The Lymph Beluma

The Beast Beneath Ponlak

I went out swimming when I was younger, me and my friends all did. The summers were hot, the lake was cool, and as long as you stayed away from the pumps it was safe. Or so we thought.

— Thedos Bruns, Ponlak local

The Lymph Beluma is the theorized answer to the question of why Ponlak never seems to run out of water despite not having much rainwater, and the local superstition used to fool unsuspecting rubes out of their money. Supposedly, there is a monster that lurks in the depths of Ponlak's lake, which grabs wayward swimmers and turns their blood into gallons and gallons of pure water. No two stories of the beast are alike, and every attempt to find proof of its existence has come up with nothing. Still, the tales persist.

Ponlak's Reservoir

Suddenly, the water goes still. Like a pane of glass, no ripples, no waves, no wind. Then something grabs a boy next to me. Demfi, I think he was called. Pulls him straight down. I'm ashamed to say I didn't go after him. None of us did. We just ran.

— Thedos Bruns

One oddity of Ponlak that any local will gladly tell you is that the lake is much, much deeper than it seems at first. There is a cave network that twists and turns inside the island, all completely filled with water. This is likely where the water that fills the lake comes from, why it never seems to run dry. Some caves have fast-moving currents that can easily overpower even the strongest of swimmers, and that would explain the disappearances. Locals have a different tale, however: that reservoir is where the Lymph Beluma lurks.

Sightings

Supposed sightings of a lake monster are fairly common on Ponlak, though most of these have been debunked. On one occasion the sighting was confirmed to be a repurposed, ancient, pre-plasma skyship that was being used to drive up interest in a book. The book flopped on release, however. Another occasion, though not technically a proper sighting, several bodies were recovered from the lake, all of swimmers that had gone missing in the previous year or so.

Hunts

Only one notable attempt has been made to hunt the Lymph Beluma, spurred by a sizable reward posted by the clans that harvest water on Ponlak. Several Skyblood and Lightblood diver pairs descended into the caves beneath the lake with a pocket of air to last them a few hours. Out of the 10 that descended, only 3 pairs returned.

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