The Mephguóurs (Styrásh Mephguóur, lit. "devoured by hellfire") are lesser kinds of demons, also called "man-demons" or "fire-demons". They are in fact living people, who were magically transformed. They appear in the typical form of men with reddish skin, which is either glowing or in some cases even burning unceasingly, depending on the general alignment of the person before the spell of transformation was cast upon it.

Such demons were mainly used in ancient times by dark sorcerers as guidance for more powerful creatures conjured directly from the depths of hell in order to fulfill the evil purposes assigned to them by the mages. Mephguóurs were a common sight during the War of the Chosen and because they seldom could be spotted alone in open field their appearance usually indicated that greater demons or even whole armies of undead warriors were following.

Image description: A man demon, a so-called Mephguóur, a creature of Fire. Picture drawn by Faugar.

Appearance. A Mephguóur being a magical creature stands as high as the person that it is transformed from (creatures with lifemagic abilities are immune to this transformation). They are rarely larger than 2.5 peds or shorter than 1.5 peds. Mephguóurs are completely void of hair of any kind. Their bodies are built resembling a lean version of the person transformed, and are muscle and bone only. Their eyes are transformed into glowing yellow-red orbs and their teeth and gums are fused together to form an upper and lower mound of flesh and bone. While the hands of the transformed person doubles in size, their fingernails extend about one palmspan in length, and are razor sharp, becoming their primary weapon. The toenails also vary by doubling in length. Mephguóurs have reddish skin which either appears to be glowing (if they were originally of good alignment) or engulfed by flames of fire (if they were originally chaotic), which is also why they are sometimes called "fire-demons".

Mephguóurs have no need for clothing or armour, however they have been known to wear metallic armour, especially breast plates and chain skirts.

Special Abilities. Mephguóurs have the ability of combustion and burning. All of their special abilities are related to this ability. Combustion refers to the ability to cause living things to begin to burn from the inside out and eventually burst into flames. This is the primary use of the Mephguóurs' long fingernails. The Mephguóurs can concentrate and set any living thing on fire. However, this ability has only been found when the Mephguóur has been created from a human or an elf. This is one of the reasons why most Mephguóurs resemble elves and humans. Most Mephguóurs are essentially human because the transformation process retains the intelligence of the transformed person. Humans have the best intelligence/age/size combination of all of the races.

Mephguóurs have one primary attack, that is with their fingernails. Slashing is their preferred method of attacking any thing that interferes with its objective. Their second attack is done by grabbing its prey and inserting its fingernails into the prey and causing the combustion process to begin. The combustion process usually takes 1 minute for a man sized creature and 1 extra minute or more for creatures larger than man size (2 peds) depending on size category.

Territory. Mephguóurs do not have a particular territory where they live in, however, currently, they are mostly encountered in the northern orc territories of Northern Sarvonia and there mainly in underground caverns.

However, in general these demons can be found in any area that is compatible with the place that they were created. Mephguóurs are normally created for a specific purpose and normally will never travel without direction of their creator. However, the area where they live is primarily void of natural life. The territory that the Mephguóur exists in is defined by their creator and if the Mephguóur leaves this territory, they are immediately destroyed.

Habitat/Behaviour. Mephguóur behavior is purposeful, it is follows the directions of their creator. Whatever tasks, goals or directions the creator gives, they are pursued relentlessly. The Mephguóurs will use any and all means that he can intelligently figure out to accomplish his given instructions. Mephguóurs lose all requirements for social interaction, their only thought is to accomplish the directions of their creator. Several Mephguóurs can work together to accomplish a goal if they have the same creator and the same objectives. Normally one of the Mephguóurs will take the lead for coordinating their activities.

Mephguóurs rest in a standing position and when resting the lower half of their bodies are consumed in flames. Also Mephguóurs do not require sleep so when resting they are always alert. Their hands are usually  held downward and slightly forward of their waist, palms out and fingers and fingernails extended.

