Nyr Dyv
The Nyr Dyv, or “Lake of Unknown Depths,” is the largest freshwater lake known to the people of the Flanaess. Civilisation has turned it into a veritable highway of trade, with vessels using several navigable inlets (Artonsamay, Veng, and Velverdyva) and outlets (Nesser and the Selintan). Cities such as Dyvers, Leukish, Greyhawk, and Radigast owe much of their wealth to lake traffic.
The legendary dangers of the Nyr Dyv, ferocious storms and creatures no less friendly, have not diminished, though humans are now better equipped to handle them. Few ships brave the allegedly bottomless waters, preferring to hug the coasts. Iuz’s occupation of the Shield Lands (notably Admunfort Isle) has lessened traffic in the north, to the advantage of coves and villages along the southern coast. Most ships plying the waters of the Nyr Dyv are equipped with harpoons, pikes, and ballistae, to repel creatures of the deep. Patrol ships from Greyhawk, Dyvers, Furyondy, and the Urnst states prevent organised piracy here, but waterborne banditry is cause for alarm as so many patrol ships were lost during the Greyhawk Wars or assigned elsewhere.
Despite the dangers, a singular group of humans, the Rhennee, make their homes on this lake, gathering in secluded coves along the Midbay and near the river mouths. The Rhennee keep to themselves for the most part, though outcasts often rent themselves out to lake captains in search of a knowledgeable guide. Some have also been known to work for the forces of Iuz.
Rumours abound that the lake holds the sunken remains of an ancient pre-Migration civilisation known as the “Isle of Woe,” though many have explored the lake to no avail. Occasionally, strange silver coins and jewellery and even stranger obsidian carvings, found by lucky divers, make their way to market, but these are generally discounted as forgeries.
The legendary dangers of the Nyr Dyv, ferocious storms and creatures no less friendly, have not diminished, though humans are now better equipped to handle them. Few ships brave the allegedly bottomless waters, preferring to hug the coasts. Iuz’s occupation of the Shield Lands (notably Admunfort Isle) has lessened traffic in the north, to the advantage of coves and villages along the southern coast. Most ships plying the waters of the Nyr Dyv are equipped with harpoons, pikes, and ballistae, to repel creatures of the deep. Patrol ships from Greyhawk, Dyvers, Furyondy, and the Urnst states prevent organised piracy here, but waterborne banditry is cause for alarm as so many patrol ships were lost during the Greyhawk Wars or assigned elsewhere.
Despite the dangers, a singular group of humans, the Rhennee, make their homes on this lake, gathering in secluded coves along the Midbay and near the river mouths. The Rhennee keep to themselves for the most part, though outcasts often rent themselves out to lake captains in search of a knowledgeable guide. Some have also been known to work for the forces of Iuz.
Rumours abound that the lake holds the sunken remains of an ancient pre-Migration civilisation known as the “Isle of Woe,” though many have explored the lake to no avail. Occasionally, strange silver coins and jewellery and even stranger obsidian carvings, found by lucky divers, make their way to market, but these are generally discounted as forgeries.
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