The Oribi's Wake
Dragonsfall Weyr
Amber Hills Hold
Vintner Hall
Healer Hall
Hidden Meadows
Dolphin Cove Weyr
Dolphin Hall
Emerald Falls Hold
Harper Hall
Printer Hall
Green Valley Hold
Leeward Lagoon Hold
Barrier Lake Weyr
Sunstone Seahold
Citrus Bay Hold
Writers: Yvonne
Date Posted: 14th April 2026
Characters: Kemmin
Description: Kemmin learns of the Oribi's Wake -- and what lurks beneath the waves.
Location: Barrier Lake Weyr
Date: month 13, day 1 of Turn 12
"And in the box... was his missing _finger_!"
Shrieks of laughter echoed off the lake and everyone agreed it was a good story, including Kemmin. His heart was warm as he leaned toward the bonfire. The dark lake muttered behind them and the wind whipped sparks into a starry night sky, as the dockworkers and a few of the lower caverns workers snuggled close together to listen to stories and pass bottles of whiskey and wine from hand to hand. This pebbled beach felt more like home than his cothold ever had.
Seegis accepted the back slaps and accolades for his story with good grace. He sat down and gestured to the group around the fire. "Who thinks they have a story good enough to beat that?"
A young man in a tar-stained denim jacket stood up. "I've got one better. Has anyone heard about Oribi's Wake?" Firelight danced across his face and drew thick shadows around his eyes. "My uncle sailed on her. She used to run this very lake taking slate tiles and stone blocks for tithe and to trade with the riverboat crews going to the coast.
"The Oribi's Wake was a double masted schooner. My uncle signed on for her maiden voyage and then kept on since the crew was good. Smart and tough as the stone they carried. Met his best mate there, a man named Calen from some cothold over in Garnet Valley territory.
"It happened early in the spring, after dark. The sky had been grey all sevenday and occasionally spitting snow when the temperature dipped. They were rounding Errand's Bend when the wind came up suddenly, shrieking like people in agony. My uncle, he got scared. They all did, all those tough men. When the wind screams in the rigging and the boat creaks beneath you like grinding bones, and the lake rolls into black waves too big to see over, it doesn't matter how tough or strong you are. The lake's stronger.
"My uncle didn't know which way was up or down. The lanterns blew out and they were sailing blind, and all they could do was hold on and hope for the storm to pass.
"Then they heard a scream-- man overboard! And then this sound, this horrific moaning screech, almost like a wild feline's roar but so deep that the entire ship _shook_ stern to stem. The crew all plugged their ears but they could still _feel_ the sound in their legs, like it was coming up from the lake somehow.
"As soon as it ended my uncle rushed to the rail to help but all he could see was black water and rain. Then he saw _it_."
There was a collective intake of breath from the crowd. The bonfire popped and spat sparks into the starlit sky, and Kemmin couldn't help but look at the glimmer of the black, fathomless lake that gently lapped at the shore only a dragonlength from where they sat.
"_It_ writhed just beyond the rail, a giant, scaly _thing_. An abominable cross between a fish and a wherry with a jagged dorsal fin, thin arms with hooked black claws and scales covered in algae. It was as big as a gold dragon and as he watched, he realized that it was fighting something: Calen, his friend. Calen was the one that went into the water and that _thing_ had found him, or maybe it had _grabbed_ him with its long arms right off the deck!
"The monster opened its mouth so wide that he could see right down it's maw, and it had rows and rows of serrated yellow teeth longer than his arm. And he watched as it bit down and tore his friend in half!"
Nervous laughter burbled up around the campfire as the hair on Kemmin's arms rose.
"Ain't no such thing!" Seegis called.
The storyteller arched an eyebrow. "How'd you know? The lake's as deep as the ocean in some places, and dolphins can't survive in fresh water. There could be _anything_ down there."
"Someone would have seen a monster on 'Sweeps," Kemmin said, thinking of his sharp-eyed sister.
"It was night, remember? Dragonriders don't fly sweeps at night. And someone _did_ see it." The storyteller's face split in a demonic grin. "My uncle."
There was a smattering of applause as the storyteller sat. "Who thinks they can tell a better, _true_ story?" he asked.
Kemmin let the sound of voices wash over him as his gaze strayed again to the lake. It was true: anything could be down there. He shivered and drew a little closer to the fire, glad for once that he was stuck on shore.
Last updated on the May 1st 2026