The Battle of Roaring Skies

### Results

- Pontiff Alonne is assassinated. The assassins are then frozen by Ester Pyx in unmelting ice for over 100 years.- Tephra strikes Ester Pyx out of the sky, giving her her signature scar.

### Involved Parties

Ester Pyx and her Crusaders of the Sterling SerpentTephra and the Iron Claw

## IRL Data

### PCs

The Pope Slayers, aka+ Amani Mycoloth

+ Machritos the Absent-Handed

+ Turga of the Burning Sky

+ P'targ the Razer

**The Battle of Roaring Skies** was a momentous battle in Halintar's history, a clash on the Battlefield between the forces of Ester Pyx and Tephra. It ended with a momentous victory for the orange dragon, with the current pontiff being assassinated and the silver deity given her signature eye scar.

This battle was also run as a oneshot under the same name. It was the first oneshot run in the current iteration of Halintar, after the start of Halintar: Respite of the Gods.

## Prelude

In the events leading up to the epic confrontation, the eternal war between the Dragon-Gods was still waging. The silver dragon's army, the Crusaders of the Sterling Serpent, have ventured dangerously close to the Ashen Breach, taking disputed territory in the central southwest on their way down. They had even claimed the Bleak, carving out it's heart to build a church.

Tephra, seeing that a terrible clash is about to take place, summons the greatest of her warriors of the Iron Claw across the continent in order to prepare for the confrontation. She sends them each a crown of iron thorns as an invitation, and as they marched to the top of the volcano Cataclysm the citizens of the Breach cheered their heroes on.

However, the orange goddess had one ace up her draconic sleeve in order to best her eternal rival. Four of her subjects were chosen for this special mission, gifted crowns made of molten adamantine, glowing with color and warmth and flecked with ash. Their mission was essential- to assassinate Pontiff Alonne, the religious leader of the Crusaders. Her immense holy powers could buff the entire battlefield, healing the Crusader's forces and turning the tides of battle against the Iron Claw. She must be dealt with directly.

## The Battle of Roaring Skies

### *Adventure Log (Narrative/ In-Character)*

A hundred years before the current times, when war was common and the tides were ever-changing… there was a battle between the armies of Tephra and Ester Pyx that was so devastating, so ferocious, that it’s known and sung about in song even today. Dozens of dragons died… and hundreds, if not thousands, of mortals. But most importantly, this battle was the origin of Pyx’s eternal scar, struck on the face by Tephra after her warriors were able to slaughter Pyx’s holy Silver Pontiff of the time.

It was a boiling point in the war. Pyx has captured the mountain range to the northwest of the Ashen Breach- disputed territory, at best, but typically under heavy Mantle control. There, she congregated a massive number of forces, with an encampment that spanned at least three miles wide. At the edge of the mountainside the dragons carved out a wide, open hole, where the humans built a church dedicated to their deity. It seemed as if the troops were ready to attack the capitol of the Southern Mantle any day now, and Tephra wouldn’t stand for it.

So, the orange Dragon-God summoned the best of her warriors as well, preparing an assault against her boastful nemesis. Four of them, honored even today, were selected to sneak about the camp and destroy the organization and pride of the Pyx troops by beheading their beloved Pontiff, who could heal battlefields in a single sleight of hand. If they could slay their priestess, they could scatter the foolish mortals who thought they could offend the South and get away with it.

And so, once dusk fell Tephra’s men congregated behind Mount Wraith, on the other side of the River of Song. The four brave soldiers snuck to an advantageous point, before Ester herself noticed them amongst the brush, and was about to attack them… before a curtain of flames enveloped the sky, and Tephra’s brood emerged from behind the mountain. Their magma lined the heavens, before blasting down onto a great span of sleeping quarters, killing hundreds before the battle even began. It’s believed that this battle had the highest concentration of dragon battling than any other before, with at least 30-50 draconic beasts on either side. You couldn’t find an area of sky without at least a couple of dragons in it, as they swarmed amongst each other and fought to the death.

Within moments, the whole encampment was loaded with blood, death, fire and ice. Soldiers and dragons dropped like flies. The four aforementioned super-powerful soldiers were: A mysterious plantfolk, known as the Palm of Eternal Slumber; A tiefling, known as Macronze the Absent-Handed; the orc Tungo, son of Raknai, known as the Burning Sky; and an orange bespectacled dragon, known only as the Razer. The party cut through Ester’s troops like butter, destroying man and dragon alike in their path. Even the strongest of Pyx’s generals couldn’t stop their march on the mountainside church.

And then, between the Pontiff and the Great Four stood only one foe- the Helm of Winter, Edmund Bloodkel. An orc raised by humans in Pyx’s territory, that fought the odds to reach the highest military rank. The one and only orc known to have achieved this honor. Though he fought nobly, even he was no match for Tephra’s greatest, who withstood his strongest attacks. He too was crushed by their strength.

By the time the group had reached the pontiff, all her guards had been taken out. Despite her immense holy power, even she couldn’t fell the Great Four- they poisoned away her power and snuffed out her light. Once her head was lifted over the battlefield, Ester was distracted just long enough for Tephra to strike a near-fatal blow to the face, leaving the eternal scar that remains. The silver goddess, in her rage, brought down her wrath on the pope’s assassins, freezing them in unmeltable ice for all eternity.

To some, the battle was a devastating loss, and to others, a valiant victory. The voices of Halintar all sing about this momentous battle, and many see it as a turning point in which the light of peace began to shimmer through the martyrdom of Pontiff Alonne and the Great Four. Even to this day, one can find the block of ice the heroes are trapped in within the walls of the Ashen Breach, a monument to the tumultuous days of old.

## Aftermath

* The Pope Slayers assassinated and beheaded Pontiff Alonne as well as the other leaders of the Crusaders, causing the Crusader forces to retreat and enraging Ester Pyx.
* Tephra struck Ester Pyx, gravely wounding her and giving her her signature scar
* Ester Pyx, in her fury, froze the Pope Slayers where they stood. They remained frozen for over 100 years, even though they were brought back to the base of the Ashen Breach where they were surrounded by molten lava 24/7

## Trivia

* Three of the four heroes of this oneshot later appeared during the Ashen "Breach" Arcs, where they were revived as powerful zombies.
* The fourth hero, P'targ, was still alive upon being de-thawed. He was seen as a living legend, and earned a leadership role under Tephra herself.
	+ He later became a major antagonist of the Knights of Nadir when he founded F.I.R.E., taking Tephra's role as a leader when she frenzied and fled during the Betrayal.