The Pool of ...............
The Pool of (add the name of the God or Goddess of your choice) is well known as one of the greatest holy places of the world. It is said to be full of piles of gold and jewels, a place where wishes are granted, wounds are healed, prophets have dreams that come true, and suspected criminals are fairly judged. Pilgrims from the other end of the world have been known to travel for more then a year, braving the perils of disease, brigands and bad weather, just to reach it's holy waters.
The Pool of (add the name of the God or Goddess of your choice) has been holy to humans since humans first looked up at the sky and felt that there must be Something up there. In the earliest times it was sacred to Inana, and when her religion dwindled to cult status and then to nothing at all, the priests of another deity took it over. It is thought to have changed hands in this way at least seven times, and maybe more.
In time a temple of fine marble was built over it and worshippers were encouraged to wade along the edges of it and to drop offerings. As a result, the pool, which is only ten feet deep at the deepest part, is full of copper,silver and golden coins, and even here and there jewels, that have been dropped by anyone from a poor person desperate for divine blessing to the richest nobles. When nesscessary the priests can take as much as is needed for keeping themselves alive or for repairing or extending the temple.
Should anybody try to steal from the pool, the water at once heats up dramatically as a warning;should the thief not at once stop theact of sacriliege and return what is stolen, it heats to boiling point, scalding or killing the thief depending on how deep the thief is immersed in the pool at the time. It will do this even to a priest or priestess unless the money is being used for a proper purpose. Should anyone try and take the area by force, the pool will do much the same thing, presenting a boiling, bubbling threat to any attacker. As a result soldiers and iconoclasts tend to leave it alone.
It can be used for other things too;
The Ordeal by Water-Somebody accused of a crime will publicly take a holy oath that he or she did not commit the crime they are accused of and wade waist-deep through the pool. If they have lied the pool will wait until the liar is far from the edge, and then boil itself, badly burning the criminal. Should the oath be true, it remains cool, proving the person's innocence.
Dreams-someone who manages to fall asleep in the warm waters of the pool (and avoid drowning in the process) has a high chance of prophetic dreams. (the GM should decide what the dream is and how accurate the prophecy is.)
Long life-Whoever drinks from the pool will be granted an extra day without ageing. The catch is, that when taken more then five feet from the pool, the water loses this power, so to stay immortal, one would have to stay close enough to the pool to drink from it each day. Such is the limit,and the price, of immortality.
What the pool really is...
Link to the Gods-The pool is indeed a link to the Gods of both the Air and the Earth. The offerings here strengthen them, whilst prayers here have a better chance of being replied to then anywhere else.
Elementary, Dr Watson- The pool is where an ancient and by now vastly powerful Water Elemental lives. It loves being worshipped and hates thieves and liars, and whilst it could crawl from the pool, revealing it's true nature, it has been pampered for so long that it does not want to.
The Wizard of Oz-The pool is a sci-fi construct/spaceship/listening device/all three, that can heat it's waters or cool them with hidden tech and influence people's dreams in some way, and it's waters have nanobots in them that heal but die when the person or animal goes more then five feet away from it.
Notes-I wanted this pool to be useable in any world that has a religion in it, so that's why the name of the Pool was left blank. And I put in a plot hook so that it can even be used in a sci-fi game if the GM feels like it.
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? Responses (8)
Interesting idea and variations on use of the pool, drums up a lot of possibilities. The 'Temple of the Pool' (or whatever) would likely be a very influential, and very powerful, center of worship and culture, especially since it has a long and syncretic past.
A GM could also give the pool more far reaching potential by not limiting the range of certain effects because it's still within the pool's (and the GM's) control, gives the pool another 'vessel' out there in the world. Perhaps it only does this occasionally, or with a 'chosen one.'
Long life-Whoever drinks from the pool will be granted an extra day without ageing. The catch is, that when taken more then five feet from the pool, the water loses this power, so to stay immortal, one would have to stay close enough to the pool to drink from it each day. Such is the limit,and the price, of immortality.
Hmm, I can see an interesting 'community' evolving with this one.
The People of the Pool. Eventually of course, they all go mad, and greatly fear being away from the 'Source' at all costs avoiding moving beyond its perimeter. Deranged immortals crowding around the banks and edges, jostling for living space...the wicked possibilities are endless.
I like this sub. The hooks are really good, and as Muro mentions, you can see the world around this place come to life in great details.
The visuals that the post calls up (Of a clear pool within a white marble hall, filled with untouchable riches) is great. I can definitely see myself using such a place in one of my campaign.
I still think that the sub could benefit from a deity to go with it. I understand that you want to keep it system and world agnostic, but you could add a lot of flavours by having something for ideas to nucleate on. As it is, the GM would have to work on it a bit to make it fall into a game world.
Good sub! 4/5
love it a shame i can't use it in my campaign sooner
Very thought provoking and makes the typhical "holy pool" a lot more interesting. The tech option for sci-fi worlds is a ncie touch and gives it broader usage, excellent sub!
This is a quite cool holy location, with lots of possibilities.
The blank in the title is unfortunate. I understand it is intended to make it 'generic', but most GM's are able to switch names out to match their own worlds.