#19. Azoth

Lore

The One-Man Dynasty

"Fa'zul and his Azothian Cultists have found the map and even now seek the seven soul stones. You, the greatest warriors in the land, must find the stones before Fa'zul. If you fail, Fa'zul will use the stones to summon the Lichlord Azoth from the realm of death and doom Elyria."

– High Priestess Alerial


"No, I don't know how long I'll be gone. Just feed my cat."

– Azoth to Hattori

As the story goes...

King Azoth the Great vowed his empire would endure for all eternity. Delving into dark and ancient magic, his court sorcerer crafted seven soul stones that, when brought together, could summon Azoth from the grip of death itself to fulfill his oath.

A thousand years after his death, his empire all but forgotten, devoted acolytes assembled the soul stones. The awoken Azoth was as brilliant and ruthless in battle as ever, if physically somewhat the worse for wear. He reforged his empire, and so began the first reign of Lichlord Azoth. Only after a saga of unprecedented heroism were the servants of light able to defeat Azoth and scatter the soul stones. The Valkyries, impressed by both Azoth’s battle prowess and his stick-to-itativeness, offered the lich a seat in Valhalla.

But the vow was not forgotten. Azothian cultists gathered the soul stones again, and Azoth found himself back in Elyria. Once more, only heroes pushed to the absolute limit of valor and luck defeated him. Lord Azoth the Mighty. Asothos the Terrible. Azothus Triumphant – again and again Azoth has been summoned from Valhalla to reprise his role as the scourge of the living.

Welcome to Azoth’s afterlife. He would be more than happy to stay retired in Asgard, enjoying some reading, an occasional battle, and the company of his cat Dander. But the curse of eternal life is not easily broken. By the Old Law, even the most heinous curse must contain the seed of its undoing. Azoth could break the burdensome cycle of undeath through ten thousand selfless acts. He reckons if pet care counts, he might be at one.

Connections

• Fait became a battlemage to oppose the monstrous army of Deathspeaker Lord Zothkhan (Azoth); her vision of Zothkhan retrieving his beloved cat from its demon caretaker (Hattori) helped her defeat him
• Jhala led the armies of all Thera to victory against Ehzot, the Zombie Lord (Azoth)
• Learned his Shrieking Skulls move (axe dsig) from Lin Fei
• Mirage slew the mad Pharaoh Eh'zath (Azoth), who called plagues of snakes from the sky
• In Valhalla, Mordex finds himself in accord with the likes of Thatch and Azoth, much to the fury of his nemesis (Diana)
• The Undead Lord of Elyria (Azoth) was Nix's first repeat customer, and a nice source of steady work
• Teros once fell in with the Iron Legion, turning the tide of the Battle of Orc Pass for the Zombie Lord (Azoth)

Context

Azoth is the skeleton. More specifically, a lich. "Lich" is an Old English word for "corpse," and was used as a general term for any dead or undead creature. In fact, the word used to describe an old-fashioned roofed gateway marking the entrance to a traditional English churchyard is "lychgate." The term "lich" has since become more specific, as the classic fantasy trope of an evil wizard who uses forbidden magic to persist beyond death became more prevalent and well known. Now, the common definition for "lich" is a powerful undead creature who is/was either a wizard skilled in necromancy or a king wishing for eternal life through forbidden spells and rituals. Either way, liches are evil and very bad news. In Dungeons & Dragons, a lich is among the most powerful and dangerous villains a group of heroes can face.

As you can see in the Lore and Connections sections above, Azoth has been summoned and resurrected many times. Taking all the lore together that relates to Azoth, we know that he started out as King Azoth the Great. But, it wasn't until after his first undead appearance as Lichlord Azoth that he was offered a seat in Valhalla (perhaps Azoth was stuck in the realm of Hel or some other awful purgatory, until he became Lichlord Azoth). After that, we have a wealth of different names that he went by over the centuries, so many that it's surprising how persistent the Azothian cult (and Azoth himself) has been over the ages. I will list each of Azoth's incarnations after Lichlord Azoth below, in my best attempt at a chronological order (I am assuming the Undead Lord of Elyria is a general title).

Azoth's Many Names

• Lord Azoth the Mighty: Not much to say here, except that this seems to be the last time Azoth's title stays true to his original name.

• Asothos the Terrible: "Asothos" is actually the Greek word for "unsuspected." This would make a lot of sense, actually, given that Elyria could be a reference to real-world Illyria, located in modern-day Greece.

• Azothus Triumphant: The -us suffix makes me suspect Latin origin, since that suffix marks  masculine subject case (basically, a masculine noun that's the main subject of a sentence). What's even more interesting is that, for medieval alchemists and philosophers, "azoth" was a Latin term for what they considered to be a universal solvent and remedy. My theory is that some medieval philosophers believed "azoth" wasn't the mercurial substance others believed it was, but that it was a person, "Azothus," who would be the "universal solvent/cure" to purge the world. That is all speculation on my part, but I think it's cool. :)

• Ehzot the Zombie Lord: Now we're starting to involve some other Brawlhalla legends. Although Xull's lore doesn't mention the Zombie Lord, it does mention the Undead Wars, which probably included the Battle of Orc Pass, which we know included Jhala and Teros as well. By my understanding, Teros was fighting in the Iron Legion under Xull's command. We know that Jhala bested the Orc Warlord (Xull) in single combat, earning the purely honorary title of "Friend" from him. Xull is certain that she must have cheated, but he honored whatever wager was made (who could beat who, I guess?) and switched sides in the Undead Wars (likely now fighting against the Zombie Lord). Assuming all of this is true, this is quite the epic tale!

• Pharaoh Eh'zath: In this form, Azoth was able to call plagues of snakes from the sky. But, he was slain by Mirage. Whether this took place during the time of ancient Egypt (note Pharaoh Eh'zath) or later is not exactly clear, especially since we know Mirage has experienced time travel.

• Deathspeaker Lord Zothkhan: This is where Fait is involved. It is interesting that while Fait is the Starspeaker, this version of Azoth is called "Deathspeaker." Is this a clue to the way magic works in Fait's home world/area? In any case, we know Fait saw a vision of Azoth collecting his cat Dander from Hattori (possibly her first glimpse into Valhalla?), which allowed her to defeat him at Mount Inferno.

Axe and bow is an interesting combination, and it seems to work quite well for Azoth. There isn't any solid basis for this apart from conjecture, but I think mastery of the axe and the bow (as well as evil green death magic) is evidence of impressive strength and dexterity. This plus his mastery (or at least use) of necromancy makes him quite the formidable foe, and a perfect villain for any group of fantasy heroes. Considering that seven soul stones were crafted for the purpose of summoning him, this sounds like the beginnings of a spin-off Zelda/Final Fantasy-inspired epic RPG.