The Wishing Pier
The Wishing Pier extends from Driftwood Hollow's northeastern shore, a long, ancient structure reaching toward the deepest part of Moonshadow Lake. Unlike the utilitarian docks serving the fishing fleet, this pier serves primarily ceremonial and spiritual functions. Its weathered planks, polished by countless footsteps over centuries, display subtle inlaid patterns of different wood species forming geometric designs that align with specific celestial positions during solstices and equinoxes.
Local tradition dictates that villagers leave offerings to the lake spirits at the pier's terminus in return for safe passage and bountiful catches. These offerings follow precise protocols whose origins have been lost to time yet continue to be meticulously observed. Different circumstances require different tributes—flowers of specific colors for marriages, specially prepared bread for births, personal mementos for memorial services, and particular coins minted before the imperial calendar's adoption for business ventures.
The pier's construction defies easy explanation. Examination of the supporting structures reveals joinery techniques unknown in modern carpentry and wood preservation methods that have kept submerged components intact despite centuries of exposure to water. More curiously, certain sections incorporate materials not native to the region—timber species indigenous to distant forests, stone ballast whose mineral composition matches no local quarry, and occasionally, fragments of materials experts cannot readily identify.
Visitors noting these anomalies generally receive politely evasive responses from villagers, who attribute the pier's longevity to regular maintenance and fortunate circumstances. Close observation, however, reveals that repair work follows ritualistic patterns rather than practical necessity—replacements occurring on specific dates regardless of structural condition, and new materials being "seasoned" through ceremonies conducted during particular lunar phases.
For students of Oathwatch Academy, the Wishing Pier represents both opportunity and risk. Those who respectfully observe local customs might witness phenomena unexplainable through orthodox magical theory—waters briefly becoming transparent revealing submerged structures below, momentary shifts in the pier's orientation toward locations absent from official maps, or reflections showing landscapes from different times. Those who mock or disrupt these traditions, however, often experience unsettling consequences—from minor misfortunes to more profound dislocations of perception and memory.
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