A small alpine lake nestled in a cirque between the highest peaks of the central Widebarrow Mountains, on the border between Dern and Thorum. The light leyline runs directly beneath it, and the Palace of Light stands on its western shore.
Properties
The water is unnaturally clear—so transparent that the bottom appears visible even at its deepest point (roughly 200 feet). This is the leyline's influence: light penetrates where physics says it shouldn't.
The lake never freezes. Even in the harshest mountain winters, when ice locks the surrounding peaks, Lake Splendor steams gently, its surface catching and holding whatever light touches it. On overcast days, the water glows faintly from within—stored sunlight slowly releasing.
Local legend claims anything submerged in Lake Splendor casts no shadow for seven days after removal. Dernish miners test for curses this way: if your shadow returns early, something's wrong with you.
The Drowned Garden
Visible through the crystalline water, ancient stone structures cover the lake floor—temples or monuments from a civilization that predates the current mountain states. No one has successfully explored them. Divers report that descending past thirty feet causes disorientation: up and down become indistinguishable when light comes from everywhere equally. Several expeditions have drowned swimming confidently toward what they believed was the surface.
Scholars believe the lake-floor ruins predate humanity on Ve. Some theorize they were built by the same civilization that created the Shepherds' Stones in Edari—giant worked-stone formations whose purpose remains unknown. If the Garden could be explored, it might reveal secrets about Ve's pre-human history. The Order of the Aureate Eye forbids attempts, citing the danger. Critics suspect they've already found something and are keeping it secret.