River Ashaba

The River Ashaba was one of two major rivers running through Cormanthor (the other was the Duathamper, or Elvenflow).

Geography
The river cut the forest roughly in half from Shadowdale in the Dalelands to Semberholme.

Description
The river was several hundred yards across, and deep, more than 30 ft (9 m) in places. Its banks sloped steeply in most places.

Crossing
Around 1367 DR, the half-elven ranger Lyra Sunrose scouted the area thirty miles to the south of Mistledale. She located a bridge across the Ashaba, but it was damaged by a black dragon with poor eyesight who attacked the bridge thinking it was an enemy. Another bridge was located within the village of Shadowdale near Hangman's Knoll.

Flooding
Every spring, the heavy rains had a chance of causing the river to flood its banks, although the flooding was not severe, but it would cause hundreds of fish and frogs to become stranded in the muddy river banks.

Inhabitants
The Ashaba contained carp, walleye and bullhead, although the carp in particular could grow to a very large size; large enough to be a threat to a human-sized creature. The northern part of the river was overfished by orcs who used large nets to scoop up many fish at once. In an attempt to combat the larger carp, the orcs dumped large amounts of poison into the river, but this just turned the carp black and made them more aggressive.