Sigil Lakes
In the mist-laden lowlands of southwestern Mordent, three somber, silver-blue lakes rest amid mossy woods and rolling moors. Locals call them the Sigil Lakes, for when viewed from above—by magic, map, or improbable elevation—their placement forms a nearly perfect triangle, each lake a point on a mysterious and ancient sigil-like configuration.
To the eye, their arrangement feels meaningful. To the soul, it feels cursed.
Each of the Sigil Lakes bears its own local name and disturbing reputation:
- Lake Wyrd: To the northwest, this lake is known for its murky, whispering shallows and is often surrounded by an unnatural stillness. Locals avoid speaking near it, lest it "remembers their words."
- Mirrormere: To the southeast, Mirrormere has unnaturally clear waters and reflects things that aren't there—inversions of sky, glimpses of ruined cities, or long-dead loved ones who should not be able to wave back.
- Dolmen Lake: To the southwest, named for the moss-covered stone formations that rise from its depths. Its shores are dotted with crumbling standing stones that predate Mordent's written history.
When connected by imaginary lines, the three lakes create a triangle so precise in its geometry that scholars from the University of Port d'Elhour have disputed its natural origin for decades. Yet despite research and divination, no conclusive truth has surfaced.
The Sigil Lakes are a place of eerie geometry and buried purpose, a riddle the land refuses to yield. They sit in silence, reflecting more than the sky, whispering to those who wander too near, and guarding—perhaps unknowingly—a forgotten truth written across Mordent’s landscape.
"The lakes are older than names, and they know yours already."
Localized Phenomena
- Time Wanes and Warps: Travelers who camp between the lakes report missing time, bizarre dreams, and waking in places they don’t remember walking to. Some who try to chart the area claim their maps change on their own.
- Call of the Triangle: Certain sensitive minds—particularly mediums, warlocks, or those with ties to the Mists—report feeling a pull toward the center point between the lakes. This "Call of the Triangle" often ends in madness or disappearance.
- Misty Convergence: On nights of the new moon, thick Mists rise simultaneously from all three lakes and spiral toward their central intersection. Strange lights flicker in the fog, and the sound of distant bells tolls from no visible source.
Tourism
Folk Beliefs
- Triad of the Drowned: Fisherfolk whisper of three lovers—wronged, cursed, and drowned in each lake—whose souls created the triangle. They say anyone who speaks the true names of the drowned may open a path to the land of the dead.
- The Old Seal: Occultists believe the lakes form an ancient arcane binding—a seal meant to keep something asleep beneath the land. What that something is, no one agrees on: an ancient god, a Mourning Lord, a slumbering domain that predates Mordent itself.
- Witch’s Eye: Superstitious locals believe the three lakes form a sigil called the “Witch’s Eye,” and that any who cross its bounds are watched by something beneath the water.
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