Jorve Vaim is a powerful being who has presided over still lakes and rippling streams of the northern forests for untold centuries. His origins are shrouded in mystery, with some tales claiming he spontaneously emerged from the primordial waters at the dawn of time, while others believe he is an ancient water deity from a long-forgotten pantheon.
Jorve takes the form of a muscular young man with flowing light red hair that seems to undulate like tendrils in water. Instead of feet, his legs taper into a powerful fish-like tail. Atop his head sits a crown resembling the fluted edges of a scallop shell. When he emerges from the waters, his tail becomes a swirling mist or two human-like legs, allowing him to walk on land.
His domain extends across all the interconnected rivers, streams, ponds and lakes of the Northwood forests stretching from the Ironspine Mountains in the west to the Misore along the Cerulean Sea in the east. His influence holds sway over such notable lakes as the mirror-like Everglade, the mist-shrouded Localorn, and the remote glacial tarn of Frostmere High Lake. The rivers under his protection include the thundering Whies born from the icy peaks, the meandering Moad River, and the dark, peaty Backwade that snakes through the Sasso Widlmarsh. Jorve can traverse seamlessly between all these bodies of water, disappearing from one lake only to resurface in a distant river.
Travelers who chance upon the serene lakes of his realm may catch glimpses of Jorve swimming beneath the glassy surface or lounging on the shores in the dappled sunlight. He takes an interest in the visitors to his watery kingdoms, sometimes watching them unseen, other times revealing himself. Jorve's motives are mercurial - he may playfully splash them, offer life-saving aid, or lure them to an untimely watery demise depending on his mysterious whims.
Jorve has an intense connection to the natural world and the living things inhabiting it. He jealously guards his pristine lakes and forestlands from those who would defile or pollute them. Supplicants who show proper reverence may earn boons of healing, safe passage, or protection from Jorve in exchange for offerings. The Sungrove elves of Localorn pour sanctified waters from their blessed hollows into the lake every year to curry Jorve's blessing. So long as this rite is upheld, his tranquil countenance remains. But the year the elves neglected this ritual, the Localorn was shrouded in unnatural mists that disoriented travelers.
Another notable episode that cemented Jorve's status occurred during the Battle of Redmyre Ford in the years before the Corgyr Empire's fall. As two feuding human armies clashed on the banks of the Whies, their pillaging and disregard for the once-pristine river enraged the water spirit. Jorve's wrath manifested as a sudden flash flood that swept away both armies, the soldiers borne away on a raging torrent back to the Cerulean Sea from whence they came.