Overview
Azarion is a long-lived Malverand divine and air mage who commands for Eremion and receives second-generation shard power during the Fall of Malverand. He is secretly Eremion's son, though Eremion does not reveal that relationship to him.
After the Fall of Malverand, Azarion survives in a ruined state through his Malverand heart until Eliona recovers the heart and revives him. He later works beside Eliona inside Raphael's guardian-aligned faction, then becomes Gabriel's wielder through the hurricane shard.
Appearance and Manner
Azarion is tall and muscular, with teal eyes and medium-blond to golden hair. During the Fall of Malverand, he has a blond beard. His shard attunements gild his hair and make his eyes glow, and his size matters in close combat because he fights with enchanted fists and kicks as well as ranged air blasts.
While working with Eliona, Raphael, and Rahmavir, Azarion commonly wears white robes. He also wears lightweight silver anti-magic armor, sometimes hidden beneath the robes, which can repel attacks such as cosmic beams but does not protect well against impact.
Azarion is blunt, brash, proud, and quick to challenge authority when information is withheld. His closest loyalty is to Eliona: he serves Eliona, considers abandoning Raphael with Eliona, and keeps that loyalty after Gabriel gives him the hurricane shard. He also carries lasting trauma around drowning after the tsunami that destroyed him while his Malverand heart kept healing him.
Magic and Combat
Azarion's signature style is a rare fusion of air and divine magic. He uses golden air blasts, divine shields, air-enhanced flight, shockwaves, and body enchantments. His blasts can destroy buildings, gouge craters into the ground, scatter meteors, and force elite opponents to dodge or shield.
As a second-generation shard wielder under Eremion, Azarion receives a core that amplifies his essence enough for him to fight near Eremion's level. He far surpasses Koriel and Rhaeniel in shard response, comes close to besting Eremion in a shardless duel, and later fights Zero while Eremion battles Kallion.
His Malverand heart gives him extreme regeneration, keeping him alive through drowning, dismemberment, heat, and battlefield trauma. Azarion also carries slight traces of balance magic, which make his air blasts fail to fully disconnect essence, explode on contact, and amplify their damage.
Gabriel later makes Azarion his wielder through the hurricane shard. The shard lets Gabriel speak through Azarion, guide his movement, and combine Gabriel's cold with Azarion's air-divine power. With the shard, Azarion creates a hurricane around Cyndarel while fighting Maric and Virel, then loses control of the storm.
History
Azarion begins as Eremion's commander during the Fall of Malverand. Eremion chooses Azarion, Koriel, and Rhaeniel for second-generation shards, and Azarion responds immediately. Eremion considers him the greatest success of the breeding program, trusts him to protect him in battle, and privately considers making him temporary ruler of Maraveth if Raphael becomes unsuitable.
Azarion fights beside Eremion during the battle against Kallion and Zero, then disappears from the battlefield after the void disruption. Eremion later sends Azarion, Koriel, and Rhaeniel north to find and eliminate Isandriel. The mission ends when skyship bombardment and Benedict's tsunami overtake the three shard wielders. Azarion's Malverand heart keeps healing him through repeated drowning and pressure until he is left beyond recovery.
Eliona eventually recovers Azarion's heart and revives him. Afterward, Azarion joins Eliona, Raphael, and Rahmavir in the seizure of Zarephon from the Oracles, investigates the source, and trains to break Varnhallow's temporal bubble. He remains grateful for survival but later rejects Eremion, who used him as the greatest success of the breeding program and kept their family tie hidden.
When the ancient Order returns, Azarion and Eliona attack Kaldaryn City and pursue Kaelion, Eira, and their allies. Eira, Virel, and Nahm help repel the attack. Eira maims Azarion in retaliation for Splin and Azarion and Eliona's Kaldaryn attack, but he accepts a temporary truce so Eira, Kaelion, and Xarion can try to close the source.
The truce collapses when Zarephon's mountain is destroyed during the source mission. Azarion and Eliona survive badly injured, and Gabriel reframes Zarephon's destruction as their victory over the Order. Azarion's second-generation shard dissolves as expected, leaving him dependent on his own power until Gabriel binds him through the hurricane shard.
During the Battle for Cyndarel, Azarion exits Aldar's darkness veil in Raphael's group with Raphael, Eliona, and Ravira. With Gabriel's shard, he fights Maric and Virel, hurls golden air blasts across the ruined landscape, and summons a hurricane of immense scale. The spell grows beyond his control. Azarion saves Eliona and Ravira, carries them toward Therendros, and remains alive as Gabriel's hurricane-shard wielder after Raphael's defeat.
Relationships
- Family: Azarion is Eremion's secret son. His mother rules Thiravos and Theryssa, but Eremion keeps that from him; Azarion believes she was an air mage from Thiravos.
- Eliona: Eliona is Azarion's closest ally and the person he follows above Raphael or Gabriel. They protect each other through Raphael's Rahmavir faction, Zarephon's destruction, and the Cyndarel aftermath.
- Raphael and Gabriel: Azarion works inside Raphael's faction but does not give Raphael his deepest loyalty. Gabriel later chooses him as the hurricane shard's wielder.
- Koriel and Rhaeniel: Koriel and Rhaeniel are Azarion's fellow second-generation shard candidates under Eremion and join him on the failed mission against Isandriel.
- The Order and its allies: Azarion's opponents include Eira, Kaelion, Xarion, Zero, Thalena, Virel, Maric, Aldar, Garrik, and Cassian. He accepts temporary truces with Eira, Kaelion, and Xarion at the source mission and later opposes Raphael and Gabriel's manipulation.