Lake of Mists and Veils
The enormous freshwater lake that borders Brevoy, Numeria, Mendev, and Iobaria takes its name from the dense fog that steams from its surface each winter morning, burning off slowly throughout the day. Lesser clouds drift across its waves year-round, and some say that veils of fog sometimes swirl even below the water. In winter, the lake spawns storms that hammer northern Brevoy with hail and snow.
Pirates, fishers, and traders ply the lake’s waters, and soothsayers purport to read omens in its mists. Yet those who spend the most time on the Lake of Mists and Veils claim to know it least, for they alone have glimpsed the mysteries within its waves.
One such wonder is the Jundlan Wrecks, a frost-rimed tangle of broken ships and ancient, half-frozen corpses in Jellicoe Bay—the floating legacy of a massive naval battle between the long-dead pirate lords of Issia. Malevolent fey are said to haunt the storm-crushed wreckage, building altars and eldritch palaces from the dead pirates’ treasure. On moonless nights, ghostly bells sound the midnight hour, and gangplanks of frost-bound human bone unfurl from the desolate ships, inviting anyone and no one to a destination unknown.
Another mystery lies north of Chesed, beyond the shore’s sight, where a still patch of water lies undisturbed by wind or wave. Deep under the surface, the dim outline of some enormous hulk can just be glimpsed, its opaque black surface untouched by silt or water weeds. Twice in living memory, the mysterious structure has belched up great bubbles of sweet-smelling gas. Both incidents resulted in massive fish kills and caused violent hallucinations among ships’ crews exposed to the gas. Some victims died, others developed strange new abilities, and a few simply had their consciousness destroyed, becoming senseless husks ever after.
Pirates, fishers, and traders ply the lake’s waters, and soothsayers purport to read omens in its mists. Yet those who spend the most time on the Lake of Mists and Veils claim to know it least, for they alone have glimpsed the mysteries within its waves.
One such wonder is the Jundlan Wrecks, a frost-rimed tangle of broken ships and ancient, half-frozen corpses in Jellicoe Bay—the floating legacy of a massive naval battle between the long-dead pirate lords of Issia. Malevolent fey are said to haunt the storm-crushed wreckage, building altars and eldritch palaces from the dead pirates’ treasure. On moonless nights, ghostly bells sound the midnight hour, and gangplanks of frost-bound human bone unfurl from the desolate ships, inviting anyone and no one to a destination unknown.
Another mystery lies north of Chesed, beyond the shore’s sight, where a still patch of water lies undisturbed by wind or wave. Deep under the surface, the dim outline of some enormous hulk can just be glimpsed, its opaque black surface untouched by silt or water weeds. Twice in living memory, the mysterious structure has belched up great bubbles of sweet-smelling gas. Both incidents resulted in massive fish kills and caused violent hallucinations among ships’ crews exposed to the gas. Some victims died, others developed strange new abilities, and a few simply had their consciousness destroyed, becoming senseless husks ever after.
Type
Lake
Location under
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