The Eelhold

The small lake known as the Eelhold has been created artificially by a log dam across the south-flowing Oldscutt River, causing water to gradually fill the shallow valley in which the lake now lies. The dam was built nearly 50 years past by the Carman Family to regulate river flow and prevent flooding further south, where the Oldscutt meets the Churnett River. The waters of the northern Oldscutt can be rapid in spring, and the dam broke on one famous occasion 17 years ago. However, the Eelhold has been much more stable since then, with very little trouble and no flooding.
Shiraz the Ranger is a frequent visitor to this lonely but lovely spot. There are many wild rumors about the Ranger, which Shiraz does not discourage since they keep folk away from the lake. Some say that there is a powerful fey living in the lake, and Shiraz is under the Fey's charm spell to prevent visitors to the lake.
Local people rarely travel to the lake, but once a year in the fall, several fishermen come to the lake to harvest the great eels which grow fat in the placid lake waters; there are few predators such as pike to keep their numbers down. For a period of five days they set out with flat-bottomed boats and great nets to dredge the lake bed around the shoreline, and by night they use lanterns to attract the eels to the surface from the central depths of the lake. The haul of fat eels is enormous, and the surplus is usually cooked, cut into finger-length chunks, and pickled with vinegar and spices before being bottled and kept for the winter. Eels may also be wood-smoked or preserved in a herb jelly. In any form, eels are an acquired taste, to put it mildly.