Tome of the Pyromancer: Darkflame’s Grace Part 1
Hey, everyone! Time to try another fantastic game by Kerova, Tome of the Pyromancer. Honestly, I don’t know why it took me so long to write an AP for this one. A solo open world soulslike is exactly my jam.
Overview
Long ago, Quelann was the birthplace of pyromancy. Great sages discovered how to draw upon the Eternal Flame, granting them incredible power.
Kingdoms flourished. However, ambition plunged Quelann into a time of war, during which cataclysmic pyromancies brought unbridled devastation.
This became known as the Time of Woe.
The kingdoms fell. The land became a haunted wilderness of ash and ruins. Ages passed, and the secrets of the ancient pyromancers were scattered among forgotten sites and wandering sages. Now, tales of relics and pyromancy tomes have begun to spread.
We take on the role of a lowly dreg with a Pyromancy Catalyst, a relic capable of channeling the Eternal Flame. Armed with a novice pyromancy, we embark on our quest across a land reduced to ash by centuries of magical warfare.
The core of the game is exploration. We journey across six distinct Domains, each tied to a unique pyromancy discipline and filled with dangerous Sites containing relics, pyromancy tomes, ancient sages, and foes.
Travel and exploration are driven by procedural generators that create encounters, points of interest, mysteries, hazards, and discoveries. The oracle and spark tables help us develop the prompts into a narrative.
Casting and learning pyromancies come at a cost. Higher level casting increases the dreg’s Inner Fires Degree, a kind of “sanity” metric. At 6, we get a roll on the Flare Up table. At 8, we suffer a -1 to casting pyromancies. At 10, our dreg loses control and suffers total immolation.
Love this mechanic. It’s a great representation of the balance between power and the danger of tapping into the Eternal Flame.
The Inner Fires Degree can be reduced with items and rest.
General checks are really simple, rolled with 2d6 + Attribute and modifiers. A result of 8+ is a success. Higher level pyromancies, however, have a higher success requirement.
Ok, that’s enough of an overview. You should just buy the game anyway, both to support Kerova and to have fun with this gem, because it’s amazing.
Let’s create our dreg.
Character creation
We start by rolling or choosing our background. After reading them, I decided to go with the Somber Darkflame, the paradoxical death-based discipline.
Now we allot 3 points among 4 Attributes however we want (max 2, max Spirit 1). I’m putting a point in Spirit, Presence, and Dexterity.
My Vigour (HP) is 8. I have 4 Rations and d6 x 10 silver pieces (currency).
d6: 5 = 50 sp
Carry limit: 10. If I understand correctly, my current load is 2: one slot for up to 100 coins and another for up to 5 Rations.
Eternal Flame Intervention: 1
This allows us to reroll any dice result. It refreshes every new session.
So I have a Somber Darkflame disciple who wrested the Dark Taper from a corpse, starting the journey at some ash-covered ruins in Lithuria.
My dreg’s name is Aquilia. I’m thinking of creating another silent protagonist like in my Hollow Hike playthrough. I really think it goes well with soulslike stories, and it’s a fun, different way to write.
Let’s start.
Prologue
The ash blanketed the broken streets of Lithuria and the corpses stretched on them. Through melted towers and broken buildings, the wind carried embers that hadn’t gone cold for centuries.
Kingdoms had crumbled to ruins. People had burned to cinders.
Amid the devastation of Lithuria, upon the remains of a site that used to brim with life, significance, and knowledge, Aquilia knelt beside her master.
The weathered hands of the late sage still clutched a black taper. The relic glowed with its unending flame. The great gift that Monza had for her disciple, among the countless others that came in the form of lessons and teachings.
Even after the explosion that consumed their sanctuary, Monza’s hands would not let go.
Yet when Aquilia reached for it, the old sage’s stiff fingers smoothly opened, passing on the relic. If not formally, symbolically.
Dark Taper
A blackened taper that never melts, glowing with an everlasting flame devoid of warmth.
Fashioned by the pyromancy lords of Lithuria, the Dark Taper serves as a catalyst for the forbidden discipline of the Somber Darkflame. Unlike common pyromancies, its fire does not consume flesh, but kindles the dying embers that linger within every living soul.It carries the essence of Monza the Wise, Shepherdess of Death.
She wanted to bargain with the Eternal Flame itself to bring Master Monza back, but she knew that would be futile. And disrespectful, of course. Death was the true miracle, the last act that crowned a life. Journeys had no meaning without an end.
Aquilia remembered Monza’s words. “The Darkflame must endure, dear. They will call it evil, corrupt, or worse, but the true essence of death and darkness is peace, not tragedy. We must preserve that truth. If good pyromancers refuse this burden, who shall wield the forbidden arts if not tyrants?”
Aquilia would listen and nod, but deep inside, she knew she wasn’t worthy of the task. She was a mere fledgling, barely able to cast a single pyromancy.
“The fact you doubt yourself,” Monza had said, “is proof enough that you should bear this duty. You will understand one day.”
The relic felt heavy in her hand. Power corrupted, and could cause an unquenchable thirst. When the Time of Woe came, they blamed fire, poison, steel, and most of all, the Somber Darkflame. They blamed everything but themselves.
But fire didn’t choose what to burn. People did that. People with power.
Refusing the burden would soil Aquilia, their Order, and most important, Monza’s legacy. That she would not allow.
The Dark Taper settled in her palm, and Aquilia felt the forbidden knowledge and forgotten truths it carried. She rose, determined, holding it firmly and making a promise.
The Darkflame was not the enemy. Death was not cruelty. Every living thing deserved its season, and every flame, no matter how bright, would one day fade. Clinging to life beyond its proper end was to invite suffering.
Like the Darkflame itself and the Shepherdess before her, Aquilia would carry the burden. If her hands refused it, cruel ones would claim it instead.
Someone had to remember why the discipline had been created, preserve the teachings, and guide the flame with compassion rather than ambition.
Aquilia looked down at her master’s peaceful face, and she dropped the last tears. Death was beautiful, and grief was not a shame. Monza would be missed, but not forgotten.
With a farewell, she turned toward the ruined horizon.
Somewhere beyond the ash lay forgotten catacombs, wandering sages, and relics of an age that had nearly destroyed Quelann.
She would seek them all.
The Somber Darkflame belonged in the hands of those who cherished life, yet accepted death.
For every ending there was a beginning.
This was both.
Tome of the Pyromancer is available on Itch.