Pinnacle Caverns
The darkest prison...
When a grave miscalculation during what should have been a routine training session results in Sage's Sword of Light being broken in half, he originally visits the birthplace of his Armor in order to repair it but fails. T'plaureth theorized the nature of a Cresta's Wheel inflicted lasting damage to the blade, and Chi Chi Lina, Australa offered her services in recasting the blade entirely. Even though Thangiens do not believe in magic the same way as Humans do, they still believe in the flow of energy and foci; places/items where energy is focused. Being a student of Peirolyth, Australa would need to construct a suitable forge to work and in order to ensure Sage's sword retained its power, she settled on the site where Sage had been deposited years ago at the onset of the First Dynasty War.
Geography
Nestled deep within the Cannasota Gulch Pinnacles, dark stone comprises the entirety of the chamber. The original site lost much of its beauty after Sage literally blew the roof off with his Thunder Bolt Cut, but the walls themselves remained solid.
Ecosystem
Formerly a calcite cave system, the original cavern appeared very dim and damp. The intrusion of light into the gloom dried up most of the living rock and trees and assorted greenery have grown close to the edge of the roof thanks to intervention from Eyurodin.
HaloForgeb.jpg
The Halo Forge
by
Mardrena
Made with BlackInk
Natural Resources
Even though the caves themselves were calcite, apparently Australa's mount Sandstorm managed to sniff out and digest sufficient amounts of ore to create an entire anvil inside his stomach and deposit it on the ground.
History
Events of Ronin Warriors: Original Animated Series
First seen in Episode 5: "Halo's Prison", Ryo, Mia, Yulie, and Whiteblaze head to the site suspecting it might hold the slumbering Sage of Halo in its depths. Unbeknownst to the group, Sehkmet, Dark Warlord of Venom, is slithering behind in the shadows, waiting for the right moment to strike. When Ryo is surprisingly able to trounce the warlord in sub-armor, Sehkmet unleashes his Snake Fang Swords to swing the fight back in his favor, one barely missing Ryo's face but residual venom leaks from the blade straight into his eyes. Blinded and in pain, Ryo only evades death through intervention from Whiteblaze, who carries him deep into the caverns. With Whiteblaze himself injured and unable to move, Ryo relies on his Armor to try and divine Sage's location in the dark. Mia and Yulie venture into the depths hoping to find the two but run afoul of Sehkmet and his minions. He holds them hostage for insurance and stalks through the cave system after Ryo. Ryo's Swords of Wildfire finally lead him to the central pillar where Sage lies entombed in mystical slumber but fails to awaken despite Ryo's entreaties. Sehkmet arrives and wastes no time striking the disabled Ronin Leader. On the brink of death, Ryo makes a final plea before collapsing from exhaustion. Before Sehkmet can deliver the final bite, Sage finally awakens, shattering the pillar and emerging, fully energized. He easily deflects Sehkmet's attacks before deploying his Thunder Bolt Cut, defeating the Dark Warlord and blowing the roof off of the entire cave system. The group emerge onto the surface and Sage first demonstrates his healing abilities by channeling light into Ryo's eyes, restoring his sight.Events of Foes From Another World
In Chapter 15 "From the Forge", Sage underestimates the crushing power of a Cresta's Wheel technique. Thinking he can block the strike with his nodatchi, Ryo instead snaps the blade in half with his smaller, thinner blade, horrifying them both. While in the past severe weapon damage has been repaired at a foci site, this method fails with the broken blade. Danae's youngest sister Australa offers to not only repair the blade, but recast it with a dererium jacket by melting it down completely. Sage reluctantly agrees and the former cavern is selected as an ideal site.Events of Fight Alone
Sage winds up partnering with Cale while searching for the Dekahedron crystals in Ch. 4 "Elements of Power". Clues given by Lady Kayura point to the Pinnacle Caverns. The two manage to recover their stones with relative ease but are ambushed by Lord Tchnetun, Talpa's master artisan. The Nether Lord is able to snuff out the phergon fire of the forge pit and easily absorbs an attack from Cale. Sage rushes to his aid, and with both their powers augmented by their Dekahedron stones, the self-proclaimed futurist is erased from existence.“If you’re meant to look where you’re your armor was formed, good luck with that. You blew out the ceiling the first time and the floor Australa scavenged to build the Halo Forge,” Cale snorted and nodded at the middle of the deep chamber.
