Mount Velus

Visible from Akros, Mount Velus is an energetically active volcano. The fiery mountain serves as nothing less than Purphoros’s home in the mortal world.

While the volcano has only erupted a few times since Akros’s founding, those minor catastrophes were enough to demonstrate that a major eruption might destroy the entire region. Akroans regularly leave offerings at the foot of the volcano, and rigorously dissuade travelers from venturing up to the sacred peak, hoping to avert the great explosion they fear is coming.

While some adventurers have climbed to the volcano’s caldera, met Purphoros, and lived, the god’s anger isn’t the only danger. A red dragon called Thraxes makes his home in the halls of Purphoros’s first residence, which the god abandoned to create a larger and more ornate home deeper in the volcano. The dragon occasionally uses the old forge to craft his own creations, melting gold from his treasure hoard. He sometimes gives these creations to Purphoros as offerings. In exchange the god allows the dragon to stay in the volcano.

Purphoros’s forge lies in the deepest part of Mount Velus, near a vast lava pool. The massive iron forge is surrounded by the finest ores, metals, and gems. Some of the greatest treasures Purphoros ever crafted are contained in the god’s residence, a forge-palace warded by an enormous, gilded iron door. Occasionally these doors crack open, admitting a curious anvilwrought creature into the world, or burst wide, unleashing some manifestation of Purphoros’s fury.

Type

Volcano