The inzanzistronei /ɪnˈzænzɪstɹoʊˌneɪ/ is a thin-limbed stranger which appears to be made entirely of flame, which ranges from orange, to blue, to near-white. Its limbs seem proportioned not to hold it upwards, but rather, to affix it to the world. It glows, but does not illuminate its surroundings. The inzanzistronei does not set its surroundings aflame, and feels, if anything, a bit cooler than the surrounding air when touched, despite it exceptionally hot inner area. Its odor is at first crisp and clean, but, when examined at a close enough distance, takes on the stench of burningӇ materials. The peculiarities of this smell corresponds to the inzansistronei's immediately environment – an inzansistronei surrounded by wooden objects will smell differently than one whose vicinity is filled with plastic bottes.
Ӈ Anything dead went in, if it had never been alive. Dead lightbulbs... dead batteries... dead nitrous canisters...waiting to be melted down and born anew.
Baz Ganges. The Glutton Surgere.
The inzanzistronei's body dissipates when exposed to water, producing no steam in doing so. Otherwise, it is not damaged by any physical interaction with the world, but its fire grows cooler in perceived intensity when exposed to long, shuddering sounds or tones, its body breaking apart and disappearing.
The stranger's crackling audio holds similarity to human cadence, though it can't be called a voice.
The inzanzistronei appears in the uppermost floors of car parks, never appearing underground. The parking facilities of stadiums, hospitals, or shopping centers provide equally likely home to an inzanzistronei, and its inclinations are further persuaded by yellow lights, number placards more than twenty-seven years old, and any sheen of grease or fluid that makes the floor reflective.
It flickers into sight as though a gas were lit alight.
Individuals which appear near one another tend to disperse within the hour. Despite this, inzanzistronei infestations tend to be clustered around one or two specific sites within a city, and do not spread out beyond their boundaries.
The inzanzistronei's disposition remains gentle and sincere, its exploration of the world timid and fleeting. It never allows its head or tail to touch anything in its environment. It settles down in certain enclosed spaces with no windows, low ceilings, and doors which close entirely, leaving a light-free containment. There and only there, it lays upon the ground, its fiery audio becoming a bellowing inferno. Only in these circumstances does it physically impact the world, leaving a black burn-mark on the ground꒙ beneath it.
The inzanzistronei's flame causes other objects to become enkindled, as well. Aside from its color, this flame appears indistinguishable from typical fire, and spreads from object to object in the same way that fire spreads. Unlike typical flame, however, the inzanzistronei's associated phenomenon causes no damage, and feels very slightly cool, rather than hot to the touch. All fires lit by this phenomenon do not persist beyond ten to thirty minutes, and do not spread more than fifteen feet from the inzanzistronei's body, other than a low glow⺕ on fabric or papers held by sensitives.
This flame does not affect other strains.
꒙ I sat down beside it and I stared into the inferno. The car park became a thing that stretched down for six-hundred and sixty-six more floors. And I let myself burn...
Nu Kong. Phenomenon Papers #1103.
⺕ I saw the red rocks of hell itself, sandstone compressed by screams turned solid. I saw the molten fire of souls – shredded, dissolved in white fire that danced, poisonous to the touch.
Ricarda Pointe Shearer. I Remember Muralia.
The inzanzistronei is neither social nor asocial. Small clusters congregate and disperse with little regularity and no communicative gestures between individuals. When two individuals of disparate size stand near one another, the smaller is always absorbed by the larger, with the larger displaying a temporary 10-20% increase in mass. Such absorptions elicit no emotional reaction from any involved or nearby individuals.
The inzanzistronei tends to be actively disinterested in sensitives, moving away from them more often than not. It does not move faster than a slow walking pace, making it easy to force interaction with this harmless stranger. When touched by a sensitive, the inzanzistronei crouches and becomes still, waiting for the sensitive to leave. If any opening presents itself, it will sneak away and return to its usual wander.
The inzanzistronei's flame can also spread to a sensitive's body, thus providing potential confusion or delight.
The inzanzistronei disappears at the end of its life, burning brighter and then breaking apart in a brief dazzlement. It leaves only the slightest singe directly underneath where its body had once stood.