Fountain

Fountains are lifeforms in PFC that control and surround themselves in water to form the bulk of their "body". They seem to start life in a pot or vase of some kind, eventually building themselves a "Walker" which they use to get around. The walker is additionally a protection in general, as they can sink into mud and other earthy piles.

NOTE: Though there are three body types of Fountains, most features are shared between them as a race. As Water Fountains are the most common (or at least, most featured), the details here are written based on the assumption that they are the "standard", with notes where there are notable differences between them and the other two types.

Type of Fountain
The three types of Fountain are:


 * Water Fountain, the standard liquid water-based members. Their biological form is a cluster of organs normally found inside their Bauble, which has the appearance, and sometimes functions, of a mundane object; they have the ability to use electrical currents to form a body composed of liquid water. They use Walkers to get around most places to avoid their liquid body seeping into the ground and trapping them in place.
 * Cloud Fountain, whose body is formed of clouds. They have basket-style "walkers", which they call a Skiff, that are attached to their bauble, which they call a Tchotchky, to stay tethered down so they aren't stuck floating in the sky. They also have small jets strapped to their Bauble to provide propulsion.
 * Snow Fountain, with a body formed of snow crystals. They seem to be unable to see or talk, and don't appear to need a Walker. Rather than having algae and sea life floating inside, they may have vegetables incorporated as part of their body.

Age
Fountains mature at a remarkable rate, becoming ready for basic education by 100 days old, including designing and building their first walker. They are also biologically immortal and will not die of old age.

Stages of life

 * Stage 1: "Mysterious Start" Despite Clocker's research, no one knows just how a Fountain comes to be. As far as is known they seem to just come into existence. Young Fountains live in a pot formed from a petrified pitcher plant, to protect themselves from losing their water to the ground which would leave their bauble exposed, immobile, and completely vulnerable.
 * Stage 2: Smaller "malformed" version of adult, hands may just be blobs. Despite their youth, they are generally rather intelligent, already capable of speech, reading, and writing. However, they may have various impediments, including speech difficulty or trouble forming their hands.
 * Stage 3: After they have been around for at least 100 days, they are instructed how to make a walker. Once that is completed, they are considered to have reached adulthood. Then, depending on where they are, they are put on a train to one of the main Fountain cities. Upon leaving the train, or arriving at whichever city they are taken to if taken directly there, they are free to do what they want and must make their own way in the world.

Gender
Fountains are entirely genderless, with no sexual organs, however they use female pronouns using instead as a neutral term. They refer to each other as female pronouns due to linguistic miscommunications a long (unspecified) time ago, where other races who assumed them to be female and that bled into the Fountain language. Fountains themselves only understand gender on a very technical level; the average Fountain will fail to recognize a creature's gender and only guess it half of the time.

Water Body
The teeth-like structures in a Fountain's mouth are composed of ice and bacteria generated by their bauble to stay frozen in most temperatures. Their "teeth" are all one structure, similar in concept to a Dunkleosteus.

It seems that even should they lose all of their water body, such as from serious injury, they are capable of restoring themselves over time as long as their bauble and the contained organs is intact.

Despite their watery nature, Fountains do sleep. When they do so, they go full puddle and appear as normal water with the exception of a ripple on the surface that varies with brain activity.

Bauble
Each Fountain has a "bauble" which is literally their heart and core. It contains and protects all of their organs. It seems they can be anything, ranging in size from as small as a grenade or fist to the larger being as big as a Denizen's head, although there are exceptions that have been even smaller/larger. The bauble shell acts similar to bone, and can heal small fractures over time.


 * Baubles are commonly called "Tchotchky" by Cloud Fountains.

Dangerous Baubles
In the event that a bauble has its own internal mechanisms, such as a clock or hand grenade, then it will usually be fully functional with the organs growing around the moving parts. For example, there is a Fountain in Pipeworks that has an alarm clock bauble that goes off constantly.

