Devotion's Perpendicularity

This article's title is uncanonical and a fan created one, because an official term or name has not been made yet.

Devotion's Shardpool, also called The Lake or The Pool, was a round, ten foot deep body of crystalline, sapphire, fluid found on a mountain near Elantris and Kae on Sel. It appeared to have no natural inlets or outlets, and is not filled with water but a thicker cool liquid. It is not absolutely confirmed to be of Devotion, but the feelings the pool generates and the close connection with Elantris heavily imply it.

Effects

When entering Devotion's Shardpool, people feel an extreme sense of comfort and calm. If someone is a Hoed, they can sometimes momentarily regain a bit of consciousness, looking at those nearby for an instant or reaching their arms to the sky. The experience is so relaxing that it causes people in the Pool to sigh involuntarily.

The Pool speaks to people when they enter it, offering peace and contentment, wishing to take away their sorrows and pains. Whether or not this is an actual consciousness or simply an effect of Devotion's intent is as-of-yet unknown.

Those who give in to the peace float for several seconds and then dissolve suddenly, without leaving any trace that they had ever been there. Those who do not accept the relief will not dissolve.

The Selish don't fully understand the nature of the Pool or its power. It is somehow tied to the physical form of the Elantrians.

History

The origin of Devotion's Shardpool is unknown.

The Pool seems to have been a part of the Elantrian religion, as in the secret room under the Elantrian meetinghouse, there was a wall relief of the pool and a mysterious white circle that is potentially the Dor. The mural appears to imply that the Pool is a gateway of some sort.

One of the Hoed who had in Elantris during the height of its power gave Raoden, Karata, and Galladon directions to the Pool so that he could die. They decided not to tell anyone else of its location.

Raoden was extremely tempted to enter the Pool himself to gain relief from his aches and the Dor's attacks. He made Karata and Galladon promise to bring him there if he ever became a Hoed.

Later, after Saolin was injured by some of Shaor's men and became a Hoed, Raoden, Karata, and Galladon brought him to the Pool to die as well.

After Raoden's injury by Dilaf, Galladon and Karata threw Raoden into the Pool to kill him; planning to then kill themselves. Fighting through the pain, Raoden realized that Elantris was in the shape of Aon Rao. He successfully managed to resist the Pool's temptation to give in to the relief from his pains, and emerged from the Pool unharmed.

Trivia

• Brandon developed the Pool initially as a plot device to get Raoden into the mountains above Elantris so he could have his epiphany on the connection between Aon Rao and the shape of the city.
• When Brandon first wrote the Pool into the book, it simply represented giving in. He did not know how it fit into the magic of the cosmere.