shissar and their emperor began to reject the worship of their master Cazic-Thule as being an obsolete and antiquated practice. Rather, the emperor was a favored child of the Wyrmqueen herself, the great crystal dragon Veeshan. Their leader was, the Shissar gradually convinced themselves, the foremost among Veeshan’s most favored children – a demigod who created the entire Shissar race from his own scales. This legend is generally held to be typical Shissar arrogance, for since those days the emperor has never shown any similar divine creative ability.

The Shissar themselves, though, argue that their emperor’s full divine powers were stripped from him by other jealous and vengeful gods. Certainly the gods found the Shissar’s conceit to be troubling, and soon decided to punish them. The mysterious Greenmist soon spread throughout the snake-folk’s empire, killing the Shissar alone and leaving the other races unharmed. The gods had struck back.

Implicit in these histories is the possibility of a confrontation between Emperor Ssraeshza and an unidentified god(s), in which Emperor Ssraeshza killed the divinity. The title of Godslayer seems to be attributed to him.

A little more information on this topic is revealed when the spirit of Akelha’Ra explains how to reform the key needed to enter the shrine of Vex Thal to allow you to avenge her death on Aten Ha Ra:

The spirits whisper that the emperor of the Shissar holds the power to manipulate such energy. Be wary of him, he is heralded as the slayer of gods, the defiler of realities.

Among the Iksar, the period of the Shissar domination became know as ‘Before Green’, and their own histories are a bit vague:

This is known as the Age of the Snake. The snake race known as Shissar slithered upon Kunark. The Iksar had yet to unity. Our people had yet to learn the Black Arts and the ways of Fist and Tail. Divided, the Iksar were enslaved by the snakes. In the centuries before the Green, the Iksar were slaves of the Shissar. They ruled from the ancient city of Chelsith, which rested deep within the land now known as The Overthere. From here would sprout much evil. The Iksar were tortured like Frogs and suffered at the hands of the Shissar. The Iksar who showed genius were to help the snakes in their dark rites. These few were the seeds of rebellion. The Iksar began to plot a revolt, but a greater force would strike first.

The Shissar were an arrogant race. The power bestowed by the gods was not enough. They made pacts with other gods and demigods. They found the rifts of time and space and used them to gather magic items once held by the guardians of the planes. The Shissar’s disloyalty and blasphemous pride would bring the wrath of the gods upon them. No power could stop the force to come. A green cloud formed in the skies above Kunark. The cloud began to descend upon the land. From it’s green core, the face of death began to form. It was no god they knew of. It opened it’s giant maw and spoke in tongues unknown. From the mouth of death rushed forth a green mist. The Shissar shaman began to cast spells in hopes of shielding their city and the necromancers began to assault the mist with great weapons. All were futile. The mist rushed forth. The first snakes to be swallowed by the mist had their scales and flesh rot and fall from their bones. Horrid screams of suffering could be heard from within the mist. A river of flesh and blood flowed. The Iksar stood and gazed upon the gristle that was once the Shissar. With the Green Death came the liberation of the Iksar.

This history seems fairly accurate. When the Planes of Power stood open, an Iksar prisoner in the plane of Justice claimed to be witness to these events:

Librarian Rushal says, in Lizardman, ‘A High Elf, what a pleasant ssssurprise. Here, of all placesss. I wonder of which crime you are accusssed to bring here, to the plane that watches all planes? In this regard, you are talking to the expert, should such a thing exist. I have been lauded as the authority on such mattersss. I am not a walker of the planes, merely a ssstudent of them, but there is much one can learn should accessss to the relevant resources become posssible.

Long yearsss did I ssserve. My cruel mnassster, Ral’Zehta the Knowing, kept me as a slave. Dark, was Chelsith. From within its walls, the cries of my kind rang throughout night and throughout day. I consider myssself lucky, for my massster was the Protector of the Great Library. Such a collection of knowledge hasss never been hear of, I assure you. Hall upon hall upon hall of collected ssscrolls, tomes, grimoires, and works of cabilist arts. I was one of his prizes ssslaves, such as my race were to the Green-Scaled Ones. Mine was a special talent.

