Diis (0402, B433874-7)
Pebbled terrain, dotted with dozens of small lakes and no oceans. Two millennia ago, a woman named Prudence Lee bathed in Lake Ferman on the lunar new year. Four days later, her asthma was miraculously healed. Since then, many people—both local and from off-planet—have made similar reports about every body of water on the planet. Now, every lake and riverbend serves as the epicenter of a long history of specific healing miracles, with an attendant nonprofit-cum-government to support it. Lake Ferman heals asthma, Lake Picher heals nearsightedness, the south bend of Gruun River heals constipation, and dozens more.
Patrons
- Tabitha Goddard, Chairperson, Lake Kurilia Oversight Board
Short of stature, in a perfectly tailored suit, and getting on in years, Goddard maintains a warm demeanor over deep anxiety. Given space to speak on the matter, she expresses concern about the future of Lake Kurilia. No one has been healed of their conjunctivitis here in several years, and visitor counts are down across the board as a result. She worries it's a vicious cycle: fewer people means fewer opportunities for healing, which means less buzz and even fewer people.
"Your eye is looking a little swollen," she says. "You know, I've just developed a new Blessing Package for people healed at Lake Kurilia: 2,000 credits, no questions asked. If that eye gets any worse, do be sure to let me know so I can get the camera crews ready."
- Johannes Neville, Ph.D., skeptic.
Bearded and fierce-eyed, Neville never misses an opportunity to be strictly correct. A famous telenet presenter and former card magician, he came to Diis to debunk each miracle lake in turn, but had a change of heart when he unexpectedly experienced his own healing. Lake Joll cured his astigmatism 14 months ago, and he hasn't worn glasses since. He's ecstatic about it, but he's been a bit anchorless since. He explains that he'd like to study the phenomena himself, but he's woefully unqualified for any work other than catty debunkings and sleight-of-hand magic. He'd gladly pay 10,000 credits for any information leading to a real debunking, though you don't get the sense that his heart is in it anymore.