The Island of Fire
The Island of Fire is a large island located between the continents of Theavia and Cyr, far enough south that the equator cuts it in half. It is a tropical, highly volcanic place with numerous active volcanoes and thick, humid rainforest. The fireworms make their home here, living in numerous scattered Clans with a variety of different lifestyles and preferred habitats.
Map of the Island of Fire by J-Haskell. See full-sized image here.
Along the northern coast of the Island of Fire, worn into spires of basalt by the incessant pounding of the sea, lies a cavern known as the Seaside Overlook, home of the Basalt Clan. The Overlook has a set of docks for visiting ships and a few public gathering areas near the sea, but the vast majority of the clan’s more important spaces are located deeper within the caves, where the cool morning fog doesn’t reach.
There is plenty of room for guests and the residents of the Overlook are more than happy to trade with outsiders. They regularly receive visitors from the Tyr Kingdom, Land of Rivers, and even as far as Meros, and the halls of their home area decorated with carvings, tapestries, and paintings bargained for from traders from across the Realm. They subsist mostly on fish and other seafood, along with whatever resources they trade for from visitors, and are known for having a surprisingly diverse culinary scene that puts the typical fireworm practice of ‘stuffing everything with hot peppers and setting it on fire’ to shame.
There is plenty of room for guests and the residents of the Overlook are more than happy to trade with outsiders. They regularly receive visitors from the Tyr Kingdom, Land of Rivers, and even as far as Meros, and the halls of their home area decorated with carvings, tapestries, and paintings bargained for from traders from across the Realm. They subsist mostly on fish and other seafood, along with whatever resources they trade for from visitors, and are known for having a surprisingly diverse culinary scene that puts the typical fireworm practice of ‘stuffing everything with hot peppers and setting it on fire’ to shame.
✪ Viper’s Roost
Location name: Viper’s Roost
Founded: Initially founded in 158 A.E.D., re-established in 494 A.E.D.
Region: Island of Fire
The home of the Viper Clan, the Viper’s Roost is located in the high, empty caldera of an ancient volcano. Within is a large, cold lake and many caves carved into the stone ‘bowl’ that rims the formation. The air is cooler here and, on rare days in the winter, snow falls.
There is space enough here for each member of the Viper Clan to carve a home for themself along the inner edge of the caldera, though many of the iceworms among their number often sleep in the open to enjoy the cold. Some of the oldest caves carved into the caldera date back to the time of the old Viper Clan, but they are mostly ignored and allowed to gather dust. Items of value are either left be, be it out of some strange apprehension regarding their prior owner’s fate, or sold to traders unaware of their history. |
The home of the Firemaw Clan, Wrath’s Sanctum is a series of rocky caverns located on the slopes of the east Sibling, just above the lava floes. Their entry is surrounded by carved bones and burly Fireworm guards watching for trouble. Few outsiders - or even other fireworms - have seen the clan’s lair up close and lived to tell the tale.
Within smoky caves are space for their stolen treasures, clan members to sleep, a prison for captives taken (of which a human with glowing eyes the colour of magma is a permanent resident), and in the deepest recesses of their home, the ancient bones of an Elder Drake lie half-buried in rock, the exposed areas polished and carved.
Within smoky caves are space for their stolen treasures, clan members to sleep, a prison for captives taken (of which a human with glowing eyes the colour of magma is a permanent resident), and in the deepest recesses of their home, the ancient bones of an Elder Drake lie half-buried in rock, the exposed areas polished and carved.
✪ Thunder’s Witness
Location name: Thunder’s Witness
Founded: Reclaimed by the Storm Clan in 203 A.E.D.
Region: Island of Fire
In an overgrown ruin surrounded by jungle lies Thunder’s Witness, the den of the Storm Clan. Once a moonviper village, it was destroyed by an eruption of the Siblings, and was then rediscovered by the founding leaders of the Storm Clan three centuries ago.
More burrow than village, Thunder’s Witness is built to weather the heavy storms that wrack the Island of Fire’s shores during the wet season. The fireworms who make their home here are a hardy lot of thrill-seekers, always looking for a new challenge. They are often the subject of raids from their southern neighbour, the Firemaw Clan, though they always put up a fight when their warriors come seeking to make off with valuables.
More burrow than village, Thunder’s Witness is built to weather the heavy storms that wrack the Island of Fire’s shores during the wet season. The fireworms who make their home here are a hardy lot of thrill-seekers, always looking for a new challenge. They are often the subject of raids from their southern neighbour, the Firemaw Clan, though they always put up a fight when their warriors come seeking to make off with valuables.
