The true source of Candle River is further south in central Oceasile. A thin stretch of desert separates the lake above the waterfalls from the rainforest. Once upon a time, a river coursed through the rainforest, then into woodland, and eventually into the plains until it reached the sea.
After the tengus caused vast raging arcane fires that destroyed large swaths of rainforest, woodland, plains, and deserts alike, a massive shift in elven culture took place. Over a single generation, elves experienced shifts in religious dogma, geopolitics, and their environmental stewardship. Three generations later, all but the highest ranks of
The Triumvirate saw tengus as evil and foreign to Oceasile.

by Desertrose7
The Triumvirate fed the idea that tengus were a plague that had to be controlled. Since tengus favoured living in the forests, the elven people decided to control the forests and tengu's access to them. Usually, they did this through a combination of narrowing and then controlling the regions where rainforests transitioned to woodlands.
Some elven clans took even harsher measures. In areas like the true river course of Candle River, they created a desert as a natural barrier that would keep tengus isolated. The spells
Sea of Dust and
Alter River became the most powerful tools the elven people had to control and limit the "dangers of the tengus".
The strategy was only half successful. However, very few are aware of this. In just four elven generations (700 years), most elves had forgotten the inconvenient truths. They remembered what was important to the triumvirate: the tengu fires, the devastation, their insidious nature, their "foreign" place within the environment in Oceasile;, born from lightening, rather than created as stewards of the land like the elven people etc.
Nowadays, the section that used to be the source of Candle River is called by the tengus who live in the rainforest the "Quieting stream". The stream simply fades into existence as soon as it meets the desert, all its waters disappearing in an instant. A gruelling five-day desert trip from the tip of the rainforest to the lake that feeds the Candle River is all that is required to get from one section to the other of Oceasile.
A rainforest border controlled by
Scarred Trees, and a desert area bordered by two elven clans. The elven clans leave the centre to sand krakens and purple worms and only visit to trade with the gripplis of
Dribblydripdry.

by valeria2326
After the terrifying elven terraforming, an unknown deity opened temporal portals to the water and air planes, to avoid the whole of Candle River from disappearing downstream. The constant presence of thunderbirds plus the large amount of water generated from the water plane meant that what used to be mostly plains and some woodlands is nowadays a thriving mangrove forest.
RandoScorpio
I love how the information was broken up!! The animal pictures are also fantastic. What a delightful read!!! Worth the wait. :)
Thanks, RandoScorpio! I'm glad you enjoyed it. I have now also added the "secret" background to the river, which I'm not sure if it was there when you originally read it.