Grauven Lake

A massive lake in central Tellmir. It is the deepest lake on the continent and one of the largest. Old Tellmiri folklore holds that the deepest part of the lake does not have a bottom but rather contains an interplanar portal to one of the lower planes. The lake is home to several islands, some them being large enough to hold their own villages and towns. Boat traffic is common on the lake as well as small icebergs and freshwater sharks. Some of the large and more important islands are:

## Large Chenin Island

The Chenin Islands are home to Highwater Cove as well as several cold weather wineries, specializing in a rare varietal known as "Frostwine". Frostwine is fermented from grapes that are quite literally left to freeze on the vine in the dead of winter. The wine is a brilliant golden colour and said to have taste somewhat akin to mead but far richer. The wine is a rarity outside of Tellmir and in far off ports can fetch exorbitant prices. Only five wineries, four on Large Chenin Island and one on Small Chenin Island, even produce the wine at all. Many farms on the mainland have attempted to imitate the practice, but something in the terroir of the islands lends the wine a specific quality that has yet to be replicated. The four wineries present on Large Chenin Island are:

#### The Hound and Copper Winery (Founded 322)

The oldest winery on the island, Hound and Copper Winery originates from the last days of elven rule in the region and is still owned and operated by the direct descendants of the founder, Ferox Duranna, a Moon Elf viticulturist. During the Blight of Parasix, he was said to have quarantined himself on the island along with his family and waited out the storm. During this time, he turned to experimenting with grape cultivation for both entertainment and practicality. By the end of the plague, he had established a thriving business. The winery is located on the northern coastal slopes of the island and frequently faces the brunt of blizzards from the north that sweep across the lake in winter. The wineries cellars have been constructed in caves along the shoreline, elevated and magically waterproofed as well as routinely temperature controlled via the cellar masters Heat Metal spells.

#### The Original Kelp Family Vineyard (Founded 640) and The Real Kelp Family Vineyard (Founded 640)

In 635, Barnaby Kelp built a farm on Large Chenin Island and decided on a whim to plant some grape vines alongside his potatoes. He had seen the success of Ferox Duranna and decided to take a swing. If it didn't work, he still had his potatoes. 5 years later he and his two sons were running the largest and most successful winery, not just on the island, but in the region. The profits were enormous and the Kelp family was quickly becoming a famous name to the upper crust of society. Barnaby had a habit of saying what he thought, regardless of the present company. It's not clear which noble or traveling delegation he offended to such a degree, but Barnaby was found with a dagger in his gut on the road, heading home from the island tavern. Barnaby left behind no will and his sons, Cletus and Buford, were already on poor terms due to a complicated story involving both their wives, accusations of tax fraud, a rotten pomegranate, and a pyramid scheme started by a kobold Bard named Two-Finger. This was the final straw and both brothers demanded the entire estate. This escalated to vandalism, intimidation, hired thugs, and insinuations about the others nocturnal habits. Eventually, the local guard captain stepped in and brought the brothers before Empress Reagan III. She is said to have remarked "If I could give it to neither of you reeking buffoons, I would. However, as I am no tyrant, I will offer a compromise. The estate shall be split exactly in two and you each get half." The brothers begrudgingly took the offer. Cletus got the west half and Buford the east. The two family branches continue to bitterly feud and sabotage each other to this day, each claiming they were swindled out of the entire winery by the other.

#### The Royal Garden Winery (Founded 811)

When Sestera II became empress of Tellmir in 811, one of her first orders was the establishment of a royal winery on Large Chenin Island. Sestera was infamous for her discerning taste in food and drink. She believed that the product from the Chenin Islands had not been up to the standards expected of the famous region and considered the drop in quality to be a national embarrassment. The wine maker of the first official royal winery was selected as Maureen Curt. Curt was a personal favourite of Sesteras and was considered by many as an exacting and severe individual. She was a Draconic Sorcerer of the Copper variety and had served in several mercenary companies across Geos before settling in Tellmir and taking up the culinary pursuits. Raised in Drasenna, she brought rather unorthodox techniques to the position and was said to, in frustration with an architect telling her that an addition to the cellar couldn't be built, blasted a hole in the basement wall of the winery and declared "see how easy that was?"

