Legend of Lashmur Lake

The Legend of Lashmur Lake is an Eallan urban legend told by the Draconian Bards of the sea monster that lives beneath the waves of their local lake.

The Sea Monster

The story begins with a young boy in Evity, one of the bordering villages of Lashmur Lake. The young boy is said to have been playing in the lake when he simply vanished. His parents, furious, demanded something be done, so a search party was sent out. The search party, however, vanished as well.

Evity swept it under the rug, tossing the parents into the lake to sate whatever mysterious entity was doing this.
When Ealla was founded, however, it became a village for boisterous bards, so a mysterious creature of the deep did not sit will with them. Eallans wanted an image, wanted a description to put to page, stage, and song. A mystery was only art that had not been found.

"If one asks an Evitian about Lashmur Lake, they will direct attention to the coast and the villages. If one asks an Eallan, they will give you a lecture."

The Eallans did more than make search parties, then. They started having concerts on the shores, even some musicians making stages into boats and having concerts atop the lake itself, with the crowd sitting on the coast and staring out, hoping more to see a monster than a concert.

Lashmur Lake

Lashmur Lake is a body of water that borders three Draconian Villages: Ealla, Evity, and Ilder. Ealla is on the southern coast, Evity on the North, and Ilder on the west.
Before Ilder was around as a buffer-state, it is said that Lashmur Lake stood between Ealla and Evity as the only thing keeping them from destroying each other. It was inconvenient to go around it, and the stories of the sea monster made it too dangerous to go across it. Therefore, the Villages stayed mostly peaceful with each other.

The Eallans did not get what they sought. The monster never appeared during any of their concerts. That is until one day when a Tamdian Alchemist, the rivals of Eallan Bards, boarded the concert boat, performing a poorly written song to mock the Eallans. The monster then appeared from the sea, snapping up the alchemist and allowing the concert to continue on.

Music

It was said, then, that the monster of Lashmur Lake, which was given many names like the Lass of the Lash or Lashie, was tamed by music, and was only okay with people on the lake if they played her music to keep her calm. Otherwise, they were trespassing and would pay the price.

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Song of the Lake

There is a song about Lashmur Lake's monster, calling it an Eallan citizen. This song is meant to be a sign that Ealla is better than Evity, which could not tame the beast even with Beastmastery.

Lass of the Lash

Oh, Lass of Lash
You bring us together.
You unite us through song,
So we'll bear any weather
To see you again,
Oh sweet beast of the blue,
For we're kindred spirits,
Eallans and you.
We're all kindred spirits,
Just Eallans...
And...
You.

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Ever since then, a new job was created in Ealla to keep lake-goers safe. Every day, this person, called Lashmur's Leash, would go to the shore of the lake and play a song. This would then sate the beast.

Cautionary Tale

Still, some people were not smart enough to heed the warning, and often teenagers wishing to find a private place away from their parents would go out on the lake. Young couples or just individuals. They would disappear, eaten by the monster of Lashmur Lake, and would never be found.
The Legend of Lashmur Lake, then, is a cautionary tale to be careful of what to do when going to an unknown location like Lashmur Lake, and when dealing with beasts beyond the normal Onkers or Bendir Lizards. One may never know what is out there, so one must always be careful and keep the music of Ealla at heart.
Eallans also take pride in the Legend, saying they are happy to have a monster to protect them from evils, as the cautionary tale extends especially to non-Eallans who wish to mess with the Bards. They will be met, then, with a terrible fate if they intend to do so. Ealla may be full of Bards, but they have a fierce protector.

Tamd has tried to poison Lashmur Lake many times to kill the monster, but it has never seemed to work. Many wonder if, then, it is a singular creature, or multiple who simply travel to the surface alone. Any attempts to scan the bottom of the Lake have proven nothing, as the monster or monsters are quite good at hiding.

The Monster's Appearance

The tales tell that the monster is blue like the lake, but has emerald green eyes and rainbow-like stripes on its back that are either natural or painted on by Eallans to help it celebrate a music festival of days-gone-by.
It has a small head, adorned with two horns, with a long, narrow neck that connects to a fat, elongated body. Its cervical vertebrae (those in its large neck) are said to be some of the strongest bones in the world, as they able to keep the head connected to the body under immense pressure. Its outer skin is also difficult to pierce, though if one were ever able to do so and kill it, it would sell for large amounts of money.
The creature, then, has four limbs and a tail, the tail being about half the size of the neck, which is said to be about as long as a Draconian child is tall (about 6 feet). The limbs are paddle-like, helping it to swim through the lake without much current. The name Tamdians have associated with the creature is the Plesian, which is close to the word that means near-to in the language of the Alzirgos people. This is to say it is close to their enemy and must be accounted for in any invasion plans.
All things known about the design are mostly from second-hand accounts, as the creature rarely appears. Writings, songs, and souvenirs litter Ealla, allowing people to see the Legend of Lashmur Lake up close and hear its cautionary tale. Its warning. Ealla is for fun... and the Legend intends to keep it that way.