Azure

Azure winning a silver medal for the Water Race (2016)

**Azure** is a member of the Kobalts and their former captain.

Shortly before the start of Marble League 2023, it was announced that Royal would become captain of the team, whereas Azure became a regular member.

## History

### Pre-Marble League

The Kobalts come from the Central African city of Zuro, a city renowned for the sciences. The four original team members, Azure, Cerulean, Royal and Dodger, met while at a university in the city. They all studied chemistry and met in the university laboratory, where they were experimenting on cobalt(II) oxide and alumina, which produces blue pigment. They all love four main things: the color blue, science, roll-playing games and marble sports.

The four first heard of the growing popularity of marble sports in their final year at university in 2014. In the small amount of free time the four doctorate students had, they would play Marbles and Monoliths, a popular roll-playing game, on a chat room called the Marblebase. In the middle of the campaign, when another user named Sapphire shared a featurette about the Knikkegen Marble League, the four watched the video together and got hooked.

Azure admitted that the group had so much love for chemistry that they never thought anything would move them away. After finishing their final semester in Spring 2014, Azure contacted Sapphire and learned they were an athletics trainer with connections to Knikkegen. Sapphire agreed to train the group. While not the most athletic marbles in Zuro, the four exhibited their intelligence with a good knowledge of anatomy and how to get in shape.

The four eventually came to be known as the Kobalts. They applied for participation in the 2015 Knikkegen Marble League, but their application was declined due to strict selection process. Undaunted by this, the team kept training and applied again the following year for what had become Marble League 2016. They were one of the few individual teams to be accepted, alongside the Oceanics and Team Galactic.

### 2016

The Kobalts had a decent start to Marble League 2016, coming sixth in the first event, Balancing. However, they did not do as well over the next three events, finishing in the bottom half, although they did earn a bonus point due to a track defect in Event 2, the Relay Race. Their next points came in Event 5, the Long Jump, where Royal came 5th. The team won their first medal when Azure came second in the next event, the Water Race. Halfway through the competition, the team were in 8th overall. Unfortunately, the second half of the competition didn't go as well. Apart from a silver medal in Event 10, Precision Slalom, the team failed to get any further points. They finished ninth overall with 20 points.

### 2017

With only two months to go before Marble League 2017, the Kobalts were experiencing some difficulties with training. Royal and Dodger were trying to balance the long nights in the lab with their jobs as chemists and the early morning marble sports training sessions. Royal admitted that they and Dodger both found a sense of fulfillment in marble sports, but they needed the money from their jobs and the opportunities it provided. The two left the team, leaving Azure and Cerulean with an incomplete team.

Fortunately, Azure, Cerulean and Sapphire had lots of connections from the Marblebase. They reached out to their Marbles and Monoliths party, and managed to convince Meepo and Gnome, siblings from the city of Elsham, to join the Kobalts. Elsham is also the place where many Marble and Monoliths conventions are held. Meepo and Gnome traveled to Zuro to start training.

Meepo made their individual debut for the Kobalts in the second event of the Marble League 2017 Qualifiers, the Sand Race, where they failed to show a promising result. They finished in 14th, dropping the team into last place. Although the team managed to come second in the third event, Block Pushing, a 12th place finish for Cerulean in the final event, the Funnel Spin, led to the Kobalts finishing the Qualifiers in 13th overall, failing to qualify. The team were disappointed, but understood that late changes to the team's roster affected their chances of qualifying. They watched Marble League 2017 from the stands and started to train together again.

### 2018

While training for Marble League 2018, the Kobalts were able to contact Royal. Rejoining the team as reserve member, Royal felt comfortable to return as the reserve position made it easier to balance their priorities, while at the same time trying to get the team back into shape. The team were prepared to redeem themselves.

The Kobalts competed in Group B in the Marble League 2018 Qualifiers. The team started with two sixth-place finishes. However, they managed to turn things around when Azure came 3rd in the 5 Meter Ice Dash and the team came 2nd in the Halfpipe. Unfortunately, this was not enough for the Kobalts to qualify for Marble League 2018, as they finished fifth in the group and were one point shy of qualifying. They once again watched the main tournament from the stands.

