Afrit

**Afrit** are an umbrella category of Unseelie desert dwelling fae that include subspecies like the marid-djinn, afshin, and ginnaya. Eran IIiakambar is a notable afrit hybrid.

## Physical Description

The djinn are always horned, though the way the horns look can indicate different subspecies of fae. At one point, Gwyn ap Nudd referred to afrit and similar fire fae as 'fire demons.' The men are generally always bearded, or have stubble. Clean-shaven afrit are rare.

In human-form, they are generally brown-skinned with flame coloured eyes (ranging from yellow to bright red), and heavy horns that spiral upwards, meaning they cannot pass for human even in the human realm. In true form they are huge, hulking beasts with giant horns not just on their heads, but also elsewhere on their bodies, as well as crests of fur and fire colored scales. Their eyes glow with living fire, and their paws are wickedly clawed. They are less coherent and cogent in true form, and can be extremely dangerous to be around. For this reason, many afrit prefer to keep their senses and fight battles in their human-form, even if it means they're less physically powerful.

## Abilities

All afrit have the ability to be forced to grant three wishes if they are captured in the human realm. For this reason, many afrit are afraid of the human realm and never go there. They cannot be compelled to grant wishes by fae, even if they are captured.

Afrit have an ability to control liquid fire and flame, including lava. They have a strong and profound affinity with fire, and while inherently spiritual like the ambaros, they celebrate fire in all its forms.

## Characteristics (culture, habits)

Afrit are notably militaristic, forming several militaries - some of which have served the Unseelie Court - and having a culture built around warrior culture and a degree of fierceness and stoicism. Ifir was the War General of the marid-djinn, and served on Gwyn's Court as an advising General. Despite his mutiny, he was considered so valuable that he was only demoted, and his military was extremely useful in preserving the Unseelie Court during the final battle in *The Court of Five Thrones*.

Carrying the kha'nzar (a sabre) makes male afrit an adult in the eyes of his people.

Afrit value hunting, and domesticate animals like kratel gazelle to help them hunt. They also have domesticated olcana mouflon for their fur.

Afrit have extremely rich cultures, including ritualised ways of behaving, food cultures, different languages and cultures relating to music and the arts. *Fae Tales* only touches the surface, though we learn more through Eran's life.

Afrit are often quick to anger, though they experience all emotions intensely due to their fiery natures. They are often strongly opinionated, and can be dangerous when crossed.

The marid-djinn afrit are desert-dwelling and always Unseelie, and known for largely living at the base of volcanoes, including the volcano of Oroboros.

Afrit are known to have a system of punishments for betrayal and other crimes, including removing their slow growing horns. Removal of the bone core so that the horns cannot grow back is considered the most severe punishment, but removal of the horns even above the bone core still indicates a regrowth period of decades and potentially centuries, meaning all afrit will know that the fae has committed a crime. Gwyn removed one of Ifir's horns above the bone core, after his mutiny against Gwyn. When Ifir's people saw the single horn, they thought Ifir committed a crime against the afrit, and some refused to trade with him for some years.

Afrit have rituals after war, including cooking bones and eating bone marrow, and sharing it together, such as when Ifir handed Gwyn some roasted bones after a major battle near the Unseelie Court 'that were split to expose the marrow' and said ‘Eat something so that we can remember those who won’t eat flesh again.'

Afrit have ritualised sayings that they exchange with each other, such as 'may the fire guide you'. When they greet each other at a distance, they'll sometimes roar in greeting. When they're closer, and possibly only when greeting stranger afrit, they proclaim their sub-species, then their names, which includes the names of their parents, though this may be a desert fae custom rather than an afrit one.

## Trivia

* It's possible that Maneshi's parents, Valin and Manesha, are also afrit, and they're likely ginnaya afrit, but their specific species is unknown.
* Marid-djinn afrit are unusual in that they live in a mixed-alignment community with the Seelie ambaros despite serving the Unseelie military. This can create some conflict, but by and large they live together peaceably and share and celebrate in their different cultures. Because of this, Eran Iliakambar was able to be born as a hybrid of a Seelie and Unseelie fae.

