Lord Varek Azzur

Lord Varek Azzur numbers among the most important faces of the Fighting Fantasy universe, mentioned in many gamebooks but never met in person. He is a former Pirate Lord, and the mysterious and tyrannical governor of Port Blacksand: the infamous City of Thieves. Both the wretched city and its governor eventually became major recurring aspects of the world of Titan.

Background
Varek Azzur was born in a noble and influential family from the city-state of Arion in the continent of Khul. Very early in his life, he displayed an unhealthy interest for the less savory religious cults around, especially the Adepts of Kukulak, (the Khulian name of the Storm God Sukh) devoted to a somewhat twisted worship of the Storm God. One day when he was sixteen, Azzur sneaked into a temple of Kukulak and witnessed one of their ceremonies, only to get spotted. The priests forced the initiation rite of the adepts on him: applying burning brands on their faces and body and killing them if the resulting scars did not form the runes of Kukulak. Fortunately for him (and unfortunately for Titan) he got admitted among the adepts. From then on, Azzur devoted his life to the twisted cult of Kukulak, wearing the adept's black robes.

Fearing his parents' reaction, Azzur fled the country. However, the merchant ship he was on was raided by pirates and he was taken in by the captain as a cabin boy. During the following nine years, Azzur was accepted into the pirates operating out of the archipelago of the Arrowhead Islands; (probably the very same Chaos Pirates that waged permanent war against the Varradian Alliance governing the islands, who at one point allied themselves with the Lich Lord Mortis of Balthor) and rose in rank until he became the captain of the dreaded pirate galley the "Face of Chaos".

Eventually, Azzur reached the continent of Allansia and established himself in its southern coastland. For six years, his reputation and influence grew until he became an extremely wealthy Pirate Lord, ruling over a fleet of galleys and hundreds of fanatically devoted pirates, feared all over. One day, Azzur decided to take over Port Blacksand for reasons only known to him. He stormed the city, deposed its ruler Baron Illios Valentis and hanged him from the highest tower of his palace; which he destroyed entirely and replaced with a new one built following his design. From then on, he ruled the city unopposed and no one ever dared another coup d'état.

Present Days
Lord Varek Azzur rules Port Blacksand with an iron fist, being enforced by a ruthless City Guard counting powerful and surprisingly intelligent trolls and ogres as its elite soldiers. Anyone coming near the heavily guarded city gates must give a valid reason (or bribe the guards) to be allowed entrance. And even inside the town, anyone found by the City Guards without being able to prove that he or she is allowed here (with a pass or something) is likely to get expelled, thrown in jail or tortured.

Lord Azzur has imposed impromptu taxes and given free rein to the Guild of Thieves. Things like fair trials do not exist and those caught sneaking into his palace or the city's nobles' houses are likely to be executed on sight. At New Year Eve, Lord Azzur has several of the most prominent citizens executed and distributes their riches to the poor, (probably to prevent the wealthiest merchant families from gaining too much political influence) among other strange institutions. Despite this, the city remains somewhat prosperous, and the thieves always have things to steal.

Lord Azzur resides in the highest tower of his gloomy palace. He is served by a select few people whom he had had taken from home at a very young age and raised to be fanatically loyal to him. Most of them never leave the palace, in which none can enter uninvited, and protect their lord at any cost. Those allowed audience with him are lead to special rooms divided in two by carved wooden screens, behind which Lord Azzur stands, listening to complains and whispering his replies to one of his henchmen who carry his words to the visitor. Lord Azzur almost never appears in public, except at the gladiatorial arena or when he absolutely must. When he goes outside, he is driven around in an ornate golden coach with darkened windows, driven by one of his devoted servants.

Lord Azzur never cut ties with his past of piracy and he still frequently sails the "Face of Chaos" to raid a nearby port or attack one ship or two. He kept control of his pirate armada and all the pirates around very likely answer to him or his lieutenants. In spite of his cruelty and the suffering brought by his reign, he is a clever leader and tactician, and a charismatic and inspiring figure for most of the scoundrels in Port Blacksand or in Titan as a whole.

Port Blacksand
Port Blacksand is located in the north-western coast of the continent of Allansia. It was built on the ruins of the much larger Carsepolis, a prosperous city which was besieged and destroyed during the culmination of the Chaos Wars; during which the Demon Princes of Titan led the forces of Evil to attack the three main continents, Allansia, Khul and the Old World, and spread such destruction that the entire Allansia was reduced to city states surrounded by hostile wilderness.

Port Blacksand never was a safe haven in the first place, each ruler “succeeding” their predecessor by killing them and usurping their place, bringing more corruption after each coup d'état. Still, it remained more or less peaceful and prosperous... until Varek Azzur seized control. Now it is a wretched hive populated by the worst kind of scoundrel ever seen, and nicknamed the City of Thieves: unclean, filthy and dangerous, where many corpses with slit throats and stolen pouches are discovered every morning. The Guild of Thieves' influence over the city is second only to Lord Azzur's. The Guild is commanded by a Grand Master whose identity is concealed to everyone, seconded by three Guild Masters and five Master Thieves. It controls the pickpockets, the Guild of Beggars and the Guild of Assassins, most of the taverns, and rules supreme in the dangerous district called "the Noose", among others.

