Magic Pools
“Oh yes, the queen. That’s a bit of a funny story. You see, every year on the spring solstice, the whole village comes down and throws a coin in the old wishing well to try their luck. Back when I was young, I was convinced it was all bunk, but the more I got into my training, the more I began to think there might just be some magic to that wishing well after all. So I brought a big stack of shiny coins and was tossing them in one at a time, when up came Mrs. Happlevain’s little tabby cat familiar. I swear she looked me straight in the eye while knocking my whole stack of coins into the well. Anyway, there’s your lesson: never try to be clever around a cat. But I will say, she’s a much better leader than our last mayor.”
—Fenlen Yudalla, court wizard of Queen Mittens the Magnificent
An adventurer at a tavern spreads tales of a fountain in the shattered lands of Azlant that can grant eternal youth. Merchants in Druma joke, with just a little too much credulity in their voices, of a pool that turns anything submerged in it into gold. Gnomes gleefully aid each other in the search for a magical fountain said to never have the same effect twice. Clerics of Lamashtu speak in hushed whispers of a muddy crater near the Pit of Gormuz where unique monsters can be birthed from the flesh of the unwilling. Legends abound across Golarion of pools that have magical waters; such legends seem too good to be true, and yet are enticing or frightening enough to lure the curious or desperate to seek them out.
Much as water can become infused with minerals from the surrounding earth, so too can it become infused with magic from nearby sources. The reason why water and other liquids serve as natural conductors for magic eludes modern scholars, but once a source of magic has diffused into a body of water, that magic can become concentrated in a way that offers potent powers. The origins of magic pools and fountains are many and varied—one pool might have leached energy from the mystic footprint of a deity who once walked nearby, while another might simply rest over an auspicious intersection of ley lines. Other magic pools aren’t merely infused with magic, but are themselves raw magic in a liquefied form. Regardless of the method, once a pool has become enchanted, it easily grants its powers to those who stumble upon it: typically, a creature need only drink from or dip an object into its waters to gain a pool’s mystic effects. Water removed from a fountain typically fails to retain the pool’s magical properties; much as water removed from a thermal spring quickly becomes cold, water removed from a magic pool quickly becomes nonmagical. Fountains that defy this rule are highly sought after by alchemists, spellcasters, and treasure-hunters.
A magic pool’s ease of access can spell doom for the pool itself, as very few of these fountains are inexhaustible. While it is very difficult to destroy a magic pool once it is created, rampant and careless use of a pool’s power can cause it to become empty or dormant. A dormant pool might be recharged merely by refilling it with water, but could also require rare magical conjunctions or rituals lost to time. Still other pools have a finite supply of magic that, once spent, can never be restored.
These risks mean that magic pools are often jealously guarded by those who discover them and recognize their worth. Although such guardians might be mortal druids, cultists, or wizards, magic pools often attract more unusual protectors such as dragons, magical beasts, or holy guardians. These guardians’ motives can be as varied as the powers of the pools themselves; some may seek to hoard a pool’s powers for themselves and slay any would-be competitors, while others might seek to preserve the pool, allowing only those deemed worthy to approach and utilize it. A few instead plan to capitalize on the nonmagical opportunities presented by a magic pool, exacting a price in treasure or favors for information about or access to the pool. This last group is perhaps the reason tales of magic pools are so pervasive: any charlatan can offer the location of a purportedly magical pool in exchange for a few coins or a stiff drink. The rare few tales with a kernel of truth fuel the fires of hope in anyone hearing of a remote magic pool.
MYSTERIOUS POOLS
The following are a few ancient magic fountains that have recently experienced a resurgence in their magical powers, and can be used by those who find them.
Everdawn Pool: A mystic pool that predates the founding of Thassilon, the Everdawn Pool inspired the runelords to create their signature runewells. Fueled by the blood of living beings, either stolen or freely given, the Everdawn Pool converts life force into magical power, bestowing strength on those who bathe in its bloody waters, stealing the vitality from creatures to grant its user eternal youth, and even returning the dead to life. For more information on the Everdawn Pool, see the page 433 of Pathfinder Adventure Path: Curse of the Crimson Throne.
