Azaroth The Breathkeeper

Azaroth, the Breathkeeper
Eternal Guardian of the Elixir of Life, Warden of the Flame, Doom of the Incomplete Rite

Classification:

Entity Type: Unique Divine Construct (Elemental/Infernal Hybrid)
Alignment: True Neutral (Shifts to Cataclysmic Hostility if ritual fails)
Status: Immortal | Eternal | Cannot Be Destroyed by Normal Means
Known Titles: The Breathkeeper, The Flamebound, The Trial Undying, He Who Burns For Breath

Overview:

Azaroth is a mythic-tier being who serves as the eternal guardian of the Elixir of Life, the divine artifact born from the Pyre of Offering atop Mt. Doom. He is not a demon, not a god, and not a construct in the traditional sense. Azaroth is a ritual given form: a living manifestation of Galia's refusal to allow life to be reclaimed freely. He is the cost. He is the trial. He is the burning gate.

Azaroth cannot be bargained with, reasoned with, or understood through words. He exists only to test those who would summon the Elixir. He is the first to receive its power. And if the ritual is incomplete or abused, he becomes the last thing those adventurers ever see.

Origin:

Azaroth is older than the Elixir itself. His existence predates even the written history of the Galian calendar. He is believed to have been born at the same moment the first soul was ever resurrected through forbidden magic, created as a response to the arrogance of mortals daring to defy death.

When the gods could not agree on whether life should be returned to those already claimed, the earth answered instead. Mt. Doom became the vessel, and from its caldera emerged Azaroth. He does not enforce the will of the gods. He enforces the will of the world.

His presence is now bound to the Elixir of Life and the ritual required to summon it. Each time the ritual is performed, Azaroth rises. Each time, he must be tested. Each time, he must fall. And each time, he comes back.

Visual Description:

Azaroth is not entirely humanoid, though his silhouette mimics one. He has no legs. From the waist down, his body is composed of molten shadow and red mist, blending seamlessly into the rising lava of the volcano. His upper torso is muscular and armored with obsidian-black plating that radiates heat, fractured in places by lines of glowing gold and red.

His head is crowned by two massive, lava-dripping horns that twist upward like blades. His eyes are lidless and weep molten fire. When Azaroth moves, the lava responds, rippling and rising in his wake. He does not walk. He flows with the volcano itself.

In the center of his chest is embedded the Elixir of Life, glowing faintly like a heart made of condensed sunlight. In his third and final form, this glow intensifies, and the Elixir appears to be clawing its way out of him with every pulse.

Behavior and Nature:

Azaroth does not speak. His presence is communicated through pressure, through heat, and through silence. When he rises, all sound is swallowed briefly, as though the volcano itself is holding its breath.

He never strikes first unless challenged or unless the ritual is violated. His purpose is not to destroy but to test. His behavior is eerily calm, even as he brings down meteor storms and bursts of flame. It is the calm of inevitability.

If Azaroth is destroyed during the ritual (three full defeats), he accepts his temporary death with silence. If he is forced into his Secret Phase due to an incomplete ritual, he enters a state of divine rage, fully losing his neutrality and acting as a world-ending force.

The Three Phases of Azaroth:

Phase I: The Guardian of the Pyre

Azaroth emerges waist-up from the lava.
Engages the challenger in ritual combat.
Regenerates via the Elixir embedded in his chest.
Lava begins to rise slowly (5 ft/round).

Phase II: The Living Flame

Upon his first defeat, the Elixir activates, sucking all surrounding lava into Azaroth.
He reforms, stronger, visibly more cracked and glowing.
Gains access to wide-area fire bursts and lava manipulation.
Lava rises faster (10 ft/round).

Phase III: Vessel of the Breath

Azaroth collapses and re-forms a third and final time.
The Elixir now glows violently, visible and half-emerged.
Arena nearly submerged. Healing is reduced. Damage increased.
His defeat causes the Elixir to finally separate from his chest and hover above the Pyre.

Secret Phase IV: The Flame of the Incomplete Breath

Trigger: The ritual was initiated, the three phases were cleared, but the true name of the deceased NPC was never whispered into the Pyre.

Result:

The light of the volcano snuffs out.
The Pyre collapses into a bottomless pit.
Purple and blue flames erupt from the void.
Azaroth returns, transformed into a being of pure elemental wrath.

Now:

The caldera becomes a floating battlefield above the pit.
Resurrection becomes impossible.
The Elixir is absorbed and lost.
Azaroth gains access to his most devastating ability: Meteor Reckoning.
All terrain is unstable. Falling = death. No return.

"You have denied the name. You have denied the pact. Now you will burn with me forever."

If Azaroth is defeated in this form, it is not a victory.

World Consequence of True Death:

If Azaroth is killed in his Secret Phase:

The volcano can no longer be contained.
Mt. Doom enters eternal eruption, belching ash, flame, and death across the continent.
The Kingdom of Monsters begins to expand, unimpeded.
Monster populations explode and spill outward, claiming cities, roads, and wilderness.
Entire regions of Galia are reshaped. Maps are redrawn. Civilizations fall.

Azaroth's final death marks the end of balance. He was not a villain. He was the lock on the world's final door.

Myth and Memory:

Azaroth is not worshipped, but he is feared and respected. Bards sing of those who challenged him and returned broken. Scholars debate whether he is a god, a curse, or a wound left open by the first resurrection.

Only one truth remains:

“To call back the dead is to wake Azaroth. And Azaroth does not sleep peacefully.”