Lake of Mists
This body of water is the second largest freshwater lake in the Endless Waste. Fed by the heated waters from the Firepeaks and underground thermal springs, the water of the Lake of Mists is warmer than normal. The difference in temperature causes thick fogs and damp mists throughout most of the fall, winter, and spring.
The Lake of Mists has always been a place of mystery. Once part of an old civilization, the lake is still surrounded by settlements and ruins from that age. Most notable of these is Almorel. However, many of the other small settlements have burial mounds and ruined keeps that are shunned by the locals. Stranger still are the creatures rumored to be living in the lake, somewhere near the bottom of its immense depths.
The settlements around the lake rely on the fishing and lumber industries for their trade. The lake is rich with sturgeon, salmon, and other fine game fish. The fishermen, in small boats of two to three men, go out every day to bring in their catch. Some is sold fresh, but most is dried, smoked, salted, or pickled and shipped toward Hallstatt, Terraguard and Semphar. Smoked sturgeon and caviar from the lake are especially prized by the nobles of some courts.
The lumbermen form the other backbone of the settlements. The small forests around the shores of the lake are filled with old oak, walnut, and pine. These are cut and then floated to the towns. Most of the lumber is taken to the small mills or carpenters and used locally. Some, particularly the walnut, is towed across the lake and floated down the Clearflow to Hallstatt or loaded on wagons at Almorel. However, because lumber is difficult to ship, only a little is sent this way. Living off the lumber trade are many fine carpenters and woodcarvers. These men make items for local use and also ship finished products abroad. Again, however, their work is not so unique as to make it valuable to collectors. Much of what they make is sold to the nomads.
The settlements around the lake are mostly composed of Raumvira, a stocky, thick-bearded race. These people trace their ancestry back to the fall of the empire, although the nomads who surround the lake have had their effect, too. The Raumvira have not formed into a single country, but the towns generally support each other in a loose confederation. Government and titles are much the same from one to the other. These all follow the pattern set by Almorel, the largest of the Raumvira settlements. Generally, the head of a settlement is the mechnik or sheriff. He is not the sole ruler, but heads the veche, the city council. Serving on the veche are the starosta, elders of the town. The veche hears cases and makes rulings in most matters. However, issues that affect a particular business must be presented to the appropriate guild or ulista. Matters relating to the fisheries are referred to the fishermen’s guild, the isad. The farmers are organized into the verv, and the lumbermen have formed the khod. Each guild has some power to approve or disapprove all judgements that affect it. If a case cannot be decided in the community (which is not uncommon when the issue involves the guilds), the mechnik and some of the starosta will journey to Almorel. There they present the case to the Gospoda Although the Gospoda has no authority outside Almorel, its decisions are traditionally considered binding.
As noted, the Lake of Mists hides a number of mysteries. By far the best known of these are the creatures rumored to live in the lake. Tales describe anything from great serpents to evil spirits. Watery elves and pixies fall somewhere in-between. No one seems to agree on what, if anything, is actually found there.
