Janni

Jann, singular janni, were the weakest of all genies. Unlike other genies, jann were not intimately bonded to one particular element or native of a singular elemental plane, instead they were natives of the Prime Material Plane. The jann of Toril resided in great numbers within Zakhara, the Land of Fate.

Description
Jann resembled powerfully built humans or half-elves. Members of both sexes were usually quite attractive. The average janni stood between six and seven feet (180 to 210 centimeters) tall. Their skin was the color of golden sand or earth, allowing them to mingle unnoticed among the dark-skinned Zakharans, and they were often mistaken for the humans they resembled. Their eye color varied greatly, but always held a supernatural intensity. Compared to humans, jann were intellectual geniuses.

Jann were composed of all four of the elements, air, earth, fire, and water.

A janni could live to be 300 years old. While they did not have a dual nature&mdash;that is, their souls and bodies were not divided–because of their connection to the Material Plane, they could still be resurrected if they died of unnatural causes.

Personality
Jann were usually friendly toward strangers within their desert territories. For the most part, they did not show preference or malcontent toward any race over the other, preferring to judge people based upon their actions and whether or not they were enlightened. However, they did not usually like demihumans, and they hated other kinds of humanoids. The jann's trust in others waned as they reached or exceeded the boundary of their territory where they felt more uncomfortable.

As a race, jann strove to maintain a strong relationship with the djinn. They often called upon the djinn to aid them under dire circumstances. Efreet and dao were merely tolerated. The marid, however, were treated as royalty.

Abilities
Because of their tough skin, all jann were immune to the effects of the desert heat and injury or irritation caused by windborne sand. They were especially resistant to fire.

Both sexes of jann possessed great strength, with the men being slightly stronger on average than the women. However, the weakest female janni was still stronger than the majority of hulking human men. They had darkvision.

Jann possessed spell-like abilities that they used to their advantage. They could increase or decrease their height  to a maximum of 24 feet (seven meters) and a minimum of two inches (five centimeters). Jann could also use this ability to shrink or enlarge anyone they touched, willing or unwilling. Jann could turn themselves invisible, create food and water, and become ethereal. They could also fly  and breathe underwater at will.

Jann were capable of traveling instantly to the Astral and Ethereal planes, as well as all of the elemental planes. Jann were not immune to any negative effects from the elemental planes, prompting them to stay for no longer than 48 hours at a time before they needed to return home or risking slowly damaging themselves. After returning to their home, jann needed to wait for another 48 hours before traveling back to an elemental plane. They could also bring up to six or eight travelers with them to these planes, provided they all linked hands. All travelers enjoyed a janni's protection while visiting an elemental plane.

Habitat/Society
On the elemental planes, jann were typically servants, mercenaries, or slaves of the greater genies. However, on the Prime, they adopted the role of guardians of the wild reaches of Zakhara. As a whole, the jann were the physical embodiment of the desert's virtues. They were a proud people who repaid insults and impropriety accordingly. They were hospitable to travelers who showed that they deserved the treatment and who treated the jann with the same respect they were afforded.

Jann preferred to live in oases deep within the vast deserts, such as those of Zakhara,  because of the safety and privacy they felt there. They acted as the natural caretakers of the desert, serving both the genie lords and the Grand Caliph.

Similar to al-Badia, jann were nomads, though they moved about far less than the nomads of Zakhara. A common tribe of jann included ten to thirty individuals led by a sheikh,  who had one or two viziers.

Clans within a given area were part of a larger tribe. Two of the largest tribes in Zakhara were the House of Sihr in the High Desert and the Jann of the Haunted Lands.

Exceptionally powerful sheiks called amirs ruled the larger tribes and houses. Amirs were counseled by brilliant viziers who possessed spell-like abilities. Additionally, smaller clans who were not aligned with any tribe were scattered throughout the deserts.

Males and females had the same status in jann society. Both males and females could have a number of different spouses. By tradition, a married male lived in or near the tent of his family. Married females lived in or near the tent of their spouse's family until they married again, at which point a neutral site was chosen. Children were granted their own tents in the event that a tent became too small for the growing family.

Jann traveled between fertile lands to feed their herds of goats, camels, and sheep. Bright tents served as their homes on these mobile ventures. Their territory could extend for hundreds of miles.

Though they were a nomadic people, jann did maintain permanent locations hidden throughout the desert. Their favorite locations for these settlements were hidden oases, ancient ruins, and abandoned temples. Tents were prevalent in these locations, but the jann also constructed beautiful buildings such as mosques, bathhouses, smokehouses, and audience chambers.

Jann, particularly those inhabiting the Haunted Lands, were famous for their breeding of the prized saluqi greyhounds.

Language
Midani was the adopted form of communication for jann in Zakhara, though they could also speak Common. Additionally, they spoke Jannti, the common genie tongue, and could communicate with animals at will. Interestingly, any animal with whom a janni spoke would never attack that janni. They also had the telepathic capabilities of other genies.

Combat
Most jann wore chainmail or lamellar armor in battle but suffered no ill consequences from heat exhaustion when fighting under the intense heat of the day. Great scimitars and composite longbows were used so the jann could take full advantage of their great strength. A janni's large fists were also quite effective when used during combat.

Amirs sometimes led large forces of jann and humans. Jann were quite fearsome when fought within their desert homeland. While rare, a janni encountered outside of the desert was awkward and uncomfortable. Jann enjoyed a degree of resistance to anything magical while within the boundary of the desert or up to one mile beyond the edge of the desert.

If a band of jann were losing a battle, they would turn invisible and fly away to regroup, maneuvering to take a better tactical position.

History
One rumor insinuated that the jann were created initially by powerful elementals so that they could grant wishes to other genies. However, jann were not able to perform this feat.

Around -7800 DR, a large army of djinn supported by a large company of jann foot soldiers appeared near what was to become Calimport and began occupying the southern portion of west Faerûn and cleansing it of the native populations of elves, giants, and dragons (the dwarves tried to remain neutral). From this campaign, they built the Calim Caliphate.

Over a millennium later, the efreet arrived, led by the Great Pasha Memnon, to challenge the djinn. After hundreds of years of skirmishes, plotting, intrigue, and side wars with the remnants of the locals, the forces of Calim and Memnon finally met head on in a conflagration that lasted a hundred years (-6200 DR to -6100 DR). The great armies essentially destroyed each other, and the colossal forces used against their enemies seared the land and created the Calim Desert, leaving only a few jann and no djinn nobles to rule the empire. By the year -6060 DR, the last of the djinn were vanquished by an alliance of their former slaves (mostly humans) and the dwarves, who supplied them with weapons. In the peace that followed, the nation of Coramshan was born in the land south of the Marching Mountains. The fate of the jann remains unknown.

Notable Janni

 * Amir Bouladin al-Mutajalli
 * Amir Heidar Qan