Lore:Azra Nightwielder

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.  
 

History
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. Redguard soldiers, 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   in homage to the wizard. 

Circa  , 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. 

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  , 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  , 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   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. 

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   of House Telvanni is a collector of Azra's work, and has admitted to have learned a lot from studying his staves. 

Artifacts
Azra's Mace
Azra's Mace is a powerful mace once wielded by Azra himself that could inflict more damage than weapons of even Daedric quality. In appearance, it is a dark metal mace which has a runic 'A', and a runic 'N', which are the initials of Azra's name. 

Azra's Bandage
Azra's Bandage is a ring with as the name implies, 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. 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. 

Nightwielder's Tome
The Nightwielder's Tome was a book written by Azra 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
 

Notes
Before his acknowledgement in The Elder Scrolls Online: Blackwood, it was hinted that Azra was potentially born in the first half of the  , as the use of Shadow Magic among   had already become prevalent by  .   
Azra states there was seven Star Teeth during his time. By the War of the Bend'r-mahk, only five could be found. The seven star teeth were discovered and stored into what would become the Crypt of Hearts sometime in the early Second Era. By 2E 582, two of the seven Star Teeth had already gone missing from the Crypt of Hearts.
The plant named after him, Azra Root, is mentioned in the book The Book of the Great Tree, which could be found circa 2E 582.
A quest called Azra's Staffs is featured in the Dragonborn add-on for TES V: Skyrim.

See Also
For game-specific information, see the Shadowkey article.

References