Lake Cyprus

Lake Cyprus as it appears in the Map of Faugresh.

**Lake Cyprus** is a large lake located within the eastern portions of the Great Forest of Faugresh and the northern reaches of Corrapaise. It is the second largest landlocked body of water in Faugresh after the Sea of Gejgelen.

Lake Cyprus is the most commonly used and Corrapaison name for this lake, named after King Cyprus IV. Other names for the lake include *Eferre* by many indigenous Wood Elves, *Jostine iie Hann* by pre-Corrapaison Kiistace Humans, among others.

Lake Cyprus was the site of the signing of the Treaty of the Lake, which gave the treaty its name. The Solemn Monuments are located around the whole lake in a series of carved stone monoliths.

## Etymology

### Corrapaison Nomenclature

Lake Cyprus is the second name for this lake, the first being Wayfaring Lake. The University of Corrapaise and the Rationalists during the Migration named the body of water Wayfaring Lake after they had come across it while searching for the start of their new civilization. It was given this name for the Rationalists' wandering state during the Migration. The renaming of the lake to Lake Cyprus occurred 4 years later as part of the terms of the Treaty of the Lake. The renaming was proposed by the University to garner favor with Royalists who would inevitably become part of the population of the Domain of Corrapaise.

### Kiistace Human Nomenclature

The Kiistace Humans who lived in the region long before the arrival of Corrapaisons called the lake *Jostine iie Hann*, literally translated as Body of Life from Kiistace to Common.

## In Culture

### Corrapaison Culture

In Corrapaison culture, Lake Cyprus is often depicted with calm waters in the autumn, and is observed as a location of remembrance and reflection, in particular for those who died during the Corrapaison Civil War. Many Corrapaisons also view the lake as a place for a new beginning and will travel to the lake during times of personal triumph or hardship, or for a place to commit to personal growth.

### Kiistace Culture

In Kiistace folklore, it was told that all Kiistace people are given their life and form by the lake. If someone focused on their own reflection in the water, they may be able to connect to a form of themselves beyond their own body and mind. This was believed to be the way to transcend the limits of one's own phyiscal form and live as their true selves.

Kiistace folklore tells of Jikca, someone who for their whole life resented their own physicality as it brought them great anguish. Jikca sat on the shore of *Jostine iin Hann* and meditated on their own reflection for days, bearing the crashing waves, each a constant, steady, rhythmic impact on their body, a perpetual reminder of it and Jikca's hatred of its form. The water threatened to drown them as their reflection became burned into their mind as an ever-present stab of enervating despair. But Jikca was not to be drowned, nor burned, nor tormented, for they were far too resilient. They looked into their reflection further, and noticed a shifting in the water as they saw through the waves, no longer bracing for their hits. The waves' impacting reminders were no longer a source of pain, but fuel to continue on. Jikca looked further, seeing only glimpses of it at first, but when they focused on it, channeling the waves brought by the lake, someone were there, staring back at them. It was Jikca, their own reflection. But it was different, new, yet always there hidden under the water's turbulence. It was True Jikca. Their reflection greeted them for the first time with a smile. A final wave crashed over Jikca, who let the water on, around, and through themselves, embracing and welcoming it. They no longer felt shame, resentment, or despair. They felt whole in their own body, no longer confined within it, forever free to roam, for now True Jikca was born, and it was their time.