The Lion King
OUT-OF-CHARACTER INFORMATION
- Intent: To grant the Crucible the ability to open rifts to the mortal realm.
- Image Credit: Artwork by Kelly Grierson
- Canon: N/A
- Permissions: N/A
- Links:
- Rift Name: The Blood Gate
- Rift Alignment: Dark
- Location: The Crucible
- Destination: Any known world, currently limited to Midvinter; rift appears in random locations.
- Direction: Two-way travel
- Size: Large
- Accessibility: The Blood Gate is the focal point of the Crucible, towering above all else. It can only be accessed when enough blood has been spilt, be it in battle, through murder, or some other vile method.
- Description: The arena that is the Crucible stretches for miles upon miles in each direction; an endless battlefield littered with hewn corpses and rusted arms and armour. At its centre stands the Blood Gate, a great spire of obsidian and black fumes inspiring awe and zealotry in its followers. Any blood spilt within the Crucible magically ends up within its chamber, slowly filling its deep pools. At the point of overflowing, the blood gathered stirs into a violent maelstrom, creating a twisted portal for the Jotnar to step through and find themselves in a land of ice and snow, far removed from the bleak wasteland they hail from.
The amount needed is unspecified, but once enough blood has been spilt the Blood Gate lights up in all its sanguine glory, bathing those who enter in the blood of their countless victims while their minds are assaulted by their collective screams and dying gasps, to the point where many who reach the other side are reduced to mindless drones eager to enact further savagery on their enemies.
POINTS OF INTEREST
The Blood Pools: Seemingly infinite in depth, these pools store the countless gallons of blood spilt over the course of many years. No one knows how it always ends up there, for it is not brought there by Jotnar hands. It is when at the point of overflowing that the blood awakens, rising from its endless pits to swirl in unison, creating the sanguine gateway to another world.
The Crucible: An endless volcanic wasteland where nothing grows stretches as far as the eye can see, these are the eternal battlegrounds where the Jotnar heedlessly clash again and again, stepping over the bones of long-dead warriors as they seek bloody glory and the favour of the dark powers presiding over these hellish lands. Billions upon billions of souls have likely met their doom in the Crucible, all in the hopes that they would be the ones to participate in the next Blood War; the invasion of the lands beyond, ripe for slaughter and plunder.
HISTORICAL INFORMATION
The Jotnar live only for the chance to participate in the next Blood War; when their legions join forces and march upon what they call the Realms of Man. Trapped within the Netherworld realm they've always known as "the Crucible", they gladly spill the blood of their own kind until such a day comes when their might is combined and unleashed in a most savage and brute fashion. The Blood Gate is the key to their horrid conquests, and thus commands their every awe and worship.
Where this spire of black rock and fumes came from is anyone's guess, as is the origins of the Jotnar or even the Crucible itself. Perhaps they existed always, eternally bound by one another in the chaotic weave that is the Netherworld. Perhaps they were created by some nefarious, supreme being. It matters not to the Jotnar. All that matters is that the blood flows; an endless torrent fueling the ominous Blood Gate and their chance at everlasting glory.
Why this gateway leads primarily to Midvinter of all places provides a crucial piece of the puzzle. Unknown to all is that the Blood Gate shares a connection to the Light of the Frostvatn, the Force Nexus buried beneath the frozen lake held sacred by the Aelvar. It can therefore be surmised that the Netherworld created a dark, twisted version of Midvinter and its peoples to strike a balance of Light and Dark; hence the undeniable similarities between Valkyri and Jotnar, such as their love for battle and physical prowess.
