The Secrets of Lowside

Region: Lowside is a region of contrasts: the lower plains in the north give way to The Great Towers: Region foothills in the south. Much of Lowside is also a marshy wilderness all around the southern edges of Loch Morgunt .

- The Seven Sacred Oaks

The Seven Sacred Oaks have existed in Lowside for millennia. The oaks were likely to have been there a lot longer than humans in Alven. This species of oaks does not grow anymore in Alven, and the seven oaks are the last specimens of their kind.

There used to be nine oaks but two were fell - with disastrous circumstances - a millennia ago. There is now only one giant oak north of the River Aiker, in the town of Conniewill. Its name is the Bright Sap. See The Altar of the Bright Divine and The Sanctuary.

The oaks are giants in the world of trees. The biggest oak alive today is in the village of Eastbleck on the border of the marshes of Loch Morgunt. It is 20 metre high and his girth is the size of a small keep. The local just gives it the name of Sky Giant.
The other six trees are scattered throughout the plain. They does not seem to be a pattern to their position - but maybe there used to be, who knows?
The trees have always been considered as magical entities, and there might be something in that. Nowadays, they are sites of pilgrimage and are considered sacred in the credo of the Alven religion.

- The Underground River - River Pitwheen

The Pitwheen River has its source in the south of the Great Tower mountains. For part of its journey to The Eastern Seas, it becomes an underground, fast flowing river. It reappears in a place called PItcraigard in the Pithelm Downs .

The Pitwheen reemerges from a huge deep cave called the Yelling Maw. The village of Pitcraigard is built on top of the cave.

The series of tunnels and caves the river flows through is a mysterious place. Many believe that this could the entrance to the Underworld. The river is seen as a sacred entity and a place of worship by the Alvenites.

- The Whisper Bridge

The Whisper Bridge is the immense one-span bridge over the River Carlwheen in the region of Lowside. The bridge is one of the few places the Carlwheen can be crossed on its journey from Loch Morgunt to The Lake of Inner Voices.

Humans did not build the bridge, and it is obvious it does not follow the normal laws of physics. It was built many moons ago through magical means and has stood the test of time.
It makes a natural border between the region of Lowside and Region: Sutherlands.
Many legends are attached to the bridge, and it is one of the sights of Alven.

The Ferians of Loch Morgunt

Hidden from the human population, Loch Morgunt is home to an amphibian species called the Ferians (see Francalia Article on Ferians The wild marshes around the southern edges of Loch Morgunt provide an ideal ground for the Ferians' dens, and many communities live happily there in the swamps.

The Ferians have evolved a symbiotic with the swamp and are not happy to see it 'spoiled' by the bumbling and crude humans.
They are particularly incensed at the shooting of the Haron culled by hunters and trappers for their pretty feathers.