This room is the largest one on the
upper level, and is quite different from all the others.

Although the walls are the same as elsewhere (rough blackish
stone), the floor of this room is covered with ceramic tiles
arranged in mosaic fashion. The majority of the thousands of
tiles are golden brown in color, but patterns of white and
black tiles appear in various places to enhance the effect of
the very striking designs thus formed. The designs (various
flowing lines, etc.) are purely decorative, and carry no mysterious
message or meaning.

Arrayed throughout the room are 14 different pools,
each about 10 feet in diameter, with sides sloping to a maximum
depth of 5 feet in the center. This mystical arrangement
is doubly amazing, since all the contents of the pools
are different. . .

The individual pools are letter coded A to N, and examination
of any particular pool will reveal the following:

a) Pool of healing—This pool contains a strange pinkish liquid
that will cause instantaneous healing when ingested. It will
also cure disease, but will not restore HP in doing so. <cure disease = 100% chance>
Whenever a drink is taken, 1-6 hit points of individual damage
are restored immediately to the drinker, although this
can only be done once per day per person (any further
consumption will have no additional effect). Although the
liquid can be placed into containers and removed from
the pool, the healing properties will immediately disappear
once it is taken from this room. Note: this pool disappears
and reappears from time to time magically, so if
adventurers make a return to this room, there is only a 30%
chance that the liquid will be present again then (although
it will always be there upon their first visit).

b) Acid pool—This pool is filled to the brim with a clear, fizzing
liquid which gives off a strange and unpleasant aroma to
those near it. It is full of acid, and most deadly. If any adventurer
falls or leaps within it, certain and immediate
death will result. Putting a hand or other body member
within it will result in an immediate 2-5 HP of damage
(roll a 4-sided die and add 1 to the result)—more if a
greater portion of the body is exposed to the liquid. Drinking
any of the liquid (even but a sip) will cause immediate
gagging and cause no less than 5 HP of damage,
plus a SAVE against poison to survive. Putting just a
drop or 2 to the tongue will cause the loss of 1 HP,
plus induce gagging && choking for 2 melee rounds
of Time <2 minutes>, although no SAVE for poison
will be necessary. Weapons |or| other objects dipped
into the acid will deteriorate (swords will be marked and <must make item saves>
weakened, wooden items warped and cracked, etc.)
and may even be ruined completely at the discretion of
the Dungeon Master (who can roll a die for each item to
determine how adversely it is affected). The strength of the
acid is such that it will eat through any type of container
within 2 melee rounds of Time.

A single brass key of large size (about 6 inches long) is visible
at the bottom of the pool, seemingly unaffected by
the acid. This key, if somehow retrieved, will be worthless
and it does not correspond to any of the locks within the
stronghold.

c) Pool of sickness—This pool is filled with a murky gray syrup.
If any of it is consumed (even but a sip), the victim will begin
to suffer sickness, but not until 6 turns (one hour) afterwards.
If this occurs, there is no loss of HP, but the
victim suffers from strong and recurring stomach pains for
1-4 hours (roll a four-sided die) which make fighting and
even movement impossible for that period (although a
victim could be carried by others), after which all symptoms
pass and the character returns to normal. Placing a
drop of liquid upon the tongue will give a sweet taste, but
will cause no symptoms. Weapons or other items placed
within the liquid will be totally unaffected. Any portion of
the liquid removed from the pool will lose its special properties
within 3 melee rounds <3 minutes>.

d) Green slime pool—The horrid contents of this pool are immediately
obvious to any gazing into it. The slime (HP: 20) is
covering the walls of the basin most of the way from the
bottom to the edge.

e) Drinking pool—This pool is filled with icy cold spring water
which will refresh anyone who takes a drink from it. The
water is pure && good, but has no other special characteristics.

f) Pool of wine—This pool is filled with powerful wine of a
deep red color. Not only is it excellent wine, it has a taste
so inviting that anyone tasting it will be prone to drink more
and more until intoxicated! If a sip is taken, the taster will
have a 60% chance of drinking more (regardless of the
player's wishes). If this is done, three 6-sided dice are
thrown and compared to the character's CON rating;
if the number rolled is greater than the character's
CON score, then the difference is figured, and this is
the number of hours the character will be intoxicated (if
the roll is equal or less, the character "holds his liquor"
and is unaffected). Any character so intoxicated will suffer
the following penalties: -2 on all rolls "to hit" in combat, -3
to DEX rating, and any other disadvantages to being
drunk that the DM may deem in effect (prone to loud and
boisterous speech, stumbling about, a greater chance to
be surprised, etc.). After the allotted number of hours have
passed, the character returns to normal. Any intoxicated
character who returns to the pool of wine will have a 90%
chance of drinking too much again, and the check
against CON will then be necessitated once more.
If any of the wine is removed from the room, it will immediately
lose its potency and be considered as normal wine,
but actually rather weak in its effects.

