Khorim Cinderthane - The Azer
A living forge-spirit who remembers every oath ever hammered into iron—and who breaks liars the way metal breaks under bad heat.
Role in Its Society:
Khorim is a keeper of standards, not a servant or mercenary. Wherever extreme heat and craft converge—volcanic foundries, planar scars, ancient forges—he evaluates the work being done and the people doing it. To Khorim, creation without discipline is vandalism, and power without restraint is waste. He does not rule workers or command armies; he audits them. Those who meet his expectations earn protection, repairs, and rare craft. Those who don’t find their tools warped, their forges cracked, and their ambitions reduced to slag.
Appearance Description:
Khorim is short and broad, built like a block of iron given legs. His skin glows like banked coals beneath a crust of blackened metal flesh, seams of orange heat tracing the lines of muscle and joint. His beard and hair burn perpetually, flames bound tight and controlled rather than wild. His eyes are molten gold, steady and unblinking. He wears heavy scale armor fused to his body, etched with forge-runes and burnished smooth by centuries of heat.
Backstory:
Khorim was forged into existence to tend a great elemental forge where weapons were made to end wars quickly and decisively. When those weapons were instead sold, hoarded, and misused, the forge fell into corruption—its heat wasted on vanity and cruelty.
Khorim survived the collapse and now wanders between forges, both mortal and planar, ensuring that fire is used correctly. He does not hate mortals, but he despises shortcuts. Every encounter with him is a test: of patience, of skill, and of whether the wielder understands the weight of what they create.
