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Garyx is one of the draconic deities originally presented in FOR1 Draconomicon, for the Forgotten Realms. He is somewhat similar to Elemtia, but whereas Elemtia is a purely elemental deity, Garyx represents the effects and power of fire, rather than the element of fire.

Garyx (PDF Version)
(Firelord, All-Destroyer, Cleanser of Worlds, Flamewyrm)
Intermediate Power of the Abyss, CE

Portfolio:                 Fire-using dragons, destruction by flame, renewal through flame, vengeance upon foes
Aliases:                     None
Domain Name:           540th Layer/Caverns of Flame
Superior:                   Io
Allies:                       Hastsezini, Imix, Kalzareinad (Dead), Kossuth, Surtr, Zorquan
Foes:                           Aasterinian, Arcanic, Auril, Bahamut, Darahl Firecloak, Elemtia, Hlal, Kereska, Lendys, Memnor, Nathair Sgiathach, Rais, Stronmaus, Tamara, Thrym, Tiamat, Zaaman Ruul
Symbol:                     Reptilian eye superimposed over a red flame
Wor. Align.:              N, CN, LE, NE, CE

Garyx (gair-ICKS) is the vengeful draconic deity of destruction through flame. He is a jealous and unpredictable power, one unlikely to forgive a slight. He desires more than anything to completely remake the multiverse to his own liking, using the heat of flames to cleanse all things he dislikes, and leaving the worlds and planes a fertile land where his followers can flourish.

Ancient portrayals of the Firelord show that he wasn’t always a hateful destroyer. He was a deity who represented the wiping away of old, dead, and broken objects and ideas in order to make way for fresh perspectives and life. Sages in the planar city of Sigil speculate he was more neutral in aspect, and perhaps not so dissimilar from Elemtia today, representing the life cycle of nature as propelled by the elemental force of fire. At some point, however, it appears he battled a now forgotten deity of draconic revenge, and his absorption of that power’s portfolio forever altered his outlook. There are some who say the now-subsumed deity’s name was burned from memory by Garyx in a final act of revenge, in order to make way for his new persona.

Over many millennia, a wide rift has opened between the Firelord and most of his brethren in the pantheon. He despises the idea of measured reactions to wrongs as preached by Lendys and Bahamut; he feels that it is natural and right for the strong to completely destroy those who have committed offenses against them, no matter how minor. He also feels Tamara and Bahamut have corrupted and twisted the fire-using metallic dragons away from their rightful place in the multiverse with their talk of mercy, justice, and selflessness, and as such the pair has committed a terrible wrong against these dragons. He disputes Tiamat’s claim to dominion over chromatic dragons and Elemtia’s clam to dominion over all the elements; should the opportunity present itself, he would dearly love to slay either of them and subsume their followers and portfolios. While Elemtia’s wandering on the elemental planes does much to protect her from the Firelord’s attacks, it is considered strange that Garyx has not made a move against Tiamat. Some sages speculate this is due to intervention by Lendys and Bahamut for unknown reasons, while others see it as a clear sign that Io has warned him not to attack her. He was closely allied with the now-dead Kalzareinad for the pair had developed truly diabolical uses of fire magic over the years, and the Firelord holds a minor grudge against Kereska for absorbing his divine essence. He recognizes Kalzareinad submitted willingly and has no cause for vengeance, however. Garyx can also call on Zorquan for aid against non-draconic foes; for all of the Firelord’s disputes with his fellow deities in the pantheon, Zorquan still recognizes that the Firelord represents normal elements of draconic psyche.

Outside of the draconic pantheon, Garyx has maintains close relations with a number of other deities with similar interests and goals. His closest ally is Surtr the Black, patron of the fire giants. Each shares the belief that it is their destiny to scour the multiverse in fire and remake existence to suit their followers; rather than fight over who gets to destroy everything, they’ve decided to work together until it comes time to reshape the multiverse, and only then will they end their alliance. Their alliance does not always filter down to their followers, but that is of little matter to either deity in the long term. Similarly, the two have been put at odds by conflicts between their respective pantheons. His views on the supremacy of fire amongst the elements makes him a natural ally of Kossuth, just as his use of fire as a destructive force put him on the right side of Imix and Hastsezini.

