The Inpherno is characterised by being split into four regions, each with their own unique attributes and residents. Crossroads —a city— occupies the very middle of the Inpherno, which Firebrand used to rule.

Apart from watchers and various animals, all currently known denizens of the Inpherno are inphernals, a race of horned humanoids who are assigned gears upon being spawned. Residents of the Inpherno live rather similar lives to humans in the real world; they can have jobs, live in apartments and partake in various past-times.

The Scorch occurred ten years prior to the events of PHIGHTING!, on August 25 at 2:35 PM. Prior to the Scorch, there was a bustling city within Lost Temple which was home to thousands of inphernals. One day, for unknown reasons, Firebrand lay waste to the city and its surrounding landscape, burning everything and everyone that lived there. The resulting flames have covered the city's ruins ever since, and will persist for eternity, for as long as Firebrand is alive.

After the Scorch, the surviving inphernals were left with little hope. Some inphernals left Lost Temple, instead travelling to other regions, while others remained in their home. Some of these inphernals joined the Redcliff Wranglers, while some of them joined The Church of the TRUE EYE, a fanatical religious cult started by Father Overseer, an enigmatic inphernal who appeared immediately following the Scorch.

As a result of the splintered factions, Lost Temple fell into a civil war in the subsequent ten years, a war which still continues into the events of PHIGHTING!. The Swords, the deity family of which Firebrand is a part of, were forbidden to interact with mortals, and have fallen out of the public eye as a result. Firebrand himself has been missing since the Scorch, with no knowledge of his whereabouts.

The Swords, oftentimes referred to just as 'the deities', are a group of powerful inphernals within the Inpherno who are all based on the sword gears from Sword Fight on the Heights IV. They are considered a subtype of standard inphernals, but differ in some key features, namely that the Swords have indefinite lifespans[11], and bleed ichor, rather than blood.[12] The Swords all possess wings in some form or another, which is a trait unique to them and their descendants.13

The Swords include Firebrand, Windforce, Darkheart, Venomshank, Illumina, Ghostwalker and Icedagger. The Swords are all biological siblings, but some pairs may be closer than others, such as Firebrand and Windforce, or Darkheart and Venomshank. Ban Hammer, Valk, Dom and Sword are all blood related to the Swords, and may possess their own unique abilities or physical characteristics as a result.

The Swords were created by a higher power, but have long since been abandoned by their creators after said creators death. Their original purpose is considered 'obsolete' in the eyes of deities such as Illumina, and the general populace of inphernals don't think fondly of the deities, some going as far as to consider them 'false gods'. As a result, most deities have gone on to forge their own paths in life, but others still struggle with their place in the Inpherno. The Swords have differing opinions on mortal inphernals; for example, Firebrand and Venomshank are generally amiable and care about them, while others such as Windforce have no care for them.

Since The Scorch, an incident in which Firebrand incinerated a Lost Temple city 10 years prior to the events of PHIGHTING!, the Swords have been forbidden to interact with mortals. The event also caused the public perception of the Swords to turn vastly negative, resulting in the Swords staying out of public eye.

Age: Late 20s–early 30s

Pronouns: He/Him

Chuck is the youngest of the Redcliff Wranglers, and is also the shortest.[3]

Chuck acts tough to over-compensate for his short stature, but despite this, he holds a large amount of respect for Grappling Hook and Beehive. He is an incredible sharpshooter, and can easily snipe a target, something he is known to do when the other Wranglers get on his nerves. Despite his apparent tough nature, he quietly returns the affection his groupmates give him. This is also seen in his relationship with his oziphrage, which he babies when nobody is looking.[3]

Chuck is a dark-skinned inphernal, with wide ivory horns which are reminiscent of a cow's, similar to Grappling Hook. Chuck wears a dark brown wide-brim cowboy hat, emboldened with a golden Lost Temple emblem on the front and golden trim. He adorns the ends of his horns with golden tips, and he wears his feather charm around his right horn. He wears a loose red pinstripe shirt and tan chaps with golden trim, complete with a wide brown belt. He wears light brown cowboy boots, as well as a long asymmetrical cloak, which is light brown with golden patterning. His cloak typically covers his lower face, obscuring his expression. He wears bandages down his forearms and across his hands.

