Feeding the Flames of Hatred

LiKi awoke suddenly with a start. She realized how weary she had been. The fight with the mud sorcerer had taxed her in ways she didn't realize in the immediate aftermath of the confrontation. She took a sip of a clear, fragrant liquor she kept in a wooden flask in her satchel. She scanned the Earth Prophet's Sanctum, noticing the finery collected in the sumptuously appointed chamber. Apparently the "earth prophet," Marlos Urnrayle was not above indulging in luxuries. She smirked at her friend Leopold who demonstrated that he too enjoyed the finer things as he had spent much of the night rifling through cubbies and alcoves in search of valuables. At that moment, he was carefully rolling up a beautiful tapestry of a flying dragon. After storing it in the bag of holding, he began quietly tuning the ornately carved lute they had found near Urnrayle's desk. Did the medusa play? Or was this just another luxurious ornament of a vain man? The papers LiKi investigated offered no hint there. Similar to what was found in the Sacred Stone Monastery, these diatribes were rambling zealotry from which it was difficult to glean whom the prophet venerated more dogmatically, himself or his god.

She knew from her studies that Azers were natives of the Elemental Plane of Fire and that they are known as master crafters, expert miners, and sworn foes of the efreet.

Azers don't reproduce. They are each crafted from bronze by another azer imbued with a portion of the cafter's inner flame.

They typically dwell in a kingdom on the border between the Elemental Plane of Earth and the Elemental Plane of Fire--a range of mountains and volcanoes whose spires rise as a series of fortresses. Beneath mountain peaks, under volcanic calderas, and amid rivers of magma, azers extract gleaming metals and glittering gems from the earth. Squads of azer patrol the passes and tunnels of their realm, fending off the salamander raiders whose efreet masters order strikes against the azer kingdom.

Long ago, the efreet and the azers were allies. Azers helped create the City of Brass, forging that home of the efreet into one of the most wondrous places in creation. When the azers had finished their work, the efreet betrayed them, making a failed attempt to enslave the azers so as to protect the secrets of the city. Despite occasional raids and skirmishes, however, the two sides have so far refrained from all-out conflict. The azers believe that only the threat of them revealing the hidden ways into the City of Brass keeps the efreet in check. Perhaps this was why the Enclave needed Fuegron. But that didn't make sense. LiKi thought that they typically focused their efforts on the material realm.