djinn

Or djinns he’d surely cheated in a bargain, avenging themselves with a constant itch in his ear.

“I realize that you may destroy me, and if that is my fate, I welcome it. Come now, let us see if the vaunted reputation of the djinn is well deserved!”

“We never call them that. There's a djinn. A nice one too. Comes and goes, but I like to carry this so she'll be comfy when she comes to visit.”

Add liberal doses of djinn and divine relics, and you have yourself a stew.

This impulse is an ancient one: The idea that one might bind a djinn, create a golem or manipulate a god or fairy to do your bidding is inscribed deep in the human imagination.