The Ashen Steppes Information

[Omni]

The Ashen Steppes

Reached by passing through gates from the Nexus, the Tangled Green or the Endless Dunes, the Ashen Steppes is an extremely dangerous verse.

With red skies perpetually blotted out by ash, the Ashen Steppes have well-earned their name. The ground is black and cracked, subterranean rivers of magma visible from fissures in the ground. Volcanic mountains are common, as are they terrifying clouds of smoke or streaks of lava they occasionally spew forth. Calderas are also a common feature, and a few of them have become host for all walks of life, intelligent and otherwise. Despite how hostile the environment is, one can find travelers, many are traveling merchants or big-game hunters seeking trophies of the dragons or other vicious creatures. Small settlements of non-natives can be found, usually in the verse for mining operations.

Status

Death Mountain is no longer the dominating landmark it once was, having been destroyed in the Battle of Death Mountain. In the chaos, the Goron Village has been destroyed, and the gorons have become nomads, with the survivors traveling throughout the Ashen Steppes.

Sub-Zones

[anchor=DeathMountain]Ruins of Death Mountain[/anchor] – The battle that pitted the Institute against Volvagia was a vicious ordeal that will forever be part of the Ashen Steppes’ violent history. Once a dominate presence, the central peak collapsed shortly after the battle, although the remainder of the vast mountain chain remains intact and very much inhospitable. Gorons once lived in a village up the mountain, but before his defeat, Volvagia took out his rage upon the gorons and laid waste to their settlement. In the aftermath, the surviving gorons became nomads.


[anchor=KoopaKingdom]Koopa Kingdom[/anchor] - The Koopa Kingdom is a subterranean kingdom that stretches throughout the underground of the Ashen Steppes. The kingdom itself comprises collections of underground settlements and forts, with its leader, King Bowser, occupying a massive underground fortress surrounded by a lake of magma. King Bowser, despite his many schemes and plots to make things difficult for the other inhabitants of the Ashen Steppes, isn’t quite as evil as he may believe himself to be. Several enclaves of the Koopa Kingdom exist above the surface, and agents of King Bowser can be found roaming throughout the Ashen Steppes.

Non-player characters centered in the Koopa Kingdom: King Bowser

Roaming NPCs

Darunia and the Goron Tribe

[Omni]

Faction Quests

Two Koopas, One Shell

Requirements: None
Difficulty: Moderate (5,000 - 10,000 words, dependent on quality)
Reward: Honorary Koopa Trooper status, Green Koopa Shell (Flavor item, may be fashioned as a move)

Overview: Character must compete with at least one other individual for entrance into the Koopa Troopers

Location: The Ashen Steppes (Various)

King Bowser Koopa is the rising regional player in the Ashen Steppes.  Towers and fortresses that bear the insignia of the turtle can be located across the verse.  Despite infamous stories of murderous turtles and other creatures wreaking havoc, most people have to seek out Bowsers’ minions to encounter them.

While the core of the Koopa Kingdom is ‘ethnically’ Koopa, Bowser actually rules over a multi-species army state that includes sentient mushrooms, bombs, moles, and even ghosts.  Over the last few months, the number of outsiders has increased to such a point that Bowser has started to offer ‘honorary’ positions in his army to those who prove their worth.

Interested parties need only travel to the central fortress of the Koopa Kingdom and present themselves at the palace gates.  They will be greeted by one of Bowser’s lieutenants, who will usher them into another fort where other potential Koopa Troopers are waiting for their chance.  The lieutenant will then assign a task to two potential recruits, who must compete for a position in the Koopa ranks.  These tasks range from the mundane (retrieving an item from another Koopa garrison) to strenuous (winning a sporting event) to ridiculous (kart races up volcanic mountains).

Whoever completes the task (or survives it) will become an honorary Koopa Trooper.  They will receive a Green Koopa shell to prove their status!

Quest Stipulations - Character must travel to the Koopa Kingdom and be given a task to complete in direct competition with another outsider (a powerful secondary).  Character must succeed in this task.

Repeatable Quests

The Ashen Walk

Location: Various
Requirements: Must track down Goron Tribe, May only be done once every 3 OOC months
Difficulty: Moderate (5,000 to 10,000 words, depending on writing quality)
Reward:  Drake Skull (Flavor Item), Acceptance with Gorons

Volvagia is gone, but the battle destroyed the Goron Village and sundered Death Mountain.  In the wake of the devastation, the surviving gorons packed up their scant belongings and set out in the depths of the Ashen Steppes.  While many attest that they are searching for a new home, others say that they have accepted this lifestyle permanently.  The gorons settle into a new location, whether it is a mountain range, near some underground spring or food supply, or simple in an area that's not so hostile.  They remain there for a period of time (usually a few months) before packaging up and moving to a new location.

Although Darunia and many of the elders are mistrusting of outsiders, the gorons are not entirely xenophobic.  They’ve been known to travel with non-gorons, who are often used as bodyguards or in other various roles that aren’t best suited for the fully-bodied gorons.  Those who accompany the Goron Tribe on such migrations often grow to become confidants of the nomads.

Quest Stipulations - Must track down Goron Tribe and accompany them as they move from one location to another.

Unique Quests

None at this moment.

