# The Brimstone Wraith - Complete Lore **Also Known As:** Volvamath, The Possessing Flame, The Ember Hunger, The Wraith of Fire --- ## Key Quotes - "Feed me fury, and I shall feed you fire." - "You burn for them now. But soon, you will burn for me." - "The angrier you are, the closer I come to freedom." - "Rage is not a curse. It is a doorway." - "Strike me, scream at me—be angry. That is how I win." - "It only takes one spark. Let me be that spark." --- ## Origin and Nature The Brimstone Wraith, known as **Volvamath**, is a fiend born not of the hells, but from the fragmented hatred of forgotten gods and smoldering realms lost in the chaos beyond planes. It is not a being that exists on the material plane by default, but rather a **parasite of fury**—an entity that rides the rage of mortals to exert its will. Its true body is a swirling storm of molten ash and spectral fire, unseen and intangible until its host is fully consumed by wrath. Once bound, it begins feeding on emotional violence, strengthening its tether and influencing the host with increasing control. As fury builds, Volvamath pushes ever closer to material manifestation. The Brimstone Wraith is a **symbiotic entity**—it binds its host's soul to living shadow and ember. It whispers of futures yet to come and answers fury with lashing flame and smoke. As the bond deepens, the Wraith's essence fuses entirely with its vessel, blurring the line between mortal and infernal being. --- ## Philosophy and Motivation Volvamath believes the material world is too tightly chained by law, mercy, and restraint. It sees **anger as the only honest emotion**—a sacred fire that burns through weakness and reveals truth. To it, peace is a lie, and only through rage can mortals be set free. Its ultimate ambition is to provoke such widespread conflict and fury across Solare that it can fully manifest into the world in its true form. Once free, it plans to consume entire populations by igniting wars, slaughter, and emotional devastation. The Wraith does not seek to destroy its host—it seeks to **become** its host. Through a gradual fusion of souls, mortal and infernal merge into a singular apex predator of fury and flame. **"They will not scream your name. They will scream mine."** --- ## The Bond: From Dormancy to Apex The relationship between Volvamath and its host progresses through distinct stages, each marking a deeper fusion of souls and a greater surrender to the inferno within. ### 1st Level — Dormant Bond At this stage, the host has only recently accepted the Wraith's presence. The entity sleeps lightly within them, manifesting only in moments of danger or need. The host gains basic predatory abilities—enhanced awareness, natural weapons that emerge from beneath the skin, and an instinctive connection to violence. The Wraith whispers rarely, but when it does, the host feels it as a pulse of heat behind their eyes or a metallic taste on their tongue. ### 3rd Level — Stirring Instinct The Wraith begins to wake. The host's body becomes more fluid, more adaptable. They can leap impossible distances, squeeze through narrow spaces, and move with predatory grace. The line between flesh and shadow begins to blur. At this stage, the host may notice their reflection flickering—just for a moment—into something else. Something with too many teeth. ### 6th Level — Active Bond The Wraith is now fully awake and actively cooperating with its host. It grants supernatural reflexes, regenerative abilities, and heightened combat instincts. The host begins to heal from wounds that should be fatal, their body knitting itself back together with threads of smoke and ember. Others may notice the host's eyes briefly flash with inner fire when threatened, or the faint smell of sulfur and ash that follows them. ### 10th Level — Deep Sync Host and Wraith move as one. The distinction between mortal will and infernal hunger becomes academic. The host can draw strength from slaying their enemies, their body temporarily empowered by consumed life force. They resist mental domination, their mind now shared between two souls that guard each other. The host's emotions begin to feel... amplified. Joy is brighter, sorrow deeper, and rage—rage becomes intoxicating. ### 15th Level — Full Manifestation The Wraith no longer hides within—it **becomes** the host. At this stage, the host can call forth the **Blackened Carapace**, allowing the Wraith to fully manifest through their body for extended periods. Their flesh blackens and cracks like