Living Baubles
There is a very rare, less than one in ten thousand (1/10,000), chance of a bauble being a living organism. In these cases they almost always have various problems. For example, the Fountain Iso could neither hear nor speak and communicated entirely through mental connections by sharing water with another Fountain.

Senses
A Fountains basic senses are done via reverberations from the water to the bauble.

Vision: While they can blurrily "see" everything in a 360 degree view, sharp and clear vision is done via their "eyes", formed using bacteria and algae from their bauble.

However, in the case of Snow Fountains, their senses are greatly limited due to the snow that makes up their body, as well as being unable to speak verbally.

Appearance
A Fountain's appearance is largely determined by their type and their bauble. However, they can alter their appearance in various ways, such as letting plants and/or fish live in or on them. Additionally, there are tattoists that use an elasticized algae to form shapes such as horns, spines, or fins on a Fountain's body.

A Fountain's colors are at least partially controlled at will. If they are exhausted or depressed they may let their colors fade.

Health
Fountains are biologically immortal and can live forever so long as they are healthy. Fountains can still die of starvation, disease, wounds, etc.

Heat and Freezing
A Fountain's water is heated by their bauble and the bacteria aids in preventing freezing. However, should temperatures drop enough to freeze they will seek out any available heat source, including people. Fortunately, should their bauble be frozen over, they can survive indefinitely in a kind of stasis.

Disorders
Some suffer a condition called Electrostatic Dyspraxia. The cause is unknown, but has various symptoms such as poor gross motor control, weakened static charge, repetitive actions, and delayed bodily formation. One of the easily visible effects can be in fountains who can't form fingers.

Chemicals
Fountains have a similar tolerance to various chemicals as humans do. However, as their biology is much smaller and compact, those chemicals that may just have mild effects on a human may have much stronger potency or be outright lethal to a Fountain.

Plants & Fish
It is common for a Fountain to have plants, fish, or other watery life on or inside them. While such additional life is not necessary for the fountain, the system of having being a walking ecosystem is recommended as it helps with the biological needs and is overall healthier. It helps keep their PH level stable and provides various health benefits, vitamins, nutrients, etc.

Fractal
If a Fountain is close to death from starvation, their body will "go fractal". Their body forms many extensions, like cilia, to taste the air and find food as a last ditch effort for survival.

Fusing
Some Fountains have attempted to fuse together, but it isn't sustainable. The stimulation of both mind and body touching completely are described as both incredibly uncomfortable and also unforgettable.

However, a Fountain may wrestle with and take over another Fountain's body to the point the losing one falls unconscious, trapped by the dominant Fountain. This results in a body with two baubles.

Diseases
Like any creature, there are various diseases that a Fountain may contract over the span of their life. These are some examples.


 * The Phlegmming is one example of a contagious disease that infects Fountains. It causes the Fountain's bauble to generate glutinous mucous, and eventually leads to dark holes appearing on the Fountain's surface. If left untreated, it can develop until it is fatal and kills the Fountain; however, it may take years before that occurs. Fortunately, it is curable. Roanoke is one such survivor.

Abilities
Thanks to their mostly aquatic nature, Fountains are capable of incredible feats of movement and agility.

When they are in a larger body of water, the electric field produced by their Hunters' organ gets spread thin, causing them to become only partially formed over a much larger area.

Walking
Most new Water Fountains attempt to walk on their own; with practice, some can walk as far as 15 feet at a time. However this takes a great deal of concentration and is physically exhausting. It is also a common party game for Fountains to compete with each other, it being a good test of their physical strength.

Cloud Fountains are very light and so drift up into the air, requiring a Skiff (their equivalent of a Walker) to maintain a preferred elevation as well as enhance their movement control.

Snow Fountains appear to not need walkers, due to their body structure being solid.

Combat
The average Fountain is weaker than members of any known race without modification or great training. Their physical strength is typically only a third compared to humans unspecified species.

