Shi'nolkan, Razak's Rock (shee-NOL-kan)

Most of the Amsorak Boat People spend their lives travelling around the lake, taking the goods of everyday life to and between the villages and towns which surround the lake. However, their cultural heart is their hidden settlement of Shi'nolkan on Razak's Rock in the middle of the lake.
Razak's Rock is described in the Gazetteer as follows:

Razak's Rock is aptly named. The third island on Lake Amsorak, the Rock is just that - a rock. Only the hardiest mosses grow on the island, and a few nesting birds make up its entire wildlife population. It is an empty, desolate place. ...
Razak's Rock does have a sheltered bay on its north side, with calm, crystal clear water and a beach of fine, jet-black sand. The sand is in demand by artists and other craftsmen as a novelty, and a few brave entrepreneurs will occasionally sail to the Rock to dig up a load , but it's hard to find a crew or boat owner willing to make the trip.
There are rumors of several underwater caves on Razak's Rock, which are supposed to be the hiding place of (according to which rumor is being retold) pirate treasure , dragon hoards, the secret treasure vaults of the lthel family, or some combination of the above. If anyone has found any such caves, they have kept quiet about it.

That's the general view of people living around and on the lake. The Shi'ika know better. Delving deep into the rock from the harbour are caves and passages which lead to a central cavern. How this was formed is unknown. The Shi'ika historians speculate that it might have been caused in the upheaval which ruined Itheldown Castle and finished the Ithel family, but its uniform roundness suggests something more natural at work. It might have been a lava chamber left during the time of the volcanoes, or it might have been softer rock worn away by the glaciers, or a meteorite crater which later got covered over by the movement of the earth, or even the work of some mighty beast like a dragon, carving out and smoothing out a living chamber.
Whatever the source of the chamber, some ancient civilization once lived there, and has carved out a network of living quarters, rooms, chambers, vents and passages, with clever use of clear quartz columns through the rock bringing the daylight down from above without exposing it to idle discovery from above.
That civilization is long gone, and it is now a holy place for the Shi'ika. It is where they congregate at the solstices and equinoxes for partying, prayer and celebrations, where marriages are consecrated, and where a token of every Shi'oka is brought on their death so they can remain with their people in the afterlife.
There is a permanent staff of their holy people living here, tending to the chamber, maintaining the rituals which they believe will protect the Shi'ika, and looking after the crypts where the remains are stored for eternity.
In the very centre of the cavern is a waist-high upwelling of rock, ornately carved by Shi'ika clerics, and with a silver basin somehow fused to the top. When this is filled with water and then ritually blessed, it can be used to watch over the Shi'ika boats with scrying magic, and even to control the weather on the lake. Each Shi'oka boat has a fist-sized stone ball carved in the same patterns as the upwelling rock, and they can use this to send an alert or cry for help; when they do, a part of the pedestal lights up and a tone sounds. There is always an acolyte on duty read to sound the alert within the chamber, and a senior cleric will come to view the situation and see how they can help. The rumours that attacking a Shi'oka boat bring bad luck have some grounding in fact...

Type

Underground / Vault