Traveling the muddy roadways of The Living Lakes, you are bound to come across a variety of birdhouses. These colorful nesting places act as mile markers, prayer sites, and protection. The woods are a strange place where distances can change, and all manner of fearsome critters or small gods skulk about. It is easy for a traveler to wind up dead, or worse, with a case of the “yaps” (going insane). Well‑maintained birdhouses keep things in place and keep the weirdness in the woods where it belongs. That is why you will likely find Tuonela scattered beneath these tiny homes. Tuonela are the distinctive gravestones of many dwarves in The Living Lakes. Carved from stone or wood, they depict a chimera of dwarf and bird, with a distinctive nose and mustache melding into a beak and wings. The afterlife is said to be a silent, miserable place where souls wait to be lifted into the starry heavens. To expedite this journey, dwarves bury their dead beneath birdhouses, hoping their souls will be ...