Azlat Ushus

Azlat Ushus

Biographical information

Birthplace Thagretis Born Died Age 42 Home Thagretis and Route Sexuality Pronouns

Physical description

Race Human Sub-Race Gender Female Height 162cm(5"4) Mass 61kg (135lbs) Hair color Black Eye color Yellow Skin color Bronze

Political information

Affiliation(s) Occupation Priestess Clan(s) Caste Domain Masters Apprentices Alias(es)

Out-of-character information

Writer Kiros Rahnel Created on June 21, 2021 Avatar Intervain

Azlat has lived in Thagretis her entire life, born to a noble family with a generational tie to the priesthood. Her mother was a priestess as was her grandmother, and Azlat has been a lifelong priestess within the city herself.

Losses suffered during an attack on Thragretis have worn heavily on her, and Azlat harbours a scathing grudge against those believed responsible. Once the portal stone allowed Thagretans access to the northern continents, this anger, along with ambitions for rising within the ranks of the priesthood motivated her departure. Since then she has often explored Liadain and Epressa in search of gold and a means of fulfilling her political ambitions.

A middle aged woman of average height and build. She has medium length black hair which is almost always tied back and concealed beneath the ceremonial veil she wears. She is also usually seen with a thick band of black makeup over her ash painted face, also for ceremonial presentation.

The dragon blood within her heritage is evident in the appearance of her eyes. Her irises are a dull greyish-yellow, entirely unnatural to humankind. Her draconic pupils are all but nonexistent in daylight, opening up in low lit conditions.

Azlat is a practitioner of draconian divine magic, as many priests in Thagretis are. She has the ability to heal wounds over time through her granted blessings. She holds further talents in precognition and divination and can read potential future outcomes; as well as gleam hints of activity at attuned locations.

Though not an experienced fighter, she is competent in armed combat and carries a gold adorned staff along with an often concealed dagger. She also commonly keeps a short-bow, having recently learned talent for it.

The blood of the Holy Elder Dragon flows through her veins, an inherited gift of her lineage. Azlat's faded yellow hued eyes are evidence of this, with vertical serpentine irises that remain nearly closed in all but low levels of light. These dragon's eyes allow her to see effectively at night and in dimly light conditions, and her vision is able to rapidly adjust to sudden absence or presence of light.

Her particularly high proportion of this carried blood enhances her body's ability to heal; and over time Azlat can recover from grievous and grisly wounds. This typically takes hours however, and takes effect at a rate far slower than the healing she can bestow on others. The same physiology also hinders her response to magical healing from those not of her order. Such magic cast upon her will carry substantially reduced effect.

Her heritage provides her with deceptive strength beyond what one might expect from a woman of her size, and her tolerance for pain is remarkable. With that said, she is a priestess and not a warrior. While she will not hesitate to split someone's skull given the opportunity, she has only cursory experience in weapon handling.

Azlat is a skilled divine spellcaster, gaining her power through her dragon blood and unwavering faith in the Holy Elder Dragon. Blood is the resources used to fuel her magic. Even if the incantation requires no blood to be let, blood will still be lost and blood pressure will drop form casting. Overuse of magic will render her anemic and cause her to pass out or faint.

Phlegm Fire
Particular to her lineage and unlike her other magic which draws upon blood, this spell makes use of a different humour, draconic phlegm. Azlat may hack and cough in preparation; once she spends the arcane price, it will typically be hours before she has enough for payment again. Anything in the path of the fiery blue stream will be set alight, though the resulting fire is not self-sustaining – unless fuelled by her expelled phlegm. Globules may accompany the blast of fire, which can sustain a flame for up to a minute.

The fire can cleanse the victim of magical protections and enchantments, which will feed the flames and cause them to grow brighter as it consumes the magic. Notably, this spell retains effect against many beings normally insusceptible to magical fire; while heat may be withstood, mere fire resistance affords no protection from its acidic nature.

