The isle of Lapus lies uninhabited, as it has for generations, yet it is still an overwhelming presence to the inhabitants of the region. The island is most known for the Spine of Chasnor, the chain of mountains that run down the middle of it, most notable among them, The Heart of Chasnor (or Naythariruh to the Lizardmen), an active volcano at the island's center.
The volcano is constantly ejecting magma from its crater in the center, usually in a slow steady flow, but sometimes erupting violently. This heated rock slowly works its way down the mountains, expanding and building up the island. Spectacular lava falls often accompany the violent eruptions as the massive amounts of lava do not cool before they reach the island's edge. These eruptions can also be felt on (the Main Island) and cause shipping lanes to shift as hot ash and smoke are tossed into the air. Luckily, prevailing winds carry most of the ash away from the other islands, though there have been times in which ash fell from the sky to cover other nearby landmasses.
Scholars are at a loss as to where Naythariruh gets its seemingly unending supply of magma, as there is not much rock underneath the isle itself. Speculation runs the gamut from a portal connected to the Elemental Plane of Fire to it being the actual heart of a god, the magma its life's blood. That is not the island's only mystery however.
Cradled in the center of the Spine of Chasnor rests the ruins of an ancient city, mostly collapsed and much buried beneath obsidian. Little beyond several thousand stone formations remain, though a detailed study of the ruin has not been possible, due to constant fear of a violent eruption. What little could be obtained from the few expeditions there have reported back a great feeling of unease, hallucinations of blurry humanoid figures spotted in the distance through the thick heated air, and a seemingly uncoincidental increase in the intensity of tremors and lava flow from the Heart of Chasnor the deeper expeditions got into the ruins. Those expeditions that last reported they had reached the heart of the ruins never made it back, after particularly violent eruptions occurred soon after those reports. The ruins are named JanderOst, after one group found those two words harshly carved into the side of one foundation, the only written word or symbol thus far discovered within.
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