Ava

Ava was the female figure of the middle dwarven founding pair and the partner of Summsir. Gold Dwarven tradition remembers the pair as the semi-divine ancestors who emerged from the Gold Caves and established the ancient Azari realm.

Emergence and the Golden Empire¶

According to The Emergence, the Stone Father created three pairs from clay mixed with silver, gold, or copper. Ava and Summsir were the golden pair. They emerged from the caves of Rinekkud near modern Tiuban, conquered the Iron Foothills, and extended the influence of Mâhdad Sho-Tan'Mâat Mâ'Azarî.

Their reign formed part of the Dwarven Golden Age. Like the other founding pairs, Ava and Summsir died when Old Dragkhan hordes defeated the Terran Coalition. Their people returned them to the caves from which they had emerged, while the political collapse that followed their deaths left later rulers struggling to preserve Tiuban and the Azari kingdoms.

Veneration¶

The Gold Dwarves honor Ava beside Summsir within their Hebric ancestral religion. Their priestly and royal traditions treat descent, memory, and service to the founders as sources of legitimacy.

Ava’s name also survives in the Swords of Ava, formally the Da Ash-Hêbriq Knights of Azar. These heavy infantry are trained in magic and wear cuirasses fitted with soulgems that allow them to move with unnatural speed. The order carries the founder’s memory into the martial institutions of the later Azari world.

See also: Summsir, Gold Dwarves, The Old Father Faiths, and The Emergence.