The Cataras Springs is a large garden of springs and was the ninth World Wonder created by the Fairy Circle. The purpose of which was a means of inspiring hope and essentially providing Xyntriav civilization with something to do. There were thirteen springs within the garden, and each contained a great power. The more extreme the power, the harder it was to find the spring, despite the fact that one could hear the water trickling all around him/her. At the entrance to the garden was a black, marble water fountain which displayed thirteen chalices, one to each spring. The trick was to match a chalice to the correct spring. One knew s/he has matched them when the chalice disappeared in the water. The one major rule: one could only drink from one spring a day, otherwise s/he would perish.
The springs were located beneath Carnific, the island with an acidic water supply on the Continent Island chain. There was an empty patch of forest near the center of the island, and one of the trees which circles this patch is a complete mirror that reflects everything native to the island (in other words, visitors are not reflected). The visitor who possessed the key would place the key into this tree, turn to unlock the door, and the door would appear to the visitor. The visitor would then open the door, walk down the stairs, and enter the garden.
There were three ways to enter the garden: the key, from beneath the island, or with a dagger. The key was the easiest way as it simply unlocked the door and the visitor would enter. The dagger was a difficult way inside as it had to be in the presence of the key for at least a week to gain the power that allowed one into the garden. Once it was charged, the visitor would have to locate the same empty patch of forest as s/he would with the key, plunge the dagger into the center, and tumble into the Cataras Springs. One nice thing about the dagger was that it also offered help to find the spring from which the visitor wished to drink. The possessor simply had to match one of the jewels on the dagger to the jewel beside the desired spring. If the desired jewel glowed, the spring had been found. However, once one used this cheat-method to find the spring, that power was limited wherever that jewel is present. To enter from beneath the island was the most difficult way, as one must be able to breathe underwater and avoid the wrath of sirens. If one was able to do this and find his/her way through the maze, the visitor would ascend up a blue beam of light and into the Cataras Springs.
There were thirteen springs in the garden:
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1. The Spring of Agelessness: The Black Chalice
- a drink from this spring and would cause a person to stop aging immediately. S/he would never die from age or illness, yet s/he could still be killed.
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2. The Spring of Youth: The White Chalice
- every drink from this spring subtracted twenty years from the person's age at the time. If s/he does not have twenty years to spare, s/he will perish painfully.
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3. The Spring of Healing: The Light Blue Chalice
- a drink from this spring would heal a person from any and every health issue s/he had, even health issues s/he was unaware of.
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4. The Spring of Wisdom: The Crimson Chalice
- a drink from this spring would allow a person to become educated of proper morals and all correct choices (or of the best choice out of the options provided). The person would become understanding of those around him/her, become aware on how to solve and/or avoid particular life situations and problems. However, as wisdom is pain, the drinker may suffer from depression for the rest of his/her life.
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5. The Spring of Knowledge: The Orange Chalice
- a drink from this spring would allow a person to become book-smart. The visitor would know math, science, literature, language, puzzles, strategy, code, legends, myths, history, navigation, investigation, mystery, etc.
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6. The Spring of Beauty: The Silver Chalice
- the more a person drank from this spring, the more desirable s/he would become. Should the visitor drink too much, the spring would kill him/her.
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7. The Spring of Wealth: The Gold Chalice
- a drink from this spring and the visitor would gain "the Midas Touch." Anything s/he touches would somehow produce the currency s/he desired.
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8. The Spring of Power: The Lavender Chalice
- this spring is widely misunderstood, though for the longest time, the Fairy Circle felt no need to clarify. Most believe that a drink from this spring would gain a person all the powers of the Fairy Circle, however it was only most of the Fairy Circle. After much debate and discussion, it was decided that Sebille's power, Frieda's power, Larien's power, Faye's power had been omitted, and any ability to control weather had been limited so to keep the drinker from becoming more powerful than the Fairy Circle as a whole. In the end, the drinker would obtain the powers of nine of the fairies in the circle, which is essentially the powers of MOST of the Fairy Circle.
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9. The Spring of Life: The Green Chalice
- pouring this spring water down the throat of someone or something deceased would return the corpse to life. Pouring it onto an inanimate object would dissolve it. Drinking it would take one's life.
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10. The Spring of Strength: The Blue Chalice
- the more a person drank from this spring, the stronger s/he would become until his/her large muscles caused him/her to combust and perish.
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11. The Spring of Complete Rule: The Purple Chalice
- a drink from this spring would cause a pleasant vibe to emanate from the drinker so that others would have an unyielding desire to obey his/her every command.
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12. The Spring of Freedom: The Pink Chalice
- a drink from this spring would allow the drinker freedom from any and every curse. If the person was not subjected to a curse, s/he would become immune against most spells and curses.
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13. The Spring of Ultimacy: The Clear Chalice
- a drink from this spring would allow the drinker to experience the benefits of all of the above. Only one drink was required. Should the visitor take another, s/he would die a most painful death.​​
The Cataras Springs
Artwork by arts_hand on Fiverr.com
