Apocalypse in Thay (FR)

[Arravis]

An event took place in my FR campaign world, and I'd like to get your opinions on the fallout of such events.

A 24th level wizard cast the spell "Apocalypse from the Sky" (from the Book of Vile Darkness) over Thay. At that level the spell has a 240 mile radius and caused 10d6 points of sonic damage. We'll assume it did average damage, 30. Since it's sonic, it ignores hardness of objects, buildings, etc. The spell was cast late at night and most of the common populace would be asleep.

What do you guys think the overall effect of this would be? Would there be enough infrastructure left for Zulkirs to still remain in control? How would the refugee situation be? How would neighboring countries react? Well, any suggestions are welcome! Thanks guys!

 

[Sammael]

The spell has a casting time of 1 day and a material component of 1 artifact. Why didn't the Red Wizards detect it and stop the caster?

Also, the spell's average damage is 35, which is hardly enough to destroy even a single stone building, much less the Red Wizards' impressive towers and strongholds. And that's not even counting the various protective spells that every Thayan building most likely has.

In short, apocalypse from the sky is a spell useful for levelling villages and countryside, not incredibly powerful magical nations.

 

[Arravis]

Exactly how would they detect the casting?

You don't need to destroy stone towers or keeps to destroy a nation. You destroy roads, you destroy farms, fields, and the cattle that feed the nation. You destroy wooden buildings which store supplies, you destroy wooden homes (building with wood is much more practical and economical than building with stone). You don't need to harm the Zulkirs or their lackeys, but the harm created might destroy the structure that gives them strength.

An army marches on it's stomach, as do all the slaves of Thay. You affect food supplies, you affect waste disposal, trade routes, etc... all this causes major changes. Would the neighboring nations see an opportunity? Would Mulhorand and Aglarond see a nation unable to support much of an army and move to take over parts of Thay?

I think such an event would be quite epic in its effects.

 

[Sammael]

Exactly how would they detect the casting?

I am sure the Zulkir of Divination has the means to detect a nearly epic-level spell that takes a day to cast and consumes an artifact in the process. But if you don't agree, that's fine. By the way, considering the effect is centered on and harms the caster, I'd declare that the spell has to be cast in the open.

You don't need to destroy stone towers or keeps to destroy a nation.

True enough.

roads

I don't quite see how the roads would be "destroyed" with the casting of this spell. Bridges maybe, but I'd think most bridges would be made of stone. Even so, bridges are easily repaired and/or remade within a day or two in a nation that has hundreds (if not thousands) of wizards with access to fabricate and other powerful magics.

you destroy farms, fields, and the cattle that feed the nation.

This much is true and would be problematic. I find it likely that the Zulkirs would send their armies (safely stockpiled in underground complexes and thus unaffected by the apocalypse) on raids into neighboring countries. Or even further away, by means of portals. I am also sure that the Thayan enclaves would organize magical transport of food and other supplies from other parts of Faerûn.

You destroy wooden buildings which store supplies, you destroy wooden homes (building with wood is much more practical and economical than building with stone)

The first time I saw a wooden house in my life was when I came to the U.S. Cheap? Sure. Practical and economical? Nope.

But back to the point at hand, most commoner houses in Thay would certainly be built from wood. Presuming the red wizards don't want to get involved in the reconstruction, the survivors would need a few months to rebuild. Aided with magic, months could easily turn into weeks.

Would Mulhorand and Aglarond see a nation unable to support much of an army and move to take over parts of Thay?

Quite possibly. This is entirely up to the DM, but I think Mulhorand at least would want to ensure that Thay doesn't recover. However, most of their army is situated in Unther, so it is debatable if they'd get to react before the Thayans could recover enough to defend themselves.

Also note that the red wizards themselves are more than capable of defending the country from ordinary armuies, and that Szass Tam's undead legions have no need for food, water, lodging, or roads (hell, they can walk on the riverbeds if needed). Kossuth's clerics could likely summon up a decent elemental army in a day or two, if needed.

 

[Arravis]

Apocalypse from the Sky is not an epic level spell nor, as I recall, is the Zulkir of Divination an epic level caster. I don't know of any divination spell that would automatically foretell such an event, especially on a spellcaster that's Mind Blanked, and immune to any divinations that would affect him directly. Foresight would be the nearest thing, but that wouldn't give enough time to find the offender and stop him.

Anyway, if Thay was the organized power-house that you describe, they would have ruled the entire region long ago. From everything I've read, Thay's wizards have always been a disorganized mess of short-sighted backstabbers. Additionally, looking at the population spread of PC classes as listed in the DMG p139, you don't end up with a ton of wizards able to cast Fabricate, a 5th level spell.

I don't see how it could simply be shrugged off as you suggest.

 

[Davelozzi]

Damn, that's a cool spell.