A massive fortress at the centre of the island constructed by Adeodatus’ empire centuries ago, to guard over and establish control of the fireworms - now the home of the Moon Clan. It is rumoured the Clan owes its wealth to the vast piles of wealth believed to lie in the fort’s old treasuries, abandoned when the fireworms revolted many, many years ago.
They have managed to keep their home nearly pristine despite it having been over three centuries since the Moonvipers were expelled from the island. While no member of the Moon Clan can shape stone like a Moonviper, they still do their best to keep the structures and sculptures from crumbling.
They have managed to keep their home nearly pristine despite it having been over three centuries since the Moonvipers were expelled from the island. While no member of the Moon Clan can shape stone like a Moonviper, they still do their best to keep the structures and sculptures from crumbling.
✪ The Sleeping Wood
Location name: The Sleeping Wood
Founded: Forest Clan founded in 359 A.E.D.; the Sleeping Wood itself is believed to be well over a thousand years old
Region: Island of Fire
The Sleeping Wood is a massive skybrush cypress tree that lies at the heart of the dense forest that covers the western half of the Island of Fire. The tree looms over the ruined remains of an old moonviper ruin, canopy entwined with its neighbours into such a thick mass of branches and leaves that no sunlight makes its way to the forest floor.
It is here that the Forest Clan makes its home, constructing nests in the thick, knotted branches and tending to dense drapes of ivy dotted with glowing flowers that shimmer like starlight against the dark of the thick mass of leaves and branches above. To keep the Sleeping Wood and its populace safe, the use of flame is strictly forbidden, and instead, its residents use sources of light less likely to cause an unwanted fire. |
✪ Ashen Nest
Location name: The Ashen Nest
Founded: Constructed ??? B.A., claimed by the Ashwalker Clan in 415 A.E.D.
Region: Island of Fire
The Ashen Nest is an ancient Elder Drake ruin half-buried in ash and solidified magma near the heart of the Island of Fire. The Ashwalker Clan made the ruins into their home shortly after their foundation in 415 A.E.D.
The inside of the ruin is covered with tapestries, the Clan has torn down the old statues of Elder Drake monarchs and replaced them with sculptures of past leaders, and clawed the mosaic tiles off the walls to use for jewelry and decoration elsewhere - a travesty for archaeologists, but a point of pride for fireworms who have little respect for the ancient tyrants who once ruled their island home. |
Singer’s Island is the southernmost inhabited region of the Realm and home to the Song Clan. It is a forested place filled with verdant trees and lush flowers, both native to the island and those brought in and cared for by its inhabitants. They make their homes in small, woven-tree houses.
Of all the fireworm clans, the Song Clan’s members are by far the most averse to violence and prefer to solve their issues through words rather than by tooth and claw - if pushed, they’ll fight, but only as a last resort. Their isolated location has been a boon for them, and aside from the all-clans alliance against the Viper Clan decades ago, have lived mostly in peace since Adeodatus’ empire was forced to relinquish their claim to the Island of Fire. They are somewhat wary of strangers - even other fireworms - when they first encounter them, but warm up quickly to those who prove to have no ill intentions, and are excellent hosts to those who have earned their trust and friendship.
Members of the Song Clan enjoy growing flowers and other plants, both for decorative, food and medicinal purposes, and jewelry and artwork created by their members often have flower and plant motifs.
Of all the fireworm clans, the Song Clan’s members are by far the most averse to violence and prefer to solve their issues through words rather than by tooth and claw - if pushed, they’ll fight, but only as a last resort. Their isolated location has been a boon for them, and aside from the all-clans alliance against the Viper Clan decades ago, have lived mostly in peace since Adeodatus’ empire was forced to relinquish their claim to the Island of Fire. They are somewhat wary of strangers - even other fireworms - when they first encounter them, but warm up quickly to those who prove to have no ill intentions, and are excellent hosts to those who have earned their trust and friendship.
Members of the Song Clan enjoy growing flowers and other plants, both for decorative, food and medicinal purposes, and jewelry and artwork created by their members often have flower and plant motifs.
A miserable, squalid valley located between the Siblings; it is full of toxic gases and scattered pools of half-cooled lava. Little plants can grow here in the deadly heart of the Island of Fire, and few animals dare brave the heat, making it a worthless expedition to any well-established clan. Because of this, the valley is a ‘haven’, of sorts, for the Clanless; it is a place they can live in relative security, not needing to fear attacks by fireworm clans for trespassing or poaching on their lands.
Instead, they may fight tooth and claw with other clanless fireworms for the barest means of survival, living what often amount to short and brutal lives.
