Azelas

Azelas is a supporting character in The Interference IV: Dark Renegade. He acts as Alexander Karsath's mentor during his first year in Haven City.

History
Very little of Azelas's past is revealed, but it is known that he was a Wastelander - an exile from Haven - before his eventual capture and imprisonment by Baron Praxis. According to Sig, Azelas was a good friend of his but did not have a family. It is unknown if he had any connections with Spargus.

During his imprisonment, he made a group of friends in Balke, Seth and Jinx, and an enemy out of Zach. Azelas once broke out of low-security by himself and killed two guards before recapture, earning him a Shock Cuff. He has also been taken as muscle on Krimzon Guard missions multiple times prior to the story, each time intended to be a suicide mission that he regardless survived.

The Interference IV
During Alex's first visit to the prison cafeteria, he is invited to sit at Azelas' table by Balke. Each person introduces themselves, with Azelas obviously impressed by Alex's attempted prison break. Their conversation, however, ends quickly when Zach tosses a glass at Alex and threatens to kill him for his strange appearance. Alex makes to fight Zach on his own, with Azelas being the only person who allows him to try.

Alex roundly defeats Zach with magic, which frightens everyone except the group. For the next few weeks they ask Alex plenty of questions, and Azelas begins training Alex in hand-to-hand combat.

One such session is interrupted by Torn calling for both Alex and Azelas to take part in a mission together. The two are to accompany the Krimzon Guard to the Drilling Platform in order to intercept a potential ambush of Metal Heads following a shipment. Alex knocks one of the shipment barrels from the Guards' hands. Erol shocks him, but Azelas clicks onto Alex's realization - the barrels are the ambush, not the ambush target - and picks up Alex, calling for Green Eco. The Eco that Ashelin picks up revives Alex just enough for him to stop time and eliminate the threat, which leads to his exoneration.

Although Alex is transferred to a regular apartment, he still calls in at the high-security wing to visit Azelas, and they continue their regular business for several months. During this time, however, their group diminishes person by person. Balke loses his sense of self to solitary confinement; Seth is put to the Dark Warrior Program, which he does not survive; and Jinx uses one of Alex's missions to escape prison.

After that mission, Alex visits Azelas's cell to explain what happened. He offers to appeal for Azelas's release, but Azelas turns it down, saying it's better than he not be released. He then forces Alex to promise to turn up to practice next week.

One year into Alex's time in Haven, both Alex and Azelas are called to a mission in Old Sandover, to cover a new barrier being constructed between Sandover and the rest of Haven just before a massive Metal Head breach of the original wall. Despite the objectionable manner of the mission (the new wall is priority above all civilians) Azelas is forced to stay with the platoon, and Alex stays with him.

After the new wall's activation, the Guard are recalled, but Azelas is blocked from entering the Air Train, incensing Alex. Alex refuses to board, so Erol leaves the two of them behind to survive in the Metal Head swarm. Though they fend off the enemies for some time, a few shots of Dark Eco get Azelas in the back, knocking him to the ground.

Alex offers to cast Cure on Azelas, but Azelas again refuses help, reminding Alex he only has one cast, and saying he is already 'long gone', causing Alex to panic. He clarifies by explaining that he is a Wastelander and that one of the Baron's missions would have killed him sooner or later - it just had to be this one - as well as how Alex would've recognized him if he were meant to survive anyway. He tells Alex he was glad to have known him, and finally, passes on.

Personality
Azelas has been reserved to his position as a prisoner for a long time, which he himself makes clear when Alex offers to release him. He is easily the calmest and most put-together person in the prison, with an innate ability for teaching and leadership. Azelas never panics, only rarely showing worry. On the one hand, this allows him to be optimistic when others are not; on the other hand, this is partly because he has been awaiting and accepting his death for years.

He is immediately warm towards Alex, who is easily the youngest person to enter the prison during his time there, and shows a lot of faith in Alex's abilities and moxie from the get-go, but still sees him as having major holes in his defence that he is willing to patch. Azelas explains to Jinx that training Alex gives him both a hobby and a chance to leave a legacy. According to Sig, Alex was the closest thing Azelas had to a son.

Appearance
In his first appearance, Azelas is described as a 'big, burly man with short, spiky hair'. Interestingly, Azelas is given the least physical description out of all the prisoners, with the exception of Jinx, which is directly inverse to their individual survival (Jinx lives the longest, Azelas the second-longest).

Powers and weapons
He is skilled in hand-to-hand combat, in which he educates Alex, noting that Alex would have nothing without his magics otherwise. Alex notes that his strategy during such fights is constantly shifting, making it hard to predict his movements.

After his death, it is revealed he once owned a Morph Gun with all four ammunition modifiers, including the powerful Vulcan Fury, implying him to be at the least an incredible steady shot. This gun is bequeathed to Alex as a sort of inheritance via Sig. In his final living appearance, he carries a Krimzon Guard rifle and has no trouble firing it.