My kind are not known for their natural erudition, but I was blessed by The Fearsome Himssself with the ability to learn, and learn quickly. I sssoon learned the tongue of the Green-Scaled Ones, and many more besides from other ssslaves taken captive in the many conquessssts of the Green-Scales. This came to my massster’s attention, and it pleased him. Pleased him as a particularly intelligent pet would please someone, I believe. He put me to work.

As hisss prized ssslave, I was given the task of filing, cataloguing and sorting in the immense and endlesss halls, galleries and corridors of the Great Library, assisting my master in his daily dutiesss. I slept in the library at nights, but my nourishment was the knowledge contained therein.

The Green-Scales were travelers, and plunderersss. They bargained with the gods themselvesss, made pacts and broke them. The treasures that they amassed, the things that no mortal of our plane was meant to ssssee … they coveted, and fought for, and hoarded. The knowledge that they gained … that was the real treasure, but they valued it little compared to shining and glittering booty that they could lay their foul hands upon. Much of that knowledge made itsss way into the Great Library. Much of that was learned by me. I fed my passion – the knowledge of the planesss, of course. Those dimensions that run aligned with our own, and touch it, and each other, from place to palce. Like skinsss on an onion, an onion that one could peel forever and ever. I can tell you about this place, should you care to hear it.

According to the booksss that I had accesss to, this place is the embodiment of order within the universe. Ever sssince the first mote of ordering of existence, springing out of the chaosss, so too did the Plane of Jussstice exist, to serve and judge the ordering. It issss said in the Great Books that it shall remain until the end of Order itssself, until everything once again is anarchy. Until then, there are the Judges.

The six judges rule thisss place, six and one more it is written. Those accusssed of the mossst serious crimesss are banished to this realm, their Court, for Trial by the Judges of all Judgesss, the Tribunal. It isss written that their jussstice is impartial and absssolute. The innocent are returned to their place of origin, and their guilty meet the Executioner. The judges deliver the fairessst Justice of them all.

The Great Bookssss were vague on thisss point, but it seemed that each of the accusssed, in orfer for justice to be total, is here judged according to the lawsss of their own sssociety. From the handsss of their own flesh and blood come the lawsss, and it is to these that they are held accountable. Jussstice for me may be very different to justice for you, Cromis, but we are both served fairly. As for my crime, I am guilty already and confessed.

I am a traitor. When the planning for revolution came, inssstead of pledging my arms to those that would overthrow the Green-Scales, I could not leave my massster. More, I could not turn from the Great Library because for me, it was the reason for living itssself. Were I to live ten thousand livesss, I could never read every book held within itsss endless walls. Sssso, the flesh of my brothersss I denied in exchange for my thirssst for pure knowledge. Ssssomtimes, one must stand for one’s beliefs, and I have remained true to myself, if not to my fellowsss. The law may find me guilty, but my hear isss innocent, Cromis; mark you well. When the Green came, my brethren sent me here, and here I wait.

Long afterwards, Cazic-Thule would again release the Green Mist on the Ogres:

When the gods eventually withdrew from their planes, the veil was lifted from the minds of the ogres. They had just begun rebuilding their culture when they were visited by the Avatar of War, who had been ordered by Rallos to organize a new Rallosian Empire, designed to wipe out all the other races from the face of Norrath. The ogre’s high commander, General Urduuk, broke a pact that Rallos had made with Cazic-Thule by taking control of Cazic’s temple and the gate to the Plane of Fear. For again demonstrating such pride as to insult the gods, the Avatar of Fear unleashed the dreaded Green Mist, wiping out nearly the entire Ogre race just as they were on the verge of conquering Qeynos and Freeport.

