Races: Jinn

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Jinn are beings of the elements who are capable of assuming humanoid or animal form and are said to dwell in all conceivable inanimate objects—stones, trees, ruins—underneath the earth, in the air, and in fire. They possess the bodily needs of other beings and can even be killed, but they are free from all physical restraints. Jinn delight in punishing others for any harm done them, intentionally or unintentionally, and are said to be responsible for many diseases and all kinds of accidents; however, those beings knowing the proper magical procedure can exploit the jinn to their advantage.

Jinn are as old as the sidhe. They are said to be made of "smokeless fire", perhaps something along the lines of energy beings. They are creatures of free will; they can be good or evil and may even be religious or not. They are (usually) invisible beings and can take any form they choose. They are born, grow up, marry, have children and eventually die. Jinn are also extremely long-lived and highly efficient in magic (including illusions). However, they can often be killed by rather mundane means. They are sometimes trapped or bound in a bottle. They might grant you a wish if you let them go. Or they might have been bound to something like a ring or a lamp and forced to obey the orders of anyone who summoned them. Jinns also have the power to possess other races, have much greater strength than them, and live much longer lives.

The life span of the jinn is nearly as long as the sidhe (thousands of years), but they do die. They can be both male or female and have children. They eat meat, bones, and the dung of animals. They play, sleep, and have pets. Descriptions of their appearances vary. Some may have the legs of a goat, a black tail, or a hairy body. They may be exceptionally tall and have their eyes set vertically in their heads. Although they can live anywhere on the planet, they prefer deserts, ruins, and places of impurity like graveyards, garbage dumps, bathrooms, etc.. They also can live in the houses where people live. They love to sit in places between the shade and the sunlight and move around when the dark first falls. They also like marketplaces, and people are warned not to be the first to enter the market or the last to leave it.

Jinn can appear to other races as the spirits of the dead and communicate with the living through visions and voices. Those who learn the medicinal qualities of plants through the plants’ talking to them are actually speaking with jinn or elementals. It was the jinn who taught demonkin sorcery.

Ordinary acts can kill or hurt jinn without people being aware of doing so. When that happens, jinn possess the offending people in order to take revenge on them. Others who are vulnerable to possession are those who live alone, for jinn are opposed to community. Pairs of jinn stay with each person. One whispers good; the other whispers evil. The moods of a person can be affected by the jinn, ranging from happiness to sadness for no known reason. Although they are able to affect peoples’ minds and bodies, they have no power over the soul or heart. When possessed, the person appears to be insane and exhibits signs of anger, anxiety, and depression. A woman’s voice will sound like a man’s, and a man’s voice will sound like a woman’s. Physical symptoms include nausea after eating, headaches, frequent desire to fight, heavy shoulders, a constant feeling of dissatisfaction, and a desire to commit suicide. Asking the jinn to leave may not be enough to induce him or her to go, and someone who is trained may be needed to perform an exorcism to expel the jinn from the body.

In Pangala, the gods decreed that the Jinn should bow to the superiority of the sidhe and serve them, but one among them refused to do so; thus, a third of them ended up being imprisoned by gods within lamps, bottles, rings, wells, etc. and forced them to serve the owners of the objects by grant wishes. Jinn can also possess other races for a variety of reasons — they might become romantically involved with them, or they might just be obnoxious, even mischievous as one can say.

Jinn can fly or walk, however, whenever they wish it, Jinn have a special ability that allows them to change into a gaseous form. If they simply just want to disappear but don’t want to drop the book they’re reading, they can also go invisible whenever they want. Along with their flying ability comes the power to generate a medium-size whirlwind, that can cause damage to people and things.

If you are polite to a Jinn, they can be impressive party hosts, creating lavish feasts with exotic foods and drinks (or with commonly had items). They can also make items of soft and wooden goods that last forever. Jinn can also create metallic objects. Unfortunately, these are not permanent, and the harder the metal created is, the shorter its lifespan is. A Jinn can create gold, but it only lasts for a single day. The final ability for the Jinn is that they can cast illusions that target hearing and sound, as well as sight, at the same time, as much as they want. Keep in mind that with jinn, most everything is fake and the Jinn are just very skilled con artists.

Sub-classes of Jinn are Jann (Genie), Ifrit (Afrit or Afreet), Ghouls, Marids, and Sila.

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Jann (Genie) – Jann, a creature of the jinn, normally invisible to the ordinary eye, but who may also appear in animal or humanoid form at will. Created from smoke and air, it is a spirit (soul) imprisoned in a bottle, ring, or oil lamp who, when freed, can grant wishes and serves the person who calls it. As a daemonic being, it is typically bound to obey the commands of a mortal possessing its container.

Jann are also known as Wish-Granters. More often than not, a wish-granting entity, has some sort of contractual clause stating that they have to give a person exactly what he or she ask for — just not in the way he or she were thinking of when she or he made the wish. Ask for a ton of money and you might be literally buried under it. Ask for X-ray vision, and your eyes will start shooting harmful radiation. Anything one's heart desires beyond your wildest dreams.

The Jann can be killed the same way any other mortal creature can be killed, so long as it holds a material form. Because of this, the Jann are the least hateful of the jinn and often the most helpful. They can only grant three wishes to whomever owns their container, however. Gold and metal items do not last long, but wooden objects and other items of soft material (i.e. cloth, wax, shell) tend to last for several generations. Once the final wish is used, the container vanishes and relocates to be found by a new owner. They are individuals and can be either good or evil. Similar to the sidhe, they are bound to the letter of a wish, not the spirit of it. (Be careful what you wish for!).