Their true strength comes from their advanced technology, such as walkers like Clocker's Mech.

They as well can submerge an enemy inside their body to drown them. Some Fountains can also form ice hands or tips which increases their strength and is both hard and sharp. This ability can be used by any Fountain with a Cymatic Disc installed in their walker.

A Fountain is nearly impossible to injure, as almost everything will just pass through their watery form with no effect. As long as they avoid damage to their bauble, they are very difficult to defeat or even survive their attacks. However, there are still notable threats to their safety. Electricity will hurt them as it will spread through their whole body. Suction is also a danger as it can remove their water, simultaneously removing their body mass and restricting their movement.

Magic
Fountains don't really have magic, but they have learned rituals which produce anomalies.

Diet
Despite being primarily water, there are still some foods and medicines for fountains as their bauble-contained organs require regular mineral sustenance in addition to maintaining a good PH level in their water.

Geosmin
Their standard food is called Geosmin, which is described as a dirt/mud slurry mixed with various spices and gemstones along with certain plants. It comes in various flavors such as:


 * Bone Orange (recipe: 1/2 cup bonemeal, 2 tblsp shredded satsuma peel, 1/4 cup Georgia red clay, 2 tsp crushed emerald)
 * Coral Dust
 * Desert Clay
 * Shine-mush

A certain type of Geosmin can be grown called Wolf Dust. This variant can cause a variety of effects when ingested by a Fountain, such as highly increased sociability, constant peppiness, or a tendency to have too many fingers.

Other foods
However, there are other types of food, such as:


 * Tide Pod, a gourmet food composed of a lot of things scooped off the ocean floor. Main ingredients are a jellyfish wrap and sands filled with dead ocean critters and/or plants.

Due to their particular biology, they have no "waste product" to speak of.

Society
Fountains are as varied as many other sentient races, with unique personalities, appearances, hobbies, etc.

Culture
When very good friends meet, they greet by fusing their foreheads together (an act similar to humans hugging). If their PH levels match, this can allow for a direct empathic connection.

When a Scholar-class Fountain finds a young Fountain, they take a drop of water from the youth and place it into a pair of golden earrings which are then kept in storage. They are taken out when that Fountain dies or can be used to track the missing person using dowsing rods. These are called Funeral Earrings.

Beauty
When a Fountain wants to look fancy it is popular to have elaborate displays of algae and plant and animal life to appear regal, with iridescent or metallic algaes as the main decoration.

Music
As they don't have ears like Denizens, they prefer very loud music with a lot of bass to reverberate throughout their body. Musical machines built for Fountains would be very harmful to other races due to the sheer force of the vibrations.

Nature
Fountains are quite caring about nature, though they have some interesting perspectives on some parts of it.


 * The Sun: Especially early in life, they take an apparent dislike to that glowing orb in the sky. It seems they grow out of this as they mature.
 * Snow: Commonly disliked by Fountains, it is comparable to if a human had dandruff falling from the sky and then instantly fusing to them.

Notable Cultural Differences

 * Although it is not harmful to the Fountain, it is extremely disrespectful to make use of their water body without their permission. For example, if you were thirsty and had a cup, to then just dip that cup into them and then drink it.

Consciousness
They celebrate the anniversary of their consciousness by going to The Hole, covering their face with ink, then leave a mark of their face on the Wailing Wall.

Death
There is the Deathpop Festival each year, where if a living Fountain approaches the river, the dead Fountains they care about spring out of it to celebrate with them for a while. Death visits during the festival, typically staying near the river.

Languages
The majority of Fountains speak Malashwi, which resembles whale-song, but higher pitched. The phonetics are mostly soft sounds, with consonants such as 'K' "Q' and 'X' being excluded, among several others. They may also know Hoomsh, a language shared among at least Denizens, Fountains, and Henicopi.

