The Volcanic Peaks of Drakon

The Volcanic Peaks of Drakon is a landmark in Landorya. The towering volcanic peaks that crown the Drakon region are sacred monuments to THE DRAKONIANS, believed to be the thrones upon which the great dragons first descended to the wor… It is commonly linked to Dragons. Geography: These peaks rise dramatically from the mountainous terrain of Drakon, their summits perpetually wreathed in smoke and fire. Lava flows carv… Climate: The peaks generate their own intense micro-climates of extreme heat, ash storms, and toxic gas venting, making the uppe…

These peaks rise dramatically from the mountainous terrain of Drakon, their summits perpetually wreathed in smoke and fire. Lava flows carve channels down their flanks, feeding into the vast lava tube networks below, while the upper slopes are barren of all but the most heat-hardened life.

The peaks generate their own intense micro-climates of extreme heat, ash storms, and toxic gas venting, making the upper elevations lethal to all but dragons and the hardiest of Drakonian fire-magic users.

THE DRAKONIANS regard the volcanic peaks as the birthplace of their dragon-worship religion, and the craters atop the tallest mountains are used as sacred sites for their most important rituals. Control of the peaks has historically been a flashpoint for conflict with the Aeriels, whose aerial mobility gave them a contested claim to the high places of Landorya. Drakonian metallurgists have long harvested rare volcanic minerals from the peak slopes to forge their legendary weapons and armor.

It is whispered among the Drakonian faithful that when the great dragon Drakon the Primordial first folded its wings and settled upon the highest peak, its weight pressed so deeply into the stone that the mountain's heart cracked open, birthing the first rivers of lava as the world bled fire in reverence. The crater atop Mount Vorathis, tallest of the peaks, is said to exhale the breath of that sleeping titan still, and on nights when the eruption-glow turns the sky a deep crimson, elder priests swear they can hear the slow, rhythmic pulse of a heartbeat rising from far below the magma. A rival rumor, quietly suppressed by the High Command, holds that the Aeriels once performed a forbidden rite in one of the high craters, binding a portion of the peaks' volcanic fury to their own bloodlines, and that this is the true reason they press their ancient claim to the high places of Landorya.

At the sacred craters, Drakonian high priests conduct the Rite of the Descending Flame on the eve of each major eruption, casting consecrated offerings of forged iron and rare volcanic glass into the molten maw as tribute to the dragon-thrones above. Lower on the slopes, teams of armored metallurgists work in carefully timed shifts between lava flows, chiseling out veins of volcanite and embersteel, minerals found nowhere else in Landorya, which are transported down to forges like the Infernal Forge and the Royal Forge to be worked into the legendary weapons that make Drakonian arms feared across the continent. Sentinels of the Legion of Flame maintain fortified watch-posts on the upper approaches, as much to guard the sacred sites from Aeriel incursion as to warn the lower settlements when geological activity signals an impending eruption. Despite the ever-present danger, young Drakonian aspirants seeking to prove their worth to the dragon-gods make the perilous ascent to the crater rim as a rite of passage, leaving behind a carved token of obsidian as proof that they stood at the threshold of their gods' first thrones.