ZAM retells the story of the Chua and the Mordesh, the two races revealed at Comic-Con

The Mordesh

The Mordesh is a race that has fallen a great distance from its previously imperious status. Until around 80 years before the current period of WildStar, Grismara—the Mordesh home world—was a thriving hub of prosperity.

The Mordesh’s gift for alchemy had forced even the Dominion to cast favorable glances and they invited the vibrant inhabitants of Grismara to join their legions. As has happened on many occasions, when a society is so dynamic, hubris can quickly lead to horror.

Enter Victor Lazarin, the preeminent alchemist of the Mordesh who crowned his already monumental achievements with the discovery of the Everlife Elixir, a concoction that promised immortality.

The audacity of Lazarin’s work was difficult for the Mordesh to resist, with, unfortunately, apocalyptic consequences. The elixir promised life but unleashed a wave of death known as the Contagion.

The formerly vivacious humanoids were ravaged by a disease that destroyed them physically and psychologically, turning them into pestilent cannibals—Brad Pitt was eaten in the first act. With the Mordesh on the precipice of extinction, the Dominion responded in the heartfelt manner one would expect: it blockaded the entire planet and waited for the corpses to stop twitching.

Lazarin frantically sought to bring an end to his inadvertent genocide and concocted the Vitalus Serum, a vaccine that kept the extreme psychological symptoms of the Contagion at bay.

With the Dominion turning Grismara into a planet-sized death camp, the Mordesh reached out to the only other avenue for survival, the Exiles. The remaining Mordesh were smuggled out in small numbers, under constant threat of extermination.

Forced again into action to ensure their survival, members of the Mordesh formed the Black Hoods, an intelligence agency that took any necessary measures to protect the pitifully few survivors.

Though they are valued members of the Exiles, the Mordesh are accepted by the other races with some hesitance. Physically they are disconcerting; loping blends of techno-organic grafts, the Contagion has taken its toll on the Mordesh in many ways.

With the promise of Nexus’ undiscovered secrets, the former residents of Grismara hope their alchemical prowess can finally cure the ongoing threat of the merciless disease that defines them.

As well as showing the Dominion what a terrible mistake it was to desert them in their hour of need.

Both races stand apart in many ways from their respective factions, but also fit in with many of the themes that have been established by the other members of the Dominion and the Exiles.

For more on the Chua and the Mordesh, read this article for the thoughts of Chad “Pappy” Moore and Mike Donatelli as they reveal just how WildStar’s new races came to be.

Scott “Jarimor” Hawkes, Editor in Chief

 Follow me on Twitter @Jarimor

Click through the following pages for a gallery of concept art for the Chua and Mordesh>>>