Of course, not all deities of flame and fire see it as a tool of destruction. The elven deity Darahl Firecloak is a staunch foe of the All-Destroyer, although he has not faced the draconic power directly since the time he was known as Tilvenar. Since his loss of power, Darahl focuses on disrupting the activities of Garyx’s followers, especially where they threaten elven lands. He is known to have magically trapped a great wyrm red dragon priest in a prison of stone somewhere beneath the Desertsmouth Mountains of Faerûn circa 800 DR. Amongst the giant pantheon, Garyx holds special enmity for Memnor, for that deity tricked the All-Destroyer into leading a force of red dragons against the ancient kingdom of Ostoria. While the details of his plot are long forgotten, the initial focus of Garyx’s forces upon both frost and storm giant holdings gives some indication of what it might have originally entailed. What Memnor had not anticipated was the direct involvement of the All-Destroyer himself, which caused Thrym and Stronmaus to join the battle and destroy Garyx’s avatar. These divine manifestations escalated the conflict, and drew both pantheons into the battle. When all was done, the giantish kingdom was reduced to a fragment of its former self, and many dragon lairs lay empty and ripe for plunder, and Garyx has nursed grudges against Memnor, Thrym, and Stronmaus ever since.

Garyx is a very active deity, often sending his avatar to one prime material world or another to wreak great harm and destruction. These excursions are more often than not random and short lived, as he enjoys the extra terror that inflicts upon mortal creatures. He is not one to defend his followers against threats; the most powerful mortal beings shouldn’t require his help, after all. However, he is a capricious being, and if he sees the potential for great destruction in assisting a follower, he may make an appearance.

Garyx’s Avatar (Great Wyrm Red Dragon, Fire Elementalist 33, Priest 28)
Garyx appears as a robust dragon whose scales shimmer like fire, varying in color from red to gold and back again. He has an elongated jaw and two pairs of back-swept horns growing from the back of his head, with the lower pair curled. His eyes burn with the light of white-hot flames.

AC −12; MV 15, Fl 42 (B), Jp 6; HP 253; THAC0 −3; #AT 3 + special
Dmg 2d8+12/2d8+12/3d12+12 (claw/claw/bite)
MR 75%; SZ G (445 feet—body 230 feet, tail 215 feet)
Str 23, Dex 19, Con 23, Int 21, Wis 21, Cha 21
Spells P: 12/12/12/11/10/9/6, W: 8/8/8/8/8/8/8/8/8*
Saves PPDM 2; RSW 3; PP 4; BW 4; Sp 4
* Numbers assume one extra fire elemental spell per spell level.

Special Att/Def: Garyx favors using his magical and special abilities over physical combat. His breath weapon is a cone of super-heated flame 135 feet long, 5 feet wide at his mouth, and 45 feet wide at the base. Any creatures caught in the area suffer 24d12+12 points of damage; a successful save vs. breath weapon with a −2 penalty is allowed to halve the damage. Any cloth, wood, leather, or similar materials immediately ignite, and metals and stone melt unless they make a saving throw vs. magical fire with a −4 penalty. The Firelord has fine control over the temperature of his breath weapon and can breathe fire that isn’t hot enough to melt metal or stone; in such a case, all damage is reduced by −1 per die and the saving throw penalties are lost. Garyx swallows a man-sized creature whole on a bite attack that succeeds with a natural roll of 11 or better, irrevocably destroying the victim and all equipment.

