Lake of Steam

With the Shaar on the east, it separated the Shining South from the rest of Faerûn. On its shores was a collection of free cities, mainly on the northern and western sides. The southern side, by contrast, was a collection of kingdoms collectively named the Border Kingdoms. At the center of the lake was the Arnrock. The mountains around the area were one of the only places that the rare substance, Zardazik, could be found.

The Lake of Steam is a large, enclosed bay of the Shining Sea. The region is extremely volcanic, such that a number of steam vents and fumaroles cause the sea to bubble and smoke along its length. Its islands are volcanic in origin, and its largest island, Arnrock, is an active volcano. The Lake of Steam has a large number of cities and towns along its perimeter. They are known in general terms as the Border Kingdoms. Little is known about these kingdoms, save that they trade with Vilhon Reach to the north and are continually battling with Calishite forces to the west. It is rumored that some of the cities, such as Mintar, are held under the sway of cruel and insane outcasts of magical Halruaa.

As of 1479 DR, the Lake of Steam was about half the size it was before the Spellplague. The Arnrock was in the eastern half of the sea rather than the center, and the eastern portion of the sea ended about thirty miles short of the town of Derlusk, where Derlusk was once on the southeastern coast of the sea. A large lake was separated from the main body of the sea and lay near the ruins of Innarlith. The Qurth Forest was a small fraction of its former size, and the Duskwood was completely gone. Suldolphor was also in ruins.

Despite its name, the Lake of Steam is a saltwater bay of the Shining Sea. Its stinking yellow waters give off clouds of steam due to volcanic activity beneath the waves, so its waters are always warm and cloaked with impenetrable mists on cold nights. Shallow as a pan, the lake is less than two hundred feet deep at its deepest, and only a few dozen feet in depth for most of its eastern arm.

The warm, iron-strong, undrinkable waters are rich in minerals that spur weeds, shellfish, and fish to grow to great size; the lake has been called, "the Breadbasket of the Seas." Predators here grow very large, too, from birds and otters to dragon turtles. Dolphins are common, and sharks and leeches, (some as large as rowboats, and given to hunting ashore during wet nights) are frequent, outnumbering more fearsome aquatic monsters. The lake is also known for the greenish pearls of its oysters.

The islands in the Lake of Steam change as volcanic stacks collapse and rise, but tend to be concentrated at Arnaden's western end. The Arnrock is an active volcano that exploded about a thousand years back, and is now a low, wide, open-topped dome with a cauldron filled with woods and always active hot springs and FUMAROLES. It's the abode of a small settlement of halflings who call themselves the Am. They fish, farm, and do a little copper-casting using volcanic rifts at the cauldron's heart.

Great numbers of wild beasts roam the island of Olodel. The place was once the private hunting preserve of the Lords of Olodet eccentric Calishite merchants who brought a number of Deepspawn hence and fed them deadly monsters, from Tigers to Manticores and Chimeras. Several Beholders slew the Lords and now rule Olodel. The island of Felmer's Keep looks like a castle but is actually a steep-sided extinct volcano, its outer flanks rocky ramparts, and its heart a verdant meadow.

The Strait of Storms, (also known as the Suldolphos Strait or the Wide Water) links Arnaden with the Shining Sea, and waters flow through it dangerously fast. To voyage north into the lake, ships wait on strong winds, and favorable tides, sometimes for days.

The Border Kingdoms on the southern shore are the homes of powerful adventurers of many types, each seeking to carve out a piece of land and rule it in the manner he or she feels is best . . . at least until the next would-be ruler decides to take over. Wizard towers, monasteries, fortresses, and temples dot the Border Kingdoms, only to have their owners replaced time and again.

The city-states along the southeast shore of the Shining Sea together form a Confederation known as Lapaliiya. The folk of this land are zealous warriors and industrious merchants who place a tremendous value on personal honor and propriety. Duels and feuds over slights that folk of other lands might hardly notice are common.

Each city in the Lapal league takes one deity as its patron, glorifying that faith above all others. Ilmater, Kelemvor, Seline, Talos, and Waukeen are the civic deities of the five largest Lapal cities. Other faiths are actively discouraged in a particular city, and relations between cities tend to mirror the alliances and enmities of the gods themselves.

The Lapal people were formerly a widespread tribal folk who settled a broad swath of territory from the southern coasts of Chult where the Lapal Sea still bears their name, to the borders of the Shaar. Barbaric and warlike, they harried the frontiers of Calimshan's great empires until the mage-kings of the Shoon Dynasi conquered and civilized them. The cities are still ruled by satraps claiming descent from the Shoon rulers of old.

The northern shore of the Lake of Steam, with its strong historic ties to Calimshan, reflects the materialistic attitude of that nation. However, the people of the lake have a fierce independent streak and rarely tolerate slavery. In the Border Kingdoms on the chaotic southern shore of the lake, the people have had little opportunity to develop any sort of national identity. What they do have in common is a stoic determination to get on with their lives regardless of who claims to be their king, overlord, theocrat, high wizard, grand guild master, or supreme musician that year.

The city-states on the Lake of Steam have all been part of Calimshan's empire or were founded by people working for or fleeing it, including rival nobles and empowered generals. Calimshan lost pieces of its eastern holdings on several occasions due to wars with Elves, Beholders, and Drow (including an extended period when beholder cults were prevalent), and the city-states have remained independent for several hundred years.

The cities of the Lake of Steam have access to their trading partners through the area and overland to the Vilhon Reach. These city-states are prosperous and rich but lack strong leadership. Gold rules these lands, and powerful merchant princes have toppled more than one city lord for interfering with the pursuit of private wealth.

The volcanism of the lake has discouraged Dwarves and other delving races from settling in the area, and Human realms have been shattered by Calimshan's armies and by successive waves of Beholder rule. Eye Tyrants lurking in the mountains west and north of the lake still occasionally burst forth with charmed servitor creatures from cavern strongholds to descend on caravans and encampments. Brigands fleeing Calishite justice also infest the shores.

The Border Kingdoms are always bubbling with wars, feuds, and power-hungry adventurers seeking thrones. On the northern shore, fierce competition for trade and the military forces of Bane's church in Mintar now pose a threat to the tenuous stability of the other city-states.

A Rare Find: Ilmur Baraskro, a merchant of Ankhapur, claims to have found a mysterious magic item that enables its possessor to create multiple bodies and move his intellect from one to another freely. He is offering it for sale to any interested person for two million gold coins, and has survived three assassination attempts to date, each of which slew one of his spare bodies.

Some sages say his item may be the fabled Thringal's Gorget - of which it is said that creating too many bodies with it can drive the possessor insane, one of the bodies must wear the Gorget at all times, and damage done to one body weakens all the others. Interested parties are hunting for Baraskro, most posing as potential buyers.

Demon Hunt: A demon summoned just before the conquest of Mintar broke free of its confining magic circle, causing much havoc among the Banite troops before flying southward. The Banites want the demon captured or destroyed, while others want to bribe the demon to continue attacking the minions of the Black Hand. The demon itself plans to claim a land among the Border Kingdoms.