Scroll of the Emberburst
Also known as: Fireball Scroll
A scorched roll of salamander-skin parchment, its Pyrakian rune-script seared in ever-smouldering ink that glows ember-orange even in total darkness. When the final syllable of the invocation is spoken aloud, the scroll ignites itself and hurls a roaring sphere of Pyrakian soulfire outward, reducing everything within a dozen strides to cinder and blackened glass.
Artifact Details
- Type
- Scroll
- Rarity
- Rare
- Origin
- These scrolls are hand-scribed by the Ember Cantors of the Pyrakian flame-cities, priest-scholars who transcribe living fire into language by pressing molten rune-stamps onto cured salamander hide harvested from the volcanic deeps beneath the Ashen Spine. Each scroll is a single-use vessel for a fraction of the Pyrakians' sacred soulfire, produced as a deliberate act of war-craft to give non-Pyrakian allies a taste of their civilization's most destructive gift.
Overview
Scroll of the Emberburst is a rare scroll in Landorya. Its known origin is These scrolls are hand-scribed by the Ember Cantors of the Pyrakian flame-cities, priest-scholars who transcribe living fire into language by pressing molten rune-stamps onto cured salamander hide harvested from the volcanic deeps beneath the Ashen Spine. Each scroll is a single-use vessel for a fraction of the Pyrakians' sacred soulfire, produced as a deliberate act of war-craft to give non-Pyrakian allies a taste of their civilization's most destructive gift.. Its most cited abilities include Releases a massive, concussive sphere of Pyrakian soulfire upon vocal activation, incinerating targets and scorching terrain within a wide radius., The flames burn supernaturally hot, they cannot be quenched by water, Ocearan tide-magic, or Naiad frost-breath for a full minute after detonation., and A secondary pressure wave radiates outward at the moment of detonation, hurling armoured opponents off their feet.. Accounts also warn of a drawback: The vocal activation carries a steep price for non-Pyrakians: the reader's throat and lungs are seared from within by the soulfire passing through them, leavin…
History
During the Ashfall Campaigns, the brutal Pyrakian push to drive Orc war-clans from the obsidian trade routes of the Ashen Spine, Ember Cantors mass-produced Scrolls of Fireball and distributed them to Human mercenary bands fighting as Pyrakian auxiliaries, fundamentally changing siege warfare across Landorya. One infamous cache of seventeen scrolls, gifted to the Desert Scholar-commander Savreth the Brass, was used to level the fortified canyon-holds of the Orc chieftain Gorrakh Stonebellow in a single dawn assault, an event the Orcs still call The Morning of No Shadows. After Savreth's death, surviving scrolls scattered across the continent; the Fey Court of the Eternal Twilight is rumoured to have acquired several, drawn to the paradox of fire existing within their twilight groves. Today, individual scrolls surface occasionally in the markets of Human trade-cities and in the hoards of Desert Scholar relic-brokers, each one fetching a small fortune from soldiers and warmages alike.
Powers & Abilities
- ✦ Releases a massive, concussive sphere of Pyrakian soulfire upon vocal activation, incinerating targets and scorching terrain within a wide radius.
- ✦ The flames burn supernaturally hot, they cannot be quenched by water, Ocearan tide-magic, or Naiad frost-breath for a full minute after detonation.
- ✦ A secondary pressure wave radiates outward at the moment of detonation, hurling armoured opponents off their feet.
- ✦ The reader is granted momentary immunity to the blast, wreathed in a thin shell of protective heat-aura that dissipates immediately after.
- ✦ Once read, the scroll consumes itself entirely, the ash retains a faint warmth for one day, and can be dissolved in oil to coat a blade with residual fire damage.
Curse or Drawback
The vocal activation carries a steep price for non-Pyrakians: the reader's throat and lungs are seared from within by the soulfire passing through them, leaving the speaker hoarse and in considerable pain for days afterward. Those who read multiple scrolls in quick succession risk permanent scorching of the vocal cords, several Human commanders have been rendered mute by overuse in desperation battles.