Still Pool
East of the Dunwater River, deep within the Drowned Forest, lies a mirror-still pond fed by a hidden freshwater spring. Its surface is unnaturally calm, so clear that even falling leaves seem to float above their reflections.
The water is cool, sweet, and inviting. Any creature within 30 feet must succeed on a DC 15 Wisdom saving throw or feel compelled to drink. Those who do experience a brief, euphoric peace; the water refreshes and restores—but hides a terrible secret.
All who drink from the Still Pool are cursed. When they die, their spirits rise again as undead, bound forever to the pool. At night, faint ripples disturb the surface, and whispering voices echo softly through the trees, calling others to join them.
A Detect Evil and Good spell reveals a lingering aura of malevolence, but its source is ancient and obscured—neither fiendish nor purely necromantic. Some say the pool marks the resting place of a druid circle drowned by the rising marsh; others whisper that Wastri himself twisted it into a trap for the living.
The dead who answer its call are known as the Whispering Ones, and their sighing voices drift through the fog long after the sun has fled.
(See: Ghosts of Saltmarsh, Chapter 1 — “Drowned Forest Oddities #10”)
