The Portal below Glaceria

The portal below the city of Glaceria is a portal leading to the Elemental Plane of Fire. It allows Glaceria to exist in the inhospitable region of the Upnorth by keeping it warm from below. The portal is also the location of the final fight of Arc 3.

## Description

The portal to the plane of fire is located in a massive underground cave that is incredibly tall, but seems to have been created naturally. It can only be accessed thorugh teleportation circles. The one on the surface is located on the roof of the Lovejoy Manor, the one in the cave is located on a twenty five foot diameter stone platform in the cave. About 20 feet below that platform, there is the portal itself, which looks like an ocean of fire.

Apart from the platform with the teleportation circle, there are more platforms of the same shape and size, arranged in an orderly structure and connected by forty feet long, fifteen feet wide bridges each. The platforms are connected diagonally as well, and those bridges would have to be about seventy feet long.

The portal has about the size of Glaceria, which is necessary because it keeps the city warm and allows people to live in it despite the cold climate of the Upnorth region of Hyranor: it functions like a heated flooring system for the city. The structure of the portal is very safe and follows all necessary protocols, which is a thing Gem was very concerned about.

The portal was not established by Gem Lovejoy herself, but before her time.

### In Arc 3

For Arc 3, the cave with the portal functions as the location of the final fight. Five stone platforms, arranged in a cross with one in the centre and attached by bridges, are the most important part of it. The south stone circle is the one the teleportation circle is on. On the central circle stands Tybyrone with Gem, on the western circle Lars, and on the eastern circle Justicar. On the northern platform, the six innocent NPCs are chained up.

The portal has two lair actions: one on Initiative 20, and one on Initiative 10. For the one on 20, a d8 is rolled: A 1-3 would be a success for the ritual, on a 4-6 the portal would become unstable, and on a 7-8 nothing happens. Three successes for the ritual would finish it, opening the portal to Hell. Three times unstable would lead to the portal collapsing, which would also mean that everyone dies. If the ritual is halted by removing any of the necessary components, the lair action on 20 doesn't happen. For the lair action on 10, a d6 is rolled, which decides under which stone platform the portal starts to pop and then shoot up a blast of fire, which calls for a dexterity saving throw from everyone standing on that platform and deals fire damage. (On podcast, the only number that was rolled was a 2, which affects the east platform.)

## On Podcast Development

In Arc 2, it turns out that Gem Lovejoy plans on expanding the portal so that Glaceria, too, can expand and house more people. Originally, she had planned on spending the Wish that Ember, a genie trapped in the Ember Gem, would grant her, to do that, but before she can do so, Ash frees him and uses the Wish.

Gem knows that trying to expand the portal without the Wish spell or similarly powerful means would lead to a bureaucratic nightmare with the Plane of Fire, she is eager to trust an anonymous person that contacts her via letters, claiming that they would be able to expand the portal for her. The only thing they ask for in return is access to the portal. Unbeknownst to her, this anonymous contact is actually a devil from Hell, who wants to open the portal to Hell instead of to the Plane of Fire (see Gems Contact with the Devils). If the ritual would be completed, it would destroy Glaceria and put the whole world at risk, but the Arc 3 party prevents that from happening.

## Notable Visitors

* **Arc 3 Party** (Arc 3 Episodes 6-7) - They had to save the world by stopping the ritual to open the portal to hell.
* **Ash** (Arc 2 Episode 6, regularly afterwards) - After she found her father, she planned on regularly going back and forth between the Plane of Fire and the Material Plane.
* **Ember** (regularly) - A genie from the Plane of Fire who is in contact with Gem Lovejoy and regularly visits the Material Plane.
* **Gem Lovejoy** (regularly)
* **Ialius**, **Jim**, **Verum Moss**, **Sher'il**, and **two unnamed NPCs** (Arc 3 Episodes 6-7) - Six innocent bystanders that were used as witnesses during the ritual of Arc 3. Sher'il and the unnamed NPCs did not survive.
* **Justicar**, **Tybyrone** and **Lars** (Arc 3 Episodes 6-7) - The devils that tried to open the portal to hell, killed by the Arc 3 party.