The day is hot and the thought of cooling waters is tempting so you set your thumb against the words that read "Water Room." You inhale sharply as you suddenly feel a sensation of falling, as if the ground is no longer beneath your feet, but this only lasts a moment and then you land with a gentle thud and look up from the map. You find you are no longer in the open streets but under a great glass dome. The walls are pale blue marble and dappled with the reflection of light on the water . . . and the water. . . water is everywhere! It pours through spouts from the walls, cascading into a terraced pool. The room is filled with a cool mist.
You are standing on the edge of this great pool in between two statues of frolicking fish, each spurting water from its mouth. Behind you is a door out into the street. Before lies you the pool in all its glory. A glass walkway spans the pool allowing you to walk over the water to a round bench that surrounds the great fountain in the middle of the room. The jets from this fountain reach all the way to the ceiling far above you.
The pool is built in steps, the highest around the edge of the room, each growing lower until they reach the fountain in the middle. Each terrace is "waterscaped" differently. The first is alive with jets of air and bubbles and seems to be largely responsible for the amount of moisture in the air. The next is calmer and filled with water plants, plate sized lily pads, grasses, cattails, and even what appears to be coral. The third is a fish pond filled with jeweled koi, some twice as long as you are tall.
Finally you reach the fourth pool, the one immediately surrounding the fountain. The water is calm and only a few inches deep. At is bottom is a mosaic of tiny tiles, depicting the ocean and the many creatures who live there. The fountain is surrounded by a low bench allowing you to dangle your feet into the water.
You hear chiming laughter and look around to see a group of Elven children playing in the deep, bubbly water of the outer ring, riding the water jets up into the air and then splashing back into the water with cries of delight. You laugh and watch them for awhile.
After lingering for a bit you decide it is time to move on.
Would you like to return to the dock and continue on to see the Queen?
or
Will you consult your map for your next destination?
You are standing on the edge of this great pool in between two statues of frolicking fish, each spurting water from its mouth. Behind you is a door out into the street. Before lies you the pool in all its glory. A glass walkway spans the pool allowing you to walk over the water to a round bench that surrounds the great fountain in the middle of the room. The jets from this fountain reach all the way to the ceiling far above you.
The pool is built in steps, the highest around the edge of the room, each growing lower until they reach the fountain in the middle. Each terrace is "waterscaped" differently. The first is alive with jets of air and bubbles and seems to be largely responsible for the amount of moisture in the air. The next is calmer and filled with water plants, plate sized lily pads, grasses, cattails, and even what appears to be coral. The third is a fish pond filled with jeweled koi, some twice as long as you are tall.
Finally you reach the fourth pool, the one immediately surrounding the fountain. The water is calm and only a few inches deep. At is bottom is a mosaic of tiny tiles, depicting the ocean and the many creatures who live there. The fountain is surrounded by a low bench allowing you to dangle your feet into the water.
You hear chiming laughter and look around to see a group of Elven children playing in the deep, bubbly water of the outer ring, riding the water jets up into the air and then splashing back into the water with cries of delight. You laugh and watch them for awhile.
After lingering for a bit you decide it is time to move on.
Would you like to return to the dock and continue on to see the Queen?
or
Will you consult your map for your next destination?
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