> [!infobox|wikipedia] > # Pool of Reflection > [![[Pool_of_Reflection_small.webp|cover hsmall]]](Pool_of_Reflection.webp) > ###### Location Information > Attribute | Details | > ---|---| > Type | Point of Interest | > Location | [[Ruby Falls Goldmine]] | > Defining Feature | A still pool of ancient divination magic | > ###### Status > Attribute | Details | > ---|---| > Status | Active | The Pool of Reflection is a still, cold pool of water hidden deep within the tunnel network beneath the [[Ruby Falls Goldmine]]. It radiates ancient divination magic, and those who gaze too long into its glassy surface find their own reflection looking back with a will of its own — offering one true answer to any who will pay its price. ## Location & Geography The pool lies far below the surface workings of the [[Ruby Falls Goldmine]], reached through the same breached tunnels that hold the [[Bioluminescent Forest]] and lead on to the caves of [[Nelfandriss the Banished]]. A detour from the glowing fungal cavern descends through narrow passages to the edge of a vast chasm — a yawning gulf perhaps a hundred feet across, spanned only by a swaying fifteen-foot bridge of interwoven spider silk anchored to stalagmites on either side. Cold air rises from the unseen depths below, carrying the faint echo of dripping water. Beyond the chasm the character of the caves changes entirely. The fungi fall away, the bioluminescence dies, and the air turns noticeably colder. Here the rock is bare and natural again, bristling with stone stalagmites and stalactites. At the heart of this still chamber lies the pool itself: a single circle of water some thirty feet wide, perfectly flat and utterly motionless, its black surface returning a flawless mirror image of the cavern above. ## The Reflection The pool is no ordinary water. It holds an old and patient divination magic, and it bargains. A creature who stares hard enough into their own reflection will see it beckon to them, and if they speak to it, the reflection answers with the same verse every time: > *Seek you knowledge, secrets deep? An offering this pool must keep. Surrender something held most dear, And one true answer shall appear.* The exchange is exact and unforgiving. The pool takes a genuine sacrifice — something of real worth or meaning to the one who offers it — and in return grants a single true answer to a single question. It is a covenant, not a fountain: there is no haggling, no second answer, and the offering is kept. Those who approach it carelessly, or try to take from it rather than trade, learn that the magic is not gentle. The water seems to drink not only what is offered but the attention of any who reach for it unbidden, and the flood of images it can pour into an unready mind is enough to break it. ## [[The Bloody Nails|Campaign: The Bloody Nails]] #### [[Session 24 - Nelfandriss The Banished]] While pressing deeper into the tunnels beneath the Ruby Falls Goldmine in search of the missing miners and gold, the party crossed the spider-silk bridge over the chasm and discovered the pool. [[Vaeleran]], long haunted by his missing memories, dropped a die into the water and then cut open his hand, offering his own blood as a sacrifice. His reflection spoke back to him, revealing that his memories are not lost but suppressed — sealed behind a magical block that only powerful restoration magic can break. [[Kai]], meanwhile, tried to drink from the pool rather than bargain with it. The water answered with a psychic overload, a torrent of flashing, fragmentary images that nearly shattered his mind before he could pull away.