Examples of some words in Malashwi and their English counterparts:


 * Susha- Water


 * Li- Heart/mind
 * Sushali- Fountain

Ethnicities
Different areas have some life focuses. In contrast to how the Fountains of Pipeworks are known for longer "hair" and a cultural emphasis on botany and raising and care for new Fountains, the Rainfluxt Fountains from Splash Mountain are known for their pointed ears, golden algae, frequent red dyes, and an emphasis on brawling as a way of life.

Classes/Professions
There are three main Classes of Fountains, each part of their identify from "birth".


 * Most are Collectors. These Fountains seek for and jealously guard a hoard of items specific to them (such as empty soda cans). They keep their hoard hidden, only showing it to close friends. They enjoy organizing and reorganizing their collection, as well as scouting for locations to scavenge for more things. The subject of their collection can be basically anything, including things that are hard to obtain or may have a social stigma (such as blood). This can not be changed (though they certainly are capable of collecting other things, it can not replace the desire to collect that particular thing).


 * Scholars/Professors, such as Clocker, who study and learn about fine machinery. They are also larger, stronger, more tactically adept, and instinctively guard over Collector Fountains as well as locate new Fountains.
 * Grungers are dangerous hermits that focus on learning bizarre physical abilities and strange/dangerous arts. They shun the mechanical apparatus of the others and are masters of shapeshifting into twisted creatures of ice or bending the ether. They do not have a shell to their bauble (they often remove it early in life).

Despite this, there are also specific professions that a Fountain may take, such as:


 * Gardener-chefs, which work at restaurants, growing the plants and materials as well as mixing them up into geosmin meals.
 * Shop-keeps, which run various shops such as those that sell different models of walkers or upgrade modules for them.
 * (Gladiators?), such as those found at Splash Mountain Colosseum.
 * Researchers/assistants to Scholars.
 * Inventors.

There are various stores in Fountain cities that sell aquatic plants of all kinds.

Technology and Inventions
Within a mere 100 days of coming into being, a typical Fountain already has a basic knowledge of language and mechanics.

Walkers
Fountains are masters of advanced machinery by nature. They are expected to build their own walker from as early as only 100 days old without any in-depth education. One of the best examples is a walker that Clocker uses when searching for Jamjar, which is a massive construct that has lots of armor, a powerful scorpion tail, a communications unit, what looks like built-in dowsing rods, and an infrared headset for seeing in the dark.



Dowsing Rods
Although they are not the only race to use dowsing rods, these tools are of special use for Fountains. They have been used for ages past to locate Fountains as well as their belongings, by keeping a vial of their water with their things. They work by detecting a Fountain's "signature" in the air and waves. It takes training to make use of them, as well as having certain range limits. Of note, this is not magic, just a very good tool.

While in use, a Fountain can detect nearby water in all directions regardless of barriers, similar to vision but not. They can also interact at a range with the water they detect, which may be unpleasant for a living creature that is done to. After use the Fountain may "lag" for a bit, suffering a headache.

Dowsing rods come in two basic materials, copper and willow, and in two shapes, Y or L. They can be augmented with Tuner Rings, which allow the user to alter their relationship with the telluric current and the ether. For example, using gold rings will cause the rods to orient on gold, similarly for silver, iron, or other materials that can be found and forged. However, one can form tuner rings of their own water for more accurate detection of their water.

An experimental type that is designed to be more powerful, though is unpleasant to use, was designed by Agglatz, the Willow Witcher. This model uses high voltage to amplify the range a Fountain can detect. The overcharged amplifier is so strong that if a non-Fountain were to touch it while in use it would likely fry them, and can be dangerous and even lethal for a Fountain.

Paper
Fountains actually use standard paper. They are taught during adolescence, in school, to maintain surface tension and handle paper without soaking it.

