This gate is a golden ring with a red magic wall, looking like a slowly dancing image of flames RED DOMAIN # In the main area: https://youtu.be/Ava45CrcDPQ?si=fDugZT4a8JKcZ1bv # In the cavern: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gXYnUvln9So ## Upon exiting the RED gate, You immediately feel an immense heat hit you right in the face and the sound of drum beats. Once the sensation of your eyes being soft boiled wears off, you see you are surrounded by a simple Hawaiian town, like it was right out of a movie. Welcome to the **Volcano** Domain! *BEHIND YOU* The Gate is firmly attached to the side of the volcano itself, dug slightly into the side wall. *TO THE LEFT* A dozen buildings of different colors all stretch down a spacious dirt path, all of them hosting a storefront with market racks made of palm wood. *ON THE RIGHT* There are several good sized plantation fields behind fences made of palm wood, each one hosting a different kind of food or crop, each one with a person actively managing the plants. *STRAIGHT AHEAD* You see a group of people all sitting around a fire, and it looks like they are having a good time. You can even hear music coming from them. ----- *SHOPS* Each storefront has a display rack showing an individual food item or a bundle of a crop, and the spread is diverse. You see coconuts and palm leaf based products, wheat, bananas, lemons, coffee beans, magic rings in a red hue, and even sugarcane. The shop you approach is ran by an Asp woman in a white flower pattern shirt and a sun hat, her red nametag reading LANA. "Hello, what can I get for you today?" *ASK ABOUT DM/REGALIA* "Oh you want to see Aodaghan? He's working the forge right now. Wouldn't recommend bugging him, but if you really need to see him, just go in right there." She will point toward a cavern farther down the side of the volcano. ----- *PLANTATIONS* When you approach, you see one person each handling the individual plantations. Trimming excess leaves, watering the plants, pulling nasty weeds, all of them are hard at work. One of the workers notices you, a yellowjacket in brown pants and a white shirt with a red nametag reading CULVER, stops to wipe his face with a rag. "Ya need some help?" *ASK ABOUT DM/REGALIA* "Oh you wanna see the man in charge? He's riiight up there." He points to a cave in the side of the volcano. "Good luck to ya, he's not an easy guy to talk to. ----- *PARTY PEOPLE* You see a circle of about ten people sitting around a nice little controlled fire on the far edge of the drive where the buildings and plantations end. All of them are either relaxing on top of some rocks or fallen trees, enjoying some plates of freshly cooked meat, or playing music on their ukuleles. One of the ukulele players, a bearded dragon in blue trunks & a white shirt with a red nametag reading KYONG, puts down his instrument and flags your group over. "How can we help ya, friend?" *IF DM/REGALIA* "You want to talk to the bird man? Better have a good reason for it, he don't like to be bothered when he works. But if its important, try your luck up there." He points to a cave built into the side of the volcano before picking up his instrument again and resuming playing. ----- ----- ----- INSIDE THE VOLCANO CAVE The entrance to the cave is nothing special, clearly dug out by hand and tool, but goes in deep enough to where you can't see where it ends immediately. As you walk deeper in, the heat becomes far more intense by the second, but your ears fill with the strange sounds of metal on metal and metal on stone in the distance. After a few minutes of walking, you find yourselves face to face with a full on mining and smithing operation. On the left is a group of massively muscled men and women swinging pickaxes into the rocky volcano walls, yanking out chunks of rock & raw metal ore, and tossing them into a crate. At one point you hear one of their pickaxes SNAP right under the head, but this is apparently such a common occurrence they have a literal crate full of brand new ones, which the man simply pulls a new one out of and resumes like it was nothing. Opposite them on the right is a row of large iron anvils, with just as many muscled people pounding away on chunks of metal to mold it into various shapes and sizes. (NOTICE ROLL) And you spot one anvil is split in half, long ways. Between them is a ten foot wide plume of hot smoke rising out and going straight up through a hole in the rock above. The smoke is coming from an indented hole full of fresh molten rock, and it is SWELTERING to be this close to it. ----- *ASK ABOUT THE ANVIL* A boar with a red namtag that reads GARSEN pauses at the anvil and laughs. "Oh THAT? Some asshat came through here a couple years ago with a fancy slab of metal and made a blade out of it, broke the anvil by accident. We were gonna replace it, but it's like... how many times you see an anvil split long ways, ya know? Fucking hysterical!" A gruff voice in the direction of the Lava pool speaks out. "Damn straight, it was 'see it to believe it' type shit." ----- You couldn't see it at first because of the immense heat and smoke, but inside the pool of lava you see a very tone and very red bird man, his