The Last Trumpet

Originally Posted by Palindrome of the Dicefreaks d20 Community.

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The demon princes of The Abyss have no shortage of powerful artifacts at their disposal in order to twist and destroy aspects of Creation. The Last Trumpet, dread weapon of the most infamous denizen of The Bottomless Pit: Apollyon, the Demon Prince of Destruction.

The Last Trumpet appears to be a plain, unaugmented horn with no fingerstops approximately two feet long and slightly upturned at the end of the horn. According to the rare survivors who witness the Dark Angel wielding The Last Trumpet, the dread artifact appears to be composed of a tarnished, golden metal. However, other depictions of The Last Trumpet exist claiming that it is stained red, or even black. These reports give credence to the possibility that the Trumpet’s appearance is upon some dim level a reflection of its viewer’s mindset. Upon those occasions in which beings have had the opportunity to examine it more closely (typically through remote magicks), the most disturbing aspect of the Trumpet’s appearance is that any being that gazes into it sees nothing but a distorted reflection of destruction and wreckage in its mirror-like sheen. Tomes are only shown burnt; landscapes are ashen and ruined plains. Viewers are often seen as broken corpses or as piles of black dust.

How Apollyon acquired The Last Trumpet remains a mystery. Those scholars who believe that Apollyon at one time was a being of law before his fall point to Apollyon’s possession of it as proof for their theories. They claim that the trumpet is often affiliated both symbolically and officially with those angels of the hashmal choir or derivation. Others claim instead that Apollyon acquired The Last Trumpet from some other being, as it seems implausible that the Demon Prince of Destruction would be responsible for the construction of anything, even an item of such awesome destructive power as the Trumpet. If the Demon Prince of Destruction did not create The Last Trumpet himself, opinions are even further divergent as to its origins. Some that are familiar with the incredibly ancient nature of The Abyss believe that it dates from the Time Before Time and is in some way was associated with the sundering of The Primal Coil into The Abyss and The Mortal Coil. Others instead think that The Last Trumpet is a remnant of the first layer of The Abyss to wholly fall into The Bottomless Pit, and compressed into a form that incarnates destruction in its own right.

Operating The Last Trumpet requires ranks in Perform (wind instruments) and the outcome of the Perform check determines what options are available when The Last Trumpet is used. However, using the horn untrained always triggers a dissonant note, cursing the wielder with possessing ears only for the song as if they had used it successfully. Using The Last Trumpet is a standard action, and all effects except for the dissonant note occur in a 180 foot cone.

• Dissonant Note (Perform check 0-19): A sonic blast as described later erupts around the wielder of the horn, causing everything around the wielder in a 60 foot radius including them to make a Fort save DC 71 for half damage or else take 36d12 points of corrupted sonic damage.
• Shatter (Perform check DC 20-39): The blast from The Last Trumpet causes any object with a hardness less than 10 to explosively shatter, spraying everything around them with shrapnel dealing 12d6 points of damage to creatures in immediately adjacent squares except upon a Ref save DC 71 for half damage. The tone of shattering can be played once a round.
• Note of Agony (Perform check DC 40-59): Every creature in front of the Trumpet which can hear must make a Fort save DC 71 or else their ears or other auditory organs rupture from the power of the noise. This effect renders them permanently deaf, stuns them for the next 6d6 rounds, and inflicts 2d6 Constitution drain from internal injuries. Healing damage caused by the note of agony requires the casting of a wish or miracle by a 41st level caster or above. The note of agony can be used 24/day.
• Sonic Blast (Perform check DC 60-79): A blast of extremely potent noise erupts, dealing 36d12 points of sonic damage, half of which is corrupt in nature. A Fort save DC 71 halves this damage. The sonic blast can be triggered 12/day.
• Death (Perform check DC 80-99): The blast of The Last Trumpet is so potent that it rends the very form of every living creature in the affected area, and every living creature in front of them must make a Fort save DC 71 or else die instantly. Making the saving throw results in victims taking 6d6 +66 points of damage instead. Those who succeed in a rank check against Apollyon are unaffected by the tone of Death. This tone may only be played 6/day.
• Unstable Tone (Perform check DC 100 or higher): The blast of The Last Trumpet destabilizes every built object. All buildings Crumble as the spell; stone walls and other edifices are affected as the spell Earthquake. Even magic itself is temporarily destroyed through the blast, and everyone with any magical property in front of the Trumpet must make a Ref save DC 71 or else be affected as the spell Reaving Dispel. In all cases, the effects produced are treated as originating from a 66th level spellcaster. The unstable tone can only be played 3/day.
• Ears Only For The Song: Once a being has played The Last Trumpet save for Apollyon himself, they have ears only for the song of destruction and must make a Will save DC 71 or else fall victim to its effects. They are otherwise deafened to the world, and cannot hear even the voice of telepathy within their heads. When they sleep, however, the din of The Last Trumpet will play endlessly in their heads, resulting in hideous nightmares that leave them exhausted the next day and causing them to take 1d6 points of Wisdom drain. Victims of ears only for the song can only purchase themselves a temporary reprieve from it through playing the trumpet once a day and destroying something, increasing the probability of their own destruction in turn. Those who have played the trumpet no longer lose Wisdom per day, and regain 1 point of Wisdom for every consecutive day in which they destroy something using the fell artifact, although should they fail to play the trumpet again for longer than 24 hours, all of the Wisdom that was restored is again lost permanently. A being that has ears only for the song can only be restored to normalcy through a successful rank check against Apollyon. Apollyon is always considered to reside within The Abyss as far as this check is concerned.

Possible Means of Destruction:

• The Last Trumpet must be used to kill Apollyon himself.
• The Last Trumpet must be used to play a song of redemption.
• The Last Trumpet must be used to herald the creation of a new plane.
• The Last Trumpet must be played at a particular time and against a particular target in such a way as to guarantee the end of all things that Apollyon desires