Garyx can cast affect normal fires at will, and is able to cast produce fire, pyrotechnics, and flaming sphere 6 times per day. Three times per day, he is able to cast heat metal and fireball, and once per day he is able to cast fire storm and meteor swarm. His body exudes tremendous heat; any who suffer a physical attack from him, or who attempt to make a melee attack against him must make a saving throw versus paralyzation or suffer 1d4 points of damage.

Garyx’s aura of dragon fear extends to a radius of 140 yards. Creatures up to 5 HD/levels who catch sight of him are automatically affected (as well as all noncarnivorous, nonaggressive creatures with fewer than 25 Hit Dice) and flee for 4d6 rounds. Trained war mounts of 4 HD or more, organized military units, and single creatures with more than 5 HD or levels do not automatically flee. Rather, they are entitled to a saving throw vs. petrification at a −5 penalty. If they fail this saving throw, they fight with a −2 penalty to attack and damage rolls. No one save another deity is automatically immune to his fear effect.

Garyx is immune spells below 6th level. He is immune to all forms of poison, paralysis, petrification, death magic, mind-affecting and controlling spells and psionics, and limited wishes that attempt to alter him directly (i.e. a limited wish couldn’t wish him back to his home plane or wish his wings crushed, but it could create an ice storm that would affect him). Garyx takes no damage from fire, heat, and light, even that which normally surpasses such immunities, such as the breath weapon of a mithril dragon. He takes half damage from lightning, but is vulnerable to ice and cold attacks, suffering one extra point of damage per die, and makes saving throws against them with a −2 penalty. He is immune to weapons of less than +3 enchantment.

Other Manifestations
Garyx most commonly manifests his power in destructive blasts or flares from existing fires, igniting nearby objects. Such manifestations are often completely random, with no real goal beyond causing destruction. These bursts of flame may be of any size from a bonfire to a full-sized fireball. If the Firelord desires to cause direct damage, he may manifest as virtually any large fire-based spell, including wall of fire, firestorm, meteor swarm, incendiary cloud, etc. He may use one of these abilities to support a follower, but he does little else to support his followers when they’re in danger. Worshippers of Garyx view volcanic eruptions, lightning strikes that start fires, brushfires, and all other natural conflagrations as omens and signs from the Firelord. Typically such signs are interpreted as goads to create even more destruction.

Garyx is served by chimerae, dracosphinxes, efreet, fire bats, fire elementals, fire giants, fire mephits, fire snakes, firedrakes, firetails, flameling, gehreleths, harginn grues, hell hounds, least and lesser tanar’ri, pyrolisks, pyrophor, red dracimerae, red mantidrakes, and salamanders. He displays his favor through the discovery of citrine, fire agate, fire opal, heliodor, jacinth, mellochrysos, octel, orls, red spinels, red tears, ruby, thuparlial, topaz, and wulfenite, always set in gold, as well as melted weapons, armor, and artifacts and burnt and cracked bones from lesser races. He shows his displeasure through searing heat that bypasses any normal immunities to heat and fire, the spontaneous melting or burning of a portion of a dragon’s hoard, or the discovery of red or yellow gems in gold settings that explode when added to a dragon’s hoard.

The Church
Clergy:                      Priest-dragons, specialty priests, dragon-mages
Clergy’s Align.:      CN, NE, CE
Turn Undead:           DP: No, SP: No, DM: No
Cmnd. Undead:         DP: Yes, SP: No, DM: No

All dragon-priests and specialty priests of Garyx receive religion (draconic) as a bonus nonweapon proficiency.

The clergy of Garyx maintains an antagonistic relationship with followers of most other draconic deities. His priests see fire as the ultimate destructive force, and their control of it makes them the ultimate rulers of dragonkind. This mentality obviously does not mesh well with followers of most other dragon deities, especially those that hold a philosophy placing others at the pinnacle of draconic power. In particular, they attack Elemtia’s followers on sight in order to prove the dominance of fire over the other elements and to weaken her source of power. Red dragons in the service of Tiamat can also be in danger from the Firelord’s red dragon priesthood, for they feel he is a much more suitable patron for their kind. In the past, they got along reasonably well with Kalzareinad’s church, but they do not share that relationship with those who follow Kereska. Zorquan’s followers feel the Garian’s beliefs are misguided, but as they do not actively work against the draconic races on the whole and can be counted upon to defend them against outside threats, the High One’s clergy leaves them to their own devices. Outside of the core clergy is a small heretical sect of primarily metallic dragons who have embraced the nihilistic view that the only way to eliminate evil is to sterilize the multiverse and start over.

