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Abelardus sat at the fountain edge, marveling at the water that sprung from the mouths of leaping stone dolphins and rippled around the feet of a sculpted wild eyed nymph. Crowned in a flowing headdress of seaweed and shells, the nymph leaned lovingly against the broad legs of a muscled and robust mortal image of Pontus, the sea-god.
He marveled at the art of the fountain but was mostly in awe of its ingenuity. The fountain was a gift from the aqueducts that carried fresh water through the Capital of Critias. Connected to distant rivers, they redirected the water into and throughout the city. Some of it was directed here, to this pool of clean water that expanded out from the sculpted Gods in the middle of a public plaza. He scooped a handful of the flowing water to his mouth, its tas
