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"The island, beset by poisoned fogs, rises barely a few feet above the water. Brackish puddles, noxious to the touch, lurk amidst creeping vines."[1]
"A stone causeway picks its way across the island towards the looming shadow of the ruin. The sandstone is shattered in parts, the broken rocks submerged in acidic waters."[2]
The Sere Palace is a structure located within the waterways of the Hinterlands.
"It is forbidden! Never go there again. Its master is not to be disturbed."[3]
Hell's waterways.
The Sere Palace is a ancient, sandstone[4] structure that dates back to the Second City.[5] It is located in a nexus of waterways in the Hinterlands, and surrounding area is suffused with poisons,[6] repelling any travelers from the Guild of Gondoliers or Hell.[7]
The Second City originally built the Sere Palace to improve on and harness the canals constructed by Hell.[8][9] Within the Palace are mosaics depicting female Ancient Egyptian rulers, all of whom wear feathered headwear,[10] and are near bodies of water that correspond to the Hinterlands' waterways.[11][12]
The Lotus Pool
"At the heart of the palace is a pond the size of a cathedral dome. Lotuses and lilies float upon its surface, though its serenity is disturbed by the roiling, black and purple waters below."[13]
"And then, in the depths of the pool, you see her. A woman, crowned and robed in flickering weeds. Her crown is formed of reeds; her skin like leather. Her eyes are black as she speaks in a language you do not understand."[14]
The Lotus Pool is a massive pool at the center of the Sere Palace.[15] It is not filled with water, but rather a potent, multicolored mix of poisons.[16][17] It houses floating plant life,[18] but the fish within it struggle to survive.[19] The Pool can be used to control the Hinterlands' canals by draining or refilling them on command.[20][21]
The Lotus Pool is inhabited by a being known as the Poisoned Priestess,[22] the source of the Palace's poisons.[23] Once the eldest of the Pharaoh's Daughters,[24][25] she was likely the Palace's original owner.[26] After her death and transfiguration,[27][28] the Lotus Pool became the center of a new fiefdom from which she rules,[29] solitary and undying.[30][31]
↑The Poisoner's Library, Fallen London"A footnote suggests that though Hell constructed the canals, they were expanded [...] during the era of the Second City."
↑The Lotus Pool, Fallen London"[...] colours daub the walls, [...] they depict women pharaohs marked by feathered crowns."
↑Look deep into the pool, Fallen London"[...] a ring of mosaics [...] depict floods and waterfalls, fountains and rivers. Alongside each body of water is a woman in a feathered crown."
↑The Lotus Pool 2, Fallen London"[...] mosaics [...] they correspond to the waterways here. [...] an old trench off the canals. Dry now. [...] If [...] I fill this pool [...] it will open a gate that will flood one of the old routes."
↑The Poisoner's Library, Fallen London"The Poisoned Priestess [...] She begins to sink back into the Lotus Pool, until the searing green waters cover all [...]"
↑The Poisoner's Library, Fallen London"The poison is produced from the Palace itself... [...] A text of the Second City indicates that some poisons are purgations [...] the Poisoned Priestess, the poison at the heart of the Sere Palace."
↑Dig a little distance from the river 2, Fallen London"You pull out six tiny clay women, [...] One carries a mirror, one an ankh, one a cat, one a rose. One is snapped in half, [...] The last holds [...] perfume or of poison."
↑The Poisoner's Library, Fallen London"[...] the poison that floods the waters around the palace. [...] the hazards of travel in that place, particularly around the palaces of [...] 'the Sisters.'"
↑The Attendants, Fallen London"[...] hieroglyphs show a woman at the head of six, walking alone into a dark temple, [...] The youngest of us perished [...] the eldest in the House of the Feather."
