Eparch

"Midnight King" redirects here. For the release, see The Midnight King.

Eparch

Race

Demon

Level

80

Rank

Legendary

Location

Lonely Tower Fractal
(Fractals of the Mists)
Spire of Dreams
(Inner Nayos)

Organization

Kryptis

Image(s)

Eparch, the Consumed King

“

Eparch is not comparable to Tyrian leaders. He does not simply drain them of wealth. Or land. He has taken to...eating them. Our blood is his blood, and eventually we will all be dissolved.

— Peitha in Treachery

Eparch, the Midnight King, is the tyrannical demon ruler of Nayos, the Realm of Dreams, and overlord of the Kryptis. Information collected by the Astral Ward suggests that he and his mate, Queen Labris, are the uncle and aunt of Cerus, Deimos, and Peitha. He has organized his people into a hierarchical society of lesser and higher Kryptis with many noble houses that swear allegiance to him. Eparch has a centuries-spanning rivalry with Isgarren after the latter denied him a seat in the Wizard's Court council due to Eparch's selfish aims. The Midnight King cares little for most of his subjects as all he is interested in is increasing his power and knowledge which he accomplishes by sending his army to corrupt and consume other realms and their inhabitants. Eparch is not averse to making his subjects fight among themselves or consuming them as well.

Despite waging a fierce war, Eparch is eventually cornered at his seat of power in the Citadel of Zakiros and defeated by the combined might of the Astral Ward and Peitha's Kryptis rebels. Accepting his fate, he pleads Peitha to consume his lifeforce to add his power to her own. Peitha does not honor her uncle's request, however, instead choosing to slay him and disperse his essence to prove herself as a different kind of leader than Eparch while she succeeds him as the new Midnight King.

Biography

Early years

Arrival to Tyria and banishment

Eparch was one of the demons who evolved and learned over time. During the previous Dragon cycle, Eparch somewhat made it into Tyria where he had an encounter with Mordremoth. The elder dragon relentlessly chased Eparch, leaving him helpless and terrified until he was rescued by the Seer wizard Isgarren.

Isgarren brought Eparch back to the Wizard's Tower where he started to teach him about Tyria, eventually giving him the possibility to join the Wizard's Court. During his studies, Eparch unintentionally starved himself. He attempted to explain his worries and the deep hunger he felt to Isgarren, but the wizard dismissed them. Overwhelmed by his hunger, Eparch eventually snapped. He killed a entire village of Centaurs and fed on their corpses. This terrified Isgarren, who ultimately denied Eparch entry to the court's ranks and banished him back to Nayos.

In a talk with Mabon where he explained what had led to Eparch's sudden banishment, Isgarren admitted that he did not know what Eparch had actually been after on Tyria, only that the demon had not been pleased when he had been forced out.

Eparch's banishment from Tyria led to an intense rivalry and eventual war between him and Isgarren as he swore to bring Isgarren and Amnytas down and claim the wizards' secrets and power for himself.

King of the Kryptis

Most demons tended to be solitary creatures if not led by a progenitor, but Eparch saw potential in them uniting under a leader who could then use their amassed strength for grander goals. He named himself Midnight King and built a demon society in Nayos, the Realm of Dreams, in his own image, creating a kingdom of fear and anger. Eparch made Labris his queen and organized the Kryptis demons into a hierarchical society of lesser and higher Kryptis and gave them titles and noble houses while making them swear allegiance to him. Information collected by the Astral Ward later revealed that he and Queen Labris were the uncle and aunt of Cerus, Deimos, and Peitha. Out of all the Kryptis, the one demon that Eparch seemed to genuinely care for was his mate, Queen Labris.

The Midnight King gave the Kryptis orders to invade other realms in the Mists and consume and corrupt their landscape and inhabitants to add these victims' power into their own, while he would feed on his subjects in turn and scheme for ways to send his forces en masse to invade Amnytas and Tyria. Some Kryptis chose not to align with Eparch's society, however, and remained as independent, ravenous wanderers as seen with the oni, or as peaceful and frightened wanderers roaming in Nayos. Although most Kryptis were intimidated by their powerful king to the point of fighting to their last breath rather than anger him, a select few had the courage to speak against his tyranny. Febe, one of the respected lords of the Kryptis, spoke about autonomy and defied Eparch openly but was slain by Deimos in the Temple of Febe with Deimos's brother Cerus and Eparch in audience. Eparch was said to have smiled upon watching Febe's fall.

