Lore:Azra Nightwielder

Azra Nightwielder
Azra Nightwielder
Race	Man	Gender	Male
Born		Western Reach
Resided in		Fearfrost Caverns
Appears in		Shadowkey

Azra Nightwielder was the original Shadowmage, and a pioneer of Shadow Magic. He was the first to discover that shadows were not merely an absence of light, but the reflection of possible worlds created by forces in conflict.

References to Azra are unreliable, as even texts in the Psijic Order's archives on Artaeum have been tampered with Shadow Magic. However, according to them, Azra was born somewhere in the early Second Era in the Western Reach, which lies between Craglorn, Bangkorai, and the Reach. Despite the Order's tampered estimate of this date of birth, shadow mages have been seen dating back to the First Era.

History

Second Era

Xi-Tsei

Azra sought to refine his skill in Shadow Magic, and one day attempted to manipulate his own shadow to such an extent that all possible versions of himself would become melded into a singular existence. Sometime around the founding of the Mages Guild in 2E 230, Redguard mercenaries, fearing the power he would command should he succeed, surrounded him in northern Hammerfell. During the fight, Azra lost control of his magic and created a large crater in the ground. People thought he had perished. A small village grew around this crater; it was named Azra's Crossing in homage to the wizard.

Circa 2E 582, a nisswo's apprentice in Blackwood sought to carry out his master's dream of uncovering the Nightwielder's Tome, as unfinished business led to his soul to stay on the mortal plane. The Tome is an artifact written by Azra Nightwielder in runes that cannot be read by mortal eyes. The nisswo see things without using their eyes, and the Argonian speculated that perhaps Azra used a similar method in its writing. The Argonian tasked an adventurer with retrieving the tome from the Xi-Tsei Xanmeer, which was taken over by the Sul-Xan, an Argonian tribe of Dagonites. The apprentice gave Azra's Tome to the Clutch of Nisswo for safekeeping.

Third Era

The crystal within Fearfrost Caverns

Azra Nightwielder circa 3E 397

Many years later, during the Imperial Simulacrum, an Umbra' Keth (Shadow of Conflict) formed due to the ongoing War of the Bend'r-mahk. In 3E 397, an unknown hero (Soul of Conflict) on a quest to destroy the Umbra' Keth discovered a large crystal in the depths of the Fearfrost Caverns. Inside this crystal was Azra Nightwielder, who was suffering from memory loss and couldn't recall his identity. Azra formed an umbric connection with the hero, allowing him to communicate through the hero's shadow. The hero promised to help him uncover his identity. The second incarnation of Pergan Asuul, a shadowmage who was trying to strengthen the Umbra' Keth by battling with the hero repeatedly, revealed the mage's name with his dying breath, which helped to restore Azra's memory.

Azra and the hero met again in the crater in Azra's Crossing, where he provided vital information pertaining to how the Star Teeth were needed to defeat the Umbra' Keth. The shadowmage entered the Umbra' Keths lair, the Crypt of Hearts, to distract the beast to buy the hero some time to prepare, and placed some items throughout the Crypts to aid the hero when they were arrive. First is his powerful mace for the purpose of bludgeoning the beast, and second are scrolls containing the secrets to learning his spells (Azra's Sustenance for healing, and Azra's Wrath for clearing a large area of enemies) The time and items Azra provided proved valuable, as the hero managed to defeat the Umbra' Keth. Afterwards, Azra continued his journey, claiming that the shadows called back to him, and has not been sighted since.

Legacy

Although less well known, Azra was also a pioneer in the field of enchanting staffs, and, although his methods grew to be considered rudimentary by the standards of the Fourth Era, he was still considered a genius in his field. Many of his staves can still be found scattered across Tamriel. Master Neloth of House Telvanni is a collector of Azra's work, and has admitted to have learned a lot from studying his staves.

The plant Azra Root was named after him.

Artifacts

Azra's Mace

Azra's Mace is a powerful mace created by Azra Nightwielder that could inflict more damage than weapons of even Daedric quality. In appearance, it is a dark metal mace engraved with a runic 'A', and a runic 'N', which are the initials of Azra's name. It was found by the Soul of Conflict in the Crypt of Hearts circa 3E 397.

Azra's Bandage

Azra's Bandage is a ring with magical healing properties. The ring was kept incased in a shadow-infused crystal by Pergan Asuul within Earthtear Caverns before being retrieved by the Soul of Conflict circa 3E 397. After it was retrieved by the hero, Pergan Asuul lamented that it was the handiwork of Azra and was not meant for hands such as theirs.

Azra's Staffs

One of Azra's Staffs

Azra's Staffs are a collection of staves created and enchanted by the original Shadowmage Azra Nightwielder, whose advances in magic were legendary. In addition to his role in the development of Shadow magic, he was also known as a pioneer of staff enchantment. His techniques were considered rudimentary by the Fourth Era, but his genius remained evident throughout the ages.

Azra himself wielded a staff, though its properties are not known. Neloth of House Telvanni was known to collect the staves created by Azra Nightwielder. Each staff of his creation led to Neloth's greater understanding of the field of enchantment. He was known to have several of these staves in his personal collection. In 4E 201, Neloth discovered the locations of several staves created by Azra and enlisted an adventurer to retrieve some of them from sites he had identified in the province of Skyrim. It is known that he wielded at least one such staff in battle.

The staffs created by Azra are numerous and have a variety of known effects, including influencing the minds of people, making them calm or fearful, commanding undead and forcing them to flee, summoning various types of Daedra from Oblivion and banishing them, and causing paralysis. Some of them also command elements, the most notable of which are fire, frost, and lightning.

Nightwielder's Tome

Nightwielder's Tome circa 2E 582

The Nightwielder's Tome is a book written by Azra Nightwielder in runes that cannot be read by mortal eyes. Attempting to study the contents of the freezing pages will cause your skin to crawl and your vision to worsen. It was theorized that Azra managed to write the tome by being able to see with more than just his eyes.

Gallery

• 

  Shadowkey

• 

  Shadowkey concept art

• 

  Azra's Staff (Castles)

• 

  Azra's Mace description (Shadowkey)

See Also

• For game-specific information, see the Shadowkey article.