Primus

The Primus is the founder and ruler of Maldraxxus and the five houses of the Necrolord Covenant. The most tactical and long-thinking of the Eternal Ones, he was a master strategist who was nearly unbeatable on the field of battle and was notorious for always thinking far ahead of everyone else. The Primus embodied the five traits of the ideal Maldraxxi soldier, traits he also instilled into the five houses: ambition, might, insight, guile, and the relentless pursuit of victory. In addition to his military might, he was also known as a legendary weaponsmith. All Necrolords receive a portion of the Primus' power in order to carry out their duty of defending the Shadowlands from external forces.

At some point, the Primus vanished from his sanctum, having gone to Korthia to hide his sigil in order to prevent the Jailer from reaching the Sepulcher, additionally binding it with magic that Zovaal cannot use: the magic of memory.

He was defeated, sequestered, and dominated by the Jailer, becoming the Runecarver. In his absence, the leaders of the three remaining houses now ruthlessly fight one another to claim the Seat of the Primus and the position of commanding the armies of Maldraxxus. Before he disappeared, the Primus left behind cryptic messages and prophecies concerning the coming of one who would embody the might of Maldraxxus and save the realm from itself.

Biography
In order to have Maldraxxus produce the strongest possible fighting force to defend the Shadowlands from external threats, the Primus devised a system of great houses, barons, and eternal war games (such as the Contest of Conquest) to weed out weakness and allow the army of the Necrolords to continually improve. The Primus himself used his time to hone his tactical and strategic skills beyond mortal constraints. It is said that he once sought out an unknown ally who could show him the infinite timeways and allow him to observe the same battle over and over again to see how slight differences in strategy and troop deployment could change the outcome of a conflict. After eons of such study, the Primus could instantly assess any situation and devise the likeliest path to victory. He repeatedly had a venthyr historian accompany him to battles, who wrote down her own perspective.

The Primus was the victor of countless hard-won battles. In one battle in the Iron Trench, he destroyed a group of ambitious Necrolords who thought to usurp him. In another battle, he destroyed a group of invaders so utterly that it left fires that still burn to this day in the Burning Thicket. The Primus had several apprentices, but the only one now remaining is Bonesmith Heirmir. At his stronghold, the Seat of the Primus, he maintained a network of portals that linked the necropoli of each of the five houses. He was personally involved in the design of at least one necropolis, Zerekriss, which he shaped with his bare hands. In order to protect the Sepulcher of Knowledge, a tower storing the writings of the greatest military minds among the Necrolords, the Primus placed several guardians in the area around the structure and filled the Sepulcher itself with various traps.

In the ancient past, the Primus detected treachery from his fellow Eternal One Zovaal. He subsequently played a role in imprisoning Zovaal within the Maw and making him its Jailer.

Ages later, the Primus noticed that the Jailer's influence was seeping outside of the Maw. Suspecting that Zovaal had worked with ancient allies during his original betrayal, the Primus left Maldraxxus to investigate the matter, leaving the margraves and barons of the realm to their own devices. His suspicions ultimately proved true, and the Jailer brought about his defeat. However, due to his tactical genius, the Primus had foreseen a time when the Shadowlands would face grave peril and could only be saved by someone from outside the realm. Thus, before he departed Maldraxxus, he left behind a trail of messages and boons to help mortal outsiders set things right. He placed a standing stone at the center of a lava pool in the House of the Chosen as a challenge of endurance and fortitude. In truth, this stone concealed an unfinished blade with no hilt, forged by the Primus himself and enchanted with five runes representing the five ideal Maldraxxi traits. Once fully empowered, this Blade of the Primus would act as a key allowing a worthy champion to access the Seat of the Primus and discover its master's final message: a warning stating that the only hope for the Shadowlands was for all of the Eternal Ones to stand united once more, prevent the Jailer from escaping the Maw, and protect the Arbiter.

Regalia
The Primus owned a set of powerful armor. It is said that when he disappeared, the armor pieces were scattered. Over the course of the Necrolords Campaign, Necrolord adventurers gradually obtain the different pieces and place them on the Primus' statue within the Seat.
 * The Bindings of Fleshcrafting, which gave the Primus the power to shape the flesh and bone of Maldraxxus. Stored in a chest aboard the Construct necropolis Zerekriss and recovered by the Necrolords after their capture of the fortress.
 * The Mantle of Eternal Victory, which has great power. Stored in Margrave Gharmal's private tower and recovered by the Necrolords after Gharmal's death.
 * The Pauldrons of Imperium
 * The Staff of the Primus

Quotes

 * Maldraxxus storyline


 * Necrolords Campaign

Notes and trivia

 * The Primus' exact time of disappearance is unknown, but he has been gone a long time.  Baroness Draka (who died and arrived in Maldraxxus during the First War) and Baroness Vashj (who arrived during the Invasion of Outland) both express familiarity with the Primus and are able to recognize his personal weapon style,  but it's not clear if they ever personally met the Eternal One. Plague Deviser Marileth's journal implies that his disappearance may have occurred near the same time as the beginning of the anima drought. At some point before the fall of the House of Plagues, Margrave Stradama wrote a coded letter to an unknown recipient discussing the fate of the Primus or possibly someone else. As the Primus when imprisoned as the Runecarver is shown to have had the Helm of Domination and Frostmourne extracted from his mind his disappearance needs to have been before the creation of the Frozen Throne.
 * There are marked differences between the Primus statue and the Primus himself, such as the horn shape, the facial features, and the number of fingers.
 * The true form of the Primus strongly resembles the Necromancer as he was depicted in Warcraft III and accompanying concept art, only instead of wearing a horned skull on his head, the horn are sprouting from his own skull.
 * The Primus' appearance holds similarities to imperial roman motifs as well as Catholic themes.
 * His appearance as a skeletal figure in a hooded robe resembles common modern depictions of the.
 * The Primus' visage is depicted on the Antiquated Verdigris Coin, a practice used since antiquity in s to depict the rulers of the moment they were minted.
 * The "Primus" title in real life occurs rarely, based upon the Latin phrase and concept of  in the context of the Bishop of Rome being the "first" among the five Bishops of the during Antiquity.
 * This ecclesial connection is also seen in how the name "Primus" is translated in localizations of World of Warcraft. In Spanish, he is referred to as El Prelado ("The "), and the Seat of the Primus is translated as Trono del Prelado ("Throne of the Prelate"), which in real life would refer to a.
 * The live model of the Primus implemented with patch 9.1.0 uses a Roman styled armor on his right arm, similar to some Maldraxxi gladiator models.
 * The mantle of the Primus resembles a.