Traumatized by the attack upon Thagretis and the loss of her family in the defence of the city, Azlat has great mistrust towards those from Epressa or Liadain. The attack has left a lasting first impression upon her, and Azlat will often refer to them as 'barbarians' to label their perceived brutality. Perhaps understandable, this judgement is hardly fair. Despite her ire, she is not hateful enough to despise everyone, but she gives most absolutely no value. Her hatred tends to become a self-fulfilling prophecy, as most react in kind when she espouses it. Perceived incivility is simply how she rationalizes the loss of family, and remains with the stubborn assumption of northern inferiority.

Exceptions are occasionally made, and Azlat does make friends. Sometimes it's because Azlat deems them useful, but it's not uncommon for her to genuinely care for someone even if they're a northern barbarian. Distrust of outsiders spurs sympathy for them, as she believes life beyond Thagretis as bleak and dismal. Stuck in her sense of superiority, Azlat may quietly pity that an individual she perceives as good must suffer in lands she perceives as terrible.

Those from Malakath are spared this judgement, which Azlat sometimes maintains to the point of hypocrisy. It is not uncommon for grief and zealotry to blind her to similar plight suffered by others.

Conversationally, she is direct and straightforward and prefers to maintain a veil of aloofness when dealing with those beyond the walls of Thagretis. While she remains a compassionate individual towards those she holds dear, political ambitions and an emptying nest has rendered her far more motivated as of late. Azlat can be utterly ruthless in attaining her goals. She places no value on the lives of most outsiders; unless a person is considered a friend, murder is considered a perfectly acceptable solution to an unwanted quarrel.

She also has an interest in the macabre, and will commonly be fascinated by things most others might consider revolting. Given her work as a healer and her penchant for fuelling magic through her own phlegm, she is rather desensitized to disgust. Azlat retains the decorum to keep this private in company of fellow nobility; those she considers to be her peer or beneath her cannot count on such a filter.

She currently has her sights set on attaining the rank of High Priestess. This is partly motivated by desire to seek purpose – but also out of want to secure a better future for her children.

A priestess of the city, she is mother to two sons. She is a widow to a late husband who was slain during the assault on Thagretis two years prior, a battle that also claimed the life of their eldest daughter. For this, Azlat casts sweeping blame upon all northerners, regardless of church doctrine.

To cope with her grief, she has resorted to zealotry and ambition. All (aside from those few she finds a personal reason to like) are considered wretched pagans at worst, and useful pagans at best. Trust and mercy are seldom given out of paranoia of deceit. Azlat will kill without care, considering that to simply be the way things are done in the north.

In accepting a task to scout the northern lands she hopes to bolster her pursuit for the promotion to High Priestess. Such a political position would also secure a better outlook for her two remaining sons. Her eldest, Nytam, has followed in his father's footsteps and trains to be a soldier, while her youngest, Eklos, has enrolled at the temple for training for priesthood.

Her excursion in the north lead her to the kingdom of Route, where she attended Queen Esmeralda's coronation as an opportunity to conduct espionage. Azlat discovery was much to her surprise. The city not only held dragons to be holy, but accepted the Holy Elder Dragons, Neha and Drakormir, as divine gods. An offer was to act as a priestess for her gods, and Azlat readily accepted the position and opportunity to spread divine word to the northerners. She now holds a second residence within the kingdom, and Eklos has since joined her there.

The Town of Osteriam (The Buried City Thread 1) – Azlat arrives in search of rumoured gold, finding herself in forced service with the criminals overunning the town.
The Raid on The Buried City (Osteriam) – As they descend into the mines beneath, the villagers revolt and pursue them into them.
Welcome to Route – Azlat attends a coronation to gather intelligence, or so she justifies drinking and dancing.
Old World Clues – Following another rumour of gold, Azlat joins an adventuring party in search of it.
Slaves and the Slain - She and her son Eklos are returning to Route when slavers attempt to capture them, prompting Azlat to seek them out and slaughter them with the aid of a companion hunting them down.
Queens, Politics & Pirates – Route throws a ball, and Azlat attends as a resident rather than a guest.
Something on the Steepes – Hearing of the religious tolerance of Bhathairk, Azlat's attempts to spread the word of her gods, only to find them hated. Making a hasty escape, she encounters a woman named Taayi who aids her.
Death in Thagretis – Hearing of the disappearance of a priest, Azlat returns home to aid the investigation and ensure the safety of her own son, Nytam.