Temples built in Garyx’s honor tend to be in or near volcanoes or subterranean magma chambers. They are decorated in a manner that makes them terribly beautiful, with gold and gems laid into the walls to catch firelight in bright, flickering patterns. The walls often contain bright and colorful murals depicting scenes of dragons unleashing fiery destruction upon the countryside. Fires are kept burning upon a large basalt altar, which is also where sacrifices are incinerated as offerings to the Firelord. These temples are rare, with one per continent being typical. Shrines are common in many a red dragon’s domain, consisting primarily of a simple altar with a depression for a sacrificial fire. Garyx’s symbol is usually inscribed on the wall behind the altar.

On most worlds, dragons do not form organized priesthoods, as there are too few of them, and they are far too individualistic. Only worlds with very dense dragon populations or very structured dragon cultures will develop hierarchical priesthoods, and the form they take are likely to be unique to those worlds. Specialty priests of Garyx are known as incinerators. While the Firelord’s priesthood is nominally open to any dragon species, in practice it is restricted to fire- or heat-using dragons and those that live in very hot regions. The Garian priesthood is dominated by specialty priests (80%), with minorities of dragon-priests (15%) and dragon-mages (5%) fleshing out the balance. Very few half-dragons worship Garyx; those who do are generally fire elementalists or hateful individuals bent on getting revenge against some foe. None are allowed to join the clergy, nor are they seen as even minor brethren by the dragon priesthood.

Dogma: Fire is the most powerful force in the multiverse. Flames burn away the old, the overgrown, the unhealthy; the flames make way for new, healthier, and stronger things to grow. Fire tempers the body and soul; those who do not die in the flames will be stronger and better for the experience. Dragons are the most powerful beings in creation, and the most powerful dragons control and use fire, making them the masters of all things. Fire is a tool to destroy those who stand in the way of ambition, to destroy the weak-willed and insignificant, and to destroy those who are your eternal enemies. Those who wrong a dragon of fire deserve to bathe in the flames of vengeance.

Day-to-Day Activities: The clergy of the Firelord spend their days much as any dragon does. They tend to be somewhat more active than normal, and for most non-draconic creatures living near such a dragon can be very dire indeed. The evil, particularly chaotic evil, members of Garyx’s priesthood enjoy random acts of wanton destruction much moreso than the typical evil dragon.

Important Ceremonies/Holy Days: The Garian faith holds certain astronomical alignments as holy. Such alignments typically involve the specific positioning of a red star, planet, or comet within a dragon constellation; worship on these nights is mandatory, and followers must offer up the sacrifice of an intelligent creature in a sacred fire. Dragons with some degree of control over local humanoid populations favor requiring them to deliver a member of the community for these sacrifices, and usually use threats of a conflagration to convince them to comply. These ceremonies have no common name; usually they are named to honor an event connected to Garyx in the legendary or mythic history of their world. For example, on the world of Toril, the ceremony is known as the Titan’s Inferno, commemorating the war between dragons and the giants of Ostoria, although this connection has long been forgotten by most dragons.