Under Eparch's orders, the Kryptis attempted to invade Tyria at least as early as 635 BE if not even before that, and would continue to do so for centuries to come despite being pushed back by the Wizard's Court and, eventually, the Astral Ward over and over again.

Lonely Tower Fractal

Eparch confronts Isgarren during the assault on the Wizard's Tower.

One of the Kryptis' boldest invasion attempts took place sometime after the Astral Ward's founding in 604 AE as they targeted the Wizard's Tower with Eparch himself leading the push into the tower alongside Cerus and Deimos. The assault led to the deaths of the wizards Akeem and Vass and culminated in Isgarren and Eparch's second confrontation. Isgarren and his allies were able to force the Midnight King and the Kryptis back into Nayos despite the tower sustaining heavy damage in the ensuing clash.

Interim years

When Deimos was stuck in the wards of the Bastion of the Penitent and slain by the Pact Commander and raiders many years later in 1330 AE, Eparch was merely content to watch and did nothing to help his champion, which Deimos's and Cerus's sister Peitha would remember as another form of the Midnight King's indifference towards his subjects.

Secrets of the Obscure

Act 3

Following the Pact Commander and Peitha's victory over Cerus and the liberation of Isgarren from the Temple of Febe, Eparch took note of Peitha's rebellious actions and became interested in the Pact Commander, or "Wayfinder" as the Kryptis had begun calling the interloper, due to the Commander's feelings and scent. He contacted the Commander telepathically across realms, lamenting Cerus's fall yet showing amusement at Peitha's act of high treason. He also revealed that the Commander reminded him of his ancient Seer rival and that both the Commander and Isgarren's fears tasted alike. Eparch gave the Commander a subtle warning to choose their allegiances and next course of action carefully as he claimed that Peitha's rebellion would be shortlived.

The Realm of Dreams

While the Wayfinder and Peitha's other allies carve a path through Eparch's loyalists and seek his erstwhile second-in-command (General Nephus), Eparch himself is nowhere to be either seen or heard. Instead he leaves Queen Labris, to control operations on the ground.

Eparch finally appears when Peitha is making her speech to the Kryptis at the Coliseum of the Midnight King. He immobilises all the members of the Astral Ward and proceeds to mock Peitha and asks if any of the listening Kryptis wish to follow her. He then makes Peitha an offer to spare Tyria and allow her to live there in exile if she will release his queen. After Labris sacrifices herself and channels her lifeforce into Eparch, he cries out in anguish and angrily promises to follow through with the war and to "devour everything". However, he then surprisingly disappears from the Coliseum without any further action or response towards either Peitha or any of her allies.

Locations

Horn of Maguuma

• Inner Nayos
  • Spire of Dreams (During related events only)

The Mists

• Fractals of the Mists
  • Lonely Tower Fractal

Story involvement

Secrets of the Obscure story

• Act 2
  • Voices beyond the Veil (as "Strange Voice", voice only)
  • The Missing Facet (as "Strange Voice", voice only)
  • Tower of Secrets (voice only)
• Act 3
  • Treachery (voice only)
• The Realm of Dreams
  • Eventide's March
• The Midnight King
  • The Eleventh Hour

Event involvement

Quickly disperse the unstable rift before it explodes (80) (voice only)

[Group Event] Defeat Eparch, the Consumed King (80)

