Djinni Djinn ( singular : djinni ) were creatures born from the Elemental Chaos . Having aided the primordials in their ancient battle with the gods over control of Faerûn , most were imprisoned in common objects and scattered . The few who were free sought to reclaim their power . They embodied the chaotic force of violent storms while possessing benevolent minds . Only the noble djinn possessed the power of the " wish " . Ecology . Although djinn did not require food or drink to live , they enjoyed rich flavors , smells , and other sensations . They commonly desired succulent fruits , great feasts , pungent wines , fine perfumes , shimmering silks , smooth satins , soft velvets , and other rich fare . The djinn were on good terms with jann and sometimes visited their camps in the high deserts of Toril . They were cool toward the marid s , disliking their haughtiness . They openly despised dao and efreet , and only rarely hesitated before attacking them . Environment . Djinn dwelt in the Elemental Chaos ( prior to the Spellplague , their home was the Elemental Plane of Air ) in djinn freehold s , floating islands of earth and stone , which they crammed with courtyards , buildings , gardens , fountains , and sculptures made from flame . The capital of the djinn was the Citadel of Ice and Steel , a chunk of ice and earth sculpted into an aerodynamic oval shape . The citadel was in a perpetual falling state , and no gravity could be imposed within it by any force less potent than the Great Caliph of all djinn . On the Prime Material Plane , djinn favored the open desert to cluttered urban areas . However , being somewhat friendly toward mortals , they visited cities on occasion . Typical physical characteristics . Djinn resembled extremely tall ( averaging ten and a half feet in height ) human men and women , well - muscled and physically fit . Their features were aristocratic and considered attractive by human standards . Their skin tone ranged from pale blue to a more common olive - brown or dark tan characteristic of Zakharans . Their eyes are usually brown , but a rare few had blue eyes ; these were believed to be marked by Fate for great deeds , whether for good or ill , and they could also have increased powers of the " evil eye " . Djinni garments were typically shimmering silk , designed for comfort and to flaunt their muscular physiques . Djinn could carry up to 600 pounds without tiring , and could carry 1 , 200 pounds for a short time . They could travel freely to the Elemental Chaos , as well as to the Prime Material Plane , the Ethereal Plane , and Astral Plane . However , they normally traveled only to the Elemental Chaos and the Prime Material . Alignment . Djinn were wild but benevolent creatures as a whole . . Society . The djinn were ruled by the Great Caliph Husam al - Balil ben Nafhat al - Yugayyim , the Master of the Clouds and the Son of the Breezes . He rarely left his capital , the Court of Ice and Steel . He was served by various nobles and officials , including lesser caliphs , viziers , beys , emirs , sheikhs , sherrifs , and maliks . Each djinni freehold was ruled by a local sheikh or headman . All djinn swore allegiance to the Grand Caliph , whose word was law . For disobeying a local caliph , a djinni risked punishment , but the penalty for disobeying the Grand Caliph was death . While djinni government was fairly loose , it was still too restrictive for most djinn , and they often visited the Prime Material Plane for the sake of respite from local lords and family . While they appeared in great numbers on their home plane , djinn tended to be solitary on the Prime Material Plane . Most djinn were friendly toward mortals , but mischievous . They often played pranks on mortals , such as conjuring illusionary people who claimed to be in need . They normally left high - ranking people alone , for fear they might have ties to the Grand Caliph . While no genie liked being enslaved , djinn were the most tolerant of temporary servitude to mortals . They were forgiving of a mortal master ' s flaws or even amused by them . They viewed short - term servitude as determined by Fate , and knew that no one could defy one ' s fate . However , long - term service upset them , and being imprisoned was considered anathema . They would not forgive betrayal . Those who wished to gain the brief service of a djinn should gift them with fine meals , gemstones , magical items , flattery , and other forms of bribery . Religion . The djinn , like all genies , are enlightened , which means they belong to the faith founded by a prophetess called the Loregiver long ago . Few are clerics , because the djinn are not , by and large , a pious people . However , they are willing to adopt pretty much any deity into their pantheons and give lip service to many deities , in order that they have an appropriate deity to please for any possible thing they might do . In the djinni capital , the Court of Ice and Steel , there are mosques dedicated to the Amerindian gods Thunder and Wind , the Mulhorandi god Shu , the eagle deity Remnis , the elf goddess Aerdrie Faenya , and the Zakharan deities Haku and Hakiyah . Language . Djinn speak Jannti , the racial language of all genie s . Whether Jannti is a single language or four closely related elemental languages is a matter for debate , however . Djinn also speak Midani , the common tongue of Zakhara . They have a limited telepathy that allows them to communicate with any intelligent creatures they meet . History . The Maiden of Beauty . When the world was young , the god s and genies were at war , and mortals were pathetic creatures trapped between the two warring forces . To these mortals was born a beautiful girl , her smile like the shining moon and her laugh more lovely than a songbird ' s melody . Her beauty became so renowned that the gods themselves heard of it . First Kor and Hajama and Najm spied her , and each became convinced that she must serve him alone . They began to quarrel among themselves , and the cosmic phenomena stirred by their emotions attracted the attention of the genies . And they too were smitten by her beauty , so the Grand Caliph of the Djinn , the Grand Khan of the Dao , the Most Respected Sultan of the Efreet , and the Imperial Padishah of the Marids began to also quarrel for the hand of the bewitching mortal . The elements themselves responded to their lust and fury , and the mortals feared for their lives . The maiden fled to the southern jungles , and Fate herself was besmitten by the maiden ' s lovely appearance . When the maiden told Fate how the gods and genies had treated her , though , Fate decided to teach both factions a lesson . She disguise the maiden as a hideous old man and sent her back to the city of mortals , where the elements and heavens were in an uproar as the gods and genies fought . It is said that some of the mortals who fled