Runeforge Pool: Though the runelords of Thassilon were not well known for their cooperation with each another, in a rare moment of humility, they recognized the failings of their specializations and envisioned a solution. They created a magical laboratory called Runeforge for their wizards to work together and further their magical research. The namesake of this laboratory, known as the runeforge pool, still sits at the center of Runeforge to this day. The runeforge pool’s major function was to temper newly forged magic weapons, and it is currently the only known means of creating runeforged weapons. For more information on the runeforge pool, see page 254 of Pathfinder Adventure Path: Rise of the Runelords Anniversary Edition.
Runewells: Created by the runelords of Thassilon, runewells are magical pools capable of extracting specific spiritual traits from creatures and converting them into magical power. Once a runewell is glutted with the psychic vestiges of its corresponding emotions, that power can be harnessed to fuel powerful magical effects. The most well known of these powers is the ability to create sinspawn (Pathfinder RPG Bestiary 2 246), but runewells often have a number of other uses, which usually involve spreading their accumulated psychic energy to nearby creatures. For more information on runewells, see page 424 of Pathfinder Adventure Path: Rise of the Runelords Anniversary Edition.
MAGIC POOLS ON GOLARION
The following magic pools can be found across Golarion. Some are hidden in distant locales, while others lie in plain sight for any passing creature to try their luck. Four entries are unique pools; three others are types of pools that may have several instances across Golarion. While the rumored powers of these pools can be heard in taverns and trading posts, few travelers can honestly separate fact from fiction—in some cases, even among those who have encountered the pools themselves.
The God Pool
Created by Karzoug the Claimer to divine the future and evade a calamity, this twisted divination pool overflows with the wrath of a dozen gods.
Location: The God Pool lies under the city of Kaer Maga, near workshops once used by Karzoug, the Runelord of Greed, but now long abandoned.
Appearance: The God Pool is a partially flooded cavern, within which floats a conjoined circle of 12 human men and women—all of them blinded priests with a high rank in the church they once served. Karzoug kidnapped these clerics, blinded them, and magically stitched them together as his personal “prophecy engine.” The magical waters of the pool keep these priests both ageless and pliable, and their clothing intermingles to form an intricate circle of holy colors and patterns.
Guardians: In addition to multiple magical wards left behind by Karzoug himself, the priests trapped within the God Pool attack any creature that directly attempts to harm them—they have been quiescent for thousands of years, but they remember their terrible treatment by Karzoug and are resolved to suffer no further abuses. The conjoined nature of these priests allows them to combine their power, resulting in their ability to cast spells as a single 20th-level cleric, including any domain spell listed in the Pathfinder RPG Core Rulebook.
Rumored Powers: Rumors abound that the God Pool is the only remaining artifact capable of offering true prophecy in the Age of Lost Omens, though more suspicious souls believe that reactivating the God Pool will transfer some of its divine power to Karzoug, possibly allowing for his return.
True Nature: After 10,000 years of lying dormant in the darkness, the conjoined consciousness of the God Pool’s priests has transformed into something akin to a divine power of its own. Though the amalgam retains its connection to multiple deities, it has developed a nature and ethos separate from any of the gods its component priests once served. Unfortunately, much of this ethos has been informed by the unconscious, unanswered prayers of the trapped clerics and the stewing frustration of their divine patrons.
Though Aroden’s death ended reliable prophecy across Golarion, even for the consciousness within the God Pool, the fountain has formed its own malevolent alternative. Those who learn the proper rituals (likely gleaned from Karzoug’s notes hidden away or trapped within nearby chambers) can ask the God Pool about the future and receive a definitive answer spoken in unison from the mouths of the clerics. Although the God Pool’s answers do not stem from genuine foreknowledge of the future, they are delivered with such assurance and gravitas that they take on the semblance of absolute fact in the minds of listeners. Any creature that hears a prophecy uttered by the God Pool—either directly from the pool itself or indirectly from any other creature who has heard of it—takes a –6 penalty on attack rolls, ability checks, and skill checks for any actions that directly impede that prophecy from coming true. This applies only to listeners who hear the substance of a prophecy spoken aloud, not to anyone who reads a writing about the prophecy or learns of it any way other than orally. This is a curse effect that can be removed only by a miracle or wish.