Combat abilities

During Eventide's March

Abilities

• The Midnight King

During The Eleventh Hour

Abilities

• The Midnight King

Effects

Skills

• Despair Barrage (75% – 50% and below 25% health) - Raise your sword and rain down pools of despair that pulse damage and ₁ Torment. Release 3 Drops of Despair.
• Enraged Smash (100% – 75% health and below 25% health) - Smash the ground and unleash a shock wave that inflicts  Knockdown (2s). Release 3 Drops of Rage.
• Inhale (50% – 25% health and below 25% health) -  Pull enemies towards you as you perform a sword spin. Release 3 Drops of Gluttony.
• Midnight Leap (upon reaching 75% health for the first time) - Leap to the center and pull enemies towards you for consumption.
• Rage Fissure (100% – 75% health and below 25% health) - Create ground fissures that pulse ₁ Vulnerability on-hit.
• Scouring Blade - Swing your sword.
  • Bleeding Edge - Swing your sword again.
    • Dissecting Dance - Perform a spin attack around you.
• Spike of Malice (75% – 50% health and below 25% health) - Slam your left fist and and strike enemies with a spike from underneath. Release 3 Drops of Malice.
• Summon (100% – 75% health and below 25% health) - Spin your sword and summon 2 Veteran The Cravens. Release 3 Drops of Regret.
• Wave of Envy (50% – 25% health and below 25% health) - Unleash waves of envy towards a direction that corrupt boons on-contact. Release 3 Drops of Envy.

Stolen skills

During Into the Spider's Lair

Abilities

• Consumes
• Steals Emotional Energy
• Opens Rifts

Effects

(unlocks every 25% health)

•  Time remaining (45s) - Deplete Defiance bar.
• Each time Eparch's Essence Level completely fills:
  • ₅ Despair Empowerment - Takes 0.25% reduced damage from attacks. Stacks intensity.
  • ₅ Envy Empowerment - Gain 1% improved effects for boons and conditions. Stacks intensity.
  • ₅ Gluttony Empowerment - Gains 1% more barrier from consuming Kryptis essence. Stacks intensity.
  • ₅ Malice Empowerment - Spikes of Malice gains increased effectiveness. Stacks intensity.
  • ₅ Rage Empowerment - Gain 0.5% increased attack damage. Stacks intensity.
  • ₅ Regret Empowerment - Gain increased frequency and reinforcement rate from rifts. Stacks intensity.

Skills

• Despair Barrage - Shake your tail and rain down pools of despair that pulse damage and ₁ Torment.
• Enraging Stomp - Slam your right fist and channel cracks in the ground that inflict damage and ₅ Vulnerability upon contact.
• Spike of Malice - Slam your left fist and and strike enemies with a spike from underneath.
• Spike of Regret - Concentrate overwhelming regret at a location. Inflict massive damage to nearby foes, decreasing for each person sharing this burden.
• Wave of Envy - Manifest waves of envy that corrupt boons on-contact.

Stolen skills

•   Soul Stone Venom

During Lonely Tower Fractal

Abilities

• The Midnight King

Effects

Skills

Stolen skills

•   Soul Stone Venom ^{[verification requested]}

Gallery

• 

  The Eleventh Hour loading screen with Eparch and the Midnight Throne by Volta.

Achievements

• The Midnight King: Eparch's Early End — Defeat Eparch within the time limit. (1)
• The Midnight King: Eparch Evader — Evade Eparch's grasp leading up to the final encounter. (1)
• The Midnight King: Your Midnight King Says... — Perform the proper emote when you are commanded to, even if you did not hear "Eparch says." (1)
• Inner Nayos: Citadel of Zakiros: First Journey into the Spider's Lair — Successfully defeat Eparch during the Into the Spider's Lair meta-event. (3)
• Inner Nayos: Citadel of Zakiros: Threatened Consumer — Use the /threaten emote during the "Defeat Eparch, the Consumed King" event. (1)
• Lonely Tower Fractal: Emotionless — Defeat Eparch in the Lonely Tower fractal without allowing him to reach 20 stacks of any emotional attunement. (3)
• Lonely Tower Fractal: Fissure Walker — Defeat Eparch in the Lonely Tower fractal without taking damage from his rage fissures. (3)

Trivia

• Eparch is voiced by Fred Tatasciore.
• Eparch derives from Ancient Greek ἔπαρχος (éparkhos), from ἐπί (epí, 'over') and ἀρχός (arkhós, 'ruler'), meaning overlord.

See also

• Family trees

Associated items

• Endless Midnight King Combat Tonic
• Eparch's Sword
• Eparch's Greatsword
• Midnight King Backpiece
• Mini Eparch
• Relic of the Midnight King