Major Centers of Worship: The most notable temple honoring the Firelord on the world of Toril is located within the Firepeaks, in the center of the Hordelands. This temple, called the Cavern of Scouring Flame, is one of the oldest draconic temples in Faerûn, although few outside of the faith know of its existence. The mountain has long been the home of a clan of red dragons, with the eldest offspring of each generation inheriting the cavern and hoard and driving off all other siblings. Despite this, violence by dragons is forbidden within the confines of the temple, enforced by ancient enchantments said to have been laid down by Garyx himself. The dwarves and orcs who inhabit the Firepeaks know a family of red dragons inhabits the upper reaches of the mountains, and so they tend to build down, but it is probably only a matter of centuries before the dragons feel the need to cleanse the peaks of “vermin” in order to keep them from mining into the temple proper.

Another temple of Garyx lies forgotten in the city of Schamedar on Toril, now known as the Temple of Fireyes. Built thousands of years ago and likely at the demand of Ylveraasahlisar the Rose Dragon or Rivenaurlgoth the Darkly Pious, it was eventually dedicated to Kossuth after its original purpose was forgotten. It is likely that should a zealous young follower of Garyx discover this history, they would task themselves with restoring the site to the Firelord.

An ancient Garian temple once lay forgotten in the southern Hellfurnaces on Oerth, taken by a firenewt king as the capital of his domain, but some 100 years ago it was taken back by a mature adult red dragon named Varaugtholot who claimed Garyx himself led the way to the temple. Now known as the Hall of Incinerating Flame, the dragon is working on finding a mate or at least a juvenile dragon he can take on as a disciple.

The world of Golot has only one known temple of Garyx, located in a dry crevasse in a dry wasteland on the western continent. Known as the Cinderhall, it is overseen by an ancient blue dragon named Maeldrothgar, who has long been seen as an insane pyromaniac by his blue brethren. Despite being of a different breed, he is well-respected by red dragons, who often send their offspring to him for education in the basic tenets of the Firelord’s faith.

Amongst the dragons of Io’s Blood Isles, the red dragon clan of Scorch is considered unusual for the devotion members of the clan hold for Garyx. In fact, the dragonlord of the clan, Angarr the Red, is a zealous priest of the faith, and the city of Draconis is centered upon a great, glittering temple covered in gold and gems, called the Well of Flames. On the threat that humanity poses to the dragons, Angarr is the most extreme, and the only one who advocates sending flights of dragonkind to the lands outside Io’s Blood Isles to slay all of mankind in a devastating conflagration.

Affiliated Orders: None.

Priestly Vestments: The holy symbol of the clergy of Garyx consists of ruby and topaz magically melded together and shaped into a flame. Such gemstones are called Garian Flames.

Adventuring Garb: None.

Specialty Priests (Incinerators)
Requirements:          Constitution 14, Wisdom 13
Prime Req.:                Constitution, Wisdom
Alignment:                CE
Weapons:                   Any, but normally a dragon’s natural weaponry
Armor:                       Any, but normally a dragon’s natural armor
Major Spheres:         All, chaos, combat, elemental fire, necromantic (reversed), summoning, sun, weather (lightning or wind producing only)
Minor Spheres:         Divination, elemental air, healing
Magical Items:         Same as dragons, clerics
Req. Profs:                Survival (any warm region)
Bonus Profs:             Intimidation (red dragons get a +1 bonus to their natural proficiency)

