Azarath

Azarath is an inter-dimensional realm that existed between the planes of known reality.

It was once a veritable paradise with blue-green skies and crimson clouds. The streets were paved in solid marble and the buildings were accented with columns of pure gold.

Over 900 years ago, the followers of the first Azar; a spiritual leader of mystical pacifists, fled the violence of Earth to establish a society of peace and prosperity in a realm between dimensions. These men and women established the Temple of Azarath and formed a mystical society. Ages ago, they decided to purge their bodies of all evil. Using mystical incantations, they exorcised the darker passions from their souls and cast it out into Limbo. These discarded emotions did not dissipate into the ether, however, and eventually merged to form the demon Trigon.

Over two decades ago on Earth, a woman named Angela Roth had fallen in with an occult circle. Though they were rank amateurs in the field of Satanic ritual, they nevertheless attempted to summon the Devil. What they succeeded in conjuring was far worse. Trigon emerged and took Angela Roth as his bride. He left her pregnant with his child then abandoned her, patiently awaiting the day when he could call his offspring to his side. Trigon manipulated the priests of Azarath to journey to Earth in search of Angela Roth. He knew that the mother of his soon-to-born child would be safe under the care of these pacifists. They found Angela and brought her to Azarath where she was renamed Arella (the Messenger Angel).

Not everyone in Azarath was pleased to know that the wife of Trigon was among them. But Azar and High Magistrate Coman realized that should the child of Trigon be allowed to grow on Earth, her existence would threaten all life on that planet, and indeed, the entire universe as well. Shortly thereafter, Arella gave birth to a daughter who was provided an Azarathian name - Raven. From the very moment that Raven was born, the entire reality of Azarath changed forever. Raven once described the moment of her birth and its effects on Azarath. "It's emerald skies turned black as death itself. The sweet smell of Gossamer became the pungent odor of Brimstone. Our world shook and rumbled with protest. And peace turned to fear. Life became death."

The Magistrate of Food Production, Juris, felt that Raven's existence threatened the sanctity on all life on Azarath. To safeguard his people, he elected to break Azarath's most sacred law - the taking of a human life. Snatching Raven from her nursemaid, he attempted to hurl the child through the Great Door into the Limbo realm separating Azarath from other dimensional worlds and planets. Upon opening the door however, he exposed himself to the incomprehensible power of Trigon who disintegrated him with a mystical magical blast of golden glowing energy. Raven however, was unharmed.

Azar took it upon herself to personally raise Raven. Aware that Raven possessed the power and ability to freely control and manipulate emotions, she realized that the only way to safeguard the child was to deny her the power and ability to feel any emotion. She mentored Raven for ten years before old age finally caught up with Azar and she passed away. On her deathbed, Azar gave Arella the duty of continuing Raven's education.

Over the next several years, Raven felt her father's evil influence slowly growing inside of her. When she was eighteen-years-old, she entered the Temple of Azarath, opened the Great Door and encountered her father for the very first time. This meeting prompted Raven to manifest her soul self for the very first time - that part of herself that was of her father. Realizing the danger that Trigon truly represented, Raven fled Azarath and came to Earth where she sought help in one would day that become a great battle.

Though she succeeded in bringing together a new group of Teen Titans, she had failed to prevent Trigon from piercing the veil between dimensions. She returned to Azarath and pleaded with the priests to intervene, but they refused. Trigon followed her to Azarath and was ready to lay siege to the entire world, but Raven halted his attack by offering him a bargain. In exchange for leaving Azarath and Earth alone, Raven agreed to return with him to his nether-realm and accept her role as the daughter of Darkseid. Trigon agreed, but secretly schemed to return to Azarath and destroy it. The New Teen Titans refused to let Raven sacrifice herself so they implored the priest of Azarath to help them find her. Again, the priests refused to compromise their pacifism. Raven's mother Arella, finally relented and brought the teen heroes to the Great Door that bridged the gap between dimensions. She accompanied them on a journey to Trigon's world to help combat him. They succeeded in barring Trigon from entering the realm of Azarath, and Arella took it upon herself to guard to portal ensuring that Trigon could never return.

Although this tactic succeeded for many years, Trigon eventually amassed enough power to bridge the dimensions once again and invade Azarath. He sent a horde of winged demons that scorched the entire land, killing all those who resided within Temple Azarath. The Teen Titans, accompanied by their former teammate Lilith Clay arrived and attempted to save the Azarathians, but they were fiercely outnumbered. All of Azarath was reduced to a desolate plain of fire, broken rock and ash. [1]

Years later, the disembodied spirits of all of Azarath took root within the body of the mutant Jericho. Corrupted by Trigon's evil, these souls poisoned Jericho and used him to take control of the criminal Wildebeest Society. Jericho returned to the ruins of Azarath and erected a base of operations there. He had the Wildebeests kidnap various members of the Titans and brought them back to his base where they were hooked up to a Transference Machine. It was the intent of the Souls of Azarath to use the Titans as host physical bodies to house their disembodied spirits. The Titans were rescued by a group consisting of Arella, Deathstroke the Terminator, Pantha and Phantasm. During the conflict, Deathstroke was forced to take the life of his own son, Jericho.

As part of a plan kill Trigon, the current Azar expelled all evil from the Azarathians so that the demon Trigon could use the dark energy to be fully re-established. The dimension was destroyed by Trigon's forces when he got control of his daughter, Raven. However, the inhabitants' souls survived, but were corrupted by the temporary merger with and destruction of Trigon. However after the events of the Titans Hunt storyline, they were purified and guided into another plane of existence by the third Azar. The souls that remained eventually became the second incarnation of Phantasm.

Some time after the Infinite Crisis, "New Azarath" was establish.

Members

 * Raven

Equipment

 * Aegis of Azarath Costume Style
 * Azarathian Sin Gems (Investigations)
 * Azarathian Warlock's Gloves

Trivia

 * Azarath first appeared in New Teen Titans #3 (January, 1981)
 * The first Azar taught and guided the Azarathians for more than two-hundred years. When she died, her name, title and position passed along to her daughter who led the people of Azarath for another three hundred years. Her daughter, the third woman to share the name Azar took up the responsibilities of her mother and grandmother and led Azarath into the modern era.