Azir: Shuriman Insurrection
Written on January 18th, 2022 by Ethan Zhang
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⟸[]The Man Atop the Dune[]⟹
Azir stood atop the crest of the dune. Below and behind him stood a hundred of Shurima’s elite. Some were partially Ascended, others mere sand-soldiers summoned by the great Emperor of Shurima. The sand where Azir stood was to be stained crimson by the end of the day, the Emperor of Shurima could sense it. Yet, the insurrectionists had to be put down. A hundred against a thousand. Azir clutched his staff, feeling the sand around him beckoning him.
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⟸[]The Order is Given[]⟹
A Shuriman scout entered the room. Azir rose, greeting the scout as the scout lay a scroll onto the intricate glass table. An insurrection had been rumoured and had the potential to gain support. If the revolt succeeded, not even the Ascended would have enough power to stop it. The Shuriman Empire had expanded ever since Azir had been reborn and attained his ascension that his close friend Xerath had taken from him- he would not let it fall again. Curse the damned slave-boy.
The insurrectionists had the numbers to spark a war, yet, they lacked the numbers to end it. A mere thousand soldiers were their armed forces while Shurima had tens of thousands of Ascendants and sand-soldiers under Azir’s command. Azir stood in the room after dismissing the scout.
Azir contemplated his options. How many soldiers do I bring? How many Ascended do I bring? Azir sits down at a table. He puts a scroll on the table and dips a pen into ink and begins writing an order to a few Ascended in order to join him on an expedition to put down the resistance. The orders were bestowed to a new, special force in the Shuriman Armed Forces: the Sceptre Guard. The Sceptre Guard were Azir’s hand-selected personal guards who had attained partial Ascension.
The Sceptre Guard were Ascended, yet they did not take on the animalistic form that other Ascended beings took on. They were exceptions to the Ascension rules. These elite warriors were not clad in the standard gold shuriman armour. Instead, they were clad in shining silver plates, with shields and long silver sceptres. They were capable of using magic as well as physical combat. The cream-of-the-crop of Azir’s forces had arisen.
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⟸[]The Insurrectionists[]⟹
The Shuriman Insurrection was what Azir considered to be nothing more than a testing ground for the newly Ascended Sceptre Guard. The Shuriman Insurrection cowered, yet planned for the attack. They gathered their forces and awaited Azir and his bodyguards.
Numbers had favoured the Shuriman Insurrectionists, but fortune favoured the bold. A thousand Shuriman Insurrectionists began to forge weapons on the outskirts of the Shuriman deserts. They would be ready when Azir came for them.
A soldier walked into the tent. Inside stood a man with rusted bronze armour. The soldier acknowledged the man and spoke.
“General Xer’Ir, our forces are ready. Azir is coming with a small contingent of 100 soldiers. We will defeat Azir.” The soldier spoke with confidence. The Shuriman Insurrectionists were in high spirits as they began to march. They constantly had info on Azir’s contingent and were using it as their massive force closed in on them. The legion had no clue that Azir had Ascended disguised as humans under his command. The legion had no clue that the Emperor of Shurima had the ability to control the sands around him. This was an omen to the Shuriman Insurrectionists that even the newest of seers could prophesize.
General Xer’Ir and his men trekked through the arduous desert terrain. They stopped in cities, but the cities they stopped in were loyal to the Emperor of Shurima, and not the Shuriman Insurrectionists. The faith of the city was questioned, as the legion was met with silence and accusatory glances. Windows were turned on them. People avoided them. Worst of all, Azir found out about them.
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⟸[]Soldiers, Onward[]⟹
Azir marched to the edge of the city. Sceptre Guards stood behind him, their armour glinting in the sunlight that danced from afar. The sand soldiers marched unquestioningly. Loyalty to Azir was high, for he was the Lost Emperor of Shurima. Azir marched his contingent onto the top of the hill. He stood there, overlooking the city. He had the supplies for his contingent as they didn’t require much.
General Xer’Ir noticed Azir’s force. Then he brought his force to light. The legion of soldiers marched out and stood just shy of the dune. General Xer’Ir looked back at his men. He slammed his staff into the ground. A thousand sceptres slammed into the sand. Azir stood on the top of the dune.