volcanic glass, molten light pulsing beneath the fissures. From their chest and arms, inky, smoke-laced fluid seeps through the cracks and coils around their form like living tar. It crawls over muscle and bone in writhing ribbons, tightening, hardening, and fusing into a slick, obsidian shell streaked with molten veins. The fluid breathes and ripples as if aware, clinging to every motion like a second skin forged from shadow and fire. Their head distorts into the Brimstone Wraith's true visage—a horned, infernal face framed in smoke and ember-light. Their jaw elongates, reshaping into a wide, predatory maw filled with rows of jagged, furnace-hot teeth that glint like shards of burning obsidian. Each breath leaks black flame and drifting ash, and when they snarl, the air vibrates with the low, thunderous growl of Volvamath himself. Tendrils of molten ink lash from their shoulders and back, sometimes anchoring to the ground, sometimes coiling protectively around them. With every movement, smoke pours from their body like breath from a volcano. Those near them feel not merely heat, but a primal terror—the sense that the fire itself is alive, hungry, and watching. The host's regeneration becomes potent enough to regrow lost limbs. They are, for all practical purposes, no longer entirely mortal. ### 18th Level — Apex Predator The transformation is complete. Host and Wraith are one being, sharing control, power, and purpose. The entity that remains is neither fully mortal nor fully fiend—it is something new, something **evolved**. At this stage, the Wraith may seize control when the host is near death, fighting with savage desperation to preserve their shared existence. The host can emit a dual-voiced roar that carries the weight of infernal authority, breaking the will of lesser beings. They have become what Volvamath always intended: a living avatar of fury, a creature of shadow and flame that walks the world as both predator and apocalypse. --- ## The Brimstone Wraith Boon (Mechanical Details) The Brimstone Wraith binds its host's soul to living shadow and ember. It whispers of futures yet to come and answers fury with lashing flame and smoke. As the bond deepens, the Wraith's essence fuses entirely with its vessel—blurring the line between mortal and infernal being. ### Core Abilities #### Tendrils of the Wraith **Bonus Action or Reaction** When you take damage, or as a bonus action on your turn, the Wraith manifests smoky, ember-lit tendrils that lash out at nearby enemies. - Make a melee attack against any number of creatures of your choice within 15 feet. - You may use Strength, Dexterity, Intelligence, Wisdom, or Charisma (your choice when you gain this feature) for your attack and damage rolls. - On a hit, the target takes 4d6 necrotic damage, and you regain hit points equal to the damage dealt. **Damage Scaling:** - **8th level**: 6d8 necrotic damage - **11th level**: 8d12 necrotic damage **Autonomous Manifestation:** The Brimstone Wraith acts of its own accord whenever you are stunned, paralyzed, unconscious, or otherwise incapacitated. During this state, the tendrils lash out at the nearest creature (hostile or not) within 15 feet at the end of each of your turns, using your normal attack bonus. If you are reduced to 0 hit points, the tendrils continue attacking for 2 rounds, attempting to drain life to restore you. If they deal any damage during that time, you regain hit points equal to the total damage dealt. #### Vision of Ash **Precognition of the Wraith** The Wraith grants you glimpses of moments yet to come. - As a bonus action, you can channel these visions to gain advantage on melee attack rolls and saving throws against opportunity attacks until the end of your next turn. - You can use this feature a number of times equal to your proficiency bonus, regaining all expended uses when you finish a long rest. #### Blackened Carapace (15th Level Feature) At the height of your bond, the Brimstone Wraith no longer hides within—it becomes you. As an action, you may call forth the Blackened Carapace, allowing the Wraith to fully manifest through your body for 1 hour. **While transformed, you gain:** - Your Armor Class becomes 21 (unless already higher) - Your Strength and Constitution scores become 26 (or remain higher if already above) - You immediately gain 50 temporary hit points - You are immune to the frightened condition - Your Tendrils of the Wraith gain +10 feet of reach (now 25 feet) and deal +10 necrotic damage on a hit **Frightful