Isema's Grotto

Isema's Grotto is a little-visited pool in Northern A. Attested only by the accounts of Eqai Voiranoi during his famed airship expedition to map out the Manifold, this radiant pool provides a save place for travellers to relax should they somehow stumble across it.

Geography

Because it is a Western-adjacent cube layer, Northern A has more standing water and experiences more frequent rains than the rest of the Northern Tesseract. In the case of Isema's Grotto, this water has pooled and, with time, eroded away at the base of a low cliff in the midst of a small copse of bamboo. The pool now sits in a shallow cavern walled in on all but one side by denser rock which has resisted the erosion. The water is milky due to the inclusion of minerals weathered from the stalactites overhead, but also glows a faint blue during the geomagnetic maximums that affect the region on a seasonal basis.

Fauna & Flora

Reeds and lillypads grow in perfusion near the edges of the pond. Creeping vines spill over from the cliffside and make some inroads along the cavern ceiling. Small fish flit through the cool waters, feeding on radiosynthetic algae and the pond's unique blend of crustacean algae. None of these species are healthy to eat in large amounts due to bioaccumulation, but they are also generally harmless to visitors.

Tourism

Eqai Voiranoi and his crew stopped by the grotto on their way out of the Northern Tesseract to their next destination. The pleasant isolation of the region and the beauty of the aurorae dancing overhead seemed to have inspired Voiranoi, who dubbed the place Isema's Grotto after lady from Esotericist myth who embodied temperance. The expedition members relaxed in and around the pool for a day before continuing on their journey.

Type

Pond