Gerudo Lake

Gerudo Lake was a massive body of water that occupied the basin that is now the Gerudo Desert during the Age of Myth and early Ancient Age. Long since dried up, only the bleached bones of ancient leviathans and strange rock formations of its ancient bed remain.

Geography
The bounds of the Lake that once covered the Gerudo Desert are not truly known, but the remnants of its ancient bed sticking out of the sands show it once covered at least the southwestern region of the Desert, including the desert of Faldoon, Toruma Dunes, and the region around Arbiter's Ground. Its size ranged from 1000 to 3750 square miles, making it the largest body of fresh water on the surface of Hyrule, dwarfing Lake Hylia. The ancient Gerudo Cliffs still bear the marks of its waters lapping against their shore, while in the wastelands of Faldoon, pillars of rock that once lay at the bottom of the lakebed and the bones of ancient aquatic beasts jut from the sand. The lake contained at least one connection to the Umoloth used by a fleeing Oshunite seeking refuge. Though the lake is long gone, some of its inhabitants, such as the Molgeras and Sandseals, adapted to swim through sand instead of water. To this day Sandseals congregate around the rare oases of the Gerudo Desert, retaining their aquatic nature.

The rich clay of the ancient lakebed still exists under the Toruma Dunes, and is favored by the Gerudo for making pottery, Additionally, some of the ancient waters that seeped into the earth still feed the life giving oases of the desert.

History
During the Age of Myth and early Ancient Age, the Lake was the largest body of fresh water on Hyrule, teeming with life and greenery. After the First Sages and Oracles brought order and civilization to the world, the lake began to dry up, forcing its native life such as Molgeras and Sandseals to adapt to the desert by burrowing through sand like they once swam through water. When the Druthulidi entered Hyrule, a group of Parella, following Bellum, left a Mirror Gate on the lakebed. It would later wash up on the shore near the future site of Arbiters Ground and be buried under the encroaching desert sands.

By the rise of the Kovalian civilization circa 8500 BG, the Lake had largely receded, but persisted in the area of Faldoon. Circa 4700 BG, an Oshunite refugee fleeing the destruction of its home in the Great Sea sought refuge in the waters of the lake, but was stranded when the lake finally dried up and died, its bones becoming known as the Leviathan of Faldoon.