during this terrible time became the first peoples of Faerûn and Kara - Tur , while those brave few who remained were the ancestors of all Zakharans , for Zakhara is the center of the world . When the gods and genies spied the maiden disguised as an old man , though , the disguised maiden asked them why they were quarreling . When the terrible entities paused to explain , the old man declared he would judge who among them was the best match for the beautiful maid , and demanded they show her to him . Of course , the maiden could not be found , and because Fate was with her , none could penetrate her disguise . The old man told them she would only appear when they left , so the gods and genies begrudgingly returned to their respective realms , pausing their long war while they waited for a decision . However , the gods chose ten men and ten women to be their representatives ; these were the first clerics . The genies , for their parts , agreed to leave but promised to send their servants and warriors back from time to time . When only the old man remained , she removed her disguise . Fate explained that the gods and genie rulers could not return and punish her , because that would mean admitting to being tricked by a mere mortal . Fate remained with her for a long time , teaching her wisdom and how to deal with both genies and gods . Sometimes in her own form , and sometimes disguised as an old man , she inspired great art , mighty spells , and wise philosophy and lore . She recorded her wisdom on a set of scrolls , which would one day be discovered by Zakhara ' s First Caliph . The maiden would be remembered as the Loregiver , the founder of the Enlightened Faith . She has yet to decide which god or genie she will choose as consort . The Boy and the Genies . This tale recounts the origin of the genie - binders known as " sha ' ir " s . Born an orphan and raised by his uncle , the boy ' s jealous uncle schemed to have him slain so that he would never inherit his parents ' business , which the uncle had been running while he raised the boy to manhood . The uncle hired a bandit to kidnap the boy and abandon him in the desert , but the boy discovered a hidden cave in an outcropping . The boy escaped from a ghul that tried to kill him , bringing with him an enchanted sword and a fabulous ruby . Fleeing back into the desert , he met a procession of genies of all kinds , and with them the Grand Caliph of the Djinn , the Most Respected Sultan of the Efreet , the Grand Khan of the Dao , and the Imperial Padisha of the Marids . They had returned to the mortal plane to see if the most beautiful maiden had decided yet which would be her suitor . The boy laid himself prostrate before the terrifying host , and the genies asked him where he had found the fabulous sword and wondrous gem . He told his story , and the genies told him the gem he held resembled the gem of Yalsur , which the genie races had fought over long ago , until a thief took advantage of their distraction to steal it away . The boy offered to return it to him , but the genies asked him to judge which race should keep it , for otherwise they would have to fight among themselves and a thief might steal it again . The boy suggested that each genie lord keep it for three moons , and this is how the four seasons came to be . When the marids possess the gem it is winter , when the djinn possess it it is spring , when the efreet possess it it is summer , and when it is in the possession of the dao it is autumn . The genie rulers rejoiced at this solution , and offered the youth riches and treasure . The boy politely refused any gift , saying he only wanted to return home , find out who kidnapped him , and to be as happy as Fate allowed . The genies , in turn , promised to aid the boy and his descendants , teaching him how to call and bind genies . So it was that he became the first sha ' ir . They also granted him a female genie of each of their four races to forever aid him , and when he became a young man , the boy made these four his wives . The youth asked his djinni wife to bring him home and asked his dao wife to bring him his kidnapper . The terrified thief ratted out the uncle , so he asked his marid wife to bring him his uncle , who cursed him and predicted that his nephew ' s power would corrupt him as surely as the uncle ' s greed had been his own downfall . The youth instructed his efreeti wife to punish his uncle ( she chopped him into pieces and scattered the remains in the desert ) and decided to defy his uncle ' s curse by sharing his power with others , teaching those who could learn the arts of the sha ' ir . Calimshan . The djinn founded the Calim Empire in what is now Calimshan over 9 , 000 years ago . Many of them took mortal concubines , and from these unions were born half - elementals , who in turn mated with mortals to produce genasi . The djinn , in a civilization known as the Djen who might have included some marids and jann among them , were led by a mighty noble djinni known as Calim , bringing with them human slaves similar or identical to the people of Zakhara . Tales tell of another world where the djinn were slaves to humans , and say that they took their revenge by enslaving humans on Toril . They prospered for 1 , 000 years until an invasion of efreet led by the great efreeti noble Memnon destroyed their civilization over the course of a 200 - year war . When the djinni masters were overthrown , many djinn , half - djinn , and genasi were banished to other planes , bound into iron flasks , or slain . The surviving air genasi fled to other lands or went into hiding . As of 1479 DR , the land of Calimshan has been ripped asunder by the events known as the Second Era of Skyfire . After the Spellplague , the Calimemnon Crystal , prison of the efreeti Memnon and the djinni Calim , shattered . The released creatures resumed their hostilities that dated back to the First Era of Skyfire ( c . - 6500 DR ) . In the wake of the return of Calim and Memnon , many of the residents of Calimshan , presumed to be human , cast off their long held disguises and revealed themselves to be genasi . These descendants of the elemental powers pledged themselves to either fire or air , took over the cities of Memnon and Calimport respectively , and joined the war between the efreet and djinn . Martek and Aeraldoth . In approximately 357 DR , the wizard Martek , called " The Greatest of Mages , " served as Bakar ' s grand vizier . He imprisoned the efreeti pasha Khalitharius and , knowing it would one day escape , he set up a magical quest allowing heroes to resurrect him when the time was right . As part of his preparations for this event , Martek convinced the djinni Aeraldoth , one of the six viziers to the Grand Caliph of the Djinn himself , to allow himself to be imprisoned in the city of Phoenix so that he might battle the efreeti at the crucial moment .