Aeriel – Ariel from The Tempest
https://wiki.wizard101central.com/wiki/NPC:Aeriel
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ariel_(The_Tempest)
Aeriel is the air spirit of the island containing the Aeriel Shores and the Aeriel Jungle. Aerial was the servant of Sycorax, a mighty witch who lived in the Tower of Sycorax.
Sycorax grew tired of her servant and imprisoned her in a tree long ago. Your wizard must fight the Shade of Sycorax to learn the incantation to free Aerial from her prison.
Ariel is a spirit who appears in William Shakespeare’s play The Tempest. Ariel is bound to serve the magician Prospero, who rescued him from the tree in which he was imprisoned by Sycorax, the witch who previously inhabited the island. Prospero greets disobedience with a reminder that he saved Ariel from Sycorax’s spells, and with promises to grant Ariel his freedom. Ariel is Prospero’s eyes and ears throughout the play, using his magical abilities to cause the tempest in Act One which gives the play its name, and to foil other characters’ plots to bring down their master.
Ariel means “Lion of God” in the Hebrew language. Ariel may also be a simple play on the word “aerial”. Scholars have compared Ariel to spirits depicted in other Elizabethan plays, and have managed to find several similarities between them, but one thing which makes Ariel unique is the human edge and personality given to Ariel by Shakespeare.
Ariel is widely viewed as a male character, although this view has wavered over the years, especially in the Restoration when, for the most part, women played the role.
Ariel first appears in the second scene of the play to report to Prospero on his success in carrying out his command to shipwreck the King of Naples and his crew in a violent tempest. Ariel adds that, as commanded, he saw that none of the group was harmed, but that all landed safely on the island, scattered and separated along the coast. After being praised by Prospero, Ariel pleads for his freedom from the magician’s service in return. Prospero declines, reminding him of the state he was in before Prospero rescued him: Ariel had been trapped by the witch Sycorax in a “cloven pine” as a punishment for resisting her commands. After 12 years of pain (and the death of Sycorax), Ariel was released from his prison by Prospero, who pressed the spirit into his service. The magician denies Ariel’s request for freedom at this time, but promises that on the condition he follows the rest of his commands, he will grant his wish in two days. For the rest of the play, Ariel is Prospero’s eyes and ears—spying on the shipwrecked sailors in invisible form, but only Prospero can see Ariel.
The current list of all the (known) Empyrea references can be found here.
Although I am well versed in Pop Culture references but I do not claim to have caught them all. Let me know your favorites in the comments and if I’ve missed one you caught, let me know so I can add it to the list.
Text for this article is excerpted from the linked wiki pages
Aeriel image is from Wizard101, and is copyright of KingsIsle Entertainment.
Ariel and Prospero image is borrowed from Wikipedia and is in the Public Domain.
Image usage qualifies as fair use under US copyright law.
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