Highmarshal Azure
Commander of the Wall Guard of Kholinar — average-Alethi-height, short straight hair, orange eyes, scars, gloves on both hands; wears a pale azure cloak, mail coif and helm. Carries a silver basket-hilted side sword that does not look Alethi, and which she wears at her belt rather than dismissing — possibly a Shardblade. Took command after the previous officer fell defending the wall during the riots, rallied the line that broke the Cult of Moments attempt to seize the city gates, and is the reason the besieged city still stands. The men keep her sex an open secret. Kaladin privately suspects she may be a Radiant. SA:OB:Ch 70
The commander the Kholinar gate guards point to when asked who runs the city now — *the highmarshal has no commander.* No one in Adolin's party has heard of him. He orders the side gates to cap admissions per day, demands fighting men from refugee parties as the price of entry, and is reputedly the reason the besieged city is still being fed. SA:OB:Ch 61 superseded at SA:OB:Ch 70
Known facts
- took-command-during-riotsTook command of the Wall Guard when its previous officer fell in the riots, holding the wall against the Cult of Moments attempt to seize the city gates with a glittering Shardblade aloft and a steady line.SA:OB:Ch 70
- is-a-womanOf about middle stature among Alethi women, short straight hair to mid-cheek, orange eyes, scarred face, gloves on both hands; wears a silver basket-hilted side sword that does not look Alethi and which she does not dismiss. Her men keep her sex an open secret.SA:OB:Ch 70
- keeps-her-gender-question-open-as-a-discipline-toolAzure told Kaladin that the Wall Guard's shared pretence of not noticing she is a woman is one she lets stand on purpose — Alethi soldiers need a story to explain to themselves why they are taking orders from a woman, and a pretend mystery keeps them from getting hung up on it.SA:OB:Ch 78
- azures-shardblade-leaves-ashen-skinAzure's Shardblade is shorter than the standard Alethi blade and kills wrongly — when she stabs an enemy soldier his eyes do not burn out; instead his skin turns a strange ashen grey as he dies. Adolin notices it during the palace assault and is shaken.SA:OB:Ch 83
- azure-came-to-roshar-through-cultivations-perpendicularity-chasing-a-criminalAzure tells the group she comes from a far land and crossed into Roshar through a portal she calls Cultivation's Perpendicularity, in the Horneater Peaks — not through an Oathgate, which she had not even heard of until Kaladin told her. She was chasing a criminal, hired spren guides for the crossing, and last time it took her four weeks. Her Blade, she says flatly, is flawed — *a pale copy* of theirs — and she cannot summon or dismiss it.SA:OB:Ch 93
- azure-bounty-is-a-shardblade-that-bleeds-black-smokeReveals to Shallan that she is hunting a particular weapon — *a Shardblade that bleeds black smoke* — and the man who brought it to her world. Borea believes the weapon passed through Lasting Integrity a few years ago; in exchange for information about it, Azure has bargained passage and her sword's return.SA:OB:Ch 108
- azure-knows-zahel-and-stays-behindRecognises Zahel by name when Adolin mentions the morning kata; tells Kaladin they are old friends and that when the boys next meet the swordsman they should *warn him I'm looking for him.* Chooses to stay aboard Notum's ship as cover for the others' escape, refusing to leave a second body of men she has led behind to the same enemy.SA:OB:Ch 110
Events
- SA:OB:Ch 70 Makes her dinner-round into the barracks; eats one polite bite of stew, compliments the cook, and singles out the new shash-branded recruit at Noro's table. Walks Kaladin up onto the wall and delivers her redemption-on-the-parapet pitch.
- SA:OB:Ch 93 Joins Adolin's kata in unison, then explains she crossed Shadesmar once before through Cultivation's Perpendicularity.
- SA:OB:Ch 95 Leads the march south; identifies the screeches as angerspren, and remembers lighthouses at the ends of peninsulas like this from her last crossing.
- SA:OB:Ch 97 Waits with the group, then later — at the lighthouse — dismisses Kaladin's vision as the kind of false euphoria charlatans peddle and argues they should still aim for Cultivation's Perpendicularity rather than Thaylen City.
- SA:OB:Ch 99 Clings to the railing in plain distrust of the Reachers — or the ship, or both.
- SA:OB:Ch 101 Wears the bought worker's clothes, talks at the rail with Adolin about royals who walk away from thrones, rests a hand on her Shardblade pommel, and goes with Shallan and Pattern to inquire after passage.
- SA:OB:Ch 102 Spots Kyril floating above Ico's poop deck, drags Shallan into hiding, argues over plans on the dock, and boards the honorspren ship with the others.
- SA:OB:Ch 108 Imprisoned along with the others at first; later strikes a private deal with the first mate that gets her sword returned in exchange for information at Lasting Integrity. Declines Kaladin's call to escape — she is hunting her own quarry, a Shardblade that bleeds black smoke, and the man who brought it to this world.
- SA:OB:Ch 110 Arms folded by the cargo door in breastplate and cloak; refuses passage off the ship — *I left my men to fight these monsters in Kholinar; doesn't feel right to do the same again* — and asks if the captain's crew has cut bales of cloth to the shapes she requested. Salutes Kaladin lazily and walks back up to the main deck.
Backreferences
- summarySA:OB:Ch 61
- factWall Guard
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- summarySA:OB:Ch 67
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- factFused
- factWall Guard
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- factWall Guard
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- factNoro
- summarySA:OB:Ch 78
- factHighmarshal Azure
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- factBattalionlord Hadinar
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- factHighmarshal Azure
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- factHighmarshal Azure
- summarySA:OB:Ch 95
- summarySA:OB:Ch 97
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- summarySA:OB:Ch 108
- factHighmarshal Azure
- factBorea
- summarySA:OB:Ch 110
- factNotum
- summarySA:OB:Ch 115
- summarySA:RoW:Ch 75