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| Campaign Workbook: The Blasphemer | |
|---|---|
| Publication | Dungeon Magazine issue #169 |
| Date | August 2009 |
| Publisher | Wizards of the Coast |
| Type | Character spotlight |
| Author | James Wyatt |
| Illustrator | Patrick McEvoy |
| Pages | 4-6 |
| Edition | 4th ed. |
The earth groaned in protest and pain as the dragonfire coursed over it. Kathrik Mel crouched down and placed his palm on the ground. The grass died at his touch, and the earth's outcry grew louder in his ears. He lifted his hand, looked at his fingers, and rubbed away flecks of gray ash from the tips. He drew a slow breath, and the mingled aromas of autumn and smoke turned to rot in his nostrils. He stood, stretched his arms wide, and shouted.
"Forward! Trample their bones into the ground! For Kathrik Mel!"
His warriors took up the cry: "Kathrik Mel! Kathrik Mel!"
He felt the heat of the dragonfire at his back and smiled. The warriors before him were too slow. He spoke a word, and fire leaped around him to lash at their backs, impelling them forward. For a moment he was bathed in fire, and he cackled.
As he strode behind his onrushing horde, he listened to the cries of the earth, searching for the painful harmonies of the Gatekeepers' seal and the stifled chorus behind it. Softly, he began to hum his part of that entropic chorus, a song of madness that would unmake the seal—the song that would soon unmake the world.