Named for the giant told of in childhood legends across the realms of As'dra, Alef's Cascades are said to be wellsprings left behind in the paw prints of a passing lion. The legend is a wildly popular one for the natives of all the realms, though tales differ on whether he was running from something or to something when the Cascades were made. Either way it is agreed that the bounding leaps the giant lion took broke the earth beneath his paws and left it crying in his wake. The rapids that make up the majority of the Cascades have the occasional calm-looking surface, but even those are dangerous to go swimming in as the undercurrents may take you unawares, dragging you down through the falls for miles. Though some folks still try; brave and reckless youngsters will occasionally gain a taste for diving through the falls on purpose, though it is far from safe to do so as there are plenty of jagged rocks hidden beneath the roiling waves. Those who survive the fall generally float back to the surface near the Everbloom, where the waters are calmer. The closer Alef's Cascades are to Toreia Plateau, the colder the water becomes and the more likely you are to find chunks from Burnsul Freeze floating downstream. As the waters enter the Everbloom and widen, the water remains cold but not freezing, offering a refreshing place to swim in its lowest pool if you take care with the undercurrents.