The Sere Palace

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### Affiliation

The Poisoned Priestess
The Second City (formerly)

### Notable Figures

The Poisoned Priestess

> *"The island, beset by poisoned fogs, rises barely a few feet above the water. Brackish puddles, noxious to the touch, lurk amidst creeping vines."*
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> *"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."*
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The **Sere Palace** is a structure located within the waterways of the Hinterlands.

## Hazardous Environments

> *"It is forbidden! Never go there again. Its master is not to be disturbed."*
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The Sere Palace is a ancient sandstone structure that dates back to the Second City. It is located in a nexus of waterways in the Hinterlands, and the surrounding area is suffused with poisons, keeping away any travelers from the Guild of Gondoliers or Hell.

The Second City originally built the Palace to improve and harness the canals constructed by Hell. Within the Palace are mosaics depicting female Ancient Egyptian rulers, all of whom wear feathered headwear. These mosaics also act as a guide and illustration of the Hinterlands' waterways.

## 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."*
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> *"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."*
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The **Lotus Pool** is a massive pool at the center of the Sere Palace. It is not filled with water; rather a multicolored mixture of poisons. Plant life floats atop its surface, but the fish within it struggle to survive. The Pool can be used to control the Hinterlands' canals, either by draining or refilling them on command.

The Lotus Pool is inhabited by the Poisoned Priestess, the source of the Palace's poisons. Once the eldest of the Sisters, she was likely the Palace's original owner, possibly along with her sisters. After her death and transfiguration, the Lotus Pool became the center of her new fiefdom, one which she rules in solitary perpetuity.

## References

2. ↑ The Sere Palace, *Fallen London*
3. ↑ Give him a report on the Sere Palace, *Fallen London*
4. ↑ Request passage to the Sere Palace, *Fallen London* *"[...] You travel [...] a sandstone structure: a fortified palace."*
5. ↑ Request passage to the Sere Palace 2, *Fallen London* *"He leaps from the craft [...] and races into the [...] Second City ruin."*
6. ↑ 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."*
7. ↑ A Conversation with the Wandering Gondolier, *Fallen London* *"The poison keeps the Guild away; even Hell's own merchants avoid it."*
8. ↑ 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."*
9. ↑ The Poisoner's Library, *Fallen London* *"[...] some palaces in the Second City under royal control were altered to permit a profusion of water features."*
10. ↑ The Lotus Pool, *Fallen London* *"[...] colours daub the walls, [...] they depict women pharaohs marked by feathered crowns."*
11. ↑ 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."*
12. ↑ The Lotus Pool 2, *Fallen London* *"These mosaics – I am certain that they correspond to the waterways here."*
13. ↑ The Lotus Pool, *Fallen London*
14. ↑ The Poisoner's Library, *Fallen London*
15. ↑ The Lotus Pool, *Fallen London* *"At the heart of the palace is a pond the size of a cathedral dome."*
16. ↑ The Poisoner's Library, *Fallen London* *"[...] the depths of the Lotus Pool. [...] not truly water but a potent cocktail of poisons [...]"*
17. ↑ Look deep into the pool, *Fallen London* *"The shade of the poison changes."*
18. ↑ The Lotus Pool, *Fallen London* *"Lotuses and lilies float upon its surface [...]"*
19. ↑ Look deep into the pool, *Fallen London* *"[...] fish swim in the poison gloom. Some appear to be dying [...]"*
20. ↑ 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."*
21. ↑ 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, [...]"*
22. ↑ 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 [...]"*
23. ↑ The Poisoner's Library, *Fallen London* *"The poison is produced from the Palace itself... [...]"*
24. ↑ The Poisoner's Library, *Fallen London* *"[...] the Poisoned Priestess, the poison at the heart of the Sere Palace."*
25. ↑ 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."*
26. ↑ The Poisoner's Library, *Fallen London* *"The Duchess [...] The woman in the Lotus Pool bears a family resemblance to one you know."*
27. ↑ 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.'"*
28. ↑ The Lotus Pool, *Fallen London* *"[...] you see [...] women pharaohs marked by feathered crowns. They are in a procession."*
29. ↑ 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."*
30. ↑ The Poisoner's Library, *Fallen London* *"The Poisoned Priestess nods. "Both of us were transfigured to trick another's bargain. [...]"*
31. ↑ The Poisoner's Library, *Fallen London* *"The Poisoned Priestess [...] gestures to the Lotus Pool [...] within which she makes her queendom."*
32. ↑ The Poisoner's Library, *Fallen London* *"Nor can I die. [...] The Poisoned Priestess gazes [...]"*
33. ↑ The Poisoner's Library, *Fallen London* *"[...] he could read men well, [...] In my loneliness, I allowed a substitution."*