Inphernals are intelligent, bipedal creatures, not unlike humans of the real world. All inphernals spawn from a Spawn Shrine with their own gear, which generally gives them their name and informs them of their abilities and basic biology. Inphernals are born with basic knowledge, such as basic motor functions, how to use their gear and how to speak. Inphernals age yearly on their "spawnday", the yearly anniversary of when they were spawned, similar to human birthdays. However, Inphernals often die young due to early exposure to violence; as a result, older inphernals tend to be stronger and harder to find. Unlike humans, they are completely hairless, except for those with animal gears, who can possess tails and other such features related to their respective gear. Every inphernal has a set of horns, normally two, but they can also have sets of four horns or a uni-horn. they can also have abnormal horn traits in the form of mutations, such as Firebrand, who has a single pronged horn that covers his eye, or Void Star, who has two large horns that cover both of her eyes and many smaller horns around her head.
Inphernals do not have a biological sex or reproductive organs, and instead are born from a Spawnpoint. Normally, inphernals are born at random without parents from a respective Spawnpoint, but two inphernals can sacrifice part of their gear's power in order to produce a biological child. There is no particular rhyme or reason to what gear an inphernal is spawned with, even when spawned by their parents. However, it is rarer for an inphernal to spawn with a support-class gear, and even more uncommon for it to possess healing abilities. Only one of a specific gear can exist in the Inpherno at any one time, and once an inphernal dies, their gear becomes available for spawning once again. An inphernal's gear is spiritually a part of them, allowing them to summon and de-summon it at will. Inphernals can possess a variety of different skin tones across the color grey.

Inphernals are a relatively violent race; their population is split up into four major regions, which are ruled over by various factions that are constantly at odds with each other. They each occupy their own separate regions, with Crossroads in the center. Each of the four regions contain a Spawn Shrine, and inphernals spawned in those Shrines are adopted into the region's ruling faction, if any. It is frowned upon to change or defect from your faction later on. Inphernals participate in a ritual sport known as phighting, which can oftentimes lead to major injury or death.

Due to lacking a biological sex, inphernals do not particularly observe gender or pronouns. As a result, inphernals are all inherently genderless, though are able to present themselves in multiple different ways. Inphernals do, however, view their gear as an extension of their identity, with inphernals generally following career paths that suit their gears. Some inphernals may be unhappy with their spawn gear and seek to replace it, with inphernals like Zuka selling artificial gears for inphernals to adopt in place of their original gear. However, unlike the gear an inphernal is spawned with, artificial gears cannot be summoned or desummoned. Gears can also be modified, oftentimes to augment the gear in some way or to give it additional modes.

Inphernals celebrate their spawndays, much like humans do with their birthdays, with a variety of different customs, such as: throwing parties, spending time with friends and family, being excused from their public executions and spending lots of bux. Some inphernals, such as Katana and Zuka, find spawnday celebrations to be frivolous, or even downright annoying.

nicknames: Hook
Age: mid 40s
Height: 6'1
Relations: Scythe (Ex–Wife)

Grappling Hook has dark gray skin and two ivory horns sprouting from either side of their head, going outward before curving up into a sharp tip. Both horns have a gold ring near the base. They wear a burnt mahogany cowboy hat with a brighter color band, and two reddish-brown feathers pinned on the left. On the front of their cowboy hat is a gold Lost Temple insignia. Grappling Hook also wears a red-orange cloth poncho with a large collar that hides their neck. Around the edges of the top part of the cloak is a dandelion-colored string edge, and the same continues for the bottom part of the cloak. The bottom part has a triangle cut out for their arm. Grappling Hook also wears a red-brown suit with a burnt mahogany vest, pants and belt. Attached to the right side of the belt is a yellow lasso. Near the bottom of the pants is a reddish-orange pleated area that leads into their dark brown boots.

Grappling Hook seems to have a strong friendship with Bee, although she's mostly bothered by them.

Grappling Hook care about everyone, wrangler, any Inphernal, even the church members. They deeply miss their wife, and wishes that she would be back them if the Church ended one day.

pronouns: Any
Age: 30s

TNT is the most reckless member of the Redcliff Wranglers.

