Salavass

Sorcerer-Lord Salavass was the leader of the Skalaxi order, a faction of the Apexis arakkoa, during the final years of the civilization's existence around 1,200 years before the opening of the Dark Portal.

Biography
Centuries after the Apexis had achieved victory over the primals, their culture flourished and seemed destined to continue to rise, but a bitter rivalry gradually developed between the two major faction of the Apexis: the Anhari, who studied holy magic, and the Skalaxi, who specialized in shadow and arcane. The two orders each vied for the support of the greater populace. The Anhari knew that to seize power over their race, they would need to control knowledge. The Anhari leader, Priest-Lord Velthreek, told his followers to secretly gather as many of the Apexis crystals as they could and store them within their sun temple atop the Apexis spire, and for years they did so.

The Skalaxi order and their leader, Sorcerer-Lord Salavass, eventually uncovered what was happening. Believing that knowledge was a basic right for all arakkoa and that it should be available to every member of their race, Salavass called for the immediate release of the crystals from the temple. Velthreek ignored the demand and declared the Anhari to be the sole rulers of the Apexis, and that they would decide who could access the crystals and their knowledge. Velthreek also claimed that he and the Anhari were the living representatives of the sun goddess Rukhmar herself, and that only by following the Anhari's teachings could the arakkoa attain the goddess' favor.

Salavass knew that if the Skalaxi did not act, they would gradually become marginalized and lose their influence in society. He gathered his followers and struck at the sun temple to take the Apexis crystals by force. A terrible battle erupted at the gates of the temple, quickly spilling into the lower levels of the spire. Some sided with the Anhari and others with the Skalaxi, and for many months a civil war engulfed all of Apexis civilization. To turn the tide of battle, the Anhari ignited their colossal weapon, the Breath of Rukhmar, and prepared to incinerate the Skalaxi. Salavass knew that his order stood no chance against the weapon but refused to give up. He led a handful of his most gifted sorcerers to the top of the spire, storming through the guardians and reaching the Breath of Rukhmar itself. As the Anhari cut down the intruders, Salavass wove a spell to destabilize the weapon. It worked, but the result was catastrophic: a furious explosion erupted from the mechanism, instantly killing most of the arakkoa on the spire and shattering the land. After the light of the blast dimmed, Arak's single spire had been split into numerous smaller ones, and the surrounding region had become a barren wasteland. It would take generations for life to bloom in the area again, and even longer for the surviving arakkoa to recover. The Apexis civilization was no more.