Candle River
Mortals forget, but the land never does. This ground still remembers what it was like to be held in place by a thousand giants. To have a network of roots penetrate deep into the mother core, and a million leaves shading them from the harsh sun. Grains were set forever in motion by the river that coursed through here. Gripplis and tengus have forgotten. Many elves have forgotten too. The Triumvirate holds the knowledge, which they get to shape to fit their needs. But as the traditional owners and protectors of this land, we must never forget.
Candle River's basin forms the region known as Juuriki. The river has no tributaries, but it has many channels along the mangrove forest. These channels are often maintained by the gripplis, to facilitate movement & fishing opportunities.
Candle River owes its name to its source & shape. Its waterfall source and the tapering labyrinth of mangroves at the mouth make the river look candle-like, with the waterfall as the flickering flame, and the tapering mouth as the wide base of a candle.
The river is located along the arid northeastern coast of Oceasile. Although the area is arid in nature, Candle River and proximate areas are lush and mostly evergreen. The presence of generations and generations of thunderbirds along its course, and the Thurangura Waterfalls have made Candle River a permanent river that can sustain seven grippli villages.
For more information on some of the towns that exist along the river course, you can read the following articles:
River (aquatic; mid-level)
Roll the Dice
| d% | Encounter | Avg. CR | Source & Page |
| 1-4 | 1d8 Poison frogs | CR 3 | Bestiary, 135 |
| 5-8 | 1d4 Amoeaba swarm | CR 3 | Bestiary 2, 24 |
| 9-13 | 1d8 Wizard’s Shackle | CR 3 | Bestiary 5, 278 |
| 14-15 | 1d4 Lacedons | CR 3 | Bestiary, 146 |
| 16-19 | 1d6 Giant Amoeba | CR 4 | Bestiary 2, 24 |
| 20-25 | 1d4 Giant crab | CR 4 | Bestiary, 50 |
| 26-28 | 1d4 Water Leaper | CR 4 | Bestiary 5, 275 |
| 29-32 | Crab swarm | CR 4 | Bestiary, 50 |
| 33-40 | 1d6 Crocodiles | CR 5 | Bestiary, 51 |
| 41-44 | 1d8 Giant frog | CR 5 | Bestiary, 135 |
| 45-49 | Grodair | CR 5 | Bestiary 3, 143 |
| 50-52 | Giant (freshwater) moray eel | CR 5 | Bestiary, 119 |
| 53-56 | 1d6 Bunyips | CR 6 | Bestiary 2, 50 |
| 57-60 | Will'o'wisp | CR 6 | Bestiary, 277 |
| 61-63 | 1d8 Giant Toad | CR 6 | Bestiary 2, 268 |
| 64-69 | Mudlord | CR 6 | Bestiary 4, 195 |
| 70-75 | 2d6 Giant water strider | CR 6 | Bestiary 4, 273 |
| 76-80 | 1d8 Kawa Akago | CR 7 | Bestiary 5, 149 |
| 81-85 | 1d6 Sea cat | CR 7 | Bestiary 4, 233 |
| 86-90 | 1d6 Aquatic Insect, Hellgrammite | CR 8 | Bestiary 6, 14 |
| 91-94 | 1d8 Voonith | CR 8 | Bestiary 3, 283 |
| 95-96 | Dire crocodile | CR 9 | Bestiary, 51 |
| 97-99 | Stranglereed | CR 9 | Bestiary 5, 237 |
| 100 | Giant snapping turtle | CR 9 | Bestiary 2, 273 |
Water Flow & Climate
Enjoy the cool humidity while you can. A few days more of travel and we'll be out of Candle River's reach, and then it will be dry and hot again.
The lake above the Thurangura Waterfalls is the home to two planar portals.
Every full moon, a portal to the plane of air opens up. The portal stays open for 6 days. During this time, the water flow reverses and falls upward into the portal in the sky. For a few days before and after the full moon and the opening to the plane of air portal, nothing happens. Then, when the influence of the full moon wanes, the portal to the plane of water at the bottom of the lake opens up. This portal remains open for 25 days and is the main source of water for Candle River.
Although the amount of water the river carries changes significantly throughout a moon cycle, it never dries out. The fluctuation of water levels in synchrony with the moon phases is a normal feature to all gripplis of the area. Only those living in Untuteb know where much of the river's water comes from and why the water fluctuates as it does.
One of the dampening factors of the water level fluctuation is the presence of thunderbirds, who carry storms wherever they go. The permanent presence of thunderbirds in Juuriki had assured, until recently, a permanent presence of rainfall that fed the region.
The disappearance of Pertkwugo's thunderbird has put in peril the climate of the region. Candle River and the whole Juuriki are suffering the worst drought the area has seen in many, many generations. Moreover, the river has been slowly, but noticeably over the years, decreasing its overall flow. During full moons, the water level in the regions closer to the waterfalls is becoming dangerously low.
The magical ecology of lightning
Both the flora and the fauna of the region are heavily influenced by the large amount of lightning along the course of the Candle River. The same can be said of the magical beasts and plant creatures that are common in the region!
The creatures traditionally thriving thanks to the ever-presence of lightning are now in decline, while those who the thunderbird kept in check are thriving. This, in turn, has made the situation of the plague-stricken gripplis even more precarious.
Type
River
Basic Information
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The mostly forgotten history of Candle River
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.
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.