Fortnite players are feeding the volcano to make it blow up

Fornite’s latest mystery involves runes that have appeared around the map, each one with its own challenge. The fifth and final rune of the series, which involves the island volcano, seems to be teasing a big change in Fortnite.

The first rune was fairly straightforward: All players had to do was pickaxe it until the meter filled up. The second rune asked players to hit lasers with their pickaxe. The third rune was all about dancing in front of it. The fourth rune required that players match tiles on the ground.

All the while, the community’s progress with the runes seemed to be marked by a large area at Loot Lake, which appears to have been excavated. Underneath the lake lies a strange device that seems to be made by an advanced civilization. It seems possible that once all the runes are completed, something will happen at Loot Lake.

This is how we arrive at the fifth and seemingly final rune. To fill the meter, players discovered that they need to “feed” the in-game volcano building materials and ammo. Dropping these items into the mouth of the volcano will instantly destroy them with a fiery animation.

The challenge is not yet complete by the looks of things, but players are reporting that their games occasionally rumble, as if the volcano is about to blow. The volcano definitely seems active, at least; from a distance, you can see a trail of smoke lifting into the air. Lava is also flowing into places it wasn’t before.

What does it all mean? Well, as the final rune has unfolded, players have also noticed that pictures of currently vaulted weapons have appeared on screens near Loot Lake. The working theory at the moment is that once the volcano blows, players will be able to vote on what weapon they want to come back into the game.

Fortnite influencers are already gearing up for that possibility by mobilizing their fanbases to vote for certain weapons when the time comes, though there’s no telling what item may win.

If nothing else, don’t be surprised if you see someone peacefully hanging out by the volcano — they’re probably just doing their part to make the next Fortnite event happen.