====== Azratha, the Elven Adversary ======
Azratha, as known to the [[Elves|elven peoples]] of the mortal plane who descend from the deific [[Cephareth]], is thought to be a being of death and mortality who inhabited in exception to [[Caelarkhe]], being composed of the primordial substance of the chaotic void which observed not a singular presence of light and soul. As Azratha is believed to be the quintessential exception of the primordial stasis and light of Caelarkhe, Azratha is the darkness that degrades the light of the soul and vitality that come under his influence, the absence of this life energy allowing entropy to emerge as a dominant force. Thus, the absence of the life energy which Azratha possesses power over causes the gradual decline of certain stasis within the void where he resides. Because the dark being procured the primeval ebb and flow of the void so that change might be achieved, he is thought to have a certain consciousness which rivaled those powers of the Cephareth, who had emerged as beacons of the light and a certain purity. In the context of elven theologies, Azratha is best seen as the summation of all of that essence of the void that haunted the at the nadir of [[Aurius]], beneath the elevated zenith that is [[Arethayn]]. Thus, Azratha is considered to be a paradox of a kind, as the being is both interwoven with the mortal plane as the cause of its mortality, but still is a spirit of darkness and chaos that resembles more closely the [[Novya]]. Then, Azratha may be understood as the quintessential format of the void of primal absence, extending his influence throughout the mortal plane so that its inhabitants may know his death.\\
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Because of the agents of change which were the Novya and who Azratha possesses lordship over as its ruler, the being of pure darkness and death was able to command a great legion of blight and destruction to the mortal plane after the closure of the [[Altori Era]], the mythical era in which the Cephareth remained dominant, thereby proving himself as the elven adversary and a force to contend with throughout the eras. In the succeeding eras of after the Altori, Azratha is thought to be diametric and equivalent to the will of [[Araray]], who presents as the purest of the incarnations of the celestial principle, much like Azratha encapsulates the essential blackness of the void.\\
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To the [[Arethara]] of [[Arethayn]], who submit their wills to the ruling class of the [[Elefyr]] that are thought to be the major powers of the Cephareth reincarnated, Azratha is thought to be the essence of the curse which had caused the Cephareth’s deaths and brought about a new era, and is thus rejected and reviled throughout all of Arethayn. The curse of death which Azratha had brought to the Cephareth is thought to be the same as that which had forced the mannish and mundane worlds to incarnate as mortal, Azratha claiming his place within these worlds so that death would become common there. The force of darkness that is Azratha is thus thought to reside within the psyches of the Arethara as they had grown to inherit his essence through the curse, though in the Elefyr, it is thought that the power is limited and subdued in order to allow these god-like beings to achieve the perfection of the Cephareth. Thus, the Arethara strive to emulate the Elefyr in order to preserve the presence of the spiritual, glowing light of the heavenly plane of [[Avaerus]], which had previously intersected with Aurius.\\
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The [[Mirara|Mirari]] council of sages, referred to as the [[Aeteri]], who compile the knowledge of the Mirara in order to allow for their people’s ascension to occur, regard Azratha as the very force which binds them to Aurius and their physical forms so that they might know the frailty which leads to the death of the body and circumstance of the soul as being tethered to these material forms. Knowing this, the Mirara strive to cast the curse of incarnation by Azratha from their souls so that they can become beings alike to the Sorya in that they are immortal, but possess a consciousness that enables them to freely incarnate into one form that can then be recalled into their essential being. Azratha is thus rejected and reviled by the Mirari people and the Aeteri as a being who exists in opposition to their ideals of imminent purity and godhood much like the Arethara, though the Mirara abandoning the incarnates of Aurius in the process.\\
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The [[Vaathara]] who acknowledge the [[Valdaen]] as their divine court and lawgivers, recognize Azratha as the being that instigated their mortality and corruption from the original forms of the Cephareth, with the forms of the Valdaen instead being the preferred shapes to ascend into. Because of Azratha’s form and corruption of death and entropy, he is believed to be a deity to be admonished and placated, and it is from him that the possibility that their people might fail and succumb to the comatose state of the darkness might be realized. Thus, Azratha is considered to be the source from which all hardships come, though providing itself as a conclusion to be evaded whenever possible so that they might achieve apotheosis in spite of the being.