Lokaha

The fires of Lokaha simmer and fume beside the very heart of selkie government, always burning but never breaking. The volcano has not erupted since The Chimera blessed the nearby Mohomwa Cove over two thousand years ago, and it is widely believed that the Gods themselves have contained and suppressed the once-terrible flames as part of the Covenant of Seas.   The great volcano is the highest point and dominating feature of the sacred island of Okailu, home to the Test of the Depths and the Selkie Circle of Elders. This is an active volcano, often smoking and frequently trickling lava eastward into the sea. The hotsprings that cover the island emanate from Lokaha - some sulfuric and scalding, others warm and welcoming.   Lokaha was once considered the home of the younger sister of the Earth Goddess Padimak, born during the Birth of the Second Moon. This lesser goddess has since been largely forgotten and appropriated by Padimak, Daykai, and other mythological figures that have been retained by selkie sea nomad culture. Ironically, the mountain has become more symbolically and spiritually important as its patron goddess has been forgotten: it is now a symbol of the Covenant of Seas and the special relationship that sekies have with Halcyon. It is a divine gift, a disaster forever stalled and made into part of a blessing. Suweskivari selkies tend to be drawn to the volcano as particularly spiritually important, and have long incorporated the image of the smoking mountain into their art and symbolism.   Lokaha has a number of mountainside shrines maintained by the Grand Elders and their staff - both to Halcyon and to the ancestral Gods Kanaido and Padimak.   There is definitely something magical at work on Lokaha. The volcano really does seem to have been stabilized by the touch of The Chimera - the powerful enchantment at Mohomwa Cove seems to have moderated the eruptive rate of the volcano, making the lava and gas flow consistent and restrained. This enchantment has never been properly studied, as the selkie government has refused to work with outside academics or mages to do so.