During the offseason, the Kobalts participated in three events. Meepo finished in 5th during the Marble League 2018 Consolation Race. Despite this, the team failed to show promising results in the next two events. Azure failed to finish the 100 Meter Water Race. The team then failed to make it out of their heat in the Amazing Maze Marble Race. To add insult to injury, their bid to host Marble League 2019 failed.

### 2019

The Kobalts once again tried to qualify in the Marble League 2019 Qualifiers. Once again, they did not impress, with only one finish in the top half of the results, a 9th place finish in Event 2, Block Pushing. Azure had a 12th place finish in the Underwater Race. The team finished in 16th, failing to qualify for the third year in a row. Fans had accepted the circumstances before Marble League 2017, but questions were being asked about why they had failed to work together after this.

It was reported that the Kobalts wouldn't be attending Marble League 2019, and would instead be attending a Marble and Monoliths convention in Elsham. Before they set off, they heard of the Marble League Showdown. The friends had already booked their tickets, and so they went to the convention anyway, successfully remaining undercover. After it was over, they returned to Zuro to start training. Some fans questioned their decision to go to a convention, but Gnome defended by saying the team deserved a break.

The Kobalts returned to the Seven Seas Stadium for the Marble League Showdown 2019. The team had a decent start to the tournament, with Azure coming 5th in the first event, the Sand Rally. Unfortunately, the team faltered in Collision, finishing in 11th. The team dropped to 10th overall. Meepo could not turns things around in the third event, the Funnel Race, where they finished 8th. The team were hoping to get a good result in the final event, Balancing, only to get a mediocre fifth-place finish in the event. Staying in 10th overall, the Kobalts would yet again not be able to qualify, missing out on the Marble League 2020 Qualifiers.

The Kobalts returned to Zuro for a long, quiet offseason. Team coach Sapphire, while giving a tour of the team's stadium, the Cobalt Circuit, stated that their team have heart, but were heartbroken at their most recent results. They also claimed that one of the reasons for their failure was inadequate funding, although the Kobalts were not among the teams that retired at the end of 2018. Azure, on the other hand, assured that things would get better for the team in the upcoming Marble League Showdown 2020.

### 2020

The Kobalts had a great start to Marble League Showdown 2020, with back to back top half finishes. In the Black Hole Funnel, the team finally came back to life. Cerulean and Royal won gold, earning the Kobalts their first gold medal. In the Sand Mogul Race, Azure kept the streak going. After finishing just behind the Jungle Jumpers, Azure qualified for the finals as the fastest second place competitor. In the finals, Azure shot into the lead, and never looked back. After 4 years of never finishing first, the Kobalts did it in back to back events. Azure had led the team to a Showdown victory.

### Marbula One Season 2

On 2nd November 2020, the Kobalts had their Marbula One Season 2 roster revealed, and the team chose Azure "Brilliant Blue" and Cerulean "Natural 27" representing them on track.

By the end of the first half of the season, the team sat at 10th place with 31 points, all from Cerulean. Azure didn't score any points, all from failing to qualify. They qualified 18th at Minty Mania, 19th at the Honeydome, and 20th at Tumult Turnpike, and because the bottom four would not qualify for the race, Azure never raced, and therefore never scored. By the end of the first half, Azure was one of six marbles without any points, and they were at the very bottom of the standings in 40th.

However, the second half of the season went better for Azure, qualifying for both the Raceforest Grand Prix and the Palette Park Grand Prix. At the Raceforest Grand Prix, Azure qualified in 10th, and finished 7th. However, in Palette Park, Azure had a breakout performance. They qualified in 12th and their situation was made even worse when Azure was knocked down to 14th by Bolt. However, Azure was able to contend for the win by going from 14th to 3rd with under 4 laps to go. At one point they were only a few seconds back from 2nd place at the time behind the eventual winner, Wospy. However, Azure fell back in the last laps and finished in sixth. Azure's final race, at the Savage Speedway saw them fail to qualify, and by the end of the season, they would finish 35th, with 18 points.

## Career Events

Note: Events include any kind of individual & team events (friendly events, other tournaments etc.)

## Individual Career Points

### Marble League Showdown

 2020 | 1
 2021 | 1
 2022 | 2
 Total

## References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 Stynth, The Emperor (20th August 2021). RetRollSpective – Kobalts. Project Marblearth.