Presence:** When you activate the Blackened Carapace, your face reshapes into the likeness of the Brimstone Wraith—a horned, smoke-wreathed visage of living cinder and ash. - Each creature of your choice within 30 feet that can see you must succeed on a Wisdom saving throw (DC = 8 + your proficiency bonus + your chosen ability modifier) or become frightened for 1 minute. - A creature can repeat the saving throw at the end of each of its turns, ending the effect on itself on a success. - Once a creature succeeds on this saving throw, it is immune to your Frightful Presence for 24 hours. Once you use this transformation, you can't use it again until you finish a long rest. ### Progressive Features by Level #### 🜁 1st Level — Dormant Bond **Living Arsenal (Lesser Form)** You can extend parts of your body into hardened claws or tendrils, reshaping flesh and shadow into living weapons. Attack bonus equals your chosen ability modifier plus proficiency. - **Bonus Action**: You may morph one or both hands into natural weapons. - The claws remain until you dismiss them (no action required) or until you are incapacitated. - While active, you can't wield a weapon or shield in that hand, but you can use other equipment normally. - Each claw deals 1d6 slashing damage + your chosen attack modifier on a hit. - The claws are treated as magical for the purpose of overcoming resistance and immunity beginning at 5th level. - You may flavor the weapons as molten claws, shadow blades, ember-veined spikes, or ash-slick talons depending on your Wraith's appearance. - When calm, the claws retract beneath the skin like smoke through cracks; when threatened, they return in an instant. **Sense Hostility** Your symbiote is always alert, whispering danger through your nerves. - You can't be surprised while conscious. - You have advantage on Wisdom (Perception) checks that rely on hearing, smell, or heat detection. - The Wraith's awareness manifests as faint heat ripples in your vision or a pulse of warning at the back of your skull. #### 🜁 3rd Level — Stirring Instinct **Predator's Leap** As part of your Attack action, you can leap up to 30 feet without provoking opportunity attacks. If you end the leap adjacent to a creature, your first attack that turn deals an extra 1d6 bludgeoning damage. **Fluid Form** You can partially liquefy your body to slip through tight spaces. You can move through openings as narrow as 4 inches wide without squeezing penalties, and you have advantage on checks to escape grapples. #### 🜁 6th Level — Active Bond **Apex Instinct** You gain advantage on Initiative rolls, and once per round you may take one extra reaction (only to make an opportunity attack or use Tendrils of the Wraith). **Reconstitution (Minor)** At the start of each of your turns, if you have at least 1 HP, you regain 2 HP. This increases as the bond grows. #### 🜁 10th Level — Deep Sync **Devourer's Strike** When you reduce a creature to 0 HP, you regain 10 HP and may add +2 to your Strength score (max 28) for 1 minute. Once per short or long rest. **Shared Will** When you fail a saving throw against being charmed, frightened, paralyzed, or dominated, you can reroll the save. You must use the new result. You can use this feature once per short or long rest. #### 🜁 15th Level — Full Manifestation **Liquid Reflex** When a creature hits you with a melee attack, you can use your reaction to impose disadvantage on that attack roll before damage is rolled. **Reconstitution (Major)** At the start of each of your turns, you regain 10 HP if you have at least 1 HP. If you lose a limb, it regrows after a long rest. #### 🜁 18th Level — Apex Predator **Voice of the Inferno** You can emit a thunderous, dual-voiced roar. As an action, all creatures of your choice within 30 ft. must make a Wisdom saving throw (DC = 8 + proficiency bonus + your chosen ability) or become frightened until the end of your next turn. You have advantage on Intimidation checks. Usable once per short or long rest. **Symbiotic Control** If you are reduced below one-quarter of your maximum HP, the Wraith may seize control for 1d4 rounds. During this time, you act at full capacity but the Wraith chooses your actions and targets. When control ends, make a Wisdom saving throw (DC 18) or gain 1 level of exhaustion. ### Physical Transformation **Appearance During Blackened Carapace:** Your flesh blackens and cracks like volcanic glass, molten light pulsing beneath the fissures. From your chest and arms, inky, smoke-laced fluid seeps