Wood Lake History, Mythology, and Stories

WOOD LAKE, HISTORY OF HABITATION
Originally the lake was left wild, except for its use by gnomes periodically. The gnomes loved (they say) to just go sit on the beaches (now Bluff’s End) and look off into the distance. Or to climb the bluff just behind and command a brilliant view of the great body of water. Some gnomes will wink at you and say there was a burrow in the side of the bluff just behind the village, and it was closed up long before humans came to Little Dream. … and that there are still adventures and treasures to be had deep within. Certainly none of the villagers care (or dare) to find out. Things are fine just like they are, thank you.
Humans came down through the Tegg-Wood drainage over two-hundred-fifty years ago. Originally they were water travelers exclusively, and the traveling could not have been easier. Most of these travelers would continue on the north, to the Northwest Plains. There were few that stayed, falling in love with the valley and the lakes, but they settled down and got to know the gnomes and grimlocks, and learned to fish. The migration was very stressful for the land.
This route was one of the main routes for those seeking fortune north of the Forest, and for a while there were shanty towns all along the Great River Tegg, and the river to Buckland. They were tense times for the gnomes and the grimlocks, and those becoming locals, but they rolled over in twenty or thirty years. There are a few places left where the towns (of wood and some stone, and lots of garbage) can still be seen. Most of it has been cleared up by the two gnome burrows along the length of the drainage.
The Grimlocks did not permanently judge human beings for this transgression, especially since they were left alone and in peace after the migration came through. They themselves have a long history in the Forest, from long before humans arrived on the continent. They came to be great enemies of trolls and orcs over probably thousands of years or more. They have a symbiotic relationship to the land.



WOOD LAKE IN MYTHOLOGY
The Grimlocks tell a story of Wood Lake, that Kretta (creator and protectress) sat among the Great Limestones, long before the rivers carried them away, and bathed her feet in Wood Lake, in its clear, clean waters. It is said that the many fish of the lake swam about and kissed her feet, thus giving her countless blessings, and the pleasure of tickling. For their gift, she gave them a gift in return: The Gift of Plenty, by which their species would thrive in great number and gives sustenance to all that came.
This myth could be dated after the humans arrived, and based on the humans’ presence, and their skill in fishing. Nevertheless, the bounty and abundance of Wood Lake is well-known to the Grimlocks, and this story is one reason why. Most Grimlocks never even see the lake, but its presence to the north is common knowledge. They acknowledge it as a place where humans live, and there is no conflict there.
The people of Bluff’s End have their own mythology, but it is separated from the lake itself by a bit of abstraction. The God Nar is the god of Water and Fishers. There is no story-myth, just the knowledge that Nar gives favor to those that pray, to those that leave offerings in the chapel, to those who listen respectfully to the priest who rattles on and tells old fishing stories, when he can be found at all. Nar is not a “deep” deity, although he is tied far, far back to the great Yesh-him deity of Sea Travel, Ocean, and the Sea itself: Hal Nareshi


WOOD LAKE STORIES
The stories that surround Wood Lake are often “Fish Stories,” describing amazing (true or not) escapades in fishing the lake. Many stories center around “Walter,” the mythical monstrous fish that some claim dwells deep in the waters of the lake. Some claim to have seen the fish, and some claim to have had him on their line, or in their net, but no one has proof, so the legend lives on…
There are other less grandiose fish-tales, and some stories of the Nixies luring fishermen to their doom in the deeper and darker waters. One story tells of a little boy that went fishing with his father and was taken from the boat by a great ruddy Dire Hawk and flown away east to the forest. The boy was never seen again, except that when the father returned to fish those waters many years later, he would always see a ruddy hawk