g) Dry pool—This depression is completely dry, and there is
no trace of any liquid within it, nor any clue as to whether
any type of matter was ever within it. The basin itself seems
to be some kind of yellowish ceramic origin, but it will be
impervious to striking or any similar attempt at cracking or
fracturing.

h) Hot pool—This steaming and bubbling cauldron is filled
with boiling water, which will be obvious to any observer.
The water itself is completely normal in all other respects,
although it has a relatively high mineral content, as evidenced
by a whitish crust built up around the edge of the
pool.

i) Aura pool—This pool of shimmering water (which otherwise
appears normal in every respect) is less full than
many of the others. The water itself seems to glisten and
sparkle, and will be seen to radiate magick if an attempt to
detect it is made. The water tastes normal in every respect,
but those drinking as little as a single sip will experience
a strange effect. Upon swallowing the liquid, the
drinker will feel his or her entire body tingle, and at the
same time the character and others in the area will see a
visual phenomenon: an aura of color will glow around the
character's entire body for approximately a full minute.
The color apparent will depend totally upon the character's
alignment. It will glow blue for an alignment of lawful,
yellow for chaotic, while any neutral characters will exhibit
a white aura. Of course, upon first consuming the liquid, <more colors needed>
the players will have no idea what the strange appearing
colors may mean, so they may be puzzled by the effects—
and there are no clues around the pool to explain the colors.
The water will retain its special magickal characteristics
even if it is removed from the pool, but there are only 10
suitable drinks possible due to the small amount of liquid
present. This pool, just like the pool of healing previously
described, disappears and reappears from time to time
(see "a" above for details and percentage chance of reappearance
for future visits).

j) Pool of sleep—This pool is full of a greenish liquid of varying
shades, with a swirling pattern evident on its stagnant
surface. Putting a drop on the tongue reveals a sort of
fruity taste, but no special effects will be noticeable. Taking
a sip will be tasty refreshment, but within ten seconds a
real drowsiness will set in which may even cause (50%
chance) an immediate sleep to begin, which will last from
1-6 minutes. Drinking any greater volume of the liquid will
certainly induce a comatose slumber of from 1-8 hours,
with no saving throw possible. Any removal of the liquid
from the room will totally negate its effectiveness, although
removing anyone who has consumed the stuff will
not awaken them.

k) Fish pool—This pool of normal lake water holds numerous
small fish. It has no other special properties, nor are the fish
unusual in any way.

I) Ice pool—This basin is filled with steaming dry ice, although
for some unknown reason it never seems to dissipate.
The ice is "hot" to the touch due to its extremely low
temperature. Since it is highly doubtful any character has
ever seen dry ice, the entire spectacle will be highly mysterious,
appearing as some kind of whitish rock giving off
eerie vapors and feeling hot to the touch. If any pieces
are broken off and removed from the pool, they will dissipate
into carbon dioxide gas as normal dry ice would do.
Such pieces could be handled with a gloved hand, but
the nature of the substance will still likely be unapparent.

m) Treasure pool—This basin, filled with normal water, seems
to hold a great treasure underneath the water. A pile of
gold pieces appears to lie on the bottom of the pool, and
the golden image is sprinkled with an assortment of sparkling
jewels. Alas, this treasure trove is nothing more than a
magical illusion, which will be dispelled once the surface
of the water is broken or disturbed. Once the waters are
calm again, the image will reappear.

n) Pool of muting—This pool is almost empty, but a small
amount of water remains. Although the liquid appears to
be normal water (and has no unusual odor or taste to belie
its actual nature), it is actually a magickal substance.
This liquid, when swallowed, causes a complete loss of
voice and verbal capabilities for 1-6 hours. This muting will
become apparent only when it has been swallowed;
merely putting a drop on the tongue will give no clue as to
its effect, and it will seem like normal water. Any character
drinking the water will suffer the effects, and that means
that the players will be affected likewise. Thus, the referee
informs the player or players of their limitation, and they
are barred from any further communication by verbal
means with the other players in the party for the duration
of the muting effects (1-6 game hours, determined by rolling
a d6). In such cases, they must remain completely
silent (no grunts or groans allowed), and can only
communicate with other players via nods, head shaking,
hand signals, etc. If any player who is caller for the group
is so affected, another player must take his place. Written
communication is possible only if the muted player has an
INT of 14 or more, and any such message can only
be read by another character with a similar intelligence
rating.
 

Monster: --
 
Treasure:  --

Trick:  --

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