It is fairly easy to establish in a general way the history to this point. The Shissar had risen in power, explored the planes of existence, become proud and abandoned their gods. In retribution the gods apparently agreed to allow Cazic-Thule to destroy them. At this point the history becomes fuzzy. What apparently happened is that the Emperor Ssraeshza and those Shissar with him in the temple in Chelsith, used magic to relocate the temple to Luclin to avoid the Green Mist. Although apparently some of the Green Mist had already seeped into the earth underneath Chelsith (some of which was taken with the temple to Luclin). Encapsulated, this Green Mist, appearing as green metal can be found in mines beneath the Temple on Luclin, and forged into weapons capable of injuring Emperor Ssraeshza.

The departure of the Temple and its environs from Chelsith left a gaping chasm in the Overthere – a location later used by Venril Sathir as the site of his Charasis.

Once moved to Luclin, there are a couple of events of interest to us. The first involves the creation of Khati Sha. The Shissar attempted to create a god by mutating a Vah Shir (this seems likely to have been ordered by the Emperor as a test run for himself to be given the divine powers he already claimed to possess). Most of our knowledge of Khati Sha comes from four books, the Legend of Lies, the Testament of Night, the Ledger of Pain, and the Mnemonic of Khati Shah. According to Agent Tiesh:

There is a legend of a Vah Shir named Khati Sha. He was one of my people’s first great heroes. An explorer and leader, he mysteriously disappeared long ago. I have the unsettling feeling that this war will uncover the secret of his disappearance.

I believe that Khati Sha is somehow wrapped up in the past and present of the Grimlings. There are tales of a ‘Legend of Lies’ amongst the common Grimlings … a secret history kept by their elite. If you are willing to help, go into the deep caverns and search out this text. If we can find it, we may be able to unravel the truth of the Grimling past.

The book reads:

We murmur of our beginnings. We tell children bright tales. But we preach forgetfulness. And this is good, for the truth is heresy. To remember what our god does is not folly. To remind him of his days as an explorer, his fame and place amongst the Vah Shir will only kindle his rage. To show him the secret ledgers and testaments we have recovered from the Shissar would surely call his wrath. To tell him of his torture and rebirth through death at the hands of the Shissar must bring our destruction. And so we must conceal the truth.

Our legends must be lies.

On giving this to Agent Tiesh, he adds:

This is disturbing. Is there no corner of place or time that the Shissar have not tainted? I must know more. The Vah Shir people must know the truth of their hero.

I must try and collate this legend with the rest of the information. I must ask you an enormous favor. Will you go and search for more information? I can give you no better direction but to hunt the snake men. The text tells of ‘ledgers and testaments’ … Perhaps the Shissar have some record of the event. Take this summary scroll.

The Ledger of Pain reads:

The subject seems to have unusual reserves of both self-control and determination. For no reason that we can immediately ascertain, he continues to resist our questions. This leads us to believe that he has privileged information about the Vah Shir. We will continue the current schedule of interrogation until such time as his continued life support becomes impossible.

Addendum: The usual strictures of interrogation have been modified somewhat by the command of the Emperor. Several additional rituals have been added to the torture regimen. Although it is impossible (and unwise) to speculate on the purpose of these ceremonies, it is apparent that they are adding increased strain on the subject. Amazingly, the subject still resists. A post mortem on his vital organs may provide insight into the source of this tolerance. Hopefully this is an aberration and not a characteristic of Vah Shir in general.

Closing Note: All surviving records of this incident have been sealed by Imperial order. Any further investigation into the destruction of the captive is considered treason. This ledger is finished.

The Testament of Night reads:

Shissar Assassin

For the ear of the Emperor I write in my own blood, accepting my death as the seal for this testament. The ceremony performed on the Vah Shir captive has failed. Our attempt to leash the divine, to merge mortal flesh with the power of the gods has gone awry. All that is widely known is that both the captive and his masters perished in a mistaken spell. The truth is that the captive transcended some how, consuming many of your loyal servants with his newfound powers. Our agents seek him, but there is little hope that he will be found. He has escaped and we have failed. We bow before you to accept your judgment. We cannot carry out your command, dread Emperor. A god cannot be made.

