Elderglow Basin

The Elderglow Basin lies like a great obsidian mirror at the western edge of the continent—500 kilometers wide and nearly 300 deep, cradled by low mountains and fed by the forest-wrapped waters of the Elderwood Flow. From the south, and north, smaller rivers descend from hidden valleys to join it, but it is the Flow that gives the lake its soul—and perhaps, its silence.   The waters of the basin are unusually dark, absorbing light rather than reflecting it. The surface remains calm even in wind, with only the faintest ripples disturbing the mirror-still sheen. Some say the lake reflects the sky best at night, when the moonlight turns the water silver-blue and constellations shimmer like jewels in the depths.   Despite its size, the Elderglow Basin is sparsely inhabited and seldom explored. No great ports line its shores, and no merchant routes cross its waters. Only a scattering of small fishing boats ever ply the shallows, launched from a few modest docks along the western shore.   Here lie the Westhaven Settlements—a loose network of independent villages that never bowed to the old kingdom nor the current Dominion. Life here is simple and self-governed. The people live by fishing, herb gathering, and quiet trade with inland foragers and hunters. There is little need for coin; reputation and reliability mean more.   The depths of the basin remain largely unstudied. What creatures stir below the mirrored surface is anyone’s guess. Locals speak of luminous fish, stone-colored serpents, and in hushed tones, of something larger. But no expedition has charted the bottom, and no deep-vessel has stayed long. The water is too dark, and the silence too thick.   The Elderglow Basin is not feared—but it is respected. It is not claimed—but it is remembered. Those who live by its shores speak little of what they see across its surface, and even less of what might lie beneath.