One of the interesting properties of Lake Icavor is that the saltiness can result in a crusty coating on anything submerged in the lake for a significant amount of time. If a portion of this crusty coating breaks off, the piece of mineral salt floats, and slowly makes its way toward the Icavor River. If enough salt builds onto the crystal, it will sink, but if not, it will continue to the end of the lake, or at least to where we are now.
From where we are today to the Icavor River, the lake has a solid salt coating from centuries of mineral buildup. I believe there must be something at the end of the lake that kept the salt from floating downriver long enough that it built up enough mass that it will never go downriver. If I didn’t know better, the almost endless sheet of white looks very similar to ice covering a lake in winter.
Today we came across a small outpost called Ar Gehen, although it’s nowhere near large enough to call a town since it only had a few structures. The inhabitants are salt harvesters. They scrape salt off the surface of the lake, put it through a cleaning process, and then ship it downriver. They were very wary when they saw us approaching from the west, from the direction of the Dark Magicians, but were very welcoming once they learned who we are. They fed us our first decent meal since we left the ship, and provided us with a room for the night.
Jelen, the man in charge of this salt harvesting operation said they are days away from sending their yearly salt shipment, and we are welcome to join them in the journey downriver. I’m not sure if he wants the protection of three Sisterhood operatives and a former Red Exemplar, or if he just wants company for the trip. They do have three wagonloads already packed and ready to go, and while I don’t expect any problems, it’s definitely a valuable cargo. I will probably accept Jelen’s offer to accompany them. They have the same destination as us, and it will be nice to grow better acquainted with more people in this land.