Events of Neo Ronin
Members of the team converge at the newly renovated caverns in Ch. 11 "The Trap in the Tunnels" and join a tour group only to discover the "newly opened passages" intrude on the lair of a gensho, or "Stone Lord", who readily preys upon civilian tourists. At the same time the Neo Ronin rush to evacuate civilians, Kento makes his way through the passages, sensing something amiss. The Stone Lord strikes, entombing him in liquid stone before he has a chance to transform. The Neo Ronin manage to recover their Armor yoyos and confront the Stone Lord. Edward points out that sunlight can damage living stone and the team focus their attacks to collapse the roof, exposing the Stone Lord to sunlight and making him vulnerable to coordinated attacks. The villainous creature is seemingly slain and the tigress Snow sniffs out other potential captives, uncovering a transformed Kento. They finally leave the caves behind with Kento wondering if he forgot something (he was supposed to conceal the entrance to the Halo Forge). The Stone Lord-still alive but in an extremely weakened state-attempts to escape into darker recesses to recover but is finally killed when struck by Starforger, the crafting mallet of Thanged's Goddess of the Forge, Eyurodin. The Lady of Flames reignites the extinguished forge with fresh phergon fuel and seals all passages to the chamber with the exception of the roof. The forge remains active should it ever be needed once again.Tourism
The chamber itself remained mostly concealed due to its isolation and the cavern system being closed off from public access due to the "unknown disaster". When the caverns were set to be re-opened as an attraction, Kento was tasked with concealing entrances to the cave but forgot due to being attacked and imprisoned. Too hungry to remember after being freed, he headed out with the Neo Ronin without completing his task. Eyurodin would later conceal the entryways herself. It might be used again in the future, but anyone foolish, unlucky, clumsy, or just plain stupid enough to fall in would suffer fifth-degree phergon burns...
“You already tried the Pinnacles?” Rowen asked. “Yeah. The sword didn’t respond. I’m starting to think T’plaureth’s right and the sword is actually afraid to be repaired…”
Sunlight shone into the gaping ruin of the Halo cavern. Australa assembled slotted planks into a set of troughs while Kento sculpted the shattered central pillar into a circular pit. Australa walked over to inspect his progress. “The outer wall needs to be thicker to hold in heat.” Kento nodded and made wide circling gestures. The rock shifted to match his commands. “Sorry. This is my first time doing this sort of thing…” Kento couldn’t help but glance at the Pegasi colt as he sniffed at certain rocks and oddly enough devoured them. Sandstorm had returned some time earlier laden with sacks of all sizes and weights and deposited his load. “The first thing we are taught as students is how to construct mobile forges such as these.” “You call this mobile?” Kento chuckled.
Alternative Name(s)
The Halo Forge, The Pinnacles, Cannasota Gulch
Type
Cave
Related Traditions
“So while Ryo and Rowen are checking out that portal in the bay, your job will be to seal up the Halo Forge. This new tourist hotspot comes awfully close to the original chamber, and considering these are supposed to be ‘undiscovered’ passages, it’d cause a bit of a stir if they find a man-made structure…” Cye explained over Kento’s wrist-com. Kento wore a loose jacket and had the collar up to hide his cheeks and kept the brim of his hat over his eyes. He stood off to the side as a second tour group prepared to enter the caves. “And naturally, I’m the best man for the job.”
Leather-clad fingers splayed towards the passage and stone shifted and contracted, sealing the hall completely without a trace of there ever having been a passage. Above, roots and plants sprouted and twined around the roof, creating a barrier of growth to shield the forge from prying eyes.
Ooooo I like this! It sounds really cool!