River Reaching

Map of the area around the River Reaching circa 1372 DR.
River Reaching
Geography
Aliases	Bodensee River
Type	River
Region	Western Heartlands
Source	Sunset Mountains
Tributary of	River Chionthar

The River Reaching, known to the ancient Netherese as the Bodensee River, was a river in the Western Heartlands of Faerûn

Geography

The River Reaching flowed from the northern Sunset Mountains, originating in Yellow Snake Pass, then passed by Mount Tiamat and cut through Skull Gorge on its way past the settlement of Hill's Edge. It skirted the east edge of the Trielta Hills and then entered the Reaching Woods, finally emerging to pour into the River Chionthar near Scornubel.

Flora & Fauna

The river was somewhat dangerous due to being inhabited 6‑foot-long (1.8‑meter) eel-fish known as lampreys. Such creatures fed on whatever was available to them, which included humans and cattle crossing the river. During springtime, they would come out of hibernation and search for food across the full length of the river. Thus, animals and humans rarely bathed or swam there.

A unique species of river eel that inhabited this body of water was known as dreels. They subsisted upon algae and carrion, which kept the river's waters both clean and clear.

History

The River Reaching name was first introduced by a human explorer who covered the waterway in his logbook. He recorded the journey upstream and into a heavily wooded area, subsequently unable to reach the river's source. The explorer named the waterway River Reaching from his memory, and the name stuck.

Appendix

Behind the Scenes

Bodensee is a lake on Earth between Austria, Germany and Switzerland. The Bodensee River is one of several Netherese landmarks with a name derived from a German site or term.

Ed Greenwood named the river circa 1976, and the forest's name was derived from it soon after.