Pools of Destiny - Prompt #7 an area or geographical landmark wrapped in myth, legend or superstition
Prompt #7 an area or geographical landmark wrapped in myth, legend or superstition – Pools of Destiny
The Pools of Destiny are filled with glowing water, hidden in the Caverns of the Ancients beneath the Temple of the Light. The Temple was at an altitude close to 10,000 feet above sea level but had mild winters. Beneath the temple is an extensive cave system used as a vault to store many ancient and powerful relics. The Pools are said to 'live' there. In the lowest chambers there is a large room with several interconnected pools that the water flows between. When threatened, the glowing Sacred Water will withdrawal into the deeper chambers of the volcano. Bathing in the Sacred Pools is risky because they change the abilities of those immersed. There are often Quetzals found around the pools. The water left the pools during the battle for the Temple of Light, over one thousand rotational cycles before the Cataclysm War. After the resettlement of Aetheria and during the last great war against the Shadows, Lady Jenna of Adamos rediscovered the pools.
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During the fall of the Temple of Light… From A Huntsman’s Honor.
Without hesitation, Adamos carried his wife into the sacred waters, which began glowing and swirling in the colors of magic around them. Tendril wisps of white, blue, gold, red, and green curled around them. Yllumina sagged in relief as the birthing pain waned. “He's coming!” she gasped as she clung to Adamos. she bucked her feet out of his arms as her back arched impossibly, while Adamos struggled, kicking violently to keep them afloat after the floor of the pool dissolved from underneath his feet. He had no choice but to tread water as he held onto his beloved. “Help us!” Adamos called out as the water swirled healing gold, oracle white, and brilliant green. “Stop!” Ouray shouted too late to halt Odini, who rushed in to aid Adamos. “Odini! NO!” A wave pushed the youth away from the struggling couple and sucked him under in a whirlpool of magical water. Lightning flashed through the water and suddenly Odini surfaced in a different pool, choking and coughing as he clawed at the edge. “Help! Father, I can’t get out.” The water held him like quicksand. “Odini.” Ouray ran to aid his son. Kneeling on the edge, Ouray reached out to Odini but drew back when Odini looked up at his father through eyes that glowed with swirls of magic. “What is ... happening... to me?” the young Oracle gasped raggedly. Ouray could do nothing to help him beyond holding the shoulder of his tunic. “Your magic is changing, don't fight it. Just let it happen. Breathe, son.” Suddenly, Odini was pulled under again and Ouray leaped into the water only to find that it had solidified into an invisible layer like ice between him and his son. The sacred waters swirled the white of the Oracles, but also the brilliant blue of Warriors and the molten red of Mages. As the father knelt on the top of the barrier, the son thrashed beneath. Yllumina's scream echoed through the cavern then she curled to pull her firstborn son from her heaving birth canal. A baby cried in answer. Tearing his eyes from his son, Ouray saw a baby floating on a swirl of green and white glowing water. The baby boy seemed content to let the water cradle him and cooed as he kicked his legs. Beyond the child, Adamos and Yllumina struggled through the birth of their second son. A burst of blueish magical water lifted the baby into his mother's arms, and she cried in relief as she stood up in waist-deep golden and white water. “Sons... we have sons, Adamos... Adamos?” Suddenly, Adamos was gone, and the water boiled with the white magic of the oracles, blue of the warriors, and blazed with molten red streaks of mage magic. Yllumina staggered to the edge. She laid her second son on the stone edging before wading to where her firstborn floated in the glowing green and white waters. The child cried when she lifted him from the water, only quieting when she laid him with his brother. Turning back to the pools, she looked desperately for her husband. The water swirled around her, and a single oracle stone floated to the surface in front of her. A finger of water flicked it out of the pool and onto her firstborn's chest over his heart. “Thank the Light!” She cried in relief that her eldest son's destiny had not been taken from him. “Yllumina, help us!” Ouray begged, drawing her attention from her newborns as she wrapped them in Adamos’ cloak. She glowed more brilliantly than Ouray had ever seen any oracle glow. “Release them!” The power of her demand caused the pools to rush up and overflow. Adamos surfaced next to his wife and sons. Ouray felt the strange surface crack like ice on a lake then he fell into the water with his son. He grabbed Odini, shocked to see his youngest child’s hair had changed from the family's auburn color to raven black. Odini’s eyes still glowed like he was having a vision. Pulling him from the water, Ouray demanded, “Odini, what is it? What did you see?” Odini shook his head as he inhaled and coughed. “He... they... Everyone dies. Everyone everywhere... We have to stop it!” The one-hundred-eighty-year-old curled into a ball against his father’s chest and sobbed inconsolably. Another concussion shook the chamber as rocks began falling into the pools. Several of the feathered serpents who lived in the caverns with the Sacred Pools, dropped into the waters from their burrows and began swimming as the waters drained away. Yllumina quickly wrapped the infants in Adamos’ abandoned cloak. “We must go now!” Adamos shouted, lifting his wife and both his sons into his arms as Yllumina clutched the newborns to her chest. He felt stronger than he ever had. His magic had been changed; he was no longer just an oracle. He could feel the strength and speed of Warrior's magic flowing through his veins and the power of the Mages burning in his bones. He was the third born and could have been born a Guardian if his Uncle Ambros had not still lived, instead he had been born an oracle, but now he was neither and both and something else. He strode through the tunnels with new confidence and purpose. The pools had shown him a vision. In a century more than a thousand years, his youngest son would be born to be the greatest guardian of many generations, a Guardian of Guardians, and a Light Bringer like his mother. At the end of the age, when the War Oracle with his grandson, the King of the Sacred Blue Flame, led the Remnant against all the powers of the Darkness, his youngest son would lead the Warriors of the Celestial Veil in the battle against the Devourer and all that was profane. But for now, Adamos needed to make sure his newborn sons survived long enough to aid their younger brother to be born after this war ended.
