Lake Oxylium
Lake Oxylium can be found to the north and east of the ancient city of Klaractazum, some twenty leagues along the Old Pale Empire Road. It is fed by the Upper Motrille River from the north and west and the River Calldra from the north, and it drains into the Lower Motrille River to the south and east.
The Lake is a large and complex body of water, containing many islands of varying sizes, the largest of which is Oxyl Island in the centre.
Geography
To the south of the lake the land is open and relatively well travelled. This is the route of the Old Pale Empire Road between Klaractazum and Fogport and the southern plain is now part of the farmland of eastern Myruthea. The town of Motrille Bridge has grown up around the site where the road crosses the Lower Motrille River.
On the northern shore there are darker woodlands, mists and mysteries. Hills and mountains rise behind the norther shore to form the skyline and the land is largely wild and given over to the stewardship of the Blood Iris Sisters. Here we find their five ancient temples, great drifts of aquatic flowers, azaleas lining the shore and a tranquil silence that can also feel somehow disconcerting to the few human visitors who travel here.
Lake Oxylium - Northern Shores by DMFW with Midjourney
Climate
Lake Oxylium experiences a mild northern temporate climate with cool winters that can feature occasional snowfall and warm summers where the temperature might become uncomfortable on only two or three days. One notable aspect of the historic climate, is that the lake remained clear and free from the ice sheets that extended as far south as Klaractazum to the west during the period of intense cold that followed the Sundering. This was due to the expenditure of a great deal of magical energy by the Sisterhood of the Blood Iris which ensured that their home remained livable.
Fauna & Flora
The shore lines of the lake are famed as the home of an aquatic flowering plant known as the blood iris. This species is a variant of the one found on Earth Zero and possesses deep blue and dark red petals. Growing in profusion wherever the water is shallow and still, the reflections of its wind blown blossoms lend colour to the cold lake waters.
Lake Oxylium is the home of a species called the Blood Iris Sisters (which take their name from the simple flowering plant) and an organisation to which they all belong, known as the Sisterhood of the Blood Iris. The five temple complexes of the sisterhood can be found on the northern shores and islands of the lake.
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