Zaetar

Zaetar was a keeper of the grove and the firstborn son of Cenarius.Corruption of Earth and Seed (quest) After mating with Princess Theradras, he became the father of the centaur of Kalimdor, but was shortly after killed by his barbaric children.
==Biography==
===Birth of the centaur===
Zaetar was born the first son of Cenarius and brother of Remulos. Where Remulos was strong and beautiful, Zaetar was very cunning and slight of build.Celebras#Quotes Like his father, Zaetar walked the physical world in the form of a majestic half-stag, with vines and leaves encircling his limbs and antlers. Wherever he walked, dozens of saplings would sprout and—over time—grow into lush groves. While the two brothers were respected equally, Zaetar always felt as if he could never compare to the glory and attention he thought Remulos had. When Remulos' children—Celebras and his dryad sisters—were born, a jealous Zaetar set out to outdo his brother.
When the earth elemental Princess Theradras was roused from her slumber by the tauren, she drained the lands of Mashan'she of life to restore her powers. The loss of so much life sent ripples through the Emerald Dream, and Zaetar emerged to investigate, eventually discovering Theradras in heir lair. Despite having set out to imprison the strange creature responsible for draining Mashan'she, Zaetar soon became enticed by the elemental's stolen life energies and grew enchanted with her beauty. Theradras realized the influence she had over the keeper, and—as she found Zaetar beautiful as well—claimed that together the two could restore the land to its former beauty. Despite knowing that it was against nature and despite the warnings of Remulos, Zaetar became Theradras' mate. In so doing, he rejected his heritage as a keeper of the grove.Patch 1.2.0: New Dungeon - Maraudon
From Zaetar and Theradras' forbidden union, the barbaric centaur were born. The first centaur were Kolk, Gelk, Magra, Maraudos, and Veng, who became the first five khans.Princess Theradras (quest) Upon seeing his children, Zaetar immediately realized his sin. He tried to connect with his offspring, but the centaur saw the disgust in their father's eyes and brutally murdered him. Theradras harshly chastised the centaur, who—upon realizing that they had wounded their beloved mother—promised to honor Zaetar's memory. Fearful of Cenarius' wrath, Theradras entombed her lover's spirit in her lair, which the centaur named Maraudon and came to regard as holy ground. The life energies permeating Zaetar's body caused a bloom of plant life, turning the area around his grave into a verdant paradise.Seed of Life (quest)
===World of Warcraft===
Influenced by the Old Gods, Theradras trapped Zaetar's spirit in Maraudon and used its energies to transform her home into a den of corruption and suffering, tainting the surrounding lands of Desolace.World Dungeons: MaraudonPrincess Theradras (tactics)#Adventure GuideMaraudon#Adventure Guide Zaetar's nephew and nieces—Celebras and his dryad sisters—at one point traveled to Maraudon in the hopes of freeing their uncle's tortured spirit, but they instead became corrupted by the caverns' dark energies.The Scepter of Celebras (quest)
Keeper Marandis and his sisters later traveled to Desolace in the hopes of recruiting adventurers to kill Theradras and retrieve Zaetar's remains so that they could be brought back to the Stonetalon Mountains. Horde adventurers succeeded in defeating Theradras, thereby freeing Zaetar's spirit. He told the heroes that he would remain in Maraudon, since his centaur children had need of their father despite their crimes against him. He also asked the heroes to bring the :Seed of Life—the first seed that fell from the life his remains nourished—to his brother Remulos. Remulos expressed joy that his brother had found peace and stated that the seed was proof that Zaetar had been reborn and would "take his place in nature as was his duty".
===Stormrage===
Zaetar's spirit returned to the Emerald Dream. During the War Against the Nightmare, he led forces of nature spirits and dreamform druids against the Emerald Nightmare, but he was pessimistic about their chances of winning the battle. After Broll Bearmantle entered the Dream in search of Tyrande Whisperwind and Malfurion Stormrage, the ancient Arei brought him to Zaetar. The keeper tried to convince Broll to stay and fight with them, but Broll quickly left them to continue his search. Zaetar told Arei that he believed that Broll and his friends would be consumed by the Nightmare, just as he believed that his own forces were doomed to failure.
Broll described Zaetar as having a slightly greener tint than Remulos, and a faintly longer face that bore in it a constant sadness.Stormrage, chapter 15, pg. 198 - 199
===Cataclysm===
Despite the fact that Theradras had canonically been defeated years earlier, Zaetar's Spirit gives new quests to defeat Lord Vyletongue,Corruption in Maraudon Noxxion, Razorlash,Servants of Theradras and ultimately Theradras herself in order to free himself so that Desolace can one day be restored to a verdant land "as Cenarius would want". This may be due to the fact that Maraudon was not updated to reflect the storyline.
==In the RPG==
The product of Zaetar and Theradras' union were five tribes of centaur (Magram, Kolkar, Galak, Gelkis and Maraudine), twisted mockeries of the beauty of the dryads and keepers of the grove. According to the story, the first act of the jealous and evil centaur was to kill their father. Fearing Cenarius' wrath upon her children, Theradras spirited Zaetar's remains, and his soul, away to be with her in Maraudon.
As he is the eldest son of Cenarius he is likely the one known as "the keeper of the grove" in the night elven legend that speaks of three oldest offspring of Cenarius, his sister "the dryad" and his bastard brother, "the centaur" (the first of those races).Horde Player's Guide, pg. 209 Keeper Remulos is one of his younger brothers not mentioned in the legend. Zaetar's nephew, Celebras, the son of Remulos, attempted to rescue Zaetar's spirit from Maraudon, but became corrupted himself by Theradras' magic, and still resides there with his dryads.
===Speculation===
Some believe that the two legends (this one and the night elf legend) are one and the same, in which the son called "the centaur" may, in fact, be Zaetar. This is because they share many things, such as their fall from grace due to jealousy. This would mean that "the centaur"'s children were the same as Zaetar's. Those also believe that the Krenka, Marauder, Stonetalon, and Eastern Kingdom centaur may have simply broken away from the five main tribes in the countless centuries since their creation, as the five tribes remaining unbroken for well over ten thousand years may seem unrealistic.
However, this would ignore most of the traits, and history attributed to "the centaur". Zaetar appears to neither be a bastard, nor does he have the centaur's personality traits. He does not have the same hatred of his siblings as "the centaur". Zaetar was not cursed by his father either (stripped of his beauty to appear as current centaurs), nor did Zaetar swear a blood feud on all creatures of the world. These discrepancies could be explained as exaggerations added as the story was retold over the years.
==Notes==
*Centaur sometimes use "In Zaetar's name" as an exclamation.Bloodsworn, pg. 78
*During their first encounter, the centaur Dorthar initially mistook Malgar the orc for the vengeful spirit of Zaetar due to his combat prowess.Bloodsworn, pg. 63 - 64
*One section of the tunnels outside Maraudon is named Zaetar's Choice.
*Zaetar's Deathshroud dropped from Crown Princess Theradras during the Elemental Unrest.
==References==
Category:Keepers of the grove
Category:Stormrage characters
Category:Bloodsworn characters
Category:Deceased characters
Category:Horde Player's Guide