Kurai, the Fire Spirit

In her natural form she is a large red phoenix. As a human she wears robes of crimson silk, and her auburn hair is pinned into a bun at the base of her neck by a comb adorned with a golden phoenix. In both forms her eyes are amber in color.

From the beginning of time Kurai ruled bodily over Fire people, teaching them to be honor-driven warriors. Her home was atop a volcano in the Nezga Mountain Range, and no humans but the Avatar Ethril were allowed to set foot on it. When the Ice Prince came to negotiate a peace treaty, she fell in love with him. Unfortunately before she could reveal her true identity to him, a male Fire warrior assassinated him with a poisoned dagger. In anguish she fled, and her mournful cry can occasionally be heard echoing down from her mountain perch on the coldest of winter nights. Upon witnessing the Great Spirit's distress and departure her people vowed to always protect the Ice Kingdom in her memory.

The Fire people live at the base of Kurai's mountain. There is a temple at the center of the community, under which sits a hot spring that is their focus of worship. Once a year the ruler of Nezga visits the spring to submerge his/herself in the warm waters as an offering to the mourning spirit, in hope that one day she would return and free the country from its ice age.