The Four of Glóðhöll
Every winter, four keepers enter Glóðhöll — the Ember Hall — to compete in Sprengja, the ancient trial that calms the Heartfire beneath the island. Deep below the black sands the hall's doors open onto a shifting maze. The keepers compete for the Ember Crown, but their real duty is greater: every blast releases the mountain's pressure and keeps the island above from breaking apart.
Glóð grew up beside a forge that never cooled. When the Heartfire first shook the mountain, Glóð shaped its fallen embers into safe, sturdy bombs. Beneath the heavy armour is a patient protector who always steps toward danger first—and refuses to leave anyone behind.
Drífa learned to run across blue ice before learning to read. From the glacier ridge, every crack and echo tells her where danger will appear next. She entered Sprengja to prove that the quickest path is not always an escape; sometimes it is the shortest route to helping a friend.
Mosi watches over the stubborn moss that returns after every eruption. Quiet roots carry distant tremors to the antlered guardian, making hidden movement difficult to conceal. Mosi rarely speaks, but when the arena walls begin to close, everyone listens for the soft warning: the mountain is moving.
Neisti has never met a mechanism that could remain unexplained—or unmodified. The copper pack carries coils, timers and a remote trigger assembled from discarded forge parts. Every invention is tested inside Sprengja, where a bright idea may save the round, open a new path, or produce a surprisingly large crater.