## Small Chenin Island

The Tower of Moss has stood on Small Chenin Island since long before even the elves lived in Tellmir. Located on the south shore and surrounded by wild forest, it is a striking sight to anyone who passes by. The copper coloured stone it is built of shining on sunny days. No one knows for certain who built it and there is little evidence that could point to the answer. Even the name was only chosen by local sailors and is not what it was called originally. The tower contains several carvings on its walls on both of its two stories that seem to depict creatures crawling out of the forest, mythical beasts and monsters, all at the command of a leaf haired male figure. Many have guessed at the meaning or significance of these symbols but no one has ever found a satisfying interpretation. Located on the island is its only residents, operators of the smallest and oldest of the wineries of the Chenin Islands, the appropriately named Mosstower Winery

#### Mosstower Winery (Founded -185)

The origins of Mosstower Winery lie in the exploits of Aisling Kerrymint, a famous figure in Tellmir folklore. He was said to be a singer of remarkable skill and swordsman who none dared face. The half-Tabaxi shows up in the court records of Merric Darkwell, another famous figure in Tellmir, listed as a "culinary advisor", although many believe this was code for secret agent. Kerrymint was traveling across the lake one day when he spotted the Tower of Moss and went to shore to see it. According to folklore, he disappeared inside the Tower for seven days and did not respond to any calls. No one went looking for him due to the local legend at the time holding that a monster of some kind made its home in the tower. Eventually his companions gave up and reported him lost. At the end of the seventh day, Kerrymint left the tower and returned to the Keep of Zetren to the shock of all. He asked the Emperor for permission to build an estate on the island and when asked where he had been, he supposedly said "I got lost in the tower". When Emperor Merric asked him how that was possible when the tower was only two stories high, he apparently just laughed.

Kerrymint would establish a winery on the island right nearby the Tower of Moss and, despite almost everyone saying it would be a disaster, began creating the now famous Frostwine. Kerrymint was said to go to the tower once a year and not return for several days, each yearly visit taking longer than the last. When he finally did return, he would never say where he had gone or what exactly he was doing. Kerrymint has no recorded death and his grave site is unknown. Some, of the more romantic persuasion, believe he is still alive, still off on adventures across the world, while others say he went to the tower and, this time, didn't leave. As for the winery, he left it to Maria Terenskaya, an individual it took several months to find as she lived in Forventis and had never met Aisling Kerrymint. In fact, to this day, when the owner of Mosstower disappears, the winery is seemingly always left in the will to someone who has never met the previous owner and knows nothing about winemaking.

Small Chenin Island has no graveyard, as there has never been a recorded death of anyone on the island. Just vanishings without a trace.

## Water Fern Island

A low lying, swampy island that freezes over in winter, creating a remarkable gallery of natural ice formations. The island has no residents, aside from the local Mephit population. The infestation of Ice Mephits has its origin in the reign of Iri Emberheart, the infamous Inferno Empress. Her numerous magical experiments have created several magical curiosities across Tellmir, such as the Floating Pillars of Frostden and the Ashen Scar on the Eastern Coast. Water Fern Island was the result an attempt to create golems out of ice and snow using a connection to the elemental planes. Iri was successful at contacting the elementals planes but opinions are divided on what went wrong. Some say she ran afoul of an elemental prince, others say she failed to account for the instability of her connection. Regardless, the portal collapsed and the island was infested by elementals. Luck has it that the Empress chose to work on an island as the results of the failed experiment would have been an annoyance for centuries if on land. Contained to the island, it is only curiosity. The wreckage of the lab has long been picked clean by salvagers, leaving only empty frozen ruins and icy elementals to call the island home.

## Sorrel Island

The largest island on Grauven Lake, and home to the decently sized, oddly named town of Strawberry Fort. Strawberry Fort is home to one of the few non-human noble families in Tellmir, the Halfling Greencloak lords. In fact, more than half the islands population is Haflings, a bit of a curiosity in the Human dominated Tellmir. The story of how the Halflings came to occupy Sorrel Island is a long one, beginning with the Fall of the Heavens.