The Lifetime Achievement Award for Creativity and Inspiration
Creeping through the northern mists one might expect to come across a wary netherbeast monster or a colony of ghostling brownies, but instead you may spot a young researcher collecting samples and taking notes. And you might expect this researcher to be receiving an award for bravery or daring or stout heartedness, however, the Council of Sages has met and has seen fit to grant a special award to this young researcher, bearing the name of Azhira Styralias for Creativity and Inspiration. An award deserved and long overdue!

Thanks to Azhira we now have the bane of the north documented, the Mists of Osthemangar with its Wyrmrot Spire. Along with other eerie entries such as the Shadespell Gorge, Fanghenge Ruins, mystran spirit, and the wisp, Azhira has established herself as the crafter of the creepy. But Azhira's creativity does not stop there. She has also brought us a whole orc race in the Kaaer'dar'shin Half Orcs, a beautifiul plant in the tear frost flower and wondrous magic in Anilya the Everbright. In practically every category Azhira delivered high quality entries over the past years!

We could keep going listing here all those breathtaking entries but let us say a word about her cooperative spirit: Azhira's involvement in the Ximax rewrite was indeed an excellent example of collaboration and inspiration. She's great to work with and a pleasure to have around the halls of the compendium headquarters.

Therefore we say: Thank you, Azhira, for all that you have brought us! We look forward to more creativity and inspiration from you in the next year and decade to come. Congratulations!

The Best Masterwork Award 2008
Winning entry: "The Kaaer'dár'shín Half-Orcs"
Tribe entries are possibly the most complex and enervating entries to write, needing much more cross-referencing than many other types of entries. It is not without reason then, that these intricate writings are often used as a Masterwork, showcasing the abilities of the author to the Compendium. Azhira's Kaer'dár'shín half-orcs are one such entry, and can be regarded by all means as a perfectly executed concept, interweaving age-old lore from the Compendium with fresh ideas and numerous new entries. To many then, it is not much of a surprise that, with this marvelous work, she has earned the "Best Masterwork Of 1668 Award"! Congratulations!

The Best Places Award 2009
Winning entry: "The Mists of Osthemangar"
Sharing the first place in this category with Fox's Thalambath, Azhira invites you to the vaporous Mists of Osthemangar, which lie thick and foreboding over dead trees and desolate land... Azhira's entry is truly a masterpiece, full with mysterious locations, deadly beasts, weird races and fascinating plants - not to forget the many, many tales about what transpires there in this region, which despite the fact that it is filled with dread, has to be seen as a jewel of the North, at least as far as imagination and writing is concerned. Magnificent job, Azhira!

The Best Places Award 2010
Winning entry: "The Wyrmrot Spire"
It's no surprise that it was Azhira herself who was the main opponent in the Best Places category, as she just got the knack for really cool stuff up North, so much is for sure! Thus the spooky Wyrmrot Spire just barely outdid no less fascinating Caaehl Mountains... Wyrmrot Spire: A place full of dark secrets that go way back to the Age of Sundering when Caaehl'heroth was the domain of the elven and orcen rebels from the sundered empire of Fá'áv'cál'âr. And all the wonderful lore Azhira has dreamed up she also managed to weave tightly into the captivating web that makes the hearts of adventurers all over Caelereth beat rapidly... Especially in conjunction with other extraordinarily detailed Places and Tribe entries for Northern Sarvonia like on the Kaaer'dár'shín people, the Mists of Osthemangar, the Ghostling Brownies, the Themed'lon Forest, Shadespell Gorge or the already mentioned contender for Places Entry 2010, the Caeehl Mountains, the area has become one of the world's best developed regions thanks to the dedicated work of Azhira. And whenever our Mistress of the Dark plans another entry, you can bet that you're in for a special treat. With other words: An award absolutely deserved!

The Best Tribe/Race Award 2010
Winning entry: "The Ghostling Brownies"
With the "Ghostling Brownies" Azhira has described a tribe so different from the majority of tribes on the site as can be. Belonging to the Rat Brownies they are not a common breed already, but Ghostlings are much more alien than any of the others of that race. Well, nothing else could be expected from a tribe living in Mists of Osthemangar. Blind, but not hindered by that, without clothes, but not freezing, tiny, but attacking prey double their size, ferocious, wild, twisted by the mist, they are all that and more. Normally I‘m not fond of reading about cruel, ugly and inclement people. But Azhira has managed to grab my attention and I have read on, horripilation spreading over my body. But go and read yourself! I‘m waiting meanwhile for their researcher Gratcha Swath to recover from her madness, so that she can tell us, how she escaped!

Commitment Badge 2008
While Azhira had to tune down her Santharian activities a bit lately due to real life stress, the magnificent work she has done in the last year easily propel her into the ranks of the most commited Santharians of 2008. Be it the Mystran, the Wisp, the Pendrowe or the Tsor-Shotak Lizard, the Battle of Alvang or the Beastlord's Rage story, Master Erron Ratdweller or the demonologist Waudrin Ghortz, all she did was quality work. Oh, and we haven't even mentioned her masterwork, the Kaaer'dár'shin Orcs, or the Themed'lon Forest, or the Isle of Kalta'Goor... Geez! Well, just look at this load of nominations Azhira received! Fantastic work, in the most literal sense of the work, Azhira!

Commitment Badge 2009
Everything that makes adventurers in fantasy worlds want to set out immediately and make big discoveries in long forgotten lands - you find it in Azhira's work! Everything that makes you tremble with fear and revise your opinion on seeking adventure - you find in her works too! Be it the Mists of Osthemangar, the Shadespell Gorge, the Netherbeasts or Mar'malog the Sea Dragon - Azhira is full with inspiration and provides helpful comments whenever she feels she can help someone out to get something closer to the finishing line. A bravo for the amount of work and the team spirit she showed in 2009!

Commitment Badge 2010
Azhira has written six new entries this year, major contributions all, using her indefatigable imagination to describe such important and legendary places as the Caaehl Mountains, the Fanghenge Ruins and the Wyrmrot Spire, to introduce us to such fascinating personages as the Arcanist Onderfaust and the Empress Kásh'áv'taylá, and to chill our spines with her report on the savage Ghostling Brownies. Not content with writing her own entries, Azhira also updated or revised several entries originally written by others, and coordinated the reorganization of the Mythology Menu. In geographical terms, her work spans the whole Sarvonian Continent – but particularly if you want to venture North, you’d be a fool not to ask Azhira for advice first. She is widely recognized as one of but a handful of experts on Northern Sarvonia, and leads development of several regions within this area. Always encouraging to newcomers, her thoughtful commentary and splendid dark humour have helped immensely in keeping up the spirit of cooperation, friendliness and dedication that makes Santharia such a great place to be.

Story 2008 - The Beastlord's Rage, Rest 2008 - The Hunt of the Beastlord, Race/Tribe 2008 - Kaáer'dár'shín Half-Orcs, People Miscellaneous 2008 - Waudrin Ghortz, Miscellaneous 2008 - Ghun'tlor Disease, Herbarium 2009 - Pendrowe Plant Being, Innovation 2009 - The Mists of Osthemangar, Commentor 2009, Bestiary 2009 - The Magical Imp Creature, People 2009 - Anilya the Everbright, Places 2010 - Caeehl Mountains, Best Commentor 2010, Best Innovartion 2010 - Cosmology & Mythology Menu Reorganization, Religion & Mythology 2010 - Kaaer'dár'shín Beliefs (revision), Places 2011 - The Magical City of Ximax