Mephguóurs have the same speed as the speed of the man that they were transformed from and retain all of their skills and knowledge, including their language. These skills and knowledge are used in accomplishing their goals. Their primary tools are all metal as Mephguóurs have the insatiable need to burn anything that they can.

Diet. Mephguóurs do not have a great need to feed (complete the combustion process), however they are nourished through the combustion process. Mephguóurs will attempt to cause anything into the combustion process. This includes other Mephguóurs, plants, animals, clothing, etc. The combustion process is self feeding, in that, the more it is accomplished the more efficient the Mephguóur becomes with it. Each Mephguóur has a feeding schedule, once a day, once a month or once a year. A Mephguóur that does not enter the combustion process in these scheduled periods will die of starvation.

Mating. Mephguóurs do not have the need to mate, however they may be paired with Mephguóurs at the time of their creation, otherwise they never unite with another Mephguóur unless directed to by their creator.

Myth/Lore. As has been mentioned already the main difference between the typical kind of demons and the Mephguóurs is that the latter are not summoned from other planes, but result from transformed human beings of this plane. Dark sorcerers can concentrate the amount of the Element of Fire within a human body in such a way that the body reflects it outwardly, thus turning the being into a creature of Fire. The spell cannot be undone, or at least there are no reports of healings from this spell. The explanation for this irreversibility maybe can be found in the philosophical arguments of the elven sage Celedor, who interprets - according to his race's point of view - the alignment as the state a subject has towards the elements:

"Alignment is a very personal thing. However, there are magical means how alignments can be forced in a certain direction violently. Human sorcerers at the time of the War of the Chosen found ways to force an individual to deny the powers of certain elements within the one on whom the spell is cast upon, this way e.g. turning a human into a creature of Fire, a man-demon, or to stone (in the case of an Earth transformation). The spell is very powerful, draining lots of energies from the caster, and will only work properly if there is a certain affinity towards the remaining element within the target - if not, the victim is likely to die instantly. According to the already mentioned fact that alignments cannot be changed very easily it is also nearly impossible to restore the initial state of a being whose existence has been reduced to a certain element. Even with magical means it is not possible to bring a Xeuá (the spirit of one's self), which has suffered terribly, back to life."

-- Celedor: "Of the Elements", p. 122

As Celedor stated in order to perform such a transformation spell successfully it is said that the victim has to be of dark intent, that his soul has to be a dark one before the spell is cast. This is also the reason why transformations of elves, who are beings of pure spirit, are very unlikely to happen (tough possible), orcs on the other hand can be transformed easily. However, the latter happened very seldom in the War of the Chosen, because the ancient Warlords needed the intelligence of human Mephguóurs dearly. However, like other demons Mephguóurs are difficult to control and can eventually also turn against the spellcaster, who created the creature.

Mephguóurs are destroyed when their creator dies, the exception to this case is when the Mephguóur kills its creator. When a Mephguóur is created he has a wish to destroy its creator and this desire grows over time. The ability to resist this desire is determined on the length of existence of the Mephguóur and their alignment. When the Mephguóur destroys its creator they are freed to persue their goals, tasks, and directions. Once their final task is completed they also are destroyed and can be considered to have died from "natural causes".

Mephguóurs are quite immune to normal fire, and highly resistant to magical fire effects. This depends on the level of the mage that created it. Mephguóurs are susceptible to things that effect fire, such as water and water effects, and wind and wind effects. Water and wind and their effects may hurt the Mephguóur but events that can snuff out the fire in the Mephguóur destroys the Mephguóur. Therefore, drowning and suffocation are the primary methods of destroying the Mephguóur.

Usages. Mephguóurs are primarily used to protect a mage's secrets, so they have the special purpose of being excellent and easily maintainable guards - either for mages and additionally for greater demons. They have been used in the past to lead forces of undead and bands of orcs. So they are cable of leading small forces. However, they are currently used as guards and protectors for mages and other demons as well as for objects and treasures.