So I make it no secret that I have a love of the Earth sciences, particularly seismology and volcanology, and this is just another example of that (like this pic from a few years ago during the Piton de la Fournaise eruption). It was only natural that one of my characters became a volcanologists in their own right. So, who better fitting than Ares, named after the Red Planet (let’s be honest, Mars is not actually a good first name heh). But I was faced with a dilemma: how to let him be a volcanologist who actually gets to experience an eruption, while keeping him in range of my other characters for the story.
The solution: This is the active but fictional Halls Creek Cone in the also fictional (but based on geological history) Montregian Volcanic Field up on the border of Indian Stream and Quebec. It usually erupts in a pretty tame Strombolian style, one thats not too dangerous to get close to with the proper training, akin to the 2021 eruption of La Cumbre Vieja on La Palma or the 1943 eruption of Parícutin in Mexico, but occasionally it does experience sudden paroxysms, or bursts of intense activity, as seen here. It has been near continuously erupting on a smaller scale since the 1950s or 60s, occasionally shooting out small bursts of lava bombs or releasing short lived lava flows. This has made it a rare but important feature for study by American and Canadian researchers.
So that’s where Ares and his headless wife comes in. Ares, the wolf satyr nephew of Sabrina, had studied to become a geologist, never picturing that he’d get the opportunity to study an eruption so close to his home cities of Boston and Yorktown. Though a little help from his family was all that was needed to get the genuinely bright volcanologist his preferred posting. His wife is a Chilean volcanologist named Maria who he met while on a family trip to La Ciudad Dulla. She can more often than not be seen carrying around her artificial “Capitar” head given to citizens of the town for use in the outside world. The Capitar gives her all of the normal senses not supplied by her magic senses, helping supliment her aetheroreception. So for her it’s a critical piece of equipment no different than any other assistive device, especially in a dangerous environment like that around an erupting volcano.

And here both of them are being put to the test as, while up on the cone’s slope collecting recently ejected lava bomb samples (Maria is a skilled mage who can cast shields if absolutely necessary), the volcano experienced a “paroxysm” eruption, or a strong burst of sudden and often unpredictable activity. This type of thing is common at Strombolian eruptions, especially Stromboli itself, so neither of them were particularly surprised. Doesn’t mean they both shouldn’t run for the hills though lol

As an aside, both of them are in the fictional state of Indian Stream, which has some unique laws magically enforced. Hence why Ares is bottomless, though wearing sandals to protect his paws from the sharp and hot volcanic rocks. You can read about that here: https://www.furaffinity.net/view/58931046/

Thank you so much  Cervelet for this amazing piece of both scientific and just general fun lore involving a character I’ve really begun living vicariously through heh
Plus always good to see headlessness be used in a casual setting.