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Synchrony Device that is.
I've already long ago finished my ruins of azlant campaign, but I'm currently taking inspiration from this artifact, so I want help on this: what would be realistic effects of various Synchrony Device explosions in different locations? My understanding so far is that positive and negative explosions would funnily enough be least destructive while fire and earth ones could be apocalyptic depending on location. But I have hard time grasping on how wide area any of the effects, besides positive or negative, would affect outside of their 500 miles radius.
First, a 500-mile radius is pretty big. Center one in Columbus Ohio and you also take out NYC, Atlanta, St. Louis, Chicago, Toronto, and everything in between.
As for other effects, let's brainstorm...
Many of the planar effects on the fertile soil would make the area unusable as farmland for quite a long time, leading to starvation on those cities that depend on that area for food.
Air: Think "dust bowl" for what this kind of sustained wind effect would have for quite some time in farming. Also, an enormous dust storm might have regional and global effects on air quality and the creation of a possible literal dark age, with environmental advantages for monsters affected by the sun or with darkvision.
Earth: probably going to lead to some Darklands powers investigating the destruction of their rival communities underneath the anvil drop. Possibly causes a literal gold rush as nations rush to control a potential new source or ore and precious minerals.
Fire: Dark Age? Regional public health effects from air pollution? Depending on the area and the nature of the strike, the fire could spread quite far
Water: Washes away top soil. Flooding, landslides, changing sea levels and more in a much farther area very quickly.
ALL: Nations are either going to unite against the common foe for survival or close borders and the rich/powerful retreat to extra-planar hideaways. In the former case, divination magic may give humanoids a LOT of information about the lore and backstory and events of this AP and give them actionable information to attack those responsible and the aeons-old threat of the AP.
I'm no geologist or with much knowledge of the environment, but I'm seeing that mostly I'm guessing at starvation, dark age, and changes to the resources in the region as being additional effects beyond simply death and devastation in the 500-mile radius.