Scarlet Pool
Geography
This pool is an offshoot of the Joy River. The water seperates from the main flow in a swirling red depression. The pool is shallow only about 10 feet at its deepest, but it does cover a substantial area - roughly 35 by 15 miles. The sheer size gives it a commanding presence amidst the surrounding landscape. The pool lies within the temperate forest known as the Silent Thicket.
The deeper waters of the pool are red and the shallower waters are orange. The lake’s surface resembles a vast, shimmering sheet of red glass when hit by the golden early morning sun. The surface of the waters gently laps against the edges of the pool and reflect the surrounding forest.
Localized Phenomena
The magical properties of the water are known to calcify the bodies of birds and other animals, turning them to stone. Investigation will reveal that this spell is some variation of the stoneskin spell.
Zigast the Wizard was experimenting and the spell went awry causing anything that drinks the water to turn stone.
Climate
The climate is temperate with four distinct seasons. During the winter the temperature is cold enough to support a fixed period of snow. The summers are at least warm and often hot. Most percipitation happens in the winter and some in spring. The summers are usually dry.
Fauna & Flora
The only animals that live in the pool are a few types of tilapias and cyanobacteria. The microscopic bacteria use photosynthesis to feed themselves and are responsible for the red color of the waters.
Around the edges of the lake grows saltmarsh cordgrass.
Natural Resources
There is an alkali salt crust with a pinkish color on the surface of the lake.
Tourism
This pool and the entire thicket surrounding it have a negative reputation in the surrounding countryside and most everyone avoids it.
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