TNT is stand-offish, being automatically suspicious of and eager to poke fun at outsiders. However, they are friendly and loud with people they know, such as the other Wranglers. They are good friends with Tarantula, due to them both having equally silly natures. Tarantula is the only one that TNT allows nicknames from, due to their closeness. TNT tends to speak informally, except when being sycophantic.

TNT is a dark-skinned inphernal, with distinctive orange and black banded horns, which point upwards and end bluntly. Across the right side of his face he has a scar, which he earned from his reckless behaviour. TNT wears an ivory wide-brim cowboy hat, emboldened with a gold Lost Temple emblem on the front, complete with a brown hatband, and gold jewelry through the front and back of the brim. He wears a dark brown shirt with lighter brown slacks, and tall ivory cowboy boots, with gold trim and gold spurs. An ivory rope is tied around his waist, which hangs down to the floor, reminiscent of the fuse on a stick of TNT. He wears a long, ornate, dark red pinstripe cloak, with gold trim and burnt hems along the bottom of the cloak and the collar, which he wears popped out. He wears an ivory neckerchief, which is tied with his feather charm.

Nicknames: Cal
Age: mid 30s
Pronouns: He/Him
Relations: Cowbell (Child)

Caltrop, better known as Cal by his groupmates, is a studious and highly skilled member of the Redcliff Wranglers.[2]

Cal takes great pride in his gear, which are small caltrops that are small enough to fit in the palm of his hand. They are very sharp and could easily go through someone's shoe. He can throw his gear far, and has great aim. He is the type of inphernal to follow orders stringently and to take every job seriously, and gets frustrated when he is thrown off track. Despite how scrupulous he is with his work, Cal is very social and is amicable towards his friends and the other Wranglers. He loves outings with large groups, and is not afraid to make jabs at other inphernals. However, he does not blindly trust outsiders.

Cal has a minor lisp, which he has fought to correct. He always keeps his sleeves rolled up, refusing to roll them down when told to. He is the parent to Bolas Cowbell, who are part of the Wranglers, and he loves them dearly. His oziphrage is named Teddy.
Bolas (his eldest) us very helpful around the camp, and loves helping everyone. Cowbell (his youngest) is just a child who sees her father as her biggest role model and wishes to be like him. She collects features of Oziphrages sometimes to wear them as accessories.

Cal is a medium-toned inphernal with four short, spikey gold horns, which jut out from the sides of his head. Cal wears a reddish brown cowboy hat, with a red hatband, and a gold Lost Temple emblem on the front. The left side of the brim of his hat is torn. He wears a dark red dress shirt, with lighter red trim, and a pinstripe pattern on the inner sleeves. He wears long, flared dark brown pants, which are split by jagged gold patterning, revealing a lighter brown pinstripe pattern down to the flare. He wears gold boots, and brown gloves. Slung over his left shoulder is a dark brown cloak, with gold trim and a gold underside, which is finished with tassles on the bottom hem. His feather charm is attached to the front of his cloak. Finally, he wears a ragged gold neckerchief, which is tied up in the back.

The Church of the TRUE EYE is a fanatical religious cult formed by Father Overseer after the Scorch. Members of the Church worship an unknown deity, and consider themselves a "Family". Almost all members of the Church wear a uniform comprised of mostly teal-colored formal attire, and participate in the ritualistic removal of one of their eyes. The Church contends for control of the Lost Temple Spawnpoint with the Redcliff Wranglers, and have a prominent role in Death in the Family, where Medkit disappears after joining their ranks.

Age: Early 40s
Nicknames: Tara
Pronouns: She/Her

one of the most friendly members of the Redcliff Wranglers.

Tara is incredibly sociable with other inphernals. She can be a bit nervous around strangers but warms up to new friends easily, to the point of being overly trusting to inphernals she has just met. Her groupmates often have to remind her not to blindly trust others. She is very playful and doesn't take things too seriously, preferring to keep the mood light. She will happily ramble on and on if someone lets her. She is good friends with TNT, and is the only inphernal allowed to call him nicknames. Tara is the tallest out of the Wranglers.