Instead, they may fight tooth and claw with other clanless fireworms for the barest means of survival, living what often amount to short and brutal lives.
Along the southeastern area of the island, heavy amounts of sulfur in the earth turn the lava floes here a vibrant violet in patches as it makes its way towards the sea. The air is filled with the unbearable stench of rotten eggs, and even most fireworms find the place unpleasant and try not to get too close. It is, most agree, a sight best enjoyed from farther away. And downwind.
It is here that the fireworms claim the Sulfur Clan make their lair, although no one is quite sure where the entrance could be, or how a clan could survive in an area of nothing but magma. Due to the difficulty for travellers to reach the floes and the way the stench clings to you for days afterwards, there’s little incentive to find out.
It is here that the fireworms claim the Sulfur Clan make their lair, although no one is quite sure where the entrance could be, or how a clan could survive in an area of nothing but magma. Due to the difficulty for travellers to reach the floes and the way the stench clings to you for days afterwards, there’s little incentive to find out.
A pair of enormous volcanoes located at the heart of the Island of Fire, the Siblings have been constantly erupting since time immemorial. Here the air is thick with ash and toxic smoke, steady streams of lava running down the mountainside and into the Clanless Valley below.
The pair of volcanoes is the most sacred location on the entirety of the Island of Fire, believed to be the birthplace of their twin gods, the Brothers of the Flame, and where they sealed their terrifying and horrible mother, the goddess of destruction, Firemaw, beneath the earth. It is said that it is her rage at being imprisoned that is responsible for the churning of the ground in earthquakes and the constant fiery eruptions that wrack the Siblings. |
One of many ruins scattered across the Island of Fire dating back to the moonviper occupation of the region centuries ago, the ‘Kiln’ was once known as Litore; a popular vacation destination for the wealthy of Adeodatus’ empire, where they could enjoy the coastline and climate of the island and get an escape from their responsibilities.
During the massive eruption of the Siblings that sparked the fireworm revolts and expulsion of Adeodatus’ forces from the Island of Fire in 41 A.E.D, Litore would become a tomb for its residents as the streets were filled with burning-hot ash and debris from the eruption, and then forgotten.
Litore’s remains were only rediscovered some centuries later after an earthquake exposed bits of old stone and some of the rock-entombed remains of its citizens. After news reached Fort Diana of the strange discovery and was passed on to interested parties in the Land of Rivers, some small efforts have been made to excavate and preserve the old ruins. Due to the strange appearance of the entombed dragons and humans littering the streets of the ruined city, almost like they were sculpted from clay, the area has been nicknamed ‘the Kiln’ by locals and archaeologists alike.
During the massive eruption of the Siblings that sparked the fireworm revolts and expulsion of Adeodatus’ forces from the Island of Fire in 41 A.E.D, Litore would become a tomb for its residents as the streets were filled with burning-hot ash and debris from the eruption, and then forgotten.
Litore’s remains were only rediscovered some centuries later after an earthquake exposed bits of old stone and some of the rock-entombed remains of its citizens. After news reached Fort Diana of the strange discovery and was passed on to interested parties in the Land of Rivers, some small efforts have been made to excavate and preserve the old ruins. Due to the strange appearance of the entombed dragons and humans littering the streets of the ruined city, almost like they were sculpted from clay, the area has been nicknamed ‘the Kiln’ by locals and archaeologists alike.
☗ The City of Soot
Location name: The City of Soot; known as Arator before its destruction.
Region: Island of Fire
One of many ruins scattered across the Island of Fire. It dates back to the moonviper occupation of the region centuries ago but, unlike the Kiln, the ‘City of Soot’ earned its name through more violent means. Known as Arator during the time of Adeodatus, the city was a mixed population of soldiers and farmers and provided valuable exports of tropical fruits and medicinal plants for her empire. During the eruptions in 41 A.E.D, Arator was mostly spared the worst of it, though a heavy cloud of ash hung overhead for days afterwards, casting a chill over the city.
They were not, however, able to escape the uprising amongst the fireworm clans that followed. The soldiers were able to hold out for some time, allowing much of the civilian population to escape, before Arator’s defences were overwhelmed and the city set ablaze. Now, centuries later, its scorched and battle-worn ruins sit as a silent reminder of the Island of Fire’s less-than-peaceful past.
They were not, however, able to escape the uprising amongst the fireworm clans that followed. The soldiers were able to hold out for some time, allowing much of the civilian population to escape, before Arator’s defences were overwhelmed and the city set ablaze. Now, centuries later, its scorched and battle-worn ruins sit as a silent reminder of the Island of Fire’s less-than-peaceful past.