1 Lambert: That was a great spell you used, Kyros. Burnt the tavern to more of a cinder than I think I've ever seen before.
2 Kyros: Yeah, it's a new one I learnt. "Punter's Pyroclasm".
3 Lambert: You learnt a spell named after someone else?
4 Kyros: It was the least I could do to honour his memory after I stole his spellbook.

The spell Punter's Pyroclasm is named after a backer from the Kickstarter I ran a few months ago for Fantasy comics print collection.

Speaking of which, the leftover copies from the print run should soon be available to purchase directly from TopatoCo. I'll be sure to let you know when you can simply order one and have it sent to you right away!

"Pyroclasm", by the way, is one of my favourite words. I know it mostly from the fact that it's the name of a Magic: The Gathering spell. Trying to look it up as a word just now, I've found that it's almost impossible to search for it outside the context of a magic spell in various games. It's also a spell in Dungeons & Dragons and World of Warcraft and Everquest, for example, and there's an Ulzuin's Pyroclasm in Grim Dawn.

The word actually seems to have no meaning outside fantasy fiction and gaming, but seems obviously based on the real world term pyroclastic flow, which refers to the destructive flows of hot gas, dust, and shattered rock that cascade down the sides of some erupting volcanoes. This is the sort of thing that destroyed and buried Pompeii and Herculaneum in 79 AD, so certainly not to be sneezed at.

Although scorchingly hot, pyroclastic flows are not exactly fire as such. Whereas the magic spells graced with the name of "pyroclasm" invariably produce huge gouts of magical flame. Which really is more fun.