Before the Scorch, she raised animals for a living. As a result, she is designated to look after the group's oziphrages. Her gear, which is a pet tarantula that she carries around on her hand, is named Chipper. She sometimes makes it little hats from scraps of fabric.

Tara is a dark-skinned inphernal with two wide, orange conical horns that angle downwards; they're wide at the base and taper to a rounded point at the end, with three white stripes across the middle of them. She dons a brown cowboy hat, which she wears askew, with a dark brown hatband and a gold Lost Temple emblem on the front. She wears a light brown shirt with dark brown sleeves, and a dark red skirt which extends down to her feet. Her skirt has a slit up the left side, and is trimmed with gold. She wears a dark brown waistband, which her feather charm is attached to. She wears bandages down her arms and around her hands. She wears a distinctive gold and light gold poncho, which is reminiscent of a spider web with a geometric pattern and jagged hem

Oziphrages, also known as "burrowing vultures" or simply "vultures", are large carnivorous flying birds that are nqative to Lost Temple. They closely resemble bearded vultures of the real world, but are much larger in stature and easily tower over inphernals.

Denizens of Lost Temple, particularly the Redcliff Wranglers, keep oziphrages for their utility as transport and companionship. While they are docile to particular inphernals, such as Tarantula, they can be predatory and violent towards individuals less confident around carnivorous birds. Oziphrages prefer to eat inphernals, but will eat ambiguously sourced rotten flesh all the same.

Oziphrages predominately feature brown and orange plumage, with white faces, white primary feathers, and dark brown beaks, but can also come in other shades. Baby oziphrages are born without feathers, but grow into their plumage as juveniles. Young oziphrages look very similar to adults, but lack their distinctive "eyebrows."

Nicknames: Bee
Age: mid 30s
Height: 5'7
Pronouns: She / Her
Beehive, better known as Bee by her groupmates, is a rather standoffish member of the Redcliff Wranglers.

Bee is the most irritable of the Wranglers, showing a clear distaste towards outsiders. As well as holding the opinion that that the Church is full of "outlaws craving violence", contrary to Grappling Hook's more sympathetic view on the Church. She maintains a guard around her emotions, careful to not let any vulnerability slip. Despite her more aloof behavior, she displays a genuine care and want to protect the Redcliff Wranglers.

Her skin is medium-toned, and she wears a cowboy hat similar to the rest of the Redcliff Wranglers. The hat is dark brown with hexagon-shaped goggles wrapped around where the band would be. The lenses of these goggles are a honeyed yellow. Bee's horns are similar to the antennae of a honeybee. They appear with a deep brown that start on her forehead. The horns go up through the band of her hat before ending at blunt tips. Beehive uses her gear as both a storage pack and a habitat for her bees. The top compartment serves to store essential tools, such as wrenches, and the bottom compartment is designed to house her colony of bees. She has two main types of bees. The first type is the normal bee, characterized by its round shape and distinct wings. The second type is the spy bee, which is notably smaller than the other bees.

The Redcliff Wranglers are a group of "rag-tag survivors" from the Scorch, led by Grappling Hook. They were first introduced in Death in the Family, where they feature prominently on Sword's quest to find Medkit. The group is known for their use of oziphrages for transport and their distaste of the Church. In order to regain control of the Lost Temple Spawnpoint, they have entered an uneasy alliance with the Darkage Clan.

Lost Temple is a hot, dry desert that was once home to a bustling city full of thousands of inhabitants. Ten years prior to the events of PHIGHTING!, this city was burnt to the ground in the Scorch, and the lasting effects thereof now serves to divide the remaining populace. Most inphernals that did not leave Lost Temple for other regions would end up joining either the Redcliff Wranglers or The Church of the TRUE EYE.

The temperatures of Lost Temple are unbearable to non-natives, and even those native to Lost Temple can find the environment unpleasant. Fashion in Lost Temple can be varied, but ponchos, scarves, bandanas, and cowboy hats are common fixtures of an inphernal's wardrobe. Those who live out in the desert plains tend to live in tents and sleep on hammocks.