The Lake Lost to the Sun

[Thrandr]

We've slowly started module 3. Well, technically we won't switch to me as a GM for a few weeks, but the players are so excited that they write to me constantly, telling me what their PCs do and are asking tons of questions :-)

One player is particularly invested, using pretty much all of his wealth to rebuild Drezen, investing in stuff such as the Lyre of Building and setting up production facilities to ensure that all of the refugees are able to make a living - he effectively wants to eradicate poverty before it becomes a problem.

The first task he wishes to complete is returning water to the dried up rivers surrounding Drezen. By studying the maps I've provided them, he reasons that the closest source of water which can be persuade to come by Drezen (and which was the likely source of water to begin with) is The Lake Lost to the Sun.

I've been trying to research, but can't find any other source of water close by, unless they buy a few Endless Decanters of Water or something.

Now, my problem is that I can't really find any information on The Lake Lost to the Sun, other than this bit from the Pathfinder Campaign Setting book on The World Wound:

"The Lake Lost to the Sun: The Lake Lost to the Sun was a grim place even before the demons came-a large narrow body of water with unusually still , dark waters of an unknown depth , said to be the lair of particularly aggressive and unusually intelligent water orms. The lake's dark waters look nearly black even under the noonday sun and have a curious habit of reflecting the image of an overcast sky even on sunny days. The druids of the Green Faith avoided the lake , believing that intruding upon the ancient , primordial nature spirits found there would cause them to rise up and defend those dark waters . The lake's dark reputation persists to this day, and even demons do not frequent this area . What strange and ageless source lies at the lake's bottom still remains a mystery."

Soe - does anyone know of any other source of information on the place, know or dare to speculate on the "strange and ageless source" at the lake's bottom, or should I perhaps just let them find some underground river they could divert? I'm not sure I'd dare to lead water from that place past Drezen, even if I could cleanse the abyssal taint somehow :-)

[Kalindlara]

I'm actually working on something for this exact thing - the dry riverbed, I mean, not the lake. ^_^

Wrath of the Righteous:

I'm bringing in the Army of Nurgal as a tertiary demonic organization. In the side trek I'm designing, they've built/excavated a temple at the river's source. Using ancient glyph magic scavenged from the fall of Azlant, they're keeping the river dry.

The PCs - one of whom wanted to see about the dry river, similar to yours - are about to stumble upon the Sunbaked Fane. The cultists have four glyphs, and as each one is deactivated, the waters start returning. The fourth one breaks the system and restores the river - hopefully the PCs are fast to flee!

There's also a mythic adversary - an exiled Keleshite princess (one of my PCs is from southern Taldor and has a thing about Qadirans) who is a summoner/wizard. I intend for her to be a recurring villain, if possible.

I'm still nailing down the details, but if you want to know more, feel free to post or PM me. I can also help if you'd like assistance refining an idea of your own. ^_^

[Kalindlara]

Also, if I recall correctly, the Lake Lost to the Sun is the one that Aroden drove Deskari's avatar into. That can't be good for it. ^_^

[Thrandr]

I also thought for a while that that was where Aroden drove Deskari's avatar and looked it up - it was into "The Lake of Mists and Veils". With all these lake names, I'm starting to wonder whether there is any place on Golarion people just can go for a normal swim without fearing for their lives :-D

Wrath of the Righteous:

And I quite like that idea of yours with the glyphs and temple. I'll PM you a bit later (just on the way out) to get more details:-)

[JohnHawkins]

A possibly mythic solution to getting lots of good clean water in the middle of the worldwound would be to find some way to open a portal to the elemental plane of water

[laraqua]

I had Drezen be a little lower than the West Sellen River and had some mages sent out to fill in the Vescavor tunnels so that the dirt dam could be pulled down and it could flow up toward Drezen by making that place a little downhill. It's still not enough to get much of a good flow going and they've dammed just past Drezen so the water doesn't flow into nowhere ... but the water and fish inside it have a much lower chance of taint than anything else in the area.

The Lake would be even better, though, and I've been thinking of what to do with it myself. I'd keep it non-demonic, though. Perhaps some alien city of powerful underwater fae who keep a number of magical beasts as some kind of defense and who serve an immense godling (something like that found in that Thassilonian temple in the Curse of the Crimson Throne).

[Thrandr]

Haha, that would have been somewhat simpler. If only I hadn't already told them it was downhill to the West Sellen River :-D

But yes, I quite like the thought of them having to investigate something Lovecraftian in the lake. Something freaky, something scary - something they REALLY don't expect. That or Kalindra's idea is probably what I'll settle on, or even combine the two somehow.

A portal to the elemental plane of water would be fun as well, but there is no saying what would come out of it O_O

[Kalindlara]

There's always Dagon, if you want to keep it demonic.

Otherwise, I suggest Bokrug, the great water-lizard. Anyone with a city of proud warriors near a lake should not tick him off. ^_^

[Kalindlara]

Also, check your PMs. ^_^

[Thrandr]

Uh! Bokrug is awesome! Very awesome, even :-D

And I shall do so - my wife went abroad this morning, leaving me and our daughter alone, so I've not done much else than run around with the little one, getting up to all kinds of mischief :-)

[Axial]

Kalindlara wrote:

Also, if I recall correctly, the Lake Lost to the Sun is the one that Aroden drove Deskari's avatar into. That can't be good for it. ^_^

I think that was actually the Lake of Mists and Veils. I know, all these cursed lakes, right?

[The Morphling]

This just sounds like a fantastic opportunity for the players to discover this excellent water source and have to fight a heroic battle to get it cleansed and secured.