Denh Grassy Lake

Place

Place Name:

Denh Grassy Lake

Biome:

Grassy Lake

Size:

Unknown

Continent:

Unknown

Subcontinent

Unknown

History

Historical Overview

The history of Denh Grassy Lake is considered to be one full of mystery. No one can quite decide on how it came to be. The more religious zu’aan say that it was created after a great earthquake during the Ancient Age caused by an angry god. Heavy rainfall and flooding filled the basin created by the world crust shifting and cracking. Others say that it was a great landslide that caused natural dams to appear, blocking the flow of streams. Some even say that it’s always been here, hidden deep within the forest. What is known, however, is the existence of zu’aan “ghost tribes” scattered throughout the territory. They were called this due to them not making contact with other zu’aan settlements.

They stayed hidden within the forest surrounding the lake, never reaching out, never participating in trade. There are rumors that state that one of these ghost tribes were actually the ones behind the creation of the lake. Through digging a deep basin and damming rivers, they were able to create an artificial lake. These tribes had no name, at least not one that anyone outside of the lake knew. It’s said that they were truly in tune with nature, living with nature instead of in it. The zu’aan that braved the forest were usually met with extreme violence, and most never returned. Those that did return told tales of zu’aan flitting between the trees with strange white symbols painted onto their skin and the skulls of animals adorning their heads.

It is believed that the last of these tribes, for reasons unknown to the outside zu’aan, disappeared a bit before the Awakening Age. Some believed it was due to disease that they couldn’t treat, while others believed that they killed each other. It wasn’t until the end of the Twilight Age, when the Inas City Zu'aan migrated here to escape the kin’toni hordes, that it became “officially” inhabited. The first zu’aan of the established Inas City found remnants of the tribes. They discovered things like strange markings carved into the trees, broken and rotting tools that couldn’t be used, and old, torn clothing. Other than those small remnants, any other signs of the tribes were nowhere to be seen.

Not that they really cared about the past. As far as they were concerned, Denh Grassy Lake was theirs. As the lake is surrounded by thick forest practically all around, there hasn’t been much conflict here. War has touched the lake, as no place has truly escaped its reach, but not as it has in other areas. It has been able to escape much of the conflict. This is one of the main, if not only, reasons Inas was established here. They believed that they could hide from the kin’toni and the more aggressive zu’aan cities here. The zu’aan cultivated the lake to fit their needs. While they had a respect for it and were thankful for its protection, they were still once part of advanced cities.

They couldn’t build a city of their past as they no longer had the tools to do so. Instead, they followed the ways of their early ancestors. The forest itself acted as their walls, so they built their homes within it, taking up the western side of the lake.

Geography

Denh Grassy Lake is an open freshwater lake in the southwest, spanning over 15,000 kilometers squared and reaching a depth of nearly two hundred feet. Due to it being an open lake, there is virtually no salt within it, less than one percent actually. Several rivers run out from the lake, running in different directions across the country. Some span several hundreds of miles through other territories. While most of the rivers are incredibly deep, there are some that are shallow and easy to cross. The deep rivers easily reach depths of nearly one hundred feet. Thick forest surrounds the entire lake, making it a rough environment to navigate. It’s easy to get lost even walking in a straight line.

The trees are tall, some reaching thirty feet, and thick. Their strong roots peek out from the ground, aiding in making navigation hard as one‘s foot can easily get caught. Leaves of varying sizes fill the tops of the trees creating dark spots in the forest. Some of the trees are leaning, both inside the forest and around the edges of the lake. The climate varies depending on the season. During the summer, a moderate temperature of sixty to seventy degrees is common. While the winter can get as low as thirty degrees. It is not uncommon for the surface of the lake to freeze over during the winter. Within the lake is different from the area around it. The bottom of the lake can reach temperatures of forty degrees during the summer and can easily drop to twenty and below during the winter.

A variety of aquatic animals live on and within the lake. Different types of native fish swim alongside fish brought by the connecting rivers. There is also a high population of insects like the lemite and the cinean. Mammals are rare in Denh due to the terrain. With this being said, there are some there like the surskit, a rare breed of deer like being only native to the south west. There is also a nice variety of aquatic plants within and around the lake, along with the plants of the forest. Some grow at the bottom of the lake, reaching up towards the surface. Some even float on the surface of the lake. Most of these plants are native to Denh and can only grow and survive in this specific biome.

Denh Grassy Lake got its name due to the sheer amount of green plants that grow here and the greenish color on the surface of the lake due to the algae. It’s hard to find plants that aren’t green or close to green. A few shades of blue and yellow can be found along with a drop of red here and there, but the majority are green or a green mix. The further you go into the forest, away from the lake, the easier it is to find a greater variety of colored plant life.

Plants

The majority of plant life in Denh Grassy Lake is of the aquatic variety. There are more land based plants deeper within the forest surrounding the lake. Most of the plants are mainly green with a few shades of yellow and blue. The plants within the forest have a greater variety of colors. Oriscus is a yellow green flower that blooms on the surface of the lake. Its stem is submerged in the water, growing up from the floor near the edges of the lake in an upward spiral. This flower can be seen circling the edges of the lake, some overlapping with each other. The thick, green leaf lies flat against the water in a stellate formation, protecting the funnel-shaped, yellow flower on top. Oriscus are inedible and have no medicinal uses for zu’aan.

