Balmbow the Obstinate Flame

Balmbow, the Obstinate Flame

Balmbow was not born to rule. He was not born to serve. He was born to fight. Among the fire giants, none were ever more stubborn than Balmbow. From the moment he could lift a weapon, he sought opponents who could challenge him, and when none could, he made challenges where there were none. He fought warriors, monsters, champions, kings, and eventually entire armies. Every victory only deepened his conviction that there was no being alive who could truly stand against him.

In time, Balmbow abandoned the title of fire giant altogether and proclaimed himself a god. His arrogance eventually carried him to the domain of Surtr, the lawful evil lord of the fire giants. Balmbow challenged the deity himself, convinced that there could be no greater test of his strength. He lost. Surtr killed him. Yet Balmbow returned. When he appeared before Surtr once more, weapon in hand and challenge upon his lips, even the fire giant god was stunned. Surtr slew him again. Balmbow returned again. And again. And again. For ages beyond counting, the cycle continued. Surtr could kill him, but could not keep him dead. No wound, execution, curse, or divine punishment could convince Balmbow that the fight was over. Death itself became merely another obstacle to overcome.

Eventually, Surtr grew tired of him. Unable to destroy Balmbow and unwilling to endure his endless challenges, Surtr offered him a bargain. He would grant Balmbow a portion of his own divine flame, transforming the obstinate giant into something far greater than a mere fire giant. Balmbow accepted. The flames of Surtr consumed him, burning away what he had been and replacing it with something almost divine. From that day forward, he was known as Balmbow, the Obstinate Flame.

The power granted to him did not satisfy his hunger for combat. It magnified it. The boundaries of the Plane of Fire could no longer contain his ambitions, and Balmbow began searching beyond his realm for warriors powerful enough to finally give him the battle he craved. It was during this search that he encountered another magically gifted giant: Krykil. The two never met face-to-face. Instead, they communicated across impossible distances through magic and telepathy, discovering in one another a shared ambition. Together, they would abandon their respective realms, descend upon the mortal world, and carve out a kingdom of their own. It was an alliance founded on strength, and it lasted almost no time at all.

Upon finally meeting, Balmbow discovered the truth: Krykil was not a fire giant, he was a frost giant. What began as an alliance between two conquerors immediately became a war between opposing elements and opposing visions. Balmbow envisioned a realm forged through strength, battle, and conquest. Krykil envisioned something colder, more calculated, and far more controlled. Neither would yield. Their conflict grew so violent that the pantheons charged with preserving law and order were forced to intervene. The two giants were separated, their conquest shattered, and Balmbow was cast into Nothing—a realm so ancient and empty that time itself was said to have taken its first breath there.

Most beings would have considered such a place a punishment. Balmbow considered it an opportunity. Within the forgotten realm, he encountered something that should have terrified even a creature as arrogant as him: a being older than time itself. A primordial existence that had watched the first moments of mortality and had helped Death take its first steps. Balmbow was unimpressed. He looked upon the ancient being, surveyed the endless emptiness around him, and declared that the realm belonged to him. The ancient being was trespassing. Rather than destroy the insolent giant, the being found the declaration amusing. It agreed to Balmbow's claim and allowed him to remain. And so Balmbow began to build. In the oldest forgotten corner of existence, where time itself was once born, the Obstinate Flame made his home. He forged a realm from nothing, filling its emptiness with towering furnaces, colossal arenas, volcanic citadels, and battlefields where the fires never die. Yet Balmbow does not consider himself a prisoner. He considers himself a lord. He tends his realm with the same stubborn devotion he once gave to combat, forever shaping it into a place worthy of his strength. And somewhere within that impossible domain, the ancient being watches him—amused by the fire giant who once challenged a god, refused to remain dead, fought his own ally, and eventually declared ownership over a place older than existence itself.

Balmbow has never understood the concept of something being impossible.

To him, there is only something he has not yet conquered.

Scorched Prescence 30ft radius around Balbow becomes super heated, tempters climb as flames begin to spontaneously ignite. The effected area is treated as Balmbow the Obstinate Flame The Lair lasts until the end of Balmbows next turn. 

Lair Actions

On initiative count #20 (losing initiative ties), Balmbow the Obstinate Flame takes a lair action to cause one of the following effects; 

• Balmbow Brigade. Astral Summon one of Balmbows forces. 
  • Roll d20
    • 1-14 Fire Elimental
    • 15-18 Fire Giant
    • 19-20 Custom Character around the parties level (DMs Discursion) 
  • Summoned forces can only exist within the Scorched Prescence lair.

Regional Effects

The region containing a legendary Balmbow the Obstinate Flame's lair is ever changing and unpredictable. The super heated earth cracks, objects burst into flames, and the heat itself makes it heard to breath, which creates one or more of the following effects:

• All fire damage delt is maxed 
• Anyone ending their turn within Scorched Prescence must make a Intimidation or Performance roll (DC 24) or be deemed a coward by the flames and take 2d10 Fire Damage.

If Balmbow the Obstinate Flame dies, he returns to his realm and these effects fade