Djinn Valley: the first Ifrit
Djinn Valley — The sandstorm at Duat
Crulon’s journal describes a sandstorm swirling around a bright flame as it approached Duat at night. Crulon’s journal said people in the dunes had long hidden from it. Those who had approached it came back with sketches of something more like a beast than a ghost.
Crulon realized that the beast was the corrupted body of a human possessed by a Djinn. Before he could warn the others, the beast attacked Zhoom in the throne room and fought past his guards. Crulon believed the Djinn abandoned its host to possess Zhoom. He wounded its exposed form and forced it to flee. Crulon then performed a rite to seek an audience with King Efreet.
The king’s former retainer
Efreet told Crulon about a mortal Hero and a Djinn who had once served the king. Together they defended the Sandsea and kept Pharaohs from turning order into tyranny. The Hero stopped the Niloticus Clan from hunting humans, and helped the Djinn give lamias venom to defend themselves. The Hero was offered the throne but chose to keep adventuring with his companion.
The Djinn grew bitter at the honors his friend received. He killed the Hero and took his body, hoping to crown himself Pharaoh. The Hero’s will persisted. In Efreet’s account, the Hero trapped the Djinn inside his own body and disappeared into a sandstorm. He kept his friend from harming others and spared him from destruction.
The first of the Ifrit
Efreet erased his retainer’s name and called him Kha’in, the first of the Ifrit. Crulon said being named an Ifrit was the greatest shame a Djinn could face for such a betrayal. The storm that concealed Kha’in had been his prison. It weakened and finally dispersed, and he attacked the palace as soon as he was free. Crulon believed Kha’in was still trying to steal the throne.
Nefertari wanted to learn enough about the Djinn to defend the Sandsea even when the Hero and Crulon were elsewhere. She described Efreet and his lesser rulers of separate domains, and passed on what Crulon had taught her about the Marid, the Ghul and the Ifrit. In her account, an Ifrit had once been a Marid who turned on those closest to them.
The host set free
Crulon asked Zhoom to stay in the palace because Kha’in might try to take another host during the fight. Crulon and Nefertari planned to keep the Djinn from taking the Hero’s body while the Hero fought the possessed host.
The host was freed, but Kha’in escaped. Crulon said he would pursue the Djinn. First he wanted to lay the fallen Hero to rest after they had been forced to wander the Sandsea until even their name was lost.