05-15-2022, 09:11 AM
There is nothing about the rain that seems suspect.
Not at first.
Midwinter storms are common on the newly-isled Tephra, the cold snows of the north and east turned to a heavy drizzle, warmed by the sea and the heat of the steam that rises from the near-molten earth. The clouds that roll in from the horizon are at first unremarkable, thick and dark and crackling with thunder. The storm moves quickly, bringing a caliginous caste to the early afternoon sky, so that the light feels nearly dusk.
The morning rain continues to fall as a faint drizzle, heedless of the incoming storm.
A pair of flaming phoenix hummingbirds dart through a misty break in the warm air, passing an ibis resting in the shallows of the kingdom’s largest lake. A family of giant otters play near the bank, splashing and chattering despite the dreary weather.
The first lightning strike comes long before the storm.
It is impossibly large and eye-achingly white, and it strikes the side of the volcano - obliterating everything, even the crust of the earth. There is nothing but a large moat-like lake around the volcano, that part of Tephra and everything within it destroyed.
No other strike is as large as the first, but each of them are bright and they fall rapidly, dotting the landscape with new wells of magma. Fires spark, and the world pauses.
It ends almost as quickly as it began, the blink-and-you-missed-it storm that has drastically altered Tephra’s landscape. The flames smolder and die thanks to the damp foliage and the driving rain, and the storm begins to shrink. It pulls in on itself, drawing smaller and smaller until it is nothing but a cloud. And then it is nothing at all, and the early evening sky over Tephra is lit by a brilliant red sunset that paints the cloudless sky a vibrant gold.
Something had caused this, something otherworldly.
But what?
****
Tephra has been severely damaged by an incredibly large thunderstorm, but is still habitable. The rivers of lava are larger than before, with several ‘ponds’ of magma and one large lake of it surrounding the base of the volcano. Curiously, the lightning and the increased lava flows avoided all residents and visitors. Though it’s certainly no fault of the storm if some of them were startled and leapt into the path of danger.
Not at first.
Midwinter storms are common on the newly-isled Tephra, the cold snows of the north and east turned to a heavy drizzle, warmed by the sea and the heat of the steam that rises from the near-molten earth. The clouds that roll in from the horizon are at first unremarkable, thick and dark and crackling with thunder. The storm moves quickly, bringing a caliginous caste to the early afternoon sky, so that the light feels nearly dusk.
The morning rain continues to fall as a faint drizzle, heedless of the incoming storm.
A pair of flaming phoenix hummingbirds dart through a misty break in the warm air, passing an ibis resting in the shallows of the kingdom’s largest lake. A family of giant otters play near the bank, splashing and chattering despite the dreary weather.
The first lightning strike comes long before the storm.
It is impossibly large and eye-achingly white, and it strikes the side of the volcano - obliterating everything, even the crust of the earth. There is nothing but a large moat-like lake around the volcano, that part of Tephra and everything within it destroyed.
No other strike is as large as the first, but each of them are bright and they fall rapidly, dotting the landscape with new wells of magma. Fires spark, and the world pauses.
It ends almost as quickly as it began, the blink-and-you-missed-it storm that has drastically altered Tephra’s landscape. The flames smolder and die thanks to the damp foliage and the driving rain, and the storm begins to shrink. It pulls in on itself, drawing smaller and smaller until it is nothing but a cloud. And then it is nothing at all, and the early evening sky over Tephra is lit by a brilliant red sunset that paints the cloudless sky a vibrant gold.
Something had caused this, something otherworldly.
But what?
****
Tephra has been severely damaged by an incredibly large thunderstorm, but is still habitable. The rivers of lava are larger than before, with several ‘ponds’ of magma and one large lake of it surrounding the base of the volcano. Curiously, the lightning and the increased lava flows avoided all residents and visitors. Though it’s certainly no fault of the storm if some of them were startled and leapt into the path of danger.