Red skiff sands push endlessly towards the sun that hugs the horizon in orange and purple hues. Its dominating shape searing smoke and steam into the land. A constant shimmer. Haze. Sulfur stench. A single fleck of sand can melt through steel. A sandstorm is genocide.
A lonely shape rides the flats. Sky blue color trapped in glass, latticing up and out and jutting into space and time with jagged precision. Dragon hearts morphed together to form a safe haven, mirrored and reflective in pillars of crystalline minerals.
This shape is the Crystal Palace. It's but a speck against the mountain of the sun. But its shadow stretches long miles into an unmappable distance.
It must keep moving. Cutting through the air is the only breeze it can afford its denizens. And the sweat is thick on the backs of all the wizards and warlocks that dodge the monsters in the streets. The burnt skin clings to the backs of slayers who hide in the shadows of dragons.
The Halls of Smoke and Flame
There are not many permanent residents of the Crystal Palace, but there are permanent places visited by the various groups that are drawn here. In a mountain of crystal, there are several tall, arched hallways that crisscross in perfect patterns. The walls are smooth and semi-reflective. Cold to the touch. The abrupt change in temperature creates a fog that bites at your ankles. Your breath visibly crystalizes and floats the air like snow.
Wizards come here to study the ways of fire and the natural magics of dragon hearts.
Fire Magics - Mages of Elemental Fire begin with the manipulation of fire and grow in power as they devour the 7 flames.
Create/control fire - Expending a spell slot creates a campfire-sized fire. Anything under that can be extinguished/created at will. For it to be more than just a nuisance/damage someone you must expend a spell slot. Using this you can lower/raise your own temperature. You can also do this for things you are touching, like weapons or other people. Again, for this to have damaging effects you must expend a spell slot. You can absorb larger flames to regain spell slots.
Gathering the Flames
The seven flames are scattered across various locales. Their history is made up of legend and myth, with a few half-truths thrown in.
| Flame | Location |
|---|---|
| First | In the Halls of Smoke and Flame |
| Second | Down in the Furnace |
| Third | Sold by a merchant that comes to the Crystal Palace once a year |
| Fourth | In the shadow of the Crystal Palace, across the wastes |
| Fifth | Held by the faerie atop Melancholy Hill |
| Sixth | At the gates of Mazmorra |
| Final | Atop the Crystal Palace |
First Flame - Flame tongue. You can lick any fire and know who made it and their general direction. You can also speak to fires lit by someone else. Fires only talk about what their creator is trying to help.
Second Flame - Healing. Expend a spell slot to turn your flames green and white, healing someone for d6. This works alongside your create/control fire.
Third Flame - Combustion. As the fireball spell.
Fourth Flame - Icarus. Expend a spell slot to dim or brighten the sun. This can have subtle effects. The more slots expended the more powerful the dimming or brightness. All spell slots will blackout the sun or blind people.
Fifth Flame - Fire Wall. Expend more spell slots to change its properties. 1 = a wall of flame that hurts both sides, 2 = hurts only one side, 3 = same as below but only one side can pass through
Sixth Flame - Mirage Door. Create a mirage which opens an extra-dimensional space shared by all Elemental Fire Mages. It's a desert oasis surrounded by palm trees. Expending spell slots can allow additional people to come with you. You can also expend more slots to summon creatures from this extradimensional space (d4; 1. giant lizard, 2. dire raccoon, 3. colossal scorpion, 4. baby blue murder tarantula)
Final Flame - Rage Against the Dark. When you drop to 0hp, expend all remaining spell slots to survive for that many more round, wreathed in flame.
by Dimitrii Ustinov
Creation
The Crystal Palace itself is made from dragon hearts. The only thing that can withstand the heat. The exact creation isn't known to many, but the cursed Elves saw it happen long ago. Unlike the other planes, this one existed before the Giants and they used it as a place to lock away the fae. Even their mighty magics wouldn't resist the heat of the sun. But as Manos gave birth to dragons, the beasts saught the fae and piled up, one by one on the gravesite/prison, melting away until just their hearts remained. Legend has it that the most powerful of the fae are still crystalized perfectly in the center of the Palace.
Dragon Hearts, a Study
Wizards and scholars alike come here to study the strange materials. The gems are perfect for soul-trapping as well as different scientific experiments. Dragon Mutants with a bit of sanity left inside of them often scream about sanctuary being at the Crystal Palace. It's rumored that if you eat a Dragon Heart then you can reverse the negative effects that the Draconic language has on the brain and body.
The Scaled Church
Close to the top of the Palace, dragon mutants gather, each with their own goal and story behind their mutations. But here they have a sense of community, sequestered out of the Cage by people calling them Demons and other terrible, terrible things. Here they are not hunted and are even respected.
Tyranny's Claw
An extremist sect of the Scaled Chruch who continue to read and speak the Draconic texts, warping their bodies into these crystalline shapes. They hope to become dragons themselves, but many become statuesque, unable to move and trapped in horrific poses. It's unsure if any of them have succeeded in their tests and practices. You'd have to gain access to the Smoulder Archives to find out...
Smolder Archives
Connected via secret tunnels to the Halls of Smoke and Flame. There's a game that Wizard students play where they sneak into the Archives under a dare to retrieve a dragon scale. It's said to be good luck. But many students never return. The Archives are kept dark and locked away. It's a library with no books. Only row after row of petrified and crystalized people. Getting information from them requires gaining favor with Madam Cruel.
The Snake of the Crystal Palace
Madam Cruel is a medusa. They say she's the reason the Archives are kept dark. They also say that she is one of the first dragon mutants or even a daughter of Manos. She doesn't know and will only care if it means finding a way to control the Crystal Palace. She calls all dragon mutants her children and treats them with a stern but soft hand. To gain her favor you must tell her something she doesn't already know. But be careful...if it's too interesting she might want to keep you.
Dragon Clouds
Every day, as the Crystal Palace skiffs across the wastes, dragons crowd the sky. They dance in water, moving fluidly across the sky. It's a stunning sight, especially if you've ever seen the feral eyes of a dragon up close. It's something about the intense heat, the massive sun, that calms them. You can watch their tiny shadows move across the sun.
Sulfur Rock
This blackened slab of obsidian juts out from the Palace. It's covered in dusty, white, chalk signatures. Dragon Slayers make it a point to come here, witness the Dragon Clouds, and write their name. "We are but names taken away in a breath." The motto is carved at the tip of Sulfur Rock. It's been there since Madam Cruel.
Dragon Attacks
They are frequent and odd because they are never done in anger or ferocity. Dragons swoop and claw and burn and bite. But they always are targeting the Palace itself, sometimes even stopping and chewing on it. People get caught in the crossfire. It's just what happens here.
City of Ash
As we all know, Warlocks gain their power by trading their heart for a monster heart. This is one of the sacred sites of such rituals. Towards the bottom center of the Palace, through miles of caves, there is a city of fire elementals and living spells. Sticking out of the crystal walls are the limbs and face of an ancient fae. If you bring her your heart, she will push her tongue inside your chest and ignite a fire. And as you grow more powerful, your humanity will burn away to ash and smoke, leaving only monstrous fire. But you will be powerful.
Rumors of a Crystal Heart
The ancient fae within the City of Ash will deny this, but a few sages speak of another fae trapped even deeper in the caves. One that will take your heart and replace it with a gemstone. Maybe this is how you become a dragon? Think of the possibilities...the power...
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