Other Notable Inventions

 * Jamjar has been able to create artificial water-based hands for Tetri using nothing more than household items and with no prior training. She made a similar device using parts from a clock at the school to control the water being used by Slump to manifest itself.
 * A small device that generates a non-abrasive hydophobic material around its wearer. (One is given to Ponble in Splash Mountain Colosseum)
 * Crafting machine. Used to repair damaged walkers. Does not distinguish a living creature from inorganic units as a source of parts.
 * A small device that gives directions to a set location (like a targetable compass). It attaches to the pole that it is targeting on arrival.

Cities and Towns
Most cities are surrounded by walls to protect the residents from the harassment of Boodilybeepers, members of other races that harvest a Fountain's water by force.


 * Pipeworks Underground, a location used to teach new Fountains how to make their walker, though seems to be used for other purposes sometimes.
 * Pipeworks, a Fountain town.
 * Distant Pools, a place where new Fountains tend to appear.
 * Tiderim, home of Polymanders and lots of fish. Lilypads are to be avoided. The lake is severely off limits, classified as an XK-Class Hazard.
 * Splash Mountain
 * Splash Mountain Colosseum
 * Madworks A strange place best described as a complex, three dimensional maze of buildings and bridges built from the mind of the fountain Scholar Glimmer.

Notable buildings

 * Mollisol Shire, a restaurant that only serves Fountain foods that are raised and tended to on-site.
 * Tome of the Nereid, a "library" that is filled to the brim with secrets and forbidden things, a place that is supposed to only be accessed by Scholar Fountains. It is located in the Splash Mountain area. It is guarded inside and out by guards and technologies of various kinds.

There are libraries, which are kept by the Scholars. Information is kept on small stone cartridges, which are kept in towering stone shelves, in endless poorly lit rooms filled with dust and the distant clatter of pebbles falling.

War
Fountains have never gone to war. However the Scholar-type Fountains do have many powerful weapons and warmachines in case the need ever arises. Some examples:


 * The Professor of Bones can weaponize Geosmin
 * The Sky Dragon can make herself colossal and electric
 * Clocker has Walker-mechs, such as the 4D-D4Z3 EXTERMINA

Legends & Myths
There are legends and theories about where Fountains come from. These include:


 * "We came from the Waters Above, sleeping in the sky until we fell down"
 * "We are a spirit that possesses a 100-year old object"
 * "Maybe be do what those other fleshy races do?"

Fountains consider tides and tidal flats to be mystical and something to be wary of. The waves whisper secrets only a Fountain can hear.

There is a myth that on long, dark nights when the black algae rolls through the night sea, something strange comes out of the sea foam - the Selkie's Pitch. Some believe it to be the ghost of a Fountain that died in horrible pain, seeking to shatter your bauble with a mouth of shark teeth and eel tongue. Others say it is the ash-slime of a dead selkie that was retaken by the tides.

The lake of Tiderim won't ripple, no matter what you toss in it. It has stayed a still mirror for as long as anyone can remember. The silence of the lake is referred to as "Bakuhatsu" and many believe it to be the body of an ancient Fountain of titanic proportions. No Fountain that approaches the lake has ever returned.

Bathrooms
Despite being a race with no biological process requiring a method of sanitary disposal, such as a toilet, many fountain buildings are built with vague approximations of what they think bathrooms are. These are often nonfunctional, with pipes leading nowhere, and a malformed rendition of what a toilet should look like. These rooms are typically never entered after construction, and are built to appease some superstition that Fountains have about races that have male and female genders. There are various boogeymen that Fountains will warn each other about regarding the bathroom, there being a pervasive yet incredibly vague notion that something evil lives within these structures; entities such as the 'mick-sick-seed' are purported to dwell within, causing a vague and horrible fate to occur to any Fountain that dares enter. As such, daring each other to enter a bathroom is common among young Fountains.

Trivia

 * Fountains may describe the sun as a "villainous horrible hate orb that antagonizes them". Young Collector Fountains often try to challenge the sun to a duel.