Mahjarrat

The **Mahjarrat** (pronounced *MAH-jer-att*), which means **Children of Zaros**, are a warlike, very powerful and long-lived tribe, belonging to a species known as the Dreams of Zaros from the realm of Freneskae. They are some of the most powerful beings to have ever walked on Gielinor. Created by the Elder God Zaros as the first of his races, they have very long lifespans, able to live for millennia. In general, their deaths are either the result of very intense wounds, being chosen as the sacrifice in one of the rituals of rejuvenation, or from missing a significant number of rituals without conserving energy.

Each Rejuvenation makes the Mahjarrat more powerful than they were at the last rejuvenation[1], making them increase in power over the years "and potentially maybe even reaching godhood levels".[2] The average Mahjarrat is approximately one and a half times as tall as a human. Mahjarrat possess the ability to detect other members of their race around the world, although certain circumstances can circumvent this. In addition to extremely powerful magic, they are shapeshifters, able to take on almost any form at will. Maintaining a disguise for extended periods saps much of their power, however.

Although not immortal, Mahjarrat age slowly, and in the period of time before the next ritual takes place, their flesh decays, and they are able to survive as skeletal beings for some time, regaining their flesh with the next ritual they attend. Provided that they continue to attend the rituals (or find some other source of rejuvenation), they are not likely to die of natural causes. Prior to the death of Rak, this Ritual of Rejuvenation is an event that takes place amongst the Mahjarrat when the planets are in alignment, and they have agreed to have one every five hundred years, although this has been different in the past.[3] During the ritual, a sacrifice amongst the Mahjarrat is decided, usually through battle, who is killed in order to rejuvenate the others. The Mahjarrat is sacrificed and the nearby ritual marker channels their power into the surviving members. In addition, each rejuvenation makes a Mahjarrat slightly more powerful than the last. This sequence of rituals allows the Mahjarrat to be practically immortal, not dying of age, and dying out at the same time. Unlike the Dragonkin, however, who cannot die of age either, Mahjarrat are able to reproduce.

Most of the Mahjarrat were brought to Gielinor by the Menaphite god Icthlarin, but soon left his service and became the most powerful soldiers of the god Zaros. They were once referred to as **The Stern Judges of Icthlarin** and the **Faceless Ones** by the Menaphite people, but such terms are no longer commonplace. Senliten mentions the history of her lands, where she will talk about the Stern Judges. The Mahjarrat Quest Series revolves around them, although they also are involved in a number of other quests and generally play a significant role in Gielinorian history as a whole. In general, most (Celestialists) humans fear the Mahjarrat, some even considering them to be a myth, referring to them as evil and foul beings or even demons, most likely due to the lack of knowledge about them. Although Icthlarin brought a vast majority of the Mahjarrat to Gielinor, some stayed in Freneskae for unknown reasons.[4] Many Mahjarrat like Wahisietel do not know of their existence or forgot it due to the immense gap of time.[5]

Most Mahjarrat allied themselves with Demigra when he betrayed Zaros at the end of the Second Age, creating a deep schism between the tribe's Demigrasians and Zarosian loyalists. It is unknown how many still survive to this day, as Azzanadra states *"Be aware, mortal, there could be as many as a hundred of us still upon this world, with dozens more returned from other realms, bu*

*t equally there could be as few as ten, each as mighty as one of your armies."* After the eighteenth ritual, there are only nine (ten including Hazeel) *known* living Mahjarrat on Gielinor, with the current status of at least two being unknown. However, due to the fact that there are no more alive Mahjarrat mentioned in Zemouregal's notes, and that none of the other Mahjarrat have ever mentioned another of their kind being alive on Gielinor, it is highly unlikely that there are more Mahjarrat on Gielinor.