For more information on the God Pool, see page 55 of Pathfinder Chronicles: City of Strangers.
The Golden Oasis
The sole remaining oasis in the city of Katapesh, the Golden Oasis hosts schools of fish within its waters and lures pilgrims to sit beneath the shade of its trees.
Location: The Golden Oasis lies within the city of Katapesh, fed by the River Scorpius.
Appearance: This pool of clear water is flanked by shops, homes, and inns, all of which enjoy the shade of the oasis’s many palm trees.
Guardians: The Golden Oasis has no mystical guardians, but is tended by dedicated groundskeepers and watched by the city guard.
Rumored Powers: Legends claim that those who sit in the shade near the pool gain divine inspiration, if their purpose is true and their patience is up to the task. Pilgrims who lean against the palm trees around the oasis are most likely to gain this inspiration.
True Nature: The palm trees around the Golden Oasis are only tangentially related to the visions some pilgrims experience. Instead, the visions often are the result of pilgrims inadvertently ingesting spirit moss, a foul-tasting gray-green moss that grows on ill or dying palm trees. Only the most desperate pilgrims do so intentionally; most inadvertently inhale or consume spores from the spirit moss that drift onto their clothing or food. In any case, the moss resonates with the psychic energy around the Golden Oasis, granting these pilgrims hallucinations of what appear to be spiritual beings. Some scholars therefore believe that the moss is the true source of the pool’s many legends, and its legends of divine inspiration spring from mundane hallucinations.
In truth, the Golden Oasis also provides divine blessings, exactly as legends claim. Every full day that a pilgrim sits by the water of the Golden Oasis, there is a 1% chance that a random pilgrim at the oasis’s edge receives a divine sign. No mortal magic can alter this chance or affect this roll, and how long a pilgrim has waited by the pool has no bearing on whether she receives a sign—a pilgrim may sit by the pool for a year only to see a recent arrival gain this divine contact instead. A pilgrim lucky enough to receive a divine sign gains a blessing from her deity, or from the deity that corresponds most closely with the pilgrim’s beliefs. This blessing functions as the second exalted boon granted by the deity, as though the pilgrim had the Deific Obedience feat and 16 Hit Dice (Pathfinder Campaign Setting: Inner Sea Gods 210). At the GM’s discretion, or if the pilgrim’s deity doesn’t grant an exalted boon to believers, the pilgrim instead gains the effects of endure elements and fire resistance equal to 5 plus the pilgrim’s Hit Dice. This blessing lasts for 1 year, although the pilgrim loses it immediately if she performs an action that violates the deity’s tenets or teachings. Once a divine blessing is granted to a character, she can not ever gain a blessing from the Golden Oasis again.
For more information about the Golden Oasis, see page 35 of Pathfinder Chronicles: Dark Markets, A Guide to Katapesh.
Gozreh’s Pool
Hidden in the depths of the Mwangi Expanse, Gozreh’s Pool offers succor to those suffering from jungle maladies, but holds another secret for those who know where to look.
Location: Gozreh’s Pool lies in the Mwangi Jungle, between the Jasut Flow and the Ocota River.
Appearance: Surrounded by rocky cliffs, this pool is a cenote nearly 15 feet across. The pool’s waters are cool and perfectly clear, distinctly unlike the murky and siltchoked jungle rivers that flow nearby, and are 12 feet below the lip of the circular pit.
Guardians: Two water elementals reside within the pool’s waters, deterring those who fail to offer an earnest prayer, a small sacrifice, or another token to show respect to the pool. These water elementals wax and wane in size based on the season, but are most often Medium in size. No matter their size, the elementals are watchful but not particularly intelligent; even a fake show of respect, if delivered convincingly, placates them. The pool replaces any slain water elementals after 30 days.
Rumored Powers: Local inhabitants and explorers alike share tales of how the pool can remove the effects of illnesses and parasites, though a few nearby tribes believe the pool carries a curse or a slow-acting poison, as the clear water is suspiciously free of fish or algae.