And finally, the Mnemonic of Khati Sha:

May this magic take my words quickly for I can already feel the haze of forgetfulness descending. There are questions that plague my mind, questions I ask again and again as my mind is purged of memory.

Why is my mind fit for thought by empty of experience? What are these emotions that constantly coil my heart, making me lash out and destroy my own creations? What past could make me hate so?

The Shissar must die. The Vah Shir must pay. So say my bones.

This world and the next are mine.

So whispers my blood.

My power is absolute.

So screams my hate.

But why? What purpose? What reason? What …

There is a strong suggestion here too, that Khati Sha is the creator of the Grimlings. An interesting note in that it would make him a creator while the Emperor just claimed to be.

The other interesting incident was the attempted revolution by Vzyh’Dra. This is apparently mentioned on the seals which form his barrier – a stasis (perhaps similar to the Emperor’s) in which he is trapped. I need to check on them at some point, since I cannot track down the item lore to one of them, but when the guardians die, each one drops a shattered seal, and these seals describe the way to free him from his exile:

1. Within these seals
2. Lies a power corrupt
3. –unknown-
4. Beyond light
5. Outside of time
6. These unbreakable seals
7. While united in the hour
8. If united in destruction
9. Will return the exiled
10. The destroyer of God

Defeating the warder who holds the seal shatters it, and if all ten seals are shattered within an hour, the Glyphed Covered Serpent is freed – a bound form of Vyzh’dra. When he is released from his bindings, Vyzh’dra the Exiled appears, and when he is freed from his exile, Vyzh’dra the Cursed appears fully freed into the world. Vyzh’dra was exiled after he rebelled against the Emperor. He took upon himself the name “The Destroyer of God” to signal his attempt to destroy the Emperor.

Vyzh’dra was a powerful Shissar wizard who plotted rebellion against the Emperor shortly after the Shissar escaped to Luclin. He was also said to be delving into forbidden subjects. Another Shissar wizard T’sharnall was worried that rebellion, so soon after the Shissar had barely escaped the Green Mist, would destroy the remaining Shissar. Afraid that death would not stop Vyzh’dra, he devised a way of trapping Vyzh’dra in a powerful spell that required T’sharnall to sacrifice himself to create the seal. The spell worked. T’sharnall gave his own life, and Vyzh’dra was cursed into a stasis.

To get into the Emperor requires a special key. Elder Glanoxx (in the basement, an enslaved Iksar) explains the process:

The ones that keep us here … the ones who defy the gods, they must be destroyed. I cannot recall a time outside of this place, but I believe the stories. I trust that we are from somewhere else. These creatures claim to be gods. They claim to have created us from the filth of the mines. This cannot be. I have seen the face of our true god. He told me of their blasphemy. He came to me and handed me the knowledge of how to reach their Emperor. He taught me to resist the prying magic of the fanatics. Are you the crusaders of prophecy … the ones who walk in the mist?

The prophecy will come to pass at last. Take my knowledge … the knowledge of our lord. I will not last much longer. The sickness will kill me like the others. There is one other who can help you. He claims to know some weakness of these creatures, seek him at the smelting furnaces near the mines. Now I must tell you the secret of the key.

There is a pouch to be found. It was specially made and requires three separate components to function. Seek out the Idol of Zazuzh and the Ring of Zeruzsh. These items are kept by the Emperor’s most loyal Taskmasters. Place them with the Ssreashzian Insigna. This item will be much harder to acquire. I am sure you will be successful … our lord walks with you. Please be swift.

An Iksar foreman also reveals the following:

Shhh …. be quiet, the Taskmasters have sharp hearing. There is a green metal found in the mines that our masters despise. We must carefully separate it from the ore before working with the purified metal. Any tainted metal is quickly destroyed. Many a slave has lost their life for not properly purifying the metal. I’m convinced the secret to the master’s weakness lies in the tainted metal.

Yes, though none of us would dare wield a sacred weapon of the masters perhaps you could. Forge one of their weapons and some of the green metal from the mines and you can taint the metal of the weapon. Their own corrupted weapons shall be the instrument of their downfall.

