Dr Salazar C Azrhed (Dock-Tor-Sah-LahZzz-Argh-Cee-Azz-Red)

Dr Salazar Cinadyl Azrhed is a Half-Elven lingist, professor, philosopher, scholar, cult leader and religious figure. He was a renowned member of the global academic community, with his books and essays on various languages being widely circulated and read. Azrhed, in spite of withdrawing from the academic sphere, is still considered to be the leading voice and Father of the field of "Extra-Planar Lingistics"- the study of those languages spoken in other planes of existence outside of the prime material plane. A polyglot, Azrhed is reported to be able to speak, read and write in all kinds of Elven, Draconic, Sylvan (the language of the Fey), Infernal, Primordial and its various dialects (Auran, Terran, Aquan and Ignan, as well as the Jannti of the Genies.) and Abyssal. However, his extraordinary academic accomplishments have been overshadowed in recent years by his position as the leader of his own cult, The Church of Azrhed, that reveres him as a messiah. The 'Azrhedites' of the Church have been associated with dangerous magic, kidnappings and general amorality, so are widely despised. They call Azrhed 'Father' also, but for a purpose much more sinister than academic respect... Azrhed is also the creator of his own philosophy, known as Azrhedism.   Born into a happy and wealthy merchant family in Chelnwg, Azrhed had an excellent time of it for the first 50 years of his life. He advanced his academic career, married, started a family, and was able to purchase a beautiful villa in Tiscona. He felt at home cracking open the ways of other languages in his study. However, this happy life was to be irrevocably ruined on the eve of Azrhed's 51st birthday. He was returning to his Tisconan villa from giving lectures in Gran Taliès to celebrate with his entire family. Azrhed was unable to get there in time before watching a vicious Red Dragon attack his villa with it's flame, burning the place to the ground. Even the lingist's crys of "Drah'hoqh na Ti'asii!" (Draconic for "Friend not Foe!") did not stop the beast's rampage. In one fell swoop, Azrhed's family, and his most recent research, was turned to ash. To add to his woes, the interest in Extra-Planar Lingistics had been waning for years, and Azrhed had only started writing essays on Elven and Dwarven language (the most recent trend in lingistics at the time) as his most recent research, which had all been burnt to a crisp in the attack. Azrhed was just about ruined, and had to utilise favours in order to stay in the basements of the prestigious universities that he'd lectured at. Just to top off his hardship, he developed an illness as well.   However, it was in his darkest time that Azrhed would find the light to continue onwards. It is said that around this time, Azrhed started having visions. These visions only manifested in the small hours of the night, where nothing and no one could be found, and depicted an odd plane of existence and a titanic snake-like entity. He named the plane "The Plane of Stupor", and the entity "The Great Dreamcatcher". The Great Dreamcatcher never noticed Azrhed and just went about it's business- that being, inscriping totally foreign glyphs and text onto the floating rocks of the Plane of Stupor. These visions were all very lucid, which only added to the unease of the Plane of Stupor. Gradually, however, Azrhed began to understand the Stupor and the Dreamcatcher, developing a language to understand the Dreamcatcher's glyphs that he called "Deep Speech". From these runes, Azrhed was able to extract power and magical knowledge he had never even dreamed of before. This eldritch knowledge, that the Dreamcatcher mindlessly inscribed, was so valuable that it gave Azrhed a new glorious purpose, above his lamentations or career. He aimed to gather as much knowledge from the Dreamcatcher as physically possible and use it to improve the world. Azrhed felt that it was his moral obligation to sacrifice his own mind for this goal.   Azrhed found that certain areas made channelling the Plane of Stupor easier. These areas are mostly old temples and places of magical import where magical energy is at its strongest. So, with nothing to lose and everything to gain, Azrhed began setting off and finding these places around the globe, financing all of the early expeditions himself. As he travelled, gaining more and more of the Dreamcatcher's knowledge, more people started to flock to Azrhed's ways. This was for a few reasons.

1. Azrhed was still friends with many prominent academics, natural philosophers, and nobles, and it just so happens that such upper class people often enjoy occult activities such as Azrhed's.
2. The paranoia and fear of the current Era has driven many people around the world to grasp on to any structure/belief if it seems like it may help to save them (a similar thing happened with the Inquisition, another religious order who are constantly waging war on Azrhedites).

  Azrhedism came about as a result of Azrhed wanting to muse on what the esoteric knowledge of the Great Dreamcatcher should be used for. Thus, Azrhedism and the Church of Azrhed are very much linked.   As of AP 1531, the Church of Azrhed has grown to an organisation of around a thousand devotees, and Azrhed himself spends all of his time continuing going on expeditions in order for him and his people to channel the Plane of Stupor easier. Azrhed himself is said to be currently leading an expedition in the Narathi Desert of East Chotas.