Evil Jann will almost always find a way for the granted wishes to turn out bad for the one wishing. An evil jann will deliberately try and make the outcome of a wish as horrible as possible, for example: A man wishes to be left alone, a normal Jann may transport him to a remote island or desert - away from others with little chance of being found: an Evil Jann would take the wish to a more extreme measure such as transporting the man into the depths of space, allowing him to be alone while drifting haplessly in the void or alternatively leaving him as the sole survivor of an apocalyptic disaster, again leaving him alone in such barren world, making their worst and wildest nightmares come true.

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Ifrit are a class of powerful malevolent supernatural beings created from fire and air. They are the most rebellious and powerful members of the Jinn, known for their strength and cunning. Ifrits live in a society structured along ancient tribal lines, complete with kings, tribes, and clans. They generally marry one another, but they can also marry other beings. While ordinary weapons and forces have no power over them, they are susceptible to magic, which humans, elves, etc. can use to kill them or to capture and enslave them.

Ifrit are bound to desert wells and oases by the gods, but are not under any other constraints. They are helpful or harmful depending on how you approach them. Ifrit are generally angry beings, because they have been bound in favor of the other races. They are prone to jealousy, mood swings, and whims.

As with the jann, an ifrit may be either good or evil, but are most often wicked and ruthless beings. They have a more substantial existence, and are greater in scale and capacity than other daemons. Their physical appearance is often portrayed as having monstrous deformities, such as claw-like or thorny hands, flaming eyes or seven heads. Just as with all jinn, an ifrit might possess an individual. Such persons gain some abilities from the ifrit, such as getting stronger and more brave, but the ifrit renders them insane. With the aid of a magical ring, the ifrit might be forced to perform certain orders, such as carrying heavy stones. They are very resentful and to force an Ifrit to do slave labor can result in ones death once the service is completed.

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A Ghoul is a daemonic being or monstrous humanoid associated with graveyards and consuming human flesh. Cacodemons had access to the Upper and Lower Celestial Realms, where they eavesdropped and returned to the Material Planes to pass hidden knowledge to the soothsayers and the likes. They were banished by the gods to the lowest level of the Lower Celestial Realm when they were discovered, so they could steal no more secrets. While they had access to the Material Plane, a particular group of Cacodemons bred with mortal cannibal cults in the deserts and abandoned places. Their offspring became mad beings who devoured the living flesh of others. These offspring became known as Ghouls.

A ghoul is a desert-dwelling, shape shifting demon that can assume the guise of an animal, especially a hyena. They are capable of constantly changing form, but their presence is always recognizable by their unalterable sign—ass’s hooves. Ghouls dwell in burial grounds and other deserted places. They lure unwary people into the desert wastes or abandoned places to slay and devour them. The creature also preys on young children, drinks blood, steals coins, and eats the dead, then taking the form of the person most recently eaten. A male ghoul is referred to as ghul while the female is called ghulah. The ghulah is known for luring hapless characters, who are usually males, into her home where she can eat them.

The only thing that can kill a ghoul is decapitation or complete destruction of the head. Bashing their brains in works as well. Ghouls are capable of leaving behind identifiable fingerprints that can be matched to them at the very least while they are using a single form. Ghouls are bound by the gods to small sections of desert land and old graveyards, where they can do the least amount of damage to the world.

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The Sila is a centaur-like jinn. They are talented shape-shifters, often appearing in human or elven form and female. They able to mimic a humanoid's appearance with ease, and they are the smartest of the Jinn. Sila appear as beautiful women who are slim, witty, powerful and accused of being unloyal seductresses. Despite their impressive shape-shifting abilities, they can be discovered by their hybrid appearances of animals. Silas are usually female and aligned to intercourse and a type of magical jinn.

Sila have been known to hide oases from travelers they don’t like or lead the unwary to their deaths. They also can be meddlesome, and their attempts to help humans with their problems often make them worse. While occasionally beneficial, Sila are classified as being one of the most malicious class of jinn. They tend to live in forests and desert oases, desolate parts of the desert where they lead travelers and nomads astray, leading them to their deaths when offended. Sila are not as physically strong as other jinn and prefer to talk their way out of trouble when they can. They are vindictive, however, and very tricky, as well as easily offended.

Sila tend open-minded about the other races than other types of jinn and can easily integrate themselves into other societies. They are also said to seduce and marry males or even give birth to a child from a relationship between humanoids and jinn (the origins of Incubi and Succubi). They often eat their mates, once they tire of them. Like Jann, Sila can be killed fairly easily by normal means.

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Marid are very similar to Ifrit, but created from water rather than fire and like the Jann, they are wish-granting jinn. They are associated with open waters of the seas and oceans where it finds sanctuary. They are remarkably resistant to cold and have an affinity for water and cold. As such, they tend to run colder than humans. Marid are solitary beings, and often live near the coast. They are masters of the weather, and sailors are careful not to anger these Jinn. A Marid can transform itself into a swirling churning mass of water. They can be seen to travel across water as a waterspout and have been known to wreck ships with the wind and waves they can cause. A marid may appear as a wise old man or a porpoise, or a horse, leading travelers to wise courses.

The Marid are known to be able to grant wishes and are likely the source of the ‘Three Wishes’ legend. However, obtaining these wishes come at a costly price. Most often, it requires a great deal of battle to obtain a wish. They can also be made to grant wishes if they are imprisoned with magic or if there is a ritual performed in their honor. Flattery has also been proven to work – but an extraordinary amount of flattery is needed to gain favor.

Marids are often described as the most powerful type of jinn, having especially great powers. They are the most arrogant and proud as well. Like every jinn, they have free will yet could be compelled to perform chores. According to folklore, they also have the ability to grant wishes to mortals, but that usually requires battle, imprisonment, rituals, or just a great deal of flattery. But following their nature, the demon does the exact opposite of that he was commanded.

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