• Only red, blue, gold, brass, bronze, jacinth, adamantite, mercury, sun, mithril, and iron dragons may become incinerators. Other dragons may also become incinerators, at the DM’s option, but this should be exceptionally rare.
• Incinerators are not allowed to multiclass.
• Incinerators can cast wizard spells from the school of elemental fire as defined in the Limited Wizard Spellcasting section of Demihuman Deities “Appendix 1: Demihuman Priests.”
• Incinerators who do not already have natural protection against fire and heat attacks gain a saving throw bonus of +2, and suffer one point less per die of damage from all such attacks.
• Once per week, incinerators can magnify a single fire-related spell, including their granted powers, to cause an additional point of damage per die. This cannot be used to magnify breath weapons or inherent draconic powers.
• Incinerators can cast fire burst or burning hands (as the 1st-level wizard spells) once per day.
• At the 2nd age category, incinerators can cast produce flame (as the 2nd-level priest spell) three times per day.
• At the 3rd age category, incinerators can cast flame lash (as the 2nd-level wizard spell) or flaming sphere (as the 2nd-level wizard spell) once per day.
• At the 4th age category, incinerators can cast produce fire (as the 4th-level priest spell) once per day.
• At the 5th age category, incinerators can cast firetrail (as the 4th-level priest spell) or purge of Garyx (as the 3rd-level priest spell) once per day.
• At the 7th age category, incinerators can cast wall of fire (as the 5th-level priest spell) or fireball (as the 3rd-level wizard spell) once per day.
• At the 9th age category, incinerators can cast fire seeds (as the 6th-level priest spell) or a warm type fire shield (as the 5th-level wizard spell) once per day.
• At the 11th age category, incinerators can cast fire storm (as the 7th-level priest spell) or Forest’s fiery constrictor (as the 6th-level wizard spell) once per day.
• At the 12th age category, incinerators can cast incendiary cloud (as the 8th-level wizard spell) or conflagration (as the 9th-level wizard spell) once per day.

Garian Spells
1st Level
Garyx’s Flameclaw (Pr 1; Alteration)
Sphere:                    Elemental Fire
Range:                     0
Components:           V
Duration:                 Instantaneous
Casting Time:          1
Area of Effect:         Special
Saving Throw:        ½

When this spell is cast, a dragon can project a jet of flame from the center of his claw, incinerating anything in the area of effect. The jet forms a cone 10 feet long with a base 3 feet in diameter; as the dragon ages, the cone gains five feet in length and one foot in diameter for each age category. Any creatures caught in the flame jet suffer 1d3+2 points of damager per age category of the casting dragon, to a maximum of 12d3+24 damage for a great wyrm. Those successfully saving vs. spell suffer half damage. The flames easily ignite objects that fail a saving throw versus magical fire.

2nd Level
Flamelash (Pr 2; Alteration)
Sphere:                    Combat, Elemental Fire
Range:                     0
Components:           V
Duration:                 1 rd./level
Casting Time:          2
Area of Effect:         The caster’s tail
Saving Throw:        Special

When a dragon casts this spell, his tail is enveloped in an aura of flame, and tail slap attacks leave an arcing trail of flame behind. Any successful tail slap attacks deal normal damage, plus additional fire damage equal to the normal damage from the tail attack. No saving throw is allowed to avoid or reduce this damage. In addition, any targets of an unsuccessful tail slap attack suffer the same fire damage, although a saving throw versus spell is allowed to avoid the damage. If the dragon chooses to use his tail slap against wooden structures while this spell is in effect, flaming debris is flung in an arc up to 100 feet from the source of the destruction. Any creatures in the area must make a dexterity check to avoid being hit by 1d3 pieces of debris, dealing 1d4 points of damage each. There is a 75% chance that any other wooden structures, thatch, dry brush, and other easily ignited objects will be struck and set alight by the flaming debris as well.

It is believed that firenewt priests have a version of this spell that is 3rd level and requires a 10gp ruby as a material component. When used by a firenewt, the tail slap deals 1d4 points of damage, with the spell dealing an additional 1d4 damage from the fire aura to a single target (with the same details as above for misses), and it has no ability to cause damage to structures besides the normal chances of setting them on fire. It is possible other intelligent, tailed creatures have access to a version of this spell as well.

3rd Level
Bloodburn (Pr 3; Invocation/Evocation)
Sphere:                    Elemental Fire, Necromantic
Range:                     Touch
Components:           V, M
Duration:                 5 rds.
Casting Time:          6
Area of Effect:         1 creature
Saving Throw:        Special

When cast on a living creature, this spell causes any liquids in the creature’s body to become very hot in a matter of seconds. When cast against animals, bloodburn causes the target’s blood to actually ignite within the creatures’ arteries and veins, inflicting 2d4 points of damage per round. This makes spellcasting impossible while the spell effect continues. Water stored within plants begins to immediately boil, dealing 1d4 points of damage per round. Slimes, jellies, and oozes immediately dissolve due to this spell and are instantly slain (provided they do not succeed at their initial saving throw). Undead creatures and creatures immune to fire or heat damage are unaffected by this spell.