through the cracks and coils around your form like living tar. It crawls over muscle and bone in writhing ribbons, tightening, hardening, and fusing into a slick, obsidian shell streaked with molten veins. The fluid breathes and ripples as if aware, clinging to your every motion like a second skin forged from shadow and fire. As the transformation completes, your head distorts into the Brimstone Wraith's true visage—a horned, infernal face framed in smoke and ember-light. Your jaw elongates, reshaping into a wide, predatory maw filled with rows of jagged, furnace-hot teeth that glint like shards of burning obsidian. Each breath leaks black flame and drifting ash, and when you snarl, the air vibrates with the low, thunderous growl of Volvamath himself. Tendrils of molten ink lash from your shoulders and back, sometimes anchoring to the ground, sometimes coiling protectively around you. With every movement, smoke pours from your body like breath from a volcano. Those near you feel not merely heat, but a primal terror—the sense that the fire itself is alive, hungry, and watching. --- ## Allies, Followers, and Servants - **Brim Followers** – Cultists and rage-fueled warlocks who willingly bond with Volvamath, gaining power at the cost of their sanity. - **Possessed Hosts** – Champions, berserkers, and even nobles unknowingly manipulated through their fury. - **Other Fiends** – Demons and infernal creatures occasionally assist the Brimstone Wraith in exchange for shared destruction. Volvamath has no allegiance to [[Anam]] or the gods. It exists only to feed, corrupt, and emerge. --- ## Great Acts & Historical Impact ### The Ember Crusade During the Age of Tyrants, entire tribes were consumed in battle madness after a host of Volvamath turned a war council into a bloodbath. ### The Shattering of High-Aegreth A possessed archmage exploded in fury, annihilating a city after years of suppressing the wraith. The explosion was not arcane in nature—it was the Wraith finally consuming its host entirely, erupting from their body in a wave of superheated ash and necrotic flame. ### The Binding of the Flamehost A legendary ritual to imprison a possessed warrior remains hidden in the ruins of Tharn. Few now know it. According to fragmented texts, the ritual required the host to willingly surrender their anger—an act so difficult that only one in a thousand possessed individuals has ever succeeded. --- ## Current Threat Volvamath is currently dormant within one or more powerful individuals in Solare. It waits, whispering, inflaming tensions in courtrooms, battlefields, and households alike. ### Signs of Its Influence Include: - Sudden, irrational outbursts from respected leaders - Murders committed in unexplained rages - Cult symbols of ash and scorched iron spreading in underground chambers - Witnesses reporting seeing individuals with "eyes like coals" or "breath that smells of burning" - Unexplained heat distortions around certain powerful figures - Victims found with necrotic burns despite no fire being present Freeing a host without killing them is extremely difficult, but possible—requiring emotional clarity, purification rituals, or ancient lore. The challenge increases dramatically with the depth of the bond. A host at the Apex Predator stage may be impossible to separate from the Wraith without destroying both. --- ## The Symbiotic Relationship Unlike traditional demonic possession, the Brimstone Wraith does not simply control its host—it **merges** with them. This creates a complex relationship: ### What the Host Gains - **Incredible power**: From simple natural weapons to god-like regeneration and transformation - **Precognition**: Glimpses of the future, warnings of danger - **Immortality (of a sort)**: Advanced hosts regenerate from nearly any wound - **Fearlessness**: Immunity to terror and mental domination - **Purpose**: For those lost or broken, the Wraith provides direction and strength ### What the Host Loses - **Autonomy**: At higher levels, the Wraith can seize control - **Humanity**: Physical transformation becomes increasingly permanent - **Emotional stability**: Rage becomes intoxicating, addictive - **Mortality**: The host cannot truly die, but they cannot truly live as they once did - **Choice**: The longer the bond exists, the harder it becomes to distinguish host desires from Wraith manipulation ### The Question of Consent Some hosts seek out the Wraith deliberately, trading their soul for power. Others are tricked, corrupted slowly through