Azir looked back and a hundred soldiers came to his side. Then Azir summoned an enclosure of sand. The sand rumbled beneath General Xer’Ir as they desperately charged up the dune. Any attempt to fight was brutally shut down by the Sceptre Guard. The Sceptre Guard took their sceptres and cut down the forces of General Xer’Ir. Then, the sand soldiers were shattered and magically reformed under Azir’s command as he simply cast spells and shot off the legion’s soldiers. The sand was the enemy of the Shuriman Insurrectionists.
The Sceptre Guard hammered through the legion of Shuriman Insurrectionists. Despite being hopelessly outnumbered, fortune favoured the bold. Azir dashed to one of his sand soldiers and summoned a wall of sand that slammed the remains of the Shuriman Insurrectionists and sent them tumbling. Some of the Shuriman Insurrectionists were killed in the wall of sand as their screams slowly faded beneath the sand of the lethal Shuriman desert. The Sceptre Guard slammed their sceptres into the ground, surrounding the Shuriman Insurrectionists as they did so.
The sand had killed many Shuriman Insurrectionists and the Emperor of Shurima offered them a chance to surrender. Many Shuriman Insurrectionists denied the offer. The Sceptre Guard slammed their sceptres again. Then the sand stained crimson as the Shuriman Insurrectionists were slaughtered, one by one. In the end, General Xer’Ir eventually laid down his staff, and the remains of his tattered and defeated legion followed as they watched their leader give in. Any survivor knew that the new force was to be feared; the lifeless expressions of their disembowelled squadmates told them as much.
The rebellion was put down, and the survivors were marched back to the capital, as the Sun Disc loomed over them as an omen of what was to come. They knew that there were limited options. They knew that the Emperor of Shurima would make them an offer. It was a matter of time.
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⟸[]The Unworthy Have No Place In History[]⟹
General Xer’Ir was put into a cell, his men in separate cells. Shuriman Guards stood there with spears. Stoic. The Shuriman Insurrectionists had no hope. Eventually, Azir shuffled down the stairs to talk to the Shuriman Insurrectionists.
Azir began to speak in a mechanical tone. He offered the Shuriman Insurrectionists their citizenship back and offered them places in the Shuriman Army. Many accepted, but many also didn’t. Some of the best of the best of the Shuriman Insurrectionists were Ascended and became Sceptre Guards. They lost much of their memory when they became Sceptre Guards and vowed their loyalty to Azir.
General Xer’Ir rallied his remaining troops and escaped the sand prison and ran through the desert. Then a small contingent of Sceptre Guards met them a short distance away from the prison. The Sceptre Guards removed their helmets. The helmets sunk into the soft Shuriman sand. General Xer’Ir backed away, ghost white.
The Sceptre Guards were the same people who had fought alongside the General. Sceptre Guards slammed their sceptres into the ground. Azir walked up to one Sceptre Guards and shook his head.
“Execute them. Shurima must not falter.” Azir announces and walks away. The Sceptre Guards acknowledged the order and picked up their helmets. The Shuriman Insurrectionists formed a defensive circle. They were the survivors. They were determined. They were going to fight.
Sceptre Guards began to fight the troops they once fought alongside. General Xer’Ir personally held off multiple Sceptre Guards. Then their circle was overwhelmed. One Shuriman Insurrectionist was impaled twice and collapsed as two sceptres were pulled from his body. More Insurrectionists fell. General Xer’Ir fought to the bitter end as he stood alone, facing the whole contingent of Sceptre Guards. He held them off for what seemed like an eternity, then he was stabbed in the back of the leg. Sand particles flew in, causing immense pain. A Sceptre Guard disarmed him as the weapon General Xer’Ir held shattered.
Azir returned to the scene and looked at the miserable General Xer’Ir.
“What a shame we couldn’t have you join our ranks.” Azir waved his hand as four sceptres were simultaneously plunged into the General’s body and hoisted upwards, tearing flesh and organs as he screamed. Then the silence of the Shuriman Desert came. The four sceptres were pulled out as the body of General Xer’Ir hit the sand and collapsed, blood still flowing from his lifeless body. The Emperor of Shurima commended the work of his new Sceptre Guards and marched them back to the capital, where a ceremony for the Ascended awaited the new Sceptre Guards.