Part of the issue of the green metal has long been known. The Iksar Crusaders of the Greenmist have long known the secrets of the creation of a Shissar bane weapon (which will also affect the Emperor) known simply as Greenmist. In deciphering the process to make such a weapon, you receive Notes from the Greenmist Tome from Librarian Zimor. His notes read in part:

To finish the weapon, you will need the Lord of Pain’s Khukri, this tome, the hammer, the Greenmist blade, and a Greenmist shard or fragment. We have not found any Greenmist fragments.

The Greenish Metal Shard (the Greenmist Fragment) was eventually recovered from the Alchemist’s Acolyte in the lower caves in Chardok. And appears similarly to be a piece of ore infused with the Green Mist sent out by Cazic-Thule.

A final note –

The Sword of Ssraeshza identifies as Ssraeshza’s Sword of Godslaying.

[Kyth]

I love EQ lore.

Thank you =).

[Cromis]

There's more but I am working on tracking down some at least semi-authoritative sources.

Some of the Shissar survived on Norrath but were cursed. Most losing their immortality, and a great deal of their intelligence and such (similar to the Ogres). These became lizard men - although one in particular allegedly became the Alizewsaurus.

The detail I found to be the most fascinating was that the green metal was really a piece of ore infused with the Green Mist, which made it to Luclin with the Shissar. They brought the means of their own destruction with them.

The stories aren't always well fleshed out, but they are certainly fascinating. I especially like the narratives about Grieg and the Combine Empire. It is also interesting to me to see some of this repeated in PoP, where we wouldn't normally expect it. Who would have thought that an individual like the Iksar in PoJ - a witness to events almost 2000 years earlier would be found to talk about the history that we find interesting.

Very interesting.

[Mangroas]

Yep. I think the the lore behind Luclin was/is actually the best of them, with PoP short behind.

[Kyth]

F PoP. Seriously.

Velious....zomg .


I really like the ties throughout the expansions though. So nicely done.


(p.s. Velious ftw)

[Cromis]

Heh Verrant did a nice job trying to keep it all together.

What Sony did was kind of like watching the Highlander movie series back to back .....

[Zorblak]

So how did one of the Emperor's Taskmasters end up living alone in Echo Caverns?

[Kyth]

So how did one of the Emperor's Taskmasters end up living alone in Echo Caverns?

He and his girlfriend were "on a break" and, well, you know...

[Zorblak]

He and his girlfriend were "on a break" and, well, you know...

No, I don't know. Tell me more, Mama Kyth!

[Cromis]

We assume that its one of those unfinished parts - there were a lot in the rush to get it ready on schedule. Shoot the Bazaar wasn't operational at launch, as were a whole set of other features.

Maybe he was a Vyzh'dra sympathizer.

He drops the no drop skull for which there is no use.

There is some other stuff going on there, as the Taskmaster is a PH for a Thought Horror. This mob spawns in the middle of the room, goes through a long speech (I need to log it some time) and then despawns and Xilniov spawns - a level 52 thought horror.

I should spawn him later to see what his text says - its quite long IIRC.

[Avehlin]

Thanks for compiling this Cromis. I enjoy the Lore

[Zahla]

So how did one of the Emperor's Taskmasters end up living alone in Echo Caverns?

He and his girlfriend were "on a break" and, well, you know...

Hmmm. That sounds like my upcoming AFK... :eek:

[Cromis]

So here is the story behind the Taskmaster in Echo ...

a thought horror stares at you as you feel a slight tingling in your head. You feel a flash of pain deep within your eye sockets as a booming voice fills your mind seeming to come from the inside of your ears rather than out.

"Are these the pathetic worms that destroyed my playthings? Fools, it took weeks for me to reach the mind of that witless slave, and even longer for me to fill his mind with visions of escape and freedom into the deep."

a thought horror's tendrils flair about and you feel the strange sensation that a small worm is digging through your brain.

