Tuesday, July 26, 2011

Azer

As outsiders resembling dwarves with hair and beards of fire, one would think the azer would have ties to dwarven deities and themes.  But across almost every sourcebook, one theme stands out: slavery.  Azer are almost never mentioned without slaves being mentioned, too: warring with the efreet and salamanders over them in 3.5, being subjugated by fire mephits(!) in Pathfinder’s The Great Beyond, or being enslaved by the efreet (sometimes with the azers’ own complicity) in the Bestiary 2.  Part of this is the severe nature of the Plane of Fire—anyone living near evil genies had best be prepared for some servitude.  But the azer race might also be an object lesson to PCs in the inevitable sacrifices made when fealty to lords and the law is not tempered by mercy and goodness.

An unclear line of succession could doom an azer slave revolt, as the factions will not unite until a single leader is crowned.

When mortal adventurers become stranded on the Plane of Fire, azer settlements are the most reliable safe harbors.  But they may not find a welcome.  Azer custom is as likely to label them slaves or even salvage as it is to offer them sanctuary, or treaties may obligate the azers to hand over any humans to efreet hands.

A cult of a water goddess, promulgated by steam mephit missionaries, rocks azer society, as much for the chaotic, freedom-loving (and free-loving) bent of her philosophy as for her opposed elemental nature. 

Pathfinder Bestiary 2 39

1 comment:

  1. Ladies and gentlemen: With this post, we have finished the "A"s. (Not counting the back entries I still need to fill in and the upcoming Bestiary 3. Still, pat yourselves on the back.)

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