“Alarra,” Traveller! Alarra means welcome. It also means large, angry, mother-of-all-lava bombs. Keep that in mind when an islander is shouting it at you. Context matters.
At the heart of each island in this paradise archipelago stands a large volcano. These are the lifeblood of Alarra: literally, figuratively, and magically.
With a good dose of steampunk ingenuity, the locals harness the arcane heat source to power just about everything, including their ships. What's more, the main volcano houses an interplanetary portal.
A few lucky parents are allowed into the vents each year to join the Lava Breeding Program and produce super-powered offspring. Some LBP children can fly, some read minds, and... some toast bread with a single glance.
Keep an eye out for the Guild of Lava Regulation, an organization tasked with the completely rational job of telling lava where it can and cannot flow. Guild members are notorious hoarders of magic, for good reason: the volcanoes are dying. This has sent the Guild into a frenzy of magic accumulation. More and more, private access is growing hard to come by.
The plant life in the bays around Alarra has become sentient, developing a legion-style hive mind. Conversations with them can be overwhelming, as every blade of seaweed and every algal bloom weighs in on topics ranging from existential philosophy to the best tidal ph balance.
Algae farmers on Alarra are changed by their diet, harmonizing so deeply with the flora that they start to photosynthesize a little themselves. Eating the sentient algae also allows one "sky swimming" capabilities and a curious immunity to the lava's heat. This quickly led to a new exhibition sport, volcano diving.
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