Muspelheim 2nd Part

Flora:

None to speak of. Muspellheim borders on the Myrkwood, which is more properly a liminal space between the worlds, and there is vegetation there, but the Muspellheim side of the Myrkwood is full of charred trees.

Fauna:

There are creatures in Muspellheim, besides the fire-etins, but little is known about them. There have been sightings of reptilian creatures that crawl through lava-hot mud, varying in size from a couple of inches long to something the size of a city bus. The fire-etins do hunt and eat some sort of animal; there are charred bones around to prove it, but discussing their diets is considered to be impolite.

Residents:

The fire-etins are territorial, and curt and abrupt with outsiders. They take offense fairly easily, and react in an appropriately fiery manner. It is best not to travel there without first getting permission. In their human form, they stand six to eight feet tall, and their skins are usually blackened with soot. When they flip to their fiery forms, the soot is shaken off, and so you can see them with unblackened skin for a little while after they change back. They wear very little clothing - usually just a tunic or loincloth of some sort of tanned reptile skin - and there seems to be no clothing difference between males and females. In their fiery form, they are like great pillars of fire, sometimes vaguely humanoid-shaped, and sometimes not. They can fling fireballs a good way, so running away from them is not recommended, nor is attempting to fly in. Like all etins, they are cannibals, and are not averse to eating visitors. Unlike other etins, they eat all their food cooked...because they can cook it in a matter of seconds.
Fire-etins are generally cheerful and wild, except when they are being suspicious and cautious. In fact, if they are subdued, you're probably in trouble. They have infectious laughter and love to shoot sparks, competing with each other to create fireworks that illustrate their moods. They are the most confident and courageous of etins, and they always laugh during battle. They do some of their own metalworking, but for the more intricate and delicate things they trade with the duergar, who are the undisputed masters of forging.
The Lord of all fire-etins is Surt, and the Lady is Sinmora. Some claim that they are husband and wife; some claim that they are the same individual, and that Surt happens to like flipping from male to female form, and having a separate female persona.
Surt is rather short for a fire-etin, which shows his great age - not that they get shorter with age, but more that the younger generations are taller. His manners are more courtly than the average fire-etin, and his wrath is a little more controlled. He is very intelligent, although he has on occasion acted less so in order to gall visitors into making rude comments, and thus having a reason to fry and eat them. He is not to be underestimated. Surt has a close relationship with (and a great respect for) Hela, with whom he is building Naglfari as a joint project. He has said that he is Loki's godfather, and that Laufey came to Muspellheim to give birth to him, because nowhere else in the Nine Worlds was hot enough, and that she lay in Surt's biggest fireplace to bring him forth.
Fire-etins are useful for learning to work with fire - well, obviously. They can help you with learning to make fire from an older method, such as tinder and flint, and with deciphering the subtleties of the rune Kano/Kaunaz/Ken, and with learning to heat your body with your own energy. They are very good for people who tend to throttle their aggression to the point where they get stepped on; they can help folk get in touch with their inner fire. They are also good for people suffering from burnout, who have lost enthusiasm for life. Their courage and confidence is contagious, almost to the point of blind enthusiasm, but it's a nice change for the tired and cynical.