Yeah, I'd say it'd hit the country petty hard. I definately think that others would try to move in and take advantage of the chaos, though I'm not sure that I picture the Aglarondians doing it. The Mulhorandi definately would if they had the resources, though as Sammael said they might be too entrenched in Unther to pull it off. I could see the witches of Rashemen doing it. On a less organized level, I could see Nars and Tuigans moving in for frequent raids. The more peaceful neighbor nations (Aglarond, Thesk, Telflamm, and Impultir) would probably be destinations for many of the refugees, which would cause them all sorts of problems of their own. Also, I can't remember how strong the druidic population is in the Great Dale/Lethyr/Rawlinswood, but I'd bet they'd have stong feelings about it one way or the other -- either pro if they see it as destroying a decadent civilization and bringing the area to a more wilderness like state, or against, depending on how much damage there was to the natural environment (both directly by the spell, and indirectly from the refugee problems mentioned earlier).

 

[Sammael]

Apocalypse from the Sky is not an epic level spell, nor as I recall is the Zulkir of Divination an epic level caster.

I said "nearly epic." Yaphyll is a 19th level caster, and her description in the FRCS notes that she "...uses her magic to monitor the other zulkirs...," which, to me, indicates that she has access to some very powerful divinations, probably researched by her. Once again, whatever works for you.

Anyway, if Thay was the organized power-house that you describe, they would have ruled the entire region long ago. From everything I've read, Thay's wizards have always been a disorganized mess of short-sighted backstabbers. Additionally, looking at the population spread of PC classes as listed in the DMG p139, you don't end up with a ton of wizards able to cast Fabricate, a 5th level spell.

Lords of Darkness states that there are 1,000 actual red wizards, with another 5,000 wizards working under them. The 1,000 red wizards are all of 6th level or higher; I think it's safe to presume that there are probably at least 300 of them who are 9th level or higher, though it is not stated anywhere in the book. Of those 300, probably at least 250 are capable of casting fabricate, even if they don't have the spell in their spellbooks.

The mistake you are making, IMO, is that you are presuming the Thayans would act exactly the same when it comes to defense of Thay as they do when invading other countries. History shows us that this is patently false. Regardless of their squabbles, the red wizards would band together to protect Thay from outside threats.

 

[Stone Angel]

Why when anyone does something in the realms posts here about it. Someone always has to say no thats not possible because so and so and this and this. Arravis didn't ask for help creating havoc in Thay he asked for help on determining what the aftermath would be like.

A spell like this would most certainly decimate the common and peasant class poulace. Not to mention that it would riddle the livestock in the radius almost to nothing. Wildlife the same. Simple structures and low grade structure most likely destroyed or damaged to the point that they need serious repair. There is some serious Civic engineering needed.

Thay is not really a region I am familiar with in the realms. But as someone else mentioned their might be certain factions and others that try to rest power from the Zulkirs. A powerful thieves guild not to mention that if a particular Zulkir was weakened more than another that they more be some infighting. Neighboring countries or governments would try to seize any resources that seemed precious. Allies if Thay has any would be called on.

Another thing you would see a definite survival of the fittest chain start. There are less common animals and for the predators to feed off of that you could see more powerful of the monsters but probably less encounters.

Hope that this helps


The Seraph of Earth and Stone

 

[painandgreed]

Exactly how would they detect the casting?

One would assume that such as the Zulkir of Divination would do things like make sure nothing too big surprised the rulers of Thay. If something like this spell were to go off, it would look very badly upon anybody of high level in Divination if they did not have some warning of such. The easiest way for such a wizard to do so would be Contact Other Plane. As a 19th level wizard (as somebody else has stated) and assuming 10th level Red Wizard, he could cast four Contact Other Plane Spells each day for 10 questions each. With a +4 Specialist Defence and a 20 Int and a +5 bonus to Int for some magic item, he could contact outer plane, lesser deity with little to no chance of failure and a high chance of getting a true answer. I figure that unless otherwise occupied, he probably casts one of these a day for questions related to his job (such as if there is a apocalypse in the works) or questions others require him to ask for them. If the questions look like they are going someplace, he can cast more to follow up on them. I suspect he'd have some scrolls set aside for a emergency that required that he played "20 Questions to Save Thay" till he got it down. You could also assume that he has a couple of wizards high enough to cast it also and follow up for him on topics of lesser importance. Foresight is another spell that might work. If he was in the area of effect during the casting time of one day, I'd say it would surely warn him. If you really wanted to give the Zulkir of Divination some credit, give him a 9th level spell like Foresight (which sucks for a 9th level spell IMHO) but that detects future (say 1 day per level of caster) danger to a society or country of the casters naming. That would give him time to Contact Other Plane to figure out the danger.

Once a threat of this magnitude is determied to be likely, he starts sending messages to the other Zulkirs and they pull their resources. I agree that when Thay itself is in danger, they'd pull together to stop it. They might hold the need for such help against the person who called for it later, but they'd still do it.

 

[Darkness]

I concur with painandgreed. (BTW, Yaphyll is female.)
Also, they have clerics as well.

Further, the Red Wizards' silly mistakes of old are because of TSR's policy that (my words, not theirs, but that's what it amounted to) evil is dumb. This changed under WotC.

I wouldn't even dare trying this stunt in Cormyr, much less a magic-heavy nation like Thay.