The Tarrasque

[Proto Man]

Location/Role: Unknown.

Story: The Tarrasque is something usually reserved for ‘boogey man’ type stories that parents tell adventurous children late at night. The stories are as old as ‘civilization’ in the Pale Moors, with original accounts being told by drunkards in the bars of Darkshire. More often than not, the stories revolved around the monster rising up from an underground resting place to gorge its nearly insatiable appetite before vanishing back into the deep recesses of the planet.

Soldiers who fought against the forces of Diablo also brought back stories of the Tarrasque (or a similar monster – the accounts always seem somewhat embellished) and claimed that the monsters from the Underverse always seemed to be digging when they weren’t on the march.

It is unknown when exactly the stories became reality. Some argue that the stories, repeated over and over again by countless villagers over the years, somehow gave flesh to the monster. Others argue that the Tarrasque has always existed in the Omniverse, and that it waking up and rampaging across the Moors is just a terrible and tragic coincidence. Whatever theory you may believe, the fact of the matter is that the monster did emerge from the ground, and it did go on a mindless (albeit lumbering) rampage across the Moors.

From its first sightings, the legend of the Tarrasque grew. Panicked civilians in Darkshire and the peasants in the wilderness claimed it was some sort of resurrected hell-monster from Diablo’s army. They claimed it was fueled by a ‘sin heart’ and wouldn’t rest until it destroyed the Omniverse. In other circles, there are whispers that an unknown faction was attempting to use the monster as a massive vehicle of war. Still others link the Tarrasque with the Blight that still rampages in the Tangled Green and the Pale Moors.

Whatever the case, the monster was allowed free reign to eat, stomp, and tear its way through the Pale Moors until it was confronted by a collection of primes. Brought together from different parts of the verse, the group of mercenaries and adventurers fought viciously against the creature before turning on one another to claim a prize left behind by the ailing monster.

Although a victor was claimed by the group, there is no corpse to prove the monster’s demise. All that they have is trinkets from chunks of its carapace, although rumors mention that one such trinket was imbued with a part of the monster’s primordial essence. Despite the joy felt in Darkshire and the rest of the Pale Moors when news of the Tarrasque’s defeat spread, there are still many who refuse to believe. They speak only of the old stories that the monster is immortal, and that even in defeat, it has only receded into a deep slumber until its strength returns again.

Is the Tarrasque truly dead? Or is it simply sleeping away its grievous wounds?

Only time will provide the answer.