112617

The Crystalline Pool

dark, eyestalks swivel

chill air before dawn flowing

carapace trembles

--attributed to Ksh'shama'al

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I. Attraction

Karthopolis, capital of the Decapod Heterarchy

Architectural Wonders of Karthopolis

1. The minarets

The minarets of Karthopolis are many, and their manner of adornment curious, for they are encased in sheaths composed exclusively of the exoskeletons of the crustaceous inhabitants of Karthopolis themselves. It is deemed a matter of no little honor to have one's eviscerated corpus on display upon the most important architectural marvels of the community. The traveler is welcome to record the appearance of the Karthopolian minarets using any means at its disposal, but on no account should non-Kartharians enter the minaret-studded temples of the city. The Kartharians believe (and the Heterarchs have decreed) that their deities (if such exist; this is not known) are too refined to be viewed, even in effigy, by members of alien races. In all other matters, the crustaceans are the most considerate of hosts.

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2. The spawning pools

Homeothermic bipeds generally are surprised to learn that, although extraordinarily privy about religious matters, the crustaceans are positively exhibitionistic when it comes to sex. Not that the indigenes of Sha'ama have sex as most of our readers know it. Nevertheless, the act can be enthralling to witness. The sight of a 300-kilo male Heterarch, in full jeweled regalia, being devoured alive at the moment of milt release by his 800-kilo mate, must be seen in person to be truly appreciated. Trideo does not do the spectacle justice. Note: spawning can be disturbing to juvenile sophonts, who are therefore discouraged from entering the pool area when spawning may take place.

The spawning pools are of interest not simply because of the violence of Karthopolian mating, but because of their stunning bas-relief carvings. Karthopolis has been occupied for at least 34,000 years (standard), and the pools are among the oldest existing structures in the city. In fact, the sculptor of the bas-reliefs, which depict the prehistoric ancestors of the decapods engaged in aquaculture, hunting, and combat with primitive weapons, is reported to be none other than the semi-mythical Cha'alaon, founder of the Heterarchy itself.

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The Kalshussian Intercession

Tidelands Directorate

8. Security

The Tidelands Directorate is nowadays an uncommon destination for the casual tourist, because Stingari "devil crocs" were inadvertently introduced to the coastal marshes in about the year 11,294 (eighth revised calendar). The method of introduction is not known because 12^th millennium records were destroyed in the supernova of Lammas Minor, but biogeographic and biogeohistorical data in the archives at Kalshus Center suggest that croc cysts were brought to Sha'ama in Dolpi recreation water. The Dolpi maintain their shipboard pools at pressures and temperatures that would not kill croc cysts, but would prevent them from germinating. In any event, the Tidelands are now home to an estimated 3.6 million devil crocs, ranging up to 80 meters in length. A mature devil croc can bring down anything smaller than a brontothere that strays into the marine portion of the marshes. The Kalshuss forbid hunting of the crocs because of an unfortunate resemblance of the devil croc to traditional representations of one of their gods. (As a side note, the worship of a reptiloid by crustaceans is unusual to say the least, and Balder (15,284b) has suggested that the reptiloid Masseei visited Sha'ama in the distant past.) Because of the devil croc infestation, the Tidelands are now closed to all tourists traveling in any vehicle with a security rating of 7 or below.

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Se'eveen Commonality

Natural Wonders

1. Alkaline Springs/Necropolis

The jaded traveler will not want to miss the fabled Alkaline Springs of Iothuum, which have been popular vacation spots for over 14 millennia. The crustaceans of the vicinity have wisely preserved the natural beauty of the springs, and even enhanced their charm with subtle grottoes and intricately carven piazzas. The Springs sprawl across more than 6 square miles of the northern coast of Equamar, where deep rock fissures bring bubbling to the surface waters brewed over megayears in the alkali deserts of the interior. Within the thousands of pools, weird and fantastic crystal forms precipitate in chatoyant abundance about any objects that fall into the water, and the rapidity of this encasement may be what has given rise to the practice, now uncounted millennia old, of interring the corpses of the exalted dead in the deepest and most chemically active of the pools. The deceased remain in the pools for a few season, until they are thickly encrusted with crystalline efflorescences. The liches are then removed from the transformative waters, allowed to dry for a time in the anhydrous wind blowing northward across the desert, and finally displayed in positions of honor and approbation in the carven galleries that surround the ancient pools. In ancient days it was the custom to leave individuals of greater societal worth in the waters for longer periods. The result was that the lesser nobility received inadequate coatings, and their exoskeletons were long since breached and that which reposed within has decayed beyond recall. Conversely, the most exalted personages received too much precipitate, and their features are utterly obscured by the carunculated fantasies in which they are entombed. It is said that during a brief period under the reign of the Tha’alonian Imperators, the preservative powers of the pools were used for the entombment of miscreants, and also for the preservation of tableaux of a religious nature. Sadly, it must be reported that all of this deviant statuary was obliterated nearly two millennia ago by the Zealots of Camaraa. If any of the aberrant displays have been preserved, they are inaccessible in private collections.

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II. Reports from the Field

morning sun glitters

a thousand crabs harmonize

and the pools reply

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Kshallass, Lithanra (GP). Local ordinance-repair agents are baffled by a case that at first scent appeared to involve a murder-suicide aria of a pair of conspecific bipedal sophonts that were in good odor with one another. Tentatively identified as members of Homo sapiens (p.i. 11263), the two are now thought to have been extinguished before internment in the lacquering pool where their bodies were discovered. The investigation has been hampered by the Lithanrian proscription against performing autopsies on lacquered corpses. The Consul for the Jango Fleet, the only governmental entity represented in Lithanra that has a substantial population of H. sapiens, has asked the Lithanrian Decisionary to rule that the no-autopsies stench applies only to the crustaceous natives of Sha'ama.

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Kahshal, The Tidelands (GP). The partially digested body of Llow pan-Gouw, media representative for Pan-Galactic Representation in The Tidelands was found during a routine autopsy of a 37-meter-long Crocodile in Kahshal Biodiversity Project Headquarters, KBP representatives reported today. The Gouw was a rouwbian, and is believed to have been in the Croc’s belly for at least a year, based on corrosion of dermal plates and elemental mapping of ocular flaps. Our readers may recall that the Gouw was a passenger on the bottom crawler Do-moralle, a sight-seeing submersible that vanished 8 days ago in the Gharalsh Trench. The temporal anomaly cannot be due to intensified corrosion of dermal plates, because ocular-flap mapping is not affected by the chemical environment and implies the same result. It is thought that tachyon emissions from the forthcoming war in the 6^th quadrant may have passed through The Tidelands during the past year.

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Kshalla Spawning Ground, Kshalla (GP). Claw-etching, certified as a deduction-limited art form for close to 1800 years in Kshalla spawn-comity, may soon be downgraded to a courtship-rite variant. Etched claws have long been popular among the nouveau riche in Kshalla because they accelerate encrustation in the death pools. This in turn elevates the apparent social status of the etched corpse in a way that cannot be altered according to Kshallan law. This has caused a shift in Kshallan demographics towards the less-desirable lagoonal precincts, because delegates to the Kshallan assembly are weighted according to the average social status of encrusted former voters, as determined by crust thickness.

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in the pool,

your oculars grew a pelt

of crystals:

you were blind.

in the pool,

your joints furred with diamonds:

you were lame.

in the pool,

your carapace drew on a new cloak:

you were anonymous.