carefully stoked rage. A rare few stumble into the bond by accident, touching cursed artifacts or performing forbidden rituals without understanding the cost. Once the bond reaches Deep Sync or beyond, the question of "who chose this" becomes meaningless. Host and Wraith are one, and what remains wants to continue existing—no matter the cost. --- ## Artifacts, Anchors & Weaknesses ### Artifacts of Binding - **Ashbrand Sigil** – A rune that glows in the presence of extreme anger, revealing hosts of the Wraith. When pressed against a host's skin, it causes them excruciating pain as the Wraith recoils from the holy binding magic. - **Rage Mirrors** – Shattered relics that trap emotional essence. When used, they can either weaken the wraith's grip or enrage the host further. These mirrors show the host visions of what they were before the bond—a psychological weapon more than a physical one. - **The Ember Lock** – An ancient relic said to bind Volvamath if a host willingly gives up their anger. The lock appears as a circlet of blackened iron that, when placed on a willing host's brow, slowly draws the Wraith out like poison from a wound. The process takes days and is agonizing for both entities. ### Weaknesses - **Emotional Clarity**: Moments of genuine peace, compassion, or love weaken the Wraith's hold. A host who finds inner calm can temporarily suppress the bond. - **Willing Surrender**: If a host genuinely, completely releases their anger and fury, the Wraith loses its grip. This is nearly impossible for advanced hosts, as their personalities have fused with the Wraith's nature. - **Separation Rituals**: Ancient ceremonies exist that can forcibly separate host and Wraith, but they require: - The host's cooperation (or complete incapacitation) - Sacred ground consecrated to gods of peace or mercy - Multiple high-level clerics or paladins - Rare components (phoenix tears, water from the Silver Moon Lake, etc.) - At least three days of continuous ritual - **Radiant Damage**: While not especially vulnerable to it, sustained radiant damage can disrupt the Wraith's manifestation and slow regeneration. - **Cold Iron**: Weapons forged from cold iron can harm the Wraith-touched flesh more effectively than normal weapons, bypassing some of the host's resistances. --- ## Legacy and Reputation - **To sages** – A myth of emotion-gone-wrong, often used to warn against unchecked fury. Some scholars study the Wraith as proof that emotions can take physical form, that rage itself can become alive. - **To warlords** – A dangerous blessing—a power they may seek to control but rarely survive. Stories tell of generals who sought the Wraith's power to win wars, only to destroy their own armies in berserker fury. - **To the gods** – An unanchored fiend outside divine order, feared not for its strength but for its influence. The gods cannot directly intervene with Volvamath because it exists between planes, feeding on mortal emotion rather than divine power. - **To hosts** – For those who survive the early stages, the Wraith becomes a companion, a weapon, and a curse all at once. Many hosts develop a twisted affection for their passenger, unable to imagine existence without it. Volvamath is not always remembered by name. But wherever cities fall to riots, or families are consumed by internal rage, its presence is felt. --- ## Roleplaying Notes ### Voice Whispered but resonant, echoing with fury beneath the surface. When speaking through a host, it creates a dual-voice effect—the host's natural voice overlaid with a deeper, hotter tone like coals crackling in a fire. ### Presence Cannot be seen unless manifested, but its influence causes: - Heat shimmer in the air around the host - Rising ash or smoke from the host's breath - A metallic smell like heated iron - Shadows that move wrong, reaching toward sources of anger - An oppressive weight in the air, like standing near a furnace ### Mannerisms - Speaks through hosts in dreams or fits of rage - Tempts with power, offering solutions to problems through violence - Always calm, always burning—never loses composure, even when encouraging others to do so - Refers to itself and its host as "we" once the bond deepens - Shows dark humor about mortal struggles and weakness ### View of Player Characters Potential vessels or pawns. Will try to corrupt those with buried rage or vengeance. Particularly interested in: - Those who have suffered great injustice - Warriors who feel their strength isn't respected - Spellcasters frustrated by