Lake Thar
Lake Thar is a lake in the center of The Western Forest along the road between the Aurean Empire and Pillaran. To the east is a stretch of cleared farmland with several small towns and villages. To the west is Darkswamp, a swamp that is watery enough to be difficult to traverse while still having enough tree cover to not contrast with the well known darkness of the Western Forest. The Darkswamp is home to the Western Forest's thickest concentration of lizardfolk, who are sometimes visible on the shores of the lake.
For a long time, the shores of Lake Thar differed little from the surrounding areas of the Western Forest, being populated by small migratory bands of wild elves and lizardfolk. In 2824 AY, the first human settlers began to arrive, many encouraged by the Aurean Empire, which brought in garrisons as it tried to expand toward the coast. The settlers cleared an area of land on the east bank of the lake, and were gradually joined by a number of elves seeking the empires protection from the constant fighting among the elven bands. Today, the towns and villages by the lake are populated by a mix of humans, elves, and half elves, with most humans having some elven ancestry and vice versa.
In 4828 AY, in the midst of The Purge, an Aurean army razed the nearby elven town of Aru Fennar, burning it's sacred city-tree. Conflict with the elves of the Western Forest grew quickly from there, making it more and more difficult for the empire to retain control of it's territory within the forest. In 4833 AY, the lake's main towns, Ilka and Thar, expelled their Aurean garrisons to avoid destruction. It mostly worked, with the exception of a couple raids on outlying villages and the retaliatory burning of a temple to Nerralla outside Ilka.
As events during the collapse progressing quickly from there, the empire did not attempt to reoccupy the area for some time. The empire retook control bloodlessly in 4941 AY during an effort to retake Pillaran, but the army once again departed after the invasion failed. The area is now co-governed by the lords of Ilka and Thar, and the area has remained mostly peaceful for some time.
Type
Lake
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