"Ah, I sense you seek to know the fate of these former scaled wretches. Once I lured the slaves into our realm it was much easier to plant the visions of their escape into that taskmaster's sight. He followed of course, how could he not and risk failing his precious emperor. All of their deaths were swift and sweet but, you see, that is where the fun just began."

a though horror's eyes gleam as a horrible pounding pulses through your mind which you quickly identify, much to your horror, as laughter. The sudden image of a white temple with marble sculptures and ancient runes covering the walls flashes before your eyes. A serpent's tail flickers to the left, a whip cracks to your right. An Iksar is kneeling before you begging for forgiveness when suddenly, as quickly as they began, the images fade.

a though horror's mouth twists into a cruel version of what can only be a smile.

"Reanimating them was an easy thing as well, the real trick came in wiping their most recent memories and convincing them that they were still alive. Yesss, now you understand. What you saw was the decomposing remains of their bodies mindlessly set about useless tasks. But what they saw was themselves still within their temple, reliving the same trials over and over. Beautiful, yes?"

a though horror's grip within your mind begins to slip as your will strengthens and your resolve to expel this being from your mind grows stronger.

"Interesting, I sense your resistance growing. Perhaps it is time to end this game then. Whether you are the ones that destroyed my playthings or not matters little. I need replacements, and you will do just fine. Come to me fleshlings, come to Xiliniov!"

As I stood catching my breath over his cooling carcass, I reflected that this was one evil SoB. Perhaps Vanskelly could take lessons ....

[Perrin]

As I stood catching my breath over his cooling carcass, I reflected that this was one evil SoB. Perhaps Vanskelly could take lessons ....

hahhaha

[Gumgak]

/bump

Just found this, and found it incredibly interesting (<3 lore, especially Luclin).

However, there was one thing that I did not recognize:

When the gods eventually withdrew from their planes, the veil was lifted from the minds of the ogres. They had just begun rebuilding their culture when they were visited by the Avatar of War, who had been ordered by Rallos to organize a new Rallosian Empire, designed to wipe out all the other races from the face of Norrath. The ogre’s high commander, General Urduuk, broke a pact that Rallos had made with Cazic-Thule by taking control of Cazic’s temple and the gate to the Plane of Fear. For again demonstrating such pride as to insult the gods, the Avatar of Fear unleashed the dreaded Green Mist, wiping out nearly the entire Ogre race just as they were on the verge of conquering Qeynos and Freeport.

I was just curious -- Cromis, where'd you find this tidbit from? Everything that I had come across suggests that the Ogres were struck down by the Curse of the Rathe following their second invasion into the Plane of Earth, where they brought the Rathe back to Norrath (via The Steppes in the Serpent's Spine) and slew them. This incurred the wrath of the other Elder Gods (who to my knowledge are Xegony, Fennin Ro, E'Ci, Tarew Marr, and Povar), who struck down the Ogres, Giants (with the exception of the Kromrif, Kromzek and Krithgor -- the latter being cursed by Rallos Zek himself prior to his imprisonment), and the Ankexfen (who were reduced to Goblins).

Lore of the Ogres rising back up and attempting to conquor the rest of Antonica, only to be struck down by Cazic Thule and Greenmist, is new to me.

So how did one of the Emperor's Taskmasters end up living alone in Echo Caverns?

To elaborate a little more on Cromis' response:

You probably know this already, but some folks don't: In The Deep (which connects to the side of Echo Caverns that the Taskmaster Torkazh is on), there exists a one-way zoneline behind the Thought Horror Overfiend which zones into Ssraeshza Temple (iirc, somewhere in the mines).

It is my understanding that the undead iksar slaves, while performing their mining and excavating duties underneath the Ssraeshza temple, broke through a barrier somewhere and created a means to get to The Deep. My guess is that this is where Xiliniov entered into the mines of Ssraeshza -- although physically or telepathically I'm not sure -- and lured the slaves and the Taskmaster into The Deep, where he then brought them to Echo Caverns.