Editing The Sere Palace

{{major spoiler}}
{{Neath Location|title1=The Sere Palace|image1=Serepalace.png|location=[[The Hinterlands]]|notable_inhabitants=[[The Poisoned Priestess]]|caption1=The Sere Palace|allegiance=[[The Poisoned Priestess]]<br>
[[The Second City]] (formerly)}}<blockquote>''"The island, beset by poisoned fogs, rises barely a few feet above the water. Brackish puddles, noxious to the touch, lurk amidst creeping vines."''<ref>{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/The_Sere_Palace|The Sere Palace|Fallen London|}}</ref></blockquote>

<blockquote>''"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."''<ref>{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/The_Sere_Palace|The Sere Palace|Fallen London|}}</ref></blockquote>

The '''Sere Palace''' is a structure located within the waterways of the [[Hinterlands]].__forcetoc__

==Hazardous Environments==
<blockquote>''"It is forbidden! Never go there again. Its master is not to be disturbed."''<ref>{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/Give_him_a_report_on_the_Sere_Palace|Give him a report on the Sere Palace|Fallen London|}}</ref></blockquote>
[[File:Citytablet.png|alt=A stone tablet.|thumb|A relic from the [[Second City]].]]
The Sere Palace is a ancient sandstone<ref>{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/Request_passage_to_the_Sere_Palace|Request passage to the Sere Palace|Fallen London|}} ''"[...] You travel [...] a sandstone structure: a fortified palace."''</ref> structure that dates back to the [[Second City]].<ref>{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/Request_passage_to_the_Sere_Palace_2|Request passage to the Sere Palace 2|Fallen London|}} ''"He leaps from the craft [...] and races into the [...] Second City ruin."''</ref> It is located in a nexus of waterways in the [[Hinterlands]], and the surrounding area is suffused with poisons,<ref>{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/A_Conversation_with_the_Wandering_Gondolier|A Conversation with the Wandering Gondolier|Fallen London|}} ''"There is a nexus of [...] tributaries west of Jericho [...] at their heart the waters course with venom. That is where this ruined palace is."''</ref> keeping away any travelers from the [[Guild of Gondoliers]] or [[Hell]].<ref>{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/A_Conversation_with_the_Wandering_Gondolier|A Conversation with the Wandering Gondolier|Fallen London|}} ''"The poison keeps the Guild away; even Hell's own merchants avoid it."''</ref>

The Second City originally built the Palace to improve and harness the canals constructed by [[Hell]].<ref>{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/The_Poisoner%27s_Library|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."''</ref><ref>{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/The_Poisoner%27s_Library|The Poisoner's Library|Fallen London|}} ''"[...] some palaces in the Second City under royal control were altered to permit a profusion of water features."''</ref> Within the Palace are mosaics depicting female Ancient Egyptian rulers, all of whom wear feathered headwear.<ref>{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/The_Lotus_Pool|The Lotus Pool|Fallen London|}} ''"[...] colours daub the walls, [...] they depict women pharaohs marked by feathered crowns."''</ref> These mosaics also act as a guide and illustration of the Hinterlands' waterways.<ref>{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/Look_deep_into_the_pool|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. In some the woman [...] smiles, in others [...] fury. In a select few, [...] laughing."''</ref><ref>{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/The_Lotus_Pool_2|The Lotus Pool 2|Fallen London|}} ''"These mosaics – I am certain that they correspond to the waterways here."''</ref>

==The Lotus Pool==
<blockquote>''"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."''<ref>{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/The_Lotus_Pool|The Lotus Pool|Fallen London|}}</ref></blockquote>

<blockquote>''"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."''<ref>{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/The_Poisoner%27s_Library|The Poisoner's Library|Fallen London|}}</ref></blockquote>
[[File:Sere priestess.png|alt=A shadowy figure overlooking a poisonous river.|thumb|[[The Poisoned Priestess]]]]
The '''Lotus Pool''' is a massive pool at the center of the Sere Palace.<ref>{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/The_Lotus_Pool|The Lotus Pool|Fallen London|}} ''"At the heart of the palace is a pond the size of a cathedral dome."''</ref> It is not filled with water; rather a multicolored mixture of poisons.<ref>{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/The_Poisoner%27s_Library|The Poisoner's Library|Fallen London|}} ''"[...] the depths of the Lotus Pool. [...] not truly water but a potent cocktail of poisons [...]"''</ref><ref>{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/Look_deep_into_the_pool|Look deep into the pool|Fallen London|}} ''"The shade of the poison changes."''</ref> Plant life floats atop its surface,<ref>{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/The_Lotus_Pool|The Lotus Pool|Fallen London|}} ''"Lotuses and lilies float upon its surface [...]"''</ref> but the fish within it struggle to survive.<ref>{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/Look_deep_into_the_pool|Look deep into the pool|Fallen London|}} ''"[...] fish swim in the poison gloom. Some appear to be dying [...]"''</ref> The Pool can be used to control the Hinterlands' canals, either by draining or refilling them on command.<ref>{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/The_Lotus_Pool_2|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."''</ref><ref>{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/Advise_the_Gondolier_to_take_the_empty_canal|Advise the Gondolier to take the empty canal|Fallen London|}} ''"He [...] pours the flask into the pool, [...] Deep within the pool, metal groans. [...] the pool roils. [...] dead fish rise to the surface, [...]"''</ref>

The Lotus Pool is inhabited by the [[Poisoned Priestess]],<ref>{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/The_Poisoner%27s_Library|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 [...]"''</ref> the source of the Palace's poisons.<ref>{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/The_Poisoner%27s_Library|The Poisoner's Library|Fallen London|}} ''"The poison is produced from the Palace itself... [...]"''</ref><ref>{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/The_Poisoner%27s_Library|The Poisoner's Library|Fallen London|}} ''"[...] the Poisoned Priestess, the poison at the heart of the Sere Palace."''</ref> Once the eldest of the [[The Sisters|Sisters]],<ref>{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/Dig_a_little_distance_from_the_river_2|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."''</ref><ref>{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/The_Poisoner%27s_Library|The Poisoner's Library|Fallen London|}} ''"The Duchess [...] The woman in the Lotus Pool bears a family resemblance to one you know."''</ref> she was likely the Palace's original owner, possibly along with her sisters.<ref>{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/The_Poisoner%27s_Library|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.'"''</ref><ref>{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/The_Lotus_Pool|The Lotus Pool|Fallen London|}} ''"[...] you see [...] women pharaohs marked by feathered crowns. They are in a procession."''</ref> After her death and transfiguration,<ref>{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/The_Attendants|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."''</ref><ref>{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/The_Poisoner%27s_Library|The Poisoner's Library|Fallen London|}} ''"The Poisoned Priestess nods. "Both of us were transfigured to trick another's bargain. [...]"''</ref> the Lotus Pool became the center of her new fiefdom,<ref>{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/The_Poisoner%27s_Library|The Poisoner's Library|Fallen London|}} ''"The Poisoned Priestess [...] gestures to the Lotus Pool [...] within which she makes her queendom."''</ref> one which she rules in solitary perpetuity.<ref>{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/The_Poisoner%27s_Library|The Poisoner's Library|Fallen London|}} ''"Nor can I die. [...] The Poisoned Priestess gazes [...]"''</ref><ref>{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/The_Poisoner%27s_Library|The Poisoner's Library|Fallen London|}} ''"[...] he could read men well, [...] In my loneliness, I allowed a substitution."''</ref>

==References==
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[[Category:Places]]
[[Category:The Neath]]
[[Category:The Hinterlands]]