Prior to the Shaping Wars (also known as the Artifact Wars), there existed the four elemental gods: Tromth (Earth), Xoriah (Fire), Ayelin (Water), and Blervoncara (Air). The four gods existed as an elemental pantheon for millennia, and were elevated in status to major gods when The One came to power. The One was a lich-druid of some considerable power that managed to make himself the Chosen of all four elemental gods. The One ruled over the Four, which represented each of the deities individually. The Four were Disciples of the various gods, and had ascended to their power through special quests and heroism.

The Disciple of Fire was the first of the Torches of Xoriah, and spent most of his life scouring Gaeleth for elemental artifacts. The Disciple of Fire taught others the ways of the Torches of Xoriah, and they spread her elemental light across much of gaeleth -- until the Shaping Wars. Tromth, Ayelin, and then Blervoncara fell to the fearsome God Slayer weapon, Giran Howel. With three-quarters of the pantheon wiped out, only the Torches of Xoriah remained to mourn their losses. They went on to create a Lost City, and it has remained hidden for millennia since.

Clerics of the fledgling Church of Xoriah are the most likely persons willing to become Torches, perhaps in the hopes of one day becoming Disciples to Xoriah. Arcane spellcasters can also become Torches, provided they prove their studious intentions towards Xoriah. Few other classes have the driving need for fire that being a Torch requires.

Hit Die: d8

Requirements
To qualify to be a Torch of Xoriah, a character must fulfill all of the following criteria:
Spellcasting: Ability to cast 3rd-level divine spells.
Base Attack Bonus: +4
Alignment: Neutral Good
Feats: Improved Initiative, Weapon Focus (punching dagger).
Heal: 6 ranks.
Knowledge (religion): 6 ranks.
Spellcraft: 3 ranks.
Special: Character must be a cleric or ex-paladin of Xoriah.

Class Skills
The class skills for a Torch are as follows: Concentration (Con), Craft (Int), Dipomacy (Cha), Heal (Wis), Knowledge (arcana) (Int), Knowledge (religion) (Int), Profession (Wis), and Spellcraft (Int).

Skill Points at Each Level: 2 + Int modifier.

Class Features
All of the following are class features of the Torch of Xoriah prestige class.
Elemental Bond: The moment a character becomes a Torch of Xoriah in spirit, Xoriah bonds the elemental plane of fire with them. This essentially turns them into a half fire-elemental (as per the template, p189, Manual of the Planes).
Fire Access: At 2nd-level, the Torch gains access to all paladin-only spells dealing with fire, as though the Torch were a paladin of his current caster level. (Former paladins of Xoriah are unaffected by this ability, and retain normal access to their fire-based divine spells.) At 4th-level, this access expands to ranger-only spells. At 7th-level, druid-only spells that deal with fire are allowed access. At 8th-level, bardic-only spells are treated as such. At 10th-level, the Torch's mastery over fire-based spells is so great, that he has access to any fire-based spell, arcane or otherwise, as a cleric of his total caster levels. This access need not require 'ranger-only' spells, but rather grants the Torch the ability to cast spells as a ranger or paladin of the appropriate level, such as flaming sphere.
Elemental Fury: At 10th-level, a Torch of Xoriah's faith is so strong, that he may allow all of Xoriah's elemental fury to pour through his half-elemental body -- engulfing him in flames. As a standard action, once per day, he can invoke elemental fury such that he becomes a fire elemental (p81, Monsterous Manual) for a number of rounds equal to his total character level. Any items worn on his character are divinely protected by Xoriah's will. The transformation to elemental fury allows the Torch's base statistics to change to those of a fire elemental whose Hit Die most closely resemble his own (although Int, Wis, and Cha does not change). Once engulfed by Xoriah's elemental fury, the character has no need of his holy symbol -- as he represents one. (The character is not treated as an 'outsider' for the duration of the elemental fury.)
Bonus Feats: At 3rd-level, and every third level thereafter, the Torch gains a bonus feat as part of their means to defend the elemental faith.
Maximal Spells: At 5th-level, the character chooses one domain of Xoriah to be affected by this feature. The domain thus affected is always cast as though with the feat Maximize Spell (p83, Player's Handbook). Spells cast from the chosen domain use up a spell slot 2 levels higher than the spell's actual level, unless the Fire domain is chosen, in which case the spell slot only 1 level higher that the spell's actual level.

Class Level	Base Attack Bonus	Fort Save	Ref Save	Will Save	Special	Spells
1st	+1	+1	+0	+2	Half Fire Elemental.	+1 level of existing class
2nd	+1	+2	+1	+2	Paladin Fire Spells.	+1 level of existing class
3rd	+2	+2	+1	+4	Bonus Feat	+1 level of existing class
4th	+2	+3	+2	+4	Ranger Fire Spells.	+1 level of existing class
5th	+3	+3	+2	+6	Maximize Spell.	+1 level of existing class
6th	+3	+4	+3	+6	Bonus Feat.	+1 level of existing class
7th	+4	+4	+3	+8	Druid Fire Spells.	+1 level of existing class
8th	+4	+5	+4	+8	Bard Fire Spells.	+1 level of existing class
9th	+5	+5	+4	+10	Bonus Feat.	+1 level of existing class
10th	+5	+6	+5	+10	All Fire Spells, Elemental Fury.	+1 level of existing class

Back up to the Classes, Etc.