Adage grows on a single stem, sprouting singularly in the multiple stalks on the sides. The entire plant grows to a length of nearly four feet, with three feet of its stem being submerged in water. The flowers themselves are of a green and blue gradient that has a spiral-like bottom that twists up and out like a trumpet. This flower only blooms during the summer. Adage, despite its beautiful appearance, produces a subtle musky scent that keeps insects away. Eechary is a sweet smelling tree moss that grows within the forest surrounding the lake. This moss is a pale purple, one of the few plants close to the lake that isn’t green. It is one of the few mosses that is safe to eat raw and has a variety of benefits in addition to being a sugar substitute.

While it is safe to eat raw, one has to be careful of the insects attracted to its sweet smell. It truly is better to boil it before consumption to kill anything that may have attached itself. If you can’t boil it, then it’s better to go for the highest cluster as insects are less likely to go up that high. Eechary moss can be used to treat nausea, boost the immune system, treat wounds, and fight infections. It is particularly effective when used in a paste to treat lemite bites. It grows low on Fess, a tree with smooth, dark brown bark and thin, leafless branches that grow and stretch out randomly towards the top. Fess trees are one of the shortest trees in Denh, only stretching to about thirteen feet.

Though it is short compared to other trees, its thick roots are extremely strong. Even with advanced technology, they were hard to completely remove as their roots can stretch several hundred feet beneath the ground. The outer layer of bark is thin and is easy to break off. This layer is actually edible and is sweet due to the eechary moss. The inner layer of bark is really durable. making it hard, especially in the Twilight Age, to cut down. These trees are not native to Denh and can grow nearly anywhere, even in extremely cold environments. As these trees can grow anywhere, eechary moss can also grow anywhere these trees grow.

Animals

The animals of Denh are mostly aquatic as the majority of them live either in the lake or around its edge.

Lemite make up a large portion of the insect population. These insects lay anywhere from one hundred to three hundred eggs on the surface of the lake near vegetation. It’s believed that they lay so many due to their life expectancy only being a few weeks. Lemite feed on algae after hatching before moving on to the blood of other living organisms. A single bite from one of these mosquitoes can cause infections, fevers, and hallucinations. Several bites can cause death if not treated. Lemite are the leading cause of sickness in Denh Grassy Lake. Cinean are their natural predators, helping to keep them and other insects under control. Their wings are translucent while their long bodies are an iridescent mix of blue and green and span nearly five inches across.

Their bulging eyes allow them to see practically all around them. This particular species of insect lays its eggs on the submerged stems of Oriscus flowers, a yellow green flower that blooms on the surface of the lake. The eggs detach themselves from the stems when it’s time to hatch, allowing them to float to the surface. Within the forest surrounding the lake is the rare surskit, a animal that is native to Denh Grassy Lake. It is the largest animal in this environment, with a fully grown surskit standing at nearly five feet and weighing almost 190 pounds. Their fur is a golden brown, with hints of yellow, that seems to glow beneath the light of the sun. Only the males have antlers.

They’re pure white, span nearly nine feet across, and are intricate to attract mates. They curve upwards, branching out randomly, and twist together towards the ends. Surskit males use their antlers to fight each other as well. This species of deer are more aggressive than they look and highly territorial. Some males have even been known to attack their young if they are born male. Their diet consists mainly of the aquatic plants around the edges of the lake. Surskit have lifespans of nearly twelve years, making them the longest living in Denh. The blue croscis is one of the biggest fish in the lake. Their scales are a dark blue that transitions into a dark green towards its belly.

Long, thin, pale blue barbels stretch several inches from the sides of their mouths to help them eat. Their crescent shaped tails make them fast swimmers. They can grow up to nearly five feet long and can weigh almost forty pounds. Croscis fish live in the middle to top level of the lake and eat the algae that grows on the surface. Females lay anywhere from two hundred to five hundred eggs a year. Of that, only about a third actually reach maturity. While this fish is one of the biggest, it is also one of the most docile. Their young are often hunted and killed before maturing.

Historical Timeline of Ages

Age Name	Dates	Controller
Stone Age	Before 1E 0	Unknown
Copper Age	1E 1–1E 2200	Unknown
Bronze Age	1E 2200–1E 4400	Unknown
Iron Age	2E 0–2E 700	Unknown
Ancient Age	2E 700–2E 2200	Unknown
Middle Age	3E 0–3E 2050	Unknown
Early Modern Age	3E 2050–3E 2600	Unknown
Industrial Age	3E 2600–3E 2700	Unknown
Machine Age	3E 2700–3E 2800	Unknown
Atomic Age	3E 2800–3E 2850	Unknown
Space Age	3E 2850–3E 2875	Unknown
Information Age	3E 2875–3E 2900	Unknown
Genetic Age	3E 2950–3E 3000	Unknown
Awakening Age	3E 3000–3E 3415	Unknown
Twilight Age	4E 0–4E 500	Inas City Zu'aan

Place

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Denh Grassy Lake

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This article is written by DreamCatchie#3401 (Discord). Copyright 2026 Jenetra Waters. All rights reserved.