The Pools of Destiny are filled with glowing water, hidden in the Caverns of the Ancients beneath the Temple of the Light. The Temple was at an altitude close to 10,000 feet above sea level but had mild winters. Beneath the temple is an extensive cave system used as a vault to store many ancient and powerful relics. The Pools are said to 'live' there. In the lowest chambers there is a large room with several interconnected pools that the water flows between. When threatened, the glowing Sacred Water will withdrawal into the deeper chambers of the volcano. Bathing in the Sacred Pools is risky because they change the abilities of those immersed. There are often Quetzals found around the pools. The water left the pools during the battle for the Temple of Light, over one thousand rotational cycles before the Cataclysm War. After the resettlement of Aetheria and during the last great war against the Shadows, Lady Jenna of Adamos rediscovered the pools.
<^><^><^>
During the fall of the Temple of Light… From A Huntsman’s Honor.
Without hesitation, Adamos carried his wife into the sacred waters, which began glowing and swirling in the colors of magic around them. Tendril wisps of white, blue, gold, red, and green curled around them. Yllumina sagged in relief as the birthing pain waned. “He's coming!” she gasped as she clung to Adamos. she bucked her feet out of his arms as her back arched impossibly, while Adamos struggled, kicking violently to keep them afloat after the floor of the pool dissolved from underneath his feet. He had no choice but to tread water as he held onto his beloved. “Help us!” Adamos called out as the water swirled healing gold, oracle white, and brilliant green. “Stop!” Ouray shouted too late to halt Odini, who rushed in to aid Adamos. “Odini! NO!” A wave pushed the youth away from the struggling couple and sucked him under in a whirlpool of magical water. Lightning flashed through the water and suddenly Odini surfaced in a different pool, choking and coughing as he clawed at the edge. “Help! Father, I can’t get out.” The water held him like quicksand. “Odini.” Ouray ran to aid his son. Kneeling on the edge, Ouray reached out to Odini but drew back when Odini looked up at his father through eyes that glowed with swirls of magic. “What is ... happening... to me?” the young Oracle gasped raggedly. Ouray could do nothing to help him beyond holding the shoulder of his tunic. “Your magic is changing, don't fight it. Just let it happen. Breathe, son.” Suddenly, Odini was pulled under again and Ouray leaped into the water only to find that it had solidified into an invisible layer like ice between him and his son. The sacred waters swirled the white of the Oracles, but also the brilliant blue of Warriors and the molten red of Mages. As the father knelt on the top of the barrier, the son thrashed beneath. Yllumina's scream echoed through the cavern then she curled to pull her firstborn son from her heaving birth canal. A baby cried in answer. Tearing his eyes from his son, Ouray saw a baby floating on a swirl of green and white glowing water. The baby boy seemed content to let the water cradle him and cooed as he kicked his legs. Beyond the child, Adamos and Yllumina struggled through the birth of their second son. A burst of blueish magical water lifted the baby into his mother's arms, and she cried in relief as she stood up in waist-deep golden and white water. “Sons... we have sons, Adamos... Adamos?” Suddenly, Adamos was gone, and the water boiled with the white magic of the oracles, blue of the warriors, and blazed with molten red streaks of mage magic. Yllumina staggered to the edge. She laid her second son on the stone edging before wading to where her firstborn floated in the glowing green and white waters. The child cried when she lifted him from the water, only quieting when she laid him with his brother. Turning back to the pools, she looked desperately for her husband. The water swirled around her, and a single oracle stone floated to the surface in front of her. A finger of water flicked it out of the pool and onto her firstborn's chest over his heart. “Thank the Light!” She cried in relief that her eldest son's destiny had not been taken from him. “Yllumina, help us!” Ouray begged, drawing her attention from her newborns as she wrapped them in Adamos’ cloak. She glowed more brilliantly than Ouray had ever seen any oracle glow. “Release them!” The power of her demand caused the pools to rush up and overflow. Adamos surfaced next to his wife and sons. Ouray felt the strange surface crack like ice on a lake then he fell into the water with his son. He grabbed Odini, shocked to see his youngest child’s hair had changed from the family's auburn color to raven black. Odini’s eyes still glowed like he was having a vision. Pulling him from the water, Ouray