This lake is considered holy to the Olman tribes that live in the region due to the supernatural effects that impact the landscape and living creatures nearby.
This huge freshwater lake, recently named for a Keoish explorer, lies deep inside the jungles of the Amedio. When volcanic ash falls upon it, its waters produce supernatural effects harming the landscape and living creatures nearby, earning it the epithet "Storm Lake." Olman tribes consider it holy, and take to the waters in great bargelike rafts during certain seasonal rituals in order to make offerings of gold and other treasures. Ancient accursed ruins are on the north shore.
The bizarre weather phenomenon of Lake Matreyus (Storm Lake)
The southern half of the great central lake of this jungle is an important tribal ritual site for the "savages” who inhabit this steaming land. The northern half of the lake is shunned by them. They have many superstitious beliefs pertaining to evil spirits therein. Very few explorers have entered the Amedio heartlands; those who braved them have revealed only fragmentary information concerning this odd body of water.
Around the northern shores of the lake stand great redwoodlike trees with huge leaves measuring up to 18” long. The leaves are tough and supple, and if oiled with the resinous secretion of the tree bark, they can be stitched together to form a jerkin or cloak. Such a garment is as tough as leather armor, water-resistant, and confers advantages on attempts to be stealthy in the wilderness.
Other smaller (30-50’) trees among the giants can be tapped to yield a frankincense like viscous oil that sells for 25 gp per 10ml. A 10ml vial can be collected from one tree over a period of three weeks (the time required for a cut in the bark to allow the resin to ooze out).
Huge and vividly-colored pitcher plants in the jungle serve as natural water purifiers, and the liquid inside them can be reduced by gentle simmering to produce potions of sweet water. Giant clams in the water yield freshwater pearls, and the tailfeathers of the local birds of paradise and brilliant, multicolored parrots fetch good prices also.
Among these natural riches, two oddities are noteworthy. First, great stone statues of stylized human faces and upper torsos are scattered about the shoreline of the lake, unsmiling and cruel of visage, some fallen to the ground or overgrown with moss. Vegetation around them is typically twisted, exceptionally thick, andlor malformed. Creatures carrying both poison and disease lurk nearby. Noncorporeal undead (spectres, wraiths, and even ghosts) flit in the shadows around the statues at twilight and dawn, and are difficult to turn. The statues are of great age, but no one knows who sculpted them or what function-if any-they may once have had.
The second oddity is the periodic visitation of the Storm of Unknowing. The great volcano erupts every 20-40 years or so, and a great cloud of volcanic ash is thrown into the sky; the prevailing winds blow this plume toward the Amedio. The cloud has been observed hanging motionless over the northern expanse of the lake for several days at a time. A plethora of magical effects and continual darkness about the lake and its surrounds are associated with the storm. Rare and foul undead (such as sons of Kyuss) rise from the jungle floor, and strange and dangerous mists (vampiric mists) hover around the lakesides. Bolts of lightning descend from the cloud, striking the statues or the ground thereabout; they do not seem to harm the statues, but they can be lethal to anyone struck. Acid rain, clogged with choking sulphur fumes, precipitates in the area.
Worst of all, those caught within the storm are mentally affected: beset by hallucinations and confusion, they may suffer amnesia over a prolonged period of time. In one extreme case, the explorer Tibarian Matreyus of Gradsul is said to have lost his memory so completely that he could not even remember his name until a restoration spell was cast upon him.
The natural flora and fauna of the northern lake have surely not been described fully anywhere – neither have the possible magical effects of the storm. Only further explorations will yield the truth.
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