Less than a hundred years ago, the skies over the Island Frontier of the Vilanto Seas darkened, and then hellfire rained from the skies, islands shook and cracked open, and the seas boiled and crashed in rage. The island dwellers and ship captains gazed into the distances and what they saw chilled them to their bones. Ua'eha Mountain was erupting.
The Great Fire that sat smouldering just beneath the mountain for thousands of years had awoken, and its intense rage now spat out the top of the now fractured mountain peak. For days the sea's raged, rock, ash, and magma crashed down, devasting all that it struck. And when the waves finally settled, the island frontier was forever changed, and the blasted remains of the once-proud Ua'eha Mountain was left as a grim reminder to all of the destruction that was wrought when mortal fools encroached on what they should've left alone.
The Eruption
Less than a hundred years ago, the Ua'eha Mountain in the centre of the
Vilanto Sea began to rumble. This eruption was unforeseen, and the island residents of the area were unprepared with little time to react or prepare for the eventual chaos the eruption would cause. Ua'eha Mountain would spew forth hot ash, covering much of the surrounding islands, suffocating and destroying countless creatures and flora. Immense streams of hot magma rolled over the mountains once pristine geography scarring and burning away its surface. And in its initial burst, much of the surface of the mountain exploded in a massive wave of stone and magma, causing boulders the size of ships to slam into the sea causing cascading tidal waves and earthquakes. All of this left the mountain itself almost completely destroyed, it now remains only a small fragment of its once tall peak.
Sadly, many lost their lives during this event, many of which perished on islands that were close to Ua'eha or were stranded on ships close to the eruptions blast radius. Many islands merely ceased to exist in the event having been smothered in hot ash, been torn apart and cast into the depths by enormous waves and endless earthquakes. And those islands that managed to survive were forever changed and are now tasked with changing their ways of life in order to compete with the altered landscape.
Obsidian Harbour was amongst the islands near Ua'eha that somehow survived. The landscape of their island has changed dramatically, as the earthquakes caused by the eruption forced spires of obsidian to spew upwards through the ground of their once calm and tranquil island. Though, the people of this island in the years since the eruption have been quite entrepreneurial and have taken what was once a tragedy and created a booming economy out of the obsidian that is now common on the island.
The Great Fire Myth
Many of the island residents of the Island Frontier of the Vilanto Sea believe that the Eruption of Ua'eha was caused when
Ke Ahi Nui, or the Great Fire that is said to lie beneath the mountain was accidentally stoked by the reckless actions of a group of adventurers who wandered into the fire's chambers in search of treasures. These treasure seekers carelessly revived the flickering embers of The Great Fire and caused it to flare upwards in a searing pillar of flame and smoke, forcing Ua'eha Mountain to erupt.
But the story of Ke Ahi Nui goes back to the creation myths of the Vilanto Sea. The legend goes that the water spirits that helped fill the seas with water dragged an ancient glacier from the northern oceans with the hopes that melting it would fill their new sea to the brim. However, when the spirits attempted to melt the ice they found that the task was far harder than first expected, and their initial attempts failed miserably. Panicked the water spirits decided to start a fire in an attempt to melt the ice of the glacier, but again their attempts failed and their fire was snuffed out by the glaciers icy surface. Not wanting to give up the water spirits built an even they built an even larger fire and when that failed they built an even larger one than the one before until finally, their fire was the size of a mountain. Ke Ahi Nui had been born. Finally, the cold ice of the glacier melted under the intense pressure of Ke Ahi Nui and filled the southern seas that would become known as the Vilanto Sea.
But, Ke Ahi Nui still raged and it refused to be snuffed out, no matter how much time past, no matter how much water was thrown at it, its flames did not waver or cease. In fact, the flame of The Great Fire only grew, scorching everything it touched, and boiling the waters of the sea it had helped create. The water spirits were distraught and knew little of what they could do with their own power to help snuff the flames they had created.
