Archliche Azir! Undead army! (With art)
Some things are best left buried.
Shurima was dead and gone, a distant memory shrouded by shifting sands. Deep beneath the desert its denizens laid, their ancient sins absolved by eternal rest.
At least, that's how it ought to have been.
Xerath's theft of Azir's ascension was incomplete, fouled by his greed and hasty sorcereries. The blood magic of Azir's tomb roused the Emperor’s stolen immortality, dragging the would-be god from beyond oblivion, into the broken husk of his mortal form. Ascension played hell on the corpse, twisting it into a parody of the intended divine body, and thrusted Azir's screaming soul into it.
Now, Azir is risen, a relic of a forgotten past and people. What once was naivety has been contorted into madness, an obsession to bring his dead empire back to glory. Woe betide the living in the path of a dead god.
Archliche Azir is a darker take on our favorite pigeon god's backstory. A dead empire coming back isn't necessarily a good thing: people living among its ruins are in for a nasty surprise.
Aesthetically, I wanted to mess around with contrasts, to mirror the conflicts of Azir's lore. He's a protector to his people, and a terror to those in his way. Obsidian black armor, bleached white bones, with the same contrasts continuing on his robes, trim and detailing.
A jagged black circlet, and a creepier version of his magic scepter are his symbols of authority. Regal robes and armor conceal his skeletal form, except his skull, which stays as a reminder of his Ascendency.
Most importantly, a necromancer theme goes really well with his kit! It's natural for him to be summoning shadowy or skeletal warriors.
Sketches are just sketches: if this gets attention I'll probably make a proper splash.
