The Dreaming Well
A gentle meadow spreads out around a small grove that protects this limestone well house with its arched, glassless windows and round, red-tiled roof. Within, rainbow-colored cobblestones ring the walls of the well shaft and two stout posts support a winch for its old oaken bucket. The spirit of the well is said to grant one night of pleasant dreams to those who toss a shiny pebble into the depths before drinking from the crystalline waters. Strangely, nothing tossed in ever seems to make a splash.
Well House image
Once, a network of vast caverns stretched beneath the abyssal seafloor until time and tide eroded the ceiling away, revealing a crater filled with light. Crystals that have been growing for millennia spread out across the floor of the former caves, huge and ancient. As thick around as trees, they stretch upward and out at angles, branching into more slender fingers of gleaming, translucent stone. The depth of the crater protects the walls of this frozen forest from the currents, but the movement of water from fish and other swimming creatures causes the natural glow of nearby crystals to brighten for several minutes before fading again to their usual pale luminescence.
Naica crystal cave
A 24 hour market laid out like a vast nautilus shell constructed of driftwood, stone, and pale coral, the Spiral Market stretches up several 'stories' with shops open to the ocean on at least one side. Shoppers swim not only between stores on the same level but rise or descend to vendors on different levels for their wares.
The shrubberies have long since succumbed to the sea, but flowering sea grasses and short kelp now grow around the base of the city’s central tower, spreading out in a broad circle bordered by stone steps that lead down into the garden’s depression. Dotted throughout the grounds are marble statues of mythical beasts and tall, stately humans in flowing garments. The artistry is exquisite and almost disturbingly lifelike, but the heads of all of the human statues have been broken off and are nowhere to be found.
Underwater sculpture garden
Sanctum Tempus
One of the most intact buildings, the Cathedral stretches nearly four stories tall and still has its roof. Inside the space seems somehow vaster in the dark. Furnishings of wood and cloth have long since rotted away but a towering orrery of metal rings and spheres still sits on a raised dais towards the back of the single cavernous room, nearly touching the ceiling. The metal is tarnished nearly black but no barnacles or other living things have grown inside the building or on the structure. The number and configuration of the spheres on their metal rings are never the same between one visit and the next.
Orrery image
The Drowning Pools
A series of pools ranging from thirty to three feet across fill a small plaza where the broken arches and supports of a public bathhouse now stand roofless. The water within the pools is murky with heavy brine and liquid gasses compared to the clear waters of the ocean around them, and their edges glitter with crystal growths. Though invitingly warmer than the sea around them, any water-breather entering these pools will not survive to leave them again.
Brine Pools
A gentle meadow spreads out around a small grove that protects this limestone well house with its arched, glassless windows and round, red-tiled roof. Within, rainbow-colored cobblestones ring the walls of the well shaft and two stout posts support a winch for its old oaken bucket. The spirit of the well is said to grant one night of pleasant dreams to those who toss a shiny pebble into the depths before drinking from the crystalline waters. Strangely, nothing tossed in ever seems to make a splash.
Well House image
Underwater
The Luminous GroveOnce, a network of vast caverns stretched beneath the abyssal seafloor until time and tide eroded the ceiling away, revealing a crater filled with light. Crystals that have been growing for millennia spread out across the floor of the former caves, huge and ancient. As thick around as trees, they stretch upward and out at angles, branching into more slender fingers of gleaming, translucent stone. The depth of the crater protects the walls of this frozen forest from the currents, but the movement of water from fish and other swimming creatures causes the natural glow of nearby crystals to brighten for several minutes before fading again to their usual pale luminescence.
Naica crystal cave
The Underwater City
The Spiral Market A 24 hour market laid out like a vast nautilus shell constructed of driftwood, stone, and pale coral, the Spiral Market stretches up several 'stories' with shops open to the ocean on at least one side. Shoppers swim not only between stores on the same level but rise or descend to vendors on different levels for their wares.
Lost Requiem subboards
Sunken GardensThe shrubberies have long since succumbed to the sea, but flowering sea grasses and short kelp now grow around the base of the city’s central tower, spreading out in a broad circle bordered by stone steps that lead down into the garden’s depression. Dotted throughout the grounds are marble statues of mythical beasts and tall, stately humans in flowing garments. The artistry is exquisite and almost disturbingly lifelike, but the heads of all of the human statues have been broken off and are nowhere to be found.
Underwater sculpture garden
Sanctum Tempus
One of the most intact buildings, the Cathedral stretches nearly four stories tall and still has its roof. Inside the space seems somehow vaster in the dark. Furnishings of wood and cloth have long since rotted away but a towering orrery of metal rings and spheres still sits on a raised dais towards the back of the single cavernous room, nearly touching the ceiling. The metal is tarnished nearly black but no barnacles or other living things have grown inside the building or on the structure. The number and configuration of the spheres on their metal rings are never the same between one visit and the next.
Orrery image
The Drowning Pools
A series of pools ranging from thirty to three feet across fill a small plaza where the broken arches and supports of a public bathhouse now stand roofless. The water within the pools is murky with heavy brine and liquid gasses compared to the clear waters of the ocean around them, and their edges glitter with crystal growths. Though invitingly warmer than the sea around them, any water-breather entering these pools will not survive to leave them again.
Brine Pools
