One of the perks about being an intern at Paizo is that I have the privilege of reading and editing Pathfinder material that I would normally peruse in my free time. In my first week here at Paizo, in fact, I was handed a manuscript for an article that will be appearing in Pathfinder Adventure Path volume #21, "The Jackal's Price." This article describes the various cultures of genies and legends surrounding geniekind, and should prove very useful for those GMs seeking to expand their players' encounters with these mythological creatures in the Legacy of Fire Adventure Path. I had a chance to speak with Wes recently about the historical and mythological sources that were referenced in the creation of Golarion's genies.
One of the most comprehensive sources is The Encyclopedia of Middle Eastern Mythology and Religion by Jan Knappert. In the pages of this reference guide, sandwiched between the entries for Jilani and Jiris (the Arabic form of the name George, apparently), is a fairly long explanation of jinns. Knappert explains that in Islamic countries, spirits are divided among jinns, shaytans, ifrits, and marids, and that in Ancient Persia some jinns and other evil spirits were referred to as div (which also have a role as a new breed of fiends in Legacy of Fire). The entry goes on to illustrate examples of genies from myth, for instance, Knappert explains that many jinns "have ugly and terrifying forms" as a result of God's curse for copulating with animals.
Another source that was referenced is Everyman's Dictionary of Non-Classical Mythology by Egerton Sykes. Among other things, this book was used as a reference to further develop the shaitans, the new earth-based genie that was created as a replacement for closed-content earth genies. The brief entry explains that shaitan was the Islamic name for devil, and the it also "applied to the third species of jinn."
Wikipedia also proved to be an invaluable font of (sometimes questionable) knowledge about genies and Middle Eastern mythology in general. In the entry for ifrit, for example, an ifrit is described as "an enormous winged creature of smoke, either male or female, who lives underground and frequents ruins." The entry goes on to explain, "While ordinary weapons and forces have no power over them, they are susceptible to magic, which humans can use to kill them or to capture and enslave them." Already sounding like RPG text, entries like this can do a lot to spark GMs' imaginations.
Hopefully these sources can serve as a launching pad for your own investigations into the nature of the always-unpredictable and dangerous genies and can inspire you to flesh out the nature of genies in your own games. You can also look forward to a detailed exploration of genies and their society showing up in Pathfinder Adventure Path volume #21. Also check out Jesper Ejsing's djinni illustration appearing on the cover of that volume. He starts a series of four cover characters who, while not necessarily specific personalities in the Adventure Path, epitomize the genies featuring prominently in each.
