Pyromeths were an ancient race, said to have existed since the Dawn of Time. They were known to have given the gift of fire to every race in the universe which they used for others to forcibly tell them stories.

Biology[]

In their native form, visible in their realm, the Pyromeths resembled tall, bipedal figures wreathed in a constant, dark fire. They had long arms but short legs, identified through indistinct lines across their bodies, with four-fingered hands and no visible feet. They also had few visible facial features aside from glowing pinpoint eyes and many sharp teeth.

Despite their threatening appearance and behaviour, they would talk in quite an informal tone, often getting excited at the stories they were being told. As a species that fed on the psychic energy that came from imagination, they required the energy that came from fiction and could not stomach facts, which would leave them weak and eventually powerless. To this end, they were known to snatch away unsuspecting storytellers to their realm, leaving them forced to tell tales forever under pain of death.

They were also strong shapeshifters, able to turn their appearance entirely into that of young children of a species native to Bobalabinko to fool passers-by into telling them stories, only transforming their heads into their natural form upon being caught. (COMIC: Firelight ^[+]Dan Slott, Doctor Who Comic (Titan Publishing Group, 2023).)

History[]

The Pyromeths were stated by the Second Doctor to have existed since the Dawn of Time, and by the Third Doctor to be even older than the Time Lords. They supposedly gave the gift of fire to every race in the universe to tell stories around. Due to them stealing storytellers, they were viewed as such a threat to experienced figures such as time travellers that the Doctor made a point of warning every potential new companion about them up to at least their tenth incarnation.

Three Pyromeths waited near an empty puppet-show booth on Bobalabinko disguised as young children, who eventually captured Martha Jones when she offered to entertain them. Upon awaking in their realm, they ordered her to begin telling stories, so she read stories off her phone about the Tenth Doctor. These stories detailed the Doctor's quest to find "the most valuable thing in the universe": first by retrieving the Ankh of Ptah that was swallowed by Troutanicus on Sirenia 7, then by using the ankh to summon Horus in Egypt and access the Realm of the Dead, then finally to meet the spirit of the Empress of the Racnoss there.

Eventually, the Pyromeths discovered that the Doctor's coveted prize was in fact the safety of his companion, and he used the Empress' information to uncover the location of the Pyrometh realm and rescue Martha. Because the Pyromeths had been fed factual stories about the Doctor's actual quest to find Martha, they were severely weakened and powerless to stop the Doctor taking Martha back as their fire died away. (COMIC: Firelight ^[+]Dan Slott, Doctor Who Comic (Titan Publishing Group, 2023).)