No one is safe in town: the merchants are crooks, the city guards are corrupt to the core, pirate ships rest freely on the port, and thieves of all sorts swarm the place. There are even witches, wizards and all sorts of monsters around. Most passers-by would have to pay to avoid getting shot dead by archers from the nearby windows. Among the most dangerous towns of Titan, (Port of Crabs and Kharé, the City port of Traps, in the Old World, Tak and Ashkyos in Khul) Port Blacksand is with little doubt the most dangerous and the one with the worst reputation.

Despite all this, there are still honest (or at the very least non-dangerous) people remaining in Port Blacksand, probably because the guard prevents them from leaving. (Thieves need victims after all.) As such, they remain extremely wary of anyone and know very well to defend themselves. Strangely enough, Arakor Nicodemus, one of the most powerful, benevolent and renowned mages ever seen on Titan, chose to settle here to spend his retirement away from adventure. He built himself a house under a bridge and does not take very kindly to strangers, although he is still willing to give advice to those in dire need. He is powerful enough not to be bothered by anyone and the citizens leave him in peace. Lord Azzur himself seems to respect him enough to comply the rare times he intervenes in favour of the oppressed.

City of Thieves
The gamebook in which Port Blacksand is first introduced.

The playable character must venture in the City of Thieves to learn from Nicodemus how to defeat the Night Prince Zanbar Bone. The player must first pass through the guard blocking the entry, who can be either bribed or killed, to enter the wretched hive; then search for Nicodemus and for the many items required. While Port Blacksand is indeed filled to the brim with thieves, pickpockets, pirates and crooks, it was not yet described as dire as it would become in later gamebooks. The player can meet several helpful people and honest merchants, and the major threat around is more the City Guard; especially the very dangerous trolls Fatnose and Sourbelly, whose encounter forces the player to exit the city, voluntarily or not.

The player can be told about Lord Azzur by the first guard he or she meets, and even "encounter" him when his coach drives him through the streets without caring for the pedestrians and almost runs the player over.

Midnight Rogue
The player character is a young thief-in-training who entered the Guild of Thieves of Port Blacksand. To become a full-fledged member of the Guild, the Master Thief Rannik the Red gives him or her one night to steal a priceless gem from one of the wealthiest merchants in town.

This gamebook puts an emphasis on the omnipresence of the Guild, and shows that the city is dangerous even for the thieves; given that the merchants know how to hide and protect their wealth and the City Guard shows no mercy for the thieves they arrest. The player must enter the Guild of Merchants, the merchant's house and many other locations to locate his or her loot. He/She might even sneak into Lord Azzur's palace (and get quickly slaughtered by the governor's bodyguards) or Nicodemus' house (and get turned into a salamander) by mistake.

Others
Many other gamebooks' have the player spend some time in Port Blacksand, usually during the book's introduction. This happens most notably Night Dragon, in which the playable character has an appointment there with a Black Elf to be told about the incoming threat of the eponymous Night Dragon.

The city and its wretched governor is also mentioned in other gamebooks: such as in Crypt of the Sorcerer, in which a blind scholar who was tortured by Lord Azzur but freed by Nicodemus provides the player a vital clue to defeat the necromancer Razaak; moreover, the player character introduces himself/herself to Razaak's right-hand-skeleton as an emissary of Lord Azzur sent to pledge his allegiance to the necromancer. Also, in Legend of Zagor, the great mage Gereth Yaztromo speaks about the town and its ruler to describe the world from which the dreaded warlock Oldoran Zagor was banished.

Advanced Fighting Fantasy
Port Blacksand is at the center of the plot of the role-playing game Advanced Fighting Fantasy set on the world of Titan. There, the evil wizard Xortan Throg, a descendant of the rulers of Carsepolis, strives to regain the domain of his ancestors by overthrowing Lord Azzur and taking over Port Blacksand (which "replaced" Carsepolis). He stroke and alliance with the corrupt prince of the city-state of Chalice to gain enough military strength to invade the City of Thieves, but was thwarted by a group of adventurers.

However, this defeat was just a setback for Xortan Throg, who was in fact based in the ruins of Carsepolis (the sewers of Port Blacksand) and preparing his attack from within. Throg was building an army of the local Fish Men and the dead city guards, which he raised from the grave, and stroke deals with pirates under Lord Azzur’s nose. But the adventurers did not give up on defeating the wizard. They ventured in Port Blacksand and, with help from Arakor Nicodemus, pursued him into the ruins of Carsepolis. They then stroke a deal with the ghost of the evil priest Sargon and following his advices, they obtained on a Crystal of Power in the sunken temple of the Ocean God Hydana. Xortan Throg confronted the adventurers and cast a Death Spell at them, only for the Crystal of Power to reflect it back at him and put an end to his ambitions.