Munsahir

Munsahir
Azer

Externally hosted image

(Creature)

2E1E

Common

Medium

Elemental

Fire

Humanoid

Level

Varies

Adjective

Munsahir

Images of munsahirs

Source: Rage of Elements, pg(s). 131

Legacy 2E: Bestiary 3 27 additionally had

LN

.

Type

Outsider
(extraplanar, fire)

CR

2

Environment

Any land (Plane of Fire)

Alignment

LG	NG	CG
LN	N	CN
LE	NE	CE

Adjective

Azer

Images of munsahirs

Source: Bestiary 2, pg(s). 39

Ⅰ

Ⅱ

More information about this subject might be available on Azer.

Munsahirs, formerly known as azers, are a race of sturdy and industrious humanoid-appearing outsiders native to the Elemental Plane of Fire with a talent for metalwork.

Appearance

Munsahirs have a squat, bulky, almost dwarven physique. They are always muscled from a life of hard labour, and despite being only four feet tall, they weigh 200 pounds. Their skin is the colour of brass, giving away their extraplanar nature; they also radiate heat, with shimmering heat waves rippling off an munsahir's body and a mane of flames rising from their shoulders and head. Munsahirs all resemble each other with very little variation between individuals.

Like a blazing furnace, munsahirs can transfer their radiant heat through any metal that touches them. As such, they always use metal weapons to give them an extra blazing edge.

Habitat and ecology

Munsahirs once served other societies as slaves or labourers, at which time they were primarily known as azers, and dwelt in whatever place their masters deemed fit. Nearly half a million munsahirs lived as slaves and second-class citizens in the ifrit-controlled city of Medina Mudii'a, and the munsahir Azure Empire was enslaved by the fire scamps of the Ninefold Matriarch of Holy Sublimation for 66,666 years, a term that began ca. -61944 AR and ended in 4723 AR alongside the re-emergence of the Plane of Metal.

History

Ancient munsahirs dwelt in carefully ordered, secluded, self-sufficient fortresses scattered across the Plane of Fire. Despite their efficiency in labour, their city-states paid very little attention to their defence. This weakness to exploitation did not go unnoticed by ifrits of the Dominion of Flame, who overran each munsahir fortress, executed leaders who opposed them, and turned the munsahirs into oppressed second-class citizens (if not outright slaves).

Munsahir strongholds were never aware of the fate of their kin until only one remained: Emberkeep, the last munsahir holdout that finally began to build defences against ifrits. Emberkeep ultimately fell not to ifrits but to the fire scamps. While many scholars believe that the fire scamps simply conquered Emberkeep, munsahirs with ties to Emberkeep believe that its council of leaders sold their people out of greed, and they are still enjoying their wealth somewhere deep within a fissure. Others believe that the munsahirs submitted to the mephits in exchange for their aid in preventing some cataclysm, but the servitude involved a contract that lasted 66,666 years, a time period which came to a close ca. 4723 AR. To repay the debt, the scamps assisted the newly liberated munsahirs from the Ninefold Towers of the Matriarch of Holy Sublimation in reclaiming Emberkeep.

Society

Munsahir society is tightly bound by a hierarchy of law and tradition. Every member knows the caste to which they were born and in which they will die, as munsahirs inherit their parents' social standing. One can tell the caste of a munsahir merely by the metallic kilt they wear: nobles wear ornate brass kilts, merchants and artisans wear bronze, and labourers wear utilitarian kilts of copper. Munsahir castes are immutable; no crime is so great that a higher-class munsahir would lose their social standing.

Their lawful nature was taken advantage of by those who enslaved them as azers, since a munsahir is far more likely to endure their slavery by working off their terms of servitude or trying to outlive their masters. Some azers even seemed to take pride in their role as obedient slaves, serving as taskmasters over other less obedient slaves.

Beyond Emberkeep, very few munsahir strongholds remain free from ifrit influence. Rumour has it that, far beneath the Plane of Fire's surface lies a munsahir empire embedded in the side of a massive basalt cliff behind a raging pyroclastic flow. This empire has allegedly never had any contact with any other intelligent race and has access to construct magic unknown anywhere else. No explorer who set out to find this empire has succeeded, and the rare few who even made it back alive live out their final days in a horrified haze, repeating the words:

“

Anything to sate the All-Father.

”

Munsahirs speak Pyric, the language of the fire plane, amongst themselves. Those who travel to Golarion generally have also learned a Common tongue, such as Taldane.

On Golarion

An Eye of the Red Worm acolyte.

Large tribes of munsahirs live in the Darklands where they inhabit the Flume Warrens, Sekamina's most geologically active region. In constant conflict with local salamander tribes, they seek to ally themselves with the fire giants of the Mindspin Mountains above but have failed to form any lasting alliances. The munsahir tribes have been coerced by the giants to stage numerous attacks on the kobolds of the Embermaw clan, which lairs directly above the Flume Warrens, but these invasions have not been successful.

Another group of munsahirs, Clan Zilleran, escaped from Medina Mudii'a, settled near an underground vein of lava beneath Jernashall in the Five Kings Mountains after allying with the magma dragon Moschabbatt, and now trade with inhabitants of the Darklands.

Lost civilization of elementals

A mighty nation of elementals is said to have ruled a portion of the Valashmai Jungle in southern Tian Xia during the Age of Serpents. It was supposedly guided for centuries by the immortal munsahir Verdesz, who appeared wreathed in green flame and was known on Golarion as the Jade Hegemon. The fate of this unnamed empire is unknown, as few, if any, ruins remain in the primordial jungle of that region. Some believe that its descendants now live in the Chenlun Mountains, and are the impetuous behind its heavy volcanic activity.

After the liberation of Emberkeep, Verdesz returned to the Plane of Fire to become the nascent empire's leader, now known as All-Father Verdesz.

Munsahirs and Torag

Priests of Torag can sometimes summon munsahirs for short periods to assist them, and the god is said to be served by a munsahir diplomat named Ambassador Zurin.

References

For additional as-yet unincorporated sources about this subject, see the Meta page.