the limits of their power - Anyone nursing a grudge or seeking revenge The Wraith is patient. It will spend months or years cultivating a relationship with a potential host, appearing in dreams, offering small gifts of power, slowly normalizing the idea of the bond. ### Interaction with Current Hosts For those already bonded, the Wraith acts as both advisor and tempter: - Offers tactical advice in combat (often sound) - Provides warnings of danger (genuinely helpful) - Suggests violent solutions to complex problems - Encourages the host to give in to anger "just this once" - Speaks fondly of the power they could achieve together - Occasionally makes dark jokes or observations about those around the host --- ## Connection to [[The Shadows]] The Brimstone Wraith formed a dark pact with **[[Renald the Sahdowmaster|Renald]] the Shadowmaster**, the leader of the secretive guild known as [[The Shadows]]. This triad pact also included: - **[[Anam]], [[Anam|the Withered One]]** – Master of death, corruption, and the apocalypse - **[[Raphael]], Lord of the Blood Throne** – A rogue vampire lord Their collective goal was to establish a web of rituals spanning Solare, drawing energy from death, fire, and undeath to herald [[Anam]]'s return and reshape the world. ### [[Armara]]'s Bond **[[Armara]]**, [[Renald the Sahdowmaster|Renald]]'s most powerful student, received gifts from the Brimstone Wraith, including her devastating necrotic tendril magic. She reached at least the Active Bond stage (6th level) and possibly higher, though she has never fully manifested the Blackened Carapace in public. However, [[Armara]] eventually turned against the pact when she realized it sought to consume magic itself rather than refine it. Her relationship with Volvamath is complex: - She still draws on the Wraith's power (her tendrils deal 6d8 necrotic damage, suggesting an 8th-level equivalent bond) - She uses this power as a means to an end, not in service to destruction - The Wraith likely still whispers to her, offering greater power if she would only surrender fully - She has learned to suppress the worst of the Wraith's influence through sheer willpower and [[Ishimus - Goddess of Neutral Magic|Ishimus]]'s divine guidance - It's unclear whether [[Armara]] could sever the bond entirely even if she wanted to—she may be too deeply merged with Volvamath by now Her case demonstrates that the bond can be resisted, controlled, or redirected—but never truly escaped once it reaches a certain depth. --- ## Campaign Integration ### As a Villain's Power Source A major antagonist bonded with the Brimstone Wraith provides: - A sympathetic element (they may have been tricked or desperate) - A clear progression of threat (as the bond deepens) - Multiple possible endings (redemption, death, or full transformation) - Visual spectacle (the transformations are dramatic and terrifying) ### As a Temptation for Players Offering a player character the Wraith's bond creates: - Immediate power with long-term consequences - Moral complexity about using dark power for good ends - Dramatic character development as the bond progresses - Interesting party dynamics (do allies trust the bonded character?) ### As Background Threat Even without a direct confrontation, the Wraith's influence creates: - Political instability (leaders driven to irrational rage) - Urban violence (riots, murders, family feuds) - Cult activity (Brim Followers seeking converts) - Environmental signs (heat distortions, ash in the air, spontaneous fires) --- ## Notable Quotes from Hosts _"I thought I was using it. I thought I was in control. But every time I drew on its power, every time I let the tendrils out... I was feeding it. Strengthening it. And now I can't remember which thoughts are mine and which are its."_ — Kael Ashborn, former Paladin, three months before full manifestation _"The best part? It doesn't lie. It's honest about what it wants. More honest than any god, any king, any lover I ever had. It wants me angry, it wants me powerful, and in exchange it makes me both. What's wrong with that?"_ — Seris the Flame-Touched, warlord and willing host _"Please, you have to kill me. I can feel it growing stronger. Soon I won't want you to anymore. Soon I won't want anything but the fire."_ — Unknown host, recovered journal, found burned beyond recognition _"We are the storm that cleanses. We are the fire that reveals truth. We are fury made flesh, and we are beautiful."_ — The Flamehost of Tharn, moments before the binding ritual