True Nature: Gozreh’s Pool does indeed heal the physical ailments of creatures bathing in the water, as per remove disease (CL 20th). However, another secret lies at the bottom of the pool, some 50 feet below the surface. The rocks at the bottom of the pool forms a perfect representation of the terrain within 60 miles of Gozreh’s Pool, including tiny channels for all of the local rivers and small depressions for each of the local lakes. A follower of Gozreh who physically manipulates the water in the miniature lakes and rivers can affect the actual bodies of water represented by the miniature landscape. A creature can choose to change a river or lake to be either still water, rough water, or stormy water, or raise or lower the water level as if using control water (CL 20th). Alterations made by Gozreh’s Pool last for 30 days and can alter only one body of water at a time. Any alteration enrages the pool’s water elemental guardians. Even if a visitor had previously placated the elementals, they attack anyone who touches the miniature landscape at the pool’s bottom.
For more information about Gozreh’s Pool, see page 25 of Pathfinder Chronicles: Heart of the Jungle.
Healing Fonts
The pure waters of these mystic pools can mend the wounds of weary travelers who drink from them.
Location: Varies, but healing fonts are only rarely found in well-trafficked areas.
Appearance: Usually a stone basin with religious inscriptions, a healing font might occasionally appear as a naturally occurring pool. In any case, it contains clear, clean water regardless of the surrounding conditions.
Guardians: Varies. Many healing fonts are located in temples guarded by holy servants. Healing fonts located in sacred glades may be defended by druids or unicorns.
Rumored Powers: Healing fonts are believed to heal the injuries of those who drink their waters.
True Nature: Though most magical pools have vague legends and wild stories told about them, healing fonts are a case where the legends and facts coincide. A sip of water from a healing font provides the benefits of cure light wounds or a more powerful cure spell; each healing font has a caster level, and the font’s effects replicate the most powerful cure spell that a cleric of that caster level could cast. Some fonts instead replicate a regenerate or heal spell, although these more powerful effects are rare. Waters from a healing font lose their potency if taken more than a few feet away from the well.
Most healing fonts are limited in the amount of healing they can provide. The most common limitations are that a font can heal a specific creature only once per day, can provide healing only a few times each day, or both. Most healing fonts recharge their healing waters automatically over time, but a few require a specific condition (such as 8 hours of exposure to direct moonlight) to replenish their healing magic. Rare healing fonts offer unlimited healing, but instead require an individual to offer a specific token or perform a ritual to receive their healing properties, such as a well-spoken prayer to the font’s patron deity (requiring a successful DC 20 Knowledge [religion] check). Failure at this check typically renders the healing font’s magic dormant for 24 hours.
Infusion Pools
A weapon dipped into the colored waters of an infusion pool is imbued with magical energy for a time.
Location: Varies, but often found in arcane laboratories or temples to militant religions.
Appearance: Varies based on the specific magic weapon special ability granted by the pool; for example, infusion pools that grant the flaming special ability have red waters that froth and bubble, while those that grant the holy special ability glow with bright light.
Guardians: None.
Rumored Powers: Tales of infusion pools often become entangled with legends of the runeforge pool, leading to wild rumors of pools that can craft weapons out of a creature’s own sins and claims that weapons quenched in an infusion pool have the power to slay immortals or even gods.
True Nature: Though infusion pools with magic as powerful as the legends claim may well exist, most infusion pools are far more humble in scope. Each infusion pool is attuned to a specific magic weapon special ability, such as frost or ghost touch, and grants that special ability to a masterwork or magical weapon dipped in the pool (as well as granting a +1 enhancement bonus, if the weapon doesn’t already have it). Most infusion pools provide this benefit for an hour or a day; a few rare pools grant this special ability permanently, but these often require that the weapon steep in the pool’s magic for days or weeks. Nearly all infusion pools cause affected weapons to glow as brightly as a torch for the duration of the effect. An infusion pool must adhere to normal magic weapon requirements; for example, it can’t grant a weapon special ability that would provide a modified bonus higher than +10, and it can’t grant the keen weapon special ability to a bludgeoning weapon or a ranged weapon.