nametag on his pec reading AODAGHAN. He's currently grabbing chunks of the ore and dipping it by hand into the magma for a brief moment (hand and all) before pulling it out and letting the melted metal slip through his fingers into specific trays. AN ALARM GOES OFF Garsen suddenly stops what he's doing and turns to the others, giving a loud WAHOO before yelling QUITTING TIME! Every worker suddenly puts down their equipment and starts to pile out, avoiding your group as best they can through the path that you came in. The red man by the magma pool is still here, routinely taking handfuls of the metal ore and dipping it into the pool, filling trays despite noone being there to help. Upon being asked, he points out a pile of empty metal trays. "Whatever it is can wait, I got an order to fill. Either make yourself useful and bring me those trays or cop a squat in the corner, I don't give a shit which." His irritation is causing his words to practically come out in a snarl. *IF THEY HELP* Each metal tray is surprisingly thick and heavy, taking a surprising amount of effort to lift and move over. When finally finished, he comes from around the back, only wearing black shorts that you would assume are made from kevlar. He puts each tray on top of an anvil to let them cool before finally turning to your group. "Aight, I'm done. Now what the fuck do you want from me?" *MENTION APPRENTICE* "My old apprentice sent you my way, did he? Ain't seen 'im in 30 years or so." *MENTION REGALIA/DM* "OH fuck me, you ain't one of them hero types, is ya?" He groans exagerratedly before continuing. "Aight, here's the deal--" And an explosion occurs that rumbles through the volcano cave. "--and this chat is on hold. We got assholes." *WHEN THEY TURN AWAY* The red bird man flies right over you at surprising speed, wings spread and shooting fire from his feet like jet engines. By the time you make it out, he is hovering in the sky and staring down at the issue with a murderous glare, a group of Marauders fucking with the locals and breaking all the shop fronts. The bird man divebombs them at mach speed, only turning up at the last possible second and creating an explosive air current that knocks everyone on the ground back, including a couple innocent bystanders. He then grabs each Marauder from their disheveled area and throws them into a pile in the middle of the street. The bird man suddenly lands in front of them, collapsing his wings against his back. The Marauders pull out their weapons and aim them at him, but he shakes his head in disappointment. "You fuckwits made a huge mistake comin' here and startin' shit. You ain't leavin' without a harsh lesson." He raises his right arm and reaches behind him, pulling out a massive six foot long two foot wide black sword, aiming its tip at their feet, and states with malicious intent, "I CHALLENGE THEE." From Aodaghan's feet expands a magical golden energy that spreads to a width of about 50 feet, containing himself and all of the Marauders. You watch as the Marauders helplessly try to claw through the magic wall, but cannot seem to escape. Aodaghan slams his blade into the ground, getting everyone's attention. "Here's your challenge: SURVIVE!" What you witness is the most brutal, bloody, one-sided beatdown you have ever seen. More flames than a house fire, more screams than a haunted house, and more bodies flying through the air than a paratrooper squadron. (NOTICE roll) And you pay particular attention to the fact that he only ever used the flat side of his sword. By the end of those 38 seconds, the charred, battered, and bruised bodies of eight Marauders are lying in a smoking heap. You then hear Aodaghan proudly declare "Well whaddya know... I WIN." The gold circle fades away, and Aodaghan takes the opportunity to step toward a half broken sign on the ground. He reaches behind it and picks up the Asp woman running one of the stands by the back of her shirt. She starts screaming, until she is turned around and comes face to face with Aodaghan, shutting up IMMEDIATELY. He states as quietly as he can, "Go get th' Thunda Force." The woman quickly nods, eyes wide as dinner plates, before she is suddenly released. Her ass lands on the ground first, but she quickly picks herself up and darts for the gate. He walks back to your group, and cracks his neck VERY loudly. "Well I feel better.. now where were we?" *REGALIA* "Fucking seriously?! URGH... Okay, I'm gonna go nice an' slow. See this sword? This is a Regalia. It's my symbol of rule in this Domain. Ev'ry Domain Masta's got one, an' ev'ry fucker wants it." *GOLDEN CIRCLE* "THAT was a CHALLENGE ring. Anyone holdin' a Regalia can either issue or receive a CHALLENGE, an' any legit Holder will make one of those circles. Once it goes up, you either win, lose, surrender, or DIE. Otherwise, Noone goes in, Noone goes out." *IF THEY WANT TO FIGHT* "Well tough titties, I ain't doin' that shit today. I just worked through my break. Besides, you pissants almost melted unda th' heat o' the magma pool. Come back when you got actual muscle on yer bones an' MAYBE I'll give you a shot." He will unfurl his wings and take off, heading right back for the volcano cave.