Out of options, the water spirits pleaded for help from an ancient earth spirit known for its drastic and often devastating abilities of creation and destruction. After much pleading, the earth spirit agreed to help snuff the fire out, but only if the water spirits allowed him to place a single item in the chamber in which the base of Ke Ahi Nui resided and that no one would ever step foot within the chamber. The water spirits agreed and said that once The Great Fire was out that they nor anyone else would ever step foot into Ke Ahi Nui's chamber ever again.
Before the earth spirit began their work they warned that if the embers of Ke Ahi Nui were to ever be trifled with it could cause devastation for the islands and future residents of the Vilanto Sea. And that he would not step in to resolve the errors of the naive again. And so, with that warning done, the earth spirit conjured a great mountain to fall from the sky, dropping it onto Ke Ahi Nui, smothering it with its great weight and burying it deep underground away from meddling forces. Ke Ahi Nui, The Great Fire had finally been snuffed out to barely just a flickering ember, buried underneath the mountain that would come to be known as Ua'eha Mountain.
Lathos' Request Myth
For those that are residents of the Southern Coast, which would include the Jungles of Mijhail, the Island Frontier of the Vilanto Sea, and many residents of Ithosia the myth of The Great Fire is widely told and accepted. But for those on the western coasts, including Casarei and Heldrin, they believe in a slightly different tale. While these nations do not reside in the Vilanto Sea they are large nations that travel the sea frequently on various trade missions. And due to the enormity of the Eruption of Ua'eha Mountain, these nations were still in clear sight of the havoc that occurred, despite being well outside its range of devastation. Citizens of Casarei specifically began to come up with their own version of the events that created and eventually caused the eruption of Ua'eha Mountain. This telling is common amongst the nations of the western coast and is occasionally told in some regions of Ithosia and central territories of Fyria.
In their telling, the role of the spirits is replaced by the gods Lathos and Eeavarin.
Lathos, the Goddess of the Seas sought a way to warm the waters that she had created but she lacked the experience needed to create enough heat in order to do so. So, she called on her sibling
Eeavarin, the Goddess of the Forge, she who smelted and crafted the lands of Fyria itself using her ever lit forge.
Lathos could have called
Hadrian, the God of War and Flame, but his temper flared too often, and his fires were too hot and she did not want her waters to boil. Eeavarin told her sister Lathos that in order to warm her waters and keep them warm, that she would have to build a forge deep underground. She would stoke the flames hot in order to build the warmth of the sea and then cool the forge to a steady ember in order to keep it there. However, Eeavarin would have to keep a constant eye on the flames of the forge and would need to check in on it every thousand years or so. A mighty responsibility for a busy goddess to keep.
In return for this favour, Eeavarin asked her sister Lathos to allow her to build a monument to her atop of her forge. A great mountain, that would show that even in the middle of a vast and unforgiving sea Eeavarin's strength can still hold fast. Lathos found this amusing and agreed, allowing Eeavarin to build her forge and place her great mountain monument atop of it.
Afterward, to the delight of Lathos, Eeavarin stoked the flames of her forge just enough to heat her sea thoroughly. But Eeavarin warned that if anyone were to tamper with her forge while she was away, it could spell doom for the surrounding area. Lathos promised that she would have protectors guarding the chamber's entrance and would do her best to spread tales to dissuade any potential interlopers. And for thousands of years, Eeavarin did as she promised, keeping the flames of the forge just right so that it wouldn't harm the sea's waters or flare up and cause damage to her wonderful monument.
Until one day, a group of adventurers seeking the treasures that lay within Eeavarin's forge managed to sneak by Lathos' guards into the forge's chambers. There in their misguided search for treasures, they accidentally stoked the flames of the forge, causing a huge pillar of flame and smoke to erupt upwards, blowing off the top of Ua'eha Mountain and causing death and destruction for those that lived in its shadow.
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