Lonesome Lake is a small, isolated body of water in northern Kadroka, notable for having no visible inlet or outlet. The lake simply exists, a still pool amid the savanna that locals have avoided for as long as anyone can remember.
Geography
The lake sits in a shallow depression approximately 2 miles across, surrounded by typical Kadrokan grassland. No rivers feed it. No streams drain it. The water level remains remarkably constant regardless of season.
The Mystery
Hydrologically, Lonesome Lake should not exist. Lakes without inlets evaporate. Lakes without outlets stagnate, grow brackish, or overflow. Lonesome Lake does none of these things.
The water is fresh, clear, and cold, colder than it should be given the climate. The surface is unnaturally still; even on windy days, the lake barely ripples. Fish swim in its depths, though no one knows how they got there or what they eat.
Several theories attempt to explain the lake:
- Underground springs: The most mundane explanation, though no one has located the water source
- Magical sustenance: Some form of permanent enchantment maintaining the water
- Planar connection: The lake connects to somewhere else, and water flows through in ways invisible to surface observers
- The lake is alive: The water itself is a single organism, maintaining its own equilibrium
None have been proven. The lake keeps its secrets.
The Name
"Lonesome" refers both to the lake's isolation and to the feeling people report when near it.
Visitors describe an inexplicable sense of melancholy, a profound sadness rather than fear or danger. Animals avoid the shore. Travelers who camp nearby report dreams of vast, empty spaces. The sensation fades within a few miles, but few choose to return.
Whether this is a property of the lake itself or a psychological response to its uncanny stillness is unclear.
Local Customs
Kadrokans treat Lonesome Lake with cautious respect. They don't drink from it (though the water is apparently safe). They don't fish it (though fish are clearly present). They don't build near it (though the land would support settlement).
Some traditions hold that the lake grants visions to those who gaze into it at midnight. Others say it swallows anyone who enters the water. Still others claim it's simply cursed and best left alone.
The truth may be simpler: the lake is strange, and strange things are best avoided.
Location
Lonesome Lake lies roughly 40 miles north of Ponoigari, accessible via the road toward Phaerhom and the northern forests. The Hurikono stream system passes nearby but does not connect to the lake.