Void Entrance Quest

Gate in the Steppes
Location: Ashen Steppes
Requirements to complete (can be started earlier). May be completed alone or as a group.
4+ ATK between entire group (may use powered-up stats as basis). Requirement lowered by 1/2/3 if you have a Tier 1/2/3 Super Attack.
3+ DEF between entire group (may use powered-up stats as basis).
2+ TEC between entire group (base or alternate form only) or 3+ TEC between entire group (may use powered-up stats as basis).
All above requirements are lowered by 1 (and only 1) if you have any one of the following powers: Elasticity/Malleability/Shrink/Dissassemble. They are lowered by an additional 2 if you have Phasing.

Difficulty: Extreme (20,000-40,000 words dependent on writing quality)
Reward: Void entrance in the Steppes.

The Steppes are perhaps the most inhospitable of the surface verses. Molten earth bubbles forth, gulching and gurgling as the verse itself changes. Though some areas are more stable, like Death Mountain, it is a place where the landscape is more likely to take your life than the inhabitants.

Throughout the verse you might find entrances into the earth itself; gargantuan cave complexes that stretch deep into the ground, somehow protected from lava streams. In these places logic itself seems stretched, as though many worlds are joined into one. The rocks seem cooler in places and you may even find underground lakes and rivers. Others will be treacherous caves of lava and acid. The monsters here are numerous and varied, completely unlike anything seen on the surface of the Steppes.

Traversing the labyrinth will require your total commitment; there is enough proof within that many have tried and failed to survive there or escape. But should you be mad enough to try and get deeper, your mind will be tested with traps, puzzles and dark creatures of fiendish intent. At the final stage of this journey where all paths converge you will find that not even your intelligence will be enough; there awaits the great beast Kraid. And he will not let you pass without a fight.

[Alex]

Ashen Steppes FAQ(Updated 3-13-2017)


Q: “Region around the gates?  Anything special?”

A: “Much with the Frozen Fields, this is a big ‘no, not really.’  As mentioned in some of its bordering verses, the Ashen Steppes affects those verses, not vice versa.  The gates are all in relatively flat regions, though.

Q: “Animals?  Both extraordinary and ordinary.”

A: The Ashen Steppes has the least variety of fauna you’ll find in the Omniverse.  This is mainly because the Ashen Steppes has the most inhospitable climate outside of the Underverse.  There are some mundane animal species that thrive underground in the Steppes.  Aboveground, there are several species of lizards and snakes, and there are a couple flying reptilians as well.  In terms of fantastical monsters, you have plenty.  Giant, fire-breathing worms.  Dragons.  Flans.  If it’s fire-based, it’s probably lurking somewhere and wanting to kill you.

Q: “Plantlife?”

A:  The Ashen Steppes is relatively devoid of flora.  There are some exceptions, like bomb plants and fire flowers and some specialized plant species that thrive in caves.  You’re not going to find forests, though.  Go somewhere else if all the brown, orange, red, and black makes you sad.  In terms

Q: “What is the weather like?”

A:  It’s awful, what do you expect?  You’re in a place where volcanoes erupt around the clock.  On most days, there will be enough eruptions that you’re bound to have to deal with a pyroclastic flow at some point.  Minor earthquakes are also more common than most people would wish.  In terms of precipitation, it’s not common for ash and soot and other particulates to ‘rain’ down from the sky for hours on end, especially in the more volcanically active regions.  Acid rain is common in many parts and often a problem for anyone trying to set up even a transient home in the verse.

Q: “What’s the landscape like?”

A: The Ashen Steppes is mainly mountain ranges, with some chunks of ‘flatland’ in-between.  Lava flows are common in the downhill regions and makes even this ‘simpler’ terrain much harder to navigate.  Anyone who ventures into the Ashen Steppes should be prepared to deal with mountains and lava.  Failure to make those preparations is paramount to suicide.  Furthermore, the semi-frequent seismic activity tends to tear up the terrain in regions, making it difficult to always rely on the same paths.

Q: “What’s the degree of civilization or infrastructure?”

A: As mentioned in the last question, the terrain in the Ashen Steppes is in something of a state of flux due to seismic activity and the frequent lava flows.  Some merchants/travelers plot out their paths and will share them with others, but none of these are guaranteed to last for long.  There were some efforts made by the Empire to build some infrastructure to give them better access to the verse, but those plans were stymied by cost and other issues.

Q: “What about the Koopas and the Gorons?”

A: The Koopas, for the most part, live underground.  Their aboveground constructions are surprisingly sturdy, and no one is quite sure.  The Empire tried mimicking their stone-and-mortar architecture and didn’t have the same results.  The Gorons originally resided in the shadow of Death Mountain, which was a relatively inactive region in terms of seismology and rainfall.  Now the Gorons are nomads and travel from location to location to ensure their safety.  The only other presence in the verse is the various researchers, travelers, merchants, and other individuals looking to learn or make money from this chaotic, violent verse.

Q: “What happened after Volvagia was banished?”

A:  As mentioned before, the Goron Village was destroyed.  Death Mountain (the central peak) was destroyed.  The red dragonflight still lingers, with many older drakes posing a menace to travelers and wayward idiots.  For the most part, the dragon’s presence outside the region of Death Mountain has dropped to nothing, and while that was a bonus for visitors, there’s still plenty of other stuff in the Ashen Steppes to kill foolish secondaries and overly confident primes.