Starbreath Pool
This magical pool is illuminated by a shining ray of light in a dark and frozen wasteland.
Location: When the Tashen Yakuta ice shelf at the Crown of the World extends south during the region’s long, cold winters, Starbreath Pool appears in the center of the temporary ice.
Appearance: When Starbreath Pool is seen during daylight hours—a rarity during winter at the Crown of the World—it merely resembles an unusually circular hole in the ice open to the ocean water beneath. At night, however, the pool emits a pillar of cool light that reaches all the way up through the sky toward a single star that hovers permanently over the pool.
Guardians: A herd of several hundred celestial megaloceroses (Pathfinder RPG Bestiary 2 187, 292) lingers near the pool. These creatures slowly surround any who approach the waters. They do not interfere with those who seek to drink from the pool or dive into the waters, but they become hostile if anyone attempts to hunt creatures in the pool or take its water away.
Rumored Powers: Explorers in the Crown of the World sometimes spread tales of a cursed pool that lures lost travelers with its light and then transforms them into animals. The Erutaki—the hardy people native to the area around Starbreath Pool—have their own legends, claiming the light between the pool and the sky above it is a trail of animal souls traveling to paradise, and that those touched by the spirit world can follow these souls into the heavens.
True Nature: Any humanoid or animal that drinks from Starbreath Pool at night falls under its effects for the next 7 days. During this time, the creature is protected from the cold, as per endure elements. If the creature dies while under the pool’s effects, it is automatically returned to life in a new body after one day. Humanoids returned to life in this manner are returned in the body of an animal; this functions as reincarnate, except that the creature does not gain negative levels and does not roll on the reincarnate table to determine its new form. Instead, the creature randomly takes on the form of either an arctic hare, an arctic fox, an arctic tern, a caribou, a polar bear, or a seal. Animals returned to life by Starbreath Pool take on a humanoid form and sentience; this functions as both awaken and reincarnate, except the creature does not gain negative levels. These abilities function at caster level 17th. A creature transformed by Starbreath Pool can be returned to its original form only by a miracle or wish.
Wishing Well
Some rare wishing wells really do have the power to make dreams come true.
Location: Varies, and can even be found in or near a large settlement.
Appearance: Varies, from gold-plated holy fountains of Abadar to crumbling, mosscovered wells at the edge of a village.
Guardians: Varies; a wishing well might be guarded by magical creatures, such as fey or dragons, or might be protected by nothing more than a shabby appearance that deters close inspection.
Rumored Powers: One of the bestknown types of magic pools, wishing wells are rumored to grant a wish to those who toss a coin or other object of value into their waters. Rumors of wishing wells far outstrip the number of legitimate wishing wells; humble villages and ostentatious churches alike proudly attribute miraculous powers to fountains and wells that have none.
True Nature: True wishing wells come in all shapes and sizes, and acquire their fabulous powers seemingly at random. Wishing wells cannot be detected as magical without a successful DC 30 caster level check, which leaves most of these wells hidden among mundane wells. Wishing wells function only when a precise number of coins—usually 25,000 gp—has been thrown into their waters. When a creature throws in a coin or trinket that brings the total value of coins thrown into a wishing well to exactly 25,000 gp (an item thrown into the well counts as a number of coins equal to its value) and makes a wish, the wishing well grants the requested wish as per the wish spell, with the most generous interpretation possible. At the same time, all coins and valuables in the wishing well vanish. If the creature doesn’t make a wish, or throws in coins or items that cause the value to exceed 25,000 gp, the wishing well resets and another 25,000 gp in coins is required. A creature can benefit from only one wish from a specific wishing well.
Valuables removed from the well before the wish is granted still count for the purposes of determining when a wish is granted, so merely counting the coins in a wishing well might not give a true prediction of when a wish is due. In addition, some wishing wells have different monetary requirements. As a result, predicting an upcoming wish is extremely difficult, and even those rare few scholars with knowledge of how wishing wells work are usually forced to throw in a single coin and try their luck alongside everyone else.