The Phoenixes of the Elven Sultanates
The Phoenixopteroi are the sacred birds of the Elven Sultanates. They have a plethora of other names and titles, the sum of which tell the history of the phoenix species: the Flamignix, the Prime Elementals, the Silent Watchers, the Mages-of-the-Beasts, the Hounds of the Ifrit, and the Gifts of Iblis.
After the Collapse, magic as it had previously existed disappeared: there remained no otherworldly realms from which to draw the energies needed to shape reality. Now instead came the Mana Field: the entangled sum of those energies, coexisting with natural forces.
The Ifrit Iblis, last of the Lords of Fire, was one of the survivor deities that took to himself to “recreate” magic in this new environment. He and his chosen part of humanity, the Elves, were among the first to lay the foundations for magic as it is known today. But the divine mind of Iblis was much quicker than his acolytes, and time was running out: once the multiverse was no more, so was his immortality.
To impart all his teachings to future generations, Iblis took one of the emerging species of the new world and warped it to his own devising. The ancient phoenixes of the Plane of Fire, now mutated by the Collapse, were completely reshaped by the Ifrit Lord’s powers.
These new phoenixes, the Phoenixopteroi or Flamignix, were given dexterous hands and the ability to use them to cast spells. Contrary to the simple thaumaturgies of other spellcasting animals, however, the phoenixes’ magical skills are vast and varied in scope and effects, not limited to the path of natural evolution.
Flamignix live in the ever-active calderas of the magma archipelagos, residing in pools of lava as if they were placid lakes. While in part innately resistant to fire and heat, they perform quick but elaborate dances before they submerge, warding spells to further insulate the phoenixes from the crushing heat of their habitats.
The flamignix are famous for their songs, a curious repertoire of clicks and glissandos, accompanied by intricate neck contortions. These songs are both mundane callings and incantations, usually used to call forth divinations and foresee nearby volcanic activity. The most notorious of the phoenixes’ spells, however, is the one through which they feed. Perched on a single leg, the phoenix uses the other to call forth a myriad of microscopic elementals just above the surface. In almost any other circumstance, magically constructed simulacra such as these would provide no nutritional nourishment. Aether, or lifeforce, is essential to casting magic, and it’s usually impossible to obtain it through magic itself; despite enduring attempts to the contrary, creating food “concrete” enough to be digested invariably results in a net negative of Aether. This specific spell appears to be the exclusive exception.
Elves have studied the Phoenixopteroi for centuries and learned many of the aspects of spellcasting through them. While the mystery of the seemingly free Aether flamignix generate remains an unsolved one, close observations have shown them the link between precision in execution and Aetheric expenditure, the role of specific mana elements present in the area, the bases of elemental creation, and many more secrets besides. Over the years, elven wizards have constructed eight magical academies near phoenix nidification sites, all on the sides of the tallest volcanoes of the archipelagos. Students and masters alike spend decades at the sides of the calderas, observing the firebirds in near-trancelike states.
One of the milestones of any elven arcanist-in-training is to replicate the phoenix’s signature spell and consume the resulting miniature elementals. This test demands absolute perfection in the incantation’s execution since the slightest error would cause internal burns- painful and possibly lethal.
Outsider wizards, most of all the Infernals, seem impervious to the allure and mystique of the phoenixes. They usually use it as a joke to ridicule their elven colleagues: “you elves are so slow and pedantic that your own god wasn’t able to teach you before he died of old age!” Elves are quite touchy, especially about their master and his birds, but rarely present any comeback. They know the gift of Iblis is envied by all.
The phoenixes not only represent a trove of occult knowledge encoded into their behaviors but a treasury of physical magical components. Feathers, eggshells, tongues, beaks… almost any part of them can be used to make magical aids like potions, wands, pens to inscribe sigils and scrolls, and so forth. But harvesting these parts is almost impossible for the uninitiated: as soon as a Flamignix dies, it bursts into flame, leaving only ashes behind. On occasion, the phoenix’s death conflagration will also leave its egg, as phoenix eggshells require the fiery detonation of their parents to properly incubate.
Eggs are therefore the only possible target for outside poachers and one of them could be valued as a house in the country.
Only a handful of eggs have been recorded outside the Elven Sultanate. One sits proudly in the Nagarajah’s citadel, the most precious entry in his Royal Ootheca of Miutyun. Another was cooked for, served to, and eaten by Princess Zotorina, great-grandmother of the current prince of Maladomini, as a course of her wedding feast.