If the target of this spell succeeds at a saving throw vs. spell, it is unaffected. Targets that fail their saving throws can attempt another saving throw at the beginning of round three of the spell’s effect (after having taken a total of 4d4 points of damage) and every subsequent round at a −3 penalty. When such a target succeeds at one of these subsequent saving throws, the spell ends and no further damage is inflicted. However, in the round the saving throw is successfully made, affected targets may still not cast spells as they are recovering their wits for the remainder of the round.

Otherwise, the only way to halt the effect before the spell expires is to successfully cast dispel magic (or a similar incantation) upon the spell’s target or to cast some form of cold spell, such as cone of cold, that totally envelops him or her. Note that the cold spell does not inflict its normal damage. If the cold spell is only partially enveloping (such as frost fingers spell or a cone of cold cast too closely), the bloodburn effect dies down for that round (no fire damage is inflicted), but then immediately spreads throughout the victim’s fluids once again, inflicting regular damage the following round.

The material component of this spell is the priest’s holy symbol.

Purge of Garyx (Pr 3; Evocation)
Sphere:                    Combat, Elemental Fire
Range:                     0
Components:           V, M
Duration:                 Instantaneous
Casting Time:          3
Area of Effect:         Special
Saving Throw:        Special

When this spell is cast, an aura of intense magical heat and fire extends away from the casting dragon to a distance equal to its fear aura. Although the dragon is not affected by the energy, everything else in the area of effect is.

Creatures caught within the purge suffer 1d8+1 points of damage per age category of the casting dragon. Thus, a purge of Garyx cast by a Great Wyrm inflicts 12d8+12 points of damage. Victims may save vs. spells to reduce the damage by half.

Objects within the area of effect, including walls, ceilings, and floors, must save vs. spell at 4 or be utterly destroyed. If the save succeeds, such objects are unharmed.

Note, however, that the effectiveness of this spell is reduced accordingly when used against creatures and objects that possess immunity or resistance to fire and heat. Also note that the purge is not an explosive wave of energy like that of a fireball or meteor swarm; rather, it is merely a sudden presence of extreme magical heat and fire.

The material component for this spell is the dragon’s holy symbol, which is not consumed.

4th Level
Firetrail (Pr 4; Invocation/Evocation)
Sphere:                    Elemental Fire
Range:                     0
Components:           V
Duration:                 Special
Casting Time:          7
Area of Effect:         Special
Saving Throw:        Special

The spell must be cast by a dragon while in flight. As its name implies, it creates a trail of tiny, fiery droplets in the air behind the dragon. These droplets fall to the ground at a rate of 30 feet per round. When they touch the ground or any solid object, they burst into flame, each burning for only a few seconds but with the same amount of heat as a burning torch. This fire has an 80% chance of igniting anything flammable (usual modifiers apply for wet material, etc.). The length of the trail is 40 feet per effective level of the casting dragon. Thus a red wyrm (effective level 20) could create a firetrail 800 feet long.

While the trail is still falling, it can be disrupted by spells like gust of wind or by natural winds. These effects won’t prevent the droplets of the trail from reaching the ground, however; they just spread it out, possibly enhancing its effects. (The DM must carefully adjudicate this depending on circumstances.)

Although the spell’s main purpose is to fire a town, firetrail can also cause serious personal damage. Anyone under the firetrail when it reaches the ground is struck by 1d20 droplets, each of which inflicts 1d2 points of damage (a saving throw vs. spell for half damage is allowed). Any creature foolish enough to fly through a descending firetrail is struck by 3d10 droplets, each inflicting 1d2 points of damage (save for half damage).

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