## Folklore/Mythology

Afrit are well known underworld demonic figures from Islamic mythology. Despite being associated with the word jinn (djinn), they have been considered separate beings from each other in Moroccan and and other cultures. Whereas in *Fae Tales* they are rolled into one kind of fae with different subspecies.

'Ifrit, also spelled as efreet, **afrit**, and afreet (Arabic: '**ʻIfrīt'**: عفريت, pl '**ʻAfārīt'**: عفاريت), is a powerful type of demon in Islamic mythology. The afarit are often associated with the underworld and also identified with the spirits of the dead . . . In Quran, hadith and Mi'raj narrations the term is always followed by the phrase *among the jinn*. In later folklore, they developed into independent entities, identified as powerful demons or spirits of the dead who sometimes inhabit desolate places such as ruins and temples. Their true habitat is the underworld.

. . . In Islamic folklore the afarit became a class of chthonic spirits, inhabiting the layers of the seven earths, generally ruthless and wicked, formed out of smoke and fire. But despite their negative depictions and affiliation to the nether regions, afarit are not fundamentally evil on a moral plane; they might even carry out God's purpose. Such obligations can nevertheless be ruthless, such as obligation to blood vengeance and avenging murder. An ifrit can further be bound to a sorcerer, if summoned.'

## Image Gallery

Fanart of Eran Iliakambar's true-form by Em / Papayaparty https://thedoublepp.tumblr.com/post/179851252086/dont-look-concept-for-erans-true-form-i-love
## References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 not\_poignant. “The Court of Five Thrones.” *The Fae Tales Verse. Archive of Our Own,* 1 May 2015. https://archiveofourown.org/works/1749290/chapters/8608942. Chapter 41: Interrogation.
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 not\_poignant. “The Court of Five Thrones.” *The Fae Tales Verse. Archive of Our Own,* 18 June 2014. https://archiveofourown.org/works/1749290/chapters/4283271. Chapter 4: Suspicions.
3. ↑ not\_poignant. “The Court of Five Thrones.” *The Fae Tales Verse. Archive of Our Own,* 26 December 2014. https://archiveofourown.org/works/1749290/chapters/6404462. Chapter 23: Confrontation.
4. ↑ not\_poignant. “The Ice Plague: Book 1 - The Forest of Fire.” *The Fae Tales Verse. Archive of Our Own,* 26 July 2018. https://archiveofourown.org/works/12036105/chapters/35842707. Chapter 25: Circling Back Around.
5. ↑ not\_poignant. “The Ice Plague: Book 1 - The Forest of Fire.” *Fae Tales Verse. Archive of Our Own,* 9 September 2017. https://archiveofourown.org/works/12036105/chapters/27249219. Chapter 1: The End of the Hunt.
6. ↑ not\_poignant. “The Ice Plague: Book 3 - The Ice Plague.” *The Fae Tales Verse. Archive of Our Own,* 17 March 2022. https://archiveofourown.org/works/26266345/chapters/94345423. Chapter 28: Family.
7. ↑ not\_poignant. “The Ice Plague: Book 1 - The Forest of Fire.” *The Fae Tales Verse. Archive of Our Own,* 24 August 2018. https://archiveofourown.org/works/12036105/chapters/36709188. Chapter 27: A Bad Turn.
8. ↑ not\_poignant. “The Ice Plague: Book 3 - The Ice Plague.” *The Fae Tales Verse. Archive of Our Own,* 11 November 2021. https://archiveofourown.org/chapters/87334006. Chapter 19: Golden Bonds.
9. ↑ not\_poignant. “The Court of Five Thrones.” *The Fae Tales Verse. Archive of Our Own,* 3 July 2015. https://archiveofourown.org/works/1749290/chapters/9645504. Chapter 50: Wayward.
10. ↑ not\_poignant. “The Ice Plague: Book 1 - The Forest of Fire.” *The Fae Tales Verse. Archive of Our Own,* 12 March 2018. https://archiveofourown.org/works/12036105/chapters/31845930. Chapter 16: Leave Be.
11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 not\_poignant. “The Ice Plague: Book 3 - The Ice Plague.” *The Fae Tales Verse. Archive of Our Own,* 12 May 2022. https://archiveofourown.org/works/26266345/chapters/97400118. Chapter 32: Our Better Natures.
12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 "Ifrit". Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ifrit. Accessed 24 March 2021.