demanded, “Odini, what is it? What did you see?” Odini shook his head as he inhaled and coughed. “He... they... Everyone dies. Everyone everywhere... We have to stop it!” The one-hundred-eighty-year-old curled into a ball against his father’s chest and sobbed inconsolably. Another concussion shook the chamber as rocks began falling into the pools. Several of the feathered serpents who lived in the caverns with the Sacred Pools, dropped into the waters from their burrows and began swimming as the waters drained away. Yllumina quickly wrapped the infants in Adamos’ abandoned cloak. “We must go now!” Adamos shouted, lifting his wife and both his sons into his arms as Yllumina clutched the newborns to her chest. He felt stronger than he ever had. His magic had been changed; he was no longer just an oracle. He could feel the strength and speed of Warrior's magic flowing through his veins and the power of the Mages burning in his bones. He was the third born and could have been born a Guardian if his Uncle Ambros had not still lived, instead he had been born an oracle, but now he was neither and both and something else. He strode through the tunnels with new confidence and purpose. The pools had shown him a vision. In a century more than a thousand years, his youngest son would be born to be the greatest guardian of many generations, a Guardian of Guardians, and a Light Bringer like his mother. At the end of the age, when the War Oracle with his grandson, the King of the Sacred Blue Flame, led the Remnant against all the powers of the Darkness, his youngest son would lead the Warriors of the Celestial Veil in the battle against the Devourer and all that was profane. But for now, Adamos needed to make sure his newborn sons survived long enough to aid their younger brother to be born after this war ended.
Geography
The Temple of Light, and the schools for Oracles and Healers was located far to the north in the high mountains, near the the city of Arinna, south of the Northland territory of Adamos.
"My Mother told me there was a school in the mountains for souls like ours. She said it was beautiful, filled with trees and gardens and waterways.”
“It was the nearest city to the Temples of the Light where the House of Arinitti has holdings. The city and temples were destroyed the day I was born, very few escaped. It was said oracles and angels of healing lived there.”
The Temple was at an altitude close to 10,000 feet above sea level but had mild winters. Beneath the temple is an extensive cave system used as a vault to store many ancient and powerful relics. The Pools are said to 'live' there. In the lowest chambers there is a large room with several interconnected pools that the water flows between. When threatened, the water will withdrawal into the deeper chambers of the volcano.
The Temple was at an altitude close to 10,000 feet above sea level but had mild winters. Beneath the temple is an extensive cave system used as a vault to store many ancient and powerful relics. The Pools are said to 'live' there. In the lowest chambers there is a large room with several interconnected pools that the water flows between. When threatened, the water will withdrawal into the deeper chambers of the volcano.
Ecosystem
A forested valley in a volcanic peak, kept warm by geothermal vents and hot springs making it known for its healing waters, it was a city of fountains and waterways and gardens.
History
The Temple of Light was established at the entrance to the cavern system that held the Pools of Destiny after the Great Kingdom War fifty thousand years before the Cataclysm War. The temple became a school for Oracles and healers. The City of Arrinni was built to support the temple and schools, which were later called temples because of their dedication to healing arts. There were several times the temples were threatened over the centuries but in the early years of the Third War, the Kingdom of Xelusia attacked the temple of Light in an attempt to capture the oracles and gain the ability to see the future and thus control the outcome of the war. The king of Aetheria, angry about the Oracles refusing to allow him to search the relics for weapons of war, withheld aid until the next day. The entire warrior corps of the Houses of Adamos and Yophriel, including the Guardians of the two high houses, died with the Temple guardsmen and the majority of the oracles, healers, acolytes, and citizens. When the King's forces recaptured the temples, they found everyone dead and their blood harvested for the profane practices of the Xelusian Cruortrix priestesses and Shadow Mages. Only the oracles of Adamos, Yophriel, and Odini escaped.
Tourism
No one visits the sacred site after it was destroyed because the war continued for 800 years.
Type
Cave System
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