Lake Pyros
As the Serpent River exits Lake Ban and flows toward Lake Pyros, it passes by eight t’skrang villages known as the Stolen Nialls. Before the Scourge, these villages fell under the control of House K'tenshin, but since the end of the Scourge they have pledged their allegiance to House V'strimon. The reasons for the change are clear: House K'tenshin treats its subsidiary villages with contempt, while House V'strimon treats its villages with respect. Changing allegiance has brought enormous prosperity to these villages, which now compete directly with House K'tenshin to supply lumber and wooden items to much of Barsaive. The trade covenants at two of the villages, P’santos and Delenn, have devised ingenious sawmills that use the force of water running down the village towers to spin their cutting wheels.
As the river flows west of Ayodhya, it enters a densely forested region that gradually gives way to impenetrable jungle. About a hundred miles southwest of Ayodhya, the Serpent empties into the third and smallest of the Serpent Lakes, Lake Pyros. “Pyros” means flame, a Name derived from the fierce light emitted by the thick layer of phosphorescent algae that covers the bottom of the lake. The terrain around the lake, which is 55 miles long and 25 miles wide, varies. The lake’s eastern banks consist of firm ground and dense forest, while an impenetrable jungle and wetlands that extend many miles inland cover the western banks.
The land around the eastern end of Lake Pyros contains some of the most fertile soil in Barsaive. During the wet season, the lake rises 3 yards, then subsides to leave behind a rich layer of muck and mud. Farmers have a saying that “you can plant a lump of coal by the shores of Lake Pyros, and by autumn you’ll have swords and armor sprouting up through the ground.” Stories like these have sparked a land rush in the area, and waves of immigrants are competing fiercely for whatever farmland they can get.
The first post-Scourge settlers along Lake Pyros were elves who survived the Scourge outside the Blood Wood. When the Scourge lifted, they returned to the court of the Elven Queen, then fled in horror at what they found. These settlers came to the Servos in the hope of establishing a new elven community along the fringes of the jungle. They had hoped to keep their little portion of the Servos as close to its natural state as possible, with wide swaths of forested land between their scattered settlements. As successive waves of immigrants arrived, however, the elves retreated further inland so that they could continue living in the untouched forest. The elven villages around Lake Pyros have since become a vital center of the living legend cult known as the Seekers of the Heart.
Numerous t’skrang village towers dot the shores of Lake Pyros. According to all accounts, however, every one of these villages was lost during the Scourge. Settlers have carefully explore the village towers for signs of habitation, but all of them are apparently abandoned.
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