Who they are
Azir was Shurima's greatest emperor before Xerath betrayed him. He was resurrected when Sivir, his last descendant, bled into the sacred sands, and he has restored his fallen city.
Their story belongs to Shurima. A fallen empire of living gods, waking up again.
Their story, step by step
- Step 1
The overlooked prince
Azir was the youngest and least-favored son of Shurima's emperor and preferred old texts to weapons. In the royal library he befriended an enslaved boy, Xerath, and gave him a name. After an assassination attempt both survived, and Azir promised to someday make Xerath his brother.
- Step 2
An unexpected throne
His siblings died in mysterious circumstances and his father took his own life, leaving Azir emperor. He learned combat from the warrior Renekton and knowledge from the Ascended Nasus.
- Step 3
The Ascension that failed
To raise Shurima up and keep his promise to Xerath, Azir attempted the forbidden Ascension ritual at the Sun Disc. Xerath, secretly resentful and ambitious, sabotaged it with magic. The explosion destroyed the capital and killed countless people, and Azir was left in an incomplete ascension, suspended between life and death.
- Step 4
Waking again
Ages later the Sun Disc was found and reactivated, and Azir woke as an Ascended being with a falcon-like form and command of sand. He arrived amid chaos, with Sivir's blood spilled on the sand, Cassiopeia betraying the party, and Xerath loose. He saved Sivir, his distant descendant, from assassination.
- Step 5
Rebuilding Shurima
Azir now rules Shurima again and commands soldiers made of sand, working to restore his empire's glory. The empire is still largely ruins.
Turning points
- Naming Xerath and promising to make him his brother
- Attempting the Ascension at the Sun Disc
- Xerath's sabotage and the destruction of the capital
- Waking and saving Sivir from assassination
Where their story stands now
Azir is emperor of Shurima once more, rebuilding a mostly ruined empire. His anger and blame toward Xerath are unresolved, Nasus sees Azir's hubris as the cause of the collapse, and Renekton's madness troubles him deeply.
Who they are tied to
- Xerath →Xerath was Azir's friend and promised brother, and his sabotage of the Ascension destroyed the capital and left a bitter, unresolved quarrel.
- Sivir →Sivir is his distant descendant, and Azir's awakening came when her blood fell on the sand, after which he saved her from assassination.
- Nasus →Nasus taught Azir in his youth and now blames Azir's pride for Shurima's fall, which strains their bond.
- K'Sante →A proud monster hunter who defends the independent city-state of Nazumah.
Where this fits in the story
- Shurima · step 1
The Ascended and the Sun Disc
The Sun Disc floated above the Circle of Ascension at the capital's center, turning the desert fertile and giving warriors the power to ascend. The Ascended led Shurima's expansion for centuries.
- Shurima · step 2
Icathia
After centuries of domination the Icathians rebelled. Facing defeat, they unleashed the Void, and the Ascended sealed its rifts at tremendous cost.
- Shurima · step 3
Xerath's betrayal
Xerath betrayed Azir around 2000 BN and the empire collapsed. Nasus had earlier locked away his brother Renekton, who had gone mad, and Xerath's betrayal freed him.
- Shurima · step 4
Azir returns
Azir was resurrected when Sivir, his last descendant, bled into the sacred sands. He restored his fallen city, and the new Shurima is reshaping the politics of the whole world.