Lake Goldleaf

Crystal clear waters well up in Lake Goldleaf. Throughout the year, it's a source of drinking water, barren of plant or animal life with the soft mud and rounded stone of its bed easily visible; travellers even come to swim in its waters at times, or gather casks of clean water to trade and transport. During the autumn months, when the leaves of the Gleamelm Glade fall to the water, the lake appears to be liquid gold at a distance, a rippling sheet of metallic leaves which colour the twin rivers as they flow towards the Buchal Strait.

Geography

The Lake is located in a depression of the grasslands, and has a shallow degree of inclination for roughly a third of the radius of the lake; after that, it drops off sharply into a deep pit lined with rounded stone. Even at the centre, the deepest point of the lake, the bed is visible from the surface for swimmers or those with a boat. While the western border of the lake is open to the air, all other sides are hemmed in by the Gleamelm Glade, the roots dipping through the water and into the bed of the lake; the twin rivers creating a pair of clear spaces in the trees in the east, sunrise casting light through the spaces and across the water.

Fauna & Flora

The lake is barren of life, but is in no way toxic or dangerous; plants do not grow, fish do not live. Nothing spreads or swims into the lake through the rivers. The cause has never been determined for why this happens, especially as the nearby land is rich with plant and animal life that relies on the lake for water.

Natural Resources

The water within the lake is pure and cool, with a spring that allows for many who visit to gather water in skins, flasks or other storage receptacles. Those who drink of it will claim how it must have some sort of magical or Planar effect for its quality, no matter how often it is debated and disproved.

History

Lake Goldleaf was readily used by the earliest Human settlements as a source of freshwater, collected and traded by several members of the early settlements to those who lacked wells and rivers of their own. While such activities died off as water purification was developed - a beneficial side effect of salt farming techniques - the lake still remained a source of water for smaller locations and areas whose springs and wells become drier.
The lake was later claimed as protected land by a force of Eladrin who emerged from the Gleamelm Glade and attempted to annex the forest and lake as sovereign territory for their rulers. The Eladrin and Counts Elected engaged in a nearly decade-long diplomatic duel, raising and dismissing claims back and forth before finally coming to an agreement. The lake would be protected from damage and polluting effects, in return for settlements who were suffering from the restriction of water being allowed to fill casks and barrels at the lake.
Post-Cataclysm, the Eladrin were isolated when the Planar Gates severed, stranding them in the world. Lake Goldleaf was once more claimed by the Eladrin, though little has been done to stop them since. They lack the force to expand further, but all who live nearby have learned that to bring harm or dishonour to the lake will invite death.

Tourism

Travel regularly occurs as traders come to gather casks of water to transport and trade with other settlements. Some require it to supplement decreased sources in the summer months, while others need it year-round to water soil which is farmable but lost its original supply. Others travel to the lake to simply rest and recover; scholars and mages have visited several times and claim that the lake has no special properties beyond the clearness of the water, but that does little to halt myths and rumours the lake can heal the body.

Type

Lake

Location under

Bukhisal